Shadow and Flame with Magik

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Penciler Stuart Immonen

Inker Wade Von Grawbadger

Colorist Marte Gracia

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

Trial of Jean Grey Part 3 of 5, though the checklist on the back shows six issues will be involved so who knows anymore.

Scott wakes up from a dream about Jean Grey, which I like how innocent the dream is, of her telling him that he should have told her she loved her sooner.  He wakes up to see he is on the Guardians of the Galaxy spaceship.

In a fun double page spread, but not fully pages – how are we suppose to describe these pages!?! – Bobby is explaining what he missed.  How they met a talking raccoon, Groot says his thing, “I am Groot” and talking trees.  Hank is loving being this close to actual aliens.  Angel pipes up about the talking trees and being in outer space, this is the first big outer space adventure.  Their present day selves have so many of these.

I like the comment about how Earth’s orbit is so clutter, as I imagine other planets don’t have all of these satellites that we have.

Starlord calls Scott ‘Summers’ that is going to pay off later.  He also predicts Hank is going to nerd out the entire time, and Hank states that he probably will.  Scott asks where Jean is and that transitions us to where Jean is.

Jean is in a giant bubble that blocks her telepathic abilities.  In another same style of the previous page, Immonen packs the giant panel with so many aliens.  Gladiator explains to Jean why she is there and who he is and who most of the people are.  Gladiator tells her that she is there for her crimes and Jean shouts that that doesn’t make any sense.  He doesn’t tell her what crimes but she knows she hasn’t committed any space crimes.

On the page where she is separated from the bridge of the ship and put into isolation, Immonen makes great use of black space.  Also Gracia does a stellar 😉 job on coloring the scene with shades of blue.

The Guardians and the X-Men are on the outskirts of the Shi’ar Empire.  Kitty is beating herself up for not seeing this coming.  Bobby thinks she is being too hard on herself, as does Angel as how could she have known this would even happen.  She should have known as she is an X-Man.  Angel makes a comment about how she can’t be put on trial for crimes she didn’t commit.  Rocket speaks up and says “yet.”  Angel says “crimes that we didn’t even know she did or was capable of or” and Rocket states yet again.  Angel tells him to shut up and Kitty says, yeah.  Starlord tells Kitty that she is being too hard on herself.

Rocket asks why the young X-Men are here.  Bobby states because they offered them a ride and Hank corrects him by saying that Rocket is asking about why they are in this time period.  This issue is so fun and funny.

Bobby reveals that he knew that, he just likes talking to a talking raccoon.  It makes him feel like a “Disney Princess” his words.  I do like how Bobby is drawn to appear very soft in his ice form, more like snow form.  Freshly fallen snow.  Hank starts explaining “We’re here because …. princess?”  Which is a great in the moment thing, as why wouldn’t he say something along the line of “in a Disney film” or something.  Bobby tells Hank that he would make a better princess than him.

Scott states that everything was a lie.  Beast lied to them about  a mutant genocide or apocalypse and how that convinced them to come to the present and now they are stuck here.

Angela, who is still near to this universe (she is from the Image Universe, how fun is it that she is now in the Marvel one and in actual comics?  You would never see that done between DC and Marvel) wants to know what a mutant is.  Hank, who has to have heard the thing about his future self lying to them and Scott’s rage slash disappointed about it, is about to explain to Angela what mutants are.  He starts with how they are mutants.

Rocket is bored with the answer already and wants him to stop.  He also wants them to stop calling him a raccoon.  Which now that I know he is sensitive about it, I won’t be calling him Rocket Raccoon again.

Bobby, like me, is shock about it.  He handles it with asking if he isn’t a r-word.  How actually funny, for once, is Past Bobby?  Hank is surprised as well, that he resembles a raccoon so close.  I know for a fact that he is a raccoon, as he was from a prison planet where Earth like animals were given intelligence to help the insane, so he is a raccoon but he is so much more than his species.  Which you would think the X-Men would be sensitive to that.

Their ship gets attack by a bigger Shi’ar ship.  They are being flipped around, and no one was wearing seat belts, we learn from Angel.  Rocket tries to summon the attacking ship.  Angela wants to get closer so she can jump to that ship and attack it.  Rocket is having fun with these Shi’ar as they are humorless.

X23 wants to aid Angela in the attack.  Groot adds a helpful, I am Groot, three times on one page!  Poor guy, do his teammates know what he is actually getting at or are they humoring him.

Then the Shi’ar ship shoots a massive blast at our heroes’ ship.

Kitty makes a comment about how she hates space, she has bad luck in space.  Which for me, my first thought was about the original Brood saga and it wa scary but she met Lockheed because of it.  Then I remembered, immediately after that, the ending to Whedon / Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men run with the Breakworld.  She was stuck in a bullet for three years our time.  I really like that Bendis had her make that comment.  She really shouldn’t be over that, she must have been gone for at least a year, Marvel time.

Meanwhile, Oracle of the Imperial Guard, is interviewing Jean.  The blues in the room really make Jean’s red hair pop, Gracia’s choice keeps paying off.

I like how Oracle refers to her power as it makes her a ‘minder’ as well as Jean.  There is no reason why other species will refer to their powers with the same names as we call them, in this case, minder and telepath.

Jean is now at the Shi’ar homeworld, she is there as she is under arrest and will be facing a tribunal.  Oracle confirms that Jean’s memories of the Phoenix are learned memories and not experienced memories.  So, for sure, Jean reading Beast’s mind and learning her fate, was a colossal mistake.

Immonen treats us to another two page spread, this time with eight smaller panels.  Oracle confirms that there was no way, in that one moment, that Jean should have comprehended the entire lifetime’s worth of memories.  Jean asks what did she do, and Oracle plainly states that she murdered a planet.  Which is pretty heavy, and should never been forgotten.  Those poor Broccoli people.  Jean cries.  Jean states that she hasn’t but we know that she did.  Well, technically, the Phoenix buried Jean in the ocean, took her identity, fooled around with Cyclops – like a bunch! – went crazy with power (due to Mastermind of the Hellfire Club) and ate a sun, killing a planet and then sacrifice herself on the moon.

Oracle finds it interesting that Jean has no first hand memory of the Phoenix.  Is she seeing through her king, Gladiator’s lies?  Jean states that now that Oracle has read her mind, that she knows Jean is innocent.  Oracle states that is what the trial is for.  Oracle warns Jean to watch her temper, she isn’t helping her cause.  Jean gets put back into her bubble.

Oracle, Groot and Drax are in space, heading over to the Shi’ar ship.  Gamora is getting ready, Scott isn’t using the extinguisher correctly as there is a fire onboard.  Angel hates the situation and Bobby states that he isn’t loving it either.  X23 really wants to head out to the fight.  Rocket wants to propose to Angela, they would have such cute babies!  It isn’t because she doesn’t know how to dress for battle but he doesn’t get a chance to explain his true motivations.  Hank announces another ship is coming.

There is an ad for the new Ghost Rider series coming out, and the design is not very good.  I had no interest before but ooof, that is hard to look at.

As a longtime fan, I recognize the Starjammers’ ship immediately but due to the reveal that is sure to come, Bendis plays it slow.  Rocket recognizes it as well.  Hank wants to know who it is.  Starlord calls his team back to his ship.

Over the intercom, Starlord says “Summers, I thought you were dead.”  Scott is in the background and clearly heard his last name.  On the Starjammer, we see the classic team – Corsair, Hepzibah, Raza, Ch’ord and a Shi’ar dude.  Corsair tells Starlord, that he heard that Starlord was dead.

Scott asks Starlord why he referred to that other guy as, Summers.  Starlord stammers.  Corsair wants to help with anything that involves hurting the Shi’ar.  Starlord tells Corsair, that there is someone who wants to meet him.

Issue ends with Corsair stating, “This is Major Christopher Summers.  USAF…who am I talking to?”  Why would he give a mysterious third person his Earth name and military rank?  That is over twenty years ago and should just be saying, I’m Corsair of the Starjammers, clearly you have heard of me?  The most famous space pirate there has ever been.

We are now at the halfway part of the Trial of Jean Grey, and surely Guardians of the Galaxy issue 12 will have the trial at least starting, yes?  But I’m not even that interested in that at the moment, now I want o witness the Corsair / Teen Scott conversation as that is going to be fun!