snaps: Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis #2

... where our merry band of mutants find familiar enemies in darkest Africa. and no, its not those pesky N'Garai! shame on you word association OCD sufferers! and in this issue, we find more evidence of Messrs. Ellis and Andrews true obsession. to wit ...



let me make a bet that baby vomit is not the usual thing that gets spattered on that spot. right, Emma? (k-ching!)


hey, Nitro! you got a child roaming around here, you deadbeat daddy!!




what is the excuse eh? what is YOUR excuse??



hey, lay off Scott, Ororo! you didn't lose your parents then have to jump off a plane with your little brother at a young age!


if only Jean can see him now (yes, that's next issue's cover ...)

nip and tuck gone wild

am not sure how that's appealing. sure, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. and if we're just talking about covers, then i'll just have some Greg Land, thank you.

drive-by readings: Immortal Iron Fist #27

Immortal Iron Fist #27 (Marvel) "The Fall of the House of Rand" Duane Swierczynski Travel Foreman David Lapham Timothy Green Juan Doe Javier Rodriguez Nate Piekos Kaare Andrews (cover) Ariel Olivetti (variant cover)

i'm not sure who the best rich dude playing superhero in the 616 universe is: Tony Stark or Daniel Rand. between the two of them, they should've solved cancer, AIDS and the Israel/Palestine question by now. instead they've been distracted saving us from bigger world-beaters (true) time and time again, and now they've both been stripped of their companies. Danny still has his secret ID though, and despite the opportunity to do so, his list of conquests is modest, definitely not in Tony's league, and unlike Tony, he's ready to take the next step as a responsible human being. wait, Tony Stark just sent a text message saying he too, will settle down as soon as he takes care of that Green Goblin maniac running the USA.

back to Danny: his recent adventures have left his company vulnerable and as a result, his net worth has shrunk to Vern Troyer proportions. i would have preferred that Swierczynski painted a few more details as to the tumbling of Rand Inc., but that might be a boring exercise to some. i'm sure the destruction of his building (no insurance?) would qualify as a huge event and should be referenced in other Marvel books. i also liked the neat interspersing of flashbacks of an 8-year old Danny coming to grips with defining a relationship with his dad, building up to this point when he'd be in the same shoes. Luke Cage provides the support as a best friend would, and this is one of the enduring friendships in the Marvel Universe i'd never want to be broken, harking back from their Power Man/Iron Fist days.

as if i didn't like this issue enough, this is where i learned that they're gonna be issuing out Immortal Weapons one-shots for each of Danny's new pals (starting with Fat Cobra). excuse me because i need to change my pants.

curiosity kissed the cat

... if curiosity's name was Jason of G-Force (a.k.a. Battle of the Planets).



what the hell. are we to construe that the envelope is being pushed here? just because they're fictional characters? yes, i know the IntarWebz is rife with worse stuff than this.

(who wants to bet if there was any tongue action involved? eeeewwww.)

also, the best way to insult the 'Cats is to call them dogs. like so:



i'm not sure how the level-headed resident brain Panthro can instantly snap into a seemingly unhinged ranting angry cat. he doesn't know what a dog is? wasn't there a Jackal mutant among their regular enemies?

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Thundercats/Battle of the Planets

cover of the week

make that plural!


Orson Randall and the Death Queen of California one-shot, by Kaare Andrews



Vixen: Return of the Lion #1 by Joshua Middleton (Halle Berry alert!)

---update---
thanks to M1ll5 for the Cafu correction.

the devil you don't know

Marvel's MAX line has a new addition: Dead of Night starring Devil Slayer (sounds like a glam heavy metal rock band).

let's just make one thing clear: it ain't your daddy's Devil Slayer (more recently seen in the Hawaiian Initiative - doing luaus and sensing portents of doom and showing Cloak how its done). 

no, in this tale, we have Iraqi vet named Danny Sylva going back for another tour of duty - once a soldier, as they say - to the disbelief and joy of his former buddies. in his case, it seems more like a homecoming.

Sylva has his reasons for going back, since he has nothing else to live for. alternative careers for ex-soldiers seemed in short supply with the tanking of the American economy, and the breakup with his fiancee Maria left him with charges of aggravated assault, drunkenness and disorderly conduct. his CO, Lt. Buckler leaves him with a semblance of something to hold on to - fighting for your comrade in arms, despite the presence of other less-than-honorable men from defense contractor Bloodstone, a Blackwater analogue (apparently, you can get blood from this stone). 

for those not in the know, Lt. Buckler is named after Rich Buckler, who created the Devil Slayer character back in 1977.

a fellow soldier, Wahl, has been kidnapped by jihadists, and a midnight call from an embedded journalist from the Daily Bugle (don't they call it the DB now?) puts Sylva and the team in an impromptu rescue mission. it doesn't go well. for example, Pvt. Miles Ochse, fresh out of boot camp and Sylva's seatmate on the plane back to Baghdad, gets his brains blown out rather quickly.

with his teammates dying alongside him, Sylva runs for cover in a room, he finds a lot more than he bargained for.

Danny Sylva ... Devil Slayer, get it?

just for informational purposes, Dead of Night is written by one Brian Keene, he who ushered a new age of zombie splatterfests with The Rising. i know of one friend who's gonna cream in his pants when he reads this. 

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Dead of Night: Devil Slayer #1