So much for reading the next part of War Games tonight... Damn schoolwork. As I get closer to the end of my college semester, the workload is really starting to get pretty heavy! Anyway, instead of reading the next War Games TPB, I'll read this issue of Wolverine instead.
Overall- Damn, Mark Millar is crafting one hell of a great story here. If you haven't read any of my past reviews on the last 3 issues, it might be a good idea to, since we are in a post apocalyptic alternate world here, and things might be a bit confusing, especially if you don't know what is happening up to this point.
We start this issue with the blind Hawkeye(Clint Barton) about to be beaten to death by his own daughter, who wants to take over the land of the recently deceased Kingpin. Logan drives the Spider-mobile through a wall and grabs Clint, getting him out of harms way. Unfortunately for Logan and Clint, Clint's daughter sends a massive force to hunt them down. Before the bad guy's can catch up to Logan and Clint, the ground opens up and swallows everyone involved in the chase, including Wolvie and Clint.
Upon waking up, Wolvie grabs a glow stick and sees a horde of Moloids eating the remains of the people who fell into the hole. Logan chases the Moloids away with the light, which the Moloids fear, since they are subterranean by nature. Wolvie finds Clint still alive and still strapped into the spider-mobile. Wolvie gets back in and uses the spider-mobiles ability to wall climb to get out of the underground hole.
Wolvie and Clint travel the countryside, seeing various horrible sights, such as a bust of the Red Skull on Mount Rushmore, and Loki's skeleton laying underneath the destroyed Baxter Building in the middle of the desert. Clint and Logan wind up at a bar, where some punk harasses Logan, which causes Wolvie to put he guy down hard and almost pop his claws into the guy's head. Realizing what he had almost done, Logan storms out of the bar and is followed by Clint who asks what exactly happened to Logan all those years ago to cause him to retire and become a pacifist. As the issue closes, Logan tells Clint he is finally ready to talk about what happened to him on the day the heroes fell. And that's our cliffhanger ending leading into next month.
Like I stated in an earlier review for this storyline, I've always been a sucker for a good alternate dimension storyline. I loved to collect the old What If's... when I was a kid, and to this day, whenever Marvel puts out the occasional What If..., I make sure to buy them. The Age of Apocalypse is far and away the best comic book crossover I have ever read, helped by the fact that it took place in an alternate dimension. I guess the thing that I like the most about alternate world stories is the fact that nobody is safe. Anybody could die, because the characters involved won't be around anymore when the story concludes.
Getting back to this comic though, I have to say this is the BEST Wolverine comic I have read in quite some time. Mark Millar is doing an amazing job of showing a world that has almost literally gone to hell, and Steve McNiven's pencils are absolutely gorgeous here. This story has been great from the get go, and I know I can't wait to read the next issue to find out what exactly happened to Logan to turn him into a pacifist. This issue was great, and the next issue promises to be just as great if not better. I personally hope this story never ends. For a score, I'm going to give this comic a 10 out of 10! Out of the hundred + comics I've reviewed on this blog so far, this is only the 2nd time I've given out a perfect score. That should say alot about how great this comic was. If you enjoy alternate world stories, Wolverine, Hawkeye, or good comic books in general, do yourself a huge favor, and pick up this, and the three preceding comics of this series, you won't be sorry!
Showing posts with label X-Titles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label X-Titles. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Some words of wisdom from Wolverine.
................. There are no words to even begin to explain this....
Thursday, October 30, 2008
X-Men Legacy #216
Overall- Once again I find it difficult to put the anger I have at this comic book into words. I guess I've always been wrong. Let me explain something right now. Amongst my collection of comic books, I would estimate that I have about almost 90% of all the Uncanny X-Men, X-Men and Astonishing X-Men titles that have ever come out. I have everyone of these comics, with no holes, dating back to 1990. I've spent a lot of time and money, acquiring and reading these comics. I also have, and have read every one of the Essential X-Men comics that have ever come out. So, I think I would be a pretty good expert on a lot of the occurrences that have occurred in the X-Universe.
Prof. Charles Xavier always did what was necessary for the good of the X-Men. Did he screw up sometimes? Of course he did, that's life. Did he engage in some questionable behavior? Once again, of course he did. Now for the kicker. Prof. X was NEVER a villain. You can argue Onslaught to me if you want, but that was.....complicated.
Emma Frost was a villain to the highest degree. She used her powers to gain a fortune, then to gain a place in the Hellfire Club. Emma would constantly destroy the minds of any underling that she felt failed her, as well as attempting to kill the X-Men on numerous occasions. Emma Frost was an evil, cold hearted VILLAIN.
For this comic book to have the audacity to act as if Prof. X was the one playing God, while nothing is mentioned about Emma's sorted past is ludicrous! I don't even know what else to say here... There really isn't anything left I guess... I don't know why Prof. X is being dragged through the mud, while the real villain is living free and clear with the X-Men...
I'm telling you, if only Jean Grey would return and just slaughter Emma Frost, I would die a happy man. As for this particular comic, I can't in good conscience give it any better then a 2 out of 10, and that's even a stretch. Imagine, Emma Frost being judgemental towards Charles Xavier!!! Unbelievable...
Prof. Charles Xavier always did what was necessary for the good of the X-Men. Did he screw up sometimes? Of course he did, that's life. Did he engage in some questionable behavior? Once again, of course he did. Now for the kicker. Prof. X was NEVER a villain. You can argue Onslaught to me if you want, but that was.....complicated.
Emma Frost was a villain to the highest degree. She used her powers to gain a fortune, then to gain a place in the Hellfire Club. Emma would constantly destroy the minds of any underling that she felt failed her, as well as attempting to kill the X-Men on numerous occasions. Emma Frost was an evil, cold hearted VILLAIN.
For this comic book to have the audacity to act as if Prof. X was the one playing God, while nothing is mentioned about Emma's sorted past is ludicrous! I don't even know what else to say here... There really isn't anything left I guess... I don't know why Prof. X is being dragged through the mud, while the real villain is living free and clear with the X-Men...
I'm telling you, if only Jean Grey would return and just slaughter Emma Frost, I would die a happy man. As for this particular comic, I can't in good conscience give it any better then a 2 out of 10, and that's even a stretch. Imagine, Emma Frost being judgemental towards Charles Xavier!!! Unbelievable...
X-Men Legacy #215...
Overall- Because I'm must be a masochist, I've decided to give this comic another try... It can't POSSIBLY be any worse than the last one can it?????
Ehh... Prof. X sets up a meeting with Scott, and they talk about what a jerk X was all these years. Yeah. I get it already. Prof. X altered peoples thoughts. OK. He's one of the highest level of telepath out there, what does everyone expect, a saint?
Throughout this issue, Scott was still being the anti-Scott Summers, you know, the guy who acts nothing like the Scott Summers I've been reading about for these past several years. He hates Prof. X now. Well boo hoo. If Chuck wanted to, he could have just mindwiped the entire world several times over, to achieve the completion of his goals. But he didn't. Everything X has done, he's always had reason for. I don't know where all of Scott's holier than thou crap is coming from, but you'd think he'd have a little more respect for the man who practically raised him from his adolescent years.
What do I expect though? 3 out of 10 is what I'll give this one. Hey, I was right, it wasn't as bad as the last retched issue!
Ehh... Prof. X sets up a meeting with Scott, and they talk about what a jerk X was all these years. Yeah. I get it already. Prof. X altered peoples thoughts. OK. He's one of the highest level of telepath out there, what does everyone expect, a saint?
Throughout this issue, Scott was still being the anti-Scott Summers, you know, the guy who acts nothing like the Scott Summers I've been reading about for these past several years. He hates Prof. X now. Well boo hoo. If Chuck wanted to, he could have just mindwiped the entire world several times over, to achieve the completion of his goals. But he didn't. Everything X has done, he's always had reason for. I don't know where all of Scott's holier than thou crap is coming from, but you'd think he'd have a little more respect for the man who practically raised him from his adolescent years.
What do I expect though? 3 out of 10 is what I'll give this one. Hey, I was right, it wasn't as bad as the last retched issue!
My rant against X-Men Legacy #214
Overall- What the hey I thought, why not start to catch up on this comic series, since I think I'm about 4 months behind. Now, to see if I remember what was going on in this comic...
MOTHER####ING SON OF A #####!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even begin to form words that make any sense right now... That's how incredibly pissed off I'm feeling....... I actually was enjoying the story told in this comic book, because Mr. Sinister has always been one of my favorite villains in all of comics...
His backstage manipulations have always intrigued me. He was always there, and conceivably always will be there. Even after his defeat at the hands of Xavier, Gambit and Shaw, I just sat back and shrugged, content in my knowledge that Mr. Sinister would inevitably be back. You can't keep a good bad guy down... UNLESS YOU TURN HIM INTO A WOMAN!!!!! The last page of this book angered me more than almost any single page I have ever read.
Why the #### is Sinister a female now????? Can ANYBODY explain what ####ing purpose this revelation serves?????? I'm at an absolute loss for words here. Well not really, I sure have a lot more profanity I feel like hurling around... Why does Marvel have this BIZARRE obsession with taking established characters and changing their sex? What the #### does "Miss" Sinister bring to the table that "Mr" Sinister didn't? I'll answer that one myself, NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!
I stopped reading the new Thor series when they decided that for some reason Loki needed to become a woman. WHY??? You know what, I know why, because about 85% of the writers and editors at Marvel Comics absolutely SUCK right now, that's why. They're too damn lazy to actually create a new, strong, female character. So, since most of these hacks have no creativity, they just take established characters and drastically change them. A female Loki... You've got to be ####ing kidding me...
Now I don't want to come across as some kind of crazed sexist, because that's not the point I'm trying to make. If Marvel took the Invisible Woman and changed her into the Invisible Man, or took Jean Grey and turned her into Jean-Paul Grey, I think I would go bat#### crazy!!!!! Here's some free advise to the lazy bastards at Marvel. Instead of changing your male characters into females or vice versa, why the #### don't you go out and create some NEW female characters!!!! I'm sure it can't be that difficult! You're predecessors have been able to do it for years.
Or better yet, if they just NEEDED a Miss Sinister, why not have her working WITH Mr. Sinister??? That's the thing that I appreciate about DC Comics. Batgirl can coexist with Batman. Batgirl isn't Bruce Wayne, suddenly in female form! The same goes for Supergirl. She is her OWN person! She isn't Clark Kent, suddenly transformed into a teenaged girl. She is Kara Zor-El. Why the #### can't Marvel figure this formula out? You want a female Loki, fine, but leave the original Loki the #### alone!!!!!! I hear that Marvel has a new female version of Bullseye called Lady Bullseye out there now. I'm totally fine with that, as long as the original Bullseye remains.
If there is a God up there, PLEASE FIRE JOE QUESADA! I can't take his jack### ideas anymore... This comic will officially go down as one of the few comic books that actually offended me after I read it... Needless to say X-Men #214, you get the distinction of being the first comic I've ever read that gets a 0 out of 10. You know what the worst thing is? I still have another 3 X-Men Legacy comics sitting here that I haven't read yet...............
MOTHER####ING SON OF A #####!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't even begin to form words that make any sense right now... That's how incredibly pissed off I'm feeling....... I actually was enjoying the story told in this comic book, because Mr. Sinister has always been one of my favorite villains in all of comics...
His backstage manipulations have always intrigued me. He was always there, and conceivably always will be there. Even after his defeat at the hands of Xavier, Gambit and Shaw, I just sat back and shrugged, content in my knowledge that Mr. Sinister would inevitably be back. You can't keep a good bad guy down... UNLESS YOU TURN HIM INTO A WOMAN!!!!! The last page of this book angered me more than almost any single page I have ever read.
Why the #### is Sinister a female now????? Can ANYBODY explain what ####ing purpose this revelation serves?????? I'm at an absolute loss for words here. Well not really, I sure have a lot more profanity I feel like hurling around... Why does Marvel have this BIZARRE obsession with taking established characters and changing their sex? What the #### does "Miss" Sinister bring to the table that "Mr" Sinister didn't? I'll answer that one myself, NOTHING!!!!!!!!!!
I stopped reading the new Thor series when they decided that for some reason Loki needed to become a woman. WHY??? You know what, I know why, because about 85% of the writers and editors at Marvel Comics absolutely SUCK right now, that's why. They're too damn lazy to actually create a new, strong, female character. So, since most of these hacks have no creativity, they just take established characters and drastically change them. A female Loki... You've got to be ####ing kidding me...
Now I don't want to come across as some kind of crazed sexist, because that's not the point I'm trying to make. If Marvel took the Invisible Woman and changed her into the Invisible Man, or took Jean Grey and turned her into Jean-Paul Grey, I think I would go bat#### crazy!!!!! Here's some free advise to the lazy bastards at Marvel. Instead of changing your male characters into females or vice versa, why the #### don't you go out and create some NEW female characters!!!! I'm sure it can't be that difficult! You're predecessors have been able to do it for years.
Or better yet, if they just NEEDED a Miss Sinister, why not have her working WITH Mr. Sinister??? That's the thing that I appreciate about DC Comics. Batgirl can coexist with Batman. Batgirl isn't Bruce Wayne, suddenly in female form! The same goes for Supergirl. She is her OWN person! She isn't Clark Kent, suddenly transformed into a teenaged girl. She is Kara Zor-El. Why the #### can't Marvel figure this formula out? You want a female Loki, fine, but leave the original Loki the #### alone!!!!!! I hear that Marvel has a new female version of Bullseye called Lady Bullseye out there now. I'm totally fine with that, as long as the original Bullseye remains.
If there is a God up there, PLEASE FIRE JOE QUESADA! I can't take his jack### ideas anymore... This comic will officially go down as one of the few comic books that actually offended me after I read it... Needless to say X-Men #214, you get the distinction of being the first comic I've ever read that gets a 0 out of 10. You know what the worst thing is? I still have another 3 X-Men Legacy comics sitting here that I haven't read yet...............
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Madelyne Pryor. Who she is and why you should pity her.
So, it seems that Madelyne Pryor is back to life and looking to wreak havoc on the lives of the X-Men and Scott Summers. Good. You don't know how much that pleases me. "What does that mean?" you might be asking. Well, I'm glad you asked.
After the death of Jean Grey(her first death, during the Dark Phoenix Saga) Scott quit the X-Men, and went off to deal with the death of the first woman he truly loved. While he was traveling, he ran into a beautiful red-head named Madelyne Pryor. In many ways, she reminded Scott of Jean and the two began to date. In time, Scott proposed to Maddie and they married. Not long after, Maddie became pregnant, and gave birth to a son, Nathan Summers, the man who would become Cable.
Life was almost perfect for Scott, Maddie and Baby Nathan. The three of them moved to Alaska and Scott was practically retired from the X-Men, and had a loving wife and fledgling family. However, this is where the happy part of the story ends. Scott learns that Jean has returned to life, and in one of the real scumbag moves in comic history, ditches Maddie and baby Nathan in Alaska and goes running back to Jean. Scott, along with Jean and the other original X-Men found X-Factor, with Scott barely giving his wife and child any thought at all.
Now, I'd guess that Scott's actions must have disturbed a lot of fans, because Marvel did a 180, and began to paint Maddie as the bad guy. Suddenly, it is revealed that Maddie is the clone of Jean Grey, created by Mr. Sinister, who only needed Maddie around to produce a child with Scott. On top of this revelation, Maddie decides to sacrifice baby Nathan to demons for nearly limitless powers. This all leads to the "Inferno" crossover in the late 80's. At the conclusion, Marvel has Maddie killed off, which oh so conveniently leaves Scott to take his son and get back together with Jean.
So, problem solved. Everyone forgets that Scott ABANDONED his infant son and wife, and we get Maddie out of the way, which gives us the reunification of Scott and Jean... Now, not so fast. Maddie was never originally the clone of Jean Grey. Let's get that out in the open right away. She was a powerless, regular human being. Only after Scott abandons her is she suddenly revealed as being Jean Grey's clone and having powers, which was, I'd guess only done to make Scott seem like less of a scumbag and Maddie look like the bad guy. Maddie's only real crime was that Marvel had to get rid of her in order to reunite Scott and Jean.
This wasn't the end for Maddie, as she was resurrected by Nate Grey, who was in need of a mother figure when he first arrived on our world. Maddie served as his mother figure, until writer Terry Kavanagh took over Nate's X-Man comic. For some horrible reason, one to this day I can't comprehend, he decided to transform the relationship between Nate and Maddie from mother and son into pseudo lovers. That act tarnished both characters, and the less said about that hideous act the better... Anyway, Maddie ends up dying again during the X-Man comic series.
Now it seems Maddie is back again. I personally am hoping that the writers of Uncanny X-Men, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction, don't go the conventional path with Maddie's return. I'd much rather see her as a woman who was truly wronged by Scott Summers and lost her child and life thanks to him. Of course, I'm pretty sure all of Scott's horrible actions towards Maddie will be forgotten and Scott will come out looking like the good guy, with Maddie just being another villain. I really and truly hope that this isn't the case. Maddie deserves much better.
After the death of Jean Grey(her first death, during the Dark Phoenix Saga) Scott quit the X-Men, and went off to deal with the death of the first woman he truly loved. While he was traveling, he ran into a beautiful red-head named Madelyne Pryor. In many ways, she reminded Scott of Jean and the two began to date. In time, Scott proposed to Maddie and they married. Not long after, Maddie became pregnant, and gave birth to a son, Nathan Summers, the man who would become Cable.
Life was almost perfect for Scott, Maddie and Baby Nathan. The three of them moved to Alaska and Scott was practically retired from the X-Men, and had a loving wife and fledgling family. However, this is where the happy part of the story ends. Scott learns that Jean has returned to life, and in one of the real scumbag moves in comic history, ditches Maddie and baby Nathan in Alaska and goes running back to Jean. Scott, along with Jean and the other original X-Men found X-Factor, with Scott barely giving his wife and child any thought at all.
Now, I'd guess that Scott's actions must have disturbed a lot of fans, because Marvel did a 180, and began to paint Maddie as the bad guy. Suddenly, it is revealed that Maddie is the clone of Jean Grey, created by Mr. Sinister, who only needed Maddie around to produce a child with Scott. On top of this revelation, Maddie decides to sacrifice baby Nathan to demons for nearly limitless powers. This all leads to the "Inferno" crossover in the late 80's. At the conclusion, Marvel has Maddie killed off, which oh so conveniently leaves Scott to take his son and get back together with Jean.
So, problem solved. Everyone forgets that Scott ABANDONED his infant son and wife, and we get Maddie out of the way, which gives us the reunification of Scott and Jean... Now, not so fast. Maddie was never originally the clone of Jean Grey. Let's get that out in the open right away. She was a powerless, regular human being. Only after Scott abandons her is she suddenly revealed as being Jean Grey's clone and having powers, which was, I'd guess only done to make Scott seem like less of a scumbag and Maddie look like the bad guy. Maddie's only real crime was that Marvel had to get rid of her in order to reunite Scott and Jean.
This wasn't the end for Maddie, as she was resurrected by Nate Grey, who was in need of a mother figure when he first arrived on our world. Maddie served as his mother figure, until writer Terry Kavanagh took over Nate's X-Man comic. For some horrible reason, one to this day I can't comprehend, he decided to transform the relationship between Nate and Maddie from mother and son into pseudo lovers. That act tarnished both characters, and the less said about that hideous act the better... Anyway, Maddie ends up dying again during the X-Man comic series.
Now it seems Maddie is back again. I personally am hoping that the writers of Uncanny X-Men, Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction, don't go the conventional path with Maddie's return. I'd much rather see her as a woman who was truly wronged by Scott Summers and lost her child and life thanks to him. Of course, I'm pretty sure all of Scott's horrible actions towards Maddie will be forgotten and Scott will come out looking like the good guy, with Maddie just being another villain. I really and truly hope that this isn't the case. Maddie deserves much better.
Uncanny X-men #503
After this issue, I'm FINALLY caught up with this series!
Overall- What!!! Did somebody actually remember that Sam Guthrie had a brother who was brutally murdered practically right under the X-Men's noses?!?! I was always a fan of the Guthrie clan and Jay Guthrie's death still pisses me off to no end. His death served no purpose what so ever. It didn't help do anything. I'm so glad to see Sam actually you know, acknowledge it. For God's sake, if my own flesh and blood brother was murdered, I think I flip out completely. Sam practically raised Jay, thanks to their father dying and Sam didn't seem bothered at all by Jay's murder. On the contrary, the x-comics acted like everything was business as usual. It's about time Sam shows some emotion for his slain brother... It only took about 3 years...
So, the X-Men, or more specifically Pixie, took down the rampaging Empath. The X-Men winning battles does not please me. Wow, I sound like Magneto now. I'm fine with Pixie on the team, but there were tons of better students at the old Academy then her to take up a spot on this team. You know, like the kid I just mentioned, Jay Guthrie? Or better yet, how about Laurie Collins? Oh yeah, that's right, she was also killed for no ####ING GOOD REASON!!! Woooo. Calm down buddy... Ok, I'm back. We also find out that it seems that it is Madelyne Pryor who is the Red Queen.
I'm completely fine with this decision(I'd have preferred Jean, but Maddie's close enough), and I hope she kills Emma off and then beats Scott to death with her bare hands. I'm just really glad the Red Queen didn't turn out to be another Emma Frost. I couldn't have handled that... Since Maddie is back, I'll be ultra nice and give this issue a 7 out of 10.
Overall- What!!! Did somebody actually remember that Sam Guthrie had a brother who was brutally murdered practically right under the X-Men's noses?!?! I was always a fan of the Guthrie clan and Jay Guthrie's death still pisses me off to no end. His death served no purpose what so ever. It didn't help do anything. I'm so glad to see Sam actually you know, acknowledge it. For God's sake, if my own flesh and blood brother was murdered, I think I flip out completely. Sam practically raised Jay, thanks to their father dying and Sam didn't seem bothered at all by Jay's murder. On the contrary, the x-comics acted like everything was business as usual. It's about time Sam shows some emotion for his slain brother... It only took about 3 years...
So, the X-Men, or more specifically Pixie, took down the rampaging Empath. The X-Men winning battles does not please me. Wow, I sound like Magneto now. I'm fine with Pixie on the team, but there were tons of better students at the old Academy then her to take up a spot on this team. You know, like the kid I just mentioned, Jay Guthrie? Or better yet, how about Laurie Collins? Oh yeah, that's right, she was also killed for no ####ING GOOD REASON!!! Woooo. Calm down buddy... Ok, I'm back. We also find out that it seems that it is Madelyne Pryor who is the Red Queen.
I'm completely fine with this decision(I'd have preferred Jean, but Maddie's close enough), and I hope she kills Emma off and then beats Scott to death with her bare hands. I'm just really glad the Red Queen didn't turn out to be another Emma Frost. I couldn't have handled that... Since Maddie is back, I'll be ultra nice and give this issue a 7 out of 10.
Uncanny X-men #502
Overall- Right off the bat I had to laugh at the caption describing Wolverine as "nearly invincible". Nearly invincible?!?!?! Wolverine is INVINCIBLE. He can't be killed! He was blown up by Nitro not that long ago, and regenerated from a ####ing skeleton! If that doesn't qualify you as invincible, I just don't know what will...
Bah! The X-Men were the ones getting in all the shots in this issue. I want them to lose... Oh well. The X-chumps discover the location of the Hellfire Cult(as they are now calling themselves) and attack. Thankfully, Empath brings some pain to them as he makes his escape.
Before the X-Men attack, the Red Queen(please be Jean Grey, please)forces Empath to tell her all about Emma Frost, then proceeds to look just like her... OK... So the Red Queen is either Jean, Maddie Pryor, Emma Frost, Lady Mastermind or maybe Mystique. Or, of course someone else altogether. My money is on a new character or another Emma Frost, because Marvel hates me and wants me to be miserable.
Yep, I can see it now. The big reveal is that the Red Queen is another Emma Frost. I think that's about the time I take a hot poker to my eyes! All in all, I would have liked to see the X-Men take a beating, but that didn't happen. The story was good and has me interested in the identity of the Red Queen, which is nice, since I haven't really cared too much about the X-titles lately. At least she gives me a reason to pay attention here. Overall this issue gets a 7 out of 10.
Bah! The X-Men were the ones getting in all the shots in this issue. I want them to lose... Oh well. The X-chumps discover the location of the Hellfire Cult(as they are now calling themselves) and attack. Thankfully, Empath brings some pain to them as he makes his escape.
Before the X-Men attack, the Red Queen(please be Jean Grey, please)forces Empath to tell her all about Emma Frost, then proceeds to look just like her... OK... So the Red Queen is either Jean, Maddie Pryor, Emma Frost, Lady Mastermind or maybe Mystique. Or, of course someone else altogether. My money is on a new character or another Emma Frost, because Marvel hates me and wants me to be miserable.
Yep, I can see it now. The big reveal is that the Red Queen is another Emma Frost. I think that's about the time I take a hot poker to my eyes! All in all, I would have liked to see the X-Men take a beating, but that didn't happen. The story was good and has me interested in the identity of the Red Queen, which is nice, since I haven't really cared too much about the X-titles lately. At least she gives me a reason to pay attention here. Overall this issue gets a 7 out of 10.
Uncanny X-men #501
Overall- Here we go, with my all new, all X-Men hating "Uncanny" review! Cyclops is still not acting like himself, which other characters are starting to pick up on, so at least it's not just me. Certain comic characters are supposed to act in certain ways. Batman isn't suddenly going to start cracking wise like Spider-Man, and Scott shouldn't be this uber relaxed leader. It's just not natural...
Anyway, we have the newest incarnation of the Hellfire Club sending out their foot soldiers to beat and terrorize mutants. Unfortunately, they beat up Pixie(leave the mutant kids alone already!!!!!!!!!), who manages to return to the X-Men to tell them what's going on.
The X-Men don't take kindly to this and decide to get answers. For me, the most intriguing aspect of this issue was Empath being shown as the person responsible for inciting the violence which was leading to the attacks against his fellow mutants. He was working under the orders of a striking red head called the Red Queen... Could it be my lost, lamented Jean Grey? Has she turned to evil to strike back at those who betrayed her, Scott and Emma? Probably not, but one can still dream. My guess is it's Madelyne Pryor, or someone altogether new. Anyway, here's hoping whoever she is, she beats the hell out of the X-Men! This comic gets a 6 out of 10.
Anyway, we have the newest incarnation of the Hellfire Club sending out their foot soldiers to beat and terrorize mutants. Unfortunately, they beat up Pixie(leave the mutant kids alone already!!!!!!!!!), who manages to return to the X-Men to tell them what's going on.
The X-Men don't take kindly to this and decide to get answers. For me, the most intriguing aspect of this issue was Empath being shown as the person responsible for inciting the violence which was leading to the attacks against his fellow mutants. He was working under the orders of a striking red head called the Red Queen... Could it be my lost, lamented Jean Grey? Has she turned to evil to strike back at those who betrayed her, Scott and Emma? Probably not, but one can still dream. My guess is it's Madelyne Pryor, or someone altogether new. Anyway, here's hoping whoever she is, she beats the hell out of the X-Men! This comic gets a 6 out of 10.
Uncanny X-men #500
Overall- Hmmm... I really hate the X-Men... Not the comic, but the team. I truly hate the way Cyclops has been written as of late. He isn't Scott Summers anymore... I don't know what he is now. The Cyclops I know doesn't crack jokes and parade the fact that he is a mutant around for all to know. Cyclops is a sullen, angst-ridden leader, who is competent, but stone cold serious.
This comic was all wrong to me! Nobody behaved in the way I'd expect them to. Well, except for Magneto. Am I a bad person for rooting Mags on during the battle? I wanted him to just wipe the floor with these so called "X-Men". I wanted him to maim and kill them. Naturally he lost, as per usual, but it was such a thrill to witness Magneto back again at the height of his abilities.
I can tell these next few issues of Uncanny are going to be funny, because I'm going to be rooting hard for the bad guy's to kill these "X-Men". As far as I am concerned, all the current X-Men are Skrulls, and the real X-Men are just sitting around waiting to come back.
As I said before, I will never stop collecting Marvel Comics. I just can't. When you love something, no matter what it does to you, you just can't let it go. That's me. I just can't stop reading these comics, because it is my real hope that things will go back to normal again and I want to be there for that day.
This comic, with the exception of the Magneto battle and his alliance with the High Evolutionary, really disappointed me. I really was hoping for something much bigger in issue 500 then what was here. You know, maybe a Jean Grey resurrection??? I've been really patient, but it's time. Bring back Jean dammit! Issue #500 would have been the perfect time to do it, but alas, it was not to be... Oh well, opportunity lost. To me this issue was only a 4 out of 10, and that was only thanks to Mags showing up. The rest really sucked.
This comic was all wrong to me! Nobody behaved in the way I'd expect them to. Well, except for Magneto. Am I a bad person for rooting Mags on during the battle? I wanted him to just wipe the floor with these so called "X-Men". I wanted him to maim and kill them. Naturally he lost, as per usual, but it was such a thrill to witness Magneto back again at the height of his abilities.
I can tell these next few issues of Uncanny are going to be funny, because I'm going to be rooting hard for the bad guy's to kill these "X-Men". As far as I am concerned, all the current X-Men are Skrulls, and the real X-Men are just sitting around waiting to come back.
As I said before, I will never stop collecting Marvel Comics. I just can't. When you love something, no matter what it does to you, you just can't let it go. That's me. I just can't stop reading these comics, because it is my real hope that things will go back to normal again and I want to be there for that day.
This comic, with the exception of the Magneto battle and his alliance with the High Evolutionary, really disappointed me. I really was hoping for something much bigger in issue 500 then what was here. You know, maybe a Jean Grey resurrection??? I've been really patient, but it's time. Bring back Jean dammit! Issue #500 would have been the perfect time to do it, but alas, it was not to be... Oh well, opportunity lost. To me this issue was only a 4 out of 10, and that was only thanks to Mags showing up. The rest really sucked.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Uncanny X-men #499
Overall- So, it was (Lady) Mastermind, or one of them anyway, who was behind the fun in San Fran. This was the issue that set up the X-Men's big move to San Fran, thanks to Angel saving the mayor of the city. I don't really get WHY the X-Men are moving out to the West Coast, X-Mansion is as much a part of the team as any member, but here we go anyway...
I was happy with this story, I didn't love it, but it was OK. I liked the battle with Omega Red, but I was always a fan of Red's so I was just glad to see him again. I know that I'm being kind of short with my reviews of these comics, but it's just so hard to get into the X-Universe right now...
I pine for the X-Men I grew up reading about... The outlaw mutants, saving a humanity that hated and feared them. Not the X-Men who allowed Sentinel's to stand guard on their own front lawn... That idea was so ludicrous that I can still barely acknowledge it... ####ing Sentinel's protecting the X-MEN!!!! Insane... Hopefully the upcoming issue's, including #500 can bring some of my interest back to my former favorite comic book. This comic gets a score of 6 out of 10 from me.
I was happy with this story, I didn't love it, but it was OK. I liked the battle with Omega Red, but I was always a fan of Red's so I was just glad to see him again. I know that I'm being kind of short with my reviews of these comics, but it's just so hard to get into the X-Universe right now...
I pine for the X-Men I grew up reading about... The outlaw mutants, saving a humanity that hated and feared them. Not the X-Men who allowed Sentinel's to stand guard on their own front lawn... That idea was so ludicrous that I can still barely acknowledge it... ####ing Sentinel's protecting the X-MEN!!!! Insane... Hopefully the upcoming issue's, including #500 can bring some of my interest back to my former favorite comic book. This comic gets a score of 6 out of 10 from me.
Uncanny X-men #498
Overall- Huh, it's been about 5 months since I read an issue of Uncanny... That really says A LOT about my current feelings towards what's happened to my beloved mutants. When I was a little kid, first cutting my teeth on comic books(no, not literally), all I would read were the 4 X-titles that were out at the time, Uncanny, X-Men, Force and Factor. When I came back to comics again a few years ago, it was the X-titles that drew me back in. I may have been in the minority, but I loved Morrison's New X-Men and yes, even Austen's Uncanny team. Now, I barely even want to crack open an X-title... Even one written by the superb Ed Brubaker. Damn you Joe Quesada!!! Bring back my mutants!!! I much rather preferred the Marvel Universe chock full of muties, as opposed to the paltry 198 we now have... Anyway, enough complaining about the past, onto this issue.
I liked this comic. We get to see more about this Goddess character in San Fran, and Wolvie and co. make their escape from the Russians. The Goddess stuff I'll comment more on after I read the next issue, but I was delighted to see Omega Red show up. Some of my very earliest comic books contained Red's first appearance, I think it was around X-men 4 or so... Overall I was pleased, but I'd expect nothing less from Brubaker. I'll give this issue a 7 out of 10.
I liked this comic. We get to see more about this Goddess character in San Fran, and Wolvie and co. make their escape from the Russians. The Goddess stuff I'll comment more on after I read the next issue, but I was delighted to see Omega Red show up. Some of my very earliest comic books contained Red's first appearance, I think it was around X-men 4 or so... Overall I was pleased, but I'd expect nothing less from Brubaker. I'll give this issue a 7 out of 10.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
X-Factor # 36
Overall- Eh, this comic puts me in an awkward spot... On one hand, Peter David wrote it, so automatically, I should love it, right? Yet, I'm just not fully into the story right now.
Honestly, I think some of the problem is that I don't really like Longshot and David is relying heavily on Longshot in this story. Everytime the team runs into a bit of trouble, it's like they all look at Longshot and he uses his "reading" powers to show them what their next move should be...
I'm also not really too fond of Darwin either... Now, don't get me wrong I don't hate Darwin, but I've always seen him as an unnecessary left over from Deadly Genesis. I LOVED Deadly Genesis, but Darwin just didn't fit into the story. He seemed so uninteresting compared to Vulcan, who I'd much rather have on X-Factor. Granted, I haven't read Deadly Genesis in like 3 years, so my feelings /memory of it might be a little off, but I remember not really getting Darwin's involvement(maybe I should dig that mini-series back out again...).
I guess what I'm saying is that there are a lot of other characters I'd rather see in X-Factor right now then Darwin or Longshot. Since I am an unabashed worshiper of Peter David's writing, even though I'm not really enjoying this story, it gets a 5 1/2 out of 10.
Honestly, I think some of the problem is that I don't really like Longshot and David is relying heavily on Longshot in this story. Everytime the team runs into a bit of trouble, it's like they all look at Longshot and he uses his "reading" powers to show them what their next move should be...
I'm also not really too fond of Darwin either... Now, don't get me wrong I don't hate Darwin, but I've always seen him as an unnecessary left over from Deadly Genesis. I LOVED Deadly Genesis, but Darwin just didn't fit into the story. He seemed so uninteresting compared to Vulcan, who I'd much rather have on X-Factor. Granted, I haven't read Deadly Genesis in like 3 years, so my feelings /memory of it might be a little off, but I remember not really getting Darwin's involvement(maybe I should dig that mini-series back out again...).
I guess what I'm saying is that there are a lot of other characters I'd rather see in X-Factor right now then Darwin or Longshot. Since I am an unabashed worshiper of Peter David's writing, even though I'm not really enjoying this story, it gets a 5 1/2 out of 10.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Wolverine 68
Story- Clint, not willing to let his daughter be executed by the Kingpin, decides to go save her. Logan refuses to help, stating that he won't get involved in any fights. Clint offers to double Logan's pay and tells him that Logan doesn't have to do anything but drive. Logan reluctantly agrees to the new terms, mainly because of all the good the money will do him and his family. Clint and Logan make the trip to Salt Lake City, the base of power to the new Kingpin of Crime. This is definitely not Wilson Fisk, but a newer, younger model.
The Kingpin has dinosaurs eat Clint's daughter's accomplice's, and promises an even more grisly fate for her. Clint's plan is to use the Spider Buggie's ability to climb walls to bust into the prison his daughter is being held in, without having to fight his way through the entire facility from ground level.
Upon breaking in through an upper floor wall, Clint channels his inner Ronin, and hacks away at the guards holding his daughter, by following the sounds of their voices. He finally breaks out his daughter just as the new Kingpin arrives, where he is promptly beheaded by Clint's daughter. She then smashes Clint in the face with the gun she beheaded the Kingpin with. When Clint questions what she thinks she is doing, she tells him she is taking over the Kingpin's empire and is going to solidify her power base by killing her own father. As she prepares to swing the killing blow down at her helpless father, Logan, who had been observing the situation from another room the whole time in the Spider Buggie, curses Clint for "making him do this". What this means, we'll discover in the next issue.
Overall- This comic book proves to me that when Marvel still wants to, they can produce the types of comic books that made me fall in love with them in the first place all those years ago. As I stated in a previous post, I really like alternate dimension storylines, because anything can happen in them, due to the fact that the writer has the freedom to do whatever he/she wants without messing with continuity.
All in all, this was a very good comic, even though the betrayal of Clint's daughter was heavily foreshadowed earlier in the comic, so it wasn't a total surprise... The next issue should be the turning point in Logan's life. Either he sits in the Spider Buggie and watches Clint's daughter kill Clint, or he disregards his vow of committing no violence and saves Clint's neck.
So far, Mark Millar is going a long way in winning me back as a fan with this very well crafted story. I'd be remiss not to mention the beautiful artwork of Steve McNiven. The visuals look great and the violence, which there is ALOT of, is also very well done. I'd recommend anyone who has tired of Wolverine to give these last three Wolverine comics a shot... You might be as pleasantly surprised as me!
The Kingpin has dinosaurs eat Clint's daughter's accomplice's, and promises an even more grisly fate for her. Clint's plan is to use the Spider Buggie's ability to climb walls to bust into the prison his daughter is being held in, without having to fight his way through the entire facility from ground level.
Upon breaking in through an upper floor wall, Clint channels his inner Ronin, and hacks away at the guards holding his daughter, by following the sounds of their voices. He finally breaks out his daughter just as the new Kingpin arrives, where he is promptly beheaded by Clint's daughter. She then smashes Clint in the face with the gun she beheaded the Kingpin with. When Clint questions what she thinks she is doing, she tells him she is taking over the Kingpin's empire and is going to solidify her power base by killing her own father. As she prepares to swing the killing blow down at her helpless father, Logan, who had been observing the situation from another room the whole time in the Spider Buggie, curses Clint for "making him do this". What this means, we'll discover in the next issue.
Overall- This comic book proves to me that when Marvel still wants to, they can produce the types of comic books that made me fall in love with them in the first place all those years ago. As I stated in a previous post, I really like alternate dimension storylines, because anything can happen in them, due to the fact that the writer has the freedom to do whatever he/she wants without messing with continuity.
All in all, this was a very good comic, even though the betrayal of Clint's daughter was heavily foreshadowed earlier in the comic, so it wasn't a total surprise... The next issue should be the turning point in Logan's life. Either he sits in the Spider Buggie and watches Clint's daughter kill Clint, or he disregards his vow of committing no violence and saves Clint's neck.
So far, Mark Millar is going a long way in winning me back as a fan with this very well crafted story. I'd be remiss not to mention the beautiful artwork of Steve McNiven. The visuals look great and the violence, which there is ALOT of, is also very well done. I'd recommend anyone who has tired of Wolverine to give these last three Wolverine comics a shot... You might be as pleasantly surprised as me!
Wolverine 67
Story- We see Clint and Logan crossing the seemly lawless country in the old Spider Buggie, as they continue their trek eastward to New Babylon with Clint's mysterious merchandise. Upon arriving in what was San Francisco, they discover Mole Man's old Moloids, who have apparently begun to eat people to thin out the human race.
While investigating the Moloid situation, and looking for survivors, they are attacked by "Ghost Riders", a bunch of punks riding flaming motorcycles. The Riders take out Clint quickly figuring he's no threat being blind and all, and focus their attack on Logan. They tear into Wolvie with chains and bats, but Logan clings to his pacifist views and refuses to fight back. Even blind, Clint is still the world's greatest archer and kills all 4 Ghost Riders in a hail of arrows, by following the sounds of their voices.
Clint admits to Logan that he is pissed that he didn't defend himself, but Logan explains that whatever happened those 50 years ago completely broke him and he could never fight again. The duo next arrive in what was Las Vegas, the site of where Magneto and the Absorbing Man killed Thor. Thor's hammer still sits ominously on the ground where the God of Thunder fell. Las Vegas is a big tourist attraction and falls under the jurisdiction of the Kingpin.
While passing through, Clint is stopped by Ultron 8(!), who informs him he should go speak with his ex-wife and that it is urgent. Clint meets ex-wife #3, who turns out to be Peter Parker's youngest daughter. She informs Clint that their daughter, along with three others, attempted to rebel against the Kingpin, but were caught and were to be executed the following day, leaving Clint and Logan with the problem of what to do...
Overall- So far, I like this story. We are slowly getting bits and pieces as to what happened to the heroes all those years ago, and now Logan is faced with the prospect of breaking his pacifist vows in order to help spring Clint's daughter.
There is still a lot of information that is lacking, but I think that Mark Millar is deliberately holding back this info, so everything can be revealed during the big climax at the end of the storyline, which is fine by me.
It was interesting to watch the crazed berserker Logan lay there and get pummeled by the Ghost Rider's, while Clint, who was always a strict backer of the Avengers no killing policy, had no qualms with killing everyone of the Riders.
One very minor complaint though, Clint should be about 75-80 years old here, but he looks to be the same age as Logan. I thought Logan's healing factor was supposed to keep him looking younger, so Logan should look much younger then Clint. Other then that, I am seriously looking forward to watching the rest of this story unfold.
While investigating the Moloid situation, and looking for survivors, they are attacked by "Ghost Riders", a bunch of punks riding flaming motorcycles. The Riders take out Clint quickly figuring he's no threat being blind and all, and focus their attack on Logan. They tear into Wolvie with chains and bats, but Logan clings to his pacifist views and refuses to fight back. Even blind, Clint is still the world's greatest archer and kills all 4 Ghost Riders in a hail of arrows, by following the sounds of their voices.
Clint admits to Logan that he is pissed that he didn't defend himself, but Logan explains that whatever happened those 50 years ago completely broke him and he could never fight again. The duo next arrive in what was Las Vegas, the site of where Magneto and the Absorbing Man killed Thor. Thor's hammer still sits ominously on the ground where the God of Thunder fell. Las Vegas is a big tourist attraction and falls under the jurisdiction of the Kingpin.
While passing through, Clint is stopped by Ultron 8(!), who informs him he should go speak with his ex-wife and that it is urgent. Clint meets ex-wife #3, who turns out to be Peter Parker's youngest daughter. She informs Clint that their daughter, along with three others, attempted to rebel against the Kingpin, but were caught and were to be executed the following day, leaving Clint and Logan with the problem of what to do...
Overall- So far, I like this story. We are slowly getting bits and pieces as to what happened to the heroes all those years ago, and now Logan is faced with the prospect of breaking his pacifist vows in order to help spring Clint's daughter.
There is still a lot of information that is lacking, but I think that Mark Millar is deliberately holding back this info, so everything can be revealed during the big climax at the end of the storyline, which is fine by me.
It was interesting to watch the crazed berserker Logan lay there and get pummeled by the Ghost Rider's, while Clint, who was always a strict backer of the Avengers no killing policy, had no qualms with killing everyone of the Riders.
One very minor complaint though, Clint should be about 75-80 years old here, but he looks to be the same age as Logan. I thought Logan's healing factor was supposed to keep him looking younger, so Logan should look much younger then Clint. Other then that, I am seriously looking forward to watching the rest of this story unfold.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Wolverine 66
What?!?! A Marvel comic that isn't in some way, shape or form related to "Secret Invasion"???? I refuse to believe that!
Story- OK. This looks to be interesting. This story opens 50 years in the future. Apparently, the villains of the Marvel Universe wound up banding together, and killed practically all of the super heroes, conquering at least the U.S.A., as well as presumably the world. Wolverine survived the massacre, and became a pacifist, never again popping the claws.
He married and had two children. The Logan family live out on the West Coast of the U.S. The country has been divided up into 4 sections, with the Hulk, Kingpin, Doom and "the President" controlling each one. Wolvie and family are living on land controlled by the Hulk and his grandchildren. The Logan clan live a simple farming life, but wind up having trouble making ends meet, and can't make rent one month. This sends out three of the Hulk's grandchildren to collect.
Since Logan can't pay, they beat the tar out of him and tell him they expect their money next month. Logan awakens in his house where he is visited by a blind Clint Barton(!) who says that he needs Wolvie to help guide him to the East Coast, where Clint needs to deliver a package. Clint promises enough money to solve Wolvie's money troubles, so Logan reluctantly decides to leave his family and go with Clint on the cross country trip.
Overall- Interesting so far... I'm kind of a sucker for alternate dimension storylines, I LOVED the old What if... comics, so I'm more then willing to give this comic a fair shake. First off, before I say anything else, let me just scream one thing, WHY DOES CLINT BARTON ALWAYS END UP BLIND IN EVERY TALE ABOUT THE FUTURE!!!! Whew... Sorry I just had to get that out of my system... By my estimation, this is at least the third future story where Clint turns up blind(Last Avengers Story, Fantastic Four:Big Town, and Avengers Forever off the top of my head).
Anyway, let it be stated here that Hawkeye(Clint Barton) is one of my all time favorite comic book characters, and I'm happy to see him anywhere(even if he's blind again...). I got a kick hearing Clint mention his "ex-wives". I think Mockingbird was the only woman with the patience and ability to knock him on his a$$ when necessary to stick with Clint, so I could easily see him going through a mess of other wives after her death.
Mark Millar is the writer and Steve McNiven is the artist. I mention this because I really like Steve's pencils, and I usually like Mark's stuff, although, I'll always be a little pissed off about how he ended "Civil War"...
I think we all know Logan won't be a pacifist for long, especially in a world dominated by super villains and it should be interesting to see how and why he became a man of peace.
During the comic, they showed a map of the U.S., where many cities were renamed after various villains. I cracked up when I saw the city of Paste Pot Creek. How the hell did Paste Pot Pete manage to get a city named after him!!! One last thing, Logan's children are named Scotty and Jade. Would Logan really name his son after Cyclops???!!! I guess time really does heal all wounds...
Story- OK. This looks to be interesting. This story opens 50 years in the future. Apparently, the villains of the Marvel Universe wound up banding together, and killed practically all of the super heroes, conquering at least the U.S.A., as well as presumably the world. Wolverine survived the massacre, and became a pacifist, never again popping the claws.
He married and had two children. The Logan family live out on the West Coast of the U.S. The country has been divided up into 4 sections, with the Hulk, Kingpin, Doom and "the President" controlling each one. Wolvie and family are living on land controlled by the Hulk and his grandchildren. The Logan clan live a simple farming life, but wind up having trouble making ends meet, and can't make rent one month. This sends out three of the Hulk's grandchildren to collect.
Since Logan can't pay, they beat the tar out of him and tell him they expect their money next month. Logan awakens in his house where he is visited by a blind Clint Barton(!) who says that he needs Wolvie to help guide him to the East Coast, where Clint needs to deliver a package. Clint promises enough money to solve Wolvie's money troubles, so Logan reluctantly decides to leave his family and go with Clint on the cross country trip.
Overall- Interesting so far... I'm kind of a sucker for alternate dimension storylines, I LOVED the old What if... comics, so I'm more then willing to give this comic a fair shake. First off, before I say anything else, let me just scream one thing, WHY DOES CLINT BARTON ALWAYS END UP BLIND IN EVERY TALE ABOUT THE FUTURE!!!! Whew... Sorry I just had to get that out of my system... By my estimation, this is at least the third future story where Clint turns up blind(Last Avengers Story, Fantastic Four:Big Town, and Avengers Forever off the top of my head).
Anyway, let it be stated here that Hawkeye(Clint Barton) is one of my all time favorite comic book characters, and I'm happy to see him anywhere(even if he's blind again...). I got a kick hearing Clint mention his "ex-wives". I think Mockingbird was the only woman with the patience and ability to knock him on his a$$ when necessary to stick with Clint, so I could easily see him going through a mess of other wives after her death.
Mark Millar is the writer and Steve McNiven is the artist. I mention this because I really like Steve's pencils, and I usually like Mark's stuff, although, I'll always be a little pissed off about how he ended "Civil War"...
I think we all know Logan won't be a pacifist for long, especially in a world dominated by super villains and it should be interesting to see how and why he became a man of peace.
During the comic, they showed a map of the U.S., where many cities were renamed after various villains. I cracked up when I saw the city of Paste Pot Creek. How the hell did Paste Pot Pete manage to get a city named after him!!! One last thing, Logan's children are named Scotty and Jade. Would Logan really name his son after Cyclops???!!! I guess time really does heal all wounds...
Does anybody remember New Mutants->New X-Men?
A lot of times, I like to read a nice inoffensive comic book. You know, a comic that tells a good story, without the characters always facing life or death situations. One of my favorite comic books from about 5 years ago was New Mutants, which transformed into New X-Men:Academy X. The writers were Nunzio DeFilippis and Christina Weir. They wrote the book as a I think a book concerning a group of teenagers should be written, in a light hearted, fun manner. The stories dealt more with what it was like to be a teenage mutant, the various relationships they made, and other light hearted affairs.
For me, this book was a nice breath of fresh air. Since I also read all the other X-team books, who were constantly fighting for their lives, the stories in New Mutants were more about taking a step back and being able to still read about mutants, but not constantly worry about the well fair of one of your favorite characters. Now, that's not to say these kids sat around the mansion all day and did nothing, there were plenty of times that they would disobey the X-men and go out and battle some various super-villain, be it Donald Pierce or the Blob.
However, the tone of the book was more uplifting, and with the student body approaching about 100 or so, there was almost limitless story potential. This changed a little with the re-titling of the series to New X-men, and it became obvious that Marvel had larger plans in store for the students at the Academy. Some things changed a little, the students were given practice time in the danger room, etc, but the overall feel of the book remained the same. These were kids first and foremost, and being such, dealt with more petty things, which like I said earlier was a welcome change from the dangerous world of the X-Men. As a matter of fact, a good deal of students attending the school had little to no interest in even becoming X-Men, they were just there to gain an education.
This all changed when the new creative team of Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle took the reigns of the comic book after the House of M/Decimation event. No longer was New X-Men a fun lighthearted read, it was now a darker comic then the other X-titles which is almost incomprehensible, considering the fact that the book dealt with teenagers! Yost and Kyle killed about 25 of the students on the grounds of the school(even though the school was supposed to be under 24 hour protection by Sentinels...). The characters who were killed off, weren't exactly what you would call main characters, but it was unfortunate to see those lives snuffed out none the less.
What they did next was as far as I am concerned completely unforgivable. First they killed of the character of Jay Guthrie. This move made little sense, since the Guthrie family was so entrenched with the X-Men, two of Jay's siblings actually served as X-Men(Cannonball and Husk). To make matter even worse, Jay possessed a HEALING FACTOR! Now, I can't claim to be an expert on healing factors, but aren't they supposed to, I don't know, HEAL YOU FROM INJURY! Anyway, the killing of Jay was an asinine move on so many levels, because it disregards his history, as well as the fact that his siblings now had to work at a place where their younger brother was murdered.
However, I still continued to read this comic, because of the fact that it WAS one of my favorites, and ever the optimist, I continued to hope that things would turn around and the comic would return to it's more lighthearted roots. Boy was I wrong... For me the final straw was the killing of Laurie Collins. Laurie had been one of the first characters introduced back in the New Mutant days, and was to me the heart and soul of the team. She was a shy girl, who had tremendous powers, the ability to control the pheromones of others around her, and was usually unsure about herself and her powers. I loved her character, because of the fact that she was the most "real" character in the book. Laurie wasn't going to be running around in skin tight spandex, or leaping into battle guns blazing, she was a deep character with TONS of potential. Laurie meets her fate while talking to her on again off again boyfriend Josh Foley on the school grounds. While they are discussing their relationship, a sniper shoots Laurie through the back of the head killing her instantly. Now, remember, the school grounds were under the protection of O.N.E. and their many manned Sentinels. So I ask, where the #### were the Sentinels? How did a sniper get close enough to pick off a student with all the security the school was supposed to have? Most importantly though, is why would you kill off a character as interesting and dynamic as Laurie? Couldn't she just have been written out of the series a number of different ways? To this day, I still don't understand what the death's of all of these students served... Each character in the hands of a better writer could have become something greater, but by taking the easy way, Yost and Kyle Threw all those potentially great characters away.
Why did they do it? The only reason I can think is to add X-23 to the mix. X-23, whose only claim to fame is being a teenage female version of Wolverine. Well, that's just what the world needed, yet ANOTHER version of Wolverine. Don't get me wrong, I like Wolvie, but I think that lately he has become a little over exposed. He's everywhere! Now, we have the female version of him running around in New X-Men/X-Force. Oh yeah, just to twist the knife a little more, X-23's first appearance was during the X-Men Evolution cartoon, and guess who was responsible for her creation their? That's right, Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle. To them, all New X-Men was, was a way to bring their creation into the Marvel Universe at the expense of all of the other characters in that series. I to this day could never read a comic with X-23 in it, because all she reminds me of is the selfishness of Yost and Kyle. Needless to say whenever I see either the name Yost or Kyle on a comic book, I avoid it like the plague. New X-Men went from being one of my favorite comic books every month, to the first comic book that I ever stopped collecting mid-series. For that, I will never forget or forgive the pathetic "writers" who ruined this book, Yost and Kyle. I would love to hear from anyone who may have also been fans of this under appreciated series.
For me, this book was a nice breath of fresh air. Since I also read all the other X-team books, who were constantly fighting for their lives, the stories in New Mutants were more about taking a step back and being able to still read about mutants, but not constantly worry about the well fair of one of your favorite characters. Now, that's not to say these kids sat around the mansion all day and did nothing, there were plenty of times that they would disobey the X-men and go out and battle some various super-villain, be it Donald Pierce or the Blob.
However, the tone of the book was more uplifting, and with the student body approaching about 100 or so, there was almost limitless story potential. This changed a little with the re-titling of the series to New X-men, and it became obvious that Marvel had larger plans in store for the students at the Academy. Some things changed a little, the students were given practice time in the danger room, etc, but the overall feel of the book remained the same. These were kids first and foremost, and being such, dealt with more petty things, which like I said earlier was a welcome change from the dangerous world of the X-Men. As a matter of fact, a good deal of students attending the school had little to no interest in even becoming X-Men, they were just there to gain an education.
This all changed when the new creative team of Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle took the reigns of the comic book after the House of M/Decimation event. No longer was New X-Men a fun lighthearted read, it was now a darker comic then the other X-titles which is almost incomprehensible, considering the fact that the book dealt with teenagers! Yost and Kyle killed about 25 of the students on the grounds of the school(even though the school was supposed to be under 24 hour protection by Sentinels...). The characters who were killed off, weren't exactly what you would call main characters, but it was unfortunate to see those lives snuffed out none the less.
What they did next was as far as I am concerned completely unforgivable. First they killed of the character of Jay Guthrie. This move made little sense, since the Guthrie family was so entrenched with the X-Men, two of Jay's siblings actually served as X-Men(Cannonball and Husk). To make matter even worse, Jay possessed a HEALING FACTOR! Now, I can't claim to be an expert on healing factors, but aren't they supposed to, I don't know, HEAL YOU FROM INJURY! Anyway, the killing of Jay was an asinine move on so many levels, because it disregards his history, as well as the fact that his siblings now had to work at a place where their younger brother was murdered.
However, I still continued to read this comic, because of the fact that it WAS one of my favorites, and ever the optimist, I continued to hope that things would turn around and the comic would return to it's more lighthearted roots. Boy was I wrong... For me the final straw was the killing of Laurie Collins. Laurie had been one of the first characters introduced back in the New Mutant days, and was to me the heart and soul of the team. She was a shy girl, who had tremendous powers, the ability to control the pheromones of others around her, and was usually unsure about herself and her powers. I loved her character, because of the fact that she was the most "real" character in the book. Laurie wasn't going to be running around in skin tight spandex, or leaping into battle guns blazing, she was a deep character with TONS of potential. Laurie meets her fate while talking to her on again off again boyfriend Josh Foley on the school grounds. While they are discussing their relationship, a sniper shoots Laurie through the back of the head killing her instantly. Now, remember, the school grounds were under the protection of O.N.E. and their many manned Sentinels. So I ask, where the #### were the Sentinels? How did a sniper get close enough to pick off a student with all the security the school was supposed to have? Most importantly though, is why would you kill off a character as interesting and dynamic as Laurie? Couldn't she just have been written out of the series a number of different ways? To this day, I still don't understand what the death's of all of these students served... Each character in the hands of a better writer could have become something greater, but by taking the easy way, Yost and Kyle Threw all those potentially great characters away.
Why did they do it? The only reason I can think is to add X-23 to the mix. X-23, whose only claim to fame is being a teenage female version of Wolverine. Well, that's just what the world needed, yet ANOTHER version of Wolverine. Don't get me wrong, I like Wolvie, but I think that lately he has become a little over exposed. He's everywhere! Now, we have the female version of him running around in New X-Men/X-Force. Oh yeah, just to twist the knife a little more, X-23's first appearance was during the X-Men Evolution cartoon, and guess who was responsible for her creation their? That's right, Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle. To them, all New X-Men was, was a way to bring their creation into the Marvel Universe at the expense of all of the other characters in that series. I to this day could never read a comic with X-23 in it, because all she reminds me of is the selfishness of Yost and Kyle. Needless to say whenever I see either the name Yost or Kyle on a comic book, I avoid it like the plague. New X-Men went from being one of my favorite comic books every month, to the first comic book that I ever stopped collecting mid-series. For that, I will never forget or forgive the pathetic "writers" who ruined this book, Yost and Kyle. I would love to hear from anyone who may have also been fans of this under appreciated series.
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