PUBLISHER Marvel Comics
WRITER Brian Michael Bendis Dan Abnett Andy Lanning Da
ARTIST Sara Pichelli Stuart Immonen David Marquez Nick
COVER ARTIST Sara Pichelli
PAGES 264 pages.
SIZE Oversized
FORMAT Graphic Novel

When an alien race discovers that Jean Grey is back on Earth, they decide to punish her for the genocidal crimes of Dark Phoenix! Now, the Guardians of the Galaxy must help the All-New X-Men save Jean from twisted intergalactic justice - but can they prevail against the universe's most powerful army? Then, with Star-Lord missing and the entire galaxy gunning for the Guardians, it's time to bring in some help. But as the team recruits Venom and Captain Marvel, unexpected dangers arise that may tear them apart! What does Star-Lord's disappearance mean for Earth's safety? And can he survive against a mysterious new adversary without the Guardians' help? Collecting Guardians of The Galaxy (2013) #11-17, All-New X-Men #22-24 and material from Free Comic Book Day 2014 (Guardians of The Galaxy) #1.

Review for Guardians 11-13, All-New X-Men 22-24:

Space and time collide! 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 - once (or perhaps future) host of the destructive Phoenix Force - is back on Earth, they decide to hold her accountable for the genocide committed by Dark Phoenix! Now, it's up to the spacefaring Guardians of the Galaxy to help the All-New X-Men save Jean from twisted intergalactic justice. A surprise ally from one character's past arrives to help, but will that be enough against the most powerful army in the universe? Don't miss the first encounter between two of Marvel's biggest franchises!

Brian Michael Bendis writes both series and does so well and combines both for one great space riding adventure. The basic story is during a meeting of the Intergalactic Council (the heads of all the major universal empires) the leader of the Shi'ar, Kallark, more commonly known as Gladiator, announces he will violate their combined treaty not to mettle in Earth's affairs to capture the time displaced teen Jean Grey and put her on trial on the Shi'ar home world. He fears that she could become avatar of the Phoenix (again sort of) and must be repunished for what her older self did as well. The council is not thrilled with this idea or line of logic but does not want to challenge such a powerful empire. The head of the council, J-Son, father to Peter Quill, a.k.a. Starlord decides to use this event to further his secretive plans for his quest for intergalactic power.

Speaking of Starlord, he still has a bounty on his head for embarrassing his father in front of the galaxy and learns of the plan to abduct the young Jean Grey. He and his Guardians head to earth to help. Meanwhile on Earth, the time displaced X-Men of Cyclops, Beast, Angel, Iceman, and Jean are still settling in with the current day's Cyclops camp with their guardian Kitty Pryde and new student X-23. They are attacked by the Shi'ar and lose Jean and are determined to get her back when the Guardians show up.

The story plays out very nicely from beginning to end. Bendis does a great job of balancing so many characters, there are more than I mentioned, some big surprises! The pacing is really nice as well as action, character moments, and humor are balanced to great effect. The only problem I had with this story is Gladiator's motivations are weird. I am not big on this continuity of how the Shi'ar dealt with Jean after the whole Dark Phoenix saga and how they dealt with her lineage but he seems very irrational about the whole thing and just wants to make an example to show off which does not quite seem like him as he has shown in the recent past to be somewhat noble and rational. I like that other members of the Shi'ar question him of his bizarre decision.

The artwork is topnotch as well. Sara Pichelli does the Guardians issues and Stuart Immonen handles the X-Men side of things. Both have similar styles so the story meshes well together but Immonen is the real star with his very vibrant and bouncy style and is a master at a range of facial expressions.

Review of Guardians 14-17 and FCBD 2014:

Meet the new Guardians! With Star-Lord missing and the entire galaxy gunning for the Guardians of the Galaxy, it's time to bring in a little help. But as the Guardians get ready for new members Venom and Captain Marvel, unexpected dangers arise that promise to tear the team to its core! Where in the universe is Star-Lord? What does his disappearance mean for Earth's safety? And can he survive on the run from a mysterious new adversary without the aid of the Guardians?

With Iron Man finally returned back to Earth, Tony Stark feels an Earthling should stay with the Guardians of the Galaxy for a certain amount of time to keep strong relations with allied-space forces and gather information if some cosmic villain decides to attack Earth beforehand. Who does Tony enlist? How about Flash Thompson, the current Venom host to join the Guardians. And Flash's first time with the Guardians turns to disaster as each member gets captured by various fractions from the galaxy for each member of the Guardians laundry list of offenses (including Flash!). So Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket, and Groot are all separated up against impossible odds. Are the Guardians truly disassembled for good?

Beyond the general synopsis, that's pretty much this third volume in a nutshell without giving anything away, but it's an overall decent action/adventure chapter with Bendis usual wit for the characters. Most of these collected issues are of each member trying to escape their scenarios in different ways, with the Free Comic Day issue giving readers an brief overview of the Guardians origins. Gamora fighting off numerous enemies in a gladiator-themed arena, Drax being tried by Shi'ar Empire, Rocket being dissected by the Kree, Groot being hunted, and Star-Lord finally telling off his father of the Spartoi Empire as close the book on some of the plot threads Bendis had since the beginning of the relaunched series.

Brian Bendis continues to expand the Guardians influence in the Marvel cosmic from volume 2 with Angela, now with Venom and Captain Marvel joining as on/off members it does seem like an interesting future for this series and where it might be going, even if they don't do a lot in this volume.

While art duties are Nick Bradshaw doing the Free Comics Day and issues #14-16 with Ed Mcguinness. Doing issue #17. If there is any consolation in this volume is the art because Bradshaw and Mcguinness high level-detailed art, cartoony-style to match the tone.

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