Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Uncanny X-Men #2

So we're at issue #2 of the Uncanny X-Men, which means it's time for the Vanisher to show up! Oh wait, that was the 1963 version of Uncanny #2... This issue has Mr. Sinister, thus upping the awesomeness quotient by 75. Let's get to it.

Uncanny X-Man #2:

Summary: The X-Men Extinction team is combating the multitude of Mr. Sinisters that Sinister has created in San Fransisco. While the brunt of the team deal with all of the Sinisters, Hope hangs back to snipe any Sinisters who stray from Sinister central. While the X-Men are battling the... um, Sinister-Men, Lord Summers gets a transmission from Agent Brand of SWORD, who tells Lord Summers that the Celestials were rapidly approaching the Earth, probably pissed off that Sinister had decapitated the Dreaming Celestial to create his Sinister wonderland. One of the Sinisters tells Lord Summers that the main Sinister wanted a temporary truce to speak with Summers and his team. Figuring this was a trap, but not having much of a choice, Lord Summers and company head inside. Sinister acts uncharacteristically crazy and tells Summers that he had created perfection from his own body, thus the Sinister clones that were running rampant. Lord Summers implores Sinister to return the Dreaming Celestial's head back onto it's body before the angry Celestials arrive, but Sinister scoffs at that, since a) he needed the head to power his cloning machines, and b) he figured the Celestial attack would do away with some of the lesser beings on this planet. Sinister than reveals that this was indeed a trap(HA!) and takes mental control of all of the X-Men with the exception of Emma Frost, who was immune to telepathy in her diamond form. Emma manages to give a danger word to Hope, who rushes over and takes Emma's diamond form power, thus making her immune to Sinister's mental control as well. Hope gets away from Castle Sinister, and after some more babbling, Sinister strolls outside to be shot, at which time he IS shot, by Hope. Sinister's death frees the X-Men from his control, but Sinister reveals that he could take control of any of his multitude of clone bodies, making him practically immortal. This issue ends with Sinister explaining to the X-Men that he was now a species unto himself, and anyone who wasn't a part of his Sinister species was unnecessary.

Thoughts: This was basically a good read. However, I had a huge problem with the way Kieron Gillen is writing Mr. Sinister here. Basically he's writing Sinister as a completely different character than the Sinister we've established for the past 20 years or so. While that's a bit galling, it's not THAT annoying, as Sinister has changed a lot from his initial appearances. So it's with great difficulty that I'm(trying!) to overlook this new change to Sinister. That's basically all I have to say about this one... It could have been better with the introduction of a new character obsessed with genetics, but instead I guess we're getting Sinister Version 3.0.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Oh Sinister... What have they done to you now?

6 comments:

  1. Okay, I call BS! Sinister is too fucking hard to KILL! you can't just shoot him & be done with it! he shapeshifts , avoids most attacks & shoots beams from his hands. Hell to kill him properly , Nate relentlessly attacked to give him (finally ) internal injuries.
    Then again if he sends his Sinister clones to beat the tar out of Douchelops after sodomising him for medical needs with every shaft he can find, I'd be a happy camper. See, stuff like this is why some fanfics deserved to become comics... Go read a Test of power, it' s my main inspiration when it comes to the 2 greatest x-men villains

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  2. This didn't bother me nearly as much as I thought it would, Saidi. Is Sinister being HORRIBLY miswritten? Of course he is! But in this issue Sinister kind of insinuates that he's not quite the awesome Mr. Sinister from the past, more like Sinister version 3.0. As for him getting killed, I think he wanted to make a point that even if the X-Men DID kill him, he'd just come back, so don't even bother. Like you said, the awesome Sinister took CRAZY damage, I remember when Cyclops, the REAL Cyclops, blew a HUGE hole through the center of Sinister and Sinister carried on like nothing had happened. That's another indication this isn't the real Sinister, but is simply a deranged clone.

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  3. It's definitely got to be something. Like you said, I mean, I remember at the end of "Inferno" where we get that great shot of Cyclops essentially atomizing the guy. (I mean, it was 20 years ago, so clearly it was memorable.) If THAT didn't kill Sinister, nothing will.

    I just found this issue to be kind of dull, honestly, because Gillen had Sinister talk WAY too much. I mean, WAY too much. I just kept thinking, "OMG, could something happen?"

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  4. Being a huge fan of Sinister, this COULD have been worse(it could have been better too), but I think I'm still on a high about Sinister actually being male again. I mean this wasn't the best comic I've ever read, and Sinister was acting out of character(and he was REALLY chatty!), but at least he's the proper sex again!

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  5. My understanding is that this current incarnation of Sinister is NOT at all the same guy as the OG villain. Instead, this Sinister is a genetically engineered organism (Sinister even calls it a species here), which OG Sinister created based on his studies of mutants and other species (e.g., the Phalanx, as is referenced in the previews). New Sinister is OG Sinister's version of the perfect species. I think new Sinister is good, though it sounds like the way they disposed of him in issue 3 was all too easy. In fairness to Gillen, I think this book is just too burdened by editorial interference (i.e., promoting avengers vs xmen) for Gillen to make it his own, though you see hints of the same humor and tone you see in Journey into Mystery.

    BTW, I just saw a rumor that Bendis is taking his act to the X-Universe after he leaves the Avengers. Be afraid, be very afraid...

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  6. Eh, if they didn't want the real Sinister, they shouldn't have called this weird version Sinister! I was all excited and everything at the end of the Uncanny X-Men before the relaunch, figuring that original Sinister would be coming back, and instead we get Sinister as a "system". Odd...

    IDK... I've been pretty down on the X-books since House of M/Decimation, and to be honest, if Bendis DID take over, undo the "No More Mutants" junk and explain Lord Summers awful actions away somehow, I could see Bendis possibly having a good-ish X-run... At least we know Norman Osborn, Luke Cage and Spider-Man wouldn't be in the X-books like they're in everything else he writes... Hopefully! :P

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