Coming in August, Guardians of the Galaxy #18 explores Star-Lord's "Original Sin" in a tie-in to the Marvel mega-event that promises to be a game-changer for the team, and especially for Nova.

What happened to Richard Rider? After a battle with Thanos, Star-Lord and the Mad Titan walked away while Rider vanished -- the nature of his fate a secret kept between the two enemies until it's revealed, presumably by the eye of Uatu the Watcher.

Marvel Comics have shared a pair of splash pages from the upcoming issue exclusively with ComicBook.com. Artist Ed McGuinness brings the Star-Lord, Thanos and Richard Rider's Nova together...and with the cosmic cube playing a role, things are already dangerous at the outset.

“We have literally been dropping hints since the Guardians guest-starred in Avengers Assemble,” writer Brian Michael Bendis said recently. “I have known exactly what we were doing with this from the moment I agreed to do the book, but I thought it would be best to slow burn the reveal.” You can also check out the cover for #18 above and the cover for #19 below.

You can also see the solicitation text for #18 -- the first issue to hit the stands following the release of James Gunn's live-action Guardians of the Galaxy feature film starring Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as the team -- below. That film, of course, will also feature Thanos and is rumored to include a cameo by Richard Rider.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #18

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

Art & Cover by ED MCGUINNESS

75th Anniversary Variant Cover by ALEX ROSS

On-Sale This August!