Wolverine and the X-Men #4:
What Happened: This issue gets started with Wolvie and a select few members of his faculty meeting up to discuss how things have been running... There are money troubles, Kid Omega troubles and new students that need introducing. Oh yeah, and Archangel is back, with no memory of who he is due to the events of the Dark Angel Saga. One of the new kids to the school, Genesis(or Kid Apocalypse), realizes that he's getting all sorts of strange looks from his fellow students and some of the faculty, such as guest speaker, Deathlok, who sees a terrible alternate future when he looks at Genesis, a future where Genesis had become Apocalypse. Meanwhile, Archangel, or just Angel again, acts crazy and seems to believe that he was a real angel. To deal with this, Wolvie and Iceman decide to make him attend class... Yeah, sure. We don't get Jay Guthrie, but we get Warren as out resident angelic student... Dumb. Anyway, this issue concludes with Shadowcat vomiting in the hallway and making her way into the bathroom where she discovers she is inexplicably pregnant... VERY pregnant.
The Good: First off, the art was WAAAAY better than the first few issues. I could actually follow things AND know what I was looking at! The cliffhanger was interesting. I definitely didn't see that one coming. Genesis has some potential as a student here.
The Bad: That last line in the above paragraph is probably the thing that bugs me the most about this series actually... Jason Aaron is heavily pushing certain students(Kid Omega, Idie, Kid Gladiator, Broo), and to be 100% honest, I don't like any of them. I'm tired of Idie's constant whining, Kid Omega's anti-establishment thing is so played out, Kid Gladiator is just an asshat, and Broo, while not outright horrible, is still a member of the Brood. Fairly or not, I keep comparing this comic to Academy X and Avengers Academy, and it falls WAAAAAY short in terms of the likability of the students. Really, would it hurt too much to focus more on the kids from New Mutants/Academy X instead of Morrison's New X kids or these new ones? Angel being a student at the school is just bizarre. Nothing of any major importance happened here... It was all kind of boring.
The Verdict: Eh, I've had my say about this series I guess... I mean it's not as if it's terrible, and I don't plan on dropping it, but the student body... Sheesh! I'd really love to see kids like Hellion, Mercury, Anole, Rockslide, or any of the other Hellions/New Mutants get major roles here. Because between Kid Omega's constant whining, and Kid Gladiator's constant asshattery, I'm getting fed up with the kids here... Rapidly. Eh, hopefully Genesis gets some more page time going forward, thus giving Omega and Gladiator's tired acts a rest.
Score: 6 out of 10.
Yes, more Genesis, please.
very glad how this is all interconected with the other xbooks specialy with x-force and im also looking forward to the stuff with genisis and i hope this artist sticks with the book and bachalo stays the fuck away
ReplyDeletecus i think the new artist is perfect for the series
Totally agreed about the art, Movieartman. I mean there's some good stuff I've seen Bachalo do, but those first three issues of this series really suffered due to his confusing layouts. Seriously, there were times I had no clue what was going on!
ReplyDeleteNate Grey...an Avenger! Ok...you may be on to something there X75! Never gave that much thought, but I definitely can strongly see it in his future whatever power level he is. Here's why: in the annual, Nate made a distinction between the Heroes that were gone (due to Franklin Richards reality warped pocket-verse at end of Onslaught) and the mutant race who were left over. Yet, he WILL call earth 616 some time in his future Age of Heroes in order to distinguish it from his home world (earth 295) the Age of Apocalypse. *Just a side question: the AoA spawning from Uncanny X-force...is it the legit world that Nate birthed from or an alternate version (non-earth 295)? Weren't the endings different with the bombs ending that world?! Did something happen that has changed that...something I missed or overlooked?! Maybe I need to do research on the net.* Anyways, back to my point... The possiblity that Nate will become an Avenger is quite apparent. Besides there are a few X-men that are Avengers as well, for example Storm, Beast and Wolverine come to mind. So why couldn't Nate be a member of X-men and Avengers...he does have loyalty to both and he desires to make the Age of Heroes (his current home) a better place than where he was birthed from. I feel that loyalty to the Avengers will come through Captain America, but he also has loyalty to Cyclops, his alternate dad (which he sees as just dad (New Mutants # 33) the same as he saw Jean as just plain and simply his mom (remember his reaction in Xman # 25 & Dark Xmen # 1) - he dismisses the alternate crap), as well as Charles Xavier. This is the reason I asked about Xavier's whereabouts because despite what happened regarding Onslaught, which Nate was partially responsible for; at the end Nate was seen carrying Xavier while flying in a form of respect for the crippled man and wishing he had Heroes like these in earth 295 where he originated from. So even then he looked up to and held the Heroes of earth 616 in high esteem, so much so that he even warned the Avengers of Xavier's/Onslaught's attack on the Xmen when it first happened. Grey and Xavier's future relationship will have great importance I feel, therefore I am longing for some interaction from these two. Now...Nate and Sugarman! I feel these two will be longtime rivals resulting in Nate killing Sugarman, unless AoA Nightcrawler gets to him first. Why? During the Xman annual, Nate had no idea what was truly going on, but future Nate sure did! That future version of Nate knew what type of vile creature Sugarman really was and how he would psychopathically hurt and injure people; after all, Sugarman torchered and nearly killed him on Osborn's machine! However, young Nate at that time knew nothing about that event! Also, regarding Nate's immaturity then as opposed to future Nate's growth, Forge told Nate that the Age of Heroes needed protecting (from who?...Sugarman and possibly Genesis (Kid Apocalyse) ) and that Nate at that point was incapable of making the RIGHT decision....mostlikely to eliminate Sugarman! I imagine the next time Nate meets Sugarman will be with extreme hatred and vengeance; just hope Nate's power levels are up to par. NOTE: I make mention of Genesis because Forge also stated that future Nate made reference as regards APOCALYPSE CAN STILL BE KEPT AT BAY. Huh...maybe the three characters I need to focus more attention on isn't just Cable, Hope, and Nate in regards White Phoenix's return, but even more so Nate Grey, Charles Xavier, and Genesis! Could Xavier be instrumental in stopping Genesis from evolving into Apocalypse?!
ReplyDeleteAs far as Nate Grey's involvement with AvX, I don't see Nate having a significant part due to his current power level dilemma. True, he is on the X-men team, but on the junior squad. Lol. I mean truthfully, that's where he should be, considering his current powerset is less than junior. Lol. If he is involved at all, with what I just state earlier (the facts all laid out), he may be neutral. But it does seem if he has to take a side, he'd mostlikely go with daddy and semi-crush. Also take into account that he looks up to Cable's warrior within and with a possible mommy appearance from Phoenix Jean Grey...probability goes with the X-men despite looking heavily up to his Heroes the Avengers. That blood is thicker than water and gotta go with the girl/women thing I'd say. But I could be wrong!
ReplyDeleteThis is totally off subject, but Nate has never met up with Forge of earth 616. Matter of fact, haven't heard much about Forge either. It's a dang shame for young Nate if it's true, but I must know: Is Forge 616 dead X?
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ReplyDeletesometimes i truly can truly hate dc comics if you thought the canceling yesterday was bad wait till you read this bullshit
ReplyDeletehttp://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36420
i mean why the fuck dont they just retitle the books We No longer Require your Business or Approval
with the tagline Yes we do not have any intention of Selling or distributing thease titles to anyone ever for the forseeable future.
bastards..........
Okay, first things first... WHAT THE FUCK, DC!!! Seriously? Rob Liefeld?!? Shit, and I thought Johns and Didio were bad for being trapped in the 60's, Bob Harras seems trapped in the early 90's!!! How the hell can DC possibly think giving ROB LIEFELD THREE(!!!!) books is going to work on ANY level?! The man is a walking joke in the comic industry, probably more than anybody else! Seriously, type his name into Google and two of the four recommendations Google churns out are “worst” and “can't draw”!!! Hawk and Dove failed. DC's response is to give him MORE work?!? Are they that hard up for writers? I dropped Deathstroke when the rumor started that Liefeld was getting that series, I have no interest in Hawkman, but why the fuck is he getting Grifter?! The only saving grace is that he's only plotting Grifter and Hawkman. Hopefully a good writer can make his plots for those two series work out. But Deathstroke? They might as well cancel it now, because it is, in plain English, fucked.
ReplyDelete"i mean why the fuck dont they just retitle the books We No longer Require your Business or Approval with the tagline Yes we do not have any intention of Selling or distributing thease titles to anyone ever for the forseeable future." HA!! It's funny 'cause it's true! Either that or just rename them, "Soon To Be Canceled" and be done with it already.
Yep, Radtrainer... The current AOA is the AOA Nate grew up in... Although with how terrible the stories have been, I prefer to think that the real AOA(Nate's) did die at the end of the AOA event, and the current AOA is just some bad, alternative copy... If Nate was to regain his prior powerset, then he would be a great fit for the Avengers... I mean he would def be too powerful for the New Mutants, and would be like the most powerful member of the main X-Men. But the Avengers, with guys like Thor and Iron Man, would be a natural fit for one of the most powerful mutants alive.
ReplyDeleteThe thing with Xavier was probably the greatest miss the X-team in the 90's did... They should have had Nate FULLY drop his suspicions of Xavier(yeah I get that he had his reasons to be suspicious of Xavier due to the astral spying and the Onslaught thing), because the fact that he never fully trusted Xavier is what kept him away from th X-Men and/or X-Force, which I STILL say he was a perfect fit for(especially after Cable left the team).
As for Sugar Man, I would think that upon meeting him again, Nate WOULD want to kill him. The problem would be, especially if he was still hanging out with the New Mutants, is that those characters don't seem the type who would allow Nate to kill Sugar Man as revenge for the wrongs Sugar Man perpetrated on Nate... That may actually become one of those big moral choices, where Nate knows that by killing Sugar Man he'd do the world a favor(and Shaman Nate would have NO qualms with that!), but it would also ostracize him from his teammates...
And as much as I wish it were otherwise, I do agree with you regarding Nate's role(or lack thereof) during the AvX event. He's not established(or powerful!) enough yet to be any kind of force during that event. He'll probably just follow whatever the other New Mutants do during that, especially since he seems to have the most loyalty towards Lord Summers and Our Lord and Savior Hope. Now if Jean herself was to come back(unlikely) as the Phoenix, and oppose Lord Summers and his army, then I'd be VERY interested to see how Nate reacts...
As for Forge, the last I read of him he had been turned into a villain... Yes, really... It was incredibly stupid. And I think, but that may have change by now, he ended up dying/disappearing at the end of the storyline when he went bad. I'd think that would ruin any chance of Nate and Forge getting together, which is another area where Marvel dropped the ball during Nate's series, because you'd think Forge would have been like the FIRST person Nate looked for when he arrived.
Duh, I enjoyed this one a lot more than you, Altough agree that the kid they are pushing to the front aren't the best, (dam I hate that girl Idie, and please please let QQ alone just dont touch him I want to remember him as the character I liked)
ReplyDeleteI liked hoe the passing in this issue was seeing a little of everything.
The only thing that annoyed me a little is Genesis being here, at first I liked the Idea but he looks to much as Apocalypse an I dont know how are they going to pretend that he is not Him, but time will tell I guess.
Well I guess I'm going to drop Grifter again, it was starting to get better.
Did you forget to mention that Angel resurrected that dog? It seems like you are going to have Genesis and Angel working side by side while we see which one becomes the hero and which one becomes the villain. They both seem to be a stone's throw from reverting so that should be interesting. I am still on the fence though and wish this story started to pick up.
ReplyDeleteI'm still cautiously optimistic about the Kid Apocalypse thing, Alien. Teenage Apocalypse is a different wrinkle to the tried and true Evil Apocalypse thing, so I'm willing to give it a shot. I mean Gillen has done a great job with Kid Loki(I never thought I'd take to that character like I have), hopefully Aaron can do a great job with Kid Apocalypse. As for Grifter, the only saving grace is that Liefeld ISN'T doing the art for it... I don't think he's writing it either, just doing the plot. I'm hopeful that a good writer can do something with the plot they're given... Hopefully!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Jermox... I guess that Aaron is trying to build up the idea of the school, but nothing of any real note is happening here. I didn't mention the Angel/dog thing, but that's what happens when you start doing these rush reviews! :P This would be Angel's what, forth or fifth new mutation now? Although who knows who/what is really in Warren's body after the events of the DAS.
I had the same response as you: this issue was OK. It wasn't great, but it was OK. I don't read "Uncanny X-Force," but I felt like Aaron did a pretty good job of explaining the events that happened in that series, even if I didn't understand why they happened. (I didn't learn why Angel was amnesiac until "Uncanny X-Men" #5.) I thought "X-Men Legacy" #260.1 was significantly better and, to me, it has become my beacon of hope in this whole enterpise!
ReplyDeleteYES! X-Men Legacy IS way better, mainly because Christos Gage is an amazing writer! His run on Avengers Academy has been absolutely fantastic. If you're disgusted by the Bendistrophe(heh heh) the main Avengers titles have become, you REALLY should look into Academy. It's everything an Avengers book SHOULD be, plus is full of West Coast Avengers characters, including Hawkeye!
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