Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: Black Vortex Omega #1

   Brian Michael Bendis is an excellent writer, but he seems to have a weak point: event books.

   He's cooked up some of the most famous in recent history - but Black Vortex isn't one of them.

   It's been a rambling, overextended story that starts with a big MacGuffin - the Black Vortex is a cosmic mirror (of sorts) that amplifies the abilities of those who look into it.

   So we have a bunch of heroes and villains getting amped up and fighting and destruction looms.

   There are certainly some clever twists and sharp dialogue, and the artwork is very good (if a bit hard to follow here and there), but the ending is muddled (which is to say, I'm not sure exactly what happened to all the characters and their powers).

   There is a significant personal event at the end that long-time readers will either love or hate. I'm somewhere in the middle.

   It's how I feel about the whole event - some things to like, some to not like so much. A real mixed bag.

Grade: B-

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Guardians of the Galaxy #25

   As feared, by this point the whole Black Vortex storyline (which is crossing through various titles, including several I don't buy) is unraveling like a cheap scarf.

   You have assorted teams made up of mixed-up members of the Guardians of the Galaxy and the All-New X-Men - oh, and thrown Nova in for good measure (no doubt Spider-Man was booked up).

   They're all off on various missions that seem to have nothing to do with the mystery of the Black Vortex, which is the 2001-ish McGuffin that everyone's looking for but no one knows what to do with.

   And some of the events in this issue don't even make sense. At one point Nova grabs the Black Vortex, only to have it swiped by one of the generic bad guys - but at the end of the issue, he has it back, but we have no idea how that happened.

   There's massive destruction and death, characters who change attitude in mid-stream, and not much coherence in evidence.

   I was hoping for better from this series. It started out strong, but this issue doesn't fill me with optimism.

Grade: C+

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Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex #1

   I'm not sure if this qualifies as an "event" book or just a sweeping crossover series, since it's mostly restricted to the X-Men and Guardians of the Galaxy books, but whatever it is, it's off to a rollicking start with this issue.

   Or at least a crowded one.

   It involves the discovery that a certain evil team has found the object known as the Black Vortex - a mysterious artifact that springs from the cosmic beings known as The Celestials (and perhaps owes a lot to the Monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey).

   The device is a source of staggering power - but can it be used for good, or only for evil?

   The issue moves all the players into position, ably served by the terrific art by Ed McGuinness, Kris Anka and a small army of inkers.

   I have to admit I almost didn't pick up this series - but I've been enjoying the Legendary Star-Lord series, and it led right into this issue - so I thought I'd give it a shot.

   With event books, by the end of the first issue you can usually get a sense that a series has potential - or it's going to be a waste of effort. So far, the signs are that this will be a fun, action-packed series.

    Hope I'm not wrong.

Grade: A-

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