Not So New Comic Review: Guardians of the Galaxy (1991) #45

                When last we left our stalwart galactic heroes, we were greeted with not only the return of fan-favorite character Yondu, but also, Starhawk (who I can’t imagine is a fan-favorite as he’s an uber-douche).  Regular penciler Kevin West returns to the series following a brief hiatus and thankfully brings with him the style we’ve all come to know and tolerate. 

                We open with Aleta and Starhawk engaging in a bitter fight, one that has not gone unnoticed by Eternity and the Living Tribunal, two of the stranger members of the Marvel “Universe”.  These two Marvel heavyweights take the Hawk God to task because he has let the two bearers of his power become shitty characters, or something like that.  The Hawk God promises to do something about it, but before we get to see what that something is we look in on the Beyonder and the Protégé, still engaged in their battle from last issue.  The Beyonder realizes that he cannot hope to win against someone that can mimic his powers, so he turns tail and runs, while Mephisto and Malevolence applaud the effort of the Protégé.  Mephisto offers to shape shift into anyone the Protégé requires in order for him to be happy, which is kind of creepy. 

                Now we’re back to the fight between Aleta and Starhawk, just in time for the Hawk God to intervene.  He scolds the two pains in the ass and before the Guardians can intervene they are attacked by the Badoon-Centauri hybrids we talked about last issue.  The Guardians, along with Yondu, jump into action against their attackers.

                Before we can see where that takes us, we check back in on Hollywood, who is still searching for Wolver-Doom.  He comes across some really cool looking aliens, which reminds me of how much I enjoy West’s character designs.  Hollywood has a “conversation” with a purple dragon looking thing, and by conversation I mean he beats up the dragon until it gives him the info he’s looking for.  This, in turn, causes the purple dragon, not one to be trusted apparently, to turn on Hollywood and issue some very ominous threats. 

                We now find Eternity and the Living Tribunal arguing before we make a jump back to Aleta and Starhawk with the Hawk God and we get a fun little recap of their origin.  The Hawk God, still being pissed at them does…something that causes a big bal of light to form around their conjoined hands, resulting in apparently a lot of pain.  Back on the planet’s surface the Badoon-Centauri hybrids flee from the bright light and commotion overhead.  This allows the Guardians to turn their attention to Aleta/Starhawk as they descend from the skies.  After some pretty decent acting the West’s artwork, we get to see what has everyone so shocked…the hand of Starhawk has been fused to Aleta’s hand, creating one of the strangest final panels I have seen in all of comics.

Next Issue: the makeshift siamese twins have to use the bathroom.