Thursday, December 12, 2013

Unlettered Uncolored Preview of Guardians of the Galaxy #11: The Trial of Jean Grey

In the age of high definition TVs and retina display smart phones, we take for granted that at one point in time, our entertainment was black and white. I'm glad we don't live in that era. Even if that era had cheaper beer, legal ecstasy, and better cocaine, I wouldn't want to live in a world where I can't watch porn on my phone in a public bathroom. I don't think anyone misses the black and white era of TV and movies. But every now and then, some black and white shit comes along and it doesn't always suck.

All comic books start as black and white. Then I imagine the artist takes a hit of LSD and tries to add colors consistent with those on the face of the unicorns they see. That or they use Photoshop. Probably Photoshop. And sometimes those early sketches of a comic book can be like seeing a baby in the womb before it's born. It has a unique sense of beauty, like a flower that's preparing to bloom or a stripper that's stripping down to her panties. For events that we'll have to wait a long fucking time to see, I can honestly say I don't mind.

In 2014, the big event for All New X-men and Guardians of the Galaxy is the Trial of Jean Grey. This event actually doesn't feel like something a writer pulled out of his ass while on a drinking bender. This is something that anyone with a marginal knowledge of the history of X-men imagined could happen when they found out that the O5 X-men were coming to the future. Bullshit retcons aside, Jean Grey did a lot of fucking damage as Dark Phoenix and she never stood trial for her crimes. Then again, Marvel doesn't seem to give to licks of a toilet seat about trials since they never bothered to give Cyclops one before they threw his ass in jail. But Cyclops killed only one person. Dark Phoenix killed fucking 5 billion. That's not some shit that can be swept under the rug.

This event is so big that it warrants a crossover with another one of Bendis's ongoings, Guardians of the Galaxy. And anyone who hasn't been following this book deserves a hard kick in both kidneys because it's fucking awesome. Seriously, how can a story that has a machine-gun packing racoons not be awesome? But they're getting involved because the Shi'ar are making it a galactic incident. And O5 Jean Grey, who has been doing her best to run from her future since she arrived, will have to stand and face it. And Comic Book Resources must sell blow to the guys at Marvel because they got an unlettered, uncolored preview of the first issue of the crossover, which happens to be Guardians of the Galaxy #11.


“The Trial of Jean Grey”

The Guardians of the Galaxy get a reminder of Earth when they cross paths with the All-New X-Men during the TRIAL OF JEAN GREY! When an alien race discovers that the original Jean Grey is back on Earth, they decide to hold her accountable for the acts of the Dark Phoenix, and it’s up to the Guardians to help the X-Men save her. You won’t want to miss the first encounter between two of the biggest franchises in the Marvel U!



I think it's worth pointing out again that O5 Jean Grey is a fucking teenager. She's supposed to be worrying about mid-terms, pimples, clothes, and her parents finding her birth control pills in her sock drawer. Now she's being put on trial for shit she hasn't even done yet. This is one part of her future that she can't run from. The Shi'ar are going to shove it right in her fucking face and there's not a damn thing she can do about it. I doubt there's any high school counselor on the planet that could help her deal with this.

At the same time, I hope this can be a turning point of sorts for O5 Jean. At some point, she has to realize that by running from her future, she's going to fuck up the space time continuum even more. She can't change what she ends up doing. But she can change the affect she has on the future. And if she really does want to change something without risking the entire fucking universe, she has to take a different approach. Perhaps the Shi'ar will kick her ass into taking a new approach on how she handles her powers, the Phoenix Force, and her relationship with O5 Cyclops. She has a chance to fix a lot of convoluted shit in the X-men mythos. For Odin's sake, I hope she uses it. Nuff said!

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