The Marvel Thread

[marhawkman]

SW2 is ridiculous, but I think that Strucker wasn't intending to kill everyone, just destroy the base.

WoK has shown quite vividly that Vulcan is Nuts. Then again he was always nuts.... He was raised by a maniac after all....

[AfghanAnt]

WoK has shown quite vividly that Vulcan is Nuts. Then again he was always nuts.... He was raised by a maniac after all....

He was artificially aged and raised a slave.

[Xenolith]

I liked War of Kings #1, but I'm a fan of Abnett and Lanning's work.  Check out their Warhammer 40K novels if you have the chance.

[Previsionary]

Highlight on...Namor

It's been awhile since I've actually done an indepth review, so pardon me if I'm rusty. I just finished reading all the issues back to back, so I think I can actually talk about this book now since the last issue came out last week. So...let's go!

Sub-Mariner: The Depths #1-5



Though his name may hold the title, make no mistake, as this is not a Namor led story. It's about a man, Dr. Randolph Stein, as he joins a crew of "deep sea men" in the search of Atlantis. Not because he has any interest in finding it, but because he specializes in disproving myths and legends such as that of the legendary abominable snowman. In this Marvel Knights title by Peter Milligan of X-force fame and Art by Esad Ribic, whom you might know from Wolverine, Loki, or Silver Surfer fame, we learn that Namor is not the heroic, but arrogant, man we know of from WWII, but is seemingly a horrible underwater myth. He's a creature of the night that will do anything to protect his underwater kingdom of Atlantis. And so it begins...

Spoiler

The book takes a much different approach to Namor and his world than what I initially expected. Instead of a world full of heroics, we are plopped down in a setting that is dominated by realism and rational thought. The age of reason and science, if you will. When the scientific community gets wind of a scientist, Dr. Marlowe, finding Atlantis while on an underwater search through a video reel that was sent up before the man disappeared, they feel it is only right that Dr. Stein set foot on an adventure to prove rather or not it exists. Stein, never one to ignore a challenge, accepts and the story begins.

Stein's time at sea is a very long one. He's not a seaman and being in the ocean makes him sick. His crew members are all believers of the superstition of Namor, but Stein completely rebels against every aspect of the myth, which causes immediate tension between him and the men he leads. He theorizes that the men are simply imagining it as a way to maintain their sanity as they go deeper into depths of the sea. It takes several odd moments of Stein either seeing or dreaming about Namor for his beliefs to begin to be shaken. As the stakes rise from issue to issue, Stein finds it harder and more difficult to believe that Namor and his kingdom do not exist.

The climax of the story is where the book really begins to become interesting. Dr. Stein and his men find Dr. Marlowe upon his ship, but Marlowe is the only one left alive. It's here that the reader learns for sure that Atlantis does exist, but Stein continues to debunk it. This is the point in the story where tensions between Stein and his crew begin to rise to a boil. It's where we get to see how shady Dr. Stein really is as a person and a scientist. It's also one of the only points the book gives us more than a few panels of Namor's presence as Stein comes face to face with him. It's the setting off point that leads to Stein making several tough decisions that could put his life and career on the line once and for all. I'll leave you guessing as to what happened with him, if you can't already guess, but all five issues were a pleasure to read.

The art really helped to set the tone of this book, which I would describe as dark and realistic. You wouldn't think that much could be done with the underwater/submarine/outpost settings, but I think Esad really pulled it off in a way that would draw you into the story without being distracting. I did find some shots involving Namor to be odd, but for the most part, it was all done effectively. If I had to really describe this book in a word or so, I think it'd fit under thriller or suspense. Namor is rarely seen in the first 4 issues and he's always hiding in the darkness of the sea or in the imagination of the men. Namor himself, when you finally get a glance of his full posture, is a different being. More creature of the sea, less human of the land. I equate him to being a shark of a man quite literally. Namor in the mainstream universe may be a tough character, but this version can be seen as utterly ruthless.

The book does have some problems. Stein spends several issues speaking about his dead lover, Annie, that we never learn much about. He apparently did something horrible to her, but every time he's about to reveal what he's done, something dramatic happens. I also wish more time was spent on certain aspects of Namor especially near the end. It's not a lot, but just some things that came to mind immediately.

In the end, one would think that a book named "Sub-Mariner" would feature more..."Sub-Mariner". It doesn't and, considering the tone and themes, it works. This isn't really a book about Namor, but a book about an initially sympathetic character and his self-appointed job of dispelling myths and legends. When he can no longer do his job and all his rationality starts to cave in on him, what's a man to do but question his own beliefs and morality? Tis a 4.5 out of 5. Go get it.

[Previsionary]

NC: Quitting time/Manifest Destiny: NC

Spoiler

Nightcrawler is quitting the X-men because he no longer feels needed as Pixie surpasses him in her skills with teleportation. Not only that, he has no reason to stay as the X-men are no longer teachers either. Cyclops tries to reason with Kurt, but he'll have none of it. He's off to Winzeldorf to check out a memorial or museum that was set up in his honor. Unfortunately, no one really seems to be all that happy to see him. NC checks out the museum and meets his biggest fan, a female he saved during an attack. It turns out that NC was led to the town to save them from another monster and not so much because he was being honored. NC is insulted that he was led back to his hometown under false pretenses and thinks the monster is probably a confused kid like he was. He was mistakened. Kurt valiantly fights the monster until it is stabbed with a sword. The monster runs off and Kurt tells his biggest fan he's going after it. He teleports off and his fan sniffs and enjoys his "bamfs".

Kurt eventually finds the monster in the woods and they continue to fight. Kurt obviously has the upperhand and he questions the monster as to the whereabouts of a child that was supposedly kidnapped by the creature. The monster doesn't understand and Kurt halts the fight. It's here that we learn that the monster was just a 16 y/o boy that was cursed by an old gypsy. Kurt and the boy bond a bit before a bunch of men from the village come with torches and weapons threatening to kill the "monsters". Kurt won't allow it to happen and tries to take them all down. In the process of doing this, he is shot and the "monster" continues to fight. Kurt tries to calm him down, but a little girl appears out of nowhere searching for her grandfather--the lost child. Kurt teleports her and her grandfather to safety and returns to the battlefield to find the "monster" shot and unmoving. As he monologues to himself, Mephisto appears and claims the boy's and fallen men's souls for himself. He taunts NC and tells him that he too will be like the "monster" that died. NC isn't phased and now realizes what he overcame. A week later, he's back in san fran and arrives just in time to help the X-men. They're fighting a foe with a magical shield that Pixie can't penetrate via her powers. NC easily can and the day is saved...and he's back with the X-men.

This book didn't make sense. I understand the premise and it's nice to see NC doing stuff again and actually being efficient, but him feeling useless because of Pixie makes no sense and it was really forcing it with the final few pages just to show NC he has a place even if it's combat teleporting. He does have more skills than that, it's just writers don't utilize him as an effective character anymore. Also, I'm always wary of Mephisto and magic showing up around NC. It's a 1 out of 5. It probably will hold no type of relevance beyond this oneshot. Oh, yeah, the art was not very good at all. The book is completely forgettable in every sense of the word and that's disappointing for one of the best X-men characters still around and kicking. Also, it's unforgivable that a "quitting" issue doesn't give us an actual insight on NC nor does it allow us to see how his friends appreciate him. A scene with just Cyclops at the beginning is not enough. Skip the issue.

As a side note, James Asmus wrote the issue and I have no recollection of him as a writer. Has he written anything before?

[thanoson]

Hmm... the art was the only thing I enjoyed from this story.

[Previsionary]

Hmm... the art was the only thing I enjoyed from this story.

*shrugs* I found most of it to be ok, but certain areas were rough and off to me. Nothing that I found to be very impressive, but that's just me.

Previews:

Ultimatum 3: http://comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=2214&disp=table

Wolverine: Weapon X #1: http://comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=2213&disp=table

X-men Forever: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/030911-X-Men-Forever01.html

[Mystik]

the new mutants
http://media.comics.ign.com/media/143/14320999/img_6538516.html

[thanoson]

Hmm... Why is Legion in the pic?

[The Troll]

And where is Rahne?

[Podmark]

Hmm... Why is Legion in the pic?

Legion is part of the first arc.

And where is Rahne?

She's on X-Force. She won't be a regular character in New Mutants.

[cmdrkoenig67]

Doug has weird cracks all over his suit and looks a bit odd, is he some kind of zombie?  Have Dani's powers returned? 

Dana

[Podmark]

Doug has weird cracks all over his suit and looks a bit odd, is he some kind of zombie?  Have Dani's powers returned? 

Dana

Yeah I noticed that about Doug. Not sure what's up, have to wait for the series.

Dani is currently still powerless.

[AfghanAnt]

I'm excited but worried. Also why does CC keep getting work? And in my mind Sunspot can not fly or shoot energy and his hair does not magically go away when he's powered.

[detourne_me]

amazing costume designs in my opinion

[thanoson]

Maybe Dani just uses a bow now? I do like the costume design too.

[The Hitman]

I just like that Warlock is in this. I have a soft spot for weird alien robots, so sue me.

[Previsionary]

I just like that Warlock is in this. I have a soft spot for weird alien robots, so sue me.

*sues you*

[cmdrkoenig67]

I'm excited but worried. Also why does CC keep getting work? And in my mind Sunspot can not fly or shoot energy and his hair does not magically go away when he's powered.

Truth in most of your points about Bobby, but he has flown before under his own power.  I also don't know why CC keeps getting work (at least on X-books)...He really should try another type of book, maybe he'd be able to actually have some fresh, different ideas?

Dana

[Previsionary]

I'm excited but worried. Also why does CC keep getting work? And in my mind Sunspot can not fly or shoot energy and his hair does not magically go away when he's powered.

Truth in most of your points about Bobby, but he has flow before under his own power.  I also don't know why CC keeps getting work (at least on X-books)...He really should try another type of book, maybe he'd be able to actually have some fresh, different ideas?

Dana

Where would he go? His presence was only major in the X-men/Captain Britain/Excalibur area. The only thing he hasn't returned to is...Spider-man. I don't think anyone wants that especially after what he did to Miguel/Spider-man 2099.

Unless you guys want him on Avengers or Spider-Woman. Fan4 maybe? You choose! :p

[cmdrkoenig67]

Where would he go? His presence was only major in the X-men/Captain Britain/Excalibur area. The only thing he hasn't returned to is...Spider-man. I don't think anyone wants that especially after what he did to Miguel/Spider-man 2099.

Unless you guys want him on Avengers or Spider-Woman. Fan4 maybe? You choose! :p

hasn't Claremont written the FF book in the past?  I think he actually worked previously on all of the books/characters you named above, Prev.

Dana

[Previsionary]

Where would he go? His presence was only major in the X-men/Captain Britain/Excalibur area. The only thing he hasn't returned to is...Spider-man. I don't think anyone wants that especially after what he did to Miguel/Spider-man 2099.

Unless you guys want him on Avengers or Spider-Woman. Fan4 maybe? You choose! :p

hasn't Claremont written the FF book in the past?  I think he actually worked previously on all of the books/characters you named above, Prev.

Dana

Indeed he has, just not a major presence. He's returned to all the books that made him big, he wasn't big anywhere else (and he used Spidey to bring Captain Britain state wise). So, if he were to finally leave the X-verse, where would he go? He doesn't have a big pull anywhere else. ^^

[Podmark]

I guess I should review some comics...

X-Force:

Spoiler

Leaper Queen captures Hellion, Surge and Boom-Boom. Pierce tells Dust and Scott sends X-Force to save them, but only until he finds Cable in time (it's probably best not to think about the time traveling logic for this story). Surge and Hellion are infected with the Legacy Virus and carted off to the UN. X-Force arrives to find Boom-Boom but before they can save her Cyclops pulls them into the future for Messiah War. Leaper Queen shoots Tabitha between the eyes.

Was surprised Yost and Kyle were allowed to kill Boom-Boom, if she is indeed dead. I thought she was Nextwave safe.

I'll give the issue a 4/5. The art is sometimes murky, funky, and somewhat inconsistent but I like it, and the plot maybe could use a bit more meat but I felt a real sense of suspense waiting to see the fates of the captured mutants, and frustration with how it ended.

Young X-Men finale:

Spoiler

Dust is dead, and an enraged Rockslide beats up Pierce. Ink tries to heal her but fails. The team is upset and consider quitting. Ink uses his Phoenix tatoo to restore Dust but it lands him in a coma. The team is happy to see Dust return. Then Guggenheim brings back the Neo for the last page fight shot. And I'm told dead Neos were pictured 

There's also the future scenes where evil Dust kills Anole, Greymalkin, and Emma - the last mutants, and Ink who she blames for bringing her back without a soul. The sequence is pretty detached from the present story, I think they're hinting at evil Dust, which honestly sounds like a terrible idea to me.

I'm going to give this a 2.5/5. I actually quite liked the present day stuff, the teams reactions to Dust's death were very good. Was less impressed by the one off return at the end, just seemed random to just bring them back like that. I love the art. Sandoval is great, he gets a little rough near the end though, and Acuna is great for the future sequence (I probably would have disliked his art if it was the present, but it works this way).
The future sequence drags the issue down. I just found it mostly useless. Dust is kinda cliched and I think it's just a poor idea for a number of reasons. If someone picks it up maybe it'll work out, but I have my doubts. And if no one picks it up half the issue was wasted for nothing.
I might have given this a 4 if not for the future sequence.

X-Factor:
Madrox meets up with Layla and we catch up with the rest of the cast. Not going to go into much more than that, PAD's on his no spoilers rampage.
It's an good read, but I wanted a bit more, felt kinda like a heres what everyone is doing issue. I really wanted more of Layla, the issue didn't really give much answers there. Art's good but De Landro is just missing an extra ooph. Might be colouring, it's a little drab for my tastes.
I'll give it a 3.5/5.

Spider-Girl:

Spoiler

May fights Norman in her fathers mind, and her mind, and her duplicates, it's a little confusing, relieving key memories from her and Peter's life. Outside Spider-Girl's allies try to save MJ and Benjy from the Goblin God (an amagam of Norman Osborn in Peter's body, May, and the symbiot-hybred Brand New May). May is able to convince the other May that they can be friends and they are able to defeat mind Norman. You know that sounds confusing but it's all clear in the issue. New May starts living with the Parkers.

This is the final issue, but the series continues online and in Spider-Man family. I give it a 3.5/5. I found the issue rehashed some old ideas, like the mental fight which a similar thing was used in Spider-Girl 100 and somehow things seemed a little too easy in the end, but it's still a decent read. I really liked how they resolved the whole Brand New May stuff, didn't expect it to end like that. Also I thought Frenz did a good job recreating the old scenes.

Spider-man and Extra 3

Spoiler

Quick spoilers for both:
-Hollister wins the election
-Menance is beaten by Harry and Spider-Man and imprisoned, but meets Norman at the end.
-Hollister resigns as mayor after finding out his daughter is Menance.
-Vin turns in the police department and gets a six month sentence.
-Flash returns home, Harry gives him a new apartment
-Anna Kraven is shown again and we learn that her mother has a plan, will tie into the Sinister 666 story in the future.

I'll give these two a combined 3. I really liked New Ways to Die but Character Assassination never really clicked the same way. Spidey going to prison didn't quite work out for me. Still it's an ok read and really ties up most of the ongoing plots of BND. I've mostly enjoyed BND but it's a mixed bag, some stuff I really like others are very meh. I'd prefer a tighter plot development, too many one off stories after New Ways to Die. The Extra is kinda a giant subplot issue. We get Flash coming back, Harry dealing with his issues, Vin's situation, and check in on Kraven. I love that kinda stuff, but none of the stories really stand out that strongly. Art is just ok. Wasn't feeling JRjr like I sometimes do, And Jimenez was ok but there's not much in the story to get excited about.


Anyone got Ultimatum spoilers? I want to see what Loeb's newest abomination is.

[Previsionary]

Thanks, Pod. I haven't read X-force yet, so I skipped the spoiler. Young X-men sounds... X-factor, I'm a little tired of PAD's online persona. Nothing all that "shocking" or dramatic even happened in this issue except for, perhaps, the return of someone from a recent one shot? Still...nothing to be all that guarded about.

I said I was going to try and keep up with Ultimatum, but I literally forgot about it until I read USM...and then I forgot again. Doesn't help that it never comes out on time. .
--------------

X-men Legacy #222:

Last issue, Gambit and Xavier were still looking for Rogue, but had no idea where she could be. Meanwhile, Rogue found herself in mortal danger as a gun was pointed at her head and the book ended just after it was fired.

Spoiler

This issue opens up with a flashback to Rogue during her "Ms. Marvel is stuck in mah head" days and Beast helps her to realize what causes Carol to take over her body from time to time and ways to resist it ever happening again. The book then swings back to present day just moments before the gun goes off, we see Rogue make a quick movement, and Scalphunter actually shoots one of the marauders, Scrambler in fact.  We then see that Rogue's skin is blue and she has in fact allowed "mental" Mystique to take over.

Over with Xavier, Gambit, and the Shiar salvage crew, the group takes out the sentinels that are chasing them and Xavier and Gambit demand to know what they are doing here on Earth and Xavier deduces that the leader of the Shiar salvage crew started this. The man agrees and notes that he and his crew were after Danger, who shot them out of the sky. They succeeded in lowering her AI, but Danger set off a program that was in tune with Rogue's thinking.

Eventually, both Rogue and her mental follower and Xavier and his crew decide to go to the source of the danger room scenarios, the X-mansion—Danger's hold out. As Rogue travels, she relives a few memories and realizes that she feels like she can't move on and doesn't really know where she's going. She then runs into an image of a young Cody. Meanwhile, Xavier reaches the mansion and sees versions of the X-men battling behind the gates. He asks the Shiar to help him get in. Xavier finally gets into the mansion, with very little effort, and relives a few scenes of his past. Specifically, the day he recruited the "all new, all different" X-men and Kitty's conversation with Emma that reflected on her first meeting with the X-men (Claremont's Phoenix saga—specifically the hellfire portion where Emma was experimenting on the X-men). The book ends with Xavier coming into the danger room where a large Danger is huddled.

It's an average read. Nothing really stood out in this issue as exciting or all that interesting. It'd be fun getting this insight on characters if we hadn't already traveled this road before with Rogue. If this arc leads to her finally getting a new purpose or sense of worth, I'll be fine with it, but if it's just going to be a rehash, I'll be disappointed. However, it was nice seeing some old scenes repeated in this book and I think this is the first Astonishing V3/Whedon flashback, so maybe the book is finally about to find its way into its new function as a "non team, but X-related" book...thing. It's a 3.

Ultimate X-men #100:

I haven't bought this book in awhile and I don't even recall looking up information for issue #99, but this is the big finale and Ultimatum tie in. It's no secret that this series has been very bad for a few years, but maybe Heroes' writer, Aron Coleite, can finally give us something worthy as I haven't liked anything by him since the first issue he did. Also, it's odd seeing Beast on the cover as I was sure he was dead, but hey, just a cover.

Spoiler

The book opens with an army of Madroxes heading for parliament in London. He was chosen to lead a mission...a suicide mission. He and his clone enter into parliament, shoot a guard, and explode just as Captain Britain finishes saying, "we need to send Magneto a message!"

At the Mansion, the original team of X-men returns, holding their dead members, and run into Rogue, who lays a bombshell on them. Xavier is dead! Oh no! The X-men discuss the possibility of killing Magneto and Cyclops is against it. Wolverine tries to explain his point of view and Angel agrees with him. Jean tries to talk Angel out of it, but he no longer cares. He's an angel of death. Jean also feels what Madrox is up to and alerts the X-men to this.

In Chicago, Madrox walks out of a burning school holding a motionless Emma Frost. Iceman, Cyclops, and Rogue show up to handle him and Cyclops threatens to kill Jamie if his brother, Alex, is dead. Madrox multiplies and overpowers Cyclops. Rogue kisses one of the dupes and absorbs its powers allowing her to create her own army of Rogues. Inside the school, everything is on fire and no one is responding to Cyclops's calls. He then runs into a dupe that didn't explode. Cyclops is furious and optic blasts off the dupe's head only to be attacked by another dupe from behind.

In the morlock tunnels, another army of Jamie are about to explode. Well, they would if it weren't for Jean and her semi-phoenix powers (which I thought she lost...) keeping them all under her mind control as Calisto and Storm watch on. Jean is the only thing keeping all of them alive. As Jean and Storm try to figure out how they'll get the Morlocks to safety, a clone breaks free of mind control and Jean can't reestablish her link. Storm then does something drastic, takes Calisto's knife, and throws it into the clones head effectively killing it.

In the Savage Lands, where it is surprisingly snowy, Wolverine teams up with Kazar and Shanna. He asks them for help in tracking down Jamie. They track Jamie's scent down to a home and burst inside only to find Lorelei. Before the trio can do anything, Lorelei orders Kazar to kill Wolverine.

Back at the tunnels, Jean is losing control over all the Jamies and orders everyone to get close. In Chicago, Rogue and Iceman find an unconscious Cyclops and hope he's ok. In the Savage lands, Wolverine is fighting with Kazar and Shanna doesn't understand what is wrong with her mate. Jean manages to save herself and the group around her only to find out there's still a full room of Jamies surrounding her, Rogue is knocked out and Iceman is the last man standing, and Wolverine manages to regain control of his mind and gut Lorelei killing her. Wolverine then heads further into the house and opens a door and finds...Jamie! He doesn't remember anything and thinks Lorelei is his mother and that he's in Wisconsin in the year 1994. Wolverine tries to make him understand what has happened, otherwise, he'll have to kill Jamie.

In the end, it's revealed that Wolverine stopped all the clones and that Cyclops survived. The final page reveals that Wolverine killed the kid and he'll do the same to Magneto. End.

This, um...the ending was very subpar and so very little *significant* action actually happened. Back when this series started, I would have NEVER expected an ending like this. I did, actually, like the idea of how chaotic an evil Jamie could be, but this book didn't do much with it. I guess part of the problem with Ultimate Jamie is that I have no connection to him and he was never really expanded on. He was just a rarely used Brotherhood member. I just didn't ever really connect with the story because nothing really mattered. Part of this is because of Ultimatum, but most of it comes from how far all these characters have fallen. NOTHING was resolved in this book. It's the finale of the ongoing (I'm ignoring requiem and Ultimatum) and, for the most part, everything just rushed by. Trying to put all this development into Jamie last minute isn't going to make me care about him. Having the team discuss Xavier's death at the beginning of the book didn't do anything for me. It felt distant and unmoving. I was hoping for something much stronger...something that would push this team to consider and do things they had never thought of before. The scene we got was flat. I guess that can't be helped as Xavier had just died 10 or so issues before, but still...this time he's really dead and there needed to be some type of emotion from these kids. It's a 2. The book was too rushed in several aspects and, despite some action shots, nothing really stood out to me. It's quite an unfitting end to a book that USED to outdo the mainstream X-men. Sad.

Uncanny X-men #507:

Last issue, Beast and his team of nerds landed on an island overrun with creatures to save a scientist long thought dead and Colossus had finally begun to take down a mob boss from his past, and surprisingly, Emma Frost was willing to help him.

Spoiler

The book opens with Beast and his team of scientist being attacked by a giant sea dragon thing known as Leviathan. Luckily for the team, Angel has a plan.

Meanwhile in Colossus's plot, Emma and Colossus manage to stop a mob car and toss it aside. They then rush into the mob's hideout with only one plan of action—to beat everyone inside until they stop hitting back.

Back with the Beast Crew, Angel plan involves revealing his Archangel side which he seems to do just by changing costumes. Beast is surprised, but Angel heads into battle. The scene then shifts back and forth between Angel killing the Leviathan by flying into its mouth and out the back of its head and Peter (powered down) fighting the mob boss. Peter chokes the man until he gets the mob boss to feel what he feels. The mob boss does so, but the tattoos on his torso also reveal how badly Colossus really feels about losing Kitty. Emma comforts Colossus as she hugs him.

However long afterwards, Angel and Beast prepare to leave the island and Colossus goes back to get a tattoo of "Katya's" name in a heart on his chest. After it's done, he breaks down and cries and NC watches on. Hank and Warren eventually return to the new mansion and introduce the X-club to Karma and Pixie. Further inside the mansion, Cyclops is having a meeting with the Mayor who has concerns about Cyclops's operation. She alerts Cyclops that people believe he's building a militia. Cyclops correct her and says they're building an army.

Even further in the mansion, Emma is confronting Shaw whom she has just brought in some time recently. She wants him to repent for all his misdeeds. In this scene, we learn that the new cells have one sided power dampeners. Emma then erases some of Shaw's thoughts and only leaves him with memories of all the people he helped to kill.

Later that night, Hank and Warren finally have a chance to  talk about Warren's Archangel secrets. Beast doesn't understand how one of his oldest friends could keep such an important secret from him. Warren says he can't explain and flies off into the night. The book simply ends with scenes of Eric finally getting his powers back thanks to the High Evolutionary.

This book was pretty blah for the most part. There was no central plot, it just jumped all over the place picking and tying up things on a whim instead of doing it naturally. I'm sure at least a day passed somewhere in the middle of the book. I mean, it's good that it FINALLY touched on things such as Colossus's grief, Magneto/High Evolutionary, Emma/Shaw/Namor from the annual, and Beast finding out about Warren's secret, but it could have been done in a much more effective manner. 2 out of 5. Just to note, the art was a little off in some points and the book was the definition of rushing some plots to their ending. Also, I don't know what going on with this nice softer Emma and then "real/current" Emma coming off later in the book, but they need to find a middle ground with her already.

Wolverine Origins #34:

Last issue, Wolverine and Nick Fury teamed up to stop Daken from obtaining a sword and Cyclops and the Aston—Unca—the X-men went to threaten Daken with said sword because Cyclops is a great leader these days.

Spoiler

The book opens with the X-men in the park with Cyclops alerting them to what they may be facing with Daken. Cannonball wonders why Emma didn't give them an exact location and Cyclops tells them that Emma didn't agree with the mission, in so many words. Meanwhile, Emma contacts Norman to get him to call off Daken. Norman is amused but has no idea what she's talking about. Now, he wants to be enlightened.

In the park, the X-men continue to scout for Daken. Unaware to them, however, is that Daken is in fact above them in the trees. Colossus halts the X-men and steels up. A landmine was triggered, via remote, and the team is sent scattering. Everyone survives, but Armor faints. Meanwhile, Fury and Wolverine arrive, but Fury can't do much without revealing himself. Wolvie decides to solo it.

Back to the X-men, Cyclops thinks he spotted Daken and has Cannonball take him out. Meanwhile, NC goes to save an innocent survivor. To his surprise, the civilian was Daken, who then guts Nightcrawler with his claws. The person Cannonball saved was Daken's victim. Cannonball is then shocked as the man was wearing a contraption that Daken controls remotely. What follows next is a series of scenes where Daken superiorly disables the whole team including Cyclops. Wolverine then arrives on the scene and he and his son race for the blade. Daken reaches it first, but Wolverine stabs him and takes it. Before Daken can explain that he'll be superior to Logan, he is shot by an optic blast that also apparently hits Wolverine and dragged off. The book ends with Cyclops dragging off Daken and the blade as Hank pleads with him to reconsider. Daken then awakens, stabs Cyclops in the leg, and gains the blade for himself. End.

It was an adequate read and actually had a better team than what Uncanny typically gives us. Still, the Daken/Wolverine thing is getting a bit bleh as these stories currently aren't connected with the rest of the Marvel universe or even the X-verse. What's of particular interest is the continuous dissolving of Emma and Cyclops's trust and commitment to each other, as well as Beast's and Cyclops's relationship. In fact, Cyclops new stance on the mutant race may end up distancing him from all his core group of friends because even Wolverine found himself pleading with Scott to hand over Daken. And as much as I may not like Daken, seeing him effectively take out the entire team of X-men not by using brutal force, but instead advanced planning, was quite a great few panels. Because of this, I consider this a 3. The art was fairly good as well. Way is certainly better at handling Wolverine and Daken than he was pre-Legacy crossover...that does not extend to most of the other characters in this book though.

----------------

Previews:

Messiah War- IGN- updated every day until the 26th
Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine- Marvel
Ultimate Hulk vs. Wolverine- Marvel 2
Messiah War Prologue

[deano_ue]

I did a bad bad thing i got ultimatium 3 today and i have one question





WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?

[Previsionary]

I did a bad bad thing i got ultimatium 3 today and i have one question

WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO BE?

Ultimatum #3:

Last issue, stuff happened, people died. This is for you, Pod, even though I swore to destroy you/Canadia after some comment or something.

Spoiler

•   It's confirmed for the 900th time that Dazzler, Beast, and NC are dead. In addition, the Academy of Tomorrow in Chicago was destroyed and the whole cast that filled said school died (see Ult. Xmen review) minus Havok/Alex, who is unconfirmed.
•   Longshot, Forge, Detonator (whom I don't remember), and Hardrive are also confirmed as dead.
•   A madrox clone tries to kill Magneto, but Eric kills him. He can also hold and wield the hammer.
•   Yellow Jacket repays Blob by growing giant and chewing off Blob's head.
•   Jean realizes Xavier is dead when she can't contact him.
•   Yellow Jacket explodes in the ocean trying to take out all the multiple men
•   Thor died to revive Valkryie
•   Captain America wakes up and learns that several of his teammates are now dead. The remaining Ultimates band together to stop Magneto.

I'm not rating this and I have no after thoughts.  It would be nice if the plot would, you know, MOVE.

[Podmark]

OMG I just can't believe Ultimatum. Bites off his head?! Who would do that?! Nobody!

Thanks for the spoilers Previsionary, but I'll be on my guard of you. No one threatens my precious Canadia and gets away with it!

[Previsionary]

Heh. But I didn't even show you this pic!



Isn't that a great picture? Scarlet Witch/Mystique makes Emma look like a nun!

[Talavar]

Did anyone else find this a particularly crappy week in comics?

Dark Avengers 3 was a chore.  Seriously.  I intended to at least give it one story arc, but I don't think I'm gonna make it. 

Spoiler

The one part I liked was Osborne talking to the Sentry, which at least semi-explains why he's on the team.  The rest was pointless.

None of the X-books really did much for me either.  The X-men taken down by Daken in Wolverine Origins seemed poorly thought out, Uncanny was a mishmash of plot threads, Legacy feels like a rerun, and X-force bugged me with the wonky time-travel logic.

[Talavar]

I'm not bothering to review any comics this week, but did anyone else find it supremely stupid that...

Spoiler

Marvel made Ms. Marvel 2nd in command of the New Avengers and killed her off in the same week without reference to either event in the opposing book?