The X-men Thread (spoilers)

[Talavar]

Yeah, the art in X-factor makes me cry, but it's otherwise a great book.

Here's a question: am I supposed to know who Miss Sinister is?  Is she the old lady from a few issues of Legacy ago?  I got the impression at the time that her plan didn't work, but I could easily be wrong.

[Previsionary]

I don't think it's been fully confirm, but when I went looking around, at least 5 sites said it was Amanda Mueller from Legacy. But...she goes by Claudine. So...I don't know. Let's just call her Claudine until it's made more clear, heh.

[qazwsx]

I think Sinister went and performed himself a self-sex change. You never know, it's all the rage these days.

[Previsionary]

New Exiles #13:

Dunno how this skipped my mind for so long. Well, I do actually, but I'm just going to get it out the way because...whatever. Last issue, Sabretooth and Kitty were on the run and ended up taking out evil Wolverine (I thought the "all Wolverine" team of Exiles was enough of him for a lifetime, really. I mean...at least a year without him in this book would be nice. I did like female Wolvie though.) I will say I kinda liked the cover...kinda...until I saw aquagambit and Rogue. They are NOT ok.

[spoiler]We open up in the crystal palace with Gambit diving into the ocean with Mystiq who took on a similar form to Gambit which also allows him to breath underwater. I'm glad Claremont FINALLY got around to describing the newbie's powers. It only took...20 issues. The duo are exploring the palace's ocean ecosystem and Gambit is surprised nothing is growing in it. Mystiq corrects him and explains they've barely cracked the surface. This seems to be said a lot with the new group. Seconds later, ocean plants and fish begin to appear before the two and Mystiq theorizes that it happened because Gambit made a wish. Suddenly an atlantean version of Cat appears and everyone, including her, is surprised. She then disappears along with the environment leaving the guys in a barren, rocky, aquatic place.

Back in the observational deck, Sage notices that Kitty is asleep and one minute, she's dry, and the next, she's wet. Sage realizes that Kitty seems to be integrated into the controls and she wonders what will happen when they both fully converge. This only serves to remind me that holo heather is rarely featured anymore and I miss her.

Next scene is a fight scene between Psylocke and Lady Mandarin...from two or so arcs ago. You know, the one with Psylocke's awesome training montage. I'm not sure what it is with the 616 women and fight alternate identities in their heads...but Claremont needs to stop it. Ogun also appears to taunt her. Psylocke is losing and with each blow, more of alternate Psylocke's markings begin to appear on her body. I really don't know "why" they are fighting other than Lady Mandarin wants a new body...I feel like a few scenes are missing. Psylocke gets the upper hand, explaining EVERY action along the way, and tk stabs Lady Mandarin. Mandarin begs her for mercy, but Psylocke isn't falling for it. Psylocke is finally free from Ogun's trap. In the background, Kitty is stalking...I mean watching wearing one of Psylocke's old outfits complete with the crimson dawn tat. Sabretooth catches her and tells her to return to her place...he'll deal with her later. He then goes to Psylocke and talks with her.

Over with Rogue and Morph, Rogue is sewing and Morph is trying to surprise her. He doesn't get the response her wanted. Anyway, he went out to buy Rogue an outfit. She wonders how he knows what she likes and if it'll fit. Morph tells her he's a shapechanger...so of course it'll fit. Besides, if she no likey, they getty morey.

Back with Kitty cat, Sage is studying Kitty's place to figure out what she's up to and she all of a sudden loses control over her inner demons. This affects Kitty and she rushes out of the room. Psylocke and Sabretooth are surprised, but Sage says she'll handle her. Sabretooth then informs Psylocke that they have big trouble to take care of.

Mission briefing, Sabre, Psy, Mystiq, Gambit, new costume Rogue, and Morph are there. Sabretooth puts Morph in charge because he needs to find Cat. Morph promises not to let Sabre down. If he fails on this mission, many more worlds will go down the tubes. End...to be continued in the annual.[/spoiler]

It's a down time issue. The Psylocke part was very weird as I'm not sure where that really came from. I mean, it needed more lead up than what just happened in the pages of this book. Claremont probably could have provided it too if he'd cut out all the useless explanations he has EVERY character spout. He'd probably be able to do it as well if he'd stop splitting up the team EVERY issue. It's a team book...have the team actually work together as a whole from time to time. That's what the original Exiles did until you took over. On the plus side, I'm glad he finally got around to making his characters a bit more interesting after neglecting to explain or show their powers for almost 20 issues. It's...whatever. 2.
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Bunch of previews if you're interested: http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18564

[Podmark]

It's X time again:

X-Force 8:
[spoiler]The Vanisher arc continues. X-Force tracks down Vanisher and with Domino's help attack him and get Elixir to put an inoperable tumor in his brain, forcing him to come back to them for help. But he doesn't have the virus anymore. Warpath runs into the Demon Bear.

The plot here is a little disjointed. Domino and Elixir are kinda abruptly working with X-Force, and there's time jumps here that take a second reading to really get. Also it's a little on the slow side.

Good stuff: Art is great. Was apprehensive about Choi but he's great. Issue is narrated by Archangel and it's an excellent look into who he is now. Elixir, after almost being written out, is now wearing an X-Force costume and directly helping the team :thumbup: There's a couple of funny parts too (the tumor is shaped like an X  :D).

Not the best issue in the series but still a good read. 4/5[/spoiler]

Secret Invasion vs X-Men #3:
[spoiler]Emma breaks the Skrulls phsychic block. The Skrulls are herding civilians into a single building seemingly planning to nuke them in one shot. Beast develops a counter against the Skrulls in the form of a Skrull Legacy virus. The X-Men are left to decide whether to commit genocide...(Xavin! Hulkling! Crusader!)

This series has been pretty bland so far, and this issue is probably the best but it's still a meh read. The Legacy Virus idea picked it up a notch. Art is by a different artist (Nord can't finish 3 issues?) and I think it's a little better but the colouring is still so very blah. 2.5/5.
[/spoiler]

[Previsionary]

Wolverine Origins #29:

Since Pod took it upon himself to lower my load (thanks), I'll hit the rest. This is the continuation of the Wolverine event that we all wanted and asked for. The event that will help dirty up Xavier's past because the man just can't be strict and loving, but he must be a...monster as well. I don't know why marvel is going with that decision, but I question it in the same breath I question Wolverine being in three hundred places at one time, Spider-man's boyhood revival, and Emma's forced rising star status. Last issue (Legacy) Wolverine was tricked into going after the hellfire club while Lady Sinister and Sebastian tried to get Daken on their side. Xavier is also featured in this story though he did very little in the last issue other than provide flashback details and...stand around.

[spoiler]We open up to where the last issue left off. Wolverine is battling the hellfire club and trying to keep them off balance. He does so and even manages to blow up their psi-field generator which allows Xavier to use his telepathy.Xavier instantly picks up that Shaw set this up and Wolverine needs to get out of there. That doesn't exactly happen and Wolverine does manage to help get one member killed.

Flashback time. Xavier tells Wolverine that he's a weapon and that when he was sent to handle Hulk/Wendigo, he never thought about killing even when dealing a deathblow, but he did think about killing Charles. Xavier let Wolverine get close to him because he needed a weapon.

Present, Wolverine and Xavier are walking when they are attacked by three rifle men. Wolverine handles them easily, but Xavier asks him to keep one alive. Xavier explains that the man was sent to kill him and then he goes on to explain Shaw's plan. Xavier admits he has no idea what Shaw will do with Daken and Wolverine corrects him and says he knows Shaw needs a weapon like Chuck, himself, needed back in the day.

The book ends in the past with Xavier erasing Wolverine's coding and telling him he will remember himself as an X-man. End.[/spoiler]

This story was ok. The event so far has gone very well and this is probably the most of Daniel Way I have liked since I first came upon his work. I still don't like that so many people are dirtying up EVERY gap in Xavier's past just to make a story, but whatever. This is a 3. This event is looking like a total 3 as well. It's action heavy as a Wolverine story should be, but it does have a plot pushing it along even if it takes a back seat a lot of the time. Take it for what it is and you might enjoy it. Otherwise, it's pretty passable as I'm sure if this plays any major relevance in the future, it'll be recapped at least 10 different times before it's retconned :P.

More to come later.

[murs47]

Thanks for the reviews guys. :thumbup:

Only titles I picked up this week were X-Force and Rage of the Red Lanterns(I'll try my hand at reviewing that later).

It's surprising how good X-Force has been. I honestly thought it was going to be the worst post-MC title. But, wow! I salivate at the thought of it every month. The highlight for the latest issue was the use of Angel's voice as the narrative. Is he losing his marbles or what? I love it! The way the took down their target was brutally clever. Kyle and Yost have another winner on their hands.

Standard Prev-O-Meter: 5 out of 5. I was nothing but entertained throughout the issue.

[Previsionary]

I find it amusing that you refer to it as the "prev-o-meter", lol.

Wolverine First Class #8:

It's been awhile since I last sumviewed this book and it always feels like the details are lodged very deeply in the recesses of my mind. I usually have to dig very deeply just to give you the opening with a brief summary of what happened last. I figured I'd let you know this for no particular reason other than to pad out this opening. In the last issue, Kitty was jealous of Colossus because she thought he was seeing another woman. She recruited Wolverine to help her stake out Colossus's secret meeting and learned that Colossus was really being recruited for a secret mission. Things escalated and Kitty ended up being hurt as her, Colossus, and Wolverine ended up being dragged to Russia.

[spoiler]This issue begins like the previews...and by that I means it opens with Wolverine going into a rage and taking it out on the Russian forces. Wolverine gives them quite a workout with his claws and cunning, but Darkstar eventually explains that Kitty and Colossus agreed to help them save Russia. She continues on to say that if they don't stop the reactor from overreacting in time that a good deal of Europe will be totaled. This does nothing to calm Wolverine and Kitty also happened to disappear. Wolverine continues to tear through the team.

Meanwhile, underground with Kitty and Colossus, the duo are faced with the thing that was inhabiting the place that the Russian heroes called a power plant. The being had no interest in being "rescued". The being/freak explains that the Kremlin has long feared the large number of super humans in America, but in Russia the superhuman community has always been limited to four. A secret program was approved by Russia's mutant population where they would be bombarded with radiation to increase their powers. The machine malfunctioned and all the mutants/peoples in the room became one collective being. The Supreme Soviet, as it calls itself, refuses to help out Russia as they felt betrayed and hurt. Instead, they should absorb Colossus into their being! After a few moments, Kitty also merges with the collective and takes control of the being. She makes her way to Wolverine and orders him and the others heroes to leave the area at once. Once they reach safety, Kitty decollects the "Supreme Soviet" and the Russian Super Soldiers make it a point to make the people who ok'ed this program pay.

In the aftermath, Wolverine wonders if Kitty finally told Colossus her feelings. She hasn't and she explains that her feelings for Colossus helped her take over the collective thoughts of the "Supreme Soviet". The book ends with Kitty explaining that Colossus sees her as a little sister and she will spend every waking moment changing his mind about her.[/spoiler]

I've no real opinion on this story, so that places it clearly in the 2-3 territory. I was pleased that Kitty and Colossus played a bigger part in the story and I hope the other New X-men factor in more in the future. Everything tied up uber nicely in this story as they seem to do in every First Class story. If you like Tame Wolverine, Kitty run stories...this is for you. 3 out of 5.

Astonishing X-men: Ghost Boxes #1:

This is the mini series that sets out to explain what could happen if the ghost box falls into the wrong hands or something, I will start out immediately by saying that I can barely tolerate the character art any better than Bianchi's. Not to mention that I still want Storm and Emma to regain their fashion senses. Anyway, it's no surprise that I'm not particularly fond of this story and I haven't seen any convincing arguments as to why I should be other than writer bias and subjectiveness as of now, but I'm hoping this series makes me a fan again. Will it do that? I dunno, true believerers...follow me!

[spoiler]-   We open with Subject X telling us that he is not a soldier and that he was instructed to take out Wolverine first as that would allow him to survive. Instead, in this play out, he takes out Cyclops first and the whole team fell apart which allowed him to engage the ghost box.
-   Once Scott is out of the battle, the other X-men are taken out by deathloks and one seems to have Magneto strapped to it.
   o   At this point I'd like to point out the differences between Ellis and Claremont. With Claremont, I'd expect almost every panel full of text. With Ellis, there were several pages without dialogue. You can really tell the difference in the amount of time it takes to read these two books
-   Anyway, the X-men are down and only Armor is left walking and she doesn't know what to do.
-   The book ends with Subject X saying that going outside of his suggested protocol ended up being better than staying within it.[/spoiler]

Emma:

[spoiler]-   The story starts with Emma at home reading a book when she receives a call. There's a conundrum she must attend to. Of course, she has her own problems...Scott keeps talking about marriage. Emma wants to enjoy her Bohemian years and continue to enjoy the parts of Scott she finds amusing...of course, he also comes from a poor family and the scandal alone would drive her mad.
o   X-society (which I'm sure Claremont used two stories ago) consists of Beast, Emma, Wolverine, and Cyclops
-   The situation they were called upon resembles the 616 issue...man on fire and the police don't know how to put him out.
-   The story continues along the same pace as the mainstream story (in less space...), but of course we come upon a change. Wolverine is thrown out the jet to aim for the fire mutant (subject X), but he's hit midflight and causes some major issues that results in the deaths of a few people and the X-society are blamed for it and hated.
-   The book ends with Emma in her home reflecting on life. She comes to the conclusion that perhaps she will allow Scott to marry her. Outside, we see that her home is surrounded by sentinels and she's under constant surveillance.[/spoiler]

Well, two stories and I didn't fall for either one. In fact, it just annoyed me that he told the same story three times, but the latter two took way less space. I understand the working behind the idea, but that further proves that he spent soooo much time on a slow buildup when he didn't really need to. That aside, none of the characters actually had a voice in this story beyond Subject X and Emma in her part of the story. On its own merit, it falls somewhere in the 3 territory...but it is still pretty passable (completely actually). It's just alternate takes on the story from the main time line and not much is expanded upon on the ghost box which makes me question the need for a tie in. On the plus side...I enjoyed the art in the emma part of the story and I'm pretty sure it was effectively set in the steampunk era.
----------------------------------

Secret Invasion vs X-Men #3:
[spoiler]Emma breaks the Skrulls phsychic block. The Skrulls are herding civilians into a single building seemingly planning to nuke them in one shot. Beast develops a counter against the Skrulls in the form of a Skrull Legacy virus. The X-Men are left to decide whether to commit genocide...(Xavin! Hulkling! Crusader!)

This series has been pretty bland so far, and this issue is probably the best but it's still a meh read. The Legacy Virus idea picked it up a notch. Art is by a different artist (Nord can't finish 3 issues?) and I think it's a little better but the colouring is still so very blah. 2.5/5.
[/spoiler]

"Pod, I'm hiring you to do reviews next week. I shan't be doing them because I will be out spending money on most luxurious things. Do make sure you keep up with my quality." -- Prev as Emma Frost.

Jokes aside. I pretty much agree with you. However, I love that Iceman is getting his shine time again along with Cannonball and some New X-men. These are characters that should be rebuilding the X-men over in Uncanny instead of having Astonishing + guest members in two books a month. However, I found the art to be...off. And by off...I'm just going to point to Iceman and Beast and leave it at that. Coloring as well, but you covered that. Overall, I'd also rank it 2.5...and that's mostly because at this point, I just skim past certain pages and feel like I haven't missed a thing. I'm really tired of the skrull event and the X-men never seem to tie into Marvel events anyway...and vice versa. So...why should I even care what this book is about. Only Wolverine matters (and sometimes Emma) in wide-stream marvel as shown in recent times. :P And speaking of Emma...something seemed off about the three-in-one. Moving back into the past, they should be more cold than ever thanks to the phoenix thing...blah...*just nods*


In other news: http://www.wizarduniverse.com/102408xmeninfernuscover.html

[Zippo]

I've gotta say, I loved X-force. Pure enjoyment all the way through. I like how everyone is sort of falling into distinct roles, rather than having everyone feral killing machines, which is what it looked like at the beginning of the series.

Also, was anyone else terrified of Wolverine's package on the cover of "Ghost Boxes"? *Shudder*

[Podmark]

Yes X-Force is awesome. Agree on that wholeheartedly.

Prev the thing that really bugs me about SI:X is the art. This should be a series that is cover to cover of all your favorite X-Men kicking Skrull arse out of San Francisco. But it's not. I hate the colouring, and the characters and action scenes should be exciting and dynamic not bland, inconsistent and somewhat static. I got this series expecting to see lots of fun action, but it's not delivering. I'd probably rather drop the Nightcrawler/Skrull bible subplot, but the Legacy virus is a good idea.

Anyway go buy X-Force. Dude lost his mouth in this one :thumbup:

[Previsionary]

X-men/Spider-man #1:

Who said going old school was a crime? I mean true old school...not that BND substitute. Going by solicits, this is a mystery story that builds up into modern day...which may be just a bit awkward if it does reach current continuity, but that's never stopped marvel before, right? Cristos Gage has quite a few gems behind his name, so I went into this story hoping for the best. Did I get that? Let's find out:

[spoiler]After the X-men help save Las Vegas from a rampaging Hulk, they find themselves being discussed on the news by none other that frequent Spider-man basher, JJJ. Spidey catches the news on the tv and is glad to have a break from the constant bashing, but his mind then wanders to Gwen Stacy and how he's always letting her down and maybe, just maybe he should let her in on his secret. He doesn't get much time to consider these thoughts because as soon as he begins to finish his transformation into Pete Parker, Kraven is on the tele and declaring to bring him in lawfully this time around because Spidey just might be a mutie! This doesn't stick to Peter very long as he's out the door and meets up with MJ and Gwen and goes to their typical hangout (Harry is there as well). The X-men later pop up to find Spider-man and to warn him of the dangers being a mutant can bring. They can't track him down precisely, so they hang around hoping to see him. Minutes later, Kraven and Blob show up and the fight is on. The book ends with Kraven meeting a mysterious person in the shadows who happens to have a shiny jewel on his head.[/spoiler]

The art wasn't as good as it could be, but I liked the story. It's nice seeing Spidey and the X-men interact as that rarely happens in current MU. Um...it's a simple story right now, but seeing some old school villains and second costume X-men is a plus. 3 out of 5. That's the only book I'm reviewing this week.
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Fraction on Uncanny X-men (boredom overcomes me): http://comics.ign.com/articles/925/925911p1.html
previews: http://media.comics.ign.com/media/743/743865/img_6138104.html  and  http://media.comics.ign.com/media/743/743865/img_6138106.html  and  http://media.comics.ign.com/media/743/743865/img_6138108.html

[Previsionary]

what, no replies? Guess no one read anything last week, lol.

Cable #8

I was on hiatus last week because I was just getting over my sickness and all the typing was getting to me. I've only missed three weeks (I think), so that's a no-prize feat right? Um, last issue Cable and the baby were revealed to be a few years older and Cyclops had found out where Bishop was, captured him, and interrogated him. Back with Cable, soldiers where beginning to infiltrate his secret society. Emma is on the cover holding a baby. While I may tolerate Ruby...I do not want a pregnant Emma right now.

[spoiler]We start off with Cable returning home to his wife, Hope, and learning that the little girl is missing. This worries him and he goes on and informs us that it took him a long time to trust Hope with the baby even if he was away for a few minutes. He has no time to grab his weapons and only worries about finding the baby.

In present day, Cyclops is trying to get Bishop to tell him where he laid some bombs and Bishop refuses. I must say that seeing Cyclops swear more often is quite a departure from Mr. Perfect. Cyclops theorizes that Bishop doesn't see other timelines as real and if he destroys the world and the baby, he'll be saving mutantkind and his timeline.

Future. Cable is searching for the nameless child when he runs into a guard. He didn't want to be detected, but he punches the guard only to reveal that it's some type of creature. Present. Cyclops has Emma break down Bishop's mind. He calls this technique aggressive interrogation.  Future. Cable and the creature get into a physical altercation.  The creature effectively knocks Cable through a building and mounts him. He crotch kicks the thing, no effect, and then cuts off its head. That doesn't stop it either. Cable is tired of this and chainsaws the bastich.

Present. Emma finds out that Bishop destroyed quite a few places, but she can't tell if some of his thoughts are real, memories, or dreams. Cyclops tells her to probe further, but she declines. If she does so, Bishop won't have anything left to probe.

Future. Cable is still fighting and looking for his daughter with a helper in tow. Cable refuses to organize a group of men to fight because he has to stay ahead of Bishop and remain under the radar so he doesn't pop up in history books. In the present, Cyclops is running out of options and Beast is drilling him on his torture methods and how close he came to killing Bishop. Future. Cable finds the little girl and tells her to come on before the monsters get them. They reach their home and see the soldiers tying up some of the locals. One of those people is Cable's wife and the little girl's adoptive mother. Cable decides to leave her and the girl throws a fit.

Back with Bishop, Cyclops tells him he doesn't enjoy torturing him and Bishop tells him to go dig up something so that he may finally understand Bishop's reasoning. Back with Cable, he's digging up his costume and weapons and decides he will save the girl's mother just to avoid breaking her heart. The book ends with the roach creatures releasing bugs to  "save" America and people panicking in the foreground.[/spoiler]

It's was actually a great read. I'm shocked because Cable has been so blah up until now. The baby girl, who's still nameless, has very good speech now and Beast noticing how dark Cyclops is becoming is good development. Emma even seemed more human than she usually does and I'm all for development with her. This book gets a 3.5 from me. I actually enjoyed it more than Spider-man/X-men and parts of Manifest Destiny. A Cable book, y'all!


Weapon X-First Class #1:

Marvel showed off a few pages of this a few months ago, but it was wordless. If you missed the preview, this book focuses on Wolverine, the Weapon X crew, and a young gambit. I don't have much to say for this book because, even though I tolerate Wolverine much better lately because of all his good storylines, I don't want more of his adventures. In other news, Wolverine #69 is out today, but since I haven't reviewed the last few books, I probably won't be touching this one either. Um, there's not many main storyline X-books out this week, so...yeah.

[spoiler]The book starts with Wolverine and he goves over his typical shtick. You know the one, "I'm a regular guy when you take away the mask and powers...oh...but I don't remember nuttin', hyuck." Jokes aside, it's a typical Wolverine opening about his old mysterious past.

This opening goes on for a few pages and Logan goes on to expand about Xavier's school and the All New XZ-men + Kitty. This narration finally stops when Logan reaches Xavier's office. He has a good feeling that he and Chuck will have a breakthrough in his memories. Xavier has an idea: Instead of going into Wolvie mindscape alone, he'll take Logan with him into...Wolverine's mindscape and see what they can uncover. Xavier does so and Logan is shocked that Chuck is able to walk on the astral plane. Xavier explains and then goes on to point out that Logan has strong mental barriers in his mind that keeps his memories locked away, some constructed by Logan, himself. Wolverine goes straight to hacking and slashing through his own mental barrier and comes across...

He comes across a giant room full of some of his past heroic memories with Cap and Hulk and such. Seconds later, Sabretooth appears in Wolverine's mind and...Logan attacks him. This goes on for a bit and Chuck continuously tries to get Wolverine to stop. It only stops once Wolverine claws through Sabretooth and he disappears. Chuck explains that it was only a psychic fragment of Victor and Wolverine wonders aloud how Chuck knew Sabre's name. Sabretooth reappears and he and Logan share a bit of dialogue as the fragment points out they used to be real good buds when they ran on the same side/in the same group. Wolverine, spiritual Sabretooth, and Chuck watch as a younger Logan is jumped and dragged away and the memory ends. Sabretooth shows them where the rest of the memory picks up and refuses to join them. He ain't stupid. The book ends at Weapon X with Logan stuck in a capsule and connected to tubes.[/spoiler]

Um...this is basically one giant walk through everything you should probably already know about Wolverine and his old shtick. It's marginally interesting in the "been there, done that" sense and it stuck fully with Wolverine which makes me question why it just wasn't a Wolverine: First Class arc, special, or annual. The art was okish. A little off putting in a few spots, but pretty passable and I think the writer, Marc Sumerak, got the characters pretty close to their classic incarnations. But to be honest, this opening is a complete pass unless you don't know anything about Wolverine or you want to relive something you've already seen throughout the 80s, 90s, and some of the 00s. A 2 out of 5.

More to come...

[Podmark]

Well I only read three X-Books Prev, and I'm only going to comment on the others if I've got something to say...and today I do:

Beast noticing how dark Cyclops is reminds of a Mike Carey interview I read recently I think on Marvel.com about Secret Invasion: X-Men. He said something like watch the Beast/Cyclops interaction, where Cyclops has just mysteriously given Hank a dead Super Skrull and has been given the choice to commit genocide on the Skrull race. Add the Cable issue to that, and I think we've been given an idea where things might be heading in the future.

[Previsionary]

Beast noticing how dark Cyclops is reminds of a Mike Carey interview I read recently I think on Marvel.com about Secret Invasion: X-Men. He said something like watch the Beast/Cyclops interaction, where Cyclops has just mysteriously given Hank a dead Super Skrull and has been given the choice to commit genocide on the Skrull race. Add the Cable issue to that, and I think we've been given an idea where things might be heading in the future.

Several books have been playing around with Beast and Cyclops now and it is pretty interesting. Beast, having also done a few dark things with Dark Beast in Endangered Species, probably would be the best person to continuously check Cyclops now that the family atmosphere the X-men had isn't really intact anymore.

New Exiles #14:

Didn't really read this, so you're getting a short summary of what I glanced through. Even though Claremont may be getting a bit better with this book at completely random times, I rarely have the threshold to sit about and actually read it most of the time. If the heavens love me, they'll take Claremont off the book and leave him to GeNext or something. You know, something I don't have ties to and don't want to keep up on. Let me dream!

[spoiler]The Exiles, led by original member Morph, land on a new world that is being invaded by an assortment of odd creatures from the Sh'iar empire like a giant rockesque monster, a metal-plated skrull-a-like, and a mantis looking being with a nice metal stripped covered, chest endowment. These creatures are chasing two girls through the street and even manage to kill one of them before Morph, Gambit, Mystiq, Psylocke, and Rogue show up to take care of business. I think it was pointed out that these creatures were Death Commandos, and if you were reading Uncanny back when Psylocke and Rachel were teammates, you may recognize that group from a certain storyline known as "Death of Greys". Oh yeah, the Sons of Iron and the Daughters of the Dragon police this world. There was some other stuff, but it more or less slipped my mind. Just know that the Sh'iar, led by (I think) Lilandra, are trying to invade another world, which makes Deathbird the good girl. TWIST! Another Twist...some X-men are her crew. The rest of the book is dedicated to Sage and her mental issues that carried over from Excalibur and that horrible DBTS miniseries.[/spoiler]

One of my many problems with Claremont is that he feels the need to work in odd dialogue and "devil" reference a lot of the time. I don't know why every villain he's introduced walks around speaking their name like it's casual conversation. I wouldn't have a problem with this if it didn't happen so often with his writing. It's not even just that, but his names are awful! Offset for the mantis creature? Really...try again. What's even worse, he keeps explaining Psylocke's powers and preference for physical fighting every time she does something.  This is probably to address new readers...but it always feels so tacked on, repetitive, and ultimately lacking. Besides that, I find it odd that she got a two whole page fight scene with a 1/3rd page splash panel to herself while no one else did...wow. Anyway, from the little I did read, I think his idea with Cat and her constantly transforming (meaning she takes on a new look depending on where she is) is unique...but seeing a young Kitty as Tigraesque is...not ok. But to end this...the Claremont only creations is really running thin because now the only thing that alternates is which X-men and X-villain will show up THIS week. Exiles used to be much more unique than that and it didn't always rely on it's X-men background. Even the small changes thrown in like the "Sons of Iron" got directly tied into an X-men race. New writer...new rules...now. No rating as I didn't read it, but it'd probably fall into the 2 area again. I will admit that I don't recall as much dialogue/captions taking up space...so that's a plus.

Magneto: Testament #3:

I know Murs had an issue with this series because he felt it was moving too slowly and spending far too much time on the WWII aspect, and I can't really say I agree, and I can't say I disagree. You see, Magneto has a long confusing past that occasionally changed whenever a writer found time to write and refer to it. I'm all for sorting out his past, but this is a 5 issues miniseries, so I can see where Murs is coming from. I can barely remember the events of last issue so this book must have taken quite a while to come out. I do remember Magneto and his family moving and coming to a village just as the Germans were invading. Will this book finally advance the plot more than 4 years at a time? Will it win Murs heart? Check it:

[spoiler]1939, Poland, airplanes fill the sky and bombs are landing all over the village. Eric (or Max) and his family are hiding just outside the village behind the support of a wall. They have to get out of there to the city, but they're informed that it was overtaken by the Germans. The next page features Eric and his family running into the woods as another family is captured by Nazis and gunned down. The family continues ahead and they're heading to Warsaw regardless of its status. In the woods, they're only five of them, in Warsaw, Eric's father theorizes, there will be thousands of Jews and anything can happen.

1939-1940 and part of 1941 takes place in Warsaw and it basically explains how the Jews lived in ghettos and were eventually caged in and starving. During one of the food rations, Eric witnesses a kid beaten up and tackled after stealing a loaf of bread and he picks up a stray piece and feeds it to the boy. The boy is bloodied up, but happy for something to eat. Eric then notices a hole in a nearby wall, crawls through it, and rushes to a nearby alleyway nearly avoiding detection. The kid he fed earlier saw and followed him and ended up being shot down as Eric watches from his hiding spot. This upsets him so much that he contemplates killing the Nazi guards with a pen knife but his Uncle grabs him from behind and keeps him from doing so just as the little boy's body is thrown back over the wall. Eric then smuggles out some meat and a tomato and makes his way home as the Nazis take up the fur and clothing the Jews have.

1942, trains have come to take some Jews to a new place for bread and marmalade in exchange for hard work. Many of them show doubts, but board anyway. Eric, during the loadup, notices something odd on the floor and heads back home. It was blood, or so he thought, and he tells this to his father. Eric's uncle then reveals that he's heard from an escapee that the passengers are taken to a village and then killed during the showers. They no longer have a choice in whether they leave or not as the Nazis are grabbing people off the street now. An undisclosed amount of time later, Eric and his family begin to sneak out of the town. Eric's uncle refuses to go as he's now going to fight and this also prompts him to stay behind and fight as well. His mother and Uncle aren't pleased, but his Father urges him to help lead their family to safety.

Eric does so and they meet up with a woman with a boat. They cross a small channel (or some body of water) and end up being betrayed because the woman was forced to work for the Party because they have her mother. Eric, his family, and other Jews are lined up and a firing squad releases a hail of bullets on them. Eric's powers FINALLY manifest and he manipulates the bullets a bit. Everyone around him is killed, but he's only knocked unconscious. The book ends with Eric awaking, sneaking around, being found, and being sent to Auschwitz.[/spoiler]

This still isn't an action book, but there is more going on this time around and it's fairly close to getting Magnus/Eric/Max to really using his powers. I don't think Murs will like this one much more than the last one, but I will say it's a definite improvement. I find it interesting seeing the full out story that helped shape Magneto into the villain he was and it really helps give him a human aspect which is something that is missing from his Ultimate incarnation. I'll rate it a 3.2. I know I settled on 3.5 with issue 2 and that's mostly because I went with a middle number. If I were to rate it now, Issue 2 would be a solid 3. As an off note, this is the first time Deadpool hasn't been out during the same time as this book. I usually sumview them together. Oh, years covered: 1939-1942...another 4 years.

Captain Britain and the MI13 #8:

Last issue introduced Captain Britain and us to the new villain known as Plokta. Plokta happens to be a mystical creature that has the power to grant wishes...at a cost. Also, in the same building as Brian, Spitfire and Blade were continuing to fight over their vampyric backgrounds as the other MI13 members searched for the source behind all this weirdness. The book ended on a cliffhanger that hasn't been addressed since Claremont was on Uncanny X-men during House of M...and there's where we'll pick up.

[spoiler]The book opens with Brian staring into an open gateway into another dimension at his "curled into a fetus" wife, Meggan. Plokta tries to use this as leverage to get Brian to commit to his dream dimension. Brian instead jumps through the doorway and tries to free her on his own without wish action. Meanwhile, a still fighting Blade and Spitfire are sought out and attacked by the "mindless ones" while the other MI13 + Captain midlands continue to march through the house trying to keep their thoughts in control.

Back with Brit, he makes it to his wife and wakes her up. She's shocked to see Brian and embraces him. Meanwhile, Blade and Spitfire continue to fight and they actually get along and share some amusing dialog. They basically make a treaty until they're out of danger and head upstairs towards their friends. Switching back to Meggan/Brian, Brian wonders how they can be in space above Earth when Meggan was in another dimension earlier. Meggan doesn't know as she has just woken up, but she's happy to be back by Brian's side. Faiza and the crew continue to head towards the source trying to keep their minds from wandering. Pete's eventually does and he sees images of himself sitting on the moon and speaking to Maureen and old school Kitty. John the Skrull even returns in his thoughts. Dane slaps Pete and breaks his trance just in time for them to be attacked by mystical creatures.

Zooming back over to Brian, weeks have passed and he and Meggan have resettled back into their old lives...making up for lost time. Brian then doubts all of this and begins to remember small details, but assumes he doesn't know his full powers yet. Seconds later, his crazy brother, Jamie, attacks them.

Back with a connecting Blade and Spitfire, the two chat as they ascend a ladder. Spitfire wonders if Blade kills vamps and he admits that he does. Spitfire states they have something in common, but she was sure that most of the vamps were wiped out. Blade then reveals that he also has a connection with Pete...he brought back all the vampires back into the world. This turns out to be what Spitfire wanted most (family thing) and she passes out succombing, I suppose, to Plokta's plot.

Flash over to Pete and he surmises that Plokta is using dream energy to make "mindless ones". Dane is then tempted with the chance to finally get rid of his blade. This vision and the ebony sword begin to heavily effect Dane. The sword wants blood! A quick flash to Megan and Jamie fighting it out. Jamie stops Megan in her tracks and sends a energy-bursting sword straight into her leaving only a burning skeleton. The book ends with Pete telling Dane that his sword isn't the real blade![/spoiler]

I enjoyed this book. I have YET to be let down and that's a great sign. I liked the character moments between Spitfire and Blade and having someone finally touch the Meggan plot after a two year absence is awesome. Another plot being touched on is the ebony blade business. IIRC, the real one is off with Black Panther for some inane reason. This book actually touches quite a few continuity spots, but you don't HAVE to know about it to keep up. I'm kinda amazed he's going after so many dropped plots and flubs so early on. The book just started...but I'm enjoying it. Though, a certain character showed up in this book (who has also been missing for around a year or two) and I don't particularly want him to stay around for too long. This is a 4 out of 5.
------------

Cristos Gage interview on X-men/Spidey, the initiative, and other stuff: http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18785

I'm sure Pod has already glanced it. :P

[murs47]

Magneto: Testament #3:

I know Murs had an issue with this series because he felt it was moving too slowly and spending far too much time on the WWII aspect, and I can't really say I agree, and I can't say I disagree. You see, Magneto has a long confusing past that occasionally changed whenever a writer found time to write and refer to it. I'm all for sorting out his past, but this is a 5 issues miniseries, so I can see where Murs is coming from. I can barely remember the events of last issue so this book must have taken quite a while to come out. I do remember Magneto and his family moving and coming to a village just as the Germans were invading. Will this book finally advance the plot more than 4 years at a time? Will it win Murs heart? Check it:

Issue 3? I loved it! :thumbup:

Issue 2 Recap: Max watches his dad get beat-up. Then he beats up another kid. Then he see's the Germans invade Poland. Not very exciting at all.

Issue 3 Recap: Max and his family were chased into Warsaw, turning this into a story of survival(issue 2 just didn't provide that feeling for me). Max has become a smuggler and a killer(off-panel). Max and his family make an escape from Warsaw only to be apprehended, then executed by a firing squad. Max's powers manifest and save him. He is then captured and sent to Auschwitz. Now that is one heck of an issue.

Standard Prev-O-Meter: 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Looking at this series so far, my gut tells me Marvel should have tried a different format for this series. Perhaps 3 issue of 48 pages each? I don't know. Issue 2 as a stand alone was pretty lackluster. But, reading it back to back with issue #3 and it really works. There's just so many minute details that you forget after a month waiting for the next issue.

[Podmark]

Cristos Gage interview on X-men/Spidey, the initiative, and other stuff: http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=18785

I'm sure Pod has already glanced it. :P

But of course, and it gave me great insight to my favorite Avengery book.

[Previsionary]

Deadpool #4:

Let's start out with Deadpool because that's the one I looked through first. The last few issues tied directly into the end of Secret Invasion, an event I've not been fond of. Deadpool helped take down some skrulls, stole some data for Nick Fury, and had said data stolen by Norman Osbourne. I said I wasn't going to truly judge the book until it was out of event hell...it is as of now. Will it live up to C&D or will it crash and burn like the Cable book has done for quite some time? Let's. Find. Out. NOW!

[spoiler]We jump directly into the story with Deadpool making a deal with some unseen person which involves him going out and killing a supermodel zombie. We immediately flash back to a day or so earlier where we discover DP used all his money and ammunition on two separate missions (Wolverine/Nick Fury) and he now needs a job according to his other self. Basically, a page of DP talking to himself before he decides to go see his ol' buddy...ZEKE!

This catches us up. Zeke doesn't want his wife killed. He wants the surgeon that did this to her killed. Deadpool agrees to the deal with no problem. Well, the payout poses a bit of a problem, but that's settled quickly enough. 1 mill to kill the doctor who may be a zombie who also may have a zombie army. Sounds fair, right?

En route, Zeke explains that Dr. Druek Lovosno developed a process to make zombies and if they eat enough people, they can reverse the aging process. Deadpool cleverly (...) names them Zampires. Deadpool finally lands into the town and not even a few minutes into his walk (disguised, btw), he's shot by a bunch of armed men. DP wakes up in jail and he finds out that the people thought he was a zombie and tossed him in a cage with some other nonliving. Deadpool takes care of them, but the cops are worried that he'll kill the zombie villagers and aim to shoot him down. Before they can do that, they are killed by some of Zeke's men. DP is not very impressed and wonders how Zeke knew he was in trouble. The men inform him that a tracking device is in his gun's handle (that he borrowed) and DP kills them and continues on with his mission.

DP finally comes across a castle where he meets a hunchback. The hunchback leads him inside and has DP fill out some forms. The servant hands DP a bottle of drink and has him drink it. As DP gloats to himself, he notices that he just drank poison and passes out. The book ends with the doctor (I guess) looking at DP while on the phone. He's also surrounded by women with large breasts.[/spoiler]

I cringed the whole way through this book. I found it to be very blah. I may not be a super DP fan like...Murs, but I can tell when something seems forced. I also don't remember any funny parts, but I also zoned out. 1...out of 5. Yep...I don't have much to say about it other than it sucked worse than any Cable book i've read this year.

Uncanny X-men #504:

Last arc was full of sex and...sex.  Ok, for real, last arc was basically giving Pixie a push I don't think she deserved just to put her on the team like all the sidekicks before her. It also brought us the return of Maddie Pryor and Empath. That's about it. This issue brings back the Mojoverse...

[spoiler]We open in the Mojoverse with a bunch of robotic female torsos floating around. The sisterhood of mutants are in a room and Maddie is asking Spiral and some robotic woman to join her team to help get payback on the X-men. We immediately shift scenes to a metaled up Colossus trying to get a tat. The inker asks Colossus to leave because he's broken two of her tools because he keeps inadvertently going metal. He does so and comes across Kurt in the church. They talk a bit and Cyclops plus his girl toy appear. Cyclops tells Colossus he's no good to the X-men in his current condition and he'll have to get over Kitty.

As Emma and Cyclops leave the room, Emma, of all people, tells Scott that he was just a bit cold and that something mustve happened on the hellfire raid as she can't remember everything. She also points out that Cyclops is colder than usual and Scott tells her to read his mind if she doesn't trust him. She does so and finds herself into some kinda funky mental block where the X-women are dressed very old school. As Emma walks through his mind, she points out that she's yet to see a single red head. Suddenly, Cyclops minds begins to...space out...or something.

Peter is on the street outside a restaurant thinking about his dear Kitty. He goes inside for something to eat. As he glomps down his meal, Colossus hears someone in the background tries to help him. It's the owner of the bar and he's being held by a man covered in ink and his goons. The man in ink seems familiar to Colossus, he flashes back, and leaves the restaurant without helping the owner at all.

Meanwhile, Warren and Beast are out at lunch with Dr. Bradley. Beast asks him if he can help him figure out a way to undo Wanda's spell. Dr Bradley (Nemesis) goes on a bit about how he's modified himself and mutant genocide before pointing out that he's about to be assassinated. Nemesis shoots his attempted assassinators with some narcotics from several feet away and their car happens to flip over and bursts into flames. Henry and Warren hop into action to save the people around them as Dr. Nemesis awaits his foes. They don't move as they're dead. Getting to the point, Dr. Nemesis agrees to help Henry with the X-gene issue.

Back to Emma, she finally reaches a black door with a X over it. With the help of spiritual Rogue, she enters the room and finds Cyclops's black box. She notes that she can't open it, look at it, or even move it and Cyclops explains it's where he keeps his secrets. Emma points out that if their relationship has a rule, it's that they have no secret or shame between them. Cyclops explains that he needs to keep it that way just in case something happens to Emma or himself and someone tries to drag secrets out of them. With his box, that stuff is safe. Emma wonders how he learned it and Scott informs her that Jean taught it to him. I assume this gives Emma another psychic shock. The book ends with Karma telling Emma and Cyclops to come watch TV. A report is on that's talking about a baby mutant that was born in Alaska and what happened to the town. It was set on fire and everyone died. Basically...a report about the beginning of Messiah Complex.[/spoiler]

This...was ok...again. I was hoping Maddie would've played a bigger part, but it had 4 plots going on. It's nice to see Colossus mourn, it's cool to see so many storylines set up, and it's ok that they got around to explaining how Cyclops keeps certain things secret from Emma. It's just one giant set up issue and I wasn't particularly all that interested in anything going on with it. I would like to know why Cyclop's mindscape is full of X-women + Spider woman in old school clothing and why he's blocking out Jean/Maddie..though I can infer why. It's a 2.5 for me. Could be much better, but doesn't flat out suck either.

X-men Legacy #218:

I think I've been a bit hard this week on X-books and I guess that's because they're either setting up a storyline, not connecting with me, or ending a storyline. This one happens to be near the ending of a storyline...or more accurately, an arc. Last issue, Ms. Sinister and Daken got a bit closer, Shaw figured out a way to use Xavier in his plans, and Wolverine took out some Hellfire members. Let's go in deeper!

[spoiler]We begin in the past with Wolverine going on about not knowing who he is. Charles tells him he's an X-man and he'll do whatever he can to help Logan control his rage and regain his memory.

In the present, Wolverine and Xavier are scouting out Shaw's latest dwelling. Before landing on the shore, Xavier uses his telepathy to control a bird and used it to look around the island to pick out traps and enemies. As a side note, Xavier also recognizes a familiar mind nearby, but he can't place it to anyone specifically.

Meanwhile, Claudine and Daken are sititng out in the sun and sharing their usual dialogue about memories and wired brains. In a minor twist, Claudine "shocks" Daken and has him dragged off to a lab for experimentation.

That night, Wolverine and Charles land on Shaw's island and begin their infiltration. They run across some guards and Xavier makes quick work of them with some mental illusions from their past. Logan and Charlie cross and plot out their plan. Wolverine opens the door and is instantly concerned. The door was unlocked and...BOOM! Explosion. Shaw appears in the doorway and taunts him. The fight is on and Xavier is off to find Wolverine's son on his own. Before Charles can get too far, Claudine challenges him to a telepath showdown. Xavier recognizes her as Sinister, but she claims that's not exactly true. Before Claudine can get too far in her games, Charles flips the script and punches Claudine out leaving a small present behind with her. One of Shaw's goon's personal psi-shield.

Back with Wolverine, Shaw continues to build his strength and rip Wolverine apart. Logan counted on this and turns off the lights so that he has the main advantage. Meanwhile, Xavier finds Daken as Shaw planned and jumps into his mindscape...nude for some reason. Charles realizes that Daken's mind is more screwed up than even Logan's was and that it was made to be irreversible. Xavier gets through Daken's mind and hits the trap Claudine warn against last issue and is knocked out. Claudine then appears in the room and attempts to rewrite Daken's memories as she assumes he's mindless now. Daken hugs her and thanks her for the story...then SNIKTS her. Daken is insulted that all these people tried to mess with his mind and he aims to make them pay now that he has his memories back. Before he can pop a claw through cueball's head, Wolverine appears and stops him. END.[/spoiler]

I'll rate this one a 3.5. It was interesting, imo, and Charles and his new bird watching powers are coming in handy. I still don't care for Daken, but Ms. Sinister didn't really annoy me and it's nice to see that both sides, even with a plan, were a bit unprepared for the variables that came into play. I wanted to see more of the Shaw/Wolverine fight, but what was shown was fine. I just hope the finale doesn't let me down. Also...I hope Daken fades away for a bit because I'd rather read up on X-23 than Daken.

[Podmark]

I read Young X-Men and X-Factor!

Young X-Men #8:
[spoiler]The team has learned that Ink isn't a mutant, it was his tattoo artist. Ink leaves saying nobody likes him and he was only using the team as protection from anti-mutant groups. He then gets attacked by some Hellfire Cult members - which he soundly beats.

Meanwhile the X-Men have discovered that the tattoo artist has given tattoos to others which were used in a prison break (shown in issue 4 I think). Cyclops sends the team to check out the tattoo guy who is uncooperative but Dust and Anole find info that leads them to an abandoned paintball park that the gang is living in.

Between this we get some interaction scenes primarily Rockslide and Anole (a followup from New X-Men - yay!). It's not bad, some lines don't sound right from some characters and it tries to be hip too much and uses too much popculture references (Law and Order etc) but it's decent. We see an illusion to Dust dying (her sand is flying away), and Graymalkin is still talking to someone unseen.

The team battles this gang who decide to call themselves the Y-Men. The Young X-Men don't do too well, Dani gets shot, but they outnumber the Y-Men and victory seems a safe bet in the end, until it's revealed there's more of them. A lot more.
The Young X-Men are outnumbered (the title of the episode).

Back with Ink, he's still in the alley when he's found by Cipher - a dark skinned female Cipher dressed in a Young X-Men uniform - who says the team needs his help. [/spoiler]

I liked this issue. Actually Young X-men seems to be getting better with each issue, after that poor first arc. It's still got it's problems - dialogue's a little off and the colour is too light - but I'm actually very intereted in the book now. New artist (name's not sticking yet) is pretty good too. I'll give a 3.5/5 on the Prev-o-meter.

X-Factor:
[spoiler]X-Factor survived the explosion from the last issue by Longshot's luck powers causing them to fall down a hole. M loses her clothes and is forced to wear a dupe's shirt. More flirting between her and Longshot follows. The team follows the tunnels and fights some Karma Institute goons which they soundly defeat.

Madrox has been questioning his murderous dupe and the usual identity issues that go along with it. Madrox tries to get information from a guard by threatening to create a dupe inside of him. It's a bluff but an accidentally created dupe hits Madrox forcing him to create the dupe - killing the guard. The dupe points out that the guard had pulled a knife but Madrox is still very disturbed. Then the Karma guy shows up with an army of Darwins.

Elsewhere Val Cooper is trying to force Siryn to cooperate and let ONE protect her unborn baby. Val tells Siryn that Jamie is working for her but Siryn doesn't believe her. At the end of the issue Siryn's water breaks.[/spoiler]

It's a solid issue, some nice moral/identity issues raised by Madrox, some fun lines and action. It's a little light on plot movement though. But the big news is that Stroman is gone! De Landro's art isn't as good as his work on the Layla special but it's a very pleasant surprise. I'll give it a 3.5/5, the extra .5 is probably just for the new art.

Oh Skottie Young will be writing Young X-Men in February. This is unconfirmed right now but it's probably a two issue guest stint to give Guggenheim some relief from his busy schedule.

[AfghanAnt]

[spoiler]An army of Darwins? Say what?[/spoiler]

[Podmark]

[spoiler]An army of Darwins? Say what?[/spoiler]

[spoiler]Its the cliffhanger for the next issue, but I assume he cloned him.[/spoiler]

[Previsionary]

X-factor was good...and they had quite a time jump. I guess I'll review Storm's mini later. Twas quite a good read, but...I'm tired. ^_^

[Zippo]

I quite enjoyed X-Men Legacy. Xavier has always been touted as "The most powerful telepath on earth", I've been waiting a long time to see him in a role like this. He's not perfect, but he's not being a monster. He's helping out a friend, but getting his hands a little dirty in the process. In my opinion, this is a nice place for Charlie. He's regaining the trust of his longtime friends in the same way the X-men grew to trust each other; by being side by side with them in dire situations, rather than sitting back and playing the mastermind.

[Previsionary]

Zippy! Hi, Zippy! HI! Zippy...Zippy...hi!  :o
-------------------

I agree somewhat, Zippy, but Xavier is mostly seen as a monster in current days thanks to all the retcons that have made him out as so. He wasn't nearly that bad in the old days. He had questionable morals and a strict lifestyle, but he wasn't a straight out jerk. The recent retcons make him look worse than Magneto to me in some ways. But, I agree with your final statements. Seeing how he works with Logan and attempts to maintain their friendship as his memories return is nice. It was equally nice with Gambit.
------------------

Uncanny Rant:

I didn't get to rant about this last week, but now, since I reviewed the book, I can. My problem with this book since the end of Messiah Complex has always come down to how the plots played out. There have been some good stuff here and there, but most of it has been so...uninspiring. That's not the main problem though. The main problem falls squarely on the cast. It's RIGHT on them. Why...tell me why I have to see the astonishing cast in two books? The Uncanny Team used to be different and they originally had a purpose as the core book. Now, I get to see an abundance of Emma, Cyclops, and Beast along with Wolverine. Surprisingly, Wolverine was only in one book this week and so was Xavier and Storm. There were tons of reports that the Uncanny book would have a rotating cast and so far, that's been a major lie. Only the supporting cast has rotated and the main plots have focused on those that already have their own little book. I'm not saying Uncanny isn't serving its purpose...w/e that may be (seems to be a tie up book lately), but why should I be forced to keep up with the astonishing team while several other X-men just hang in limbo. It doesn't help that Uncanny and Astonishing don't mesh well at all.

I just want the Uncanny team back and them doing something productive in San Fran. Nightcrawler or Storm need to throw together a new team with the mutants at the mansion (Dazzler, Sam, Iceman, Karma, Dani, Colossus, etc.) and do something rather than have Emma and Cyclops take up several plots at a time.
-------------

Storm review to come later...maybe. :S

[Podmark]

Actually Prev I wish Astonishing didn't exist. It's pretty much completely in a vaccum these days that I've totally ignored it. If you locked Cyclops and Beast to that book it'd suck as those two, especially Scott, are key characters in the X-Books.

Uncanny is the core book (more so now than in past years) and it should star Cyclops, Emma, Beast, and Wolverine. It should probably also have better stories but I digress. Of course for Astonishing to exist and serve it's purpose it needs to have those characters as well. So yeah I'm actually pro them being in both books.

I do agree that I wish Uncanny was playing the rotating card better than it is. It seems currently like it's Scott and the mainstays with guest appearances/cameos by Pixie, Dazzler, Karma etc. I'd like those characters to feel more important to the ongoing stories than they seem to be from my outsider perspective.

[Previsionary]

Uncanny has always been the core book. It's just when Astonishing came out [again] with Whedon behind it, it earned more money, got more rewards, and was fresh, exciting, and new. It also did its job of progressing the main cast it had and introducing others while allowing said characters to appear elsewhere when they needed to be. Ellis just served to split the main team off from the other groups because he gave them a new direction as mutant detectives (X-factor) with bad costumes in and out of the field. The new direction doesn't immediately fit with Uncanny because they aren't being detectives in Uncanny...at all.

Also, I don't agree with the astonishing cast being the leads here. I liked the book a lot more when they didn't star because it could tackle other storylines...like going to space.  The astonishing cast couldn't go to space for 12 issues! Well, not at the time it happened. They appear too often as the heads of the X-men in other books to just disappear. It also served to help progress and highlight *several* characters that would otherwise be ignored like Cyclops's daughter and brother who he's yet to actually mention. ^^ As it stands, they have three books. One focuses on Xavier and Rogue, one has a main fixture of the Astonishing Cast + Armour + Brand, and the final one also focuses on the Astonishing cast + Pixie + New Mutants + other guest stars - Armour - Brand. Redundant, no? Besides, with Uncanny serving as a "put everything in its place" book right now...maybe they should get around to answering questions Whedon's run left open like...Cassandra Nova/Armour. :P

I will point out I'm not saying the Astonishing cast "can't" show up and have some main stories to help tie up continuity, I'm just saying I don't want them as leads every week. Especially if them being leads just means they're going to hang around the mansion and stick to their bedrooms (Emma/Cyclops) instead of dealing with things or maintaining their fading family relationship the X-men were once known for. I miss my monthly dose of Iceman, ok!

It just seems to me that only X-force, X-factor, and X-men: legacy really cover the ground they should be covering while having a unique cast. And Legacy actually has a rotating cast. ^_^
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http://www.marvel.com/news/comics.6151.FIRST_LOOK%3A_X-Force_%239  - X-force #9 preview

I'm glad you guys liked the cliffhanger for #37. And you'll like #38.

But I'm telling you right now:

The last few pages of #39 will stun you.

And the last page of #40 will absolutely blow you away. When #40 comes out, this board will erupt. Guaranteed.

PAD

What...a tease. Oh, I'll get to that review...eventually...perhaps.
-----------

Ms. Sinister:

There's a podcast going around where Carey explains who Ms. Sinister really is. She's really Sinister's plan B. A clone created with the XX chromosome. She's not connected to Amanda Mueller and she seems to have Sinister's memories (which fits in with Xavier comments this issue).

It's also revealed that Sinister kept male and female clones and what happened to the other clones will be a topic written about in future stories. Claudine's background will also be explained later.

[Podmark]

When Whedon was writing Astonishing it somehow seemed more relevant. Ellis's book just feels very inconsequential at the moment, and I think it may be done purposely. The delays in Whedon's run just made the X-Men continuity too difficult to manage.

I think part of the problem considering the cast is that we essentially have 1 X-team right now. It's the Astonishing team basically, spread between two books. Legacy is essentially a solo book so we don't have that third X-team like we used to, technically we don't have the second either. X-Force partly disperses the problem but because it's this secret strike force it seems very apart to me.

But I totally agree with you that there are a lot of underused X-Men right now. Cannonball bugs me the most, but Iceman, Rogue, the guys in space, none of them have a regular home and that sucks.

[Previsionary]

Whedon's book was just as cut off from the mainstream universe. That's what made it so accessible. You didn't "have" to know current details behind the team when reading it or even past continuity, but if you did, you picked up on more than a person who had missed quite a few important storylines. Plus, it was a throwback to the 70s and 80s more or less. And Kitty became Buffy. Kuffy!
------------------

Behind the following spoiler tags are details behind some upcoming storylines. You've been double warned.

X-men Vs. Hulk by Claremont:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Captain Britain and House of M:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Incredible Hercules featuring X-23, MJ, and White Phoenix (Emma Frost):

[spoiler][/spoiler]

New Warriors:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

SI: War of Kings:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

King Breakers:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Astonishing X-men #28:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

X-men Legacy #220:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

X-Infernus:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

X-force #11 (return of Selene!):

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Cable #10 (featuring astonishing X-men + X-force?):

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Wolverine Origins:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

X-factor #39 and young X-men (baby!):

[spoiler][/spoiler]

X-men: World's apart (that review is coming...shush!):

[spoiler][/spoiler]

X-men/Spidey (90s style):

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Magneto Testament #5 (plus wolvie):

[spoiler][/spoiler]

First Classes:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

New Exiles/Power Pack:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

Manifest Destiny (featuring Avalanche and Dazzler and Wolverine):

[spoiler][/spoiler]

X-men Noir:

[spoiler][/spoiler]

That's about it minus a bunch of hardcovers and omnibuses. I'll also say that Spider-man noir looks so...unique. Yeah. Oh, Dark Reign will feature pretty much the whole Marvel universe. Punisher is being renumbered and gets a new creative team, The X-men are involved, Spidey, The Avengers, etc. So there ya go.

[Podmark]

What I meant about Whedon's run is that it felt more connected to the regular X-Fan, rather than Astonishing only reader. The reason I say this is that it was that it was Whedon's run that brought back Colossus, and the slowness of Whedon's run was affecting the main continuity of other X-Books.

This time around the X-Office is treating Ellis's run very differently. It has, as far as I can tell, no real effect on the other X-books at the moment.

[Previsionary]

What I meant about Whedon's run is that it felt more connected to the regular X-Fan, rather than Astonishing only reader. The reason I say this is that it was that it was Whedon's run that brought back Colossus, and the slowness of Whedon's run was affecting the main continuity of other X-Books.

This time around the X-Office is treating Ellis's run very differently. It has, as far as I can tell, no real effect on the other X-books at the moment.

I'll agree with that. I think it's for the better because I don't like Ellis's current direction and at the rate the book currently comes out would probably have...Uncanny doing a bunch of filler storylines like it had to do in the past. They should probably keep it this way so no book has too much power and leeway. Now...if only they'd bring back Iceman and do something about keeping Storm's costume consistent. I'm fond of the costume she wears everywhere else outside of Astonishing. ^^

[AfghanAnt]

do something about keeping Storm's costume consistent. I'm fond of the costume she wears everyone else outside of Astonishing. ^^

All of the new costumes are ugly. I especially hate the Astonishing X-Men costumes. I was really hoping Ellis would go for a more realistic, non-costume title but whateverz it's an ok (but slow) read.