All-new Guardians of the Galaxy - Volume 1 - Communication Breakdown (Gerry Duggan)

I was looking forward to this new 'reboot' of Guardians of the Galaxy, though I wonder why Marvel needs 3 reboots in 3 years. It seems a bit excessive.

Reading this volume I felt I was joining the story when it was half way through. It was like something had happened behind the scenes that the reader wasn't aware of. I'm not too sure if All-New Guaridans of the Galaxy continued on from Brian Michael Bendis' Guardian of the Galaxy New Guard run.

The team seemed fractured and weren't getting on at all, which was quite refreshing.

It was interesting to see them not getting on yet still come together to work on a job. Apparently this job would be their final job before the team separates, which is hard to imagine.

Also I was intrigued why Drax the Destroyer had suddenly become a pacifist, after being known for his years and years of killings. After all you don't get the name Drax the Destroyer for not killing and causing destruction. It was strange to see Drax decline to fight or kill in order to help his team. I hoped we would find out what caused him to become pacifist but we didn't in this volume.

This volume was the first time I had encountered the Collector and the Grandmaster in comic form. Having encountered them both in the Marvel films.

I enjoyed the seeing the Guardians being caught up with the two squabbling Elder brothers who spend the whole volume scheming against each other. I found their banter and one liners to each other refreshing and provided much needed light relief.

The blurb at the back of the book describes the volume as 'A New era of cosmic adventure' and it definitely feels like a new era, as there is a new writer and I feel there also an unusual change in direction for the series. I will definitely give volume 2 a go when it comes out.

Jean Grey - Nightmare fuel - Volume 1 (Dennis Hopeless)

I was quite excited when Marvel were introducing new Marvel titles featuring the original five X-Men who were brought to the future by present Beast a few years ago.

I followed their arrival for quite a few months but then got bored by the storylines and stopped reading X-Men comics.

When I heard original Jean Grey was getting her own comic series - I wasn't jumping at the chance to read it when it came out as comic but thought I would try the graphic novel.

Jean Grey has never been my favourite member of the X-Men, she's not in the top 5. To be honest I find her quite annoying, in the comics, original animated series and films. Also I found at this week that Marvel had cancelled the Jean Grey comic series, so I was reluctant to invest time in a series that has cancelled.

However Jean Grey - Nightmare Fuel surprised me.  Mainly because I found myself liking Jean Grey for the first time. The main plot of the graphic novel is that Jean Grey has a premonition about the Phoenix Force**coming back.

No one seems to believe her that it's coming back so she decides to track down previous Phoneix hosts and Psylocke, Doctor Strange to get some answers.

I enjoyed most of the interactions between young Jean Grey and the Phoneix hosts, however I found the pages where she talked to Namor quite slow and frustrating.

I particularly enjoyed the new infant character they call Pickle who seems to be the same species as Nightcrawler who spends all his time eating so he has the energy to teleport.

Gradually page by page I started to feel sorry for Jean Grey as she has only heard stories of adult Jean Grey and the Phoneix Force, she hasn't lived it like everyone else. Her premonition makes her feel her fate is sealed, however she is going to do her best to avoid it.

**For those who don't know the Phoneix Force is the origin of all psionic energy and the Guardian of Creation. It has the power to cut and regrow any part of the universe or destroy it completely. It has taken host of various X-Men characters over the years, most famously the adult Jean Grey.