Reviews

Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men: The Black Vortex, by Brian Michael Bendis, Javier Garrón, Mike Mayhew, Mahmud Asrar, Sam Humphries, Paco Medina, David Baldeón, Valerio Schiti, John Layman, Andrea Sorrention, Ed McGuinness, Kelly Sue DeConnick, David López, Gerry Duggan

lillian_francis's review

4.0

I think in the most part this was closer to a 4 than a 3.
Things I liked:
Bobby Drake and Groot.
The return of young Scott.
My first meeting of new Nova.
Peter & Kitty.
Some of the artwork.
Things I didn't like:
Some of the artwork.
What have you done to my Angel?
F*%king Jean Gray (nothing new there then).

squidbag's review

3.0

You already love most of the main characters, the actual Black Vortex itself is pretty cool, and the end message is pretty uplifting, but this is a mess. Spread out over 12 issues of 9 series, each with its own creative team, it's a miracle this came together at all, so perhaps being too picky is...nah. Look, there are parts of the writing, concept and art on this thing that I really enjoyed, but a good editor would have picked up on the fact that some characters, (Venom, Nova, young Beast) simply vanish for issues at a time. Some characters aren't on model, like - ever, and the individual books - like the focus on Capt. Marvel for her book, or on Kitty for the end are distracting and weird. There's a way to do massive team-up books, and it's been done, but I'm not sure it works with characters who chew this much scenery.

jackiijackii's review

3.0

I read most of these comics anyway, so I already like the art and side stories, but the whole premise felt like a thinly veiled after-school-special about drugs. "Wow you guys, this thing makes me feel great, I'm the person I want to be, you should totally try it!" "No way, you can't see how it's changed you for the worse, we should all have a choice, stop peer-pressuring us!"

Black Vortex on its own gets a 2, but the characters and art get a 4, so, three stars.