From the Front - Uncanny #506 - 507

I shall now attempt to review comics which appear to contain payoffs to storylines I have not read. Because of this, I won't put a 'victory or loss' line at the end, like I normally do.

Some scenes of Colossus and Emma Frost kicking the Russian mob around. I expect that if I had read Lovelorn, in which Colossus moped around feeling sorry for himself (I'm guessing this), seeing him cracks some skulls would have been rather more awesome. The theme here seems to be 'big guy with steel skin that can feel no physical pain who has a big heart and therefore feels intense emotional pain'. He doesn't know how to deal with physical pain, cause he usually just goes steel (hence the tattoo subplot) and so he has a really hard time dealing with his pain over the loss of Kitty. I think this is a continuation of a general theme surrounding Colossus, dealing with the feelings of a guy who can't feel anything. I think it is a good bit of character work.

I am liking Emma's story too. Issue #506 begins with a nightmare about her costume transforming from white into black. This is obviously linked to her deal with Osborne, and also the recent mini in Divided we Stand where she questions whether she has truly become good, or if there will always be a part of herself that is evil. Some people have complained about the recent trend showing her self-doubt, as she has always been full of self-confidence, to a fault, and they think this detracts from her character. I disagree - it has made me more sympathetic towards her. After all, some people seem to have hard exteriors but have lots of hidden feeling on the inside. Hmm, this sounds strangely familiar. Maybe she should go diamond, and join Colossus in cracking some skulls. Oh, wait, she does. I just hope that Emma and Scott don't split over the secrets they've been keeping from each other. Here's hoping to what doesn't break them makes them stronger…

As for Beast and Angel's team…um…why didn't Beast contact these people in Endangered Species? I thought that storyline was to show he had done everything he possibly could and there was absolutely no way to undo M-Day. I'm not so keen on this storyline.

I am more happy about getting this series now, last year I found myself constantly having to justify getting it.

As for Guardians #12, I'm still a bit lost. I'll try to work it out and put up a review soon.

Quartermaster - January 2009 - War is Upon Us

Astonishing X-Men #27
Big action. Big Science. And a Big Mystery to solve! The superstar team of Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi take the X-Men on a mission that will take them into mind-bending and previously uncharted territory -- one that will test them -- and their leader Cyclops -- to their very core.
Quick, look! Before it disappears! Ok, so it’s only been delayed by one month, as it was replaced by Ghost Boxes for two issues. But this series just doesn’t appeal to me.
Not in supply.

Cable #10
In the present, Cyclops, Emma and Beast have been ambushed by Bishop and a nasty little surprise he’s smuggled into the X-Men HQ. Meanwhile, hundreds of years in the future, Cable realizes what the former X-Man has done to the planet -- all in an effort to make sure Cable and the four-year-old mutant messiah never, ever return to the present. Once again, the rules of the hunt have been completely rewritten, and the future of mutantkind has never looked more uncertain.
The baby isn’t a baby anymore, in January she’ll be four years old already. Hmm. I still don’t get how Bishop knows what to do to change the future so Cable can’t return. Oh well.
Not in supply.

Captain America #46
Eisner-Winning artist Steve Epting returns as the New Captain America comes face-to-face with an old ally -- Prince Namor -- on a dangerous trip to China. Can Bucky and Namor team up to save the memory of an old comrade-in-arms as Cold War crimes come back to haunt the Winter Soldier? Part 1 of 3.
Presumably the old comrade in arms is Jim Hammond the Human Torch, as he’s on the alternate 70th anniversary cover. I missed out on Namor in Herc, and now I'm missing out on this. Oh well.
Not in supply.

Civil War: House of M #5
How Magneto formed the House of M! It all comes down to this...the final battle between Magneto's mutant army and the United States of America! Can the Master of Magnetism stand against non-metallic Sentinels? What will happen when Magneto's children learn that he's their father? And how will Earth's superpowers respond when the planet's most powerful mutant finally makes his bid to conquer the world? The epic conclusion to the House of M's greatest untold story is here!
Still not a lot I can say about this, as I haven't got the second issue yet.
In supply.

Fantastic Four #563
December has a Cosmic Sized special instead of the regular book. This month has the FF nowhere to be found. Is Millar really killing off Sue? Does Reed bite it in the final issue of SI? Is the Fantastic Four no more? Marvel are being very quite about this.
Missing in Action.
Erm. My mistake. Looks like the Millar-penned #563 has been delayed from December to January. It seems to have a Human Torch alt cover, exactly like Cap. Or Marvel just posted the solicit wrong.
Not in Supply.

Guardians of the Galaxy #9
Star-Lord...trapped in jail...in the Negative Zone Prison...under attack from King Blastaar and his barbarian hordes! Will Rocket Raccoon and his new Guardians arrive in time to save their leader? Given their recent run of luck, probably not! Plus, cool art by Star Wars penciller Bong Dazo staggering revelations about Adam Warlock - as events continue to build to WAR OF KINGS! Surely you must be there for the next chapter of the series that has WeeklyComicBookReview.com raving: "If you aren't reading GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY yet, now is the time to get a taste of the awesome that is Rocket Raccoon and the gang."
I'm pretty sure something is missing from that solicit. But it's Guardians, and it never misses and thats why its...
In supply.

Secret Invasion: War of Kings #1
It's finally here...WAR OF KINGS! The Secret Invasion may be over, but the Inhumans are still reeling from the terrible wounds inflicted on them by the Skrulls. And this time, the Royal Family and their massively powered people have been pushed too far! You have never seen the Inhumans like this - and it's only the beginning! Plus: How will the empire-expanding Vulcan react to these recent universe-shaking developments? Before this double-sized shocker is over, vengeance will be had, daring alliances will be forged, and the first shots in a destiny-changing battle will be fired! The acclaimed team of writers Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and artist Paul Pelletier unite to revamp heroes, reveal villains and rock the universe!
It costs more...buuut...its double-sized and written by DnA. So its gotta be good.
In supply.

Thor #600
The mighty God of Thunder hits a major milestone! THOR goes back to its classic numbering for this issue 600 mega-event, and even Stan "The Man" Lee joins the party with an all-new story! J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel bring their widely acclaimed run to a major culmination! And Chris Giarrusso lays down an epic Mini Marvels Thor adventure! PLUS jaw- dropping wraparound covers by Olivier Coipel and Marko Djurdjevic! Miss this issue?! We say thee NAY!
This makes me laugh. In a good way, though.
Not in supply.

Tech-powered Ex-X-Men #20…I mean, New Warriors #20
FINAL ISSUE!
This is it. This is what it’s all led up to. In a future that’s everything he’s ever fought against, Night Thrasher has achieved his mission and been reunited with his brother, Dwayne. But at a cost. One that’s growing. And when that cost becomes too high, Donyell realizes he needs to take it upon himself to set things right. In this final issue of NEW WARRIORS, all bets are off. And no one leaves unscathed...
I was just wondering last week how many people were buying this.Apparently, not enough. Fans of Chamber, start sending Paul Cornell your requests.
Not in supply.

Uncanny X-Men Annual #2
This appears to be classified alongside the Dark Reign stuff. Hmm. I better add the Dark Reign One-Shot to my December list. I need to know what dark dealings the X-men are getting involved in. For some reason, Newsarama and CBR didn't have the cover for this - but IGN did.
In supply.


X-Factor #39
Witness the most important event in the lives of Jaime Madrox and Siren—the birth of their baby! What will happen to X-Factor—and what will be the meaning for mutantkind!...All we can guarantee are that the answers are not what you expect—but that’s what makes it X-Factor! Don’t miss what is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of 2009!
It’s Siryn. Get it right people. You’d think the birth of the second mutant baby would garner a bit more attention than a normal issue of XF. But none of the power players from Messiah CompleX seem to care. I’m not complaining – X-Factor doesn’t need to get involved in another cross over, and Peter David generally knows what he’s doing. I’m sure he can make it an siginificant event without the involvement of other books. X-Factor have probably been able to keep it secret, what with Bishop taking out everything that can detect mutants and all the power players from Messiah CompleX embroiled in their own problems. Besides, no one ever said this baby was a mutant…
In supply.

X-Force #11
After Warpath's shocking discovery last issue, now it can be told... the origin and history of the mysterious man who betrayed the Purifiers, killed a Technarch, and plans a dark future for X-Force and all of mutantkind. Welcome to first century ROME, and meet the man named Eliphas and his Black Queen...the woman the X-Men know as SELENE.
Looks like they’ll be picking up the Wither/Selene loose threads here. Not surprised. But it’s X-Force. It doesn’t exist. I don’t know about it.
Not in supply.

X-Infernus #2 (of 4)
Darkchilde comes calling to the X-Men’s doorstep—and she’s not leaving without her Soulsword. The next pulse-pounding issue by C.B. Cebulski and Giuseppe Cammuncoli is here and it’s shaking up the X-Men in a big way.
Yeah, that doesn’t tell us anything. No cover image either. For all the information that’s been thrown at us in interviews we still know very little about this mini. But it seems like it will be good.
In supply.

X-Men: Legacy #220
It’s the moment that X-Fans have been waiting for — Rogue makes her return to the X-Books. But while Xavier seeks out Rogue, who is searching for him? Hunter becomes hunted and friend becomes foe, in a story that will change your favorite Southern Belle forever. Part 1 (of 5)
Looks like Legacy is going straight from the crossover into a five-parter about the Prof and Rogue. I don’t care much for Rogue, so it looks like I won’t be getting this for a while still. I like Mike Carey’s writing, I just don’t like the topic.
Not in supply.

X-Men: Kingbreaker #2 (of 4)
Marvel Girl, Korvus and Lilandra are the only resistance to Vulcan’s reign, but Vulcan aims to end their rebellion. With Havok, Polaris and rest of the Starjammers in prison, they don’t stand to get much help. The Shi’Ar Empire is expanding under Emperor Vulcan’s reign… Come see the road to the WAR OF KINGS!
There's still two more issue of this in Febuary and March, so I don't think WoK is actually starting till April, despite what SI:WoK says. I think its like the Annihilation events which had a one-shot, minis and a main series, except the minis are GoG, Nova, Inhumans and this, and the scheduling is a bit off.
In supply.

X-Men: Manifest Destiny #5 (of 5)
The final issue of the hit X-Men anthology mini-series is here! See the pulse pounding conclusion of Mike Carey and Michael Ryan’s Iceman story? What does Mystique want and why is she coming to Iceman? Also stories featuring the return of Avalanche and a rockin’ story starring your favorite glam-X-lady Dazzler!
Well here’s my answer – MD is definitely five issues. Despite the first issue saying 'of 4' on the cover. I hope that the Iceman story has a good finish. I don’t much care about Dazzler or Avalanche though. This is a hit series? I thought everyone hated it. You may think I’m crazy to get it, but I’ve committed myself and I’m stubborn.
In supply.

X-Men: Worlds Apart #4 (of 4)
On one hand, her husband. On the other, her teammates. While Storm races to save the lives of the Black Panther and the X-Men, she recognizes a third option: take down the one responsible for making her choose in the first place. And to do it, she just might get some help from an unlikely source…
Say what? After all the hype Storm’s not going to choose between the X-Men and Wakandia? Meh.
Not in supply, fortunately.


Young X-Men #10
You think you know everything there is to know about YOUNG X-MEN? Think again. One shocker has been brewing since #1 and the pot peaks with #10. Don’t miss this landmark issue of Young X-Men.
I’m really tempted to pick this up. The Y-Men arc will have finished in December, and this book looks like it will be going somewhere at last. But I’m still getting a lot of miniseries in Jan, so I’ll probably wait for some of them to end, and for the book to pick up threads from Infernus.
Not in supply…yet.

From the Front - September, Second Wave

I didn't realise that Guardians was missing till I checked up on when these books came out. Must be another shipping mess up. Yay. But regardless, this is the rest of my September reviews. Hopefully I can review the first arc of Guardians (1-6) and the Secret Invasion/She-Hulk tie-in-cross-over arc of X-Factor before the end of the month.

Uncanny X-Men #502
SFX Part 3: Beginning to See the Light
The title is very apt, as Uncanny is either getting better, or I'm just enjoying it more for some reason. This issue gets across exactly how things are going to work. If, like me, you thought Karma's unannounced appearance at the end of last issue was strange, you had best get used to it. Cause Cyclops is gonna call in whoever he needs, whenever he wants. Need bait for a trap? Call in Karma, who can walk around looking like a helpless girl, but is really incredibly tough and can suddenly turn around and control her attackers minds. This issue does a far better job of introducing her then the story about her in Manifest Destiny - and she's barely in half of the book! And when the mission is finished, he thanks her and she leaves, and we don't see her again in the issue. In a similar way to Karma's appearance, Storm suddenly shows up to help attack the Hellfire Cult's base with no explanation of where she's been (probably flying in from Wakandia, but her role will be examined in the World's Apart miniseries). Colossus is apparently on the mission too, but we don't see him.

We are shown exactly what kind of leader Cyclops is - his plans aren't perfect, as Karma's ability to control people is neutralised in the first page, forcing her to withdraw, and later Empath escapes a carefully constructed web by means of a tunnel that no one knew about. On the other hand he has contingencies in place, as Logan and Kurt are on hand to take down the ambushers when Karma proves unable to control them. He's also good at rapidly analysing situations and changing plans accordingly (Emma explained this to Shanna back in the Savage Land). For the mission to the cultists base, where presumably they will still be protected from mental attacks, he tells Emma to go diamond form, using her as powerhouse instead of a telepath. This will prevent her from acting as team coordinator, so he uses Beast (with radio communicators) as co-ordinator instead. When Pixie suddenly leaves, they're short a teleporter, so he calls in Kurt again.

We also take a good look at Pixie. It takes a lot to shut her up, but Beast manages to render her speechless by introducing her to her favourite pop-star, Dazzler. Pixie then decides she just wants to be normal, and tries to sneak off, but learns there's no sneaking past Logan. He drop her off at her friend's place in a run-down warehouse, and gives her a good Logan-style talking to. He calls her girly-girl, probably because of the unicorn incident near the end of the New X-Men run. And while the X-Men are off fighting Emapth, Pixie decides to join them after all, leaving us with the famous words, 'What could possibly go wrong?'

By the way, anyone else notice the graffiti scrawled on the wall read 'Embrace Change'? Skrull propaganda is everywhere.

Verdict: Minor Victory.

X-Factor #35
Best Intentions
I decided to read this, as it could take while for #34 to get here, and it’s a SI tie in anyway, so its not absolutely essential. I was wondering if David could come up with a good reason for the real Longshot to show up, and he does. Longshot sees a picture of himself and Darwin fighting a skrull in the newspapers, so goes to Detroit to find out who's been impersonating him, and is told that XF Investigations are good at getting answers, so he pays them a visit. Hilarity ensuses as he tries to convince Guido that if he was a skrull, he wouldn't be impersonating someone they knew was a skrull, would he? This sort of thing works with Guido - but it doesn't with Rictor. If Rictor's on the team for his investigation skills rather than his powers (and we know he has investigation skills, he's the only one who realised something was off with Gameday) surely he can work out for himself that Longshot isn't a skrull?

Madrox and M are called in by the cops and shown Hector (Darwin's father) in a coma at the hospital, with severe brain damage. Longshot seems to be replacing Layla, as he gets a feeling that it would be a good idea to meet Madrox at the hospital, and uses his powers to charm the dour cop into giving him Hector's check book, leading to the reveal that Hector only wanted to find Darwin because someone was paying him to deliver Darwin to them. Except, instead of paying Hector, they shot him. How nice. But it never rains, it pours - Madrox accidentally lets out his X-Factor dupe, who tries to suffocate Hector, but fortunately he is stopped in time. But...Longshot now knows Madrox's secret. He has proved his usefulness , so it looks like he'll get a feeling that it will be a good idea to stick around for a while.

Darwin, meanwhile, is at the mercy of some nasty people, who appear to be trying to use him for some sort of genetic experiment. Why do I get the feeling that this corporation will turn out to be funded by the same mysterious person who was funding Damian Tryp and Singularity?

While the story is strong, I am still not enjoying Larry Stroman's art. It’s a bit better than issue #33, but not by much. The cover is good, but Siryn doesn't fight Longshot - in fact, she's the one who convinces Guido he is who he says he is. But we don't exapect whats on the cover to actually happen in the book anymore, do we?

Verdict: Minor Victory.

Both books aren't at their best, but they're getting there. And lastly…

Solomon Kane #1
The Castle of the Devil, Part 1
This is the first book from Dark Horse I've bought - in fact it’s the first book by a publisher other than Marvel or DC. And it was quite different. Even the paper felt different. And I must admit…I didn't quite follow the story. But it is the first of a five-parter adapting a story that Robert E. Howard never actually finished, so I'm sure my understanding will improve drastically when I have more of the story in my hands. It takes place in Germany before Kane travels to Africa, and follows his journey with incidental companion John Silent, who's name sounds vaguely familiar - I suppose he is referred to one or twice in the later stories I've read. Silent and Kane are not two people who would normally make friends, Silent doesn't quite know what to make of Kane's insistence that he is following God's will, and Kane dislikes Silent's blasphemous mouth (and yes, saying 'Name of the Devil' counted as bad swearing back then, especially to Puriatins like Kane). But a fellow Englishman is a fellow Englishman, and they find themselves starting to like each other in spite of their differences. They end up guests at the titular castle, named after the Abbey of the Devil over which it was built, made infamous by the discovory that its prior was an apostate. The Baron who resides in the castle is obovisly either very scared of some evil goings on, or is the instigator of them, but no more is revealed for now. The artwork was sombre bat well-drawn, with a pastel palette - except for the blood in Kane's fight with the bandits, which is jarringly bright red. I suppose I'm used to X-Factor in which blood is usually discoloured to a muddy brown. And its good to know I'm not jaded and still flinch at blood.

By the way, the cover scene does happen in the book. Well, almost - he's not holding his gun in the book.

Verdict: Minor Loss. I didn't particularly enjoy this, even though I usually enjoy Kane stories. But I'm hoping I will be able to revise my opinion soon.

War Correspondence - The Legacy of Messiah CompleX

I've been wanting to do this for a while, but I've been putting it off until the direction of the X-books could bee seen a bit more clearly. With IGN running an interview with X-editors Nick Lowe and John Barber that I can steal fr…I mean refer to, I thought now would be a good time.

About this time last year, we knew that the four team X-books (X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, New X-Men and X-Factor) would be involved in an old-style crossover called Messiah CompleX that would shake-up the world of the X-Men and that it would result in every X-book having a clear mandate which was different to every other X-book. Have they succeeded? I'd answer yes, but it took them a little longer to get there than I thought it would.

Messiah CompleX worked well. The four writers worked well together to produce a seamless, fast-paced, weekly storyline with stunning twists that gave the X-Men new hope and direction after M-Day - which was especially needed after the way most books had just ignored it. It also counterbalanced the birth of the new hope with the death of the old hope that had been driving them since issue #1 of Uncanny - the hope that mutants can exist peacefully with humans. They can't.

So, Uncanny X-Men became about the new hope. X-Force started the story of the dark secret behind why the new hope will succeed where the old failed. X-Men became X-Men: Legacy and explained why the old hope failed. New X-Men became Young X-Men, and continued to be about the last generation of X-Men who have a new hope that they are not actually the last generation of X-Men after all. X-Factor continued to rebel against the leadership of the other X-Men, now by being depressed instead of hopeful. Cable took two mutants who were stuck on the periphery of the X-verse with nothing to do and pulled them right into the centre by pitting them against each other with the new hope as first prize.

Except, it didn't happen quite like that. When Messiah CompleX ended, there was still a few issues to go before Uncanny #500 which was going to be the launching point of the new directions. So the books treaded water under the Divided We Stand label, giving us such unfortunate stories as the X-men going on holiday in Uncanny, Arcade popping up in X-Factor, and Pierce pitting the new X-Men against the new mutants in Young X-Men, and Bishop repeatedly trying to kill the baby in Cable. Whilst some of these stories might have been ok on their own, they added up to a disillusioning vision that we weren't going to be getting what they had told us we would. Nothing of any importance was happening in the 'flagship' Uncanny. Young X-Men was nowhere as good as the beloved New X-Men. Cable was an excellent concept, but executed very badly. And X-Factor felt like the only thing that Messiah CompleX had achieved was to derail its storylines.

That just left X-Force and X-Men: Legacy, both of which were praised. It is possible that X-Force was only being praised cause everything else was so bad, but X-Men: Legacy definitely deserved its praise for its examination of the history of the X-Men. The only problem with Legacy was that new readers wouldn't understand it.

Fortunately, there was a second chance to get it right under the Manifest Destiny label, which was launched by Uncanny X-Men #500. Manifest Destiny is not finished yet, but this time, it looks like its working. All the pieces are finally falling into place and each of the books are now following a different concept - the concepts I mentioned in the third paragraph. So, where exactly are they, and where are they going?

Uncanny X-Men
This is the flagship. This is where we first saw the move to Los Angeles, where we will see the X-men taking hold of their new hope and destiny. If the X-Men need to get involved with other superheroes like the Avengers, you'll see it here. If the X-Men have a huge crisis, you'll see it here. We have often been told that Uncanny has no lineup, no set team, like it used to do. I don't think that's entirely correct. I'd say that before, it was like a cricket team. You have your list of eleven players. If one of them gets injured, bad luck, you're short a batsman or bowler and can't do much about it. But now, its more like a soccer team. You have a core team of players who always play the whole match, and a number of substitutes who are swapped in and out as the need arises. The core team is Cyclops, Emma, Beast, Angel, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Wolverine and Pixie. So far we've seen Cannonball subbed in to blindside Magneto, and Karma subbed in to fight the Hellfire club. I'm not sure where to put Storm as she's still supposed to be Queen of Wakandia which is a long way from LA, but that's what the Storm: Worlds Apart miniseries will tell us.

Astonishing X-Men
This is the X-Men team book. It has an actual set team, which overlaps a lot with Uncanny, but you won't be seeing substitutes or big direction stuff here. It’s about a set team of X-Men fighting villains, beating them, then fighting the next lot of villains. Its not trying to be anything else. I'd say its probably for people who haven't read or don't want to read much X-Men. That is, if it manages to come out on time, which it doesn't seem to be doing.

Young X-Men
This is about the young X-Men. Well, some of them. They happen to be ones I don't care about, but I'm sure some people like these characters and will buy this book. It had a rocky start - if they needed to wait for Uncanny #500, why didn't they just delay the launch of this book? Regardless, it is now in LA like the other X-Men. This books identity seems to be somewhat diluted by the new direction. Before, there were four books about adult X-teams, and one about a teenage X-team. It had identity cause it stood out from the crowd. But now, all the others are so different from each other that there is no crowd to stand out from. It just feels like this will be 'Astonishing X-Men lite'.

X-Force
This book is the part of Uncanny X-Men that you don't see in Uncanny X-Men. It’s a clandestine team-within-a-team. The X-men don't know the X-Force exists, and for good reason. The X-Men don't kill, but the X-Force does. Here you see the dark side of Cyclops, Angel and Wolverine, who together with X-23, Warpath, Wolfsbane, and Elixir, decide who must be killed to keep the X-men safe. It asks a lot of questions people don't want to answer. I'm prepared to pretend it doesn't exist and not buy it, rather than complain about it and ask them to stop publishing it. X-Force? I don't know about any X-Force. What does that say about me?

X-Factor
X-Factor hasn't changed a whole lot. It was a noir detective book about a group of X-Men, a close-knit business rather than a team of superheroes, who tend to disagree with Cyclops and the other X-men and do their own thing, and it still is. Sure, they've moved from New York to Detroit, but all that changes is that they are now even farther from the rest of the X-Men and even less likely to get involved with them. It was on a bit of a rocky road after Messiah CompleX, but it seems to have pulled itself together and started using the damage that was done to it as an asset rather than a liability.

X-Men: Legacy, Wolverine: Origins and Wolverine
This is not a team book, even though it has a number of X-men in it. This is a book about individual characters who are not currently with the X-Men in LA, but are off in various parts of the world assessing their relationship with the X-Men. It could have been called the X-ternals, but that would imply there was some sort of unity between the disparate characters. Its mostly been about Professor X, with some Gambit and Sebastian Shaw thrown in, but at the moment it’s the Prof, Wolverine and Daken. After that, Rogue will soon become a big player. X-Men: Legacy has just started a crossover with Wolverine: Origins, which many find amusing as they are reputed to be the best and worst X-books respectively. What the crossover has done is pull Origins out if its own corner and put it firmly into the X-verse. We are told it will be staying here, and stuff in it will impact other books more and more. What does that mean for Wolverine itself? At the moment its off in the future, crossing over with Fantastic Four, and having nothing to do with the X-verse. All Barber will say is that it will return to the present day next year. So Wolverine is a wildcard at the moment.

Cable
Cable is off in the future protecting a baby while Bishop tries to harm him by changing the present. I do not understand this book. I've read books like The Seeds of Time, by Wyndham, and watched series like Star Trek, so I thought I understood time travel. But I cannot fathom how Bishop thinks changing the future will harm Cable. He doesn't even know where Cable is. Does he have Layla Miller's powers now or something? There is hope though - according to Barber, Marvel will continue the good book / bad book crossover trend by having an X-Force/Cable crossover in the near future.

Events
I have spoken at length on X-Infernus, so all I will say here is that Lowe calls it a 'Deadly Genesis style mini'. Lowe say the X-men won't play a role in War of Kings - which I assume means that no X-Men except Havok, Polaris, Marvel Girl and Vulcan will be involved, but there is another big plan for them in summer 2009. Does this mean the X-men will finally get directly involved in an event? Then 2010 will see another Messiah CompleX style crossover - I'm glad they're doing another one, and equally glad that its only happening in 2010, giving the X-books time to settle into their new roles.

Quartermaster - Marvel goes Dark and Cosmic

I felt like playing with colour today. Blue for titles, green for if I'm getting them, red if I'm not.

Civil War: House of M
Sometime this week I'll put up a post explaining why I like house of M so much. Till, then, in supply.





Dark…Stuff
Not much to say here, as its all classified. Not even sure which of these are one shots and which are miniseries. Secret Invasion: Dark Reign was announced as a one-shot somewhere, I think. Dark Reign: New Nation seems to be an anthology of the type liked by X-Men writers, and could be a oversized one shot, or part of a mini-series. I'll chat more about the classified stuff tomorrow on Spoils of War. But as I don't know what any of this is, and won't be able to get Marvel Previews: Dark Reign edition until its too late to order anything…not in supply. Of course, Kickasskomix pride themselves on being able to get anything I want, so if I really really need any of this, I can get it in January.

Guardians of the Galaxy #8
Goodness gracious. Blastaar vs Star-Lord in the Negative Zone? Rocket Raccoon leads the Guardians of the Galaxy? (Well, they showed us that in last month's cover, but I didn't believe them.) It’s a War of Kings lead-in too! Which is a good thing, cause I thought they might throw in another mini-series that I can't afford to get cause there's just too much happening in December. In supply.

Fantastic Four: Cosmic Sized #1
The solicit title says Fantastic four Cosmic Special, the picture says Fantastic Four: Cosmic Sized, and the file was named 'ffinvcov.jpg' . I'm telling you all this cause the solicit itself gives no information, a suspicious move which leads me to think it has something to do with the end of Secret Invasion. Except that its nowhere near any of the Dark Reign stuff in the solicit list. Not in supply for now, but being cosmic, there's an outside chance it may link to War of Kings, so we'll wait and see…

Hulk Family #1
Now, I wanted to get this, cause of Scorpion, but there's just too much stuff going on this month, and its $5. I can almost get two other comics for that price! So, not in supply.





Marvel Studios: Iron Man: Fast Friends #1 and The Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files #1
Now this was unexpected. Sure, we've had Secret Invasion: The Home Invasion, but two movie tie-in series available exclusively on MDCU? It’s a very interesting move, I'll have more comments on this tomorrow. I don't subscribe to MDCU, so not in supply.


She Hulk: Cosmic Collision
She Hulk with Quasar's sword? With Storm, Susan Storm and Valkyrie in it too? Its written by Peter David? In supply.





What If?
A whole slew of these with an interesting gimmick that they each have part of a back up story involving the Runaway's becoming the Young Avengers. We've all seen the Doom/Guantlet cover to What If? Secret Wars and the Cap holding Iron Man cover to What IF? Fallen Son. Darn Marvel, teasing us like that. Oh, What If? House of M should really be named What If? Decimation, but it probably wouldn't sell as much then. Not in supply.

Uncanny X-Men #505
This cover threw me for a bit - but I think its supposed to be the hotel in Cyclops' head. Which makes me wonder whether Storm's audience with Emma is real or not. Evil from Russia run amok in SF? Didn't the Order fight Ursa Major in SF? Written by Matt Fraction? Plus Simon Trask's press conference and Angel and Beast putting a fringe science team together. It all sounds really good. I hope it is. In supply.

X-Infernus #1
At least we know what this series name is now. They went with the simplest option. Its better than X-Men - Inferno II: Infernus. I'm really looking forward to this - rumour has it Mercury and Pixie will be involved, and a depowered mutant will gain mystic powers unrelated to the X-gene. In supply.


X-Factor #38
I have no idea what the Karma project is, or what it has to do with an army of Darwins. And wasn't Longshot a skrull? But its X-Factor investigating a large corporation, which sounds a lot like the days when they were up against Singularity, so I'm pretty sure its gonna be good. Oh, and fending off the US government who want Siryn and her baby. In supply.

X-Men: Kingbreaker #1
I've spoken about this before, so I don't have anything else to say, other than it's in supply.






X-Men: Legacy #219
Talk about agonising decisions. I want to get this - but I'm getting too any comics, and I know Mike Carey's gonna be going into Rogue stuff soon which I don't care about. I want to see what Juggy and the Prof are up to, but only if its interesting. Gah. Not in supply…but I may change my mind.

X-Men: Manifest Destiny #4
I could have sworn this was a four issue series. But now it say 'of 5'. I'll be getting the first issue of this on Friday. Reviews have been mostly negative, but I'm an optimist - Mike Carey said the Iceman story is going somewhere, and I believe him. This issue has a story about Mercury, which will be welcome. I miss her. In supply.

Young X-Men #9
I promised I'd re-look at this, but I still don't have much interest in the characters. It’s the end of a 2 parter, so I'll take another look when January previews come out. Not in supply…for now.

War Correspondence - The All Old, All Different X-Men

I glanced through IGN and Kirk's reviews of Manifest Destiny, and they made me sad. I hope the Iceman story gets a lot better. He really needs a good story. He seems to be the only one of the originals who hasn't evolved from who he was during the original run of X-Men. The other four male characters have - and are all in a really cool place right now.

Professor X first appeared as a strict no-nonsense schoolmaster, but we soon came to see that he cared very deeply for his students in particular, and mutants in general. But he had this mean streak in him - mind wiping people, including his own students, without as second thought; and on one occasion leaving them to mourn him for dead whilst he worked in a secret project in the basement. For someone trying to protect mutantkind, he made a lot of questionable decisions. It didn't quite add up. Until he lost his memory and started investigating why he founded the X-Men in the first place. We now know that he had been manipulated by Mr Sinister from a very young age. Sinister placed part of his own DNA into Xavier, which appears to account for Xavier's mean streak and his tendency to want to control others. The Professor's journey of self-discovery is not over, and it promises to be a fun ride.

Cyclops was chosen as the leader of the X-Men by the Professor, yet he was often undeceive and unsure of himself. He spent a lot of time hoping to be 'cured' - not a trait one especially wants in a leader of mutants. He had also been manipulated by Sinister when young, and, I hate to say this, but it is possible that his love for Jean was purely a product of Sinister's machinations. That would certainly explain him abandoning his son and wife when he heard Jean was alive. Professor X was right, though, as not a trace of Cyclops former self remains. He has broken free of Sinister, and even Xavier, and stepped up to be the new leader of the X-Men. He's with Emma, where he wants to be - in House of M he was married to her, not Jean. He is at peace with his dangerous power. He has the confidence to make tough decisions - abandoning the mansion, sending Cable and the baby into the future, organising a black ops team. Or so it seems. We've seen his nightmares, and him building a crib in the middle of the night. And while I may not agree with some of his decisions, at least he's making them (and sticking to them) for the right reasons.

Lets be honest, Angel was a spoiled brat with the worst power of the lot. But boy has has grown up. Yeah, he's still a bit of a playboy who likes fast cars, but it takes a lot of maturity, knowledge and intelligence to run something like Worthington Industries. And he's definitely not selfish, putting his entire company at the disposal of the X-Men. Plus he seems to be able to switch between his angel and archangel forms. He hasn't been this cool in years.


Its both easy and hard to demonstrate the Beast's change. He's changed the most physically, but because he was always so intelligent and confident, he doesn't seem to have changed much in that respect. But looking at the original stories, he was a showoff - very overconfident. He also used to use big words a lot more. These day's he is far more subtle - he's far less likely to leap before he looks, making him a better fighter, and his speech is more restrained, and yet he sounds just as intelligent. But now he's blue and furry. That's just awesome.

From the Front - August

I wasn't liking the black website, so I went in completely the opposite direction. Anyway, finally some comic reviews. X-Factor #33 was missing at the shop - I checked the online Marvel catalog to make sure it did actually come out the same week as the others, and it did, but it was sold out. And usually when something is sold out, I'm one of the people who doesn't get a copy. Fortunately there's a second printing, and the Layla Miller special was waiting for me, so I still get to read about an X-Factor character. I'm not worrying much about spoiler, cause I'm pretty sure most people have red these already.

X-Factor Special: Layla Miller
First off, that’s a wicked cover. Inside the book quickly goes the way of despair, death and destruction, with Layla Miller making the best lucky-I-know-what's-going-to-happen escape from imprisonment since newspapers started predicting eclipses. The creepiest part of her standing there for days on end was her muttering 'one of us' in her sleep. I thought her recent appearance in the main X-Factor book was just Jamie's imagination, but now I'm not so sure. Layla walking away from the destroyed detention camp saying 'by the way, it was 10' whilst the panel showed the large X she had drawn was also cool. Layla never misses a chance to be snarky, the winning number to the guard's pool was staring them in the face the whole time.

It seems that everyone has to rip off the phrase 'No more mutants' these days. If I never see it used again, it will be too soon. Even 80 years in the future. I must admit that the placard was still was the cleverest use of the phrase I've seen. The fact that history seems to be so easily forgotten by the general man in the street is disturbing. How will we learn from our mistakes if we can't remember them?

We meet an approximately 100-years-old Cyclops, who, in a twist, is revealed to be a cyborg. I'm sure I don't have to explain why this is cool and ironic at the same time. We also meet his daughter Ruby, the best new addition to the Summers family since… ever. I find myself really hoping to see her again.

Once again, David reminds us that a lot of what Layla knows is just because she's observant. This is what makes her such a good private investigator and justifies her being a member of X-Factor. He also reminds us that for all her bluster, Layla is still just a little girl, and knowing all the bad stuff that's going to happen has taken a toll on her.

But amidst the doom and gloom we have two rays of light. One is a simple time paradox which proves Layla will get home eventually; and the other is Ruby Summers starting the famous Summers Rebellion, promising freedom to all mutants. Although I can't help wondering: if Layla pre-empted the Summers Rebellion before it was supposed to happen - has she changed the future from Bishop's version to Damien Tryp's version?

Verdict: Major Victory! Once again Layla justifies being my favourite Marvel character.

Uncanny X-Men #501
More violence against women. Did it have to be Pixie who got beaten up? On the plus side, this issue has a version of Cyclops that I haven't seen. Unlike the one seen recently in Uncanny and X-Force, who no longer seems to have a heroic moral stance, this Scott seems to be at his wits end, and hints that the one we've seen recently is a façade. This is a Scott who builds a crib in the middile of the night in an attempt to convince himself that Cable and the baby are safe and are coming back to the present soon. They're coming back. And the baby will need a crib, cause they're coming back. I don't see how this Scott can carry on very long without suffering a nervous breakdown.

An interesting aside is that Emma hints she's considering having a baby. Think about this - the Layla Miller special takes place 10 years in the future, and Ruby hints she could be close to that age. Hmm.

The rest of the X-Men act just like they should. Beast talks like a nice guy with a high IQ actually does. Angel drives fast cars and hands them out like party favours. Wolverine drinks beer in the morning. Nightcrawler plays teleportation pranks.

The leaders of the anti-mutant Hellfire Cult are revealed to be mutants themselves - Empath and someone called the Red Queen. Now Red Queen, as far as I know, was a position that only existed in the British version of the Hellfire Club, so I'm not sure if the Hellfire Cult is actually linked to the American Hellfire Club or not. I tend to think that its linked to the 'Sisterhood of Evil Mutants' we've been told about.

And Nightcrawler's pranks -he can catch flying objects in midair and redirect them - are not just for amusement. In a modified version of the Fastball Special - which I like to call a Fastball Surprise - Colossus throws Wolverine, and Nightcrawler teleports him in front of a group of Cultist about to beat up Karma.

Verdict: Minor Victory. It should all be very entertaining, but it seems like the X-Men are slowing down and doing some reflection. Which would be ok, if they hadn't been already doing that for the last five issues.

Guardians of the Galaxy #4 (Secret Invasion)
So far Guardians of the Galaxy has been highly entertaining, but everything has been far too convenient. Star-Lord and Adam Warlock decide they need to protect the Galaxy, everyone they choose to be on the team conveniently agrees, they get an impregnable base of operations which conveniently allows them to teleport to anywhere in the Galaxy, and on their second mission they conveniently find a Captain America analogy frozen in space - the Avengers were cemented together by finding Captain America frozen in the Arctic. But now its all catching up with them. It is revealed, not in this order, that Mantis messed with the teams mind to make them agree to join them, that Cosmo didn't get proper permission for the Guardians to use Knowhere, and that Major Victory is becoming more trouble than he's worth. And if that wasn't bad enough, the teleportation cortex has been destroyed (so now, not only can no one get into Knowhere, no one can get out of it either) and is slowly killing everyone with radiation. Oh, and they've been infiltrated by skrull shapeshifters. You can tell by the banner on the cover, and the fact that there are three dead skrulls in the infirmary.

Only DnA could make the sheer ridiculousness of the Guardians into a serious story. The Guardians are at each other's throats, accusing each of being a skrull, mostly because of how ridiculous all the character's origins and powers are. The paranoia gets so high that Gamora accuses Star-Lord of being a skrull due to him hiding behind his mask all the time - even though skrulls don't need masks to look like someone, and he spends half of each issues with the mask off anyway.

Verdict: Major Victory! Maybe its just cause I haven’t got any Secret Invasion books, but I don't mind a detour into skrull territory that's written this well into the book's storyline.