This Guardians of the Galaxy issue is the latest in a series of wacky one-shots that explore what form the franchise might take 100 years after its original debut (in this case, the year 2069). But this issue actually works as a movie-friendly celebration of the Guardians franchise independent of the rest of the 100th Anniversary Specials. It manages to pay homage to all incarnations of the team, from the classic 31st Century Guardians to the Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning revamp to the current Brian Michael Bendis series. Fans of any of those books, or just cosmic craziness in general, will find a lot to like with this issue.

This issue brings back one half of the Abnett/Lanning team. Unfortunately, the two writers seem to have parted ways in recent years. Instead, Lanning teams up with Ron Marz to script this issue. The tone still manages to be pretty similar to the 2008 series. It’s humorous, but a little more dramatic and weird than the current Guardians book. As with the other 100th Anniversary Specials, the goal isn’t necessarily to flash forward 50 years into Marvel’s timeline, but merely approximate what a Guardians comic crafted by writers and editors and artists in 2069 might look like.

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