The X-men Thread (spoilers)

[murs47]

Prev, I'm with you on Wolverine, it's a good ook right now. I really like how Aaron actually delves into, and reveals parts of Wolverine's past. More importantly, he makes it interesting and entertaining. This is what I thought Origins was going to be.

Wait, why does a Russian immigrant suddenly have the urge to be one of New Jersey's sole protectors? That makes no sense, no matter how well you try to write it. I know it's all fictional, but you have to have some semblance of believability to immerse the reader.

X-Factor was more of the same. Which is good, cause I like it the way it is.

[Silver Shocker]

I'm curious as to who the X-Factor villain's client was. I imagine we'll find out in an issue or two, but like one of the characters in the book said, who would have a reason to go after X-Factor?

[Podmark]

I'm curious as to who the X-Factor villain's client was. I imagine we'll find out in an issue or two, but like one of the characters in the book said, who would have a reason to go after X-Factor?

Quicksilver?
Madrox from the future?
Tryp?
Wolverine?
Tony Stark?
Skrulls?

[Previsionary]

New Exiles review added.  :banghead: :banghead: :banghead:

Where is Quicksilver anyway? He's been MIA for quite awhile now.

[Podmark]

Quicksilver will be in a X-Factor one shot next month I think. Or the month after. Can't remember.

Also new X-Factor news:

[spoiler]Darwin and Longshot will be joining the cast:
http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.2890.X-Factor_Week%7Ecolon%7E_Enter_Longshot_%26_Darwin
[/spoiler]

[Previsionary]

I knew about Darwin...but Longshot? That's interesting. And Dazzler will be in X-men, iirc. Wonder if their relationship, or whatever it was when Claremont wrote them off exiles/excalibur, is still intact.

[Talavar]

Darwin is cool, but god I hate Longshot.  Couldn't one of the X-events have quietly purged him?

[The Troll]

I dunno, I've never had a problem with Longshot. I just hate that he's stuck with the "Sting in DUNE" look for so long. Anyone know if the lucky mullet man is going to get an image update?

[Podmark]

X-Men news from WWLA panels:

Layla Miller will get a one-shot like Quicksilver.
X-Factor will have a She-Hulk crossover and a tie-in to Secret Invasion.

Matt Fraction will be joining Ed Brubaker with Uncanny X-Men 500 and their run will feature a rotating cast and Greg Land and Terry Dodson rotating on art. Dazzler will join in 501. Pixie was also confirmed to be a member. The X-Men will apparently be moving to San Fransico.

From preview art Astonishing appears to feature Cyclops, Emma, Beast, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm and Armor.

Wither and Elixir are confirmed to appear in X-Force.

[Talavar]

Interesting news from WWLA.  I expected more of a roster mix-up for Astonishing; aside from Storm & Nightcrawler added, and Colossus out, that's basically the current line-up.

Matt Fraction joining Brubaker on Uncanny is probably good.  Bru's run on Uncanny has never felt like it's quite as good as it should be.

My problem with Longshot is multi-part.  I hate his look, his luck-power, Mojo-world & almost everything associated with Mojo (need I mention X-babies?), Dazzler...

[Previsionary]

Interesting news and I find it odd that all 5 x-men leaders (including emma who has a bad relationship with storm) are on one team. I kinda wanted Iceman/Angel to come back because they just came back out of limbo recently.

Anyway, I don't think they'll be playing with Mojo for awhile. Mojo wasn't mentioned at all during Longshot's tenure with the exiles...but then again, he didn't do anything special either. He is constantly happy and his luck powers should prove useful to the X-factors....I just don't know his reasoning for joining them. Maybe the first story arc will involve a haircut. :P

One of the main reasons cited for brubaker's um...uncanny arcs were that he didn't get to work with the characters he wanted. I'm hoping that's not the true excuse because that's just a sucky reason.

Anyway, depending on when Last Defenders take place, I guess this explains why Colossus is protecting New Jersey...with She-hulk. -_-

[Podmark]

Here's something interesting, X-Force #1 was the #1 comic in February based on these sales rating system that I don't really understand:

http://www.newsarama.com/marketreport/Feb08sales.html

EDIT:
I'm hearing that the Astonishing cast is actually just Cyclops, Emma, Wolverine, Beast, Storm and Armor. Apparently Bianchi is designing costumes for all the X-Men though.

[The Hitman]

Since X- Factor is the only X- book I read, the new addition to the team is... interesting. Not a fan of Longshot, but hey, the team needs some good luck. Darwin, on the other hand, I think is great. An interesting power and next to no backstory makes him perfect for Peter David. I mean, look what he did with Layla Miller! She went from a one- note plot point in House of M to one of Marvel's favorite characters.

[Silver Shocker]

So true. Layla was for me the most enjoyable part of the book.

Maybe I'm in the minority here, but I've grown to like Longshot. I've been reading the Essential X-Men volumes that reprint the "Fall of the Mutants" era/Australian era stories, and I found Longshot to be very funny. Of course, I havn't really read any modern stuff with him, so who knows if I'd enjoy how he is generally written these days? I also think Darwin is a character with a lot of potential so a good writer or two could do wonders with him.

[Previsionary]

X-men First Class #10:

The all cyclops issue, coming your way. I should preface this by saying that I don't really like cyclops and I havent liked him in years. His cool factor may have risen a bit, but he's still Mr. lame McPout pout to me. :P Bobby captures my exact feelings on cyclops with this joke: "What happened to the piece of wood when Cyclops talked to it? It got board! HIT ME!"

Exactly...lame and correct.

[spoiler]Lameness aside, the actual review starts here. This story focuses solely on Cyclops, though the other x-men make cameo appearances. Apparently they all got sick on a mission, excluding cyclops, and are having the runs of sorts. Meanwhile, cyclops is sent on a mission to hunt down a mutant killer. Since Xavier can't really track the killer down himself, Cyclops has to do the footwork alone and he doesn't really shine at it from his own admission. While he's traveling in the forest tracking the mutant killer down, he's attacked by some deformed mutant that seems to know his name and that he also is a mutant. The Killer easily overpowers cyclops until he uses his cunning to overthrow the giant killer. The killer, Frederick nolastname, seems to have the power of telepathy, but he doesn't know how to turn it off. This allows him to be able to read cyclops mind, and later block Xavier, with ease and pull out all sorts of information--like the red-head that cyclops claims would kill the killer. The killer mutant also seems to have a high healing factor and above-normal strength and durability. It is revealed that the killer kidnapped a bunch of people because they ruined his life (and his father's) and he wanted to make them pay by keeping them in a cave and lecturing them everyday about the parts they played in ruining his life.[/spoiler]

Overall, I enjoyed this issue and I'm kinda surprised that they dealt with cyclops having to potentially kill another mutant in a generally light-hearted book. I give it a 3 out of 5. Not only does it tie in really well with current Cyclops after Messiah Complex, but it held my attention. The only thing I didn't like was how cyclops was drawn in costume in some panels.


Wolverine: First Class #1:

Look, y'all! A new wolverine book. The market is probably saturated with all the Wolverine books that keep popping up. He's not that interesting marvel, just an fyi. Anyway, if you need your non-spidey, non-exiles, Kitty fix, find her here in her younger, more carefree, bad style days.

[spoiler]The book starts out with kitty writing in her diary and we get the first indication of her crush on Peter...who speaks really good English in his first panel for some reason. All the New X-men make a cameo in the first 2 pages while playing a game of volleyball. Only person missing is the star of the book and he shows up a typical fashion, by ruining the fun for the others. There's the old moody wolverine we used to know and love...or hate. Anyway, I'm not sure where exactly this story should fit into continuity because Kitty and Nightcrawler seem to get along pretty well, but kitty and storm don't seem especially close right now. If you know their history at all, then you'd also point out that Wolverine had his brown costume when Kitty arrived. I guess they're going for the costume that more people know about. But back to the story, Wolverine is sent on a mission to track down an exceptionally strong mutant in west virginia (Cyclops went there too in his solo issue...) and only one mutant will be sent as backup. Wolverine wants colossus because of the speedball special, but he also wants Angel because it'd allow him to catch a hockey game on tv. Instead, he gets...you guessed it, Kitty Pryde on her first mission ever! Of course Wolverine isn't too thrilled about this and the dialogue between Xavier and Logan is pretty good. Point is, Kitty goes with him and that's that. The dialouge between Kitty and Wolverine in the X-jet is also quite good. Anyway, the duo make it into a town and are attacked by a large group of humans. The two are forced to run for cover and, after a short jog, are trapped inside of a store to fight for their lives. Kitty escapes, but Wolverine goes into classic berserker mode and even attacks Kitty when she returns to the scene with the truth behind the town's actions. Eventually, Wolverine loses his rage and the pair find the cause of the problem. A mutant with the ability to project her emotions to those around her. She was in trouble and, being a rookie and completely untrained, her powers sent the town that completely embraced her as a mutant, into a fear-induced rage. With the problem solved, the x-men go home and a nice thing happens...Kitty and Wolverine begin to bond...by wolverine popping wheelies without a helmet. Such an aww moment if I ever heard of one.[/spoiler]

Ok, I...enjoyed the book. The art was very nice and I enjoyed it over X-men first class. Wolverine didn't annoy me like he usually does and he was written pretty nicely. Kitty didn't annoy me like she started to once she joined Astonishing. Every thing was just good. So, I'll give it...a 3.5 out of 5. Read it if you don't want blood, murder, swears, and the epic-ness of the typical X-book. Oh, next issue...typical Sabretooth/Wolverine birthday fight. Fun in a can.


I'll add the other reviews later since no one else has. We missed a whole week...well...one Wolverine book. Where were ya, Murs? :P

For now, I'll leave you with Young X-men previews: Comic Book Resources

[Silver Shocker]

For now, I'll leave you with Young X-men previews: Comic Book Resources

Character defining banter, expositionary narration, Blindfold's unique speech conventions, a surprise (to me at least, the character in the last scene) good art (again, IMO).

I approve.  :thumbup:

[Previsionary]

X-men Legacy #209:
         [spoiler]I find it interesting that Carey is addressing how the marauders feel about Magneto now. I really wish they'd get to the bottom of whether Erik is powerless or not.  I'm pretty sure he got them back in Uncanny when he found those diaries, but every issue since has pointed out he's powerless. I guess I'll wait to see where this heads. I love that Karima is still around and she's interacting with both Xavier and Magneto. I also loved all the references to the fights the X-men have had against Magneto and his various brotherhoods. Karima seems to have some of the worse luck. Cargill beat the stuffing out of her, but, Cargill was also blinded and had her brain damaged. Magneto, even as a powerless hume, you can still wreck some damage. I can't wait for next issue, Xavier vs. exodus should be fun.

     Oh, I did skip over a good amount of this issue because a lot of it has to be read for you to truly get the jist of it. The dialogue between Xavier and Magneto (and even Magneto's speech to Karima) were all very good. It addresses some things that people have been thinking for awhile.  Xavier, and Magneto, have become largely irrelevant to the survival of mutant kind ever since Wanda pulled off her magic mojo.
[/spoiler]

This issue, I give it a 3 out of 5. Tis a nice issue, but if the book hasn't grabbed your attention from issue 1, then this issue won't grab it either.


Ultimate X-men #92:

    First off, I just want to say that I can't wait until Kirkman leaves this book because his talent isn't showing through on this series at all. I have read a few issues of his invincible run, and while I didn't like the dialogue in the early issues either, he seemed much better over there than he does here. There's just too much wrong with his run pass, um, Date Night to really praise anything about it.

    [spoiler]Anyway, the book starts off with Wolverine in the hospital. His arm is still missing and if he's truly Cable, it might not ever grow back since Cable doesn't have a healing factor. Wolverine is bandaged up and a doctor is telling him to go back to his room and wait for help. Wolverine does the typical thing of a patient and tells him off and asks for the direction of the nearest exit. Ahhh, Wolverine, doing the smart thing since 1970. Last issue, we were left with a cliffhanger of two new challengers entering Apocalypse's war. Ultimate Onslaught and ultimate Stryfe (I believe). Their identities are revealed to be, Cable and Xavier. I can tell you now that I was so surprised that I had to drink a bottle of water. Ok, no I wasn't. Xavier reveals himself to Jean and explains that he now has the power to block out apoc's control over the other mutants. Yay? During the battle that is taking several lives, The X-men, Cable, and Xavier decide it's a great time to explain what happened and why Cable kidnapped Xavier, took him into the future, fixed his spine, and gave him a new ugly costume. Great minds think alike. Cable also reveals that Bishop and he were working together. Too bad Wolverine probably killed the poor sap. Side note, Ultimate Onslaught/Xavier has some ugly hands/claws.

    Xavier is the ultimate plan to stopping Apocalypse. It doesn't happen the way he planned, like usual. It seems that in cable's future, Xavier is killed by apocalypse and ultimately, apocalypse won the war. Now that Xavier is alive and has been prepared for the battle, the tides should have turned. Too bad Apocalypse is resistant to whatever psychic trick Xavier pulled and headbutted the frick out of him. After a few more blows are thrown, and Apocalypse is clearly winning, Xavier tries to block his powers and pushes himself too far. Apocalypse once again over powers him and attempts to steal his powers. Jean, watching nearby, won't allow that to happen and begs to the phoenix avatar to save her mentor. The phoenix is fully born and, as of now, reminds me of magma or the girl from ultimate spider-man. And the issue ends. The next cover shows wolverine with his arm back...hrm...conundrum.[/spoiler]

    I still don't really care for kirkman's writing, but this issue was probably one of his better ones. 2.5 out of 5. Some of the art brings it down and that's about it. It's also nice he finally does something with the phoenix since he's been teasing it for the longest time.


Special Review:  Ultimate Spider-man #120

Why you ask? Well, the X-men guest starred. It is an X-thread, people. I guess you're wondering why the other issues weren't included since Kitty and Iceman have appeared; well, Kitty is no longer an X-man and is now supporting cast material and Bobby was just a cameo. Now the whole team is crossing over so it seems more...X-worthy. As such, I will only focus on the X-related scenes and give minor details here and there.
If you're reading the book, then you all know the past two issues has been about Liz coming to terms with her mutant abilities and the book is kinda referencing the old Spidey and his amazing friends cartoon that was on TV just last year. I will say that these issues didn't turn out like anything I initially expected, but I've enjoyed every issue. None of them has been action heavy so far, but that's ok when the writing can pull it off. Not every issue should be fighting and explosions...we don't want power rangers on our hands.

[spoiler]Anyway, this issue, Magneto shows up and confronts Liz on her newly discovered mutant abilities. He's trying to tell her something about her father, but Bobby and Peter keep fighting him off. Of course, they expect the worse from someone that has pulled off so many evil tricks in the past. Do you blame them for caring about the girl's safety? I find it hilarious how often Ms. Allen finds herself without clothes. Looks like she'll need to talk to Johnny about how he keeps his clothes from getting burned and such.

Eventually, the truth about Liz's father is revealed and she's more confused than she's been in awhile. A normal person probably would have crumbled over all the secrets in this book that are being revealed. Also, the x-men conveniently show up at this time. It's quite an odd lineup so I can only assume this happens before the UXM annual or way after the apocalypse dilemma. I'm not sure; I'm not going to think about it. Eventually, all of this attention on Liz gets to her and she splits. Magneto then warns the X-men that she will come to him just like Cyclops and Wolverine did. Yay for references to good stories![/spoiler]

Anyway, Liz's father...is disgusting. DISGUSTING...Gracious. Other than that, the x-men didn't do much and Magneto played the chasing game the whole issue along with Iceman and Spider-man. I enjoyed this issue and, even though it lacked action the whole arc, I'd still rate it a 3.5 overall. I'll consider it a down time issue since the Goblin arc was full of action.

I probably will not be covering New Warriors as I havent read that book in ages. Anyone else wanna hit it up? Go for it.

Cable #2 preview:
CLICKDEECLICK

[Talavar]

I'm really enjoying X-men Legacy, more than Carey's work on X-men before the title change.  It's a more introspective approach, to be sure, but I like it.

I thought the sort of 'epilogue' to Ultimate Spider-man 120 was interesting.

[spoiler]
Blob wants to bring Liz's mother & baby Liz to Magneto's Savage Land, and Magneto is totally against it, and has absolutely no interest in Liz unless she gets powers.  It just shows that the X-men & Spidey are totally right about Magneto; he can try to pass himself off as understanding, but he's a total user of people.  I also find it funny that, with yet another reveal, the secret identity of Ultimate Spidey is the worst kept secret in the world.
[/spoiler]

And as to Ultimate X-men 92, was Robert Kirkman hired to make me long for the dissolution of the Ultimate Universe?  Between this & Ultimates 3, I think the line is in serious need of pruning, say, down to Ultimate Spider-man again.  How is this written by the same guy who writes Invincible?

[Silver Shocker]

And as to Ultimate X-men 92, was Robert Kirkman hired to make me long for the dissolution of the Ultimate Universe?  Between this & Ultimates 3, I think the line is in serious need of pruning, say, down to Ultimate Spider-man again.  How is this written by the same guy who writes Invincible?

Heh, I've heard Kirkman's work on UXM wasn't great. Kinda a shame eh? Maybe he's better at writing a universe hehas more control of (Invincible) than playing in a more shared "sandbox"?

How is the new Cable book? Anyone out there like it?  I'm not really that interested in it just because I'm not a fan of the art style and I'm not familiar with the writer.

[Mystik]

hey pod is this you or a skrull thats asking these Qs
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=13091

[Podmark]

hey pod is this you or a skrull thats asking these Qs
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=13091

Yep tis me, and yes I am a skrull.
Though my first question was edited, originally it was asking about Prodigy only.
I've asked a couple other qs on X-Position.

And ack CBR has changed. It's weird and different. Podd scared.

[Previsionary]

Spider-man #555:

First review and I'm only doing it because wolverine guest stars therefore qualifying it for an avenger/xmen review. Dang. Side note: I didn't buy the issue so apologies if my memory is hazy.

[spoiler]The book starts out in mid action. A villain carrying a bow is tracking Spidey. It's apparently spidey's fault for not staying away or something. Anyway, we get a flashback to when spidey and wolverine are standing in the kitchen talking about cereal. Spidey apparently likes his fruit loop prizes. Wolverine confronts spidey about the murder rumor and spidey denies it. Wolverine says he doesn't have to explain and other boring stuff. Anyway, apparently, a villain is causing a snowstorm and it causes doc strange to faint. I would like to take this time right now to say that the art in the last few spidey issues have been very subpar. This issue was sooooo blah that I'd rather not talk about it.  Peter looked younger though...like 20ish. Ok, I know I'm biased when it comes to this book, but nothing about it seems new even with JJJ being replaced by Bennett, peter being younger, cocky, and making rookie mistakes; and betty being brought in from friendly. It just seems so...been there, done that, and the only new thing are some cast members. Anyway, spidey and no...well, wolverine fights some ninjas and spider-man drags the ninjas back to prison while escorting a doctor. He reaches the police station, the typical thing happens, and he heads back into the cold. Fun issue...not really.
[/spoiler]

Dropping my bias, I still can't rate this issue any higher than a low 2. I want to say 1.5, but that's prolly my bias sneaking and taking over. It still sucked though...wolverine should not be having the action scenes in a spidey book, writers. Oh, nice way to avoid the identity issue by making everyone call him spidey and never having him unmask the whole issue. At least his web shooters didn't jam for the 8th time.

Young X-men #1:

Ill preface this by saying I was never a big new x-men fan, but I wasn't against it either. It had some nice stories, but all over the net (and of course, SS agrees), the high death count has been a common criticism/comment about the book. So how appropriate that the new book starts with one.

[spoiler]Anyway, if you saw the preview, you know how the book starts. It immediately strikes me that even with my limited knowledge of blindfold that she seems to have changed her wardrobe a bit. In addition, I see that a complaint from the previews is that some characters aren't written correctly. I don't know about that for sure since it's issue number 1, so I expect things to be a bit rocky. I will say right now that if wolf cub is going to be a wolverine clone, I don't want him around anymore. I have enough Logan already and I don't need a younger generation of him outside of his obvious clone.

Anyway, this issue reminds me of ultimate xmen number 1 in a way. Cyclops is running around gathering up a new team, even using an image inducer. Also, there is a nice reference to the Santo/Cyclops moment from messiah complex. Maybe now with Cyclops smiling, maybe people will realize he understands how Santo's powers work and he's not being oh so cruel.
[/spoiler]

I didn't really reveal much about this issue since there's nothing to really reveal. It's a setup issue. I did find the ending somewhat interesting but other than that, it's just an average book. The new x-men fans probably liked it much better, but I give it a 2.5.

Other reviews to come later when I read all my secret invasion books...one day.

[Podmark]

I have similar thoughts on Young X-men. It was alright, but it's just a setup issue and not much happens.

[spoiler]Rockslide is more or less spot on. Dust is ok. Blindfold is good except the wardrobe shift. Feral Wolfcub seems to be a common complaint from most posts I've seen. Ink was kinda annoying "cuz". The last page might have been more shocking if Marvel hadn't shown it weeks ago on their site. Still the book could be quite good. [/spoiler]

But...
[spoiler]that's not Cyclops.[/spoiler]

I also picked up Spidey 555 but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Honestly I picked it up for Bachalo's art. Which is weird because i never pick up books purely for creators, but I'm also somewhat interested in Spidey too.

[Silver Shocker]

Before the issue came out I went and reread all of the Guggenhiem interviews to get an idea of what his approach was going to be.

[spoiler]
Yeah, I think anyone you ask will agree this was a setup issue, as such it's had to judge. I think the writer did a decent enough job of making Rockslide consistant, Blindfold's such a bizarre character it's hard to say if she's in character or not in any appearance by a later writer, but her unique kind of dialogue was retained pretty well. I get the feeling she's speaking to someone else. Split personality maybe? Character from another dimension who can only contact her?
Anyway, Pre mentioned that the issue reminded him of the first issue of UXM, but really it was meant to channel the original Giant Size X-Men #1, as Guggenheim himself said. I got that vibe, and so I'm hoping that Ink plays the role of "Thunderbird" since I also find him annoying. Plus, it wouldn't be the proper equivilent if one of the "veterans" was the marked man, since a little known fact is that John Proudstar wasn't originally even supposed to survive his first appearance. One issue I kind had was during the initial Dust scene with the Taliban she seemed unusually cruel and more than willing to used her powers in the way she did. This seemed odd to me as I always got the impression she was more of a pacifist.

I'm thinking Cyclops shooting Rockslide again is pushing it. I mean sure, he knows the guy can take it, but was that really worth "five thousand dollars" worth of property damage?

I'm no fan of Yannik Paquette's art, so the fact that I like it here says something about his evolving style. I don't think it's spectacular, but I think it's alright.

that's not Cyclops.

So is it a Skrull?  :P

[/spoiler]

This book definately requires another issue or two, or even the initial arc before I can really judge it.  But so far I don't mind it.

I also thought the questions Podmark submitted that were used in the article brought up good points. New X-Men really could have used an issue or two to send off the series, cast, and creative team. I'd say editorially the creators and fans kinda got screwed over.

[Podmark]

[spoiler]

that's not Cyclops.

So is it a Skrull?  :P

[/spoiler]

[spoiler]lol funny story. There's a variant cover out there where Cyclops' face is coloured green.
http://www.mycomicshop.com/viewissue?IVID=14071561

But he's not a skrull. One guess is that he's Sebastion Shaw or Donald Pierce trying to take out Sunspot and gain control of the Hellfire club. [/spoiler]

[Previsionary]

I could see some of the "giant size/new x-men" connections, but i've read Ultimate x-men more recently so my mind immediately connected to that point.  I also semi-connected it with the new mutants, but that's for another reason all together.

Anyway, next reviews/opinions will be up later. Those reviews/opinions (revpinions?) include the following: Logan #2, New Exiles #4 (just to finish out the arc, -_-), and cable #2.

Side note: i checked around the net yesterday and i feel like I'm in the minority with the latest spider-man issue, heh. I will say that until BND brings something new and worthwhile to the table to justify all the changes, I'm holding it to a much tougher grading system. So a 2 from me regarding 616 ( 2 ) Spidey is equivalent to a 3 for the old 616 (1) spidey. :P

Carey interview (pixie's new look also): CLICK

[Talavar]

Wow, Young X-men really left me cold.

[spoiler]

Sure, it's a set-up issue, but characterizations are way off.  Rockslide is fine, but he's also easy.  Blindfold is a terrible character to use as a point of view character, as it destroys the rational for her unusual speech - that her precognition has so altered her viewpoint that she is unable to interact totally normally.  Dust seems both more violent and way more proactive than she's ever been before - as where she's never quite been a pacifist, she has always regretted violence.  She's also always been a follower, and quite hesitant to take action.  Cyclops acting weird has been commented on, and the theory that he's actually manipulating these kids to take out the original New Mutants is intriguing.  If it's not the case, I have trouble finding a convincing motivation for Dani Moonstar or Cannonball to go evil (I'm not as familiar with Sunspot or Magma).

Assuming Cyclops really is trying to gather a serious team here though, why would he pick these characters - or only these characters?  A lot of the New X-men aren't doing anything right now, but we're provided with no story-based reason for Cyclops not just to grab them all.  Hopefully that'll be forthcoming.

[/spoiler]

[Podmark]

Finally read ASM 555

Some wonky Bachalo art here and there, but that's usually from him. He does a really nice Spidey though. I'm not as thrilled with his Peter Parker which I found really inconsistent. It amuses me that Wolverine personally escorts Bachalo from the X-books. I wonder if he'll be back in the rest of the arc or not.

Oh yeah the story...nothing special. Some allusions to ongoing plots with Jameson that might be interesting if I was following the book regularly. Issue is a 2/5 bumped up to a 3/5 because I happen to love Bachalo. I may or may not pick up the next issue. Haven't decided yet.

Best part of the issue though is the letters page where they actually acknowledge that the time line of this issue and New Avengers makes no sense.

[Previsionary]

New Exiles #4:

K, gangers, here's the final part to this oh so wonderful arc. If you can't smell the sarcasm off the last sentence, leave the kitchen now.

[spoiler]The book opens where it last left off. Black Panther, not t'challa—he's dead, is holding a struggling Susan storm while the exiles and Namor + family stand back and watch. The other aggressors stand on the sideline as Panther2 explains that T'challa was a fool for wanting peace. So, upon hearing those words and the threats thrown out at her family, Susan breaks free of panther's grip and gives her a good left punch to the jaw. GRRRRL POWER! Wait, it's not Susan...it's a girl that looks exactly like Susan...! Susan has doubles apparently...and it had its neck clawed very badly...or was it the real Susan. Find out later. Anyway, girl panther runs away as namor lifts a rock. As she runs, we're treated to this sweet little gem in response to Namor's honor question: "Are you serious? Rules are for losers. All that truly matters is winning. If you don't know that, you don't deserve your crown."

That's right, people, you're a loser if you have an honor system and don't run from battles. Don't be losers. Anyway, battles happen all over the cave and I don't think Rogue is awake since I haven't seen her since the battle began. Psylocke continues to use her katana as a bat and she shows some signs of still having mental related powers, I don't know if she did a psyblast or a telepathy attack. The art was confusing on that part. She did something and it hit panther.

Anyway, Panther and her team teleport to the entrance of the cave and gloat. Rogue finally reappears and apparently, Panther is going to blow up the cave or something. Susan suggests that Psylocke and herself combine their powers to create an impenetrable wall. Surprisingly, it works and everyone is safe...even though they were like right next to the detonator. I won't question it, but apparently, teke that can crush mountains and a strong force field can contain a powerful nuclear explosion and also block out radiation. That's nice to know. Finally, Susan 2 is revealed to be...Mystiq! Mystiq was also the very lame named Black dog.  Anyway, the group is still stuck in a bubble to avoid radiation poisoning and psylocke is too out of it to use her mountain crushing teke again and then...THEN attuma and valeria fen appear, through the floor in a submarine, to help their rivals out. Valeria is apparently related to gambit...but he's not blue...but she is. I'm questioning the exploits that went on in this family. Anyway, somehow we get to a point in the story where the crew split up from attuma and head into space to avoid being trapped on earth by Panther. Betsy faints again...um...Ultron appears but he's good and a projection as of now,...Amara and nick fury appear on a space station...tony stark appears in his iron armor (2 iron people on one world...hrm)...Gambit joins the exiles so we can have a rogue/gambit adventure across space and time...and the exiles finally return home leaving the other world in a planetary war. It leaves me to wonder...why were you visiting that world again? Which is quickly answered, their whole mission was to recruit gambit. Sounds like a last minute explanation that could've been done in 2 issues. The book ends with the mystery of what happened to morph, crazy lady (sage), and odd girl (Kitty). [/spoiler]

This book had a lot going on. A whole lot and rogue barely did anything though she led the last two issues. If you like Claremont, you'll like this. I don't happen to like most of his work lately (dino Rachel for instance), so...I give it a 2. He jumped the story along and left us in a middle of a war he spent four full issues on just to gather one member of the team. He also introduced subplots he probably won't even touch for years and because of that, I can't grade it any higher. I fear for the next arc since it's crazy lady heavy. Sage brings books down since Claremont upped her annoying personality.

Logan #2:

The first thing I can say about this book is that it has some odd art. It's not exactly pretty or even standard, but it helps to make an interesting atmosphere. I'm torn on it because it's not something I really like, but I think it works ok for this story if for nothing else.

[spoiler]Anyway, the book starts with wolverine confronting the fiery ghost from last issue. They have a mini fight and wolverine is shocked to see that his ever so faithful claws can't hurt this enemy and he's quickly tossed aside and onto, and through, a roof. Flashback time. Wolverine is back in old Japan during WW2 and his lovemaking didn't go as planned. He tells the woman that he's good at a lot of things, but what they did last night wasn't one of them because he didn't believe she belonged with him. She was a real/perfect woman and he was only fit for trashy women...like mystique. Ok, the mystique part wasn't in the book, it still fits. I want to point out how odd it is for me to see wolverine saying sorry...a lot in the first few pages of this book. I'll probably never see it again. *treasures*

As Gomen, the woman wolverine bedded, is telling wolverine to stop apologizing before she gives him something to be sorry for, a shot is fired and wolverine Is struck in his head. The American soldier from last issue stands at the door with a gun  and points it at Gomen's head because she's an enemy. Gomen's not the typical woman, people. She's part warrior and she aims to fight for her life; so she does. She puts up quite a fight before a bayonet slides right through her ever so fragile body. Poor girl.

Of course wolverine awakens and goes into a rage. Wolverine shoves a sword deep into the soldier's gut, but to his surprise, the soldier pulls it out like nothing happened. The soldier seems to have powers as well. He can't feel pain, but he doesn't seem to be able to heal from his wounds either. This, he claims, is how he stayed a live for so long during the war. The book ends in quite an explosion. An explosion that Logan easily lives through but his friend looks like he was burned to bones. Sad.[/spoiler]

This issue was awesome. I enjoyed it and it's honestly something that the origins books should be tackling. I give it a high 3.5, borderline 4. I'd rate it more if the art was a little better, but it's a style choice I can live with.

Cable #2:

The x-books have been taking on some fairly stylized art these days and the cable book sports a style I just don't really like. It's very stiff and very odd looking. Upon looking at bishop for the first time, several thoughts came to mind. A) He reminded me of akuma from one of those street fighter movies; B) his skin color apparently became very light between books, and his costume sucks. It sucks hard and it doesn't want to let go of the thing it's sucking. It's a selfish sucker and...this paragraph is quickly veering off of the path I intended so like Claremont—

[spoiler]I'm trying to figure out why Cable thinks Bishop was dead. As far as he knows, Bishop just had his arm bitten off by a mutant eater; not exactly something you can say he died from. Unless I'm forgetting something Bishop related, that little point doesn't make sense.

I'm concerned about the baby carrier Cable keeps on his torso. It's not only impractical, but the guy literally fell on it after he was shot. Not to mention that he keeps her under a cloak (heat/air issues) and she's a giant target because of the X-insignia. 

Moving on, Cable acknowledges that the last time he saw Bishop he only had one arm. That makes his earlier statement odder, but I'll assume he's wondering how bishop lived long enough into a dystopian future. That also doesn't make much sense since Cable knows Bishop can time hop. Get on the ball, Cable.

Seconds later, we're introduced to the oddest thing bishop related ever. Tendrils shoot out of his arms and wrap themselves around Cable's neck. You know what, I want that arm gone now more than I did during Cable #1. In fact, I'm curious to see how his absorption powers work now since he's down a fleshy arm.

Anyway, we get a perspective change midscene and Bishop reveals how he stopped his bleeding arm. Cue...Sunfire cameo. Also, apparently history changed a bit since Bishop magically got a new costume in a flashback to messiah complex. Another thing of note is, Bishop didn't have any remorse for what he did to his mentor. He also knocked out Forge AGAIN and stole one of his mechanized arms. I swear, Forge gets some of the worse treatment of late. Leave the guy alone. Finally, I think Bishop's idea of jumping through time until he bumped into Cable was particularly dumb. He's a detective, but he decides the best way to find cable was to jump through random points in time and conveniently stumble upon something that suggested Cable was there? That's too much of a stretch for me.

Bishop finishes his backstory and the perspective changes again. Bishop takes out the interferers and Cable runs off. I believe he's shot again and, unless his hand grew several sizes to cover the carrier, the baby disappears for a few panels. His aggressors don't seem to care at all that Cable is carrying a baby. Also, I still don't know why Cable came to this period, and honestly, I'm beginning not to care. We're left with a cliffhanger with a Cable trapped behind a car as his aggressors threatened him and Bishop teleporting back in, tossing a giant truck, and teleporting back off. SHOCKER![/spoiler]

Ok, I think the cable book is the weakest X-book right now. The pace may have sped up a bit, but the art and the plot aren't that good right now. The book also seems a bit short, but I realize now that it's because of all the big panels the artist is utilizing which means less of the story is being told from the writing and art side. I give this issue a low 1.5. Maybe the book will pick up soon or we may have another canceled cable book on our hands.

[Previsionary]

Not much out this week from the marvel camp, but we got one x-book and it happens to be wolverine...again. We also got Last defenders if you want to include that. Anyone got any reviews/thoughts on those books or even the next spidey issue since wolverine is guest starring there as well?