Bendis and Cho deliver an entertaining one-shot with Guardians Of The Galaxy Annual #1. Readers looking to catch up with the monthly series get a nice refresher and long time fans get a heart-warming check-in with the crew. This is one of the strongest annuals I've read in a long time and Captain Marvel and Guardians fans will be very happy with what they find in this comic. Read Full Review

Most of the appeal comes from seeing this team interact with a '70s-era Nick Fury and company. However, there is a poignant quality to the story, too, as Bendis frames the tale from Carol Danver's point of view and focuses on her homesickness. Read Full Review

No question, this is a strange issue, and fits nicely in the description I mentioned earlier of having little to do with the overarching narrative of the main title, but i found it to be well-written and entertaining. The framing sequences with Captain Marvel alone are worth the extra $1 to me. Whether or not that is true for you is up to your own discretion. Read Full Review

We all get homesick from time to time, especially around the holidays. However, we aren't usually thousand of light years away from our homes when we do get those kind of blues. Even though this a comic featuring a fantastically staged fight scene in space and more than a few great Rocket zingers, Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1 succeeds because of its attention to the human details. Brian Michael Bendis, Frank Cho, and Jason Keith make the action soar simply by framing it with a woman's desire to see home again. It's funny the things you can accomplish just with a few eight-panel grids. Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1 is big, crazy, and filled with laser fire, but is the human element that sustains it beyond pulpy enjoyment. Read Full Review

Most of Bendis' trademark banter sparks and pops in typical fashion (Rocket's suggestion that Skrulls purchased the Helicarrier at an auction made me chuckle out loud), while other bits simply fall flat on the ground and stay there. (Fury takes a crack at Rocket by saying the blaster-packing Guardian looks like what would happen if Nick had laid down with a raccoon, which, um") The Annual's big spectacle and its intimate moments don't really gel as well as they ought to, but the brisk, harmless fun of Guardians of the Galaxy is on full display here, and hey! There's no damned ellipsis at the end of this thing, and for me? That's always a positive. Read Full Review

"Guardians of the Galaxy Annual" #1 is one of the more enjoyable, compact Guardians stories from Bendis and also happens to be a nice, tight, well-drawn, oversized one-shot adventure. While there may be consequences or subplots spinning out of this comic book at some point in the future, there is no denying the satisfying tale delivered. Not only do readers get a complete story, an appearance from a vital Nick Fury and a space-fight, but Cho and Bendis also present some well-polished character moments. Read Full Review

Fine