The X-men Thread (spoilers)

[Talavar]

I don't agree at all about Astonishing.  It was a solid start to Ellis' run on the title - not great, but pretty good.  For the most part the characterizations aren't drastically wrong (ie. the new Young X-men book), and even Storm comments on things being different than when Xavier ran things, not worse.

[Previsionary]

I don't agree at all about Astonishing.  It was a solid start to Ellis' run on the title - not great, but pretty good.  For the most part the characterizations aren't drastically wrong (ie. the new Young X-men book), and even Storm comments on things being different than when Xavier ran things, not worse.

I wouldn't expect ya to. :P I did rate it a 2.5 which is in the range I rate most setup issues, so it's not like I had total hate for it. I just didn't like it much for some of the reasons I stated earlier. Also, your storm comment confuses me. She didn't bring up Xavier, Cyclops assumed that. I don't know why since Xavier hasn't done anything in years (months in marvel time) and cyclops and emma have been leading since the end of New X-men (Cyclops and Jean during). Storm hasn't been following the Xavier way since before X-treme X-men, so you can't really make any type of logical sense of that OR her sex comment since she hasn't had time to do anything since she's barely been in Wakanda long enough to shop, climb, and do anything with BP. I'll just assume this takes place many months into the future. Also, yes, most of my opinions on this issue is biased based on an interview I linked to that indicated Storm would get a minor personality shift to be more of an Xavier follower than she should be, so I'm waiting to see how that plays out or if Ellis was just playing a mind game.

[Silver Shocker]

re: the X-Factor interview Pre linked to. I've been really happy with X-Factor lately (especially that last issue that came out) and the stuff in that interview (especially Layla Miller appearing again) makes me very happy for the future of that book. I find myself looking forward to Longshot (a character who I've found myself surprisingly fond of) and Darwin (a character who's mostly a blank slate characterization-wise) being put in the hands of PAD on his heavily character-driven X-Factor. However, I'm dreading the art y Stroman. However, I'm looking forward to the crossover with She-Hulk mostly because of the artist on that book. I wish he was X-Factor to tell the truth.

[Tortuga]

This was a very disappointing issue.  Some dialogue was far too forced, and the colours were so dark and drab that it was sometimes hard to really see what's going on.  If Astonishing continues like this, I will drop it and focus on something else.

[AfghanAnt]

W.Ellis usually doesn't let me down and I had the same complaints about his Thunderbolt run until it all started tying together so I'll give him a few issues before I curse his name. What Marvel really needs to do is bring back Nextwave, we don't need three core x-titles.

[Talavar]

Oh, Nextwave, how I love it.  At least Machine Man is still acting like he did in Nextwave in his supporting role in Ms. Marvel.  Most of the other characters have either vanished into the ether, or been reset to their pre-Nextwave appearance/character, like Monica.

[Previsionary]

Ill add some random review (probably origins) later but...

Uncanny X-men #500 art looks really pretty.*

Also, dave crockum art from X-men: Odd men out.

Check it out, yo.



* - color wise and the costumes look MUCH MUCH better

[Podmark]

Yeah I love the Dodson art so much more than Land. I'm picking up 500, if I like it maybe more. We'll see.

Quick Young X-Men spoilers:
[spoiler]Cyclops is really Donald Pierce (big surprise  :rolleyes:). Young X-Men attack Sunspot and Cannonball. Greymalkin is someone who seems to know Cypher.[/spoiler]

Wasn't impressed with this issue either. I got this feeling the book will get somewhat better with the next arc but right now its a very contrived mystery story. 1 maybe 2 out of 5.

[Previsionary]

New Exiles #8:

Ok, I'm going mostly off of memory here which may be hazy, but hey, you don't read the book; why would you care? :P Now, I openly admit that I don't think highly of current Claremont or his Exiles/New Excalibur run, but I must have a reason for continuously torturing myself by even browsing...but he has psylocke and I aim to keep track of her. DARN YOU, 'MONT! Dramatics over, I'll give a quick* review.

Anyway, this and last issue finally gets back to a story introduced way back in Exiles (claremont's run). You may not remember it, but basically Psylocke ran into Slaymaster in a world run by evil Susan storm/Hydra and he's been chasing her down ever since making sure to kill EVERY incarnation of her he can find. I'm sure he's doing chronal damage, but as of now (ignoring this issue until I actually review it), it hasn't been addressed. Point is, Psylocke went crazy last issue for some reason and left her team during an important issue and ran into her foe who happens to be Slaymaster...actually, she arrives there too late and runs into a dead version of herself that was just killed by Slaymaster. Same difference. ^^

[spoiler]Now, it's a bit difficult for me to explain everything going on in this book using memory and other resources, but during the first few pages, Psylocke's confrontation with Slaymaster results in her splitting into every incarnation of her we've seen in 616, IIRC. That means Captain Britain, old pink costume, armor, red X-men costume all make an appearance for some reason and claim they all have the power to beat him. They all lose and Psylocke wakes up.

In a room she doesn't recognize, Psylocke realizes she's been redressed and she has the crimson dawn mark on her face again. She's confused by this and then realizes a man is in the room with her. The man claims Psylocke isn't in control of her destiny and reveals himself as Ogun. He reveals that his student, Lady Mandarin, died but her soul was seeking another body and it ended up in Psylocke. This story seems a bit familiar, huh? Ogun reveals that his pupil was killed by Slaymaster and offers to help Psylocke beat him by teaching her a new technique (IE: training).

Scene shift:  Gambit is jumping with the dolphins in the cleanest ocean he's ever seen or be in while commenting on the plot to no one in particular when he's attacked by naval ships (outdated tech...again). Aquaman...I mean Gambit is then hit by a projectile and notes that he's glad he's built for high pressure situations. He's then attacked by a scuba diver in body armor. Gambit continues explaining every move and story plot to us as he's attacked, but he manages to take one of the divers down (Female) as well as the boat.
-   For some reason, Gambit feels the need to openly describe every action he's going to do to us or to his attackers while switching from atlantaen and French. Gambit...shutup.

Um, Gambit is then "attacked" by a giant squid which he learns is trying to help them and they can talk and I just remember that page being full of dialog...every panel. Then some other atlanteans show up and Gambit continuously forgets he's in a different universe and keeps reminding us of that. Moving on...

As Gambit talks to his alt. grandmother about wars and whatever, Storm (wearing a costume reminiscent to her 90s costume) appears on the scene and provides trouble for the french, under the rule of emperor Napoleon, by summoning a storm. Of course, Claremont has to explain what she does and that this is fun for "ro'ro". Also, this is the second time she's appeared in Claremont's New Exiles...she was last seen 2 arcs ago. Also, she seems to be attracted to her alternate universe son.

Anyway, Napoleon proves that he answers to no one and his ships "vanish"—actually becoming airships ala final fantasy—and we finally see the other members of the team. All that's really important in the scene is that Morph's team + Queen's guards/supporters must protect her. Also, Sage can apparently fly now.

MEANWHILE, the other team of Rogue and Mystiq with the kid (prince) from last issue fly to Department X (X-mansion) and speak to the professor (Emma Frost). The kid wonders where his mother is. Emma reveals that the French have control of Manhattan island and that they're on their own. Emma then mentions her team...Force X.

We THEN move to Kitty who is still dealing with the realization that worlds are ending. I won't go much into this scene, but Kitty questions Heather about what's going on in the omniverse and Heather basically speaks in riddles. We end the book with Heather (she's a program now, keep that in mind...the real heather is with Blink and friends) disappearing.[/spoiler]

Finally done. Woo. That's quick for a Claremont book, mind you. Anyway, the exposition in his books kill me. I don't need to know every last detail of what characters are thinking or how they use a power if we've seen it before or if it should be a simple visual. I don't need every freakin' page full of dialogue and thought bubbles and exposition boxes. I don't need a team book splitting everyone up into teams of 2 or being solo for individual stories when you spend too much time on the story less relevant to the current situation. The fact that he showed every character in this book across several different areas probably hurt him (I forgot Heather existed for a bit...), but he didn't show Sabretooth, team leader, at all. Anyway, solid 2. I'm being generous.

Gah, I hope to add another review later...of a good book...people can enjoy.

[Silver Shocker]

LOL Pre you still read New Exiles. Why do you punish yourself? Join us on the ooooootttthhhher siiiide.....it's BLISS.  :P

[Previsionary]

LOL Pre you still read New Exiles. Why do you punish yourself? Join us on the ooooootttthhhher siiiide.....it's BLISS.  :P

I browse/read summaries. It has Psylocke, ok. I like her...liked her...Im confused about my feelings concerning her character these days. Claremont wont drop her! She'd rock in Captain britain + MI13 since she's...you know...English.

[Previsionary]

   I really didn't want to write more than one review as, well, pc is still dead and that's taking a lot of energy but...the incredibly quick (long) Claremont based review left a bad taste in my mouth and I needed something to remove it. So, well, here we go:

Captain Britain and the MI13 #3:

   Just to play catch up, in issue one, the MI13 come together and Captain Britain sacrifices his life to save the sage perilous and to protect Britain (and magic) from the skrulls, who are a surprisingly effective force in this book unlike the SI main book. In Issue 2, Faiza gains some sort of powers and Wisdom and some other members of the MI13 try to remove Excalibur but fail while the mystical creatures of Britain do battle with the skrulls. Now for issue 3, I'll start by saying it has an awesome cover of Spitfire biting into a skrull. HARDCORE!

   [spoiler]The book opens up with a full page of the skrull forces lead by a skrull that sort of resembles Doc. Strange with a flaming head and horns. He reports that the skrulls now have the magic and they'll soon take out Avalon and rejoin the main forces to finish conquering the world. This team of skrulls is known as the Pendragon force, and honestly, they seem like a bigger threat than the New York skrulls. Meanwhile, on Westminster's bridge, the British military prepare for the upcoming skrull attack and note/clarify that the skrulls now have magic under their control and are considerably more formidable. They must prevent the skrulls from taking over parliament (extending into the media) to keep them from making the world think they (skrulls) have won the war.

   In an open field somewhere, Pete and Spitfire take out a few skrulls and Spitfire is worried about John the skrull. She resolves to save him while Pete tells her that magic needs a sacrifice, but it's too much. Spitfire tells Pete that if he has one final card to play, then play it.

Meanwhile, John is surrounded by skrulls and makes a speech about not changing his form to resemble his true nature because he refuses to die as one of them. He then tries to pull Excalibur again and fails.
Back at the bridge, Black Knight, the army, and Faiza have a standoff with the skrull forces. Black Knight tells Faiza she should leave, but she refuses, so he tells her when he tells her to run when things get bad—run!

Going back to Pete, he finally decides to listen to the voice in his head and runs off to release the creature speaking to him. He finds the tomb, uses his powers, and breaks the seal. Welcome back, Merlin! Merlin explains that he's good now and sends Peter into a spiritual trip of sorts by forcing him asleep. Merlin then strikes the ground and an agonizing scream is heard across Britain as a pair of hands tries to dig their way out of the Earth. At the same time, a bunch of British flags is flying towards the same source and begins to form around a body.

Finally, as the other British forces try to fight off the skrulls, they notice something in the sky and are shocked. They note that someone is back and someone has the sword, but whom?! We then head into the final scene of the book. Skrull Doc's forces have all but destroyed the British forces except for Faiza. As the skrull mocks Faiza, someone from behind kills him. That someone, you ask, is Brian Braddock—Captain Britain.[/spoiler]

Basically, this is an action packed book and I urge all of you guys to check it out. It and Avengers: The Initiative have been the only skrull related books so far to actually make me take the skrulls seriously and present them as actual masterminds and threats rather than page fillers that are taken out with little effort. I enjoy how urgent the situation seems for Britain and how literally EVERYONE is trying to fight off the skrull forces and I also like how the skrulls here have this big bad attitude (ego) about them where they don't even feel threatened until excalibur is pulled again. I'll have to rate this a high 4. I hope the book keeps this momentum after the skrull tie in (and I don't doubt Paul Cornell of Dr. Who fame will let me down) and I'm interested to see how Blade will play into the story when he finally shows up.

I didn't mention this in the sumview, but several creatures escaped the tomb Pete wisdom went to...here's a pic of it and you can play spot the demon or w/e:

[spoiler][/spoiler]


X-factor #33 preview. Podmark, close your eyes. :P

X-force #5 preview

[Talavar]

You mentioned that Heather went off with Blink & friends - as a fan of Exiles a long time ago with a morbid curiosity, what happened to them?

[Previsionary]

You mentioned that Heather went off with Blink & friends - as a fan of Exiles a long time ago with a morbid curiosity, what happened to them?

*opens memory box*

Well, this happened after the Reed vs. hydra Sue Storm story, iirc, but Heather basically went insane and began to drink heavily because she thought the Exiles were dead. In reality, Reed Richards had allowed the world to die/explode and magically restored it in a later issue. The Exiles couldn't return home, so they remained on the world and helped rebuild it as Psylocke healed from a wound she received from Hydra Wolverine. Heather didn't find this information out until she was already gone. When the Exiles finally returned home, they noticed that the crystal palace was empty (the bugs left during Heather's breakdown) and are worried. Blink and Morph eventually think to check her home world and find Heather in her house. They learn she's pregnant and she won't be returning to the team. The same or next issue, Kitty Pryde appears as do the old couple (that served no purpose to the story other than being a tribute) and we eventually get to the return of Thunderbird.

By the time issue #100 rolled around, only a month or so after that thing that was Excalibur: Death by the Sword; Blink, Talia/Nocturne, and Thunderbird are tired of doing missions and decide to stay with Heather in her homeworld. IIRC, Nocturne's reason for going, other than being with Thunderbird, was for Heather to keep track of her health since she was still recovering from her ever-so-random stroke she had in New Excalibur.

And that's what happened to Blink and the other original Exiles. They're effectively in limbo with a pregnant Heather.
------------------------------

Finale review for me this week...I hope:


Ultimate Origins #2:

   I don't have any expectations for this book, so keep that in mind. My overall enjoyment of the ultimate universe is severely low, so any good story will easily make me happy. With that said, I want to take the time now to recommend Ultimate Human and Ultimate Iron Man II as they are both good ultimate books that put UXM, UFF, and Ultimates #3 to shame. With that said, on with the sumview.

   The cover is of Captain America, and while covers aren't typically an indicator of what's to come, this one is accurate as Captain America is introduced into the story with this issue. That's just a side note before I jump into things.

[spoiler]
   We open up the book with Carol Danvers welcoming the Fantastic Four to, I suppose, a shield base in the mountains. The crew is surprised that Carol is acting as director of shield and Johnny keeps asking about Nick Fury as no one knows where he is. At this point, I should mention that I guess this comes before the last issue of Ultimate Fantastic Four as Reed and Susan are still together. Anyway, Reed inspects all the material he finds there and is alarmed that all these items are just kept together in a room somewhere.

   New York, 1942, we see a young Steve Rogers at a movie theater watching a documentary about Hitler and the war. He runs into an old friend, Gail, from High school and she introduces him to a friend who's shipping out to a war. Gail notes that they, her and Steve, should get together sometime before finding her seat. Several minutes later, Steve leaves and heads for a recruitment office where we find out he failed the physical portion of his examination. Steve refuses to take no for an answer and wants to do anything to help aid in the war, but he won't work in a factory with the dames. As Steve is pleading, Sergeant Dugan asks for him. Dugan asks Steve to explain why he keeps trying to be recruited and Dugan later tells Steve that his job was to find him. This leads into Project: Rebirth. You know the outcome of that, so I'm gonna skip all the middle portions as you can easily grab those details from common sense/ultimates #1/Wikipedia. The project was successful, but unfortunately, a German spy was among the experiment dressed as an American soldier and shoots both Steve and Doctor Erskine (who dies). Steve makes easy work of the spy, using his first discus as well, and passes out.

   Next scene is Steve in his room and the president enlists him in the war telling Steve that he must go overseas, wear the flag, and help stop the war otherwise the president will have to drop a bomb killing everyone and...he can't have that on his soul. Later, we see Steve walking over to see Gail and he informs her that he's shipping out and that he's loved her since Middle School. The book ends off with the first shot of Captain America jumping out of a plane heading into battle.[/spoiler]

   Not a lot really happened in this issue and that's fine as it mostly focused on Cap and the rest of his origins. I would have liked if they'd covered a little more though, but I'm sure issue 3 will take care of that. From what I can tell, Origins fits pretty nicely into Ultimate continuity and nothing seems to stand out as being incorrect. It is a slow issue with very little action and if you don't like solo character focused books, you might want to skip this. I'd rate it a 2.5 out of 5. It lost a few points because of the art, which wasn't the greatest.

[Podmark]

   
X-factor #33 preview. Podmark, close your eyes. :P

X-force #5 preview

Oh no! The Stroman art has blinded me so that I can't see the X-Force preview! Oh woe is me!  :(

I keep hearing great things about Captain Britain and MI13. I might trade it eventually.

[Previsionary]

X-factor #33:

Podmark, I'm sorry, but the art in this book will probably kill you. I'm protecting you right now because that's what caring people do...also, I don't feel evil today. You're lucky.

Let's get some of the facts out of the way. This is a three part arc and Larry Stroman is doing the art. It also serves as a crossover for both She-hulk and Secret Invasion. It also introduces two more characters to the story. I'm not going to go real in-depth with the review, so if you really want to know everything...buying the book or finding a better summary will be your best bet.

[spoiler]The story starts off with Longshot trying to start a fight so that he can test his powers. Darwin gets caught in the crossfire and easily adapts to the situations he's put in. This includes growing gills when exposed to water.

The scene then shifts to X-factor investigations where Darwin's father has arrived. He's there to ask for help and the XF team agrees to aid him in finding his son. It's revealed that Darwin's father abandoned the family (or more accurately, was driven away once the family found out about Darwin's condition as a mutant) and his mother placed the blame and guilt on Darwin.

Back to Longshot and Darwin, Darwin is still being attacked and Longshot is just standing around. A riot then breaks out after the thugs figure out Darwin is a mutant, but Darwin speeds off leaving Longshot to be jumped on. To the thugs' surprise, Longshot disappeared and they run off to find him. One of the thugs runs into a lady who was watching the scene go down. MYSTERY.

We then come to a scene featuring a skrull who is putting down humanity once again. The skrull then shapeshifts into Longshot (couldn't find anyone better, I suppose) and a talking rat spots him. This rat is Jacinda for you none She-hulk readers.

-An interesting note I want to make. Every time I saw Siryn in this book, her hair was mysteriously floating. Pregnancy must have giving her "floating hair" power.

Next scene, Maddox and Guido are in the bar talking to Val Cooper. She tells them to forget about Darwin as she has a more important assignment for them. She then threatens them and Maddox does his typical wise cracking thing. Val then threatens Jamie with a secret and tells him he has 24 hours to wrap up the Darwin case before reporting to her.

And to end this, we go back to Darwin and Skrullshot. Darwin reveals that he thought skrullshot could lead him to Professor X (that makes no sense to me). Skrullshot reveals that's not how his power works and he's not a tracker...he just relies on luck and chance. He then clams up when Darwin notices the girl from the thug fight following them. He screams out her name and makes a run for it. Jacinda (girl) gives chase, but Darwin trips her up. Jacinda easily dispatches of him and continues her chase. We then get the classic misunderstanding between Darwin, She-hulk/Jacinda, and XF and...this is the worse I've ever seen She-hulk and Monet drawn in a very long time. She-hulk resembled a deformed skrull and that's not cool.
[/spoiler]

The art really distracted me and I don't know how other readers adapted to it so quickly or even...like it. Upon seeing this art, I immediately remembered that Stroman also did the art to What if: ...Vulcan/X-men and it made me sad. I give it a 2. The art took me way out of the story and it seemed to be a bit slow because of it. Also...double crossover is pushing it for me.

[Podmark]

Yeah I got no compliments for the X-Factor art except that it didn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it would. I think the preview prepared me. Thought the story was good though.

Also read X-Force last week. Didn't quite have the punch of the first 4 but I still love that book.

[Previsionary]

Just noting...X-men 500 is out today, so expect a review at least by Sunday. :P Longshot is back...so let's all be happy for the return of Dazzler without the pink low cut!  (*chirps*)

[Previsionary]

X-men #500:

Well, this has been a long time coming, but we finally made it to #500. Uncanny had some good and bad runs and really, in the past few years, the bad has been prominent. I'm sorry, but there's no way to really forget dino Rachel, the death of most of the grey family, and (both) finales to RAFOTSE. It's been rocky, but it's also had it's own little gems like returning Psylocke continuity and making her a friend of X-23, some Messiah Complex issues, and the added confusion about Magneto (not good...but I needed something!).

This is basically what happened in this issue:

[spoiler]The team are having a new compound built just outside of San Fran because A) it's hard to get to and B) rent is high + they can reach many parts of the city through tunnels and such (which Wolverine is using to test out his motorcycles). The X-men have also gone green and everyone is wearing improved versions of their astonishing costume except Storm who is still wearing her old black costume. It should be noted that the X-men are going green. They can do it, why not you? ^_^

The mayor arrives via storm and checks out the base. She's impressed, but she has some dark knews to shar. Guy "Gee" Demondue, a confrontational conceptual artist, has acquired three mark one sentinels and plans to show them off. This results in some very ugly angry X-face (hi, Emma! That's you right?), minus wolverine, that tell the mayor those things are horrible. The X-men will be at this showing!

Next scene, a page full of Jean! She's been cloned again by Sinister. It's quite a horrible scene because Jean clones are crazy...But what actually happens is that a bunch of people are dressed in several of Jean's costumes. Sorry to scare you. Also, several mutants are protesting the event. As the X-men scout the event, Wolverine wonders if he can kill some of them and cyclos refuses. He then notes how F'ing angry he is and Emma wants to mindwipe some guy because that's her specialty. Cyclops jokes it off.

Somewhere else at this event, Colossus and Angel are sharing a conversation. Angel is happy to let his wings hang out and Colossus finds it strange. Someone walks by in a Magneto costume and hands Colossus a drink. Colossus is confused and tells the man he's not part of the staff before Magneto attacks and sends Colossus flying. Magneto then brings the sentinels to life--so to speak--and the X-men respond to the chaos. Angel and Emma lead the robots away, so that innocents aren't hurt and...FASTBALL SPECIAL!

Moving on, The remaining X-men try to fight Magneto and have little luck--Cyclops: SUCK IT!--in stopping him. Emma has Warren lead a remaining sentinel towards the bay while her, Wolverine, and Colossus rush back to Cyclops side. Emma notes that it's weird that Magneto could power up the sentinels, yet they never targetted him. Cannonball then arrives on the scene and rams directly into Magneto's back. It's then revealed that magneto is in a suit of some sort that "faked" his powers. Cyclops then states they'll find a way to reverse engineer the suit if Magneto tries it again.

--I'm skipping some parts of this scene, sorry


Switching gears, We come upon Storm who alerts the X-men that the Celestial in San Fran seems to be awaking. She then points out that Magneto must have been a distraction. The X-men, sans Warren, rush off to the Celestial's location. Storm prepares to stop the high evolutionary from attacking and...he just disappears (like Magneto) leaving only Kingo Sunen there to remain. To book buyers, you'll note that Kingo was mentioned/seen in the first few pages of the book. The day ends with Magneto and the high evolutionary on a ship above earth discussing their plans.


NEXT DAY:

The X-men are standing around commenting on the view of their surroundings. NC then arrives and Cyclops prepares to have his thoughts transmitted across the mutant race (less than 198 now, im sure). Cyclops calmly announces that the X-men are still alive and going strong.

We then shift to Wolverine on the streets. He congratulates Cyclops on his announcement and then goes to check up on Guy (GEE!). He tells Cykes that they won't be getting anything from him as Guy (GEE) appears to be dead.So dead that his face is locked in a surprised expression and...um...it's facing backwards while his torso and such is facing forward and slammed against a desk...yeah.

TWO WEEKS LATER:

We pick up with an Older Pixie and friend at a Dazzler show (she hasn't sung since New Excalibur, btw) and they sing odd words like, "pop and freak," and "tweeting"...kids. The two are being scouted by a man and some thugs in a van. These people want to save humanity and they reveal themselves to be...the Hellfire cult![/spoiler]

WOOO! *wipes brow* Well, there you go. It's a pretty big book and a lot happened, but I did have quite a few questions pop up and I'll just accept that Magneto is powerless now since Uncanny finally addressed it again. I do want to know what he did with the diary he picked up though. It was nice seeing a good deal of the X-team working together to handle a crisis even if it seemed just a tiny bit rushed, imo. I enjoyed seeing another Fastball special and I guess that means Colossus is no longer a Last Defender (don't read the book). Um,  I'm still trying to decide where the free comic fits in because I'm certain it's in continuity. I'll assume it took place either before issue #500 or in the two week period afterwards. So, yeah, it's a good issue for what it is. It's not very compelling and darnit, I didn't get to see Dazzler outside of the cover. She will need to appear soon or I'm attacking someone if only because I want to hear her thoughts on sleeping with Pete Wisdom when she knew Juggernaut had a minor attraction towards her. *mumbles*...3.2 out of 5. The art was pretty good, so it got extra points. I should note that I've adapted to greg's art so his similar faces, alleged tracing, and *censored* faces don't bother me as much as they used to. *nods*

*note* I should say that this issue is completely blah as a milestone issue and by itself, you probably won't enjoy it; however, it sets up the new quo and sets up a few stories.

[Podmark]

I thought 500 was simply horrible. Highlighted by Land art (which bugs me MORE than Stroman) and poor use of Magneto. Really liked Dodson's art though. My rating would be like 1/5 I really didn't like it. Won't be picking up the next one but I'll keep my eye on the title in case it picks up.

On the other hand She-Hulk was pretty good. It's part two of the X-Factor storyline. I'd give it a 3 or 4 out of 5.

[Previsionary]

I thought 500 was simply horrible. Highlighted by Land art (which bugs me MORE than Stroman) and poor use of Magneto. Really liked Dodson's art though. My rating would be like 1/5 I really didn't like it. Won't be picking up the next one but I'll keep my eye on the title in case it picks up.

On the other hand She-Hulk was pretty good. It's part two of the X-Factor storyline. I'd give it a 3 or 4 out of 5.

why did you think it was so horrible, sir Pod? I'll admit it wasn't great, milestone worthy, or even compelling; but if I look at it as a bunch of setups, with a side of setups + a setup soda, I can accept it as average. I'm ignoring magneto, some of cyclops's dialogue where he contradicted himself, emma's semi-uberness, lack of NC/Cannonball, and Storm being very dumb. :P

[Previsionary]

Looks like posts died again. Pod, to your erased reply, I said I understood and consistency isn't anything current Land is known for and I just ignore it now. I also do the same thing with Brubaker because his writing seems to fluctuate on X-men. I think it's a combo of him not getting the characters he wanted (he has cyclops/astonishing now...but wrote them pretty blandly) and him not being all too great at team based books. I don't know, I've adapted...like Darwin.

She-Hulk #31 (I refuse to re-edit this):

Usually, She-hulk wouldn't grace this thread, but thanks to the crossover, you get her here. I must admit that I just got into She-hulk recently and I find her sort of refreshing. I can take her in much larger doses than I ever could Ms. Emma *becoming too powerful with little training* Frost and she has this whole fun vibe going on about her. If anyone needs to get out of her B/C list game and become a header, I'd choose She-hulk...for now. Also, I'm going to note that I misspelled Jazinda's name last review, so my bad.

[spoiler]The book starts off where we left off in X-factor: She-hulk is about to bust some heads open and she especially doesn't want to deal with Monet (who does?). I'll note here that I find it weird that Monet's skin color keeps getting lighter and lighter as the months go on. It's an odd thing to do to a character. Anyway, Monet tells Shulk that she's looking for Darwin and she refuses to get into a catfight and then work together with She Hulk. Seconds later, she's splashed with water. Fun.

As you know, once a girl is splashed with water, the fight is on. The women go at it while Darwin sits back and puts Jazinda in a headlock. Jazinda easily escapes and gut kicks him before returning to her mission. Meanwhile, Shehulk, by her own admission, immaturely keeps battling Monet because it's much more fun. MORAL LESSON, Y'all! ^_^

We then go several hours into the past which will inevitably lead us to the showdown between Monet and She-Hulk. Jacinda begins to explain the skrull situation to a confused She-Hulk and reveals this plan has been thought out for too long and the attack will be simultaneous. She-hulk protests and says they need to head back to New York. As She-hulk and Jazinda fight over the wheel, they crash through a railing and flip over and  crash. Shulk then punches Jazinda and questions her alliance. Jazinda explains herself and Shulk finally accepts her explanation and inquires as to why they had to go to Detroit. Jazinda explaisn that the "Talisman" is there and if they capture him, they may be able to short circuit the invasion.

We're all caught up and flashback to the present. She-hulk flips Monet into a vehicle just as Guido slams her into the ground. She-hulk then does something very unlady like and Guido may need to visit a hospital to make sure he's still...functional.

Back in the past, jazinda continues explaining who the Talisman ('Nogor') is. He's one of the holiest skrulls on the planet. He's only below the skrull gods in hierarchy. Talisman is said to be a representation of the gods and his prescenese is required to ensure that the gods are in agreement on particular endeavors such as invasions. Jazinda then explains that the Talisman is kept from battle because if he dies/loses, it's a blow to morale.

Flash Forward, we find Jazinda holding a gun out on poor skrullshot. Darwin then appears and protects skrullshot. Jazinda tells him Longshot is a skrull and Darwin doesn't belive her. Jazinda then shoots Darwin, he adapts, and the bullet smacks into Jazinda. Ouch. Longshot and Darwin run off and She-hulk runs off to find Jazinda. Madrox gets in her way for a second and Shulk tells him off while continuing on her way. DOUBLE TASKING ROCKS! However, a slew of Madrox's jump her and she realizes that being impulsive is stupid. Poor shulk.

Monet rushes to rejoin the fray, but is told to go after Darwin and Skrullshot. Monet goes, but warns that she'll be back to get a crack at Shulkie. This upsets She-hulk enough to push all her reasonable thoughts elsewhere. Monet catches up with Darwin, he gushes, and she begins to question longshot. Darwin reveals what Jazinda said and Monet read Longshot to make sure. She found nothing. Darwin then touches him and...Talisman is revealed!

--Note, this is um...I think the third device for identifying skrulls so far.

The book ends with monet being knocked out AGAIN and Darwin calling for help.[/spoiler]

In a nutshell, it's a good book. More enjoyable than Uncanny and the art is much better than X-factor...which isn't saying much. I still think it's a bit slow because some of the plot devices were used to stretch out the book longer than it needed to be, but it's forgivable because it was acknowledge in the book and I can accept that Darwin is uber naive. Anyway, 3.5 out of 5. Better than Uncanny, but still suffers a few problem. Go out and get it.

X-men Legacy 214:

[spoiler]
If you haven't been reading it, then you probably still won't be. it really picked up with the Xavier/Sinister plot and the Gambit/Shaw team up was great. I actually liked Sebastian a lot in this book and he got a bunch of great lines. Meanwhile, Xavier and Sinister went through more memories (Onslaught, etc.) and continued their psychic battle. Xavier eventually got the upper hand and Sebastian + Gambit destroyed Sinister's machine. The book ends with Shaw speaking to a very sexually dressed "MISS" Sinister. SHOCK![/spoiler]

Solid 3. I don't have much more to say about it really. It a book for continuity hounds or people who like to look up memories and events. This arc is a bit better than the last and much better than the first few issues, but it probably won't hold your attention too long.

Ultimate X-men #96:

[spoiler]
I'm a bit worried about this issue. It feels like I missed a whole middle issue, but I guess that's because I feel like Cyclops and the MGH X-men fell too quickly into their addictions. Anyway, Cyclops's X-men are addicted and this worries NC. Meanwhile, Jean is pushing the X-men to their limits to make sure they're ready for battle. Magma is annoyed and Iceman says they shouldn't have to worry about dying with Jean around. Jean points out that they can't rely on her. NC then contacts her and asks for help and Jean + her team head out for their eventual showdown. Meanwhile, Wolverine heads to spider-man + Kitty (awful costume) to figure out how he's a MGH mutant when he's never taken the drug. Spider-man reveals that Wolverine is the source of MGH and Wolverine plans to make someone pay. That someone ends up being Colossus. On a sidenote, Jean also has daddy issues and she realizes she can't bring her father back.[/spoiler]

This is an ok book. It's nice to see some of Kirkman's stories addressed and not just dropped even if I want them to be. I felt this issue rushed a few things and Alpha flight wasn't addressed again, but they have a whole issue to go. The last panel was a bit shocking and it looks like Colossus may have lost a friend and a crush. Aww. 2.5 out of 5.

And that's about it for this week. Tune in next week for more rushed out reviews! Same X-time, same X-channel...which means whenever I want it to come out. :P

I leave you with this:  October solicits. Looks like the X-men are gonna have an interesting ride and Wolverine's son ties into a story...bluh. Also, you rare cable fans: Family ties. Maybe Cable can redeem himself.


EDIT: Anyone find it ominous that neither ultimate X-men nor Ultimate F4 are in the October solicits...but we get two new Loeb ultimate books...eew.

[AfghanAnt]

I thought 500 was simply horrible. Highlighted by Land art (which bugs me MORE than Stroman) and poor use of Magneto. Really liked Dodson's art though. My rating would be like 1/5 I really didn't like it. Won't be picking up the next one but I'll keep my eye on the title in case it picks up.

On the other hand She-Hulk was pretty good. It's part two of the X-Factor storyline. I'd give it a 3 or 4 out of 5.

Agreed. I found reading 500 painful. I am really disappointed with the writing of the x-titles.

[Podmark]

Yeah my post and later post are gone. Recap:
Pod don't like 500
500 uninteresting
Land = horrible: inconsistent, poor backgrounds, stiff, lack of energy.
poor use of Magneto

That was it more or less.

I thought 500 was simply horrible. Highlighted by Land art (which bugs me MORE than Stroman) and poor use of Magneto. Really liked Dodson's art though. My rating would be like 1/5 I really didn't like it. Won't be picking up the next one but I'll keep my eye on the title in case it picks up.

On the other hand She-Hulk was pretty good. It's part two of the X-Factor storyline. I'd give it a 3 or 4 out of 5.

Agreed. I found reading 500 painful. I am really disappointed with the writing of the x-titles.

I'm quite happy with X-Force and X-Factor. And I can't really say Legacy is badly written, I just don't find it interesting.

Young X-Men and Uncanny are pretty bad. Can't speak for the Wolverines, Cable, and whatever else.

[Previsionary]

I'll fill out the rest then! Whee!

Angel revelations is great and I forgot to add in that review...maybe later to fill my writing quota.
First Class is great.
Wolverine is good for now (Millar's arc) and it came off a good run with "Get: Mystique!"
Origins is...something. I didn't read all the deadpool arc to form a conclusion on how Way will handle Deadpool.
Wolverine First Class is average but a bit odd in title and theme.
Cable is a big mess, but has the potential to be great with the upcoming arcs.

And...that's it until hundreds of X-books flood the market again in the upcoming months.

[rant] On a side note, I find cyclops to be the worst brother/dad ever and Emma to be herself...which is not a compliment. Hey Cyclops, in your time off, your brother has been missing for months while your other brother and his psycho wife tortured him. Oh, and your "daughter" is out in space somewhere with her ex-lover...how about getting Uber Emma to finally contact them, ya jerk! Oh, Rachel...how about coming to Earth and getting some help? Oh hey, Cable, I'm glad you conveniently remembered you could jump forward in time after spending 4 dumb issues being a victim after Bishop broke your "jump backwards in time" function of your watch. Summers = global idiots, but they're allowed to keep sleeping around giving us more summers...horrible. :P [/rant]

[crimsonquill]

As you folks might already know.. today is the start of San Diego Comic-Con and this afternoon just moments ago Marvel held their X-Men Panel with lots of news on the coming year...

Click the link for the full report: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/080724-comiccon-x-men-panel.html

Highlights of the panel include..

Fraction mentioned Uncanny X-Men #500, which came out this week, and said they're starting out with the "Hellfire Cult," and that there will be a "Sisterhood of Evil Mutants."

McCann then asked Cebulski to announce the new big X-Men event, "X Infernus," or as McCann called it, "Inferno 2."
Cebulski said he pitched the story as an annual, but the higher-ups decided it was "too big" of a story, so it'll be a mini-series, with David Finch doing covers. Cebulski noted it was too early to announce the artist, but said it'll feature the character of Magik (actually, he didn't directly say that, but hinted extremely heavily).

Lots of news and Q&A material answered at the end of the panel.. Of couse the reveal of Magik being part of Inferno 2 was blown with a picture released at the Marvel Booth.. (http://www.comicscontinuum.com/stories/0807/24/xmeninferno1.jpg)

- CrimsonQuill

[Previsionary]

Interesting, crimson, and I'll be sure to check out your link. A lot of the solicits look like they're setting up for it and I'm pretty interested in the Emma/Jeanesque (Maddie?) cover. :P

Anyway,

Angel Revelations #3:

Too many X-books came out this week and I planned to only write on the mainstream related ones that affected continuity, but...I need to fill my writing quota somehow and i already 'sumviewed' issues 1 and 2, so may as well fnish the whole series. I find Angel to be an somewhat interesting character when he's used correctly and I enjoyed him back during the 05/New X-men/X-factor tenure. Over the years he's basically become a mockery and without his various weapons, he's more or less useless in actual combat against the high grade mutants and enemies with piercing weapons...but hey, that's marvel's fault, not his!

[spoiler]Issue 3 starts out with Warren's parents. It's christmas time and Warren informs them that he won't be home for the holidays. He lies and tells them he's getting some last minute things done before college. His mother is worried, but she understands. Warren is also upset that his father is such a hardcase and he tells his mother that she shouldn't have to be treated that way before she hangs up the phone and rushes off to a fundraising event.

Out in the courtyard, Amanda and Brandon talk outside the school. Brandon notes that Warren didn't pack anything and Amanda notes she doesn't talk to Warren anymore. Amanda is not amused by Brandon's obsession with her ex and claims they'll get him back for what he did to them. Brandon remarks that something strange is going on with Warren and refuses to ease up (stalker in the making).

Back in school, a few days later, Warren and Andrew sit at a table talking. Andrew wants to know when he can see Warren's wings. Warren says, "soon." Soon turns out to be the next day. Warren has Andrew turns around as he unbinds his wings from the tape he used to keep them down. He notes that the tape, "hurts like heck," and Andrew likens it to when women binded themselves to pass for men. After a few more seconds, Angel finally releases his wings and Andrew is shocked.

   -I, too, was shocked because those things were drawn ridiculously huge. Big enough to spread the entire width of the page and look awkward.

Andrew wants to know if Angel can fly, he can, and how fast he is. Warren recruits Andrew to help him find out. The easiest way to do this, you may be asking yourself, is to have a race outside in the snow across a river. That's science for ya. As Andrew is skating across the frozen river, he looks back at Warren to check his progress. There's an old adage that says, "watch where you're going!" and Andrew should heed such things as he fell through thin ice. He goes under and Warren rushes to save him. After a bit of quick thinking, Angel saves him and puts in his dorm room to resuccitate him.

A day later, Andrew and Warren are walking around when FR. Reynolds, the priest from earlier, addresses Andrew and explains that he's been wanting to spend some time with Andrew but he's been hard to pin. Warren jumps into the discussion and volunteers to help out as well. The friar is visibly upset but accepts Warren's proposition. Once the friar leaves, Andrew reveals that the friar isn't a good person and that he forces Andrew to do things to him.

   -I suspected this cliche to fully form...i was just hoping for something different.

Christmas, the scene opens up with the man from issue one, I forget his name, and Mary Magaret (who I thought was dead). It's revealed that marry has been held captive for three months and the man killed her mother and buried her a long time ago. He goes on to spout information about Satan, God, wars, and followers which rightly freaks the little girl out. It's also revealed that Mary would be dead if it weren't for her gift: Divine sight.

The woman in Illinois who healed by touch, the boy in Georgia who spoke every language, the conjoined twins in Nebraska who walked on water...mary was the source that led the man to all of them. The man killed them all and claims to have set their souls free. He goes on to spout that they were undeserving and only those who believe without seeing can enter the gates of heaven. He also shot off Mary's foot so that she may never escape his clutches. The book ends with the man claiming he'll be hunting down the FALSE angel next.[/spoiler]

This issue was sort of creepy especially near the end and when the friar came into play again. I'm also a little worried about Andrew and his mental state, but that's for different reasons entirely. Since he's not in 616 continuity at all, from what I can remember, I see him having some sort of grim ending. The art is still great, but it does seem odd in a few places. It's certainly not mainstream and is a required taste, me suspects. I was glad to see Mary return as I was almost sure the little girl was dead. I give it a 4 out of 5. It's a great book and more of you need to be reading it. It's certainly something different and not action heavy at all, but hey, it gives Angel the development time he needs while fleshing out his early history. However, i can easily admit this book doesn't fit Angel's Classic X-men/First class personality at all...but, i also don't care. HA!  ^_^

[Previsionary]

So um...where are the reviews, summaries, and opinions? I take a two week break and the thread dies?  :banghead: ^_^

[Podmark]

uhh......I read SI X-Men today...

[spoiler]Skrulls invade San Francisco and Cyclops leads the X-Men against them. Skrulls weren't expecting the X-Men and our being taken down pretty well. X-Men take down a Skrull ship and Scott gets his tech guys searching for information on it. Nightcrawler finds some kind of Skrull orb that's talking to him telling him it will tell him what he wants to know. Skrulls send in the Super Skrulls.

X-Men that appear:
Armor, Beast, Cannonball, Colossus, Cyclops, Dust, Emma Frost, Iceman, Mercury, Nightcrawler, Pixie, Prodigy, Sunspot, Stepford Cuckoos, Surge and X-23.
Angel, Anole and Rockslide are mentioned, also reference to "other students is made". I expect we'll see other X-Men in the rest of the issues.

Wasn't huge on the issue. It's mostly setup kinda, nothing exciting really happens. Art is kinda blah and I didn't like the colours. Probably too much focus on the Skrulls, who are fairly generic in this one. The artist Nord didn't draw the most exciting fight scenes which is a concern for a series that is basically X-Men vs Skurlls. However it is nice to see so many X-Men showing up, New X-Men especially since I'm a big fan. Also liked seeing more of the new costumes. Haven't decided if I like them yet but it's nice to see change every so often. Cyclops is pretty good here, it's a good use of his recent general persona. Nightcrawler is the other star, and Mike Carey has Kurt speaking a fair amount of German here which is cool, but I don't speak German which is not as cool. Cannonball, Colossus, Armor, and Emma get decent use but the rest are mostly cameos in this one.

This issue was a solid 5 or 6/10. First issue is kinda blah but I still think the series could end up being decent.

[/spoiler]

[Previsionary]

Thanks, pod. Did the cuckoos do anything particulary important? They've kinda been on stall since that blah phoenix followup story

Anyway:

CB and the MI13 #4:

I know I've been absent for a few weeks, so consider this a catchup review. As you know by now, this is my favorite skrull related book and, as of now, only the initiative have come close to making the skrulls a formidable opponent that didn't just rely on plot devices. So, yay to Paul Cornell for that AND FOR making Captain Britain good again while tying together other writers' plots into his own almost seamlessly (Hi, Claremont). Anyway, Issue 4...let's roll.

As you can remember, last issue was a huge battle in Britain between the skrulls, the heroes, the magical creatures, and the military. The good side wasn't doing all too well and Captain Britain was dead. At the very end of the book, Brian was reborn with a brand new costume to boot. Oh...and he was about to fight weird amalgam skrull with magic abilities. I guess that's important too.

[spoiler]This issue begins where it left off. Brian and Dr. Strange skrull are still trading blows and we get a panel of mutilated, nearly melted bodies of the army men that were killed. Among them lies Black Knight and he's telling Faiza to carry on his mission. She tells him to shutup and she got her powers to help people. He's not going anywhere—she's a trooper. Meanwhile, the random skrulls in the background are chanting for Dr, Skrull to fight Capt. One on one.

Meanwhile, Pete, John [skrull], Tink, and Spitfire are hanging about with chains attached to their wrists. Well, I call them chains, but it's skrull technology or something. Flashback to Brian, he takes out a whole lot of Skrulls in a single swipe and frees his friends—John/Spitfire. They warn him about what's happened to magic and Capt takes off leaving the others behind as they suggested. They attempt to leave the cave when a bunch of skrulls stand before them...holding Pete. They offer Spit and John a place in their new world because they're not direct associates of Reed. John rants and ends up being shot...that catches us up to them being placed in...holding devices that I misnamed chains. :P

Back to Faiza, she's "knitting" Black Knight back together who only has some muscles and bones showing. Faiza isn't aware of how she's doing it, she just...does. She's also shocked by Black Knight's stone heart. Flash over to Brian and Dr. Skrull. Brian isn't holding his own well at all and finds himself smashed into the ground.

Back to Pete—wooh—a skrull is going on about what will become of Britain once they're done. Pete questions the skrulls' intent on the magical beings in Britain as something hides in the bushes. The skrull responds that they will be put to their God's use. No magical being will be allowed on THEIR island without serving them.

Over at Brian and Faiza. Brian is fighting back trying to win back the upperhand. Faiza, meanwhile, reports that she can't help the Knight. Every time she heals him, magic pulls him apart again. Dr. Skrull then insults Brian and his "flag wearing" and Brian has had enough. Suffice to say, this ticked Brian off and the skrull is killed. Magic then returns to Britain.

Returning to Pete, he mocks the skrulls for losing their hold over magic and the skrull replies that science will always trump magic. Sounds a little Reedish, no? Anyway, the thing behind the bush decides to attack now and STOMPS the skrull into the ground. It's SATANNISH—capitals necessary—and Britain is under "their" rules. Also, Faiza finally heals Knight and his shirt. The skrulls are nervous.

Back to Pete...again, Tink is almost happy that Peter released the evils upon Britain because it means the tides have turned. She then asks him out on a date. They're still chained up, but SATANNISH saves them. By the rules of magic, if you help them, they help you. As an aside, I assume Pete knows Kitty is "dead" as he apologizes to her as he's about to grant his wish which is a throwback to Wanda—"No more skrulls."

The Skrulls in Britain disappear in one swoop and any thay try to enter get the same treatment. Pete, while speaking to Brian, reports that every hero in Britain is a part of the MI13 now and he wants to honor John since he sacrificed himself and he killed all his people. In the final few pages, Brian establishes that they need a team to fight off dark magic and other threats, but not just any team: "A team not of intelligent officers, but of super heroes. Together because they want to be. Who are friends and support each other. Who DO NOT kill..."

That continues on and Pete finishes it off. They walk off to help honor the fallen and Faiza stays behind confused as to whether she's one of them or not. She then begins to follow them when Merlin suggest to her mentally that she should take them Excalibur...so she picks it up and takes it to them. Besides, she can always put it back. [/spoiler]

And there we go. This was quite a good arc, but issue #4 was a bit of a downfall in some places, imo. It's still a very good issue and I'm going to miss a certain character I really began to enjoy.  The new Excalibur team looks like it'll be quite a good team to read about and I can't wait to see how Brian and Pete interact now since they have a rivalry between them. Also, Blade appears next issue, iirc, and if he joins the team, he'll finally be relevant enough for me to actually look into his character. So, I'll grade it a 3.5 out of 5 and a solid FOUR out of five for the whole arc.