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Guardians of the Galaxy (2013) (Collected Editions)
Guardians of the Galaxy/All-New X-Men: The Trial of Jean Grey
The arrival of the original X-Men in the present sent shockwaves through the Marvel Universe, but we've only seen the effects on Earth - until now! When an alien race discovers that Jean Grey, host of the destructive Phoenix Force, is back on Earth, they decide to hold her accountable for the heinous acts of Dark Phoenix!
Now it's up to the spacefaring Guardians of the Galaxy to help the all-new X-Men save Jean Grey from twisted intergalactic justice! A surprise ally from one character's past comes to help, but is that enough against the most powerful army in the Universe? You won't want to miss the first encounter between two of the biggest franchises in the Marvel Universe!
Collecting: Guardians of the Galaxy 11-13, All-New X-Men 22-24
Now it's up to the spacefaring Guardians of the Galaxy to help the all-new X-Men save Jean Grey from twisted intergalactic justice! A surprise ally from one character's past comes to help, but is that enough against the most powerful army in the Universe? You won't want to miss the first encounter between two of the biggest franchises in the Marvel Universe!
Collecting: Guardians of the Galaxy 11-13, All-New X-Men 22-24
144 pages, Hardcover
First published June 17, 2014
419 people are currently reading
876 people want to read
About the author
Brian Michael Bendis
4,417 books2,571 followersA comic book writer and erstwhile artist. He has won critical acclaim (including five Eisner Awards) and is one of the most successful writers working in mainstream comics. For over eight years Bendis’s books have consistently sat in the top five best sellers on the nationwide comic and graphic novel sales charts.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
Though he started as a writer and artist of independent noir fiction series, he shot to stardom as a writer of Marvel Comics' superhero books, particularly Ultimate Spider-Man.
Bendis first entered the comic world with the "Jinx" line of crime comics in 1995. This line has spawned the graphic novels Goldfish, Fire, Jinx, Torso (with Marc Andreyko), and Total Sell Out. Bendis is writing the film version of Jinx for Universal Pictures with Oscar-winner Charlize Theron attached to star and produce.
Bendis’s other projects include the Harvey, Eisner, and Eagle Award-nominated Powers (with Michael Avon Oeming) originally from Image Comics, now published by Marvel's new creator-owned imprint Icon Comics, and the Hollywood tell-all Fortune and Glory from Oni Press, both of which received an "A" from Entertainment Weekly.
Bendis is one of the premiere architects of Marvel's "Ultimate" line: comics specifically created for the new generation of comic readers. He has written every issue of Ultimate Spider-Man since its best-selling launch, and has also written for Ultimate Fantastic Four and Ultimate X-Men, as well as every issue of Ultimate Marvel Team-Up, Ultimate Origin and Ultimate Six.
Brian is currently helming a renaissance for Marvel’s AVENGERS franchise by writing both New Avengers and Mighty Avengers along with the successful ‘event’ projects House Of M, Secret War, and this summer’s Secret Invasion.
He has also previously done work on Daredevil, Alias, and The Pulse.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 315 reviews
December 9, 2016
“Bendis!”
“Yes, sir!”
“I’ve got an assignment for you. You know that our new Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy is coming out soon.”
“I sure do, sir. One of the hundreds of Marvel titles I currently write has been a new rebooted version of Guardians to capitalize on the movie.”
“I doubt there’s going to be much to capitalize on. Seriously, it’s going to have a talking raccoon, a walking tree, and the fat guy from Parks & Rec in it. It’s going to be a flop that’ll make Howard the Duck look like Titanic by comparison. I don’t know what idiot in the film division cooked this up. Hell, all they had to do was keep shoveling a small part of the money they’re making at Robert Downey Jr. to play Iron Man and crank out a new Avengers movie every couple of years. How hard is that?
“Not hard at all, sir.”
“Well, that’s not our problem. What we need you to do is cook up some kind of crossover for Guardians.”
“Uh,… a crossover, sir?”
“Bendis, you know Marvel General Order #2 as well as I do: Crossover At Every Opportunity.”
“I’m well aware of that, sir, and I’ve written my fair share of them. It’s just that this Guardians book is fairly new, and I’ve already had to spend a lot of time having Iron Man as part of the team for a while to ride the gravy train of those films. Then I had to work in Angela because……Sir, why did we want Angela in Guardians again?“
“To spite Todd McFarlane."
“Oh, that’s right. Anyhow, after that we had the huge Infinity crossover that just wrapped up. There hasn’t been a lot of time in the book for me to develop them as the new version of the team, and I thought maybe with the movie coming out that we’d want to do some kind of story that just focused on the Guardians themselves. That way we could maybe draw in some fans of the film to our books because they could read a story that is similar to what they saw.”
“Ah, don’t worry about that. Only the hard core comic geeks are gonna see this turkey, and they’ll be too busy posting on the Interwebs how awful it was to read the book. What we need is to preemptively keep some of the stench of failure off the title so we're going to do a really juicy crossover with something popular. Like All-New X-Men. You’re doing a bang up job on that one. So let’s do that.”
“Ummm….You want me to come up with a story that combines the original X-Men as teens brought forward in time with the team of interstellar misfits dedicated to protecting the galaxy?”
“Why not? None of this crap really makes a lick of sense anyhow.”
“Sir, you know I’m a good company man, but I do have to point out that I also just got done with a big crossover with All-New X-Men that left them in vastly changed circumstances so I was really hoping to explore that rather than just rushing into another story that has nothing to do with any other characters or elements we’ve worked in so far.”
“How hard can it be? The X-Men are always going off into space. Like the Phoenix thing…. Hey, there’s an idea. Aliens find out that young Jean Grey is back so they kidnap her and put her on trial for what the older Jean Grey did as Phoenix. Then the Guardians show up to help out. That will also let us fulfill Marvel General Order #17: Reference Phoenix History Constantly.”
“Well, I guess I could also maybe do something with young Cyclops and his father since he’s out in space, too…..”
“There you go! See, this stuff practically writes itself.”
“Yes, sir!”
“I’ve got an assignment for you. You know that our new Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy is coming out soon.”
“I sure do, sir. One of the hundreds of Marvel titles I currently write has been a new rebooted version of Guardians to capitalize on the movie.”
“I doubt there’s going to be much to capitalize on. Seriously, it’s going to have a talking raccoon, a walking tree, and the fat guy from Parks & Rec in it. It’s going to be a flop that’ll make Howard the Duck look like Titanic by comparison. I don’t know what idiot in the film division cooked this up. Hell, all they had to do was keep shoveling a small part of the money they’re making at Robert Downey Jr. to play Iron Man and crank out a new Avengers movie every couple of years. How hard is that?
“Not hard at all, sir.”
“Well, that’s not our problem. What we need you to do is cook up some kind of crossover for Guardians.”
“Uh,… a crossover, sir?”
“Bendis, you know Marvel General Order #2 as well as I do: Crossover At Every Opportunity.”
“I’m well aware of that, sir, and I’ve written my fair share of them. It’s just that this Guardians book is fairly new, and I’ve already had to spend a lot of time having Iron Man as part of the team for a while to ride the gravy train of those films. Then I had to work in Angela because……Sir, why did we want Angela in Guardians again?“
“To spite Todd McFarlane."
“Oh, that’s right. Anyhow, after that we had the huge Infinity crossover that just wrapped up. There hasn’t been a lot of time in the book for me to develop them as the new version of the team, and I thought maybe with the movie coming out that we’d want to do some kind of story that just focused on the Guardians themselves. That way we could maybe draw in some fans of the film to our books because they could read a story that is similar to what they saw.”
“Ah, don’t worry about that. Only the hard core comic geeks are gonna see this turkey, and they’ll be too busy posting on the Interwebs how awful it was to read the book. What we need is to preemptively keep some of the stench of failure off the title so we're going to do a really juicy crossover with something popular. Like All-New X-Men. You’re doing a bang up job on that one. So let’s do that.”
“Ummm….You want me to come up with a story that combines the original X-Men as teens brought forward in time with the team of interstellar misfits dedicated to protecting the galaxy?”
“Why not? None of this crap really makes a lick of sense anyhow.”
“Sir, you know I’m a good company man, but I do have to point out that I also just got done with a big crossover with All-New X-Men that left them in vastly changed circumstances so I was really hoping to explore that rather than just rushing into another story that has nothing to do with any other characters or elements we’ve worked in so far.”
“How hard can it be? The X-Men are always going off into space. Like the Phoenix thing…. Hey, there’s an idea. Aliens find out that young Jean Grey is back so they kidnap her and put her on trial for what the older Jean Grey did as Phoenix. Then the Guardians show up to help out. That will also let us fulfill Marvel General Order #17: Reference Phoenix History Constantly.”
“Well, I guess I could also maybe do something with young Cyclops and his father since he’s out in space, too…..”
“There you go! See, this stuff practically writes itself.”
April 16, 2024
The Trial of Jean Grey for crimes her future self will commit! Nice concept, but only averagely executed, this had so much potential. 6 out of 12, Three stars; but it was a nice way to get me to see the huge improvements that Bendis has made to Guardian of the Galaxy comic books.
2016 read
2016 read
January 4, 2015
If all crossovers were this much fun, I wouldn't be such a whiner baby about them!
So, the Shi'ar Empire (specifically, Gladiator) has decided that poor little Jean Grey needs to stand trial for the sins of her future self.
Dear God, has he never heard the saying, Don't poke the bear?
Guess not.
So, Gladiator pokes the bear.
And the bear pokes back.
Of course, by the time we get to that part, even most of the other Shi'ar don't feel sorry for Gladiator.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The story switches back and forth between the (All-New) X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Each issue compliments the previous one, while still telling a coherent story (my opinion, of course).
GotG is such a fun tongue-in-cheek title that I think it kept what could have been a melodramatic story...fun.
Peter & Company find out about a plot to kidnap Jean, and race to earth to stop it.
Oops. They, unfortunately, arrive a bit too late.
So, they graciously agree to take the rest of the (All-New) X-Men halfway across the galaxy to rescue their friend.
And that kind of fucks up Gladiator's plan, because everything hinges on the fact that Earthlings don't have access to interstellar space travel.
Hi-jinks ensue, things happen, and the (Marvel) universe may never be the same.
The future is changing.
And I can't wait to see what happens next!
Get this review and more at:
So, the Shi'ar Empire (specifically, Gladiator) has decided that poor little Jean Grey needs to stand trial for the sins of her future self.
Dear God, has he never heard the saying, Don't poke the bear?
Guess not.
So, Gladiator pokes the bear.
And the bear pokes back.
Of course, by the time we get to that part, even most of the other Shi'ar don't feel sorry for Gladiator.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The story switches back and forth between the (All-New) X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Each issue compliments the previous one, while still telling a coherent story (my opinion, of course).
GotG is such a fun tongue-in-cheek title that I think it kept what could have been a melodramatic story...fun.
Peter & Company find out about a plot to kidnap Jean, and race to earth to stop it.
Oops. They, unfortunately, arrive a bit too late.
So, they graciously agree to take the rest of the (All-New) X-Men halfway across the galaxy to rescue their friend.
And that kind of fucks up Gladiator's plan, because everything hinges on the fact that Earthlings don't have access to interstellar space travel.
Hi-jinks ensue, things happen, and the (Marvel) universe may never be the same.
The future is changing.
And I can't wait to see what happens next!
Get this review and more at:
November 6, 2018
Bendis' young X-Men stranded in the future act so out of character sometimes that they seem an example of really bad written fan fiction, but the Guardians/Mutants interactions were just really good fun.
Sara Pichelli/Immonen's artworks are the stuff dreams are made of, but storyline went downfall for good after a real great start, but in the end it was not bad at all.
It seems Kitty Pryde's fate is falling in love with all Peters of Marvel Universe... Peter Rasputin, Peter Wisdom and now Peter Quill too... is Peter Parker going to be the next one?
Oh, good grief.
Gamora/Angela flirty girlfriend space assassins relationship is just gettin' better, funnier and better.
May 1, 2015
By and large, I'm not a huge fan of the darker (and whinier) direction X-Men has gone in recent years (which is fine--just because it's not written for me doesn't make it bad, as Mark Waid very astutely once said), but this story felt like a little bit of a throwback to the types of X-Men tales I enjoy: lots of action, sure, but a lot of quiet, character-building moments where people are just talking and interacting and being (pardon the word choice) human. There's a tendency to go back to the Phoenix well a little too often, but I thought Bendis handled it well here. And, I loved the Starlord/Kitty stuff.
(Did I just make it through multiple sentences without saying something inappropriate, snarky, or horribly punny? Goodness. I must be ill. I can fix this, though...maybe a little concluding joke. Hmmm...what would strike the right balance of all three of those things? Ah, got it: a baby seal walks into a club.)
(Did I just make it through multiple sentences without saying something inappropriate, snarky, or horribly punny? Goodness. I must be ill. I can fix this, though...maybe a little concluding joke. Hmmm...what would strike the right balance of all three of those things? Ah, got it: a baby seal walks into a club.)
February 18, 2015
Teenage Jean Grey, along with teen Cyclops, Beast, Iceman and Angel, are brought from the past to the present day - this is the All-New X-Men series setup. We’re multiple books into the series now and for some reason nobody’s decided to send them back in time where they belong. Anyway, the Shi’Ar take it upon themselves to punish teen Jean for the crimes her older self committed as Phoenix and abduct her for a trial in their kangaroo court. Guardians and X-Men dutifully follow.
Here’s the idiotic “moral quandary” Brian Bendis poses to the reader: is teen Jean responsible for her older self’s actions? Here’s the bleeding obvious answer: NO! Besides the fact that she’s not the same person who’s committed the crimes, she’s also younger than the version of her who did - duh! And by the way, this is the Marvel Universe - there are multiple realities and multiple versions of each character. You can’t pin the crimes of one version of a person onto a different version of that person.
So even if Phoenix has committed genocide and the Shi’Ar want someone to blame, and maybe because they also fear that she’ll do it again, even though that problem could be solved quite easily by sending her back in time - which should’ve happened a long time ago!!! - they’ve proven lord knows how many times that the past can be changed; so could the future, just as easily. All of this is fuss over nothing! But then not thinking things through and just rushing off to do a bunch of dumb shit is superhero comics all over - and Bendis does this kind of crap par excellence.
I really, really hate the plotting of All-New X-Men. Bendis has gone so far left in his views he actually justifies the teen versions of the X-Men as having the right to stay in the present/their future if they choose. Because fuck the time/space continuum, I guess? What a complete idiot.
I took a break from Bendis’ comics for the whole of 2014 because I was so burned out on them, hoping I’d return with a renewed appreciation for them afterwards. I haven’t. I’d say his writing has only gotten worse and more irritating, to me anyway. It’s actually amazing how little happens in this book. Guardians and X-Men faff about in space until they turn up at Jean’s side and it turns out their presence is useless - they’re little more than drivers for Jean to take her back to Earth.
Jean’s “trial” on the other hand takes up a handful of pages. In comparison, a go-nowhere plot about a Skrull assassin and Star Lord takes up the same amount of pages. And the “trial” is in the title!
Here’s Bendis’ way of telling a “story”: take a double splash page, cram in as many characters as you can, standing and sitting, and have them talk about nothing like it’s a house party; repeat! I’m amazed how many fans Bendis has when he does so little with his characters. I guess the fans enjoy the soap-opera scenes Bendis gives their favourite heroes? Personally I can’t stand such inanity. “D’ya wanna talk about feelings?”, “Will you… go out with me?”, “Oh my god, my hair’s all frizzy today!”, “I’m hungry, what do I want to eat?”, “I’m going through some stuff, man - and some things!”, etc. Done!
There’s some pointless superhero action scenes thrown in here and there but they’re the usual pap - everyone snarls and fires guns/powers, and they stop when they’ve taken up enough pages. Nobody’s hurt, nothing’s resolved, none of it was exciting. It’s so tiring to read such predictable garbage.
I’ll give one star for Stuart Immonen’s art, one star for Sara Pichelli’s art, and nothing at all for Bendis’ terrible, brainless script. I’m going to go back to ignoring Bendis’ comics for at least another year!
Here’s the idiotic “moral quandary” Brian Bendis poses to the reader: is teen Jean responsible for her older self’s actions? Here’s the bleeding obvious answer: NO! Besides the fact that she’s not the same person who’s committed the crimes, she’s also younger than the version of her who did - duh! And by the way, this is the Marvel Universe - there are multiple realities and multiple versions of each character. You can’t pin the crimes of one version of a person onto a different version of that person.
So even if Phoenix has committed genocide and the Shi’Ar want someone to blame, and maybe because they also fear that she’ll do it again, even though that problem could be solved quite easily by sending her back in time - which should’ve happened a long time ago!!! - they’ve proven lord knows how many times that the past can be changed; so could the future, just as easily. All of this is fuss over nothing! But then not thinking things through and just rushing off to do a bunch of dumb shit is superhero comics all over - and Bendis does this kind of crap par excellence.
I really, really hate the plotting of All-New X-Men. Bendis has gone so far left in his views he actually justifies the teen versions of the X-Men as having the right to stay in the present/their future if they choose. Because fuck the time/space continuum, I guess? What a complete idiot.
I took a break from Bendis’ comics for the whole of 2014 because I was so burned out on them, hoping I’d return with a renewed appreciation for them afterwards. I haven’t. I’d say his writing has only gotten worse and more irritating, to me anyway. It’s actually amazing how little happens in this book. Guardians and X-Men faff about in space until they turn up at Jean’s side and it turns out their presence is useless - they’re little more than drivers for Jean to take her back to Earth.
Jean’s “trial” on the other hand takes up a handful of pages. In comparison, a go-nowhere plot about a Skrull assassin and Star Lord takes up the same amount of pages. And the “trial” is in the title!
Here’s Bendis’ way of telling a “story”: take a double splash page, cram in as many characters as you can, standing and sitting, and have them talk about nothing like it’s a house party; repeat! I’m amazed how many fans Bendis has when he does so little with his characters. I guess the fans enjoy the soap-opera scenes Bendis gives their favourite heroes? Personally I can’t stand such inanity. “D’ya wanna talk about feelings?”, “Will you… go out with me?”, “Oh my god, my hair’s all frizzy today!”, “I’m hungry, what do I want to eat?”, “I’m going through some stuff, man - and some things!”, etc. Done!
There’s some pointless superhero action scenes thrown in here and there but they’re the usual pap - everyone snarls and fires guns/powers, and they stop when they’ve taken up enough pages. Nobody’s hurt, nothing’s resolved, none of it was exciting. It’s so tiring to read such predictable garbage.
I’ll give one star for Stuart Immonen’s art, one star for Sara Pichelli’s art, and nothing at all for Bendis’ terrible, brainless script. I’m going to go back to ignoring Bendis’ comics for at least another year!
August 6, 2014
What do you know, a crossover that's actually quite good. It helps that the basic idea, that the Jean Grey of the past would be put on trial for the crimes of the Phoenix, is all but inevitable. Sooner or later, Jean was going to have confront Dark Phoenix, and it makes perfect sense for that to happen on a cosmic stage. And while they're out there in space, why would the Guardians show up? The whole concept is so thoroughly logical that I'm almost surprised it actually happened.
And there's just so much good done with that premise. Putting the original X-Men plus Kitty Pryde on a ship with the Guardians results in fantastic and fantastically funny scenes. But it isn't just fun and games. I've actually enjoyed the way that All-New X-Men has finally made Jean interesting, by making her confront her future. Well, this is the ultimate confrontation, and it was executed very well. And then the Starjammers drop in, and things get even more awkward, in a wonderful way.
The ending was unexpected, but satisfying. I'm really happy about that ending, because it opens these characters' lives up that much more. It's kind of exciting.
And there's just so much good done with that premise. Putting the original X-Men plus Kitty Pryde on a ship with the Guardians results in fantastic and fantastically funny scenes. But it isn't just fun and games. I've actually enjoyed the way that All-New X-Men has finally made Jean interesting, by making her confront her future. Well, this is the ultimate confrontation, and it was executed very well. And then the Starjammers drop in, and things get even more awkward, in a wonderful way.
The ending was unexpected, but satisfying. I'm really happy about that ending, because it opens these characters' lives up that much more. It's kind of exciting.
December 7, 2015
The Shi'ar have learned that Jean Grey from the past is currently on Earth. Gladiator has decided that she should be tried for the crimes she will commit.
I have to say I thought this was the strangest idea ever. Gladiator's logic is almost as though he watched marathons of Terminator and Law and Order and said "we are too civilized to go into the past to kill a child before she kills a planet, but we should try her past self in the future for crimes she's yet to commit."
Now the question I'd have to ask if I was reading this review would be, why rate this so high then? First reason is it called BS on itself.
The second reason is The Guardians of the Galaxy are a funny bunch that liven things up and it was great they got involved. The third reason I'm keeping to myself because you need a good reason to read this and I don't want to talk about the biggest spoiler in the volume.
If Gladiator wasn't being an idiot, then he would have asked himself if he should change history by killing Jean Grey. That was the only question worth asking. The Shi'ar soldiers he sent could have easily done it. Would it be worth it though?
The Trial of Jean Grey definitely reinforces why everyone is so high on Brian Michael Bendis as an author.
I have to say I thought this was the strangest idea ever. Gladiator's logic is almost as though he watched marathons of Terminator and Law and Order and said "we are too civilized to go into the past to kill a child before she kills a planet, but we should try her past self in the future for crimes she's yet to commit."
Now the question I'd have to ask if I was reading this review would be, why rate this so high then? First reason is it called BS on itself.
"Are you blind Gladiator? She is but a child. She is not The Phoenix. She doesn't even understand what you are accusing her of. Your posturing seems quite insane." - King J-Son of SpartaxWho would figure J-Son of Spartax dictator of space would be the voice of reason. Now I'm sure he has his own evil plan, but at least he said what everyone is thinking.
The second reason is The Guardians of the Galaxy are a funny bunch that liven things up and it was great they got involved. The third reason I'm keeping to myself because you need a good reason to read this and I don't want to talk about the biggest spoiler in the volume.
If Gladiator wasn't being an idiot, then he would have asked himself if he should change history by killing Jean Grey. That was the only question worth asking. The Shi'ar soldiers he sent could have easily done it. Would it be worth it though?
The Trial of Jean Grey definitely reinforces why everyone is so high on Brian Michael Bendis as an author.
February 23, 2015
***This is the first of the "Green Theme" Buddy Reads with the Shallow Readers, criteria being: Drax and Gamora are both green.***
I might be tempted to almost call this 4.5, but 4 seems like its not an insult.
I've been following the All-New X-Men, where the past in the present have to be smacked in the face with who they became, and what they did and are doing. It's a great idea, especially since Bobby may be about the only one who doesn't have serious drama to look forward to.
Kitty is the perfect leader of this group, because she was the young teen alongside grown up versions of most of these people, so it's fair to say she can relate to them, and actually knows them as well.
The GOTG, well if I have to explain them, you're obviously living under a Rock...in North Korea. (Don't hack me Kim!)
They've added a new female 'Angela' to the team, and she seems to be a warrior and a half, who both Gamora and Rocket have crushes on.
Rocket Raccoon is by far the funniest thing to happen to Marvel in a long time. There's one scene with Tony Stark recording a message to send to them, now that he's back on Earth, and he decides to erase it and try again, only for Rocket to inform him it's live. The expression on Tony's face is priceless, as the Guardians were the one gang where Iron Man/Tony Stark wasn't the cool guy or the funny one, he was the outsider trying hard to fit in and be loved. I LOVE that Bendis has the gumption to write a major character like Tony as kinda the "hey guys, I'm cool too!" character he is there.
Guardian, (Purple Mohawk Alien head of the Sh'iar Guard) decides that with Jean Grey now alive, she should be put to trial for genocide when the Dark Phoenix destroyed a solar system. To break it down, by the end of the book, that's about the worst decision he could have made.
The GOTG discover that Jean Grey is alive, and go to investigate, but show up just in time to be too late...in Canada.
Gamora: What is a Canada?
Peter Quill/Star-Lord: It's cold and distant; you'll love it.
This leads to the X-Men/GOTG team up. Realize that the X-Men are from the past (1960s) where Neil Armstrong has yet to walk on the moon...and Beast is losing his shit about space travel and aliens. It's fun to see.
The interactions are great, because Bendis writes both books usually, so he knows the characters very well.
The interplay between Bobby and Rocket is hilarious. Rocket getting mad for being called a raccoon, Bobby being excited to talk to a talking raccoon (like a Disney movie he says...funny and a plug for the parent company lol) and so forth.
Meanwhile, it wouldn't be space and the Shi'ar if a certain band of space pirates didn't show up...yes you know the ones...
This leads to a well done touching moment between a father and a son, only this time, the father gets the same son back for the second time.
So now we've got 3 teams all together going up against Guardian and the Shi'ar, which makes for an awesome throwdown, all the while with Jean in captivity, and being made to see what damage she caused as the Dark Phoenix.
Add to the mixture, J-Son, Peter's father, showing up and pretending to be caring about Jean and the Phoenix, but having an ulterior motive of course...
So the 3 teams make their way to the Shi'ar homeworld, and shockingly, a battle ensues...
I won't go into any more specifics, but we see some very new developments, and some major left turns.
But we get some perfect mixture of humour and serious throughout the book, and some gorgeous Stuart Immonen artwork. (I had been very upset when he left All New X-Men, so I'm very happy to see him here again).
There's also some solid flirtation between Kitty and Peter, who make a decent connection, and of course, some great bits with Groot talking to trees, and making Rocket weirded out...especially back in Canada, when they run into real raccoons.
This is a fantastic, and sensible crossover (for one that involves time travellers stranded, space aliens, talking trees and raccoons, and a gigantic space cosmic entity made of energy...) and I highly recommend it, entertaining, funny, and a good story too, with definite future ramifications.
May 19, 2025
A thrilling ride
Good god, this is one of the best I've read in the X-Men books. I had missed a number of adventures in between. Great idea, fantastic visuals, a mind boggling range of characters and a different Jean Grey this Book contains everything and action by the tonnes.
The story is intense and the chase to release Jean is filled with beautiful set-piece of action.
The art is bold, bright and dramatic. The Sh'iar show their ruthless self and the confrontation is epic.
Jean shows a new shade of colour.
And a story where Scott finally walks away.
Fantastic stuff
Good god, this is one of the best I've read in the X-Men books. I had missed a number of adventures in between. Great idea, fantastic visuals, a mind boggling range of characters and a different Jean Grey this Book contains everything and action by the tonnes.
The story is intense and the chase to release Jean is filled with beautiful set-piece of action.
The art is bold, bright and dramatic. The Sh'iar show their ruthless self and the confrontation is epic.
Jean shows a new shade of colour.
And a story where Scott finally walks away.
Fantastic stuff
March 20, 2017
I actually really loved this volume. The characters were fantastic and it was great to see kitty meet quill.
September 18, 2015
[This review will include my very first set of criticisms concerning Bendis' ANXM]
After the overwhelming clusterfuck that was Battle of the Atom, I simply had no energy to spare to read and review another crossover with this title. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED BATTLE OF THE ATOM! It was superbly written in spite the parts that got me tangled up in a chaotic bundle of nerves, and even significantly weirded out. It's not a perfect or the most well-polished piece, true, but it had its awesome moments but I must admit that it had drained me profusely that I knew that when I heard about The Trial of Jean Grey, that I cannot withstand another crossover event. I prefer my All-New X-Men fluffy, a bit melodramatic and fun-times all around, thank you very much, and slices of grimy scenes here and there do give me a rush but I don't think I could ever enjoy it being smacked in the middle of big-event storylines like the recent Secret Wars, for example because--and I can't stress this more enough--I don't know enough about the Marvelverse to be enticed by its big, whopping moments. Lately I realized that there is a rich and diverse alien canon for Marvelverse which X-Men usually get a lot of collaborative plots with, but such stories are just not my cup of tea. I refrain from them as often as I could since much prefer Earth 616-based storylines for the time being and this was why the premise for this arc (and the appearance and participation of the Guardians of the Galaxy) did not appeal to me at all. I don't think I have anything comprehensible to offer for this post as I type this, honestly.
Like most of the general audience, I loved the movie adaptation of this comic title starring Chris Pratt. It was probably the most enjoyable Marvel movie I have ever encountered that balanced humor, action and enough nuanced characterizations (though 'nuanced' would probably be considered too generous if you're actually reading the comic book versions; but my opinion is based solely on the fact that I only knew of the Guardians from their cinematic counterparts). It is no doubt a marketing strategy that Marvel executives asked Bendis to incorporate the Guardians in one of his stories for ANXM, and it's not a bad idea per se, but I just wasn't that crazy about it. This would explain why I decided to do a compact and singular review of the three ANXM issues that are included in The Trial of Jean Grey. Please take note that the other three installments were packaged in the actual Guardians of the Galaxy title, and I didn't waste my time trying to secure their copies and reading them; I simply just absorbed and comprehended the available material entailed in the ANXM issues.
Issues #22-24 for The Trial of Jean Grey had enough substance as standalones, but was ultimately forgettable and even gratingly lacked any sort of forward direction. The Shi'ar empire abducted the young Jean Grey so she could stand trial for what she had yet to commit as her adult self possessed by the Phoenix Force. Confused, pissed and scared to her wits, teenage Jean doesn't understand why she is paying for crimes that were never hers as of yet, and it angered and scarred her deeply that she was once again caught in the middle of something she has no other choice but to deal with. It's been an interesting parallel lately that Bendis has been sort of working on, to compare her slightly with that of Magneto. The very fact that the titular premise is a trial heralds back to that Chris Claremont issue in the late seventies that also placed a reformed Magneto in front of an international court to be tried by law and punished by its justice system. That was a compelling piece that I will always recommend for any Magneto fan to read, and I got the sense that perhaps Bendis was trying to recreate the same thing with this arc--but, I'm sorry to say, only halfway got there. There just wasn't enough investment on this current Jean Grey because she wasn't the Jean Grey we've all grown up with in the old continuity so caring about her at this point is based solely on the fact of the ideal and the past she represented as an X-Man and as a character whose basic internal conflict has always been her struggle with controlling her powers and not the other way around. Teen Jean has been lovely for me so far; and I'm so glad Bendis kept exploring her, giving her depth and insight, making readers care enough to root for her victory over all her enemies including her worst self.
That being said, she is not the same Jean Grey. She will never be and she doesn't have to be. And that was why the Shi'ar empire's plan to try her for crimes she has never committed has diminished the moral accusation of any sort of gravity because it is fundamentally a flawed condemnation. It was so irrational and stupid that I can't believe we got six issues out of it. I think Bendis did well enough to keep the story together but my god, this has been so meaningless and unfruitful. It also had to force someone who is exclusively reading ANXM to peruse the installments in the other title (which I did after all, but it didn't improve my experience). Overall, The Trial of Jean Grey was a half-baked attempt to place a uniquely damaged character like teen Jean in a spotlight she doesn't deserve standing on in the first place. I'm trying to establish some perspective about her entire characterization and her relation to the old Jean Grey I was always a big, die-hard fan of. On one hand, I love teen Jean in that nostalgic sort of way you would adore a girl-next-door for what she meant to you as an ideal; on the other I find her pitiful and underwhelming as a character altogether especially when Bendis can't stop making overt comparisons between her and the old Jean. Honestly, I was much happier and accepting of the future-Jean version she met in Battle of the Atom (whom I dubbed Xorn-Jean to avoid confusion) because that was the Jean she did grow up to be after choosing to stay in a timeline she should never have been a part of.
I wouldn't describe having a love-hate relationship with her but after reading this arc, I may have to re-calibrate and question my sense of loyalty to teen Jean. I think we have spent too much time on Jean. To break it down, here is a pie chart of how the writing and focus of the narrative for issues in AXMN have been poorly allocated among the five OCF and other characters:
Yes, yes, yes, Jean Grey is awesome. I enjoy reading about her all the time. A lot of us find her breathlessly intriguing in whatever version she may be. But I would appreciate more page time to deal with Warren or Bobby's stuff. Heck, even Hank (whose future self is responsible for this whole clusterfuck anyway) doesn't get enough page time to reflect on his role. Ever since the first two volumes, Bendis has stopped exploring the other four characters and just zeroed in on young Jean which is great for feminist writing but I can't help but feel an imbalance on the overall quality of the work Bendis puts out for ANXM. I'm glad we get Jean in the X-Men comics continuity again after her death years ago but she's beginning to get the Wolverine Syndrome treatment and a little bit goes a long way, Bendis and co.
The thing is, after The Trial of Jean Grey ended, teen Scott who was reunited with his father, Corsair, decided to travel the stars with him. That was a twist I did not expect and it was a great revelation but also quite a pitiful turn because now we have one less OCF member to explore. Scott was the near second OCF character to get enough page time to develop his arc, so I guess him being put on the sidelines meant more time for Bobby and Warren. I read ahead in #25 and #26 and Warren definitely got three or four more pages than his usual quota. Bobby--lovely, sweet and funny Robert--has to fucking stop with the comedic one-liners by now. He's more than just a supplier of punchlines, Bendis. In issue #18 we had these panels of him talking about his feelings and opinions about all has happened--and Bendis himself and the character he was talking to DISMISSED THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION! I didn't notice it at first but now that I revisted that part in issue #18, I realized that was a little cruel. Heck, at least Jeff Parker was able to balance each OCF in his issues, allowing them enough page time for readers to get to know more. If we can't send these kids back to their own timeline anymore, we might as well make the most of that and develop not just Jean Grey but also the other boys, no? I'm very adamant about this, Mr. Bendis.
I sure hope that change is on the horizon. This is the very first time I complained about ANXM but it actually helped me put things in perspective after picking apart some of the stuff I was displeased with after consuming almost thirty issues of this (counting the crossover titles). This is also the first time I'm giving my lowest grade yet and this rating covers all three installments of The Trial of Jean Grey.
RECOMMENDED: 6/10
DO READ MY REVIEWS AT:
After the overwhelming clusterfuck that was Battle of the Atom, I simply had no energy to spare to read and review another crossover with this title. Don't get me wrong, I LOVED BATTLE OF THE ATOM! It was superbly written in spite the parts that got me tangled up in a chaotic bundle of nerves, and even significantly weirded out. It's not a perfect or the most well-polished piece, true, but it had its awesome moments but I must admit that it had drained me profusely that I knew that when I heard about The Trial of Jean Grey, that I cannot withstand another crossover event. I prefer my All-New X-Men fluffy, a bit melodramatic and fun-times all around, thank you very much, and slices of grimy scenes here and there do give me a rush but I don't think I could ever enjoy it being smacked in the middle of big-event storylines like the recent Secret Wars, for example because--and I can't stress this more enough--I don't know enough about the Marvelverse to be enticed by its big, whopping moments. Lately I realized that there is a rich and diverse alien canon for Marvelverse which X-Men usually get a lot of collaborative plots with, but such stories are just not my cup of tea. I refrain from them as often as I could since much prefer Earth 616-based storylines for the time being and this was why the premise for this arc (and the appearance and participation of the Guardians of the Galaxy) did not appeal to me at all. I don't think I have anything comprehensible to offer for this post as I type this, honestly.
Like most of the general audience, I loved the movie adaptation of this comic title starring Chris Pratt. It was probably the most enjoyable Marvel movie I have ever encountered that balanced humor, action and enough nuanced characterizations (though 'nuanced' would probably be considered too generous if you're actually reading the comic book versions; but my opinion is based solely on the fact that I only knew of the Guardians from their cinematic counterparts). It is no doubt a marketing strategy that Marvel executives asked Bendis to incorporate the Guardians in one of his stories for ANXM, and it's not a bad idea per se, but I just wasn't that crazy about it. This would explain why I decided to do a compact and singular review of the three ANXM issues that are included in The Trial of Jean Grey. Please take note that the other three installments were packaged in the actual Guardians of the Galaxy title, and I didn't waste my time trying to secure their copies and reading them; I simply just absorbed and comprehended the available material entailed in the ANXM issues.
Issues #22-24 for The Trial of Jean Grey had enough substance as standalones, but was ultimately forgettable and even gratingly lacked any sort of forward direction. The Shi'ar empire abducted the young Jean Grey so she could stand trial for what she had yet to commit as her adult self possessed by the Phoenix Force. Confused, pissed and scared to her wits, teenage Jean doesn't understand why she is paying for crimes that were never hers as of yet, and it angered and scarred her deeply that she was once again caught in the middle of something she has no other choice but to deal with. It's been an interesting parallel lately that Bendis has been sort of working on, to compare her slightly with that of Magneto. The very fact that the titular premise is a trial heralds back to that Chris Claremont issue in the late seventies that also placed a reformed Magneto in front of an international court to be tried by law and punished by its justice system. That was a compelling piece that I will always recommend for any Magneto fan to read, and I got the sense that perhaps Bendis was trying to recreate the same thing with this arc--but, I'm sorry to say, only halfway got there. There just wasn't enough investment on this current Jean Grey because she wasn't the Jean Grey we've all grown up with in the old continuity so caring about her at this point is based solely on the fact of the ideal and the past she represented as an X-Man and as a character whose basic internal conflict has always been her struggle with controlling her powers and not the other way around. Teen Jean has been lovely for me so far; and I'm so glad Bendis kept exploring her, giving her depth and insight, making readers care enough to root for her victory over all her enemies including her worst self.
That being said, she is not the same Jean Grey. She will never be and she doesn't have to be. And that was why the Shi'ar empire's plan to try her for crimes she has never committed has diminished the moral accusation of any sort of gravity because it is fundamentally a flawed condemnation. It was so irrational and stupid that I can't believe we got six issues out of it. I think Bendis did well enough to keep the story together but my god, this has been so meaningless and unfruitful. It also had to force someone who is exclusively reading ANXM to peruse the installments in the other title (which I did after all, but it didn't improve my experience). Overall, The Trial of Jean Grey was a half-baked attempt to place a uniquely damaged character like teen Jean in a spotlight she doesn't deserve standing on in the first place. I'm trying to establish some perspective about her entire characterization and her relation to the old Jean Grey I was always a big, die-hard fan of. On one hand, I love teen Jean in that nostalgic sort of way you would adore a girl-next-door for what she meant to you as an ideal; on the other I find her pitiful and underwhelming as a character altogether especially when Bendis can't stop making overt comparisons between her and the old Jean. Honestly, I was much happier and accepting of the future-Jean version she met in Battle of the Atom (whom I dubbed Xorn-Jean to avoid confusion) because that was the Jean she did grow up to be after choosing to stay in a timeline she should never have been a part of.
I wouldn't describe having a love-hate relationship with her but after reading this arc, I may have to re-calibrate and question my sense of loyalty to teen Jean. I think we have spent too much time on Jean. To break it down, here is a pie chart of how the writing and focus of the narrative for issues in AXMN have been poorly allocated among the five OCF and other characters:
Yes, yes, yes, Jean Grey is awesome. I enjoy reading about her all the time. A lot of us find her breathlessly intriguing in whatever version she may be. But I would appreciate more page time to deal with Warren or Bobby's stuff. Heck, even Hank (whose future self is responsible for this whole clusterfuck anyway) doesn't get enough page time to reflect on his role. Ever since the first two volumes, Bendis has stopped exploring the other four characters and just zeroed in on young Jean which is great for feminist writing but I can't help but feel an imbalance on the overall quality of the work Bendis puts out for ANXM. I'm glad we get Jean in the X-Men comics continuity again after her death years ago but she's beginning to get the Wolverine Syndrome treatment and a little bit goes a long way, Bendis and co.
The thing is, after The Trial of Jean Grey ended, teen Scott who was reunited with his father, Corsair, decided to travel the stars with him. That was a twist I did not expect and it was a great revelation but also quite a pitiful turn because now we have one less OCF member to explore. Scott was the near second OCF character to get enough page time to develop his arc, so I guess him being put on the sidelines meant more time for Bobby and Warren. I read ahead in #25 and #26 and Warren definitely got three or four more pages than his usual quota. Bobby--lovely, sweet and funny Robert--has to fucking stop with the comedic one-liners by now. He's more than just a supplier of punchlines, Bendis. In issue #18 we had these panels of him talking about his feelings and opinions about all has happened--and Bendis himself and the character he was talking to DISMISSED THE ENTIRE CONVERSATION! I didn't notice it at first but now that I revisted that part in issue #18, I realized that was a little cruel. Heck, at least Jeff Parker was able to balance each OCF in his issues, allowing them enough page time for readers to get to know more. If we can't send these kids back to their own timeline anymore, we might as well make the most of that and develop not just Jean Grey but also the other boys, no? I'm very adamant about this, Mr. Bendis.
I sure hope that change is on the horizon. This is the very first time I complained about ANXM but it actually helped me put things in perspective after picking apart some of the stuff I was displeased with after consuming almost thirty issues of this (counting the crossover titles). This is also the first time I'm giving my lowest grade yet and this rating covers all three installments of The Trial of Jean Grey.
RECOMMENDED: 6/10
DO READ MY REVIEWS AT:
September 24, 2021
This was a pretty good volume!
It starts with the Guardians recruiting Angela and dealing with J'son and all but then they hear the news that Gladiator and Shi'aar have taken Jean hostage and want to try her for her crimes as the Dark Phoenix but this is the young Jean and so she has not committed them and so the whole "is she guilty even though she hasn't done it yet" argument happens and its fascinating to see the events play out as they do.
The Guardians, Starjammers and Young X-Men all team up to rescue Jean and we see her trial proceed, convictions and time travel shenanigans, bust in, the big fight and new powers manifesting and the reunion of Father son and lovers quarrels and Cyclops being the star!
Its an epic volume and has various philosophical debates and has the Guardians and X-Men fight the Shi'aar in an epic fight with the art being good on all sides and I love it. Bendis has this uncanny ability to take previous storylines and make them epic and like really hard hitting and he gives major moments for Scott and Jean and also interesting development for Guardians! Great read!
It starts with the Guardians recruiting Angela and dealing with J'son and all but then they hear the news that Gladiator and Shi'aar have taken Jean hostage and want to try her for her crimes as the Dark Phoenix but this is the young Jean and so she has not committed them and so the whole "is she guilty even though she hasn't done it yet" argument happens and its fascinating to see the events play out as they do.
The Guardians, Starjammers and Young X-Men all team up to rescue Jean and we see her trial proceed, convictions and time travel shenanigans, bust in, the big fight and new powers manifesting and the reunion of Father son and lovers quarrels and Cyclops being the star!
Its an epic volume and has various philosophical debates and has the Guardians and X-Men fight the Shi'aar in an epic fight with the art being good on all sides and I love it. Bendis has this uncanny ability to take previous storylines and make them epic and like really hard hitting and he gives major moments for Scott and Jean and also interesting development for Guardians! Great read!
May 23, 2020
"El juicio de Jean Grey" es un crossover entre All New X-Men y Guardianes de la Galaxia, ambos en ese momento escritos por Bendis.
Me gustaba cómo llevó a los jóvenes X-Men Bendis en parte, los conflictos de Jean y Scott son muy reales. Pero cuando peor estaban llegan los Shiar del espacio y raptan a Jean con la intención de presentarla como una amenaza al universo entero.
De parte de los Shiar están nada menos que su guardia imperial encabezada por Kallark o "Gladiador" y el resto del escuadrón. Los X-Men y los Guardianes recibirán a su vez una ayuda importante del espacio, sobre todo para Cíclope.
Me gustaba cómo llevó a los jóvenes X-Men Bendis en parte, los conflictos de Jean y Scott son muy reales. Pero cuando peor estaban llegan los Shiar del espacio y raptan a Jean con la intención de presentarla como una amenaza al universo entero.
De parte de los Shiar están nada menos que su guardia imperial encabezada por Kallark o "Gladiador" y el resto del escuadrón. Los X-Men y los Guardianes recibirán a su vez una ayuda importante del espacio, sobre todo para Cíclope.
February 1, 2015
Pink Taco Buddy Read with the most hallowed Shallow Readers!
Heretically, we decided these comics *must* feature a female character. Sue us.
As always, Bendis does the believable and funny dialogue. Jean and Scott fighting? Throwing off a few quips? How's about the understandable weirdness of having half the argument out loud in front of Warren, and half silently as little bits of telepathy and leaky thoughts weave their way throughout? Immomen's rendition of how awkward and indifferent Warren is, is priceless.
Someone's having fun with the captions. "Seventeen flonax later. Okay, about one week." Made me laugh.
The artists had a good time drawing this. You know how I know? The art looks GOOD. Colours, composition, layout, facial acting. Just breezes right along because it's so easy on the brain and the eyes.
The story though? Man, seems like all the same basic plot movements we've seen before. Someone goes on trial, people argue about whether it's right, people meet with the offense and defense, argue their cases, and then the Big Day In Court. Jean Grey herself - for as much as she's the center of this story - doesn't actually seem to say much of importance, or learn a whole lot of anything. She's mostly window dressing, once she's abducted - a bauble for others to admire (or despise).
As much as I like the interplay between the fun characters (and the appearance of folks I haven't seen in a while), the courtly and courtroom politics were boring, and I never felt any tension over the outcome.
Which is why the ending twists were so surprising. I figured this was another return-to-status-quo, given how little anyone learned or grew here. It's like the story served as an arbitrary backdrop for what we got in the last chapter. As much as I sat up to take notice of that, it was sad that we spent six issues on something that should've been told in two.
Are you not entertained? You’ll laugh, cry and shudder in embarrassment when you [image error]
Heretically, we decided these comics *must* feature a female character. Sue us.
As always, Bendis does the believable and funny dialogue. Jean and Scott fighting? Throwing off a few quips? How's about the understandable weirdness of having half the argument out loud in front of Warren, and half silently as little bits of telepathy and leaky thoughts weave their way throughout? Immomen's rendition of how awkward and indifferent Warren is, is priceless.
Someone's having fun with the captions. "Seventeen flonax later. Okay, about one week." Made me laugh.
The artists had a good time drawing this. You know how I know? The art looks GOOD. Colours, composition, layout, facial acting. Just breezes right along because it's so easy on the brain and the eyes.
The story though? Man, seems like all the same basic plot movements we've seen before. Someone goes on trial, people argue about whether it's right, people meet with the offense and defense, argue their cases, and then the Big Day In Court. Jean Grey herself - for as much as she's the center of this story - doesn't actually seem to say much of importance, or learn a whole lot of anything. She's mostly window dressing, once she's abducted - a bauble for others to admire (or despise).
As much as I like the interplay between the fun characters (and the appearance of folks I haven't seen in a while), the courtly and courtroom politics were boring, and I never felt any tension over the outcome.
Which is why the ending twists were so surprising. I figured this was another return-to-status-quo, given how little anyone learned or grew here. It's like the story served as an arbitrary backdrop for what we got in the last chapter. As much as I sat up to take notice of that, it was sad that we spent six issues on something that should've been told in two.
Are you not entertained? You’ll laugh, cry and shudder in embarrassment when you [image error]
May 3, 2016
This crossover is a love letter to the Claremontian space opera that used to happen with regularity in the X-Men's most revered period; X-Men versus the Shiar Imperial Guard for the fate of the galaxy. This time, with Bendis handling the reins on both the mutants and Guardians of the Galaxy, the X-Men have new allies against the Gladiator and his team.
This was a great crossover story; the writing may be serviceable but the art by Stuart Immonen and Sarach Pichelli (with some help from David Marquez) is superb. The reader probably enjoyed this more than ordinarily expected. A favorite scene for some would be the reunion between young time-displaced Cyclops and his father. It was great to have the Starjammers back and this story lead-in to a short-lived Cyclops series.
This was a great crossover story and it inspired a follow-up in The Black Vortex, which the reader hopes to read in its entirety soon.
This was a great crossover story; the writing may be serviceable but the art by Stuart Immonen and Sarach Pichelli (with some help from David Marquez) is superb. The reader probably enjoyed this more than ordinarily expected. A favorite scene for some would be the reunion between young time-displaced Cyclops and his father. It was great to have the Starjammers back and this story lead-in to a short-lived Cyclops series.
This was a great crossover story and it inspired a follow-up in The Black Vortex, which the reader hopes to read in its entirety soon.
August 9, 2016
Who doesn't love a good team-up? Especially when Rocket and Groot are involved.
July 29, 2016
Upon hearing that Jean Grey is on Earth, The Shi'ar decide to put her on trail for crimes she hasn't even committed yet. Being the protects of Earth, The Guardians of the Galaxy decide to get involved and help out, even with the tensions between all the Galactic Empires.
A more enjoyable and easier to follow crossover than Battle of the Atom. I just hope that Bendis is done with the whole 'will the Jean Grey from the past be the Phoenix?' for a while. Because with Jean Grey, it always seems comes down to the Phoenix, as if there's no other use for her as a character. And there might not be, but let's try to find one, maybe?
All-New X-men was becoming a little fatigued as a series ( with the fourth volume being really weak), but there are some status-quo changes here that'll hopefully give it the kick it needs to become really good again.
Fun interaction with The Guardians and the X-men, which is what you want and expect (and I think the reason I liked it more than Battle of the Atom). Each team gets enough panel time and moments. I think if they'd tried to turn this into an event, it would have hurt the story a lot because it wouldn't feel as personal to the two books.
Now I'm just waiting for the eventual X-men/Guardians of the Galaxy/Avengers crossover by Bendis and Hickman. Because there's gotta be one coming, right?
A more enjoyable and easier to follow crossover than Battle of the Atom. I just hope that Bendis is done with the whole 'will the Jean Grey from the past be the Phoenix?' for a while. Because with Jean Grey, it always seems comes down to the Phoenix, as if there's no other use for her as a character. And there might not be, but let's try to find one, maybe?
All-New X-men was becoming a little fatigued as a series ( with the fourth volume being really weak), but there are some status-quo changes here that'll hopefully give it the kick it needs to become really good again.
Fun interaction with The Guardians and the X-men, which is what you want and expect (and I think the reason I liked it more than Battle of the Atom). Each team gets enough panel time and moments. I think if they'd tried to turn this into an event, it would have hurt the story a lot because it wouldn't feel as personal to the two books.
Now I'm just waiting for the eventual X-men/Guardians of the Galaxy/Avengers crossover by Bendis and Hickman. Because there's gotta be one coming, right?
September 5, 2015
Good fun crossover.
May 4, 2021
This is a fun read, a few laughs and lots of action. I gave it a 3 for those reasons, but (I realize it might not be a fair comparison) having read the 80's "Dark Phoenix Saga" which leads into the death of Jean Grey, this just didn't stack up.
The artwork is well done, but this time for me the coloring was too dark. I also didn't get as much laughs as we can expect from the Guardians.
While it is worth a read, I wouldn't expect anything spectacular from it.
The artwork is well done, but this time for me the coloring was too dark. I also didn't get as much laughs as we can expect from the Guardians.
While it is worth a read, I wouldn't expect anything spectacular from it.
December 23, 2015
Read a different version of this. see review there.
November 23, 2016
Actually rating: 3.75 out of 5 stars
If you know me well, I'm a sucker for The Guardians of The Galaxy. I even watched the movie for the billionth time the other day. However, since X-Men: Apocalypse came out, I've been feeling kind of burnt out on the X-Men characters, both movies and comics. That's so weird because X-Men used to be my favourite superhero franchise EVER, even before I was the big marvel fan I am today.
I still kind of feel the burn out, but crossovers like this totally makes it worth it! I read The Legendary Star-Lord Volume 1 a couple of months ago and that convinced me to pick this one up.
I do have to say I liked that one better than this one, but I still over all enjoyed this! This was another reminder to separate the comics from the films and that GotG and X-Men crossovers are the freaking bomb!
PROs:
- I have to mention Peter Quill and Kitty Pryde. I ship them hard!
- The connection between the two issues was so great! You don't get it once you've finished the first one, but when you read the second one, it draws the connect between the two, and I like that!
- Tony Stark cameo. That's always a PRO
- The Dark Phoenix plot line is always a make or break factor in the X-Men comics, but it was done well here
- And I really liked the art style
CONs:
- The first issue had a good focus on the Guardians, but after that the X-Men kind of stole the show. I mean, I know it's the "Trial of Jean Grey", but I think in a way this didn't necessarily need to be combined crossover. It could have just been the X-Men with GotG cameos if they liked.
- What even was Drax's job in this comic? I swear I never get a good story about Drax in the comics or even in the Guardians movie. It's not that he's my favourite, he is actually the opposite for me. I want to like him, but he just seems like a dull, grieving and angry character, so I'd appreciate more character depth from him in the comics (this is just my perspective on the comics I've read and the movie). I think Groot wasn't used that much either. I feel like all the X-Men here played a part and only half the Guardians truly got to shine.
Overall, it was a good read! Can't wait to read more comics as always ;)
If you know me well, I'm a sucker for The Guardians of The Galaxy. I even watched the movie for the billionth time the other day. However, since X-Men: Apocalypse came out, I've been feeling kind of burnt out on the X-Men characters, both movies and comics. That's so weird because X-Men used to be my favourite superhero franchise EVER, even before I was the big marvel fan I am today.
I still kind of feel the burn out, but crossovers like this totally makes it worth it! I read The Legendary Star-Lord Volume 1 a couple of months ago and that convinced me to pick this one up.
I do have to say I liked that one better than this one, but I still over all enjoyed this! This was another reminder to separate the comics from the films and that GotG and X-Men crossovers are the freaking bomb!
PROs:
- I have to mention Peter Quill and Kitty Pryde. I ship them hard!
- The connection between the two issues was so great! You don't get it once you've finished the first one, but when you read the second one, it draws the connect between the two, and I like that!
- Tony Stark cameo. That's always a PRO
- The Dark Phoenix plot line is always a make or break factor in the X-Men comics, but it was done well here
- And I really liked the art style
CONs:
- The first issue had a good focus on the Guardians, but after that the X-Men kind of stole the show. I mean, I know it's the "Trial of Jean Grey", but I think in a way this didn't necessarily need to be combined crossover. It could have just been the X-Men with GotG cameos if they liked.
- What even was Drax's job in this comic? I swear I never get a good story about Drax in the comics or even in the Guardians movie. It's not that he's my favourite, he is actually the opposite for me. I want to like him, but he just seems like a dull, grieving and angry character, so I'd appreciate more character depth from him in the comics (this is just my perspective on the comics I've read and the movie). I think Groot wasn't used that much either. I feel like all the X-Men here played a part and only half the Guardians truly got to shine.
Overall, it was a good read! Can't wait to read more comics as always ;)
October 20, 2015
This volume of the All-New X-Men includes a crossover storyline with the Guardians of the Galaxy. The Shi'ar Empire, who has been on-again, off-again friends and foes of the X-Men for years, finds out that a young Jean Grey has been brought forward from the past. Since this time's (deceased) Jean Grey destroyed a planet (and a Shi'ar battlecruiser) when she turned into Dark Phoenix, the Shi'ar decide to go abduct Jean Grey and put her on trial. For crimes her alt-future self committed in the past. Yes, it is pretty messed up.
The Guardians of the Galaxy show up to help. So do the Starjammers, which means young Scott Summers/Cyclops gets a reunion with his father all over again - or all over again for his dad. Then everyone is off to the Shi'ar homeworld to rescue Jean Grey and have a big battle with the Imperial Guards.
It looks like the new series is going to flirt with the Dark Phoenix storyline, since Jean "levels up" and unleashes some serious ass-whuppin', without going phoenix, but definitely displaying powers her older/other self never did.
And then things continue to go off the rails in terms of the predestined futures of the young X-Men, which clearly are not to be these X-Men's futures.
It was a pretty good story, continuing to bring in old familiar characters and Marvel history that will be recognizable to old-timers, but doing everything over again with a new plot. I did not find that the Shi'ar's actions really made sense - even some of their own were questioning why they were putting on a trial a girl whose future (dead) self had committed the crime.
There is a lot of banter between the Guardians, currently one of Marvel's hottest properties, and the X-Men. My favorite line was Kitty's: "I hate space. I've had very bad luck in space." A reference, of course, to the epic Brood storyline, back when Kitty was a young'un.
The Guardians of the Galaxy show up to help. So do the Starjammers, which means young Scott Summers/Cyclops gets a reunion with his father all over again - or all over again for his dad. Then everyone is off to the Shi'ar homeworld to rescue Jean Grey and have a big battle with the Imperial Guards.
It looks like the new series is going to flirt with the Dark Phoenix storyline, since Jean "levels up" and unleashes some serious ass-whuppin', without going phoenix, but definitely displaying powers her older/other self never did.
And then things continue to go off the rails in terms of the predestined futures of the young X-Men, which clearly are not to be these X-Men's futures.
It was a pretty good story, continuing to bring in old familiar characters and Marvel history that will be recognizable to old-timers, but doing everything over again with a new plot. I did not find that the Shi'ar's actions really made sense - even some of their own were questioning why they were putting on a trial a girl whose future (dead) self had committed the crime.
There is a lot of banter between the Guardians, currently one of Marvel's hottest properties, and the X-Men. My favorite line was Kitty's: "I hate space. I've had very bad luck in space." A reference, of course, to the epic Brood storyline, back when Kitty was a young'un.
March 29, 2015
i'm a big fan of X-men and recently i became a fan of guardians of the galaxy. I picked this comic because i read somewhere that in this issue, Jean Grey telepathically connects to Groot and she discovers that his thoughts are indeed complex and that declaration of "I am Groot!" usually represents attempts at highly intelligent communication. I was really excited about that, but that part wasn't in this comic book. Why? I don't know, maybe i've read the wrong comic book!?
January 23, 2016
4.5 stars
Best volume in All New X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy so far!! Really enjoyed it. Especially the comedy. It was like a double dose of the usual humor.
Best volume in All New X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy so far!! Really enjoyed it. Especially the comedy. It was like a double dose of the usual humor.
July 6, 2023
It was something fresh for me, I didn’t know that i was missing X - Men until i read this one. Good and tight storyline, on the point storytelling.
December 17, 2014
Did you know that Jean Grey was once the host of the Phoenix? Oh, you didn't? Well don't worry. There are about a million X-Men books that will remind you of that fact. Alright, maybe not that many, but it's still a lot. In my reading of the various X-Men books through out the years I don't know how many times a story has been in some way connected to Jean being the Phoenix. Or even just the Phoenix its self. Part of the reason I got into All New X-Men was because it sounded like an idea that had been done a million times before. I guess I'm just tired of reading X-Men comics where they go mining for the same gold over and over.
That being said, this is still one of my favorite on-going series right now. I think the most amazing part is that it's made me care for characters I've never really liked. The biggest one being Scott. I've just always thought he was super boring. His power has always been cool, but beyond that, there isn't much there to interest me. This new young Scott is completely different thought. I loved the part where he flat out gives Gladiator a death threat. He even uses the word "Hellfire", how cool is that?
Jean's character is also one that is growing on me and growing quite interesting. Part of the coolness of this series is how it's made parallel versions of the Original Five. I don't think this is anymore clear then with Scott and Jean. They clearly will not grow up to be the people they became anymore. It's very interesting to read about Jean rebelling against who everyone wants her to be because she doesn't want to grow up to be the person they all know.
Still a great series and I still want to keep reading it.
That being said, this is still one of my favorite on-going series right now. I think the most amazing part is that it's made me care for characters I've never really liked. The biggest one being Scott. I've just always thought he was super boring. His power has always been cool, but beyond that, there isn't much there to interest me. This new young Scott is completely different thought. I loved the part where he flat out gives Gladiator a death threat. He even uses the word "Hellfire", how cool is that?
Jean's character is also one that is growing on me and growing quite interesting. Part of the coolness of this series is how it's made parallel versions of the Original Five. I don't think this is anymore clear then with Scott and Jean. They clearly will not grow up to be the people they became anymore. It's very interesting to read about Jean rebelling against who everyone wants her to be because she doesn't want to grow up to be the person they all know.
Still a great series and I still want to keep reading it.
October 15, 2015
So I picked this up rather randomly from the library and gave it a go. It was okay, considering I wasn't much a fan of the GotG movie. It has its funny moments, but not all of them are funny, you know?
Poor teenage Jean Grey is suddenly put on trial by the dudes from the Shi'ar for something that she technically hasn't done yet. Peter Quill and co. and a barely out of high school X-bunch rush off to save her...after getting their ship blown up, making a series of introductions and quips, having an emotional reunion with Scott's dad and hijacking a Shi'ar ship. Don't forget Scott passing out twice.
*crickets chirping*
Yeah, no wonder Jean busts herself out.
I think the main issue was that I really wanted these guys to kick butt side by side ETA yesterday and that happened way too late for too little time. But generally, a fun read, with a strange depth in Jean's angst. Also, ANGELA IS SO BADASS. And the art was cool in a slick way. That made it pretty worthwhile.
P.S. Compare these:
Poor teenage Jean Grey is suddenly put on trial by the dudes from the Shi'ar for something that she technically hasn't done yet. Peter Quill and co. and a barely out of high school X-bunch rush off to save her...after getting their ship blown up, making a series of introductions and quips, having an emotional reunion with Scott's dad and hijacking a Shi'ar ship. Don't forget Scott passing out twice.
*crickets chirping*
Yeah, no wonder Jean busts herself out.
I think the main issue was that I really wanted these guys to kick butt side by side ETA yesterday and that happened way too late for too little time. But generally, a fun read, with a strange depth in Jean's angst. Also, ANGELA IS SO BADASS. And the art was cool in a slick way. That made it pretty worthwhile.
P.S. Compare these:
December 27, 2014
I've come at this from the GotG end rather than X-Men, so it was interesting for me to have a little peek into that other world. I won't be bothering with the All-New XMen series myself, though, the teenage versions of those characters just don't do it for me (and whatever age he is, Scott is a douche).
On the one hand I'm impressed that the writer managed to pull together a crossover story between these two groups that actually made some sort of sense. On the other hand I've read three books now and I still haven't had a chance to see the Guardians working as their own as a team. I like a cameo as much as the next person (and at least this one didn't have a lame-assed version of Stark in it) but it did feel like someone drew a lottery to see how many familiar faces they could ram into this story.
I'll be moving on to the next book in the Guardians series tomorrow (Vol.3) and I really do hope for a little more GotG and less 'a walk through a Marvel encyclopedia of popular characters'.
On the one hand I'm impressed that the writer managed to pull together a crossover story between these two groups that actually made some sort of sense. On the other hand I've read three books now and I still haven't had a chance to see the Guardians working as their own as a team. I like a cameo as much as the next person (and at least this one didn't have a lame-assed version of Stark in it) but it did feel like someone drew a lottery to see how many familiar faces they could ram into this story.
I'll be moving on to the next book in the Guardians series tomorrow (Vol.3) and I really do hope for a little more GotG and less 'a walk through a Marvel encyclopedia of popular characters'.
January 7, 2018
I rather liked this Guardians-Xmen story. The leaders of the various galactic empires are informed by Gladiator of the Shi'ar that he plans to bring Jean Gray to trial for her actions as the Phoniex. Problem is, in this timeline, the Jean Grey is a very young Jean who was brought into the "future" (which is now). So THIS Jean Gray never became the Phoniex, that's in her future. So you can see the legal conundrum this presents. Never mind, Gladiator is far too dense to understand such subtlety.
This was a very fun read. Bendis' dry humor works extremely well with the Xmen and Guardians. There were a few panels that did make me smile. The artwork is also very good and make for a lot of cool eye candy. But fear not there is a great tale here as well- humor, action and some interestingly deep concepts such as assigning guilt to someone for something haven't done yet. Well done! Bendis' Guardians is a great series.
This was a very fun read. Bendis' dry humor works extremely well with the Xmen and Guardians. There were a few panels that did make me smile. The artwork is also very good and make for a lot of cool eye candy. But fear not there is a great tale here as well- humor, action and some interestingly deep concepts such as assigning guilt to someone for something haven't done yet. Well done! Bendis' Guardians is a great series.
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