For much of the remainder the Guardians are separated, with some really powerful enemies tracking them down in rambling stories padded via the use of big images across spreads. Captain Marvel and Venom join the Guardians, their fate being to star in one story centred on them, then disappear for episodes at a time with no mention of where they might be. Unfortunately, the remaining content is nowhere near as good. It’s a winner even before factoring in the astounding art from Stuart Immonen and Sara Pichelli, both of them putting in an astonishing amount of effort to create amazing locations and populating them with over a dozen characters. The resulting deliberations see the novice X-Men dragged into space, the Guardians involved, and a story that constantly twists around. She’s unhappy on learning about this, and those alien powers aren’t happy that she’s apparently back. It had been an eye-popping ride even before they learned Jean Grey’s destiny was to grow up, suck in a powerful galactic force, wipe out a planet and be executed after a trial by the galaxy’s great alien powers.

It teams the Guardians with the X-Men, then also being written by Bendis, and showcasing his smart idea of pulling the original young teenage X-Men forward in time to the 21 st century.

It’s the Jean Grey story that hits all the right notes, although may confuse fans who’ve never read Guardians of the Galaxy, but were drawn in by the movie poster cover on Vol. A second hardcover collection of Brian Michael Bendis’ Guardians of the Galaxy stories features the finest story he produced as it combines what was issued in paperback as The Trial of Jean Grey and Guardians Disassembled.

Guardians of the galaxy abnett