Even though this issue is a more about the set up for the next story arc, I am personally excited for for the potential origin of the symbiote. I just hope this arc finally revels the secret of the symbiote. Read Full Review

With Venom as the focus Bendis is able to take things a bit darker, exploring the suddenly weakened connection between Thompson and his increasingly surly symbiote. While the writer does little beyond presenting the initial conflict, he does a solid job implicating things to come, using secondary characters to tease the symbiote's soon to be expanding mythos. Read Full Review

Valerio Schiti's art convincingly conveys the outlandishness of this space saga, although his cartoony choices for Rocket and Groot in particular make them feel as though they've stepped in from another book entirely, and partially undermine the drama of one of the best cliffhanger endings of the series to date. Read Full Review

One small sidenote regarding the art, Schiti appears miscredited with cover duty when the initials "NB" appear quite visibly in the piece itself and done very much in the style of Nick Bradshaw. Just a minor point but worthy of noting to give credit where it's due. Regardless, Schiti has proven a worthy partner to Bendis in this one issue alone. Bendis's stories are notoriously slow starters but this one seems to be the exception. Sure, the cliffhanger is an old beat from his bag of tricks but it is no less effective or entertaining when a talking tree and a space raccoon are thrown into the mix. Read Full Review

That all said, the opening chapter of "Planet of the Symbiotes" is still a bit of letdown. The art can only do so much to help what turns out to be a rare lame duck script from Brian Michael Bendis. Inevitably, this arc will get better if Bendis gives us more of what we seem to be promised by the title. Schiti's art will do a lot to help sell Bendis' sometimes tired dialogue but the moment these two creators really lock it in, readers will be in for a treat. Guardians of the Galaxy is usually near the top of my reading pile, but you wouldn't be missing much by skipping this installment. Read Full Review

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #21 does not get off to a good start, but on the bright side, there's a ton of promise and potential to this story. This isn't a bad issue, but it is a big disappointment. Bendis isn't a bad writer, but this issue leaves readers feeling like they missed out on something. Luckily, the art on this book is worth the price of admission alone. "Planet of the Symbiotes" will hopefully be a great story, since it's a story that should be told. Read Full Review

And just when you thought you weren't going to bother with the next issue, something awful happens to a fan favorite character in the last and flips their signature line around in a scary way. This story-arc clearly has potential, but it's not a great start. Read Full Review

If I could describe this issue (story wise) in one word, it would be average. There is very little flair to this comic. The plot is merely set-up and the cliff hanger, despite being a cool idea, will most likely lead to an overlong fight scene taking up half the pages in the subsequent issue. When Bendis is inspired, he can be one of the best writers in comics and unfortunately, I don’t see much inspiration here. Valerio Schiti’s sublime art can only do so much to make this comic enjoyable but with such a dull script, I can’t give it a recommendation. Read Full Review

Not sure why the critics didn't like this one. Sure not a lot happens but enough does that made me not get bored and an ending that made me smile with intrigue. I enjoyed it.

Will this ever improve? I loved the premise, however, the introductional book, just like the most of Bendis' books, proved to be almost filler-ish.