Thursday, July 28, 2011

Uncanny X-Force #12 & X-Men: Schism #2

Two more X-titles before I call it a night. First up is Uncanny X-Force, who have found themselves stranded in the awesomeness that is the Age of Apocalypse, while the second book is the second issue of the X-Men: Schism event. Both could potentially be great reads. Or at least that's what I'm hoping...

Uncanny X-Force #12:

Summary: We kick things off with AOA Jean and Wolverine sharing a nice quiet moment. Even though every instinct in Wolverine's is screaming at him to lay a kiss on Jean, he's hesitant since he has a girlfriend back at home... Although in all honesty, I'm of the mindset of what happens in dystopian alternate dimensions stays in dystopian alternate dimensions... Anyway, while Wolvie is hesitant to make a move, Jean, who is missing her Wolverine(who is believed to be dead), plants a kiss on Wolvie before pulling away. Before things can go any further, a giant Sentinel arrives on the scene and attempts to attack the two mutants. Jean makes quick work of it before reporting what happened back to the leader of the AOA X-Men, Magneto. The AOA X-Men and X-Force have a conference and decide that there were two things that needed to be done. The first was that a life seed was needed by both teams, since life seeds were the antithesis of Apocalypse(or something) and could eliminate Apocalypse's corruption on someone(I guess...). The second thing is to rescue Gateway from the massive prison he was being held in on ship high above New York City. The teams decide to split into two factions, and head to their rooms to prepare themselves for their mission. Fantomex corners Psylocke, who still doesn't want to talk to him due to him murdering Kid Apocalypse. Fantomex still claims that he did the right thing, which Psylocke refuses to believe. Fantomex then claims that Psylocke never really loved Archangel, that all she really loved about Warren was the fact that he needed her(!)... Oh. It's gonna be on now! Sure enough, Psylocke punches Fantomex straight in the face, which Fantomex responds to by accusing Psylocke of having feelings for him(!). Fantomex then kisses Psylocke, who doesn't immediately pull away. Realizing what was happening, Psylocke DOES pull away, telling Fantomex that no matter what may be happening between the two of them, she wouldn't give up on Warren. The teams then split up, with Fantomex taking a few AOA X-Men after the life seed(s), while Magneto takes the rest of the AOA X-Men and X-Force to the prison Gateway was being held at. The AOA X-Men and X-Force enter the prison with no difficulty and manage to get pretty far in before they are ambushed by the Dark Legion, who are a bunch of extremely powerful, warped dopplegangers of characters from the regular 616 Marvel Universe. Realizing they were overpowered, the AOA X-Men and X-Force make a break for it, with Wolverine following Gateway's scent to a room where they find AOA Wolverine, dressed like Apocalypse(!). AOA Wolvie blasts Kirika, his daughter from the Age of Apocalypse, which ends this issue.

Thoughts: Well there sure was a lot going on in that comic, wasn't there? The perfect tone was set in this issue right from the beginning, with Rick Remender giving me exactly what I wanted, a nice long scene between AOA Jean and Wolvie. Add the kiss between AOA Jean and Wolvie, and yeah, that scene was about as perfect as I'd have wanted it to be. From there we get a meeting between Wolvie and his AOA daughter, Kirika, who just happens to be the offspring of Mariko, the other love of Wolvie's life. Much like the scenes between Jean and Wolvie, Remender did a masterful job dialogging the scenes between Wolvie and Kirika. On top of that, we got a VERY heated conversation between Psylocke and Fantomex, which ended in a passionate kiss. I've got to say, I didn't see that coming! Fantomex did raise some interesting points about the relationship between Psylocke and Archangel, and you've got to think that there's going to be one hell of a reckoning between Warren and Fantomex when X-Force inevitably returns to their home dimension. I have to admit, I enjoyed this issue thoroughly, and will definitely be looking forward to the next issue.

Score: 9 out of 10.Now THAT is one sweet haymaker!


X-Men: Schism #2(of 5):

Summary: The world over, nations are pulling their old Sentinels out of mothballs as a show of force to mutantkind in light of Quintin Quire's actions last issue. Unfortunately, 3/4 of the Sentinels were defective and are basically running amok, leading to the X-Men and Avengers being forced to try to deal with the out of control robots. On Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia), classes have been canceled and Wolverine is in an especially foul mood. Wolvie heads into the control room where Emma Frost and Lord Summers are staying apprised of the situation around the world, and demands to be deployed somewhere so he could work out his frustrations. Lord Summers denies Wolvie's request, since he wanted to keep Wolvie close to home in case any rogue Sentinels made their way to Crazy Mutie Island. It's at that moment Quintin Quire enters the room and requests sanctuary on Crazy Mutie Island. Needless to say, Wolvie isn't having that, as he wants the X-Men to surrender Quire over to Steve Rogers and the Avengers since Quire started this whole mess. Lord Summers refuses, stating that Quire would stay on Crazy Mutie Island where he'd be tried by a jury of his peers. Before the disagreement between Wolvie and Lord Summers can get anymore hostile, Steve Rogers calls the X-Men, telling them that the Avengers were doing what they could to quell the anti-mutant hysteria across the globe, and that he appreciated Lord Summers restraint in the face of such racism. Steve then asks if the X-Men had been able to get a fix on where Quire had run off to, and Lord Summers says no... That bastard! He lied to Steve Rogers!! Once Lord Summers is off the line with Steve, a disgusted Wolvie throws Quire at Lord Summers and decides that he needed some time away from Crazy Mutie Island. Lord Summers has Quire sent away, and Emma tells Lord Summers that San Fransisco was moving up the opening of their new Museum of Mutant History(what in the blue hell is THAT?!) to that night. Emma tells Lord Summers that she wanted to go, which causes Lord Summers to scoff, at least until he realizes that the grand opening would be televised and that he should send some of his heavy hitters to the museum just in case... From there, Kade Kilgore, the new Black King of the Hellfire Club, begins to put the next phase of his plan against mutantkind into action by first having a bunch of his fellow prepubescent friends acquire a Badoon Brain Slug(by killing some aliens in a painfully stupid scene), before heading to the grand opening of the mutant museum with his friends and several of the Hellfire Club's best soldiers to crash the party.

Thoughts: Okay. Here's the thing. The scene with the children and the aliens was SO stupid that it totally took me out of this story once it happened. I mean I was enjoying this comic thoroughly, from Wolvie's conversations with some of the students, to the Sentinels going crazy, to Wolvie's confrontation with Lord Summers, to Quire's arrival, it was all VERY good! And then some little 12 year old girl with pigtails killed three heavily armed aliens... I mean come on... That was absolutely horrible. There's no way to even defend that scene. I was fine with Kade becoming the Black King of the Hellfire Club last issue because it was obvious that he was a very evil, manipulative child. A one of a kind threat that's intriguing because of his age. But the introduction of his little friends? That was a step past dumb, into asinine territory. So yeah, the introduction of Kade's prepubescent army of terror totally destroyed my enjoyment of what was, up to that point, a very good comic book. We still don't know exactly what's going to cause the Schism between Lord Summers and Wolvie, but there are a few clues popping up. Wolvie seems more willing to work with/cooperate with humans, while Lord Summers seems content to live on Crazy Mutie Island like a power-mad hermit. Obviously next issue is the big one, because whatever happens at that museum is going to almost definitely set the stage for the final couple of issues of this series, so I'll definitely be looking forward to that. But this issue? It should have been SO much better...

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.He lied right to Steve Rogers' face... What a bastard...

12 comments:

  1. i havent read the issue itself just ur synoppsis/review..... i really dont know what to thank about this all ............................................................................................................................ ok i am mad at summers (little Bitch) that he lied to rogers (god) but he couldnt tell rogers the truth and just be like oh where keeping him here Oh but u can trust us that he will be put on trial justly EVEN rogers freaking would thank that they are just protecting there own and mabye even start to think that summers and the mutant leadership on utopia was in on the whole mess qire caused
    if the rest of the world realized that qire was being held on utpoia that would give them evrey reason on earth to finaly invade the island with sentinls or otherwise
    ok after that yeah im firmly on wolverines side
    that said i cant shake the feeling that summer has some hidden important motive for needing quire kept there?

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  2. oh uncanny x-force was so freaking badass it is without question the best x-men related series in a lonnnng time
    im suprised it didnt get a 10 from u
    i said OH SHIT so many times in that issue
    the last page would have freaked me out had i not already seen the reveal in the next issues cover in the comic solictations :( MAD
    lol great book tho

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  3. soOOOO... Life seed,..., Life seed...
    LIFE FUCKING SEED!
    HAS REMENDER EVER READ A STORY WITH APOCALYPSE IN IT! DOES HE EVER FUCKING KNOW HOW EN SABAH NUR WORKS!
    No he doesn't...but fuck this, this title seems doomed to perpetually suck and be over hyped. I'm against this arc more or less for the same reason I'm against Age of X.Sorry but I can't take this anymore!Remender has no skill at writing Apocalypse (or a logical arc for that matter ."The Omen" (that little bastard WAS NOT En Sabah Nur!!!), as the first mission was terrible.I gave 2 chances already to show me that I was wrong but he fucked it up AGAIN! & in the AOA reality, where they have no business in logically, Why? In AoA Warren is just Warren. He doesn't have blue skin, metal wings or some uncontrollable anger. He is just a mutant with wings who owned a nightclub. What is the X-force suppose to find out from 295 Apoc about Archangel when in that timeline Apocalypse just picked people to be Horsemen rather then draft them, In 295 Apocalypse didn't give rat's ass about angel. The other thing going against it is acknowledging the BS of that Yoshida blasphemer (NO! Sinister DIED at the hands of Nate & Jean was never a phoenix ! there's no fucking space chicken in AOA!)

    PFFFFt! SChism is still a pos, I hope Stryfe reappears to show "daddy dearest" what pulling a brutus means & eliminates Whoreverine.... or even Maddie who will rip the balls of Douchelops...

    Saidi

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  4. hope you'll like these friend , give your opinion (oh & about the Nate theme song if you have an Idea let me know

    http://devilkais.deviantart.com/#/d41wvdb

    http://devilkais.deviantart.com/#/d41wqia

    http://devilkais.deviantart.com/#/d41vkyg

    http://devilkais.deviantart.com/#/d41re3n

    http://devilkais.deviantart.com/#/d41r73s

    & Nate's fate in my canon

    http://devilkais.deviantart.com/#/d414f6t

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  5. Okay... I enoyed reading the first issues of schism. I was awre that this was going to be a set-up issue, but i seriously almost didn't pick it up for the reason you stated. I flipped through and went.. "Wait, what?" when i saw what i saw in this book. i saw a preview of issue 3 also with some weirdly powered sentinels. If the sentinels and these stupid little crazy psychotic children are the cause for this massive split and ENDING Uncanny for the time being I will be so dissapointed. I was expecting 3 issues of build-up and a huge fight in the last isues.
    -I will not buy a comic of wolverine/cyclops or anyone for that matter fighting a bunch of messed up little children. I know that may be interesting to some people (like the crazy little girl with the light saber type thing looks like she came straight from kick-ass's hitgirl.) but its not for me. I still have hope that something BIGGER and DEEPER is going to cause the split and thus end the reign of uncanny but as of right now I am somwehwat dissapointed.

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  6. Also, looking forward to your review on TDK#4 and of course CAP and bucky 620! happy reading

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  7. Cool, lot's of comments!

    Exactly, Movieartman... The fact that Summers is going to keep Quire on Utopia(in secret) is insane... I mean how can that NOT backfire on him? He's not the God of Mutantkind, Quire committed a crime against a bunch of humans, like it or not, the proper thing to do is to hand him over to Steve Rogers and let the judicial system play out however it will. I mean seriously, it's STEVE ROGERS! If you can't trust him, who can you trust?! I can easily see Quire's presence on Utopia being the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back that'll unite the world against mutants... It was such a dumb move by Cyclops... I actually seriously considered giving Uncanny X-Force a 10. I really did... So far it's like 1,000,000% better than that awful AOA mini from a few years back. Seeing Jean again, the interactions between Jean/Wolvie/Wolvie's kid, it was REALLY good. The Dark Legion kind of bugged me a bit, because it was so over the top(Ghost Rider-Iron Man?!?) but that reveal at the end was definitely an "Oh shit!!!" moment! See, that's why I try to avoid reading those solicits! :P

    Awesome, I see you finally got a blogger ID, Saidi! I'm still trying to keep an open mind on X-Force and Schism. I mean we both know nothing is ever going to touch the early 90's X-work, but some of the stuff, like X-Force, isn't that bad. Apocalypse has been altered by so many different writers by this point, the whole "life seed" thing doesn't even bother me. I'm just happy to read an X-book that makes sense, and is respectfully revisiting the AOA, unlike that horrible mid-2000's mini which shit all over the earlier story. I'm kind of about to run out the door, so I'll def get back to ya later on those links!

    Cap, that's my exact problem with this issue of Schism. I was fine with Kade being an evil genius, since having to battle a kid brings all sorts of moral dilemmas, but the addition of his little friends was just too much. They weren't needed at all. I don't know if Aaron was going for comedy or something, but it fell totally flat for me. If they wouldn't have included Kade's friends, this comic would have probably been in the 9 range for me scorewise, but that utterly idiotic scene with the kids and aliens completely deflated the entire story. I actually read Cap and Bucky last night before going to sleep, and should have a review up for it later tonight when I get home. If you want a clue as to how I felt about it, I'll give it to you... I liked it... A LOT! :D

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  8. Awesome news on the cap and bucky issue, i've got a feeling that brubakers going to be putting a lot of good work into this series before he gets into it on the new cap run... I read schism oe and two today just to get a feel for the whole thing. And upon second reading i will say that i don't like the evil kid genius angle at all. Well i shouldn't say that I should just say the things he says that he did to infiltrate the prison and breakout quire and things were just a little over the top. Considering how the facility is supposed to harness some of the world's most dangerous mutant criminals and this kid got through within 5 minutes it seemed? Cyclops keeping quire on utopia i think is going to make or break this series. If he decides to keep him there for the world to not worry about the break out type thing, this will be awful in my opinion. However, if he has him there because he knows something about the current events that old man logan doesn't... well, there's your schism! i've only read new mutants and schism so far and then i had to go to work so i will be reading cap and bucky tonight as well. take care!

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  9. Also, I have a question. I am considering picking up Venom 1-5. I guess spider-island has peeked my interest. I wasn't imprssed withthe first issue and the only other one i looked at was the 3rd which had tony moore in on the art which was rushed and looked sooo terrible in my opinion. So is this series worth a look? If yes, up to what issue should i buy before realizing this is pretty good? I only ask this because it if it stinks i don't want all five issues haha. Anyway im excited for spider-island i think there are some good things in store.

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  10. I meant Tom Fowler standing in on the art*

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  11. "Wolverine is in an especially foul mood" Lol it always seems like Wolverine is in a foul mood lol. Which is something I enjoy about his character, lol, like he's pissed at the world all the time.

    Buuut about this review for Schism, sounded like a good read. I also hate when random stories are tossed into the middle of a comic and throws you off. I like to call them filler pages, something to make you feel like you're getting what your paying for. I need to grab this issue as well as the first issue of Schism from JT so I can give it a read for myself.

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  12. Brubaker is actually co-writing the Captain America/Bucky series with Marc Andreyko, which kind of/sort of makes me wonder if Brubaker is planning on staying on this series past the first storyarc... I hope he stays(obviously!), but usually when Brubaker takes on a co-writer he usually hands the series off after a few months...

    That is a great point actually, Cap... You'd think Utopia would have like THE best security in the WORLD on it, especially since Summers is so insistent on having like every mutant left on the planet living there like a bunch of sitting ducks. If Kade could sneak on AND off the island, while Quintin was able to easily gain access, I'd have to say it's kind of shocking the X-Men are still alive at all! That's some horrid security!

    As for Venom, after reading the first issue, I was tempted to drop the title. It didn't really click for me... Upon a quick look, I only gave it a 5, which is below par(7 is average for me). The next few issues though turned me into a fan. #2 was pretty good, and had a battle between Venom and Kraven the Hunter, I gave #3 a 9 1/2, so I must have REALLY liked it, while #4 and #5 got 8's. So for me at least, the series REALLY picked up after that so-so first issue. As for the art issues with #3, I have to be honest, I barely notice the art in a comic unless it's extremely good or extremely bad... I could name like every writer who worked on the X-books from Claremont's departure all through the 90's, but if you ask me a question about art I'll often times stand there confused. :P

    But this time Wolvie was in an especially bad mood, Lisha! :P Schism was okay, but the inclusion of those kids totally ruined it for me. I'll be interested to see what you and JT thought about it actually.

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