Yondu #1 // Review
While a character with the name Yondu Udonta has existed since 1969 within Marvel Comics’ archives, it wasn’t until the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie in 2014 where people outside fans of obscure Marvel comics started to know about the guy. While he wasn’t the same character, Marvel would copy this rougher and more piratical Yondu into the modern Marvel universe, as DC has done with characters like Jimmy Olsen and Harley Quinn.
And now, Yondu has his own book, with the fate of the galaxy resting on his shoulders. Anthos help us all.
Yondu #1 is written by the duo of Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler. John McCrea brings the art, while Mike Spencer colors the pages. Joe Caramagna letters the pages.
After breaking the law for his own gain yet again, Yondu Udonta finds his friends in the Ravagers all dead. The wounds are combat inflicted, but there is a relic left among the bodies: The Herald’s Urn. On par with the Infinity Stones in value and power, Yondu plans to honor his lost friends by selling it off to the highest bidder and living his best life. However, a second Yondu Udonta has been shown a vision by his God Anthos, and it is his mission to go back in time and ensure the future of his people… by helping his ancestor and name source. Will modern Yondu accept his help, or is the pious warrior Yondu from the future in over his finned head?
The story is actually ingenious on several levels. While it was undoubtedly made to capitalize on the modern Yondu, as popularized by Michael Rooker’s acting and James Gunn’s script, the book goes out of its way to establish the original Yondu as a character in his own right. Making them related directly is a great way to force them together, and make for a lot of Odd Couple friction in the future. The duo of Thompson and Nadler have a great handle on the original character of future Yondu, and the flavor text of alien language with editor’s notes is quite nice. The two of them also have an excellent angle on the current version of Yondu, which is basically a scummier Han Solo.
Something that this book does incredibly well is creating an atmosphere of strange and bizarre. The planet that both Yondus (Yondii?) land on, Eyefelle 66, is crammed full of various new and bizarre alien characters. John McCrea also deserves a special nod for the setting of the story. The architecture is cramped and claustrophobic inside and out, with details filling the page without feeling like clutter. The pages are also filled with spectacular and odd colors, as Mike Spencer makes every page pop in strange ways that work perfectly for the tone of the story.
Yondu is a great book that tries to justify both the new Yondu in comics while also introducing newer comic fans to the classic flavor of Yondu. There’s a lot of potential here, and everyone who likes the Guardians of the Galaxy should be picking up this book yesterday.
