Dark X-Men #5, Green Lantern Corps #46 & REBELS #14

I've got a few comics here tonight that I've been looking forward to for quite a while! The final part of the mini-series which returned my namesake, X-Man, in Dark X-Men #5, the final Blackest Night x-over issue of the always good Green Lantern Corps, and the final part of the Starro the Conqueror storyline in REBELS. Well, let's skip the rest of this introduction and get to the comics, because I can't wait any longer!

Dark X-Men #5(of 5): Writer: Paul Cornell. Artist: Leonard Kirk.
Last Issue: 8 1/2 out of 10.

This issue gets started with the Dark X-Men trying to defeat the Green Goblin persona in Norman Osborn's mind, while Osborn himself has a mental war against Nate Grey for control of Norman's body. Nate's plan was for the Green Goblin persona to keep Osborn and the Dark X-Men preoccupied, however, Nate made a severe miscalculation and Osborn and the Goblin team-up to rid Nate from Osborn's mind. With Nate weakened and back in the physical world, Osborn has him quickly captured and tortured. Before sending Nate into the Omega Machine where his powers would be siphoned off for various nefarious effects, Nate tells the Dark X-Men that they let themselves down by not assisting him against Osborn, since he, unlike Osborn, would have been willing to help them overcome their various problems. This issue ends with Osborn having Nate wheeled away while the Dark X-Men realize that they probably screwed up their best chance to get out from under Osborn's thumb.

I totally expected this to happen. There were only two ways this mini could have ended, considering how INSANELY powerful Nate is, Nate either gets captured by Osborn and put in the Omega Machine, or he “dies” again and returns to the astral plane as discorporated energy, because with Nate's power level, he wasn't going to be allowed to roam around the Marvel U. For me, being THE biggest Nate Grey fan anywhere, I'm OK with this ending. Importantly, Nate ISN'T dead, he's just imprisoned, which means there is always a chance he'll be back again someday(kind of like Frosty the Snowman...). With Osborn almost certain to lose his power at the conclusion of the Siege x-over, I'm cautiously optimistic that no more Osborn means that Nate will be freed and allowed to do stuff in the Marvel U again. By the way, I'd be ALL for Paul Cornell taking over the writing duties from either Matt Fraction(Uncanny X-Men)or Mike Carey(X-Men Legacy), because in just five issues he managed to put together a better storyline then either of those other two writers have been able to string together in YEARS!

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.I couldn't help but laugh when even the Green Goblin himself called Norman Osborn's hair bad!

Green Lantern Corps #46: Writer: Peter Tomasi. Pencils: Patrick Gleason.
Last Issue: 8 out of 10.

We open this one up with several members from all of the Color Corps combining forces above the Earth in an attempt to halt the thousands of Black Lanterns trying to descend upon the planet. While the Lanterns have some success, there proves to be too many BL's, and the Color Corps begins to lose ground. To make matters worse, Black Lantern Ice and Black Lantern Alex Dewitt(Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner's girlfriends)attack their respective boyfriends. Guy manages to freeze and destroy BL Ice, while Kyle, with some assistance from Indigo Lantern Munk, destroys BL Alex. From there, all of the members of the Color Corps arrive in Coast City just as the Anti-Monitor(!)is attempting to free himself from the Black Power Battery, where Nekron had imprisoned him. The Color Corps members try to pool their powers against the Anti-Monitor, but since he isn't a full Black Lantern yet, they can't effect him. Instead, the Lanterns devise a plan which consists of putting Dove in a Green Lantern bullet construction(since she is full of the White Light of life)and fire her at the Anti-Monitor's head. While Dove's bullet passes by, all of the Color Corps members add some extra power to it, and it winds up striking the Anti-Monitor, knocking him over and out. Unfortunately for the members of the Color Corps, the Black Power Battery is STILL draining the power of the downed Anti-Monitor, and when the Corps members try to pull the Anti-Monitor away from the Battery, the Battery cuts their lines and sucks the Anti-Monitor back in. This issue ends with the Color Corps members re-newing their attack on the Black Power battery, since they realize removing the Anti-Monitor from it would de-power all of the black rings.

There was a whole lot of action here, and for the most part, it was all good. I enjoyed Kyle's interaction with poor dead BL Alex, and I'm glad Peter decided to put that in there, because Alex's death was probably one of the key moments which turned Kyle into the hero he is today. Other then that, there's really not much more to say... This comic was a welcome addition to the Blackest Night story, and didn't disappoint.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Aww, seeing all of those Lanterns working together makes me want to break into a chorus of Kumbaya.

REBELS #14: Writer: Tony Bedard. Pencils: Claude St. Aubin.
Last Issue: 10 out of 10

This issue begins with the Omega Men(who had managed to procure the anti-Starro venom they went in search of)arriving at the Psimon's space station, but not getting any response from inside. Why is that? Because Starro himself was inside and ready to wage an all-out war against Dox and his REBELS. Adam Strange blasts Starro with a gun designed by Dox that was supposed to break Starro's hold over his slaves, but unfortunately, the gun doesn't work... With the gun a failure, the REBELS attack Starro, but even their combined efforts have little to no effect on Starro, as he easily brushes everybody and everything aside. During the battle, Starro falls into the Psimon's laboratory, and discovers all of his starfish that the Psimons had been experimenting on. This infuriates Starro, and he goes on a rampage, trouncing everybody and then using the starfish to latch onto everybody except for Dox(who was behind his impregnable force-field), Wildstar and Elu(who are both made entirely of energy). Before Starro can finish off Dox and his last two REBELS, the Omega Men arrive on the scene and shoot everybody full of quills containing the anti-Starro venom. However, the poison seems to have no effect, and Starro simply sends a few starfish at the Omega Men and enslave them as well. With his forces completely under Starro's control, Dox offers himself in exchange for Starro allowing Wildstar and Elu to go free. Dox puts his force-field down, and Starro grabs him by the throat in order to gloat a bit, because that's what any good super-villain would do! Before Starro can pop Dox's head off, Dox tells Starro that he happened to notice that when the Omega Men fired their quills, they only hit one starfish(the rest of the shots hit arms and legs of people), and that that starfish had died from the poison. With that, Dox pulls one of the quills out of Starro's arm and jabs it into the giant starfish on Starro's chest, which breaks Starro's hold over all of his slaves in all 9 galaxies he was under control of, as well as greatly diminishing his power. Before Starro can continue the fight, Despero grabs a hold of Starro, and restrains him, ending his threat. With Starro and his starfish army FINALLY defeated, Dox sends a transmission out to all of the planets which were taken over by Starro and tells them that he was responsible for saving them, and that he'd be organizing ways to assist them with getting back on their feet after their time as Starro's slaves. He ends the transmission by announcing that he would be reestablishing his LEGION peacekeeping force, and that he'd be getting in contact with the leaders of the worlds he assisted in order to discuss reparation... HA! This issue ends with Adam Strange deciding to stick around the REBELS for the time being in order to make sure Dox didn't take advantage of any of the newly freed planets.

Of course I liked this one! After 15 parts, the whole Starro story is over... While the end came kind of... easy I guess, I was still pleased with the overall story here. These past 14 issues(plus the 1 annual)have really led me to become a huge fan of the characters in this book, to the point where I've been collecting all of the past LEGION/REBELS comic series. The next few issues should deal with Dox and his now bigger then ever ego after ending the threat of Starro, and the more Dox we get in this series, the better this series will become which is a GREAT thing! I'm eagerly looking forward to the next few issues to see where things go from here. Long Live The REBELS!

Score: 9 out of 10.Hmm, I've heard people talk about poking their eye out, but I've never actually seen it happen...

Captain America #603, Dark Wolverine #83 & Dark X-Men #4

Wow, it's already the first day of March... Nothing too exciting going on with me, I ordered a bunch of comics I didn't need earlier today, comics I probably won't get around to reading for months, but what else is new? Oh yeah, in other comic book related news, it seems Superman has already been dethroned... Who took his place? Why Batman of course! Since I'm going to bet most of you have NO idea what I'm babbling about, click here and all will be revealed to you. I'll be checking out a couple of my favorite Marvel comics tonight, but fear not DC faithful, over at my other blog(which you can conveniently find here)I'll be starting Wonder Woman week up. All right, enough talk, let's get to the reviews! Now with extra X-Man!

Captain America #603: Writer: Ed Brubaker. Pencils: Luke Ross.

We open by reliving some of the life of Bad Cap, and get into what's bothering him about America(it's not the 1950's anymore!). Bad Cap gets updated by some of his Watchdogs as to how Bucky's training is progressing, and the Watchdogs tell Bad Cap that it seems Bucky is deliberately trying to downplay his skills, which just confirms Bucky's identity to Bad Cap. We get a quick scene showing Bucky and Falcon attacking a few of the Watchdogs(I guess so we know Falcon is still hanging around)before we head back to Bucky's Watchdog training sessions. Bucky decides to make his move late one night, and he sneaks into Bad Cap's command tent in order to try to figure out what Bad Cap's plan was, but he is surprised to find Bad Cap standing there waiting for him. Bucky attacks and trounces Bad Cap, which causes Bucky to realize that he wasn't fighting the real Bad Cap, just a lookalike. Bucky figures out that Bad Cap must be after Falcon, and rushes out of the tent, only to be met by at least 50 Watchdogs training their guns on him. Falcon is returning to his hotel room, when he is confronted by several Watchdogs, which causes him to try to take the fight outside. Before getting outside, Falcon runs into Bad Cap, who pretty much beats the living hell out of Falcon, leaving him lying in the street. This issue ends with one of the Watchdogs, a scientist, telling Bad Cap that they should return Falcon to their base so they could remove the Vibranium from Falcon's wing systems, which they could then use to create a devastatingly powerful bomb.

This was a pretty good comic. The story is moving along at a brisk pace, and we now know what Bad Cap's plan is(creating a mega-powerful Vibranium bomb). This was definitely a set-up issue, but it does a good job of making Bad Cap and his Watchdogs look very strong, setting up for what should be an explosive confrontation between Bad Cap and Bucky down the road.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.How can't you like a character whose idea of a battle plan is, "Rush in and get captured."?

Dark Wolverine #83: Writers: Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu. Pencils: Giuseppe Camuncoli.

This issue picks up directly where last issue left off, with Daken killing Norman Osborn during the Siege of Asgard. Daken taunts Osborn's corpse for a while, before he is interrupted by three strange women who claim to be Asgardian Fates. The Fates tell Daken that he really hadn't killed Osborn, he had only imagined it, which is what drew them to him. They then talk cryptically and disappear, leaving Daken standing next to the alive and well Osborn feeling pretty confused... Oh boy, it's going to be one of THOSE comics... Osborn gets annoyed by Daken's inattention and sends him to hunt down Thor as a punishment. Daken finds Thor, and before anything can happen, he is pulled out of reality by the Fates, who explain that they want to create Ragnarok, and that they feel Daken is the human who would be able to cause that event to occur. Daken gets pissed that the Fates are trying to use him to do their bidding, and he warns them that if he was to bring about Ragnarok, it would be on his terms, not theirs. Upset by Daken, the Fates disappear, and Daken gets sent back to his body, which had been charbroiled by Thor's lightning. As Daken regains consciousness, he spots Osborn flying around in the sky above him, which angers Daken. This issue ends with the Fates, who are still miffed about Daken's actions towards them, deciding to punish Daken by forcing him to live through his greatest fear.

Well, the streak is over! The last two issues of Dark Wolverine had gotten 10 out of 10's from me, and although this issue was good, it certainly wasn't a perfect comic book. I'm obviously not surprised that Daken imagined killing Osborn, because like I said last issue, there is NO way Marvel was going to kill Osborn off in an issue of Dark Wolverine. When and if Osborn goes, it will be in the main Siege mini-series, not an x-over issue. Although not perfect anymore, I'd still consider this series among Marvel's best titles, hands down.

Score: 8 out of 10.Yeah, I've said it before, but I think I should say it again, Daken is one hell of a great character.

Dark X-Men #4(of 5): Writer: Paul Cornell. Pencils: Leonard Kirk.

This issue begins with Nate Grey(who is currently in possession of Norman Osborn's body)telling Mystique that he wouldn't be bowing down to her demands. Nate tells Mystique that he'd consider helping her remove the bomb Osborn implanted in her head only if she proved herself to him by redeeming herself. While the two are talking, Osborn momentarily regains control of his body, but is swiftly replaced by Nate. Nate explains that he has a lot of work ahead of him as he decides that he is going to try to right all of Osborn's wrongs, and as such, he tells Mystique that if she were to run away, he wouldn't try to stop her. Instead of running away, Mystique decides to alert her fellow Dark X-Men as to what has transpired, and they all begin to panic at the prospect of Nate controlling things. Ultimately, Mystique calms them down long enough for her to reveal her plan to them. What is that plan? I'll get back to that in a bit. We next go inside the mind of Norman Osborn, where he and Nate are having an arm wrestling contest to determine who would take control of Osborn's body... Yeah, really! Osborn explains to Nate that he doesn't need to defeat him, only stalemate him long enough for somebody to figure out what had happened, so that one of Osborn's many colleagues could eject Nate from his brain. While that is going on, Mystique and the Dark X-Men head to the Psi-division of HAMMER and with the help of one of HAMMER's telepaths, the Dark X-Men enter the astral plane in search of Osborn's mind. Back in Osborn's mind, Osborn begins to get the upper-hand on Nate, but surprisingly, Nate doesn't seem at all bothered by that, in fact, he informs Osborn that everything was going exactly as he had planned... The Dark X-Men find Osborn's mind, and arrive in a large dungeon, which is where they assume Nate had trapped Osborn's consciousness. Osborn begins to panic, as he realizes where the Dark X-Men were, and Nate takes advantage of Osborn's panic by pressing his attack. This issue ends with the Dark X-Men breaking open a large locked door in Osborn's mind revealing his Green Goblin persona!

Yet another very good comic book! I've been pretty lucky with the books I've been reading as of late! This issue was a little bit more comedic then the last three issues(Nate and Osborn arm wrestling to see who would have control of Osborn's body?!?), but that didn't take away from the story at all. All of the important characters(Nate, Osborn, Mystique and Dark Beast)were all acting perfectly in character, which is always a major plus, and the art and story blended together nicely. All in all, I have no major complaints. Now, with only one more issue left, I have to wonder what will become of my favorite character upon the end of this mini-series... As of right now, I'm going to guess that Nate gets ejected from Osborn's mind, and ends up returning to the astral plane as dissipated energy again. If that were to happen, I can't say I'd be overly disappointed, because if Nate was able to return to life once from that state, there's no reason to believe he wouldn't be able to do it again. In a perfect world, this mini would end with Nate leaving Osborn's body, creating a new body for himself and leaving with the Dark X-Men, although with Mystique's actions this issue, I think that would be a bit of a stretch. Regardless of what happens here, I can at least be happy with the fact that for at least 5 issues, Nate Grey was alive and kicking ass again, which is all I ever really wanted...

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.You know, I'm really going to miss this mini-series when it ends... Where else can I read about Norman Osborn and Nate Grey having an arm wrestling contest?

Dark X-Men #3 & Blackest Night Starman #81!

Thankfully my package of comic books arrived in the mail today, giving me something to review tonight. First off, I have to say, this was one hell of a good haul! Besides the two books I'm checking out tonight, I also have REBELS #12, Streets of Gotham #8, Batgirl #6, Blackest Night Catwoman #83 and several other really good books waiting in the wings! This should be a really good week of comic book reading for me. But before I get to those books, I have Dark X-Men #3 and Starman #81 to get to first... My all-time favorite comic book character appears in Dark X-Men and my all-time favorite comic book series gets resurrected in Starman... I literally feel like a kid on Christmas morning looking at the covers of these two comic books! I'm giddy with anticipation! Alright, enough hype, it's time to dig in!

Dark X-Men #3(of 5): Writer: Paul Cornell. Pencils: Leonard Kirk.

This issue begins with X-Man(Nate Grey)breaking into Avengers Tower to confront Norman "Marvel" Osborn about the way he's been running the Marvel Universe since Nate's "death". Upon entering the building, Nate runs into Venom, and makes quick work of him. The Dark X-Men arrive on the scene and are surprised to learn that Nate's attack coincided with their arrival at Avengers Tower. Mystique is ready to go rushing into the fight, but the other members of the team aren't exactly chomping at the bit. Omega is afraid that he may begin to absorb Nate's powers, which wouldn't be a good thing for Omega's mind, Mimic wants to get close enough to Nate to take his powers so he can sample Nate's precognitive abilities, while Dark Beast would rather just observe the fight from the sidelines, which is exactly what the team decides to do. With Venom down and out, Osborn and the entire Dark Avengers team confronts Nate. Right off the bat, Nate tricks Sentry into leaving the battle, thus removing Osborn's most powerful weapon from the battlefield. Nate then offers the Dark Avengers the opportunity to join with him to oppose Osborn, but Ares and the rest of the Dark Avengers decide to take the battle to Nate. While Nate battles the Dark Avengers, the Dark X-Men watch the battle unfold from the sidelines and debate what course of action they should take. Unfortunately for Omega, he gets too close to the fight and begins to absorb Nate's massive powers, going temporarily insane in the process. Omega crashes into Nate and Ares, which gives Bullseye enough time to pull a knife with the intention of killing Nate off, once and for all. Mimic, still wanting to use Nate's powers, knocks the knife away from Bullseye and grabs a hold of Nate, duplicating his powers. Before Nate's powers can overwhelm Mimic, Nate steps outside of time with Mimic and the two discuss whether or not the future that Mimic saw when he first used Nate's powers(back in Dark X-Men #1)could be changed. Before Nate could fully answer the question, they are interrupted by Ares, who as a god is able to follow them outside the time stream. Ares gains the upper hand, and Nate returns the three of them to the present. Nate collapses to the floor upon returning to the proper time period, which upsets Mimic since he never received the answer to his question about the future. Osborn walks over to investigate Nate's body, but it explodes in a fireball of psionic energy, leaving nothing but charred bones, and leaving Mystique quite upset. This issue ends with Osborn happily sitting in his office, pondering his next move. He is interrupted by Mystique, who reveals that she knows that Nate is currently occupying Osborn's body!

So far, so good! One of my greatest fears upon hearing that Nate was getting brought back to life in this series was that the writer would completely butcher his character and that the Nate Grey I loved reading about a few years ago would be totally and irreparably different. Three issues in, I've got to say, Paul's portrayal of Nate has been right on the money! I thoroughly enjoyed seeing Nate hold his own against the Dark Avengers, and I was also impressed with the way this issue ended. As this mini heads towards its climax, there are a lot of interesting ways Paul can end things. I know I'll be eagerly anticipating the penultimate issue of this mini when it drops next month.

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.Take those losers apart Nate!

Blackest Night: Starman #81(!!!): Writer: James Robinson. Pencils: Fernando Dagnino.

This issue starts off with David Knight(the Starman immediately preceding Jack Knight)rising from his grave as a Black Lantern. BL Starman heads to the Starman museum and steals his old Cosmic Staff, transforming it into a Black Lantern Cosmic Staff(I guess). From there we head to the home of Opal City police officer Hope O'Dare and discover that she's been shacking up with the Shade(!). Shade wants to move their relationship from a sex thing to something deeper, but instead of answering the Shade, Hope realizes that the sky had turned pitch black. In the meantime, BL Starman is running rampant in the streets of Opal City, killing several police officers and citizens before running into Mason O'Dare, another member of the O'Dare police clan. Before BL Starman can kill Mason, he is saved by the timely arrival of his sister Hope and the Shade. Upon observing BL Starman, Shade realizes that whatever it is, it isn't the real David Knight, and that it is immensely powerful. Shade tells all of the cops and Opal citizens who were watching the battle to take refuge in the shadow realm which the Shade can access, but by taking his eyes off BL Starman, Shade's heart winds up getting torn out(!). A black lantern ring heads to the Shade, but before it affixes itself to him, he wakes up and throws BL Starman into the shadow realm, thus ridding Opal City of its menace. This issue concludes with Hope telling Shade that she thinks she loves him, but that she needs time to sort her feelings out, which Shade is willing to give her, since time is something he has plenty of.

Hmm, I'm not really sure what to say here... I loved returning to Opal City with James, but there was something that kept me from really loving this comic. I smiled with every little tidbit of information James revealed about what had been occurring in Opal since the end of the Starman series, but I have to say, there was a part of me that was absolutely disappointed by the fact that Jack Knight himself didn't actually show up. Not only that, but we really didn't find out any pertinent information about Jack... Sure, James gave a glimpse as to what the Shade, Bobo Bennetti, the O'Dare's and others had been up to, but there was precious little news about Jack. While the lack of Jack did hurt this comic a bit, I was quite pleased to see the Shade(probably my favorite Starman character besides Jack)get the starring role in this one. While I'm not quite sure what I think of Shade's relationship with Hope(I've still got to sort THAT out in my head!), it was nice to see the Shade continue his trend of helping Opal City out whenever it was in crisis. Reading this comic was kind of bittersweet, for me anyway. Like I said in the intro(oh so long ago it seems!), Starman isn't one of my favorite series, it IS my favorite series. Ever. While it was nice getting to reminisce a bit about the awesomeness that was the Starman series, it was a bit of a letdown as well. In the end this was a good comic, but it was never able to recapture the magic that the Starman series had. At least that's what I thought.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.THAT'S not a good sign!

Dark X-Men #2(of 5)

Writer: Paul Cornell. Pencils: Leonard Kirk.

What Happened: Picking up from last issue, X-Man(Nate Grey)manages to pull himself together long enough to realize he's standing in a room with his arch-foe, Dark Beast, and Mystique, who has taken the form of his mother, Jean Grey. Nate immediately attacks Dark Beast, and Mystique(as Jean)tries to reason with Nate. While Mystique is talking with Nate, he ends up dissipating into energy again and disappearing. Dark Beast and Mystique collect the other members of the team and report back to their leader, Norman "Marvel" Osborn. Osborn decides that if left free Nate is too great a threat to his plans, so he decides to send the Dark X-Men to capture Nate. Once captured, Osborn can then place Nate inside the Omega Machine, where he will permanently power Omega. Upon leaving the meeting with Osborn, Mystique tries to convince first Omega, and then Mimic that they should help Nate as opposed to capturing him. Mystique figures Nate would be able to remove the implant Osborn had placed in her head in order to keep her under his thumb. However, neither man is receptive to Mystique's plan. Osborn gathers a whole slew of non-mutant humans with psionic abilities and tells the Dark X-Men to use them to discover where Nate will next strike, so they can lay a trap. The leader of the psionics reaches onto the astral plane in an attempt to locate Nate's consciousness, but winds up getting himself and all of his followers drained of their mental abilities. This issue ends with Dark Beast using the brain of one of the psionics to get a glimpse of Nate. The Dark X-Men discover, much to their chagrin, that Nate is now fully aware of what happened in the Marvel Universe during his absence, and he is none to happy about it!

What I Thought: First off, before I go any further, I have to laugh, because Nate's reaction to the current direction the Marvel Universe has taken mirrors my own feelings! See, there IS a reason I selected X-Man75 as my blogging name! Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this issue, as I'm sure most people who know me knew I would. Nate was his regular impulsive, anger prone self, and Paul mentioned that Nate's powers rivaled that of the Sentry, which definitely put a huge smile on my face. I'm glad Paul did his homework on Nate before deciding to bring him back. Although many Marvel fans probably don't realize it, Nate is one of the most powerful beings in all of the Marvel Universe. Fanboy gushing aside, this was a very well done comic book, with a few different storylines now getting underway. Will the Dark X-Men manage to capture Nate? Will Mystique betray the team and join up with Nate? What part(if any)will the X-Men play in this mini-series? Considering this is only the second part of this mini, I'm VERY happy with the way things have gone thus far. Thank you Paul, keep up the good work!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.Hey, most of the time I scream the exact same thing after reading a Marvel comic book!

I Love Dark X-Men #1(of 5)!!!

Writer: Paul Cornell. Pencils: Leonard Kirk.

What Happened: We begin this issue with a bunch of Californians wandering around in a trance repeating "I'm an X-Man". Before the seemingly hypnotised people wander off a cliff, they all wind up regaining their senses, with little memory as to what they were doing. Needless to say, Norman "Marvel" Osborn isn't exactly overjoyed to hear this news, since he feels his Dark X-Men are the only true X-Men, not a bunch of whacked out Californians. In order to both calm the public and discover what was going on, Osborn orders his Dark X-Men to head out to Cali and get to the bottom of this weirdness. The Dark X-Men, who consist of Dark Beast, Omega, Mimic and Mystique(who has morphed herself into Jean Grey!), fly out to California and head to the hospital where these formerly entranced people were being held for observation. The Dark X-Men visit one of the wanderers, and he claims to have no memory of what he was doing. Neither Mimic nor Omega believe the guy is a mutant, or their own powers would have activated. Before Mystique can begin to question the man, Dark Beast sprays him with a drug that puts the man in a trace and guarantees he'll answer any questions he's asked truthfully. Once the man is drugged, he suddenly recognizes the Dark X-Men and Omega begins to absorb vast powers from the guy. The amount of power Omega takes in is too much for him to contain, so he flies through the roof of the hospital and starts to run amok. Mimic begins to copy the ability of precognition from the formerly powerless man, and upon seeing a bleak vision of his own future, Mimic falls into a funk. Mystique orders Mimic to stop Omega before he kills anybody outside, but Mimic, now despondent refuses to go, so Dark Beast sprays Mimic with a drug cocktail that makes him extremely aggressive. The now half crazed Mimic chases after the drunk with power Omega and the two begin to tear into each other, as well as the area around the hospital. While Dark Beast and Mystique argue over what to do about the other two members of the team, as well as the guy in the bed who caused the mess, massive amounts of energy begins to seep out of the man, taking a humanoid form. The energy figure immediately recognizes Dark Beast from "home", as well as Mystique, who it refers to as "mother". Mystique is clueless as to what's going on, but Dark Beast slowly begins to figure out the identity of the energy being, and he is none too pleased. This issue ends with the energy being managing to pull itself together, turning out to be the greatest character in the history of comic books, Nate Grey!!!

What I Thought: Ahhhhhhhhhhhh... That is the sound of me being completely and totally satisfied. Where do I even begin? I guess with the obvious. I am THE biggest X-Man(Nate Grey)fan on the face of this(or any other)planet. It's true. I proudly own every single comic book, trading card, action figure and video game that has ever featured Nate. Going in to this comic, I knew Nate was going to return, it wasn't exactly a state secret, but actually getting to see/read Nate's return with my own two eyes was an almost indescribable experience. I can honestly say that I am now at peace. Now, with my fanboy gushing over with(for now), I should probably say something about the actual story in this comic. The story was very good. It made sense, Paul took some time to give the readers a quick overview of who these Dark X-Men are, and there wasn't anything here that I can point at and say, "I didn't like that". Likewise, the art was very well done. I still don't care for Mimic and Omega, but I have always been a fan of Mystique, and a very big fan of Dark Beast, so for me, the team balances out nicely. Now, this is usually the part of the review where I post my score. Being purely impartial, I'd probably score this comic around an 8. However, I'm not an impartial person. And since I'm NOT impartial, and this is my blog, to do with what I please, I'm going to score this comic a tad bit higher then an 8...

Score: 10 out of 10! Come on, that score really shouldn't surprise anyone!No, I'm an X-Man!

A Quick Look at Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus

Writer: Matt Fraction. Art: Mike Deodato, Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson.

What Happened: Norman(Marvel)Osborn brings the combined forces of the Dark X-Men and Avengers to Cyclops' Utopia island and attacks the X-Men present there. Unfortunately for Osborn(and me), Cyclops has all the bases covered. He eliminates Ares from the battle by having him face Hela, and he gets rid of Sentry by having Emma Frost enter his mind(although it seems she may have let the Void out as well). In the end, it comes down to Norman and Moonstone against an army of mutants. Instead of killing the lot of them and looking bad in the eyes of the world, Norman orders a hasty retreat from the island. Cyclops is pleased that he stole a portion of the US to live on off the coast of California and Osborn spins it to the media that with the X-Men no longer living on US soil, San Fransisco is safe from the mutant menace that Cyclops and his X-Men represented.

What I thought: At least this x-over started off well enough... The last few chapters of Utopia were just terrible. I can't believe that Cyclops was allowed to steal a piece of the United States of America and get away with it!!! I don't care how Osborn spins it, you can't lose a chunk of California and claim victory! Ugh, there really wasn't anything I liked about this issue. Daken being defeated by X-23, Armor and Pixie??? Are you serious? What the hell was Matt on when he wrote that?!? Weapon Omega wasn't able to defeat Wolverine one-on-one? That's also a hard one to swallow. Basically, the Dark Avengers/X-Men looked like complete chumps in this series, while the Uncanny X-Men came out smelling like roses... Care to guess which series Matt Fraction writes? This was definitely a huge letdown for me.

Score: 3 out of 10.If only they would have killed them all... Why? Why has Marvel decided to ruin the X-titles? Why? What have I done to deserve this?

A Quick Look at Dark X-Men #3(of 3)

Writers: Paul Cornell, Jason Aaron, Simon Spurrier. Artists: Leonard Kirk, Jock, Paul Davidson.

What Happened: For the record, this issue was split into three separate stories. The first one was about Namor and Emma Frost. We discover that apparently the only reason Namor joined the Dark X-Men was because he wants Emma. The second story detailed Norman(Marvel)Osborn convincing Mystique to join the Dark X-Men by telling her Wolverine has a son. The third story details Norman's attempts at getting Aurora onto the Dark X-Men. Unfortunately for Norman, Aurora manages to to defeat him and his HAMMER cronies and decides she won't be joining the Dark X-Men.

What I Thought: I really enjoyed the Mystique story(then again, I've always been a huge Mystique fan), the Namor story was pretty good and the Auaroa story was readable. All in all, this issue was better then I expected it to be.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.You know, I've never once mistook Mystique for Wolverine.

Dark Avengers #8

Writer: Matt Fraction, Pencils: Luke Ross.

What Happened: This issue begins with Moonstar trying to make a deal with Hela. From there we watch as the Dark X-Men easily defeat Simon Trask(it was so easy it wasn't even shown!). From there they spend the next several days building up goodwill with the people of San Fransisco by dealing with all sorts of threats. All the while, Cyclops and his X-Men sit back and do nothing, as Scott seems to be waiting for Beast's science team to accomplish something under the waters of San Fran before making his move. Dark Beast and Osborn finally show the members of the Dark X-Men exactly what the Omega Machine does. Cloak and Dagger both seem very unnerved by the machine, but they realize they're stuck on the Dark X-Men for the time being. X-Force break into to the secret facility of the Dark X-Men and free all of the mutants Dark Beast had been experimenting on. Dark Beast sounds the alarm and Weapon Omega responds, however, the two are easily defeated by X-Force. The rest of the Dark X-Men respond to the scene and Emma and Namor betray the rest of the team, rejoining the X-Men in the process. Cyclops then raises his base in San Fran out of the water and cedes from the United States...... Yes, really. This issue ends with Osborn FINALLY having had enough of Cyclops, sending the combined forces of the Dark X-Men and Avengers after Cyclops and his X-Men.

What I thought: What did I think??? You don't want to know! Wait, you've read this far, so I guess you do. Well, OK, here goes, but be warned, it's not going to be pretty. I absolutely HATED this issue!!! Where do I begin... First off, let's start with Emma. I hate her. Always have, always will. I hated her in the Hellfire Club, I hated her as the headmistress of Generation X, I hated her when she was cheating with Scott behind Jean Grey's back, and I hate her now. I was really hoping this x-over was going to finally break up the unholy combination that is Scott and Emma, but alas, Emma is right back at Scott's side by the end of this issue. Dammit! Then there's Scott Summers, possibly the most unlikable character in comic books today. What the hell happened to the Scott Summers I grew up a huge fan of? I guess Matt Fraction is deliberately trying to make Scott as unlikable as possible... I don't know why, but just read any X-comic over the past 2-3 years and you'll understand what I'm talking about. And then the coup de grace, Scott lifting the entire island the X-Men were living on into the air and announcing that since he was no longer wanted in the United States he would leave... OK, I'm fine with that, but if you're going to leave, you can't take a part of San Fransisco with you!!! I've never been a big fan of Norman Osborn, but I know I'll be hoping that he marches his forces right onto X-Island(are you kidding me???)and kicks Scott's ass back to the 1990's.

Score: 4 1/2 out of 10.Go Norman go!!!

A Quick Look at Uncanny X-Men #514

This is the forth part of the Uncanny X-Men/Dark Avengers x-over, Utopia. This issue is written by Matt Fraction and pencilled by Terry Dotson. Before I get started on the review, let me just say that the cover price on my copy of this comic is $4.99! Since I get my copy of Uncanny through Marvel's subscription service, the cover price doesn't hurt me, but $5 for a regular sized comic book seems a bit excessive, no? Well, anyway, on with the review.

-Simon Trask and his Biosentinels are running amok in San Fransisco and Emma Frost and her Dark X-Men(under the direction of Norman "Marvel" Osborn)take the battle to them.

-While Emma's squad battles the Biosentinels, Cyclops begins to put his plans into motion. He sends Moonstar to Las Vegas to meet with someone, Domino(along with the rest of X-Force)is to rendezvous with Wolverine, Mindee of the Stepford Cuckoo's is told to get herself arrested and Psylocke and the X-Club are told to do something underneath the waters of San Fran. As for Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men, they head to the scene of the Dark X-Men/Biosentinel brouhaha to watch the Dark X-Men in battle.

-The Dark X-Men manage to destroy the rampaging Biosentinels and after contacting Osborn, Emma decides to take the battle directly to Trask, who is said to be operating out of a hospital in San Fran.

-Cyclops, who watched the battle from afar, seems impressed by the way the Dark X-Men handled the fight, but smugly predicts that his team would trounce Emma's team if the two groups ever battled.

And that's pretty much that. How's that for a quick review! This issue was pretty action-packed, with the battle between the Dark X-Men and the Biosentinels taking centerstage. I actually thought this was a pretty good comic book, although there were a few things that bugged me. First of all, I felt like I missed an issue somewhere along the line! I could swear in part three of this x-over Trask was still plotting his attack, however, I open this comic and the Biosentinels are already running wild through the streets of San Fran! I'll chalk that up to my own faulty memory I guess.

Besides that, Cyclops was pissing me off something fierce this issue! I really can't stand him anymore! There was a time Scott was among my favorite comic characters, but now he's such an arrogant pain in the ass! I know it's not going to happen, but I wish the Dark X-Men would beat the hell out of Scott and his band of X-Men. Really humble them. Of course I doubt that's going to happen, but still, Scott getting humbled would be sweet. For a score I'll give this issue a respectable 7 1/2 out of 10. After reading this issue I have to say, I actually like the Dark X-Men! Matt has done an eXtremely good job at giving each character their own voice. I'll definitely be looking forward to the next part of this x-over.If only Daken would have killed that damn fake Hawkeye... I hate that Bullseye is sullying the Hawkeye mantle!

The return I've been waiting YEARS for!!!

Since this blog is titled "X-Man's Comic Blog", I think it's high time I post something about the impending return of the X-Man, Nate Grey! Come November, Marvel is bringing back my all-time favorite comic book character in the upcoming "Dark X-Men" mini-series. I can't stress enough just how big a deal Nate's return is to me. I not only have every issue of the "X-Man" comic series, I have every Marvel comic book Nate has EVER appeared in! That should give you some idea of how huge Nate's return is to me. Calling me a big fan of Nate is an understatement!

It looks like Paul Cornell(who will be writing Nate's triumphant return)is going to give us the post-Counter X shaman version of Nate, as opposed to the younger(dumber)post-Age of Apocalypse Nate. This is one of those cases where I'm fine either way. Both versions of Nate have tons of story potential. Shaman Nate actually fits into the post-Decimation Marvel Universe extremely well. Now more than ever the few remaining mutants need a savior type of character and shaman Nate can fill that role perfectly. The thing that worries me though is that it seems Paul is going to keep Nate at the almost god-like power levels he had prior to his death. I don't know if Marvel is going to allow a character as powerful as Nate to float around after the "Dark X-Men" mini concludes. I suspect(and I REALLY hope I'm wrong)that Nate will be brought in only for the length of the mini-series and then he'll wind up dead and gone again. Remember, after studying Nate at Muir Island, Moira MacTaggart(THE expert on mutants in the Marvel U)said that Nate's power levels surpassed that of the Phoenix Force! Roll that around in your head for a while! With powers that massive, where exactly can Nate go after the "Dark X-Men" mini-series?

In a perfect world, Nate would wind up on one of the plethora of X-related teams. How about this, why not separate the Dark X-Men from Norman Osborn, slot Nate in as the leader and make that a new ongoing series? You could have the Dark X-Men, led by one of the most powerful mutants in existence battling against Norman Osborn and his goose-steppers. That sounds like a sweet premise to me! Or how about Nate just slaps the hell out of Cyclops for cheating on Jean Grey? I'd pay BIG money to see that scene play out! What about tossing Nate in X-Factor where Peter David could use him? Peter David writing Nate would be a dream come true. You could always throw him on one of the main X-Men teams as well. I've been complaining about the lack of a young male character on the X-Men for the longest time now. Nate could fill that role in a heartbeat. Of course you could just flip him and place him at the side of somebody like Magneto... Nate as Magneto's second in command would be almost unbearably awesome! Yeah, I've given a lot of thought on where Nate would fit in the current Marvel Universe!

One of the things that always bothered me about Nate's initial portrayal in the Marvel Universe was that he wasn't a team player, he was always portrayed as a loner. For some foolish reason, Marvel went to great lengths to keep Nate away from the X-teams during the 90's. Since the X-books were practically the only franchise that was selling well for Marvel back in the 90's, I don't understand why The Powers That Be didn't think it would have been a good idea to connect Nate with one of the X-teams. What's the worst thing that could have happened? Nate joining X-Force always seemed like such a gargantuan missed opportunity, especially after the Onslaught storyline. He would have been a perfect fit on that team... Sure, he was on the X-Men for a cup of coffee during the second "Astonishing X-Men" series and he was on Havok and Dark Beast's evil Brotherhood for a while, but he was never given a true shot at being an X-Man. Hopefully this time around Marvel will finally rectify that error. So, I obviously have a lot to say about Nate's forthcoming return, the question is, what do you think? Where does he fit in? What should he do? What do you think the endgame is going to be? Do you care? As always any and all comments are appreciated!

A VERY Quick Look at Dark X-Men: The Beginning #2(of 3)

Right off the bat, here's a disclaimer: I HATE Weapon Omega and I really don't like Cloak and Dagger either. Seeing as those three characters are involved in 2 of the 3 stories in this comic, that's should tell you right there why this is going to be a very brief post.

-The first story features Cloak and Dagger and is written by(my hero)Paul Cornell, with Leonard Kirk providing the pencils. Cloak and Dagger are destroying a field of drugs in Columbia when Mr. Everything, Norman Osborn drops in and asks them to join his Dark X-Men. At first the duo scoff at Osborn's offer, but after Osborn tells them he would provide them with government intelligence on drug runners worldwide, Dagger decides she and Cloak will join up.

-Story 2 is about Weapon Suck... Oops I mean Weapon Omega and is written by Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman, with art by Michel Lacombe. Omega is working at a construction sight, trying to make amends for killing my beloved Alpha Flight... Yes, that's right, I am a PROUD(and probably slightly insane)Alpha Flight fan! Osborn meets up with Omega and reveals that MGH(Mutant Growth Hormone)was accidentally leaked into the air during a nearby battle. MGH gives people mutant-like abilities for a brief period and Omega's fellow construction workers(who have unknowingly ingested the MGH)begin to drop like flies because Omega is around. Osborn promises that if Omega joins the Dark X-Men Hank McCoy himself will dedicate his time to helping Omega out. Omega agrees and we learn that Osborn was responsible for the MGH leak and that the Hank McCoy who will be working with Omega is actually Dark Beast.

-The final story is written by Rob Williams with pencils by Paco Diaz, and is about Daken. Osborn tells Daken that he'll be joining the Dark X-Men whether he likes it or not. Osborn explains to Daken that he is nothing more than a mindless brawler who has no thoughts other than killing his father, Wolverine. Osborn acts like a smartass and tells Daken that he is obviously insane, and that if he knows what's good for him, he'll follow Osborn's orders. Daken surprises Osborn by revealing he is much more cultured and well-educated than Osborn could have ever imagined, and that Osborn actually doesn't know anything about Daken, while Daken knows everything about Osborn.

Eh, I knew going in that I wasn't really going to enjoy this comic and sure enough, it didn't impress me. All the stories were OK, but my raging hatred for some of the featured characters hurt my overall reading experience. If you are a fan of these characters then this is the book for you, if not, my advice would be to steer clear. For a score, I'll go with a 5 1/2 out of 10.Who knows, maybe this image will actually happen in the near future. Then again, I doubt Norman Osborn's giant disembodied head will be there when Daken whacks Wolvie.

Dark X-Men #1(of 3)

The way I understand it, this mini-series is going to feature several one-shot stories about the various Dark X-Men characters. Each story is going to have a different writer/art team, and I'll point out who is writing/drawing each story before getting into the stories themselves.

-First up is a Namor story written by Paul Cornell and pencilled by Leonard Kirk. Osborn confronts Namor in the shower, demanding to know why Namor has agreed to become a part of the Dark X-Men after the falling out the two of them had over the Atlantian terrorists attacking Los Angeles in a recent issue of Dark Avengers. Namor does his best to ignore Osborn, but Norman continues to push Namor's buttons, telling Namor that he had the Atlantian terrorists exterminated. Norman continues to talk(because that's his thing), explaining that he figures Namor is undergoing an identity crisis. Osborn reasons that Namor has returned because deep down Namor wants somebody to tell him what to do and when to do it. Namor finally has enough and attacks Osborn, smashing him into a wall. Osborn tells Namor that attacking him makes no sense since it was Namor who volunteered to join the Dark X-Men and that he can leave whenever he wants. Namor releases his hold on Osborn and Norman figures that Namor has finally realized that the Atlantians are a lost cause and that Namor is looking for a new cause to champion, mutantkind. Namor doesn't answer and Norman presses his advantage, telling Namor he is welcome to stay with the Dark X-Men as long as Namor agrees to follow Osborn's orders. Namor bristles at the thought of following the orders of a mere surface dweller, but finally agrees to give Osborn's "requests" "serious consideration" before leaving the shower room. Osborn smiles, believing that he now has the Namor problem under control. Am I the only one who was a little weirded out that this entire story took place in the shower while Namor wasn't wearing a thing?

-Next up is a tale of Mimic, brought to us by James Asmus(writer)and Jesse Delperdang(pencils). We get a quick refresher of who the Mimic is, a guy with bipolar disorder, who has the powers of the 5 original X-Men and can ape the powers of any mutant in his immediate proximity. Mimic is worried about his actions and that he may hurt people again, as he has in the past, but Norman Osborn assures him that he shouldn't worry because he is perfect. Awww, that Osborn is a swell guy!

-The final story is the reason I picked this comic up in the first place, a tale of Dark Beast. DB's story is written by Shane McCarthy while the art is done by Ibraim Roberson. Norman Osborn tracks Dark Beast down, finding Dr. McCoy experimenting on the corpse of a child in a decrepit warehouse. Osborn tries to insult DB, but DB turns it around, revealing that he knows all about Norman's experimentations and Goblin shenanigans. Osborn changes the subject and tells DB that he requires his help. DB tells Osborn to find another lackey, but Osborn sweetens the deal by telling DB that if he joins up with him he would be allowed the opportunity to experiment on Michael Pointer(Weapon Omega), a mutant. DB becomes excited at the possibility of experimenting on mutants again as opposed to regular humans. DB then begins to explain that he loves experimenting on others, but that he finds scientific experimentation on himself particularly thrilling. DB then says that he is Norman's biggest fan due to Norman's past transformations into the Green Goblin. DB then begins to goad Norman, asking him when he last wore his "true" face. Osborn finally stops DB and tells him that he has become a much more successful individual by casting his Green Goblin persona aside. Osborn once again asks DB if he'll join forces with him, but DB is still somewhat reluctant to stop his more monstrous scientific experiments. Osborn tells DB that he can still do whatever the hell he wants, as long as he preforms his more macabre actions in a discreet manner. Upon hearing this, DB happily joins up with Osborn, telling Osborn that as long they work together, he'll be happy to remind Osborn of who and what he truly is, since DB is Osborn's biggest fan.

All in all, this was a very good comic, much better then I thought it would be. The Mimic story was OK, the Namor story was good, but for me the Dark Beast story totally stole the show. I've always been a huge fan of DB, I loved his Age of Apocalypse appearances and I always tried to get my hands on any appearance he made in the mainstream Marvel Universe. Although I've always been a fan of DB, I have to admit that most of his post AOA appearances have left me feeling underwhelmed. DB is one of those characters I always thought could be SO much better than he was. That's why his appearance here really impressed me. Shane didn't portray DB as a simple lackey or nobody, he had DB actually stand up to Norman Osborn, which was a great thing to see. DB realized that he didn't need Osborn, on the contrary, Osborn needed HIS assistance, and DB was more than happy to continue to rub that in Norman's face. Besides the fact that DB was shown here as a strong, independent character, the banter between DB and Osborn was very well done. DB's incessant needling of Osborn was a nice change, since the past few months have seen Osborn doing the same thing to so many characters in the Marvel U. For a score, I'll give this comic a 9 out of 10. I enjoyed this comic way more than I thought I would, which is always a good thing!