Themes of Conquest, Part 2

And we're back. Like I said, today I want to focus on Quasar and Starlord, my thoughts on Wraith and Nova are in yesterday's post if you missed it.

Quasar: Quasar occupies sort of a middle ground. It's not as much of an adventure story as Nova, but not as dark as Wraith. Honestly, the plot reminds me of what I know about the Eddie Murphy movie, The Golden Child (minus the goofy laughing). You've got a person who's inherited a mantle they doubt they're ready for, trying to protect a very important being with the help of someone a bit more used to this sort of thing. Yeah, I think that sort of works.

Quasar's portrayal of the Phalanx is also somewhat of an amalgamation of Wraith and Nova. The assimilation of people doesn't seem to take long, or require much in the way of bulky machinery, similar to Nova, but it does seem to be painful, judging by the scream from the converted Kree Governor in #2, which is more similar to Wraith.

The focus of this mini-series seems to be "belief", namely believing in yourself, or your cause. Phyla still doubts herself in battle, doubts her ability to use the Quantum Bands, to be Quasar, to live up to her father and brother's legacies. With the help of a loved one, she's gaining confidence in herself, as well as a determination to see her quest through to the end. Opposing is her the Super-Adaptoid, a Select of the Phalanx. The S-A believes completely in what the Phalanx are doing; it approves of their attempts to impose order upon irrational, emotion-controlled living beings. This certainty keeps it hounding Quasar and Moondragon, to either bring them into the Phalanx, or destroy them. Interestingly, the S-A is a mirror of Phyla in that they are both combinations. The Super-Adaptoid is a composite of every single being whose abilities it can duplicate, while Phyla has brought the Mar-Vell and Quasar lineages together in one person. For Quasar, the two legacies seem like a burden, for the Super-Adapotid it's a non-issue, because all the powers it's taken are simply a means to an end.

Starlord: Starlord is a take on The Dirty Dozen, or whatever other movie about a rag-tag bunch taking on an establishment you want to use. It's also, oddly the most light-hearted. Odd because of the deaths seen thus far (or in the case of Groot, hinted at thus far). But in between those are moments of humor, such as Peter Quill meeting his team, or his getting reacquainted with weapons that have recoil, or Mantis' casual attitude in battle. The art is somewhat quirky, the colors seem to be a lot of pastels, not really aggressive colors. It gives the comic a bit of a relaxed feeling, that things will be OK, even as it clearly seems things won't be OK. It's as if Keith Giffen, Timothy Green the 3rd, Victor Olazaba, and Nathan Fairbairn are actively trying to send conflicting messages. Consider the characters. Groot, a sentient tree, ruler of the Planet X, befriends scruffy little Rocket Raccoon, who seems to be a bit of a drifter. Gabirel Vargas, who was a soldier, is the one most broken up by his moment of friendly fire accident, though you would expect he might be familiar with such things. It's also interesting that the person doing the most in the fights (Gabe Vargas), winds up being the one making the worst mistake.

Starlord himself is a perfect example as well. He gave up the Starlord mantle, and let himself be imprisoned, because he chose to sacrifice the lives of a mining colony to save a planet. He feels guilt over this, yet has no difficulty doing so once again, sacrificing the lives of those in his squad to accomplish his mission. Typically in a story, when a character does something that troubles them deeply, they do their damndest to avoid repeating that action, but Starlord is doing the same thing, without even blinking. It seems, counter-intuitive somehow.

And that oddness persists in the portrayal of the Phalanx. Thus far, they've shown no interest in assimilating the protagonists, or the forces of the Annihilation Wave that showed up in #2, unlike in every other title, where they assimilate as many as they can. Instead, the response to these incursions into Phalanx-held territory has been to exterminate the offenders. It's unusual in that it hints that the Phalanx are through trying to convert people, perhaps because there isn't anyone there they think is worth the trouble (though I'd think the Uni-Power would be of interest to them, if the Nova Force and the Quantum bands are). Or perhaps the Phalanx are into the next stage of the plan, the "seeding" the Kree sent Starlord to stop, and assimilation isn't something they're doing anymore.

Starlord also varies in that there isn't a Select to act as a counterpart to the main character. Wraith has Ronan (and Super-Skrull as an additional counterpoint). Nova has Gamora. Quasar had the Super-Adaptoid. Starlord? Nothing (thus far). What's interesting is each Select represents a different stage in their acceptance into the Phalanx. Super-Skrull isn't doing as they command yet, but he apparently can't fight against them either, and is resigned to that. Ronan has to do what they say, but he can still try and argue with them, and hate himself for not being able to resist. Gamora seems to have become a full Select, but she still retains yearnings for her time before. She remembers her time with Nova fondly, which is why she's so determined to bring him to the Phalanx. She'll kill him if she's got to, but as good as she is, and as banged up as Rich is, she won't (and didn't) have to. The Super-Adaptoid is all the way in the fold. He's a leader of troops, and completely on board with the Phalanx plan. He isn't fighting Phyla out of some desire for a "grudge match" with the daughter of Mar-Vell, he's fighting her because she resists the Phalanx, and because she's trying to reach this "savior". When the Adaptoid can simulate her Quantum Bands (and locate the savior himself), he immediately leaves, because the savior is the more important target.

But in Starlord, there's been no Select making an appearance (watch, now Groot will show up assimilated in #3). Could these represent five stages? Gamora is clearly Bargaining, the Super-Adaptoid Acceptance. Ronan is Anger, and I think Super-Skrull could be Grief, given he seemed so defeated by the circumstance. I like that because it leaves Starlord as Denial. There's been no confrontation with a Select, no one in the group has had to try and resist that yet, so it's easy to believe it won't happen. I know Marvel just did this with the "Death of Captain America" thing. It's just a thought.

OK, trying to pull things together here. It seems as though each book represents something different. Wraith seems to be about fear, despair, pain, and how you need to fight through those things. Quasar seems to be about the danger of self-doubt. Nova about rising to meet a challenge you didn't ask for (?). Starlord about having to make tough decisions.

Um, well, I'm done now. Chime in with opinions, disagreements, whatever you've got really.