Marvel Seemingly Teases the End of Donny Cates' Guardians of the Galaxy

After a year of critically-acclaimed issues on Guardians of the Galaxy, it appears the end is near [...]

By Adam Barnhardt

guardians of the galaxy 12 donny cates geoff shaw
(Photo: Marvel Entertainment)

After a year of critically-acclaimed issues on Guardians of the Galaxy, it appears the end is near for Donny Cates on the title. In its first batch of December solicitations, Marvel teases the Guardians of the Galaxy title ending with issue #12.

The solicitation for Guardians of the Galaxy #12 itself teases the end of the "Faithless" storyline, one which has been building over Cates' time writing cosmic tales from Death of the Inhumans until now. While it would seem from the solicitation its just the story arc ending — they do tend to last six issues, after all — a press release distributed by Marvel seems to carry much more sinister phrasing.

In the press release, Marvel describes the issue as "the exciting conclusion to Donny Cates' legendary cosmic run," a pretty clear indicator that at the very least,Cates' time on the title is up. Marvel's Ryan Penagos seems to double-down on the fact in the latest edition of the Marvel Pull List, saying "Donny Cates' culmination of a massively interwoven story he's been telling across four titles — Thanos, Guardians of the Galaxy, Silver Surfer: Black, and Death of the Inhumans — has all been leading to this one issue."

If you've been reading the run, you'll know by now Rocket Raccoon isn't doing too well health-wise yet here on the cover, he appears well without the use of the mech-suit he's been wearing. Also present on the cover is a whole slew of characters that have been kept in a frozen state by the Universal Church of Truth, including Nova, Phyla-Vell, and Moondragon.

Silver Surfer is also on the cover, all but confirming his escape from the ongoing fight against Knull in Silver Surfer: Black and if you look toward the bottom, there's a silhouette of a character that's been blacked out, presumably to avoid spoilers. The full cover can be seen below.

guardians of the galaxy 12 cover
(Photo: Marvel Entertainment)

We reached out to Marvel for clarification on if the book itself had been sent to the chopping block or if it's a case of another creative team taking over the title, though a comment wasn't available by press time.

The full solicitation for Guardians of the Galaxy #12 can be found below.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #12

Written by DONNY CATES

Art by CORY SMITH & MORE

Cover by GEOFF SHAW

THE "FAITHLESS" STORYLINE ENDS HERE!

Thanos Wins…Cosmic Ghost Rider…The Death of the Inhumans…Silver Surfer: Black…Guardians of the Galaxy…It's all been leading to this.

Have you been keeping up with Cates' Guardians of the Galaxy? Let us know your thoughts of the series in the comments below or by tweeting me at @AdamBarnhardt!

Trending Now: