Coming off the events of the Black Vortex crossover Star-Lord has been placed in a different spot than when that story started as he is now engaged to Kitty Pryde. That is a big change for one of Marvel’s biggest bachelors to have. Will Star-Lord #12 deliver some resolution on this development before the Marvel Universe ends in Secret War? Let’s find out.
Creative Team
Writer: Sam Humphries
Artists: Paco Medina, Juan Vlasco and Andrea Sorrentino
Colorists: David Curiel and Marcelo Maiolo
Story Rating: 7 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating: 8 Night Girls out of 10
Overall: 7.5 Night Girls out of 10
Synopsis: Captain Victoria stands in front her crew telling them all that the recent events involving the Black Vortex is an opportunity for Spartax and now they just need to get their target and get out.
Captain Victoria soon arrives at The Collector’s headquarters in deep space. Along with a few of her crew members Captain Victoria meets The Collector, who knew they were coming. The Collector tells Victoria to stop being so serious because he knows why she is there: to recover J-Son, Victoria’s father. Victoria tries to threaten Collector but he is unfazed.
The Collector shows Victoria his collection that includes The Beyonder’s blazer, an unopened love letter written by Richard Rider and a video of Peter Quill signing before he became Star-Lord. The Collector let’s that particular video play longer as it also contains footage of Victoria practicing the ballet as a kid. The Collector reveals that this particular video was one from J-Son’s collection. He goes on to say that his collection does not represent monetary or destructive worth. Instead his collection is all about emotional value.
The Collector then asks Victoria why she is looking to reclaim her father’s body.
Victoria begins to remember when J-Son revealed she was his daughter as a child. It was at that time that J-Son that because Victoria is his illegitimate child she must prove herself. Due she must give up dancing as he has signed her up for military school. Victoria says she isn’t going but J-Son says that she must because if she doesn’t his advisors have told him to make her disappear.
Back in the present, Victoria tells the Collector that she wants J-Son to pay for his crimes. The Collector doesn’t buy and recognizes her emotional connection to J-Son, which he says adds value to the video he showed her. Frustrated with the Collector’s attitude, Victoria takes off her boots and performs a ballet routine she says is beyond his collection.
Victoria’s performance causes the Collector to tear up. Before his tears hit the ground, the Collector quickly collects his own tears. Upset over what Victoria made him due the Collector tells Victoria she can take her father and orders her to leave.
Later on her ship Victoria meets up with one of her crew members. She asks him if he was able to obtain their true target. He says he was able to successfully steal the seed of the next Kree Supreme Intelligence. Victoria grabs it and says with that they will make sure the Kree never threaten them again.
Elsewhere on the ship J-Son is finally able to move inside the amber and begins breaking out of his prison. End of issue.
The Good: The story we got in Star-Lord #12 was completely the opposite of what I thought we would get coming off the events of Black Vortex. That’s not to say the story Sam Humphries had to tell was a bad one. It’s actually quite the opposite, as Captain Victoria’s mission was able to give the world around Star-Lord an added dimension.
Captain Victoria has been an interesting addition that has given us a better look at how J-Son as the ruler of Spartax went and what kind of father he is. Victoria has a very different attitude towards the universe compared to her witty brother. Unlike her brother she grew up and trained the military life that was very rigid. With that knowledge established Humphries did a good job giving us a bit more insight into who Victoria was and may still be with her background as a dancer. It painted Victoria as someone that may not be that different from her brother.
What I enjoyed about this development the most was the fact that Humphries did not just tell us about Victoria’s passion for dancing. Instead he actually took the time to show us how even for all the military training she received Victoria was still a dancer at heart. The fact that the dance she was able to perform caused The Collector to cry added to this part of her background.
At the same time, it was good to see how Victoria was able to use the Collector’s supreme confidence to achieve her real motive. Having the Collector imply that Victoria and her crew where at his headquarters to reclaim J-Son was a smart move. By having the Collector make such a claim Humphries was able to show off Victoria’s own intelligence as she used that claim to buy her crew member time to get their real target. And having their real target be the seed of the Supreme Intelligence also builds on the conflict in the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe.
The Collector himself was also an enjoyable character to see brought into the spotlight for a whole issue. Humphries did a good job using this spotlight to highlight a different side of the Collector’s Marvel Universe collection. The fact that Collector has taken up collecting more objects that hold an emotional value gives this series and other Marvel cosmic series another reason to use the character in their stories. Good examples of that is the mysterious content in Richard Rider’s final love letter. Was it written for Gamora, who he was going out with before his death, or was it to someone else. It’s a nice mystery that I hope is picked up on after the events of Secret Wars.
As always, Paco Medina artwork really shined even in this issue that was all dialogue and no action. Medina’s animation-style artwork has given Star-Lord a different look compared to other Marvel ongoings. It’s something that really shined in this issue with the animated expressions he gave to The Collector compared to Victoria’s stoic expressions. He also did a good job with how he showed Victoria’s ballet skills in one continuous double page spread that properly transition between different moves.
The Bad: The thing that kept Star-Lord #12 back is the fact that it did very little to use momentum Peter Quill had coming off the end of the Black Vortex crossover. A good part of the Black Vortex storyline was dedicated to Peter and his relationship with Kitty Pryde. Even the ending put a spotlight on this as the two got engaged. So to see Humphries not at least pick up on this sub-plot of Black Vortex was disappointing.
Making things more disappointing is the fact that Star-Lord #12 did not give some sense of closure to the character given the fact that Secret Wars destroyed the Marvel Universe. Even getting a bit of closure for Peter and Kitty’s story would have been nice since we haven’t spent much downtime with both characters together. Most of the time they have been a couple Peter and Kitty have been in the middle of some sort of battle. To have an issue where the two just spent time as a couple would have been a nice way to place a final memory for fans of the relationship.
Overall: Star-Lord #12 is a good building block that was able to add depth to Peter Quill’s sister, Captain Victoria. In doing so Sam Humphries was able to build an additional plot point for the future of Star-Lord’s character. What that future is we don’t know given the fact that Secret Wars blew up the Marvel Universe. While I would have liked to have gotten some time dedicated to the aftermath of Peter Quill and Kitty Pryde’s engagement I can’t complain too much about an issue that gave us more Collector goodness. That alone makes this an issue that any good Marvel cosmic fan will enjoy.
