full circle, part 1

drive-by readings

Second Coming #2 (Marvel) Zeb Wells Ibraim Roberson Matt Milla Mike Carey Esad Ribic Matt Wilson Craig Kyle Christopher Yost Greg Land Jay Leisten Frank Martin Matt Fraction Terry Dodson Rachel Dodson Brad Anderson Joe Caramagna Clayton Cowles Joe Sabino Adi Granov (cover) David Finch/Matt Banning/Peter Steigerwald (variant cover)

so this is the end of the one of the more exciting X-Crossovers in recent years (i'm still partial to Messiah Complex). Hope's initial worth was a few limbs, and the lives of Kurt and oh yeah ... that guy on the cover above. if you didn't see that coming ... well, i guess some of us didn't, despite the obvious buzz on Nightcrawler's death. hey, if you Google "cable is dead", all the top hits are about the ex-Stereophonics drummer Stuart Cable. no respect for you, Nathan.

the final story is divided into four chapters, and the first one is easily the most interesting. there's Peter getting his broken arm reset (25000 PSI!). there's Magneto showing flashes of his old self (quite characteristic actually). and there's that poignant shot of Hope holding her known father figure's arm (all that remained of him). i can't believe they're getting rid of Cable this easily. then again, this is comics. he'll probably come back as a baby as well.

if i have a beef with the first chapter, its this:


we know Karma lost her leg several issues ago. either they created costumes (unstable molecules!) for her that really ends high up that leg, or she never changed clothes since.

chapter 2 has a flashback with Hope and Cable, and kind of confirms in a way that he may not be gone forever. erstwhile best pal Deadpool shows up at his funeral (and the 3rd chapter will show why). Magneto is there of course, full costume and all, and its ironic, for someone who remembers the '90s.

in chapter 3, we have a philosophical argument between Storm and Wolverine about X-Force, and they agree to disagree. Logan disbands the rest of the team, and reports back to Cyclops of the dissolution. Scott heroically confirms that he'll do it all over again, and is even willing to go to jail if the oh-so-heroic Avengers ever learn about their activities and attempt to arrest him. despite their differences over the years (not the least of which was fighting over a certain redhead), Scott and Logan are the perfect foils to each other and work well as anyone. that relationship is going to be strained when Scott learns about this:


is Warren holding a gun? Psylocke too? and why are they all facing us? was there a presscon and they need to pose, a la Dark Avengers? are they LMDs? Deadpool finally gets to be a full time member of an X-team. sort of. by the way, is Logan required to change costumes when doing X-Force meetings?

so, Uncanny X-Force it is.

two things on the last chapter: Emma gets the bejeezus scared out of there because of some connection between Jean Grey/Phoenix and Hope (redheads just won't die), and Namor getting to be more and more of a team player (a gruff one at that, and he can't shoot the rock a lick). the co-opting of Magneto and Namor under the X-banner is one of the most welcome events in X-Men history. like i keep repeating on this blog, do not turn back the clock and make them villains again.

aaaaaaaaaaand ... she's back.

and here it is. the closing chapter of the Messiah trilogy in the X-books, billed as the return of Hope Summers in the 616 universe and determination of her role in the future of the X-Men. she was born during Messiah Complex, and spent the rest of her life so far surviving in multiple timelines in the company of her foster father, Cable (whose own trials as a time-tossed baby she's echoing), and dodging her would-be murderer, Bishop. having Lucas Bishop turn into a caricature villain may have made sense with the X-writers, but it always bothered me. he just simply turned into an unkillable and unlikeable cockroach whose sole purpose in life was to put a bullet into a little girl's head. my fondest memory of Bishop was in a '90s sort of way, a cop out of his time, colorful, scarved, long flowing curly hair, and also single-mindedly out to find the X-traitor that presumably betrayed his boyhood heroes. his struggles to fit in were somewhat endearing. past that, he's been yo-yoed around the X-universe, and now he really struggled to find his place. i can get his being a cop for Mutant Town and being the resident mutant detective (remember him trying to find who shot Emma Frost into itty bitty diamond bits?). but shacking him up with Deathbird? being a flat out government stoogie during Civil War, putting him at odds with rest of his friends? and now a bald headed angry stereotype, like if Michael Clarke Duncan suddenly became this raving mass-murdering lunatic? good thing for me he's stranded in 6700 AD (but am sure there's a storyline being written as i type this, bringing him back to unleash holy hell on his former friends).


but back to Hope.

the first mutant born after that crazy stunt pulled by the Scarlet Witch ("oh hey, am crazy, i hate my kind, let's just wipe out everyooooooooone!"), Hope seems like the idea born out of "hey, we need a Jean Grey back, how do we do that?" well, first they send Rachel up into space to be part of the new Starjammers (speaking of which, how come no one's been talking to each other - imagine all the stories missed? Gabriel's probably dead, and Alex doesn't even bother to tell Scott.). now we get a new red-haired young telepath/telekinetic who's sure to rile up Emma, for starters. Cable, by virtue of his raising Hope, is sure to keep her under his wing (hey, watch those young mutant boys in Utopia go after this new bombshell). Cyclops, de facto leader of all the mutants (probably annoying the hell out of Xavier and Magneto), has faith that Hope will be the, well ... savior of the beleaguered mutants. Bishop believed otherwise. if that's true, Cyclops would be doing some kind of twisted Kool Aid commercial, shown below:

well before and after Necrosha, writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost have been (not-so-quietly) assembling all of the old X-villains in the pages of New X-Men and X-Force. despite the annoying style of resurrecting comic characters, i like the fact that they put in touches where the new generation of actual readers can learn through the reaction of the new generation of characters. here we see Pixie making an observation of a Right soldier.

the Second Coming crossover will also deal with the repercussions of the (re)formation of X-Force as a mutant black ops team, and this will presumably split the X-ranks. right in this issue, we get X-23 staking a Sapien Leaguer in the head with a claw during interrogation. the pro-life Nightcrawler takes exception to this. i expect lots of yelling and screaming and punching in the coming days, and that's within the X-Men.

sidebar: the Simster thinks Kurt has the highest odds of not making it through the summer alive.

and there might still be a higher body count. i wasn't really sold when he first appeared, and not even when they brought him back, but now i feel there isn't any better villain out there who fits in this whole storyline than Bastion. Scott Lobdell, take a bow.

they've always been able to beat this Nimrod/Master Mold combo before, but they need to ground him to a fine dust this time around. or else there's no hope.

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X-Men: Second Coming

and ..... he's dead.

and this is why it takes too long for the X-Men to eliminate their enemies. longtime loser and '90s hair model/spoiled brat Matsu'o Tsurayaba finally bites the dust, way past his expiry date. and to think Wolverine doesn't want him dead and tortures him every single year for killing his wife Mariko. huh - really?? i didn't see him in this state when he was hassling our mutants back in the '90s. so Wolverine only thought about it thereafter, like when Matsu'o went from B-list to D-list?

same day every year? really? what about that time when he actually became a Hand assassin?


apparently, this is the alternate ending of Edward vs Bella, The Twilight Chronicles


c'mon, Matsu'o, say the "z". you're almost there. Utz! Utz!


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Psylocke #4

dead like them

drive-by readings

X-Force #23 (Marvel) "Necrosha: Chapter Four" Craig Kyle Christopher Yost Clayton Crain Cory Petit apart from the cover which shows Banshee but in no way does he appear in the inside pages, i have no complaints about this issue, as the X-people completely realize they're in for a fight of their lives against their dead friends and enemies. considering they can't kill dead people, they're really out of options here. Emma Frost gets a nostalgic jolt when she sees a resurrected Blink, and the pain of that causes her to urge Logan to go postal on Selene. Warpath tries to stave off the slaughter by bringing Eli Bard the Spirit Blade, but of course the baddies take that and him back to Selene to provide entertainment by duelling with his late bro Thunderbird. its also interesting to see Archangel regrow his blade wings back even if Blink destroys(?) them. an intriguing subplot has the Wolf prince Hrimhari exchanging his soul for Hela to bring back Elixir, who in turn heals the now-pregnant Rahne - a difficult sacrifice. oh wait, i have one more beef: Clayton Crain continues to exasperate. i can't make sense of the fight scenes, even if i recognize most of the characters being depicted.

hey, the proper term is Native American! yer gonna git sued for this!


Logan demonstrates what happens if you don't use Colgate Whitening.


oh, hey, look who unearthed this poster from 2003!


despite being hundreds of years old, Selene's no slouch when it comes to fashion, hey?

life is never fair

in Psylocke #3, we finally learn Matsu'o Tsurayaba's secret - he's become Mason Verger. what, all that Hand money and they didn't even bother to fix you up?? i suggest place a call to 1-800-DAREDEVL.

and who is responsible for this dastardly deed?

Daken gets to chop up Frank Castle, while Wolverine only skewers a former D, now Z list villain. we'd all love to see Logan slice and dice Norman Osborn, but that would be too easy now, wouldn't it, Marvel?

basically, what this shows is that Wolverine may be excellent in killing foot soldiers, run-of-the-mill ninjas and expendable aliens, but not any of the upper-tier supervillains. it took him like a hundred years before he killed Sabretooth. and he even whiffed on Mystique.

snaps: X-Force #22

... where Blackest Night spills full-scale into the X-Universe. oh wait ... this isn't Blackest Night?! really?!?!

also, this features a Blink you don't know or remember (and am not talking Exiles either). and also features some atrocious Clayton Crain art (somebody bring back Mike Choi!!!). and oh, somebody got knocked up.

1) huh? when did the Sh'iar Gladiator die and become a zombie?


2) emo girls are sexy. even when they're dead.


3) what? he's just doing what normally males when they found out they got someone pregnant!


4) why is dead Skin (heh.) talking to himself? oh, that's right, some editor snoozed on the job again.


5) you mean aside from the fact you're half-naked and being worshiped by a bunch of dead people?

one nation under X

drive-by readings

Nation X #1 (Marvel) "The Ghost of Asteroid M"/"Road Trip"/"Cold Shoulder"/"Testament" Simon Spurrier Leonard Kirk Jay David Ramos James Asmus Michael Allred Laura Allred Christopher Yost Michele Bertilorenzi Antonio Fabela Scott Snyder David Lopez Alvaro Lopez Nathan Fairbarn Jared Fletcher Dustin Weaver/Morry Hollowell (cover)

as expected we have spinoffs from the main X-titles, after the bright idea of putting all mutants in the world in one island and have their own country that isn't named Genosha.

and what do you know? this title seems much more appealing than the regular series.

one thing i kept missing from the X years of yore are the little stories like Christmas ghosts or baseball games that our merry mutants used to have in their Westchester grounds. with much change executed in the direction of the X-Men in the last decade, none has been a lot more intriguing than uprooting them from New York and moving them west. although their San Francisco tenure lasted less than expected, at least the Marvel brain trust didn't send them back and instead got them their own island. as to how long this is going to last, your guess is good as mine. but the potential for new stories is huge.

take for example the incorporation of Magneto finally as a valuable ally and a vital component in running their own country instead of fighting for territory and philosophy. i always missed having him as a wise, grizzled teacher of the next generation (with the rug getting pulled out from under me twice - alleged brain surgery by Moira and that Xorn nonsense), but i wouldn't say those years of fighting him were wasted (he probably now laughs at "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants") because it made him who he is and left him respecting the X-Men. we can't have him fighting them all the goddamn time until i'm dead. goddammit, this is the way to grow and you better not turn back the clock, Marvel. i'm warning you.

my favorite part is the Iceman story. the always happy-go-lucky Bobby Drake, who thankfully got over his long episode of emo crap after hooking up/breaking up with Mystique. does anybody remember that he "hooked up" first with Emma, when she was first brought into the X-fold and she controlled his body and powers, leading him to the realization that he's a fucking Omega-class mutant, and snowballs and ice slides are for losers? now he's back to being the sole joker of the team - Hank has gotten his own case of emo and thinking about ditching the team, while Warren cuts the checks and cuts the bad guys, moonlighting in the X-Force black ops team. he has the young ones to torment, but the best, priceless target? nobody else but the stuck-up Namor. we can make a sitcom out of this.

in one volume, we get a lot of layers - Logan and Kurt fetching apparently a truckload of fuel for Utopia, and making a fun road trip out of it, Magneto coming to grips with his past, and his admission of weakness and impatience in the negotiating table (he probably started more wars than the US did), the stupidity of throwing your weight around as a 'supervillain mutant' (the Toad, still living in 1963), Iceman throwing the jokes but also reining it in as his carelessness with words gets the better of him. by the way, is Dr. Kavita Rao the only human on the island? i liked the construction of Hank's science team over the last two years and bringing back my favorite character from the long-dead Alpha Flight, Madison Jeffries. however, if Hank leaves, it won't be the same.

also, the specter of the dead is touched on. Colossus, as expected, still pines for the lost Kitty Pryde. at least he's not blaming Scott this time, just like he did when Illyana died. as Illyana returned from the great beyond, and even himself, Piotr still has to believe that someday Kitty will too (yo, Agent Brand, any updates on this?). Jean Grey? well, who knows? the thing about this is that, without her death, Scott would not have become the ultimate leader (hah! that's the next book in the Ultimate Comics line) that he is today, taking the reins from Xavier, making all the right gutsy calls (and earning Wolverine's respect) and banging a hotter babe. sorry, Jean; thanks for the sacrifice (and by the way, you pushed for it anyway) - this time its a lot more meaningful than the first time around.

this anthology of stories makes a lot more sense than Necrosha. even if this series ended up with just more Iceman razzing Namor in 198 different ways, it'll be worth it.

snaps: Batman - Streets of Gotham #6

of bats and sluts and invisible men, and false gods, and faith. Chris Yost makes the most of his guest stint.

1) yes, just like his rodent avatar, Batman crashes thru windows upside down. wait, what-?


2) Helena Bertinelli is still hotbloodedheaded in 2009.


3) what i said. slut.


4) when you invent something of military value, either the government misuse it or the real bad guys take it from you.


5) first time i've seen a priest have balls since Jesse Custer.



wait, he called you a slut, Helena! are you gonna let him get away with that??

always be covering

unspoken subtext: "try not to disappear again, because if this Emma thing doesn't work out, we can, y'know ... continue what we started way back in the '90s. i know you weren't yourself then ... but hey, you looked good then. and you look good now."


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Psylocke #1

eyes up here, boy!!

he hasn't been dead that long, but hey - Caliban still has male instincts, no?



AND HE CAN SMELL 'EM TOO!!!!


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X-Necrosha one-shot

drive-by readings: Red Robin #1

Red Robin #01 (DC) "The Grail, Part 1 of 4" Christopher Yost Ramon Bachs Guy Major Sal Cipriano Francis Manapul (cover)

look who's on a Eurotrip (minus the creepy Italian commuter) - its The Artist Formerly Known as Robin/Tim Drake. now donning the Red Robin mantle, Tim Wayne embarks on a quest to find his legal father - you know, the one who used to wear a rodent costume and scared criminals shitless. yeah, you and i think he's nuts, but what's an orphan (a muscled athlete entering his prime with more money than God, but still an orphan) to do? he's not gonna join a gang of thieves now, is he? no, he'd rather leave a trail of bodies across Madrid and Paris in his search for Daddy. especially since he punched out Damian for dissing him (precious on both counts). of course, Damian's immortal-ish grampa (check him out at lazaruspit.com) doesn't take kindly to somebody slapping around his kin. yeah, you're a dead bird, Tim.

the paths taken

the bloke known as Captain Midlands traps Captain Britain's new team for Plokta, Duke from Hell and manager of the Mindless Ones, in exchange for boot-knockin' time with his long-dead wife. whooopeee. (Captain Britain and MI-13 #8) in other news, Captains Thames Valley and Northumbria have petitioned said Plokta for licenses for their impending nuptials ...

over in Africa, its a friggin' pain in the arse battling evil telepaths, especially those who can possess anyone. Storm (Queen Ororo to you peasants) is pulling her silky white hair out, asking the Bright Lady how the hell will she defeat her Shadow King-possessed husband, the Black Panther (King T'Challa to you peasants). as of presstime, the Bright Lady had no comments on this turn of events.

wait - could it be this is the one rare time that T'Challa had no friggin' answer for a problem? getting possessed should have been one his priorities to guard against. Batman even had a backup personality hidden away, just in case. that's how you plan, Mr. High and Mighty Black Panther Sir.

regurgitate

oh hell, why not?

with the current X-brain trust going retro by digging into past playbooks (Legacy Virus, Archangel, Hellfire Club, Shadow King, etc), why not The Right? Cameron Hodge already made an appearance.

with past issues also hinting of a future storyline with Magik (whose presence practically negated my love for Uncanny X-Men #303), we could be seeing the lovable demons S'ym and N'astirh soon. and don't forget Mojo, why don'tcha? and the X-babies! and the Thieves Guild! and the Mutant Liberation Front!

plus, we're waiting for Kitty Pryde to be resurrected so Peter won't go off the deep end again!!!

X-Force #9

power trip

cliffhangers of the week!

i think before i even turned the page, i knew who the hell was messing with their minds.



and for our second cliffhanger, its nice to see the Bat powered for a change (which means the outcome is still the same: a Superman beatdown).


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X-Men: Worlds Apart #1, Superman/Batman #53

don't call it a comeback

cliffhanger of the week!



Staples copyright alert!!!!

and its an annoying cliffhanger. after years of having the Legacy Virus (the comic book equivalent of AIDS) dangle over the heads of mutants everywhere, Colossus sacrificed himself for a cure. and that was that.

Colossus has since returned from the dead (biiiiig surprise). does it follow that the virus will have to make its own inevitable comeback?

geeez, Luis Guzman! Marvel revived Bastion, and Bastion revived a bunch of past no-good'ers: Graydon Creed, Cameron Hodge, Stephen Lang, and Bolivar Trask.

what year is this, is it 1997???

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X-Force #7

gonna get you too

and another one bites the dust!

okay, just because we see Hellion (Julian Keller) skewered by a new Lady Deathstrike, doesn't mean he's dead, right? right??

apologies to n00bs. Hellion is a junior X-Man; more specifically, he's part of the junior squad creatively called "New X-Men". they're this generation's New Mutants, and after the Decimation event, seemed destined to be the last generation of mutants ever because the mutant gene has not sparked again. at least until a mutant baby was born, and every group with an agenda is suddenly hell-bent on getting their hands on it.

the reason for the skewering is that a town was destroyed in a battle between the mutant-hating Purifiers and Sinister's Marauders. the junior squad, having a score to settle with the Purifiers (notice how these storylines get convoluted and extended), defy Cyclops' orders to stay put (as always) and sneak into a Purifier compound, and discover far more than they bargained for.

but wait! that's not the bigger issue here. what piques my curiosity is what the hell is that hanging by Deathstrike's crotch (study picture above carefully).

if that's not enough, the cover of the next chapter of this Messiah CompleX storyline shows:

someone had weird designs in their head. or maybe am just weird. yes, i am.


anyway, as promised from last summer's Endangered Species storyline, we're about to get a '90s flashback: X-Men vs. Marauders, round whatever.

this sequence rocks:

i love Essex' new Marilyn Manson/Goth look


yes, because normally y'all don't stand a chance





i still cain't believe Remy's on this side


i hope Storm hasn't divorced T'Challa

leave it to Wolverine to do the talking (and subsequent slicing)




suddenly, i can't wait for next week!!!! aaaaaaaargh!!!!!!!

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New X-Men #44
Craig Kyle/Christopher Yost/Humberto Ramos/Carlos Cuevas