Marvel will launch a new ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ series in April

Marvel has announced that co-writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly, along with artist Kev Walker and colorist Matt Hollingsworth, will plot a new course for the Guardians of the Galaxy beginning in April.

The team, which will consist of Star-Lord, Gamora, Nebula, Drax and Mantis, will “venture to new, never-before-seen planets, encounter brand-new alien species, and discover long-hidden galaxy-bending truths that will make readers question everything they thought they knew about the cosmic side of Marvel.”

I dig the Western vibe they have going in the preview art:

“Welcome to a whole new era for the Guardians of the Galaxy, riding like mad through an endless alien dust storm of sun-soaked tragedy, intense violence, and deeply dysfunctional heroes,” Lanzing said. “The optimistic peacekeepers that defeated the reborn Olympian Gods and overcame The Last Annihilation have fallen about as far as they possibly could—and now Peter Quill and what remains of his found family will have to fight like hell in a new western-fueled frontier to find a scrap of forgiveness. After all, the Guardians are a fire—and a fire only ends one way.”

Here’s the description from Marvel.com:

One year ago, the Guardians of the Galaxy were destroyed. Their optimistic future shattered by the betrayal of one of their own. Now, they ride the space lanes of a lawless corner of the galaxy, trying to outrun their tragedy. Can they rediscover their heroism and humanity on the bleakest frontier? Can they forgive the failures of their past? Or will they fade into the dark, eternally unforgiven? 

Here’s a look at Walker’s character designs:

“I honestly can’t believe I’m finally getting a chance to work on Guardians,” Walker said. “I’ve been wanting to draw these characters for a long time; I have some of the first Guardians of the Galaxy comics in my collection. I came close when I did Annihilation: Nova years ago, but never envisaged I’d be doing this kind of all-encompassing relaunch. Pushing existing characters in a new direction is always a daunting challenge, but working with Jackson, Colin, and Matt [Hollingsworth] has been a lot of fun and I think we’re producing something a very different to what’s has gone before.”

Walker also drew the teaser for whatever Grootfall is — even though he’s not one of the five characters shown in the preview art, Groot will be involved in some fashion:

Look for the first issue of the new ongoing series on April 12.