X-Men: Prelude to Schism #4 & Uncanny X-Men #539

These are the last two new comics in my pile(well expect for Silver Surfer #5, which I STILL haven't gotten to!), which works out perfectly, since tomorrow I'll be picking up a nice new batch of comics from the comic shop!

X-Men: Prelude to Schism #4(of 4):

Summary: Okay, I'm not really going to recap this issue since it's basically the SAME thing as the first three issues, just told from Wolverine's point of view. We get some snippets of Wolvie's past, find out once again that there is some HUGE, MAJOR, and still unnamed threat fast approaching Crazy Mutie Island, and that Lord Summers was going to stand and battle this HUGE, MAJOR unnamed threat, much to Wolvie's approval.

Thoughts: Yeah, that's about all I have to say about that one. If you missed the first three issues of this mini-series then I'd recommend snagging this issue, since it'll fill you in nicely leading into Schism... I guess... But for me, this issue quickly got on my nerves as it was more of the same. I KNOW there's a big threat approaching Crazy Mutie Island! I KNOW Lord Summers is going to keep the X-Men on the island to try to fight it off! What I don't know is what this threat is! Still!! According to Namor, whatever it is was prophesied thousands of years ago, so I doubt it's a wild Sentinel invasion(ala Genosha), which was my initial guess. What more can I say? I'll be picking up Schism in the coming weeks, but no thanks to this mini-series.

Score: 5 out of 10.Look at that, Lord Summers even stands like a dictator now!


Uncanny X-Men #539:

Summary: Oh goody, this issue stars our Lord and Savior Hope!!! I was JUST thinking to myself, “You know what I need more of? Our Lord and Savior Hope! One monthly self-titled book is nowhere NEAR enough of Our Lord and Savior Hope!!” Yeah, that's sarcasm. *sigh* I might as well get this over with fast... Our Lord and Savior Hope goes shopping with some of her useless teammates. They get jumped and Our Lord and Savior Hope gets abducted by the Crimson Commando... REALLY?! Wow... It seems the Crimson Commando heard that Our Lord and Savior Hope can give mutants their powers back with a touch(wait, no she can't!), and he wants some of that. Our Lord and Savior Hope, being the toughest thing this side of Wolverine himself, tells Commando to shove it with strawberries, so he wanders away to figure out a way to make her help him... Or something... I really don't care. Anyways, Wolverine decides to hunt down Our Lord and Savior Hope, and finds her, sneaking her out of Commando's stronghold. Naturally Commando figures out what's transpired and heads out with his goons to recapture Our Lord and Savior Hope. After blowing Wolvie up with a missile(or something), Commando decides that NOW was the best time to try to torture Our Lord and Savior Hope into helping him. Our Lord and Savior Hope is too tough to cave to Commando's torture tactics, and holds out long enough for Wolvie to patch himself together and behead Commando and kill his goons. From there Wolvie tells Our Lord and Savior Hope that he doesn't want to get too close to her because if she ever goes crazy he'd be the one who'd have to kill her... Or something.

Thoughts: Well, this issue made it official. Kieron Gillen hates me... Yep, after suffering through several issues of Breakworld, Colossus and Shadowcat, we now get an issue starring Our Lord and Savior Hope, who, you might have noticed, I hate with a blinding passion. I hate this whole asinine, “Hope is our mutant messiah!!!” garbage, but unfortunately, Gillen loves it, and since he's the guy writing Uncanny X-Men, we get Our Lord and Savior Hope in this issue, as well as her own comic. I can't wait until Jason Aaron gets his own X-title, because it HAS to be better than this crap...

Score: 1 1/2 out of 10.Pfft, like a simple gun could scare Our Savior Hope!

X-Men: Prelude to Schism #3 & Titans #36

I'm getting towards the bottom of my new comics pile, so the next few comics coming up are the ones I really wasn't looking forward to reading. That doesn't mean they won't be good or anything, I just don't expect anything from them...

X-Men: Prelude to Schism #3(of 4):

Summary: This issue is ALL about Lord Summers the First, otherwise known as Cyclops/Scott Summers. Lord Summers is contemplating what move he should make against whatever this massive force that's rapidly approaching Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia), with his two options being to evacuate or stand and fight. Before making his decision Lord Summers' mind goes back to the woman who had the greatest impact on his life, Jean Grey... I mean his mother... Huh, didn't see that one coming. Anyway, after a few flashback sequences, Lord Summers makes up his mind and heads out to address his most trusted teammates. And Shadowcat... I'm not sure how she managed to get into the inner circle... Anyway, this issue ends with Lord Summers declaring that he'd be staying to fight the dread menace of the mystery foe.

Thoughts: Sarcasm aside, I enjoyed this issue for the most part. It was a real good issue for people relatively unfamiliar to Cyclops, as it gave a bunch of flashbacks detailing a few important moments from his formative years. Granted, the fact that he was thinking about his mother kind of took me by surprise(nobody EVER talks about poor Katherine Summers!), since I REALLY thought it would be revealed he was thinking about Jean, but whatever. I am a bit bothered that we still don't know what this massive, deadly, horrendous threat to the X-Men is, but hopefully we'll find out next issue. Other than that, this was a perfectly acceptable comic.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.You'd think Namor would at least get a little dressed up for this meeting...


Titans #36:

Summary: Deathstroke manages to escape the catacombs of Drago's lair thanks to the vision in his torn out left eye returning. After getting past Drago's minions, Slade meets up with Cinder and the two continue onward to find and kill Drago. As for Drago, he's currently in the process of being betrayed by Cheshire and That Junkie. Drago's goons enter the room to assist their master, as do Slade and Cinder. Slade immediately squares off against Drago, while everybody else heads into the background for their fight. Slade manages to figure out a way to counter Drago's telepathy, and is about to decapitate Drago, until Drago makes a promise that he'd leave Slade alone(or something, I really don't care that much...). With that, Slade tells the Titans they were leaving, and the team reluctantly does. Slade tells Cheshire and That Junkie that they were all even now(after That Junkie and Cheshire betrayed Slade to Drago), and this issue ends with the Justice League of Losers confronting Slade and the Titans for the murder of Ryan Choi.

Thoughts: Meh. This is one of those DC comics that I usually can't stand, but with the whole Reboot coming up, I can't really get myself to care enough about this series to get angry or anything... I just kind of read through this one totally disconnected from the story and the characters in it, since it all doesn't matter. That's probably why the score is higher than usual, I really don't care one way or the other.

Score: 6 1/2 out of 10.That normally doesn't end well...

Daken: Dark Wolverine #9 & X-Men: Prelude to Schism #1

Daken: Dark Wolverine #9:

Summary: This is the final issue of the Daken/X-23 x-over, as well as the last issue of Daken written by character creator Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu(NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!). X-23 and Daken manage to fight their way through the monstrosities Malcolm Colcord has placed in their path, and continue on his trail, killing anything in their way. As for Colcord, he's trying to escape the facility since he had rigged a bomb to blow up, destroying all traces of his work. Unfortunately for Colcord, Daken and X-23 catch up to him and know all about his bomb. Daken demands to be taken to the bomb, which Colcord, with no real choice, does. The trio arrive at the bomb with 2 minutes to spare, and Colcord tells Daken and X-23 how to disarm the device. Daken and X-23 are in no hurry to disarm the bomb though, since they were content in the knowledge that they'd survive the blast thanks to their healing factors. The two discuss their differences, with Daken wondering why X-23 cares about others and doesn't act as the killer she was created to be, and X-23 wonders why Daken wouldn't allow himself to care about others. Ultimately, the bomb explodes just as Tyger and Gambit arrive on the scene. Daken and X-23 heal up(as planned), and with Colcord(apparently) blown up, X-23 and Gambit decide to leave Madripoor, bidding Daken an uneasy farewell. This issue ends with Daken revealing that Colcord had survived the explosion since Colcord had been injecting himself with healing factor serums. However, Colcord's healing is nowhere near as pure or strong as Daken's and X-23's, meaning he was still terribly deformed and handcuffed to a radiator in an apartment Daken had rented for him. With X-23 out of the country and the traitorous Colcord his prisoner, Daken happily walks through the streets of Madripoor, proud of all he accomplished.

Thoughts: This comic was ALL about action, as you can probably see from the scan I posted. It basically dealt with Daken and X-23 slicing and dicing various obstacles that got in their way. I enjoyed Daken and X-23's little conversation and was fine with their truce, even though it's obvious the two still don't(and probably never will) trust each other. The ending, with Daken walking through the streets of Madripoor triumphantly was a very nice way for Way to end his multi-year run with the Daken character. There's no way Rob Williams(the incoming writer for this series) is going to be able to match the amazing work Liu and Way put into Daken, but here's hoping he can at least come close.

Score: 7 1/2 out of 10.There was a lot of this in this issue!


X-Men: Prelude to Schism #1(of 4):

Summary: This issue gets started with the X-Men revealing that some unknown(and never revealed) threat was on it's way to Crazy Mutie Island(Utopia). All of Lord Summers brain trust, seem to think that whatever was coming to Crazy Mutie Island was unstoppable, and that their only chances were to either order a mass evacuation(which would probably fail since the unknown threat was so near) or attempt a last stand, which would only delay the inevitable deaths of the inhabitants of Crazy Mutie Island. As for Lord Summers, he's staring out the window, puzzling over what move he should make. Prof. Xavier approaches Lord Summers and the two reminisce about their long past from back before everything went upside-down and Lord Summers, known adulterer and bastard, became the King of Mutantkind. In the end, Prof. X offers Lord Summers a vote of confidence and tells him that he was proud of him and that he'd always be there for him.

Thoughts: I REALLY enjoyed this issue a lot! I have NO idea what Schism is, what it's about, etc, but Paul Jenkins did something that I would have thought was impossible... He got me interested in an X-Men storyline! Jenkins did a magnificent job giving us a look back at the Lord Summers/Xavier relationship, back before Lord Summers became a monumental jackass. As a matter of fact, this was actually the first time since Grant Morrison's New X-Men run that I actually found myself not hating Lord Summers! So kudos to Jenkins for reminding me of what I used to love so much about the X-Men, even if it's only for one issue.

Score: 8 1/2 out of 10.Ahhhh the good old days...