Guardians of Knowhere

Guardians of Knowhere #1-4

by Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Mike Deodato (Illustrator), Jim Cheung (Illustrator)

A single moon orbits Battleworld. But no, that's no moon. It's a space station. It's Knowhere! The head of a dead Celestial, somehow saved from the multiversal collapse. In this colony brimming with convicts and criminals, there's plenty of work maintaining the “peace.” But a new power is rising that threatens to tear apart the threadbare fabric of the Celestial head's society. Will those destined to safeguard Knowhere accept that burden in time to save its citizens? Who is the mysterious woman that took out Gamora? Who stands to profit from Knowhere's turmoil? When Knowhere's secrets reveal themselves, it will change the face of the Guardians forever. The galaxy may be gone, but there are still places that need heroes. That need champions. That need Guardians. Collecting GUARDIANS OF KNOWHERE #1-4 and NEW AVENGERS: ILLUMINATI (2007) #3.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, Superheroes, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Science Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2015

About the author

A comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.

Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.

Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.

Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.

Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.

Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.

He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one’s not part of Brian Bendis’ ongoing Guardians title, this is a Secret Wars tie-in, part of the Warzones series. It’s also turrible!

Knowhere is still the hollowed-out head of a dead Celestial used as a spaceport where the Guardians like to get drunk and bar-fight in, but here it orbits Battleworld. Also the Guardians aren’t the Guardians as they’ve all been mind-wiped and believe Doom is God Emperor of everything, like the other denizens of Battleworld. Except for Gamora who has a sneaking suspicion that things aren’t quite right…

Guardians of Knowhere is four issues of Big. Dumb. Fighting. Sigh. A human-like character called Yotat gets blowed up by alien gangsters but of course that doesn’t kill him, it just turns him into a Hulk-like monster - he’s the punching bag the Guardians hit for four issues.

Angela’s one of the Thors, Doom’s Battleworld police force, who’s there to punish Gamora for straying outside her zone (Battleworld is a patchwork world of various zones stitched together with strict rules about the inhabitants remaining within their own borders). The Nova Corps - here the line-up is Nova, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Venom, Adam Warlock, and a female Watcher? - also show up to hit this Yotat character and a few of the Guardians.

And that’s it - all of those characters hitting one another, page after page. Quite an imagination, Bendis! Mike Deodato’s artwork and Frank Martin’s colours are the only positives about this otherwise wholly pointless book.

Rounding out the volume is Bendis’ New Avengers: Illuminati #3 from 2007 where we find out the Beyonder’s origin from the first Secret Wars. It’s a completely inconsequential reveal and the issue is just an excuse for more dumb fighting.

Guardians of Knowhere is totally missable. It’s a tie-in that knobody kneeds to read - you can easily just read the main Secret Wars event without this and still understand what’s going on. Same goes for regular Guardians readers, you can skip this entirely and still knot miss anything pertinent to that series. Sometimes tie-ins can be good and worth checking out regardless of their irrelevance to the main story like Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra - Guardians of Knowhere is definitely knot one of these. It’s one big steaming pile of knothing!

[Terence · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gamora is wanted by a Thor for leaving her territory. A criminal is seeking revenge on Drax for getting him arrested before he could take over Knowhere.


So I got Guardians of Knowhere from my library otherwise I wouldn't have bothered with it. The volume epitomizes the term meh. It has nothing special going for it. Gamora is wanted for Secret Wars battleworld infractions and Drax is dealing with a standard revenge plot. The whole thing is wrapped up with a Secret Wars Battleworld ending aka Doom isn't what he seems, he's a fraud. This is completely forgettable.

[ScottIsANerd (GrilledCheeseSamurai) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars if I could.

Another Secret Wars tie-in. Another failure.

This was basically a revolving door of characters that popped in and out of the pages fighting one another.

I suppose there is a bit of a 'reveal' at the end of this issue that sets things up for...I dunno what for actually.

The artwork was zippy. I guess there is that. Also, some new dude villian is introduced named YOTAT that's supposed to be really badass - but really we don't know anything about him. Only he was hard to beat down.

Whatever.

Another useless limited run in the useless Secret Wars that marvel claims is going to 'change everything.'

All I know is, for the most part, whenever I finish one of these Battle World spin-offs I'm just left with a sour taste in my mouth and a giant ball of bitterness in my gut towards Marvel.

I can picture all the studio people at Marvel sitting there laughing at us as they light their crack pipes with big fat stacks of readers cash.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this Secret Wars crossover, what's left of the Guardians hang out in the celestial head and keep the peace. They encounter this really dumb-looking character who's pretty much unstoppable. four issues plus a reprint of New Avengers: Illuminati #3 to drive up the price.

[Subham · Rating 2 out of 5]

This event ties into the secret wars event where Dr Doom has created a reality where they believe he is god and this story takes place on Battleworlds moon - Knowhere, the head of a dead celestial and the drama that follows there and some revelations about the cosmic nature of things and how things came to be. The story focuses on Gamora and the Guardians there fighting Angela and then engaging other villains like Yotat and Hala and then engaging the new Nova corps and its filled with immense battle and confusions and unclear motives and is a giant mess.

The story has the art of Deodato and its brilliant to look and the design of the villains are cool too but the story felt so not linear and incoherent and like is a jumble and a mess and is all over the place. But then again we see the bonds between Gamora and Angela and yeah thats the only one I got.

Its a mess, skip this please and read the main secret wars event which is so much better.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another disappointing addition to Bendis and his Guardians of Lacklustre. Deodato on art means it looks pretty, and it does tie-in well with Battleworld, God Doom and Secret Wars, but I don't think Bendis is as good as he thinks he is on Guardians of the Galaxy. Or maybe Bendis and science fiction just isn't for me?

[Sesana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointing. Most of the book is a dull slugfest with a character who doesn't really matter. Not sure what I was expecting out of this, but I was definitely hoping for more.

[Gary Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

16th book read in 2019.

Number 437 out of 764 on my all time book list.

Most of the Warzones! book are amazing, but this one was just good.

[Sonic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun!

[Greg (adds 2 TBR list daily) Hersom · Rating 4 out of 5]

awesome!

[Michael Hicks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Plot? What plot? There's barely a story holding together this barely interesting collection of a four issue Secret Wars tie-in. A big dude wants to kill Drax the Destroyer. That's it. That's the whole story. And it takes Bendis four issues of fighting to slog through it. Sheesh.

Of the few Secret Wars tie-ins I've read so far, this is easily the most pointless and disconnected.

[Alex E · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the tie in books that I was looking forward to. Bendis, with his history with the Guardians and his style in general, is a favorite of mine. And Deodato, who alot of people have issues with, is a great artist in my opinion. I really don't see the issue with his art.

And the book delivers well. While not a instant classic, its a good, solid story that ties into the main event.

In a nutshell, Gamora is being pursued by Angela to answer to the crime of heresy against Doom. Along the way, we find Rocket, Drax, and Mantis as part of the Guardians who now guard Knowhere. There is also the wild card of (INSERT GENERIC STRONG GUY NAME HERE) who wants to take over the underground black market of Knowhere.

While the plot is a bit trite, and some of the dialog is strenuous, for the most part its a blast. Especially towards the end as we definitely get some forward momentum on the overall event. Something has been building, and this is our first glance at what it could be.

Look forward to the next tie in, as it appears we are winding down the Secret Wars event.

Recommended for fans of Bendis' Guardians or Deodato's art.

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I think I figured it out!

Secret Wars is a secret conspiracy by Marvel Comics to get people to stop reading comics! Why? I have no clue.

But I just read a Guardians of the Galaxy comic by Bendis and was non-plussed.

How do we have comics by Bendis, DeConnick, and (Kelly) Thompson (cf, The Carol Corps) that aren’t amazing??

Ok. To confirm this, I’m going to read 1602: Witch Hunter Angela and Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars. Those are by Marguerite Bennett and Cullen Bunn, respectively. If those don’t redeem this, then it has to be a Marvel conspiracy.

This comic feels like total filler - like the bigwigs at Marvel said, “Hey Bendis, write us 4 issues of a series and give it to us tomorrow. We don’t care if it makes a lot of sense - just put in about 4-5 fights per issue.”

You just come away with thinking - was there really a point to all this? Nothing happens except a bunch of people fighting for really no reason.

(Plus, they dropped another background story comic at the end of this - completely out of place! WTF?? Forget this - it calls for me to get my interrobang on - WTF‽‽)

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The galaxy has been destroyed and all that remains is Battleworld. Except this Guardians of the Galaxy Secret Wars tie-in tells us that's not entirely true. Battleworld has a moon, Knowhere, the head of an ancient Celestial being. Gamora, Rocket and Drax are its Guardians.

Whilst most of the Secret Wars books tell a story of their own, this is more about the set-up to the Guardians being involved in the event. Gamora, with her recently gained celestial powers, thinks there's something wrong with the world, and she's right of course. This blasphemy leads to a battle with Angela, in this world a member of the Thorsguard. There's also a big fight with Yotat, "the destroyer of the destroyer" and a mysterious blue woman who is never really explained.

So yes, this is the Guardians having some big fights before they actually get involved with the meaty stuff of Secret Wars. It is by no means the most inspiring Guardians story of the last few years.

Also, I really didn't like the art. It's difficult to explain why by Mike Deodato's dark art here lacks character. I would have much preferred if this had been drawn by Steve McNiven, or one of the other Guardians artists.

A bearable but pretty pointless Guardians of the Galaxy Secret Wars tie-in. It's readable enough but you won't miss anything if you don't read this one.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another entirely mediocre Secret Wars crossover. (In fact, I've stopped buying them because they're so "meh", but this one has been on my shelf for a while.)

To be fair, Bendis does more with the premise than most. We get Guardians that are similar enough to the main series to be interesting, but different enough to be intriguing. Gamora even provides some badly needed crossover with the real universe.

But the plot of the story is just bad. I mean we start with an overly long fight between Angela and Drax, then move on to a really grossly long fight between the Guardians and some guy named Yotat, then there's an overly long fight between Angela and Gamora, and we end with a grossly long fight between everyone and some nameless gal. There are little bits of intrigue (like who is the nameless gal and will the Guardians really face off against Doom) but they're too few and they're never answered anyway.

Like most of the Secret Wars crossovers, this is a waste of space. Better written than many, but more pointless too.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the cover, it's exciting to see two women, however Gamora's in her sluttish costume (rather than the more conservative one of the film) and it's kind of a downer. Why so much bare skin? How do her boobs not pop out? Okay, anyways, this issue is all about the art, very little action because it's the guardians set-up into the Secret Wars plot. (Well, technically action in a pretty neat fight scene but not much in way of plot). Rocket does some wise-cracks, of course, so that's mildly amusing. I'm not blown away, but it's only one issue.

[Jennifer Juffer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book for the simple reason I haven't read a Guardians of the Galaxy comic in awhile. It brought a lot of characters together.
The plot was so-so.
I mean how typical can you get when the nemesis is a guy who's been picked on, thrown away and now wants to make a name for himself?
There were some pretty big revelations in the comic, so I wouldn't dismiss it completely out of hand.
... and it certainly wasn't boring.

[Rob Motta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a bit lost, because I haven't been reading all the Secret War crossovers, but it was still a good book. As I was getting hooked, it ended and that made me sad. I loved seeing Drax kicking butt.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, at least this one actually ties into the main story of the Secret Wars a wee bit and continues into a follow up... But in itself it is miss-able.

[Simone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Se volete leggere le mia recensione, cliccate qui! http://ascwblog.blogspot.it/2016/11/g...

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not terrible...

[Roman Colombo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story is very meh, aside from some cool parts at the end.

But three stars for Mike Deodato's art.

[Fizzgig76 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reprints Guardians of Knowhere #1-4 and New Avengers: Illuminati #3 (July 2007-November 2015). Above Battleworld, the head of a Celestial floats and in it an entire community lives. The Guardians of Knowhere protect the people of Knowhere, but the actions of Gamora has attracted the attention of Angela of Doom’s Thor Corps. When a force called Yotat attacks, the Guardians find themselves in a desperate battle with the Nova Corps and Angela to stop Yotat…but a bigger danger could be right around the corner.

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Warzones!: Guardians of Knowhere is a Marvel Comics spin-off title of the event series Secret Wars. With art by Mike Deodato, the collection also includes New Avengers: Illuminati #3 (July 2007) by Bendis and Brian Reed with art by Jim Cheung.

Secret Wars was one of those overblown limited series that lost readers because it expected so much out of them. Like the original Secret Wars sequel Secret Wars II, there were so many tie-ins and titles that it wasn’t possible for most to read them all simply because they couldn’t afford them all. Warzones!: Guardians of Knowhere demonstrates what about Brian Michael Bendis’s writing turned me off most of his titles while at Marvel and why the format of “big event” series needs to be reworked.

To start with, Guardians of Nowhere isn’t the worst title out there, but it is problematic and not very good. The series has absolutely no flow. The comic introduces what is presumed to be the villain in Yotat, but Yotat is dispersed in issue three. A woman shows up and becomes the villain. You assume she is Kree from her action, but it feels like she should have been the villain the entire time (or that they should have just stuck with Yotat).

Within the story, Angela is in confrontation with Gamora who has cosmic powers which has shown her a world where Doom isn’t the Supreme Being. Other than a quick little rehash at the start of the book on what Secret Wars is, a lot of the stuff in the book is unexplained. It doesn’t help a new reader, but an older reader also might not be able to follow the title if they weren’t up to speed on Secret Wars.

The general, Warzones!: Guardians of Knowhere makes me wonder what happened to Brian Michael Bendis. I loved his work on Alias, Daredevil, Ultimate Spider-Man, and Powers and it was some of the smarter writing going on when he popped up. When he took over Avengers and began to orchestrate Marvel, he went downhill. I would say that Guardians of Knowhere isn’t indicative of his work (and I’m not even going to start on the bonus issue of New Avengers: Illuminati which retcons aspects of the Beyonder), but his Marvel Avengers titles and spin-off might now outnumber his “good stuff”…which is too bad.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tie-in to the Secrets Wars and Warzones crossovers.
Knowhere is the severed head of a Celestial orbiting Battleworld after that being was killed by Doom Almighty, its ragtag denizens protected by the Guardians. However one of their number, Gamora, senses that there is something very wrong with the reality they're living in and flouts Doom's laws in the hope of discovering the truth.

I can't say I'm hugely invested in the Warzones spinoffs, with them seeming to be little more than overblown 'What if...?' stories (also akin to DC's Elseworlds, which were mostly inconsequential and half-baked). There is an interesting element here, with Gamora having a vague notion that Battleworld and Doom Almighty aren't the real world but, unfortunately, it goes nowhere (pun intended), or at least not in this book.

I did enjoy most of the characters here, however, with Angela's respect/antagonism with the Guardians being quite engaging, as is the similar relationship between the Guardians and the Nova Corps (here including Captain Marvel, Moondragon, Adam Warlock, Iron Man, Nova and Agent Venom).

Tagged on to the end of the book is a short Illuminati story in which that group confront the Beyonder after discovering that the strange being is both a mutant and an Inhuman. Aside from the implications of a character being both of those things, there's not a great deal to write home about in this story.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Krzysztof Grabowski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Od jakiegoś czasu jakoś Strażników Galaktyki spod pióra Bendisa pikowała w dół, dając nam historie, które mało mnie obchodziły. Trochę szkoda, zwłaszcza że początków nie jeden autor mógłby mu pozazdrościć. Ale jest jak jest. Pretekstowa fabuła, jedna ciągła sieka. Bo tak.

Na plus zaliczam lokalizację. Głowa Celestiala, znana nam dobrze także z wersji filmowej. Drax siedzi w barze, ale wjeżdża Angela, która poszukuje Gamorry. Pytacie: "why Gamorra?" Twórca chyba sam nie wiedział, a chwilkę potem wchodzi on. Yotat. Góra mięśni, mały rozumek. A do tego całego młyna Bendis dorzuca co stronę kolejnych herosów, jakoś powiązanych ze Strażnikami.

Niby niedużo, ale na te cztery zeszyty starcza. Nie mogę skrzywdzić tego tytułu, tylko go objeżdżając, bo akcja jest tutaj wartka i nie ma przestojów. Tylko taka formuła mnie już nieco nuży, zwłaszcza że mam za sobą całą serię z GotG w ramach Marvel NOW! Autor tu nie rozwija niczego. Typowy tie-in do zaliczenia i odfajkowania z listy, niestety tych gorszych pozycji, jakie towarzyszą Secret Wars.

Aha, i jest jeszcze jeden plus. Kreska Deodato i Cheunga. Ładne kolory. Szkoda, że fabuły trzeba ze świecą szukać.

[Beattie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is…okay. I picked this up because it was related to the Guardians of the Galaxy, but I know nothing about the Secret Wars.

The idea of Doom controlling Knowhere and making everyone think he is a god is intriguing. But the Yotat character was not interesting and kinda underwhelming. The random Kree encounter in issue 4 felt rushed. And all the exposition about Gamora remembering Peter Quill, Thanos, and Groot should have come earlier than the last issue. It’s hinted at, but it should have come out earlier I think.

Also, this isn’t about the Guardians of Knowhere, but it’s so weird that one random issue of New Avengers:Illuminati was included in this. I guess it’s related because there’s a guy making his own world and molding it to what he wants? But otherwise it’s not connected at all and just feels like Marvel was trying to fill pages.

[sia · Rating 5 out of 5]

So far the best secret wars tie-in! The plot carried itself and characters all well written. The dynamic with both the guardians and the nova corps was amazing and well structured. Additionally, Angela and Gamora’s dynamic was incredible, there was a very perceptible tension between the characters, which was written in a great way and caused no cringed at all.

It was good to have Sam on the Nova Corps (if I’m not mistaken — I can’t really recall — this is his first secret wars appearance) his humor and personality definitely went a long way in this comic. It was a good, fun and interesting read.

The ending, it was peak. Definitely well connected to the whole secret wars situation and storyline.

[Villain E · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nonsense.

First a random big guy named Yotat shows up and wrecks stuff. He seems unstoppable until, inexplicably, he's not. Then a random big woman with no name shows up and wrecks stuff. She seems unstoppable until, inexplicably, she's not. The end.

The art seems great. Each panel taken by itself is beautiful. But there's a lot of fighting with blades in this and people get stabbed in the neck, slashed in a killing blow or run through completely, and then, after a breather, they get back up as though they were just recovering from a punch. Dramatic art is superceding logic.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mike Deodato does some amazing work here. He has some fight scenes that are glorious and outshine anything written here. That's simply because this story was terrible. Or maybe better put, this story was pointless. While yes, I bet it will play into the new Guardians series, this book as a whole is really bad. Bendis has the ability to be the best in the business but here its phoned in. Yotat and the unnamed menace at the end of the book are done without any slight interest. Overall, a Secret Wars tie-in that is very skippable.

[Valerio Pastore · Rating 2 out of 5]

Adoro Rocket e ne sto leggendo ogni apparizione, ed è la sola ragione per essermi buttato in questo tie-in di Secret Wars.
Parliamoci chiaro: qui non è colpa di Bendis, le idee c'erano pure, ma lo spazio è molto ristretto. L'intera operazione Secret Wars non aveva senso (soprattutto perché più avanti l'Ultimate Universe sarebbe rinato ma vaff--) e questo tie-in è semplicemente un singolo episodio annacquatissimo come poteva esserlo della serie pre-cataclisma. Niente esplorazione, niente caratterizzazione, solo comparsate & cazzotti e Peter Quill a caso sul finale.