New Mutants #36:
Summary: This is gonna be a quickie on account of me, you know, not liking this storyline... Cypher wakes up on Diskhord's bus and fills the New Mutants in on where Diskhord had gone(Chicago), what the creature in the box was(a sentient ship full of chaos magic), what the thing in the box was trying to do(create enough chaos to locate the rest of it's... um, ship/self/people/something), and how it was planning on doing it(with a massive, city-destroying earthquake). The New Mutants teleport to Chi-town thanks to Blink, and while Magma attempts to prevent the disastrous earthquake, the rest of the New Mutants either protect Magma or attack the chaos-ship possessed Diskhord members. After a bit of a battle, Blink and Warlock take the box containing the chaos-ship-thing into space and throw it really far away. With the chaos-ship-thing gone, it's chaos effect ceases and Chicago is saved! Huzzah! This issue ends with Moonstar calling Lord Summers to tell him that she had offered Blink a place on Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia), but that Blink had instead decided to go to Wolverine's school. Lord Summers is fine with the way things worked out since a) it was Blink's choice, and b) she was safe now.
Thoughts: Meh. This was a solid(-ish) issue that concluded a storyline I wasn't very keen on to begin with. There really isn't too much more for me to say about this one... The next storyline looks really good though, as it appears that Mephisto is going to collect on the date Magma owed him for his assistance during the Fear Itself event. THAT should be good.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.
Did I over-score this comic? Probably, but hey, Nate was in it!
Wow! I must say this story arc sucked! All this hype and supposed advertisement about X-man and Blink on a team together only to discover that Blink is going to team Wolverine....major let down. Boooo! I also hate that the New Mutant X-men are living in an apartment when the AvX event is about to go down separating them from the Utopia homefront! Bummer! However, I did find out why the fight will erupt between the Avengers and X-men. It's due to the fact that the Phoenix Force is heading to earth; and while Captain America and the Avengers are scared and desire to prevent it from landing on the planet (mostlikely fearing it will bond with Hope (or my guess that it will resurrect White Jean Grey..its favorite avatar, but strongly now believe its the first idea regarding Hope)), Cyclops is welcoming the cosmic firebird's return in order for Hope to fulfill her Messiah destiny as the new avatar (or in hope that his true love, Jean Grey, will return from the ashes back into his arms). Yep, Cable really has sound an alarm causing the Avengers to react in a panic mode....just hope Cable remains alive to at least be involved to some degree if he is to die from the TO virus. In truth, I hope he doesn't die....even though the reality is him being the bad guy and instigator of this whole ordeal.
ReplyDeleteHowever X, I must agree with you that the next arc regarding Mephisto's promised date from Magma will be interesting....just didn't think it would come so soon. I mean that's quite fast!
ReplyDeleteCan they please let Nate do something. I just don't get it, they bring him back after 10 years just to be a background character.
ReplyDeleteI'll second dat Anonymous....for real! Put that boy Nate Grey back in action and mainstream. They do have him looking like a backup dancer! Lol. Powers or no powers...insulting my boy's character like dat! Here's to more important roles and forefront in future issues and x-titles. Don't get me wrong. I do appreciate how DnA are building Nate's character and all, just feel at times it's a bit slow. If they used my ideas I've printed on this blog, X-man would be more impressive and used lots more. Come on already.....he is Cyclops and Phoenix son after all and part of the most powerful mutant family with the most potential!
ReplyDeleteHey X75, so you're MIA for the moment. I understand completely. You have a life outside of comic blogs...completely understandable. As I always say "hit me back when you can". Look how long it has taken me to respond back...its all about how much free time I have available to throw away on mundane blog chats. Anyway:
ReplyDelete1). I did indeed do research on this AoA mess and as you said...it is truthfully Nate's birth world, not a parallel AoA. I found out that between the Exiles run and some 10 year anniversary AoA special the bombs where halted. Seems that after the death of Apocalyse, Mr. Sinister somehow survived Nate's thrash beat down and took over in power for a good while. Not only that, but it appears he recovered quite quickly because he revived Jean Grey after Havok's deathdealing assault. It was at this moment that the Phoenix force imbued Jean allowing her to stop the bombs from destroying the AoA reality....therefore, life continued on in earth 295 parallel to earth 616.
2). It appears that Nate may not kill Sugarman after all. As I alluded to earlier, AoA Nightcrawler has a personal vendetta regarding all AoA escapees and main quest is to assasinate them. The list includes Dark Beast, Sugarman, Blob, and Iceman of the AoA that are wondering around in 616. Didn't realize that Holocaust was murdered when summoned as a Exile, so that makes him deceased. I wonder, why isn't Nightcrawler targeting Nate Grey especially when people have considered him dangerous at times? Well regardless, I look forward to when they meet up.
3). What if it is Nate who beats Nightcrawler to the punch and does kill Sugarman? Will his current team ostracize him? Probably! But in the end....NO BIG DEAL! I say this because truthfully, Nate is (in the end) too powerful for the New Mutant squad; plus, Cyclops will cover for his son and there new founded relationship. Regardless of how the junior squad feels or if any had a problem with such display of action, they will at least come to understand why he did it and to help Nate out from his current teams reproof, Cyclops would probably pull him from the junior squad and place him directly under his primary team and observation. Besides, after Nate's rescue, Cyclops confirmed he would like to spend more time creating a stronger bond and relationship and Nate seems ok with that, which he revealed when training with Hope. Now this would be the case if he is with the junior X-men. Heck, by the time he gets an opportunity to come to blows with Sugarman, Nate may already be on the main squad!
4). You know X, that bothered me too. The fact is: Nate pretty much DID drop his suspicions regarding Xavier at the end of the Onslaught saga as I alluded to earlier regarding his interaction with Xavier and high regard for the heroes that vanished on the near final panel of the Onslaught conclusion. After that event, Nate didn't have a problem with Xavier because he understood what was going on (Xavier was unaware that he created Onslaught accidentally, but Nate sensed Onslaught's presence when Xavier linked with his mind on the astral planes). In the annual, Nate atempted to explain it to Forge; that the heroes were gone due to Xavier (accidentally creating a psionic monster), but Forge interrupted his explanation because he had heard all that before during future Nate's previous visit in which future Nate had high regards for Xavier. Once Nate recognized Xavier was the good guy and that the accidental creation of the being Onslaught was the monster, with Nate...all charges and mistrust issues were dropped for the most part. So Marvel Co dropped the ball by further making Nate Grey a continous/steady loner character because at that moment was the perfect opportunity for the X-man to become mainstream (interacting within multiple x-titles).
ReplyDelete5). Not only do I long for a solid interaction between Nate and Xavier, but I also am curious to see Nate's reaction when he finally gets to meet Genesis....since he is a reborn Apocalypse (especially if Nate still had is precog/probability power...too bad he doesn't).
6). I too NOW feel Jean's return despite the rumors will be unlikely unless at the very end of the AvX event setting up a new arc of sorts. I currently saw a AvX round 2 comic cover where it appears Hope has the Pheonix aura with Wolverine leaping towards her claws ready to strike. Looks like Wolverine is definitely with the Avengers and against Cyclops by observations, right! But if Jean does come back and opposes Cyclop (mostlikely because of his relationship with Emma and/or upset that Hope is the new avatar), I agree that would be a jacked up situation for young Nate (especially if Jean's love and maternal relationship is still in full force regarding Nate).
7). I did research Forge 616 and he did die/disappear a villian, which sucks by the way because logically Nate would have searched him out first, even before thinking and longing for his mother Jean. I understand kids long for there mothers when in dire straits...and couple that with the powerful telepathic/psionic link Jean & Nate shared before he crossed over to reality 616, which led to an accidental psionic shadow recreation of Madelyn Pryor; but Nate hadn't known Jean Grey or their connection but for a brief instant and at such a time was completely unaware that Cyclops was his father. All I'm saying is: if he reached out to his mom for support, would not Nate LOGICALLY have searched out his father (figure) as well...which was FORGE...even moreso than Jean Grey who he only briefly knew. That never added up to me and once again, Marvel Co messed up, plain and simple. Now, unless they revive Forge 616, Nate will never get to meet him.....wait a minute, there is always the posibility of time travel. I mean, he will perform it SOMEHOW in the AoA in the future, he is an omega psionic mutant (so Nate MAY UNKNOWINGLY have the power to timetravel solo when he recovers), he is Pheonix genomed, and Cable and Blaquesmith have time travel tech so maybe he could meet Forge sometime in his future. That's a lot of realistic probability. Ha!
ReplyDeleteHere's a thought X: AoA Jean Grey is still alive! Since Marvel is about to release an AoA series, wouldn't it be interesting/awesome upon Nate's travel back (possibly with AoA Nightcrawler) to the AoA, that he locates and interacts with his true donor! Since she no longer has (at present anyway) he mutant power, what if the Pheonix Force chooses Nate as the new avatar and he goes back to the Earth 616 with it. Think about it.....two Pheonixes coexisting simultaneously! However it goes, I'm definitely looking forward to that meeting between Nate and AoA Jean when indeed Nate does return to the AoA sometime in the future...that is...if Marvel doesn't screw it up before it happens like killing off AoA Jean or for some other numbskull reason he doesn't meet her! Then I'm gonna be pissed!
Just a question: Is or do you believe AoA Cyclops is still alive? I ask because in earth 616 both Havok and Cyclops are immune to each others blasts. However, it appeared in the AoA that Havok killed Cyclops with his blast. My thoughts is this: since there is so much survival in the AoA and Jean stopped the bombs, did Havok kill Cyclops or did Cyclops wake up from his KO and seeing his brother slain (and possibly Jean, depending if Sinister got there before/after or Weapon X grab her body with Sinister intercepting or maybe Weapon X left the scene as well) walks off from the scene similar to Mr. Sinister after appearing to die at the hands of Nate in X-man 4. Reason for asking: Maybe Nate will meet his true father as well as Cyclops may appear as a future character in the AoA ongoing series!
Oh yeah X75, one last thing and its been a long time coming. What happens when a female mutant that thirsts for and survives on death energy dies? The answer: not only does she reanimate life, but there is a strong possibility that she can NATURALLY PRO-CREATE it as well. So what does that or could it mean X?!
ReplyDeleteDamn, how did I miss all of this?! If that IS what the AvX event is about, that should be really interesting... Especially if it leads to us getting Jean back(although I have to admit that seems kind of unlikely since Wolvie named the school after her and all!). I like the idea of the X-Men/Brotherhood protecting an increasingly insane Hope, while the Avengers attempt to take her down, until the X-Men realize their folly and are forced to join forces to take down the fully insane Hope towards the end of the event. Of course if this all does happen, and Cable IS still alive, you KNOW he's sticking with Hope, and as such would be a villain... :/
ReplyDeleteI can def understand the annoyance in Nate not being used more prominently, but I think DnA have to be careful to strike the right balance with Nate... They can't bring him back, put him on the New Mutants and then have EVERY storyline be all about Nate. While I(and the other Nate fans out there) would love that, the preexisting New Mutant fans may take offense that their favorite characters are being bumped aside for some newbie, and could turn on Nate. I think the slow and steady approach is the right way to go. Just have Nate hang around in the background for a few more issues, then give us a Nate-centric storyline, and then start to show him with a more prominent role.
1) I'll be honest with ya, RadT, I HATE the idea of the AOA still existing... Like I said, the end of the AOA worked SO well. It ended that epic storyline PERFECTLY! Then all of a sudden, Jean is still alive, and most unforgivably to me, SINISTER is still alive, and Nate is NEVER MENTIONED ONCE!!! That pissed me off like crazy! Yeah, it was then and there that I personally refused to recognize the current AOA as the original AOA(although I of course know better).
2)Ugh... I don't know if you ever read how Holocaust died, but it was a total travesty... Horrible. I think it happened right around the time that awful AOA mini-series came out too. As for Crawler and Nate, Nate wasn't a criminal in the AOA, so I doubt Crawler would have any gripe with him, although, like yourself, I would be interested to see the two meet up, if for no other reason then for Nate to discover that his home dimension was still around.
3) I can't disagree with any of that, because it makes perfect sense. The New Mutants may not understand/forgive Nate, but Lord Summers, what with his recent attitude, definitely would, and probably WOULD reward him for offing Sugar Man!
ReplyDelete4)"So Marvel Co dropped the ball by further making Nate Grey a continuous/steady loner character" Yes, yes, yes, thank you! I've been saying that since I first learned about Nate a few years back! The ONLY time he was with the X-Men was the AWESOME Astonishing X-Men mini(Cyclops, Jean, Cable, Nate, Wolverine, Archangel, best team EVER!). They could have moved Nate from THAT team to a main X-team to add some fresh blood to the ranks, but instead he simply went back to being a loner doing the same things every couple of issues.
5)But by the time Nate meets Genesis, who knows what his power set would look like. For Nate to meet Genesis, Wolvie and Lord Summers would have had to make up(since Nate and Genesis are on opposite sides), and by that time, maybe Nate WOULD have some of his other powers back, thus making the meeting that much more interesting...
6)"Jean's return despite the rumors will be unlikely unless at the very end of the AvX event setting up a new arc of sorts." Yup, Marvel loves to stretch out their events(the aftermath for Fear Itself is STILL going on!), so I could easily see AvX ending with Hope getting killed off and/or Scarlet Witch undoing her "No More Mutants" spell, which would somehow bring Jean back to life. Hey, why not? :P
7)Nate never bothering to look for Forge was probably the biggest bonehead move Marvel did with Nate. If memory serves me correctly, wasn't Forge on X-Factor after AOA ended(I'll have to dig out that one-shot that came out after the end of the AOA)? If so, he was a public figure, which makes it even weirder that Nate wouldn't try to reach out to HIM! I never got why he'd reach out to Jean, who he only knew in passing(thus bringing back Maddie), expect because the writers wanted to bring Maddie back as a shock. The problem with Maddie was once the surprise of her coming back wore off, they had no idea what to do with her. See, there's another missed opportunity! If Nate would have tracked down Forge, he would have probably ended up on X-Factor!
8) I don't see why AOA Cyclops ISN'T alive actually... I mean seriously, the undid all of the other deaths from AOA, why not bring AOA Cyclops back. If anything, once the next AOA mini ends, they SHOULD have the New Mutants head there. Maybe they could be sent by Lord Summers, who after discovering the existence of AOA Nightcrawler, wants reckon done in that world.
Well I hope that Nate focus issue in the future of New Mutants involves Mike Dorie because that would be one heck of a focus shift. I truly believe AoA Nightcrawler will be the focus of Nate's return to the AoA. Besides, just discovered that Prelate Summers is indeed alive; however, Magneto sentenced him to JAIL. Surprised Mr. Sinister hadn't captured him from the pen since he had Jean all that time....maybe he did! If all else, that could be a reason for Nate's AoA return...helping Jean rescue Summers. Maybe then, Nate can merge with the Pheonix for upgrades! Also, have to agree that Nate should have been on x-factor with Forge almost immediate landing on earth 616. Also read that Holocaust died by Hyperion when he returned to AoA looking for the M'Kraum crystal. Yeah, Hyperion cracked his armor and sucked up all his nuclear energy...terrible death. Did you catch the Threnody comment I posted at the end? What do you think? I mean, she came back to life, and now can animate life from death...so can she possibly procreate life as in a new being from within? Just a crazy thought!
ReplyDeleteAn additional thought: if Sinister did/does have Prelate Summers, that would be right up his alley because he used both to create Nate Grey (the fully functional one at that....though probably unaware of that). You mentioned, X75, that it was odd that Mr. Sinister never mentioned Nate Grey since surviving his beat down, but that may be for a reason...perhaps (if the above idea is true regarding Prelate Summers) he was/is busy creating another Grey/Summers seedling or would use Jean Grey and Summers as a way to get Nate to return. Could be both ideas and if so, may place Nate up against the newer clone or a completely different Grey/Summers offspring to see which deserves existence. Or what if he created twins this time; the ideas are endless! That would be an ideal storyline and would definitely be a most awesome reason for Nate returning to the AoA. Hopefully AoA Nightcrawler and possibly Mike Dorie would be involved. I also feel that with Nate's current power dilemma, if he did have to square off with a new Grey/Summers offspring(s), he would be seriously disadvantaged and since Jean no longer has mutant ability the Pheonix Force of AoA would merge with Nate Grey. Either that or empower Nate a bit if it chose to stay with Jean if indeed she has her mutant ability at the time this event would occur. Man!...an event like this (placing Nate Grey against Offspring or "the Offsprings") would be similiar to Nathan Dayspring versus Stryfe, except in the AoA. Awesome storyline!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, what I mean by the Pheonix Force empowering Nate if it chose to stay with AoA Jean Grey is either giving him a little psionic shadow juice like with Rachel Grey or completely healing his injured nerve, which hamper his full power set because technically Nate still has them all....they are just remaining dormant due to his physical tramatic condition. Speaking of Rachel Grey (Nate's TRUE alternate sister)...isn't it about time that her and Nate meet and form a relationship too?!
ReplyDeleteMore on Nate and Forge. I feel that Nate could have easily scanned the minds of the earth and located Forge for his mind acts as if linked up to Cerebro....he's just that powerful of a psionic. Like you said, he would have more than likely had a spot on the X-Factor team because had Nate found Forge he would have linked his memories with Forge so that he could understand his dilemma and circumstances for why he would be so clingy and trusting of what Forge would see as a complete stranger who looks like a teenage Cable, or even moreso Stryfe. Forge then would probably comforted and aid Nate, which would mean looking after and learning more about his power set and soon to be announced impending death struggle on.....TEAM X-FACTOR. Now if Marvel Co wanted the Madelyn Pryor physical ghost story as you mentioned X, that still could have taken place (could have happened while Nate was dreaming or having nightmares about his homeworld and Jean Grey being the only peace within it..and wha-laa....a sudden Madelyn appears out of nowhere with the same effect it had in X-man #5). Only difference is, X-Factor would have had to deal with the situation with Nate. I mean, whose to say that Maddie wouldn't have been inducted into X-Factor as well while dealing with this situation. This event along with Nate's failsafe dilemma and impossible existence then would definitely have led Forge to obtaining some assistance from Professor X, Moira McTaggert, and the X-men with Cable and Blaquesmith's meeting up and tagging not far behind such steps. If this would have happened "as it was suppose to", things would have been much different for Nate and the royalty treatment DnA are trying to create now would have happened YEARS AGO! These events which X75 and I speak of, for any fans of Nate Grey out there, (that should have happened) would have automatically force Nate into mainstream x-titles without all the negativity unneccessary defenses on Nate's part due to his new found support systems (primarily Forge & X-FACTOR). Let's take for instance Xavier's Onslaught creation...if Nate would have met Xavier with the support of X-Factor, I strongly believe the outcome would have been waaaay different then what took place in X-man #10. After all, like Xavier creating Onslaught; if Maddie was there and the X-men were trying to resolve that situation regarding her new existence with amnesia along with Nate's very existence and uncharted power grid; could not Xavier or a member of the X-men pointed out that Nate did similarly the same thing with psionic Madelyn. YEeeeAH! Ugh that pisses me off....the stories Marvel Co could have told if Nate would have done the logical....but NO! Marvel has to be retarded and do STUPID stories with Nate's natural insecurities. That could have been calmed down exponentially if he had met up with Forge in the first place as it should have been done around X-man #5 and/or 6. Completely DUMB Marvel Co. Straight idiotic and illogical with continuity of X-man Nate Grey's history. 'Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I've got to agree with that. When we DO get a proper, full Nate-centric storyline, it SHOULD focus on Mike, since he IS still out there. You know, since Nate gave Mike a power-boost back in the day, why not have Mike return the favor, which can lead to Nate regaining some of his missing powers(at the very least his telepathy).
ReplyDeleteAs for the AOA stuff, now that AOA Nightcrawler is around, there's really no reason Nate CAN'T return home. Like 8 months from now, when that AOA mini-series has ended, why not have Nate and the New Mutants head out to the AOA? It makes perfect sense. And I LOVE the idea of Sinister creating another Nate-type of character, one where he can correct his "mistakes" and make sure THIS Nate doesn't turn on him and remains loyal. That's actually an awesome idea, RadT! I really, really like it! As for AOA Cyclops, I honestly didn't remember that he was alive. But then I hated that AOA mini-series so much, I probably blocked it out of my head...
"that it was odd that Mr. Sinister never mentioned Nate Grey since surviving his beat down, but that may be for a reason" I honestly don't think there WAS a reason, other than the fact that the writer of the AOA mini-series had no idea what he was doing... He just ignored tons of stuff and added a mess of other junk. It was awful... Oh, and before I forget, I second the Nate/Rachel meeting. If written correctly, they could have an awesome little brother/big sister dynamic going on.
Yeah, that last comment on about X-Factor REALLY should have happened... It sucks that it didn't, because, like you pointed out, if Marvel had done the sensible thing and had Nate first search out Forge, he would have definitely been put on X-Factor, and would have almost definitely wound up on one of the main X-Men teams by the late 90's/early 2000's. They easily could have done things the way DC did Impulse and Young Justice. Have Impulse doing the team thing in Young Justice, while doing his own solo thing in Impulse. There's NO reason Nate couldn't have been added to the X-Factor roster for team-oriented events, AND had his own solo series to fill him out more as a character. GAH! It's so frustrating to look back at what could have/SHOULD have been! And like you said, they STILL could have brought Maddie back in the pages of X-Factor, since she DID have a thing with Havok as well! Man, Marvel REALLY dropped the ball with how they handled Nate initially... SO many missed opportunities...