A Reader's Guide to Books and Reviews

Title: What If? (1977-1984) #21 (What If? (Publication Order) #21)
Author: Bill Mantlo, Gene Colan (Illustrator), I. Watanabe (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.9/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: June 13, 2020
Book Summary: Susan Storm, Queen of Atlantis? Long has Namor made his affections for the Invisible Girl known, much to the dismay of Reed Richards. But what if Namor and Sue’s tense flirtation became a marriage for the ages? As co-rulers of Atlantis, the power couple proves a force to be reckoned with!
Book Review: I have always loved the What If? storylines. They always seem to take a storyline and give it an alternate ending. Most of these alternatives have come from major Marvel storylines like the Dark Phoenix saga. This one is no different. In this issue, we find that Sue Storm has become the Queen of Atlantis through her marriage to Namor. She is about to give birth to their first child and she asks Namor to make peace with Reed and Johnny. Unfortunately, both men are still incredibly sore at the loss of Sue. Instead of embracing the invitation to visit the Atlantian realm, they choose to try to cause a war. Things escalate down to Atlantis where Reed learns that Sue has gone into labor.

I must admit this issue made me a fan of the pairing and I do have some other issues of the Fantastic Four where there teases of something between the two of them. In this issue, we find that Sue Storm feels compassion for Namor especially after Namor has been tricked. So, she decides to give him a chance and go with him to the underwater world of Atlantis. Myself, Namor and Sue Storm have chemistry together and it shows in the pages.

Unfortunately, these stories are meant to be mere glimpses into a world and really nothing more. They are reminders that storylines can go in any sort of direction depending upon the writers.

If you are a fan of the Fantastic Four, you should definitely look for this one to add to your collection.

Title: Jean Grey (2017-) #9
Author: Dennis Hopeless, Victor Ibañez (Illustrator), David Yardin (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.95/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: November 30, 2017
Book Summary: PSYCH WAR PART 2! Trapped in the mind of the White Queen! Will Jean be able to escape? And will she be ready in time for the Phoenix?
Book Review: "Imagine that. All it took was a little death and desperation to turn you into me."
-Emma Frost to Older Psy-holo Jean

This issue completely picks up where the last issue has left off.

Young Jean is in terrible shape after the war caused by older Jean and Emma. She is rushed to the hospital but there doesn't seem to be anything that any of the staff can do to keep the psy-flames from continuous appearing. This sends Older Jean to try to go back into young Jean's body but something rejects from entering her body.

Emma gets the idea of taking young Jean out of the hospital after that display and hijacks a life saving helicopter. They load the unconscious young Jean into it and head away from the hospital.

In another part of the world, Hope has been told of a cosmic detention on Earth. The young woman knows exactly what is here and heads off in the direction.

As we return to Emma and Older Jean, it appears that young Jean may have stablized but Emma's curiosity about the tiny spark that Emma believes Older Jean found. Older Jean tells her that it was actually younger Jean who found it. Older Jean continues to feel guilty for her part in all of this but inquires why would Emma continue to hold onto it.

"Power," Emma answered.

Of course, Emma reveled in the power that the Phoenix Force gave her and she wanted to keep it for herself.

The two of them land where they are met by three young women (The Stepford Cuckoos?) who try form a psychic link with young Jean only to unleash something -

"It's Here," young Jean announced.

The Phoenix Force hovers above them.

Now with the arrival of the Phoenix Force, does this mean this will be the issue that will awaken the older Jean from her grave. We have been teased by this and it is set for this upcoming month of her arrival. So I can only surmise the arrival of the Phoenix Force in this issue is the arc to the rebirth of older Jean Grey.

But if this is how it will be, then what is going to happen to young Jean in the scheme of this?

I mean this may not entirely lead up to older Jean's rebirth and I could be entirely jumping the gun here.

So if it is not for the awakening of Older Jean, what does this mean for the younger Jean? And now that the arrival of the Phoenix has come, exactly how is younger Jean going to avoid the fate of becoming its host?

I suppose we won't find out any of these answers until the next issue. So stay tuned!

Title: Jean Grey (2017-) #8
Author: Dennis Hopeless, Victor Ibañez (Illustrator), Mike Mayhew (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.25/5
Status:Finished
Reading Date: November 2, 2017
Book Summary: The Phoenix is coming, and Jean is still not prepared for its arrival. And although she received advice from Namor, there's one other former Phoenix host that she hasn't gone to. A former host that could also prepare and train her telepathic powers. That person? Emma Frost. This won't be pretty.
Book Review: Real Rating: 4.25

This issue picks up right where issue #7 has left off. Older Jean has taken over younger Jean's body and has infiltrated Emma Frost's mind but Emma is going to let Older Jean go through her head willingly. She throws whatever she can to deter the Jeans away. Unfortunately for her, Older Jean is not easily deterred and when they reach Emma, they find her "playing" Phoenix with Scott.

But Older Jean seems to feel something and finds it in exactly in Scott - the burning flame of the Phoenix. Emma tries to stop the Jeans but it is too late! The small piece of the Phoenix Flame becomes part of the Jeans.

This was an interesting storyline. It was nice to see the Cuckoos make their appearance within Emma's mind and Younger Jean's small interaction with them. You could feel the tension between Older Jean and Emma. You know it is there and it is bound to escalate in the next issue but exactly how now is the remaining question.

I am excited with this series. I have enjoyed it so far and I am looking forward to seeing how the next issue pans out with Emma.

Title: Jean Grey (2017-) #7
Author: Dennis Hopeless, Alberto Alburquerque (Illustrator), David Yardin (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 3/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: September 22, 2017
Book Summary: Traveling the Marvel Universe preparing herself for her inevitable encounter with the Phoenix force, JEAN GREY has learned how to fight from the likes of Namor, Thor and Psylocke. But now she wants to know more about her opponent than the best way to punch it. She wants to know what makes it tick. She wants to know what it's made of. And to learn that, she'll go to one of the few women who've harnessed its power: Wanda Maximoff, THE SCARLET WITCH!
Book Review: In this issue, we find a young Jean Grey being "haunted" by the older Jean Grey. Haunted would not be the right word, I would think to describe the older Jean. I would think younger Jean would see her as perhaps a mentor of sort but younger Jean doesn't. She seemed to be more annoyed by the fact of older Jean's presence.

The two of them begin to butt heads and this makes a spectacle of herself since she is the only one who can see "ghostly" older Jean. It is at this moment that the Scarlett Witch appears. Once Wanda has placed all the innocent humans in another place, she tells Jean that she had heard from Doctor Strange and that young Jean was a bit wound up over the Phoenix force.

Older Jean is not quite happy with the idea of the Scarlett Witch butting in and she is even made more unhappy when she whisks Jean away to the Savage Lands to enjoy some relaxation (is that what they are doing?).

Then they head to Rio to take down a monster.

All this starts to make Older Jean rather unhappy that she hijacks young Jean's body and forces her to leave Wanda behind to meet an older acquaintance - Emma Frost aka The White Queen.

Okay this issue did not even impress me at all. They made older Jean the comedy sidekick. Please don't get me wrong I enjoy humor but I don't see it Older Jean's character to be anything like that especially when she is in the seat of mentor. I believe that older Jean is really trying to help out her younger counterpart prepare for what is to come but younger Jean doesn't seem to really appreciate it at all. Maybe if younger Jean was serious about being stronger when the Phoenix arrived, she would listen to any advice Older Jean had but that won't be the case at all.

Overall, I was happy to see the Scarlett Witch and even happy that she did not treat Jean like a kid in any way, but more like a younger sister. I just wish Wanda had offered something more than being just a filler character in young Jean's quest to halt herself from being taken by the Phoenix Force.

So let's see what Emma does in the next issue.

Title: Jean Grey (2017-) #5
Author: Dennis Hopeless, Anthony Piper (Illustrator), David Yardin (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: September 18, 2017
Book Summary: After an adventure with the legendary God of Thunder himself, JEAN GREY realizes that fighting the Phoenix will take more than just mettle…it will take METAL. Luckily, there's an X-Man who knows something about turning resolve into ordnance… Enter: PSYLOCKE!
Book Review: This issue takes us on our next adventure with Psylocke.

Here we find the two of them mediating surrounded by the bloom of cherry blossoms. Of course, Jean is anything but patient and decides that this is really not for her. As she walks off, Psylocke changes the scene to a club in Philadelphia. Since Jean was not impressed with silence, Psylocke believes the noise might be better for her and encourages her to find her weapon.

Unfortunately Jean fails at this and Psylocke once more changes the scene to a cavern filled with vampires (?). Again another fail. This time decides to bring her to a building where they are making members of the Hand.

Jean: You want me to jump down there and fight an army of ninjas?
Psylocke: No, I want you to sneak in there, set a load of explosives and sneak back out.

For Jean, the course of stealth never fully runs its course with her and she finds herself fighting the army of undead Hand ninjas. There is a point in this when Psylocke must come to Jean's aid but Jean has already taken out the ninjas. This impresses Psylocke immensely and two destroy the building.

This was an interesting read. I really like Psylocke here. She is the perfect mentor for Jean. I believe she could have offered her a lot more if Jean was a bit more patient as a student. Yet we have Jean hearing voices and not knowing who is talking to her. I suppose in our next issue we will find out who it is coming from.

Title: Generations: Phoenix & Jean Grey (2017) #1 (Generations (2017))
Author: Cullen Bunn, RB Silva (Illustrator), Stephanie Hans (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.5/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: September 18, 2017
Book Summary: Teenage Jean Grey is willing to do whatever it takes to avoid the fate that befell her predecessor. But when Jean is cast through time and comes face-to-face with the newly possessed Phoenix, will she find the key to saving herself…or learn that her fate is sealed?
Book Review: Teenage Jean Grey finds herself in another world. Here as she trudges through throngs of beach-goers, she finds the older version of herself enjoying a good book as she suns herself. For the young Jean Grey, seeing an older version of herself is unsettling and even more with the Phoenix force hovering just above her. As the raptor-like bird disappates into nothing, the older Jean Grey is distracted by the arrival of a male, who tries to strike up a conversation with her. Unfortunately, older Jean is not interested in any way and sends of the male off. She, then, turns to the younger version of herself.

Older Jean does not quite seem so happy to see her younger self. It is at this point the younger Jean starts bombarding her older self with questions but the older version doesn't answer them right away. Instead asks younger Jean if she would like something to eat. The two end up at a resturant and then at a dance club. It is here where older Jean finally offers to give her younger version a taste of what the power of the Phoenix force.

The two head into space and to a world that is currently in chaos where its inhabitants are fleeing in terror from Galactus and his herald. Of course, Phoenix steps in to stop Galactus from devouring the world but it ends up taking both Jeans in stopping him.

For younger Jean, this still makes her resolve in destroying the phoenix force stronger especially since the older version of herself really has no idea of the corrupting powers she has coursing through her veins. And even before younger Jean can really offer any sort of answer to older Jean's inquiry, the Watcher appears and sends young Jean away.

Wow!

Just wow!

This issue was awesome! Younger Jean had a chance to see exactly what the Phoenix force was capable of - life saving. Of course, younger Jean still has it fresh in her mind of the darker aspects of what the force is capable of. So seeing the two versions of Jean together was a real treat!

I am hoping that this is the beginning of the revival of older Jean. I would love to see her come back to life and perhaps be there when the Phoenix force comes for her younger counterpart.

Or perhaps the Phoenix may not even be coming for the younger Jean. Maybe it could be coming for the older? Now that would be something!

Title: Jean Grey (2017-) #3
Author: Dennis Hopeless, Victor Ibañez (Illustrator), David Yardin (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: July 3, 2017 to July 4, 2017
Book Summary: Desperate to find any information that will help her stave off possession by the Phoenix, Jean Grey ventures to Atlantis to entreat its surliest former host: NAMOR, THE SUB-MARINER! But Namor has his own fish to fry…And when Jean is swept up in the Sea King's madness, will she find herself in over her head?
Book Review: Teenage Jean Grey does not want to be swallowed up by the Phoenix force like her previous counterpart that she sets out to seek out advice, train, and find a way that will stop the inevitable from happening.

In this issue, we find her in the underwater realm belonging to Namor. Namor had once tangled with the Phoenix Force and come out of it unscathed but did Namor really come out of it in such a way? The way we see Namor's expression in this issue tells me that the Phoenix Force did more than scar him in a way that it has not yet been explored yet. I can only fathom that Namor wishes at the moment to leave that part of his life in the past and never really have to deal with the consequences that he is still reeling from.

Namor ends this issue with a food-for-thought to Jean. What if she could take down the Phoenix force with her bare hands?

I know many people are not fans of Namor but I thought he did really well in this issue. After all, he has tangled with the Phoenix Force in the past but how scarred is he deep inside from his encounter with it? This issue did not explore it but we can see that he is still reeling from it....that it has affected him in ways that we do not know of.

I do like the idea of Jean teaming up with others and becoming stronger than she was in the beginning. I think she is growing as a character but I believe she is trying a wee too hard to escape the Phoenix Force. This could eventually lead to her own downfall because the Phoenix Force can eventually use this against her.

Overall, I am looking forward to seeing how this story plays out and the inevitable clash between Jean and the Phoenix Force.

Title: Guardians of the Galaxy/All-New X-Men: The Trial of Jean Grey (All-New X-Men #4)
Author: Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Sara Pichelli (Artist), Stuart Immonen (Penciler), Wade Von Grawbadger (Inker), David Marquez (Artist), Marte Gracia (Colourist), Justin Ponsor (Colourist), Cory Petit (Letterer)
Format: Epub
Rating: 3.5/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: May 17, 2017 to May 19,
2017
Book Summary: 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, host of the destructive Phoenix Force, is back on Earth, they decide to hold her accountable for the heinous acts of Dark Phoenix!

Now it's up to the spacefaring Guardians of the Galaxy to help the all-new X-Men save Jean Grey from twisted intergalactic justice! A surprise ally from one character's past comes to help, but is that enough against the most powerful army in the Universe? You won't want to miss the first encounter between two of the biggest franchises in the Marvel Universe!

Collecting: Guardians of the Galaxy 11-13, All-New X-Men 22-24
Book Review: Real Rating: 3.5

Gladiator of the Shi'Ar Empire has learned that Jean Grey - perhaps the future host of the Phoenix Force - has come to future and decides that she has to answer for the crimes of the other Jean. He kidnaps her and takes her back to the Empire to face charges of the crimes that have yet to be committed by this Jean. The X-Men must team up with the Guardians of the Galaxy and free Jean from a fate she has not even been a part of.

This was a nice anthology read. You have to feel sorry for this Jean because she is being accused of something that hasn't quite happened to her yet and here she is being placed into the same bubble as the original Jean herself. I am sure that now that she is aware of her crimes she will do whatever is necessary to change her course in the scheme of things but one must always learn that one cannot fully escape your fate nor the Phoenix itself. So this pretty much sets up the upcoming comics (including Jean Grey's own series) dealing with the knowledge of what she has done or very may well do in the future.

I was also happy to see the Star Jammers as well as the Guardians. It was nice to have another two teams join in the prison break of Jean. I thought the scene between Scott and his father was a nice touch. It was too bad it was a bit short. I would have loved to have seen a bit more interaction between them and perhaps even a chance at some sort of reconcilation between them. The scene did nothing really to bring the two to some sort of conclusion. Who knows maybe we will see Scott and his father meet again in the future.

This series also gave hint to a relationship coming between Kitty and Peter. Of course I had been a fan between Kitty and Colossus and this could easily change. I am quite aware that things have long since moved forward from here between the two and I will eventually read the comics to them.

Overall, I enjoyed this anthology. It was nice to see everyone and yet see the scope of Jean's struggle as she tries to understand it all. She is still young and eventually she will have to figure out exactly how she is going to try to change her fate but she is also going to have to face her greatest fear - the Phoenix force itself.

Title: Darth Vader, Vol 3: The Shu-Torun War (Star Wars Disney Canon Graphic Novel Darth Vader #3)
Author: Kieron Gillen, Salvador Larroca (Illustrations), Leinil Francis Yu (Illustrator), Kaare Andrews (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.5/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: April 18, 2017
Book Summary: The Dark Lord of the Sith's unstoppable march continues! The natives of Shu-Torun are revolting, and there's no way the Empire will stand for that. When Darth Vader is tasked with leading a military assault against the planet, could it be that his rise to glory has begun? But who will follow Vader into war? Would you? Then again, it's better to fight alongside Vader than against him. That's a lesson that the ore barons are about to learn. Collecting DARTH VADER #16-19 and ANNUAL #1.
Book Review: Real Rating: 4.5

Whatever you do never ask Vader to dance.

This comic series is set between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. In this set, Vader has been tasked to bring down a rebellion in Shu-Torun. He has made Trios queen. For now, Vader will have to put aside his need to find the young Skywalker and focus the task at hand. With the twins and the evil counterparts to C-3PO and R2D2 in tow, Vader must prove himself to the Emperor but it won't be easy as espionage and double-crossing are added into the mix!

Although I have loved this series, I felt this series did little to push forth. I suppose with the writers having to insure that it stays in-canon, you really don't have much to do with Vader except send him out to squash a rebellion, install a queen, and search for Aphra, who is currently MIA. Still Vader continues to remain one of the most badass villains to ever grace the screen and comic book pages. I have relatively enjoyed this series and though I am not a fan of this one, I remain loyal to his series.

Title: Captain America: Steve Rogers (2016-) #1
Author: Nick Spencer, Jesus Saiz (Illustrator)
Format: Epub
Rating: 4.5/5
Status: Finished
Reading Date: May 26, 2016
Book Summary: He’s back! The original Sentinel of Liberty returns, with a new shield, a new team, and a new mission! And he’s not the only one who’s back! Like the saying goes-- cut off one LIMB, two more will take its place! HAIL HYDRA!
Book Review: Normally I don't pick up Captain America comics (not a big fan of his but my nephew is) but I had heard of some controversy with this one and it really piqued my interest. I became even more curious when I saw boatloads of tears from fanboys falling and I had to find out why.

The reason? This:



It was revealed in this new reboot(?) that Captain America is not the hero you really know but an agent of Hydra. You see a Hydra agent saved his Mother from being beaten by Steve's father one day and since then, well the rest becomes history. None of his team members seem to be aware of it and the one who might have known, Jack Flag, was tossed out of the plane during a rescue by the Captain himself. Is the hero dead? Perhaps. Maybe we will know in the next issue.

Although this storyline is interesting, I have wondered if the idea itself had been drawn from a "What If" idea that just got expanded further and made into a comic. Still I am looking forward to see exactly what the Captain does or doesn't do.

And what will his teammates think when they uncover the truth?

I am going to stay tuned and see how the entire thing plays out. Maybe I will enjoy it. Maybe I won't.

Only time will really tell.