All-New X-Men #23

   Being a fan in the "geezer" stage, I can't help but look at the title of this crossover event - "The Trial of Jean Grey" - and remember the similarly-titled "Trial of the Flash," a story that ran on for what seemed like years over at DC - and it did! The story actually took over two years to tell.

   Thankfully, this story is only covering five issues, jumping back and forth from the All-New X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy.

   The story by Brian Michael Bendis is straightforward enough - the leaders of the alien Shi'ar have captured Marvel Girl and are placing her on trial for her crimes as Phoenix (wherein she destroyed a planet) - but since this Jean Grey has time-traveled from her past, from a time before she was possessed by the Phoenix Force, can she be held responsible for what her future self will do? Er, did?

   (And where but at Marvel could you find a story like that?)

    Of course, her teammates in the original X-Men (and Kitty Pryde) aren't taking this lying down, so they've teamed up with the Guardians to try to rescue Jean - but first they have to survive an attack from a giant starship - and an encounter with someone who, surprisingly enough, was thought to be dead but is still alive.

   (Again, not at all unusual for Marvel.)

   As always, Stuart Immonen's art is stunning, with crowds of heroes, aliens and stunning locations on display.

   So far, this has been a lot of fun - but with only two issues to go, this is shaping up to be a very short trial. Lucky Jean's not using the Flash's lawyer!

Grade: A-

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