The Best of the Rest! September 19th edition.

So this was supposed to be the spot I posted my third and final review of the week, with JT closing out the comic week tomorrow with his third review.  But you see, I ended up posting my first review on Wednesday and throwing the whole schedule out of whack(cue JT saying something negative about me...).  Since I've already posted my three reviews for the week, and don't want to leave an empty day(I won't be the first one to do that, JT will!), how's about I cobble together a quick post about ALL of the comics I read this week!  Yeah, that'll work!  Since I didn't really read most of these books with the idea of reviewing them in mind, I don't have any number scores for them...  Instead, I'll use the good old thumbs up/thumbs in the middle/thumbs down system.  What the HELL is that, you ask?  Thumbs up means a comic scored somewhere in the 8 to 10 range, in other words, a good comic.  Thumbs in the middle would be around 5 to 7 1/2, or an okay to meh comic.  Thumbs down?  You guessed it, a comic that falls in the sub-5 range, you know, a bad comic.  I don't really know why I felt the need to explain that...  Oh no, I'm in one of those moods where I can't stop writing!  I'd better get to the meat of this post lest this intro goes on forever!!!

Let's see, we'll get started with Red Hood and the Outlaws #0...  JT pretty much summed up my feelings for this one with his review, so I really don't have all that much to say here...  I will say this though...  If not for the idiotic Joker reveal, I probably would have given this comic a thumbs in the middle.  As it is, it gets a thumbs down and likes it.

Avengers #30 was your basic Bendis/Avengers comic book.  Spider-Woman and Hawkeye discussed their relationship while fighting Mr. Negative's goons...  It was as exciting as it sounds.  Honestly, I wasn't sure what the hell Bendis was going for here, since Hawkeye hadn't actually done anything to wrong Spider-Woman...  Basically she was pissed that Hawkeye and the Scarlet Witch MAY have unresolved feelings for each other...  Yeah..  If you like bad soap opera-esque comic books then THIS is the comic book for you!  For me, it was a thumbs in the middle, mainly because it(kind of) focused on Hawkeye, no matter how thin the story was.

Ah, finally a good one!  Daredevil #18 was probably the best comic I've read this week...  No, scratch that, it WAS the best comic I read this week, and if I was giving out scores this one would very likely get a perfect score.  Seriously, this issue was fantastic.  Mark Waid is(unsurprisingly) crafting a wonderful story here, as this issue actually makes the reader doubt DD's sanity.  The entire series has been seemingly building towards this storyline, and I have to say, this issue would be a great jumping on point for new readers...  Just sayin'...  Oh yeah, thumbs WAY up.

Next up is Dark Avengers #181.  All I can really say about this comic is that it happened...  I think I've reached the point now where I just want the Bad Bolts to return to the present and the Dark Avengers/Thunderbolts/whatever they're called to finish their mission.  Thumbs in the middle.

Rolling along it's Mighty Thor #20!  I don't know why I added an exclamation point to that, nor why I'm thinking out loud, but let's go with it...  This was another really good issue in the Everything Burns storyline(I really love that title, btw).  Asgardia is still being hammered by Surtur's forces and Thor is still down and out. However, there was a slight glimmer of hope for us Kid Loki fans, as this issue kind of makes you wonder if Loki betrayed Thor, as it seemed in the prior part of this storyline, or if Loki is actually planning on saving his brother.  I'll go thumbs up for this issue and fingers crossed on Kid Loki not going full blown villain.

New Mutants #49 had Nate Grey in it...  That's pretty much the only positive thing I can say about it...  Well, that and the fact that this issue ended the whole Evil Doug Ramsay from the future story.  I've never cared for Doug no matter how much Marvel tries to show he's more than a guy with sucky powers.  This story did nothing to change my opinion of Doug.  Thumbs down...  Sorry Nate...

Ultimates #15 was a comic I seriously considered giving a full review to, mainly due to the fact that it was getting mainstream press attention.  But as you can see, I decided against that course of action...  So yeah, anyway, this comic.  I have to admit that I enjoyed this one.  I've been enjoying the direction the Ultimate Marvel U has been going for a while now, and this was no exception.  This issue, especially in the way it was told, kind of perfectly led to the whole, "Captain America is the president now!" thing.  It didn't seem forced or anything, which was something I was afraid of.  And I can actually see Cap, especially the Ultimate version, ESPECIALLY considering the way things have been going in the Ultimate U, deciding to become the president.  It'll be very interesting to see how this experiment works out going forward.  For this issue though?  Thumbs up.

Oh god...  Not THIS comic...  Ugh, it's Venom #25...  I'm actually surprised, horrified and yes, a bit impressed at how quickly Cullen Bunn took this series from a book I always look forward to reading, to something I barely want to open...  Why would you want to add a supernatural element to this series?!  Who sat there and thought, "You know what this series is missing?  DEMONS!!!"  This is kind of like the mess that Scott Lobdell made out of Red Hood and the Outlaws, in that you take the lead character and put them in a situation that makes no sense...  I don't get why Daimon Hellstrom was used in this mess, I don't get why a battle between the Hell Lords is taking place in this series, I don't get any of it!  Hopefully things straighten out with the upcoming Minimum Carnage storyline...  Thumbs down.

And finally we arrive at X-Factor #244.  This was, as usual, a good, solid issue of this series.  It wasn't as good as some of the prior issues, but it was solid.  I will say this though...  I'm very curious to see where Peter David is going with this story...  He's really breaking the team apart here, it'll be interesting to see how things shake out and who's left standing.  Thumbs in the middle.

Sweet, I'm done!  That means I can go back to playing Borderlands 2!  Huzzah for me!  Until... Um, whenever the hell my next post is supposed to be, X out!

A Quick Look At... May 30th's New Releases.

Hey there X-Maniacs, Vampire X here with an unexpected post... Which is better than no post at all... Well, I guess that depends on the person, but I say it's better than no post at all. Although some people would vehemently disagree... Anyway, pointless rambling aside, I read almost all of the comics I picked up at the comic shop yesterday during my lunch break, and figured I'd just throw a quick post out with the score and what I thought of each book in two sentences or less... Yes, in two sentences or less... What?! I have to get to sleep soon! So yeah, I'll do this post today, and then I'll later on in the week I'll try to get a few proper reviews up and posted around here. So that's the plan, let's see how it works out!

American Vampire #27: There's really nothing to say except this comic was good as usual. The ending sets up some great stuff going forward, which is always a good sign!
Score: 8 out of 10.

Wolverine and the X-Men #11: This issue was way better than I expected it to be. Wolverine surprised me a bit here, but in a good way for a change.
Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.

New Mutants #43: Boy am I glad this x-over with Journey Into Mystery is over... Who'd have expected two books that I really enjoy reading to put out such a crappy x-over...
Score: 5 out of 10.

X-Men Legacy #267: If you are a fan of Rogue then THIS was the comic book for you! I'm not much of a Rogue fan(she's alright, I guess...), so naturally this WASN'T the comic for me!
Score: 5 1/2 out of 10.

Amazing Spider-Man Annual #39: This comic was actually a pleasant surprise... The story was strong(if a bit predictable), and it was basically a good read.
Score: 8 out of 10.

Wolverine #307: Yep, this definitely should have been this week's Runt of the Litter... I can't think of a single good thing to say about this comic, so I think I'll just end things here...
Score: 3 out of 10.

I figured I'd do a post like this in case anybody really wants to talk about one(or more) of these books. Now there's a place to post comments about them, plus you basically know what I thought about each comic. In two sentences or less... And hey, look at that, this post only took me a whopping 10 minutes to do, which is great because now I can close my casket and sleep until the sun sets! Until later, Vampire X out.

New Mutants #41

First up for the night? Nate Grey and the New Mutants... That's right, I will not rest until this series gets that as it's title!

New Mutants #41:

Summary: Blink pops in on the New Mutants(I didn't realize she was so friendly with them...) and notices they were all down in the dumps. To rectify that, she takes them to some sort of crazy new year's party in Madripoor. Huh... Weird... Anyway, Dani, Magma and Blink start to spontaneously dance(weird...), while Cypher tries to teach Sunspot how to pick up girls(weird...). Warlock bumps into a woman and the two hit it off, with the woman giving Warlock her phone number(I guess I have to say it again. Weird...). Nate stays off on his own, at least until Dani tracks him down and offers to teach him to dance, since, as Nate put it, there was no disco in the Age of Apocalypse... HA!!! Awesome line there... The two do some dancing, and then naturally share a kiss. In the end, the team takes a group photo and this issue ends.

Thoughts: Huh. This was a very weird issue... But you know what? I liked it!! I mean I didn't love it or anything like that, but dammit, I did enjoy it, and that's all that matters! Yeah sure, there were several parts here where I just looked dumbfounded at what I was reading, but in the end? I did enjoy reading this issue, weird or not.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

You da man, Nate!!

New Mutants #40

Two reviews on tap for tonight, posted a little bit later than I usually do... Blame work for that. But better late than never, right? Well, unless the books suck, then it would have been better never than late...

New Mutants #40:

Summary: Warlock and Cypher discuss how they should defeat the Ani-Mator virus in their head, since they combined into Douglok last issue. While the two are (literally) putting their heads together in their combined mind, they are also fighting the Ani-Mator virus in the real world. Douglok manages to get the Ani-Mator virus away from the two remaining New Mutants who weren't absorbed by the virus(Dani and Nate) before enacting their plan, which was to inject a small amount of Warlock's transmode virus into the Ani-Mator virus, rewriting the Ani-Mator virus and erasing the Ani-Mator's personality from the virus, rendering it harmless and ending the threat. From there, Cypher feels better having faced down the site of his death, as well as the man responsible(in a way...), which ends this issue.

Thoughts: Meh. Too much Cypher and Warlock, not enough Nate, says I! But then I've never really been a big fan of Warlock OR Cypher, so a storyline revolving around them saving the rest of the team isn't going to be my cup of tea. For fans of those two characters though? This is definitely the issue for you!

Score: 6 out of 10.

Nate does always seem to be hanging back observing things, doesn't he?

New Mutants #39

Next up, Nate Grey and the New Mutants. Hey, if Red Hood can have his Outlaws, Nate can have the New Mutants.

New Mutants #39:

Summary: Warlock leads the plague infected New Mutants across Paradise Island, in search of the Ani-Mator's labs, figuring(hoping) that a cure would be located there. The team manages to get past all sorts of strange creatures before entering the lab. While Warlock is looking for clues in th Ani-Mator's files, Sunspot passes out from overexertion and Nate and Moonstar's hands meld together... Weird. Eventually the Ani-Mator, who created the virus and had become some sort of bacterial, plant-like creature, enters the lab to attack. This issue ends with Cypher and Warlock combining to face-off against the man... um, thing... um, creature(?) that murdered Cypher once before.

Thoughts: Before the ending I was REALLY enjoying this issue. But the addition of the plant Ani-Mator and Cypher and Warlock combining really bugged me. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning did a great job prior to those actions though, as they gave us great character development moments for pretty much EVERY character in this issue, which is an amazing feat. Not only that, but they also managed to get me to like Warlock for the first time since... well, ever. A better ending would have probably put this comic in the 8 to 8 1/2 score-level, but as it is, I'll give this one a...

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.

Um, really smooth lines there, Nate...

New Mutants #38

First review(of two) tonight? New Mutants! Um, I really don't have much else to say here except that Nate Grey is in this comic, thus meaning it should be at least readable.

New Mutants #38:

Summary: This issue opens with Cypher waking up from a nightmare with a scream, which wakes all of the other New Mutants up(well, except for Nate, who was staring at the refrigerator...). Cypher tells the team that he had been thinking about Paradise Island and his death at the hands of the Ani-Mator(ugh...) and that he needed to go there to get closure. With that, the team hops a Blackbird and head to the island, where they find nothing, although Warlock's systems start to pick up conflicting reports about life signs on the island... After some searching, the team runs into Birdbrain(UGH!), who flies(heh-heh) into a rage and attacks them. Nate and Warlock manage to halt Birdbrain's rampage, and after a quick scan, Warlock realizes that the multiple life signs he had been picking up was a highly contagious virus... And by coming into contact with Birdbrain, all of the New Mutants had been exposed to it. Moonstar decides to take the team back to Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia) to try to find a cure, but Warlock tells the team that he wouldn't allow them to leave the island since they would be carriers of this virus(!), meaning the team was trapped there.

Thoughts: Okay, first a confession... When I first saw what this comic was about(the Ani-Mator, that dumb-ass island, Cypher), I was expecting to hate it... A lot! I was already preparing myself for the worst, but you know what? That was totally unnecessary! I should never have doubted Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning's abilities... Stupid X... Anyway, this issue was good. Really good! First off, the Ani-Mator wasn't there, and that right there helped my enjoyment of this issue a load. Seriously, the Ani-Mator makes the Penguin look like a bad-ass... Really. The twist with the virus was also really good, as was Warlock's reaction to it(although you have to wonder if Warlock was also infected or if he was truly immune, as he claimed). Add Nate and Moonstar possibly being interested in each other romantically, and this was a very enjoyable read that should only get better next issue.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.

Oh course she's attracted to him! He's Nate Grey!!

New Mutants #37

Yay, it's Nate time! First up today is the latest issue of New Mutants, or, as I like to call it, Nate Grey and company! Let's see what DnA have in store for us this time around.

New Mutants #37:

Summary: Remember back during the Fear Itself event when Magma agreed to go out on a date with Mephisto to get the New Mutants out of Hell? Well, Mephisto sure remembered, and now it's time for said date. Mephisto shows up at the New Mutants apartment and picks Magma up, while the rest of the New Mutants fret over what fate was going to befall Magma. In actuality, the two actually go out and have a nice date, at the end of which Mephisto tells Magma that she and the New Mutants were no longer bound to him in any way. He does ask to see her again, and Magma pretty much says yes without actually saying yes, since she had been warned not to say yes to anything Mephisto offered...

Thoughts: Um... Huh... That was... something... I guess it was a nice Valentine's Day story... Man was this comic WEIRD! I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, and Mephisto to reveal his hand, yet he never did! It was just a date.... With the Devil. What more can I possibly add to this?

Score: 6 out of 10.

Smooth!

New Mutants #36

Last review of the night is going to be New Mutants #36... My favorite character is in this series, and I love the writers and all, but I have to say, here's hoping this is the last issue of the current storyline...

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!

New Mutants #35

Here's a series that's always near the top of my new comic pile. I've said it before, but it needs to be said again... Adding Nate Grey to ANYTHING will ALWAYS make it better!

New Mutants #35:

Summary: Blink manages to save the New Mutants from crashing the Blackbird by teleporting the plane to the ground and safety. From there, Blink explains that she'd been following this band, Diskhord, since everywhere they play a gig seems to unleash some sort of disaster. The New Mutants decide to assist Blink with her investigation into Diskhord, and Moonstar splits the team up, with most of the team going with Blink while Cypher and Warlock head off in search of the energy that nearly downed the Blackbird. On Diskhord's tour bus, Warlock and Cypher discover a box and upon opening it, Warlock is blasted clear out of the bus. Inside the box, Cypher finds a bizarre creature(could it be Quoggoth or Shuma-Gorath itself?!?!) and is knocked out by the very sight of it. Meanwhile, Blink and the New Mutants watch as Diskhord manage to summon a tornado with their instruments and are forced to save the people at the concert, which allows Diskhord to make good their escape on their tour bus, with the apparently dead Cypher along for the ride.

Thoughts: I didn't love this comic, but I didn't hate it either... It was a perfectly acceptable comic book, nothing more, nothing less. I mean the story here was flat out weird, but not weird in that I couldn't understand it, just weird. I enjoyed the art, and Nate was in this issue, so that's always a positive, but I can't say this issue is going to stick in my head after I post this review...

Score: 7 out of 10.My god, if that IS Quoggoth the awesomeness factor in this series just managed to increase by 4. If it's Shuma-Gorath, that factor would increase a hundredfold!

New Mutants #34

First comic on tap for the night? The newest issue of X-Man and the New Mutants! What? That's what I'd name this series if I worked at Marvel... I mean come on, Nate Grey is in it! He should be on EVERY page if you ask me! But I digress... Here's the review.

New Mutants #34:

Summary: This is a pretty easy one to review actually. The New Mutants move into their apartment in San Fransisco and begin to research their first non-Crazy Mutie Island mission, tracking down Blink. It seems she'd been spotted a few times over the course of the past few months saving people, but that there's always been some sort of atmospheric anomaly anywhere she's been. For some unexplained reason, the team decides to go to Michigan where a band named Diskhord was playing, which is exactly where Blink herself was going... Did I miss something here? Anyway, while flying over the stadium the band was preforming in, the New Mutants' Blackbird is struck by some weird lighting that was coming from the band.

Thoughts: Um... What? Here's the good... I liked the beginning parts of this issue, and any comic that has several pages with Nate is okay in my book. But the story... Ugh. An electricity wielding rock band? And what the hell does Blink have to do with any of it... And why did the team decide to track down that band? I didn't get this one at all, but at least for me, it had Nate in it. For you non-Nate fans, good luck reading this issue.

Score: 7 out of 10.Why did I post this page? Because Nate was on all the panels. That's why.

New Mutants #33

First review for tonight? None other than the comic book that stars the greatest comic book character of all... And I think the character I'd consider the greatest of all should be rather obvious, so instead of stating who it is, I'm just going to get right to the review!

New Mutants #33:

Summary: This issue basically deals with the New Mutants and what decisions they are going to make in regards to the whole Lord Summers/Wolverine Schism deal. Cannonball and Karma decide to go with Wolverine since living on Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia) wasn't the best thing for them. Magma and Sunspot are undecided, while Cypher and Warlock can't help but think there had to be more than just those two choices. As for the greatest comic book character of all, X-Man, Nate Grey(there, now you know who it is!), while he doesn't like the idea of staying in one place for too long, he's prefer to stay on Crazy Mutie Island in order to get to know Lord Summers better, seeing as that Lord Summers IS his father, in an alternate reality sort of way. Plus Nate doesn't see the sense in shielding children from the real world, which is a BRILLIANT nod to Nate's own past, so I tip my hat to Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning for that. As for Moonstar, she can see both sides of the argument, but feels loyalty towards Lord Summers since he believed in her even after she lost her mutant powers. However, she doesn't think staying secluded on Crazy Mutie Island is the way forward for mutantkind. As such, she meets up with Lord Summers and gets him to agree to allow the six remaining New Mutants(Moonstar, Nate, Sunspot, Magma, Cypher and Warlock) to live in nearby San Fransisco where they'd still be close to Crazy Mutie Island, but be able to interact with humanity. This issue ends with Lord Summers giving Moonstar her next assignment, to find Blink(!).

Thoughts: So here's my dilemma... The last two comic books I reviewed I gave perfect scores to. After I put this comic book down, my first instinct was to give it a perfect score... I couldn't think of any faults in it, but I've always hated giving out too many perfect scores, because it dilutes the importance of them... So what to do... To solve this, I decided to go back through this issue to look for something, anything that I didn't like... And I couldn't find it. This comic was just SO well written, and the art was strong. I mean Abnett and Lanning wrote Nate here about as well as he's been written. Not only that, but everybody else was written strongly as well! Add the fact that the team is going to look for Blink, and I have to say, I loved this issue. And you know what that means...

Score: 10 out of 10. THREE straight perfect scores!!! Wow, this is shaping up to be a hell of a great week comic-wise for me!Huh, that's probably the best dialogue Nate's had in the longest time, and I'd know best seeing as that I own every single comic book he's ever appeared in!

New Mutants #32

Huh, how did I not read this issue already... Oh well. Usually this is one of the first comics I read when it comes out on account of it featuring my all-time favorite comic book character and all. Well, better late than never.

New Mutants #32(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: The New Mutants have pulled Hela off of the roof of her palace and have begun to prepare for the massive invasion from the Serpent's dead goons, the Draumar. The Draumar attack and Hela comes back to life after a bird crawls in her mouth... Yes, really. Moonstar is a bit surprised by that turn of events(as I'd suspect anybody would be), but Hela needed to fake her death so she'd have time to plan a counter-attack against the Draumar, thus the bird containing her life-force crawling in her mouth. Unfortunately, Hela hasn't yet come up with a plan, but does have power enough to enchant the other New Mutants, giving them a fighting chance against the Draumar. While battling the Draumar, Nate Grey(aka the most awesome comic book character ever) notices that the Draumar were somewhat hesitant to engage Warlock in battle since they had no idea what he was, what with Warlock being comprised of advanced technology the likes of which the Draumar could never even begin to comprehend. Nate then asks Hela to make his life flash before the eyes of the Draumar, figuring their minds would NEVER be able to cope with all that Nate has seen through his life. As it turns out, Nate's gamble works(because as previously stated, he is awesome and all) and the Draumar dissipate since they couldn't understand what they were seeing. With that taken care of, Hela thanks the New Mutants for their help by sending them back to Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia) where they are met by Magik, who inquires if they enjoyed their trip to Hell.

Thoughts: Okay, the most important thing about the end of this issue was the reveal that Magik seemed to know that the team wound up in Hell, not Hel, meaning she screwed them over by deliberately giving them the wrong spell. But I'm sure that'll be explored in the next few issues. As for this issue, it didn't really do anything for me. The New Mutants Fear Itself tie-in issues overall didn't do anything for me. Sure, I'm glad it was Nate's idea that ended the threat of the Draumar, thus(presumably) solidifying a spot for himself on the team, but besides the Nate parts, I didn't care for anything else. I mean it was okay, but I am definitely glad the New Mutants Fear Itself adventure has come to a close.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.Awesome, it's the Age of Apocalypse!

New Mutants #31

The first review of the new comic week? My Pick of the Litter, New Mutants #31. And why is that particular comic my Pick for this week? Because Nate Grey is a member of the New Mutants! And yes, that's all the reason I needed.

New Mutants #31(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: We actually get some backstory between Odin and the Serpent from WAY back when Odin first faced and defeated the Serpent and his hordes. You see, Moonstar was swallowed whole by one of the Serpent's dead henchmen in Hel, and was for some reason getting glimpses of the dead henchman's memories. Meanwhile, Magma, Nate Grey, Sunspot, Warlock and Doug Ramsay arrive in Hel thanks to Mephisto. The quartet immediately see a battle between the Serpent's dead henchmen and Hela's hordes. Bottom line? Hela's hordes aren't doing very well. The New Mutants rush into the fray and attack the Serpent's minions, and Moonstar cuts her way out of the Serpent's henchman to join the battle on the side of the New Mutants and Hela's dwindling forces. Realizing that they were being overwhelmed, Moonstar tells the New Mutants to retreat back to Hela's palace where they could fortify themselves and hopefully find Hela. Upon arriving at Hela's palace, Moonstar discovers Hela impaled on one of the palace's spires.

Thoughts: Well, on the plus side, Nate was in the comic. On the negative side, I really don't care for this storyline... But hey, I'm NOT going to complain because of the fact that Nate was doing stuff in this issue. Am I biased? Hell yes I am! Gimme a sucky storyline with Nate sword-fighting some fools and complaining about Sunspot and I'm happy. See, I AM easy to please! But seriously, here's hoping this storyline ends next issue...

Score: 7 out of 10.Hell, so long as Nate is in this comic, I'm a happy camper!

New Mutants #30

It's time for me to open up the comic starring my all-time favorite comic book character, the one and only Nate Grey! The fact that Nate is in this comic, automatically guarantees it won't score any lower then a 7. What can I say? I'm very straightforward with my abject favoritism! Let's see how high the score DOES get though. Oh, and like half the books coming out of Marvel nowadays, this is a Fear Itself crossover book.

New Mutants #30(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: We get started with X-Man and the New Mutants(I LOVE the way that sounds!) stuck in Hell after Doug Ramsay screwed up a spell to get the team to Hel, which is where Moonstar had been transported. As the lord of Hell, Mephisto, arrives on the scene and wants to make a deal with the New Mutants. See, Mephisto knows the New Mutants want to get to Hel, and offers to teleport them to Hel... For a price. What, he's the devil! You KNEW there'd be a catch! In return for being sent to Hel, Mephisto asks for a date with Magma... HA! The team tells Magma not to take the deal, on account of Mephisto being Evil Incarnate and all, but since there was no other conceivable way out of Hell, Magma agrees to the offer and Mephisto teleports the team away, telling Magma that he'd call her. As for Moonstar, she comes across a small army of dead souls in Hel, who warn her that a long gone god(the Serpent) had unleashed his dreams in Hel, destroying Hela, and tormenting the denizens of Hel. Moonstar decides to assist the residents of Hel, and charges into battle against the Serpent's rather hideous dreams. Unfortunately for Moonstar, while battling the freakish creatures she is apparently eaten... Huh.

Thoughts: Well, since in the “Next Issue” teaser at the end of this comic shows Moonstar battling against the bad dreams(HA! I crack me up...), I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that she's probably not dead. There's not all that much to say about this issue. Nate didn't really do much, Mephisto was funny(which he usually is, oddly enough) and Magma agreed to a single date with Mephisto at a later time to escape Hell. I enjoyed reading this comic book, and even though the Serpent nor his Worthy showed up here, this comic did tie-in with the main Fear Itself storyline, since the Serpent's war with Hela had been documented in the recent issues of Journey Into Mystery. All I'd ask is that Nate gets a larger role come next issue, but other than that? No complaints from me.

Score: 8 out of 10.Mephisto is a stone-cold playa.

New Mutants #29 & Ultimate Fallout #5

With Fear Itself #5 out of the way, it's time to take a look at my other co-Pick of the Week, New Mutants #29, along with the ultra-controversial Ultimate Fallout series, which is reshaping Marvel's Ultimate Universe. Fingers crossed, both of these issues will score a 9 or higher...

New Mutants #29(Fear Itself tie-in):

Summary: Ahhh... I see it's the New Mutants turn to get sucked into the Fear Itself event... We get started with Hela being attacked and defeated in Hel by a bunch of weird creatures. Ultimately Hela turns into a murder of crows... Okay then. From there we head to Moonstar, who is flying to the remnants of Las Vegas to see if she could ask for Hela's aid against the Serpent and his Worthy. Unfortunately for Moonstar, the murder of Hela crows smash into Moonstar's plane and tear it apart. Back on Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia), some of Moonstar's teammates are worried about her whereabouts. Except for Nate Grey, who feels that the New Mutants should be in San Fransisco with the rest of the X-Men dealing with the Serpent possessed Juggernaut. Preach it, Nate!! Ultimately Cypher figures that Moonstar was heading to Vegas to help stop the Juggernaut, so that's where the team should go. In order to get there, they head down to Crazy Mutie Island's prison, where Magik is being held. As the resident teleporter, the New Mutants want Magik to take them to Moonstar, but she tells them a) that she was going to stay in prison until she regained the trust of the X-Men and b) that she knew where Moonstar was headed(to Hel) and that she'd tell Cypher how to find a spell that would take the team to Hel. As for Moonstar, she wakes up in Hel, where she finds Hela's crown and sword. Back to the New Mutants, Cypher manages to recite the spell, but botches it and instead of teleporting to Hel, the team teleports to Hell, where Mephisto is waiting for them.

Thoughts: Again, this was a Fear Itself tie-in in the loosest sense possible. I don't think the stuff with Hela had anything to do with the main Fear storyline, and we only had a one page glimpse of one of the Worthy(Juggernaut). Besides that, I have to say, this team sucks... Seriously, who thought it was a good idea to bring Cypher and Warlock back to life?! Warlock is a joke that ceased being funny like 20 years ago and Cypher is, no matter how some writers try to tell us otherwise, useless. And Sunspot? Grow up all ready... The horny teenager act isn't funny anymore... I like Moonstar, I was happy to see Magma in this issue, as she's been woefully underutilized, and of course Nate is a plus, but man, most of this team is just bad... And before the twelve Warlock fans complain, remember, that's just my opinion. If you like Warlock, good for you, although I have NO idea why you would... As for the story, it was good and made sense(Moonstar gets lost, her teammates decide to look for her), so no complaints there. The art was okay, although I have to admit, the way Nate was depicted kind of bugged me as he was kind of drawn like the Incredible Hulk, which was pretty weird...

Score: 8 out of 10.Look out everybody, it's the Incredible Nate!!!


Ultimate Fallout #5(of 6?):

Summary: Two stories here, one featuring Nick Fury written by Jonathan Hickman, with the other about Quicksilver written by Nick Spencer. We'll start with the faster story, the one about Fury. Fury arrives at the Triskelion and gets a briefing on a few of the situations affecting global security. From there, he heads off and meets with a representative from the US president who informs Fury that the president was cutting SHIELD's funding by 30%. Fury is taken aback by that steep a cut, and tells the rep that people would die because of this, but the rep tells Fury he's just the messenger. With that, the rep leaves and Fury realizes that SHIELD was stretched way too thin. The Quicksilver story deals with Quicksilver telling a businessman that he wanted to gather and train a bunch of mutants. With the widespread hatred of mutants in the Ultimate Marvel Universe, the businessman wants nothing to do with that, but Quicksilver basically tells the businessman that if given the capital to begin hunting down the mutants that were still at large, he'd basically sell them to the businessman at which point the businessman could use the mutant's powers to further his own company's interests. Ultimately the businessman agrees to this deal and Quicksilver sleeps with the businessman's assistant. While in the middle of the deed, Quicksilver's sister, the Scarlet Witch, appears to him and speaks cryptically about Quicksilver doing the right thing, and that he had to head to Egypt before vanishing. The assistant is kind of puzzled by Quicksilver's bizarre actions, at which point he throws her out to contemplate his next move.

Thoughts: The first part of the Quicksilver storyline was good. The Nick Fury part of this comic was very good. The second part of the Quicksilver story? With his sister appearing to him while he boinked that woman? Way too creepy for my tastes... Plus it hurt the story for me. I mean, if this comic would have ended without the creepy bedroom scene, I'd have probably scored this comic a full point higher. Okay, we get it, Ultimate Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch have openly had an incestuous relationship. It isn't danced around or hinted at, it's pretty much accepted fact. With that said, I don't really want to read about it! Wanda could have appeared to Quicksilver at any other time, not on top of him while he was screwing some woman! I mean for god's sake, leave SOME things to the imagination!

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.Nick Fury's reaction in that last panel is awesome!

New Mutants #28 & Ultimate Fallout #3

Okay, this week's comics have been brought, put in the order I want to read them, and are all set to go! First off this week is a look at my top pick, New Mutants #28, as well as the mini-series that's reshaping the Ultimate Universe, Ultimate Fallout #3. I'm going to try to get two more reviews up tonight after these, but I'm definitely not going to make any promises... Anyway, on to what I'm hoping will be two awesome comics!

New Mutants #28:

Summary: This issue kicks off with Moonstar inviting an old therapist friend of hers over to take a look at the mess that was her team. The therapist, Gus Grim, is led around by Moonstar, with their first stop being a look at Nate Grey in the Danger Room. Nate is cranky over the fact that Sugar Man's recent experiments had stripped him of most of his powers, leaving him with a minuscule amount of telekinesis. Nate demands that the Danger Room puts him into a battle scenario, but with his powers diminished, the Room had been programed to ignore Nate's requests. Our Lord and Savior Hope is also watching Nate in the Danger Room, pissed off that Nate was there and not old man Cable. Moonstar asks Gus for advice on Nate, and he recommends letting Nate battle some robots, since if he was to hurt himself he'd probably come to terms with his newfound limitations. From there Gus visits Cannonball, who's in a pissy mood over the whole lame Age of X crossover. After some talking Gus gets to the bottom of what was really bothering Cannonball, the fact that he was afraid to lead his friends and teammates into battle. Next on the hit list is Karma, who was working with Face, who comically has NO face... How clever....... *ahem* Anyway, Gus basically calls Karma selfish since she had made Face reliant on her. From there he heads to Magik's cell, and proceeds to vomit up some demons from Limbo... Man do I hate it when I do that... The demons tell Magik that they had hitched a ride in Gus and had gone to Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia) to free Magik. Magik explains to the confused demons that she didn't want to be freed, since staying imprisoned was the only way she'd ever regain the trust of her friends. With that she calls for Danger, who sends the demons back to Limbo. After that, Gus meets with Moonstar and she asks if he'd agree to meet with her team on a weekly basis. Gus explains that he went after the New Mutants he spoke to in a harsh manner(when he wasn't busy throwing up demons), and didn't think they'd want to hear from him again. Moonstar disagrees, telling Gus that some tough talk was just what the team needed to get their heads back on straight, so Gus agrees to return every week. This issue ends with Nate fighting(and losing) to some robots in the Danger Room. Before one of the robots could take his head off, Our Lord and Savior Hope arrives on the scene and extends the olive branch to Nate, offering to train him to protect himself now that his powers had left him, as Cable had trained her.

Thoughts: First the positive. Nate was still hanging around, which makes me think that he's going to be a regular in this title, which is great because that means Nate will be SOMEWHERE, which is better than nothing. Yes, it pissed me off to no end that Our Lord and Savior Hope had to come into the Danger Room and save Nate, but I'll deal with those little indignities in order to see my favorite comic character back in action again. Overall, I liked this comic. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning managed to make Magik(somewhat) likable, which is a minor miracle since I always saw her as a bit of a bitch. The therapist was kind of tough on Karma and Cannonball, but it made for a good read. As long as Nate is in this series I see myself enjoying it, since I know in my heart that Abnett and Lanning's work with Nate can never be as bad as the crap that used to go on in the X-Man series... The next few issues look to be Fear Itself x-overs, so we'll see how that works out.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.You know, Nate has always had a thing for redheads who may be related to him... Just sayin'...


Ultimate Fallout #3(of 6?):

Summary: We discover that Tony Stark's dead brother Gregory was a member of a group of self-made million/billionaires who had banded together to do what they thought was right for the world, even if that meant stepping on people to get their way. The group(which is called the Kratos Club) offers Tony his brother's spot, which leaves Tony with a lot to think about. From there we find Kitty Pryde acting like her regular annoying self, storming out of Peter Parker's funeral, complaining about the world in general. She bumps into Iceman in Central Park, who was crying over Peter's death. Kitty takes pity on her old teammate and reveals that she knew of a safe place for mutants, and she'd let him go with her if he promised that he wouldn't use his powers, draw attention to himself, etc. Iceman agrees, as long as they could bring the Human Torch with them... Well that's kind of weird... From there we head to Karen Grant(actually Jean Grey) who was mentally working with Bruce Banner in an effort to get Bruce to control his Hulk side. Karen manages to put Hulk/Bruce in a trance just as Nick Fury enters the room. Fury tells Karen that since he was offering to protect her team, he needed to know for sure that Karen could keep the Hulk under control... Since if she couldn't, Fury would have no reason to keep Karen and her team safe. When faced with a question like that, Karen timidly tells Fury that she could control the Hulk, which ends this issue.

Thoughts: Not great, but not bad. The Tony Stark stuff was interesting, as was the stuff with Fury and Jean, while, as usual, I hated every scene Kitty was in... I just hate her, whether it's in the regular 616 Marvel U, or the 1610 Ultimate U. It's sad but true... If the Ultimate X-Men comic was comprised of the characters from Ultimate X as well as Iceman and Human Torch, I'd be overjoyed. Add Kitty to that equation, and my enjoyment diminishes... A lot... Back to this comic though. It furthered a few things for the new Ultimates and Ultimate X-Men comics, but completely took a step away from the Ultimate Spider-Man stuff, which kind of sucks, since the Ultimate Spider-Man story was what got me into this mini-series to begin with!

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10. Huh, I didn't realize that Bobby and Peter were that close.

New Mutants #27 & X-Men: Schism #1

First reviews for the new week, and I'll be taking care of the book I'm most looking forward to(New Mutants #27), as well as the first part of Schism, which should give the X-books the shake-up they desperately need. Okay, let's get started!

New Mutants #27:

Summary: Basically you have the New Mutants facing off against Sugar Man and his mutates. The prize? Nate Grey, who is still strapped to the Omega Machine, which was using his vast mutant powers as fuel. Moonstar decides to pair off against Sugar Man and take him on in one-on-one combat, but anybody who's ever played X-Men Legends 2 knows that's a risky strategy. The rest of the New Mutants try to keep the mutates occupied, while Cypher and Warlock try to figure out a way to disconnect Nate from the Omega Machine without killing him. Eventually Nate decides to push his powers past the breaking point in order to give Sugar Man what he wanted, a gateway back to the Age of Apocalypse, so that Sugar Man wouldn't kill/maim the New Mutants who came to help him. Upon spotting the portal, Sugar Man dashes in and is overjoyed to see that it was indeed his homeworld. Moonstar follows him though, refusing to allow Sugar Man to get away from his various crimes scot-free. Since Sugar Man is now distracted by being home, Moonstar pulls out all the stops and manages to bring Sugar Man down, dragging him back through the portal to the 616 Marvel Universe. With Sugar Man and his mutates taken care of, Moonstar calls in Steve Rogers to clean up the mess. Steve's assistant, Victoria Hand, wants the damaged Nate taken into custody too, since he was such a powerful mutant, but Moonstar tells Steve that Nate was a family member of Lord Summers, and as such Lord Summers wanted him brought back to Crazy Mutie Island. Steve decides to do the right thing and allows the New Mutants to take Nate to Crazy Mutie Island. Once there, after a medical check-up, we learn that Nate's powers had been greatly diminished, basically leaving him with some telekinesis and little else. Lord Summers welcomes Nate to Crazy Mutie Island, apologizes for being a sucky alternate father, and offers Nate the one thing he'd never really had, a home.

Thoughts: Okay, first things first, Nate survived the whole Dark X-Men/Omega Machine stuff, which means he's STILL in the Marvel Universe!!! Awesome!! I was a bit annoyed that everybody kept referring to Nate as a reality manipulator, he's more of the supreme telepath/telekinetic. He could also open dimensional portals(during his shaman days), and has shown some limited reality warping(I can distinctly remember him freezing snowflakes in midair after a temper tantrum), but I've always thought of Nate as a telepath first, everything else second. There was a lot of good that came out of this comic, the first thing being, obviously, Nate being on Crazy Mutie Island. Maybe he'll FINALLY get the opportunity to become a mainstream X-character, something he's never had the chance to do outside of a single 3-part mini-series from the 90's. Downgrading Nate's powers? While it irks me that he's not the most powerful mutant on the planet anymore, I'm actually okay with that. I mean if he does join the New Mutants(fingers crossed), full-powered Nate would make everybody else on the team unnecessary. I mean just send him loose and let him deal with ANY threat. So simply giving Nate some TK, with the chance that his full powers could return or even just some telepathy, was probably the right decision to make. The fight between Sugar Man and Moonstar was fun, the dialogue was good, I liked Steve Rogers allowing the New Mutants to take Nate back to Crazy Mutie Island as a show of good will, because Steve is awesome, really, I had no complaints here. Now I'll wait and see how Nate is used from this point forward. So far I have no serious concerns or complaints, he's in good hands with Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, so this comic left me feeling very happy. Will the next few issues leave me feeling the same? Only time will tell...

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.Hey, Nate's still alive! Huzzah!!!


X-Men: Schism #1(of 5):

Summary: This issue kicks off with Lord Summers the First and Wolverine heading to Switzerland to attend an international arms conference. Lord Summers takes the podium and asks the gathered crowd to stop the proliferation of Sentinels. Many nations act as if they don't know what a Sentinel is, or question their very existence, while others accuse Lord Summers of fear-mongering. While Lord Summers is trying to calm nerves, Kid Omega(Quintin Quire) strolls in the room and blasts all of the dignitaries with a mental attack that forces them to spill their guts on whatever dirty little secrets they were hiding. By the time Lord Summers and Wolvie get back to their feet(they were unaffected due to their psi-shields), the room has descended into pandemonium, with Kid Omega long gone. Lord Summers and Wolvie decide to leave, catching Kid Omega on the TV spouting anti-human rhetoric. While the police are escorting the mentally damaged dignitaries from the room, an order is given and several Sentinels enter the building looking for a male mutant(Quire), but instead finding Wolvie and Lord Summers. The two make short work of the Sentinels and return to Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia). While there, the mutants watch as several nations around the world respond to Kid Omega's attack on their dignitaries by bringing several Sentinels out of mothballs and having them do maneuvers. A leading arms manufacturer, Carlton Kilgore, enters his limo, pleased with the days events, since the increased fear would bring many government contracts his way. Unfortunately for him, his 12 year old son kills him and takes over the company. From there, the kid, Kade, heads to a secret meeting, where he tells the hooded members that he had done everything asked, secretly freed Kid Omega, taken over his father's business, set into motion what looked to be the world vs the mutants. Pleased with Kade's actions, the hooded individuals raise their glasses and declare Kade the new Black King of the Hellfire Club(!).

Thoughts: Well, this showed a lot of promise. I mean there were a few things that felt kind of rushed(Kade's entire story for example), but overall, I enjoyed this issue. Sure, it would have been nice if some of the events here would have been set up in Uncanny X-Men, so they'd mean more(the rebirth of the Hellfire Club, Carlton Kilgore, that many Sentinels hanging around the world), but like I said, for a set-up issue for future events, this one hit all the right buttons. I still don't see exactly where the Schism between Lord Summers and Wolverine is going to come in, especially with them on the same page for this entire issue, but like I said, this was the first issue, a set-up issue, and all in all, it was good.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Always with the Sentinels...

New Mutants #26 & Deadpool #39

We'll be kicking this off with this week's Pick of the Litter, New Mutants #26. If I score it anything under a 9, it would have disappointed me. That's how excited I am about that comic. Along with New Mutants, I'll be checking out Deadpool, which if it's like last issue, should be good. Let's get started!

New Mutants #26:

Summary: We get underway with a young man who lost his mutant powers during the HORRIBLE M-Day idea discovering Sugar Man's base. He runs into some former mutants Sugar Man gave powers to(using a variation of the mutate bonding process! Awesome!!), and they take him to meet Sugar Man himself. Sugar Man promises to help the young man provided he did Sugar Man a favor, the favor being to help Sugar Man find his way home. With the possibility of being “special” again in his head, the young man agrees to undergo Sugar Man's procedure. While that's going down, the New Mutants are snooping around an old HAMMER run warehouse looking for Nate Grey. They run into Commander Rogers, who tells them there was nothing in the warehouse except for some old HAMMER machinery. The New Mutants are about to leave until Doug Ramsay is able to “read” one of the rooms in the warehouse and realizes that reality was being subtly warped in the warehouse, which was something Nate could do, leading the team to believe that Nate very well could be there. Back with Sugar Man, he's managed to gift the young man from earlier with a power(acid vomit), and takes him into the room Nate was being held in the Omega Machine. Nate warns the young man to leave while he could, but Sugar Man explains that while hooked up to the Omega Machine, Nate could open extra-dimensional portals, with Sugar Man hoping one of the portals would lead back to his home dimension, the Age of Apocalypse. Sugar Man ties a rope to the young man and tells him to enter the portal created by Nate and the Omega Machine. Upon entering the portal, the young man runs into a giant creature, which promptly eats him... Oh well... Sugar Man pulls out the severed rope and realizes that he'd once again hit a dead end. Before Sugar Man could do anything else though, the New Mutants manage to pinpoint his laboratory's location, at which point Sugar Man sics a few of his loyal mutates on them.

Thoughts: This was very, very good. Now, Nate didn't really do much here except warn that guy Sugar Man turned into a mutate not to trust Sugar Man, but this was more of a set-up story leading to the battle next issue, so I was pretty pleased with it overall. There was a lot to like here, and a lot of nice nods to the past, such as Sugar Man's knowledge of the Genoshan mutate process(which he created from a bastardized version of AOA Mr. Sinister's work), as well as mention of Nate's reality warping and dimensional powers. Now Nate can't warp reality to the degree of the Scarlet Witch circa Avengers Disassembled, but he has shown some degree of reality warping. On top of that, during his mutant shaman days, Nate was able to open dimensional portals to other worlds. So a BIG kudos to Andy Lanning and Dan Abnett for actually doing their research on these characters before writing this story. On the negative side, nothing all THAT interesting happened here... But for me? Nate Grey, Sugar Man, Steve Rogers, AND a story that's been researched and makes sense is more than enough for a very high score!

Score: 9 out of 10.I LOVE this comic!!!!!


Deadpool #39:

Summary: Stuck between an angry Hulk and a preschool full of kids, Deadpool tells the kids and their teacher to hide inside their school, figuring the Hulk would simply pulp DP like he wanted. As the Hulk approached though, Pool realized that there was a great chance that the Hulk's attack on him would collapse the school, killing the kids inside. Not wanting to be responsible for the deaths of a bunch of little kids, Pool forces the kids and their teacher to get on a school bus which Pool starts to drive away from the area. The army has mobilized to the area as well, and realizing that Pool was responsible for Hulk's rampage, decide to kill him, figuring that would calm Hulk back down. Spotting Pool in the school bus, and not seeing the kids(since Pool told them to put their heads down), the army shoots at the bus with a tank, which Pool swerves to avoid, letting it hit the now even angrier Hulk. Fearing for her kids safety, the teacher goes to the front of the bus, small talks Pool for a moment, and swipes one of his handguns, shooting Pool in the head. With Pool down, the teacher rushes her charges off the bus and to the army. When Pool wakes up, the Hulk, who has calmed down considerably, pulls Pool out of the wreckage of the bus and demands to know why Pool would do something this stupid, endangering the lives of dozens of people, including the preschoolers. Pool comes out with it and tells Hulk that he has a death wish, and figured the Hulk was the only thing alive capable of beating him so badly that he'd be unable to heal from it. Realizing Pool was utterly insane, and not wanting to see him endanger anybody else on his mad quest for suicide, Hulk punches Pool so hard that his entire upper-body literally explodes... Damn! Unfortunately for Deadpool, he actually heals from that a few weeks later, and this issue ends with Steve Rogers telling a doctor that Deadpool had been tried while he was still knitting together, that he'd been found insane, and would be heading to a mental institution in England.

Thoughts: What can I say? I really liked this issue! It was good, stupid, Pool-a-riffic fun! As a matter of fact, Daniel Way did what nobody has ever been able to do, make me like the Hulk just a little bit. As this issue moved towards it's climax, I figured Pool would tell Hulk his plan, and Hulk would simply be a good hero and walk away from the crazy Deadpool. When Hulk told Pool he was dangerously crazy and then pounded him, I was impressed. Seriously, after Pool put Hulk into one of his rages and endangered the lives of all those kids? Hulk did the responsible thing by trying to put Pool down like a rabid dog. So from here, Pool will be placed in a prison that was being converted into a mental institution... That should be a hilarious blast.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.And that my friends, is going to leave a mark!

X-Men #11 & New Mutants #25(!).

Last two reviews for today. The first one is the last issue of X-Men I'll be picking up for the foreseeable future since my least favorite writer(that would be Christopher Yost) will be taking up the writing duties beginning with the next issue. The second comic I'm reviewing? All I have to say about it is this... X-Man returns!!!!!


X-Men #11:

Summary: This issue begins with a few of the Crazy Muties throwing a birthday party for Vampire Jubilee to make her feel normal. The fact that the Crazy Muties(What? They live on Crazy Mutie Island, want am I supposed to call them?) are trying to make Jubilee feel “normal” actually has the opposite effect, causing her to feel like even more of an outsider. After yelling at the poor, confused Crazy Muties, Jubes storms off to brood on a rooftop. Prof. Xavier follows her and rather then try to convince her that she was normal and everything would be all right, Prof. X tells Jubes that she was different now and that she'd have to learn how to cope with these differences. From there Prof. X relates the story of his first encounter with a vampire in Africa back in the 1950's. It seems the young Prof. X saw a photo of an elephant strung up in an issue of National Geographic, and thought it may have been the work of a fellow mutant. After a search and a run-in with some mercenaries who were also trying to figure out who strung up the elephant, Prof. X is saved by a member of a peaceful tribe of vampires. It seems these vampires didn't want to victimize humans anymore and had begun drinking animal blood(hence the strung up, bleeding elephant). After telling Prof. X this story, the vampire vanishes, never to be seen by Prof. X again. In other words, Jubilee didn't have to live the way the vampires she'd met lived(Dracula and Xarus), she could live her life her own way. Now feeling better, Jubes decides to head back inside with the Prof so he could have a piece of cake.

Thoughts: I've always been a big fan of Prof. X, so it should go without saying that I really enjoyed this one. He's always had a great relationship with Jubes(there was an issue of Uncanny right after the X-Cutioner's Song that really hammered that home), so it was great to see these two characters who kind of fell off the map in the 2000's having a nice little heart to heart. If you're not a fan of Xavier, you probably wouldn't care to read about his youthful adventures. But for me? This was a breath of fresh air.

Score: 8 out of 10.How is calling somebody abnormal supposed to make them feel better?!


New Mutants #25:

Summary: This issue begins with the remnants of the New Mutants(minus Cannonball, Karma, and Illyana) along with Wolverine, Shadowcat and Colossus attacking a Nimrod-possessed automotive assembly plant. The team battles robots for a while before Doug Ramsay(who's not dead for some inconceivable reason) figures out that everybody Lord Summers sent on the mission had a personal connection to Illyana... It seems that Illyana had recently killed some Elder Gods and manipulated the X-Men in the process. Because of this, Lord Summers has decided to imprison Illyana permanently on Crazy Mutie Island, which Illyana understands completely. After the New Mutants(and company) take care of the robots, they return to Crazy Mutie Island, where Colossus immediately makes a beeline for Lord Summers' throne room. While Colossus is bitching Lord Summers out over his actions towards Illyana(his sister), Moonstar visits with Cannonball, who was recuperating due to Limbo and/or Legion(I didn't read the past several issues, what do you want from me?!). After the Illyana business and with Cannonball hurt, Moonstar figures that Lord Summers would be breaking up the New Mutants. Cannonball comforts her and they share a kiss(??!) before Moonstar heads in to see Lord Summers. It seems that Lord Summers wasn't breaking up the New Mutants, but instead wanted them to begin tracking down any loose ends the X-Men had dangling out there. The first loose end Lord Summers wanted tied up? X-Man, Nate Grey. Back when Norman Osborn controlled HAMMER, Osborn and his Dark X-Men managed to defeat and capture Nate(back in the Dark X-Men mini-series). Since Osborn's fall from power, Nate hasn't been seen, which is something Lord Summers was disturbed about, since he seems to have suddenly remembered that Nate was his alternate dimensional son... Better late than never, right? And what of young Nate? It seems he's been imprisoned and was strapped to a machine that was forcing him to believe he was being hunted by the Avengers. The man controlling the machine? None other than Nate's Age of Apocalypse enemy, Sugar Man(!!!!!)!

Thoughts: Before I get to what I thought about this one, I have something I want to say first. I have not now, nor have I ever claimed to be impartial. I'm not one of those delusional bloggers who thinks that they are real journalists, and as such holds some warped notion of journalistic integrity. I know better. I'm not a journalist, I'm just a guy who loves reading and talking about comics. So yes, I'm a VERY biased reviewer... So there. Why did I just go on that spiel? Because Nate Grey is my favorite comic book character ever, hands down. There's nobody else that's even in the same league as Nate in my mind. Sure, I like other characters(Bart Allen, Jason Todd, Hawkeye, Steve Rogers, Mr. Sinister, etc), but my feelings for Nate are on a whole other level. That's why I decided to start picking up this series again. Well, that and the fact that Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning were taking over the writing chores, although to be totally honest, I'd have picked up this comic regardless of WHO was writing it... It was just a HUGE bonus for me that DnA happened to be the guys writing this one. Was the story perfect? I don't know... All I know is that my all-time favorite comic book character was in this one, battling against Thor(in his mind), being tortured by one of his old villains, and I couldn't be happier! So I'm going to smile, I'm going to be happy, and yes, I'm going to give this comic a score way higher than it probably should get... But hey, at least I'm honest about it!

Score: 9 1/2 out of 10.Nate vs Thor?!? Yes please!!!!!!

Life is good.

Wait, this CAN'T be true, can it?! One of my favorite X-teams, written by my favorite writing team, ABOUT my favorite comic book character of all-time?!? I've gone on and on about how awesome Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning are as writers, if you don't believe me just check out pretty much ANY of the Nova or Guardians of the Galaxy review I've posted. I've always liked the New Mutants, I have the full run of the original series, the 90's mini-series and the 2000's rebirth that went on to become the unfortunate Academy X. I started collecting this current New Mutants series but I had to drop it after reading how horribly miswritten Cannonball was under Zeb Wells. And seeing as that my screen name is X-Man, I don't think I need to explain my undying love of Nate Grey. Yep, as I continue dropping DC books, you can be SURE this will be one of the Marvel books that will be replacing them!