Wolverine 5, Origin II 5, What If? Age of Ultron 5

Wolverine 5
Cornell (w) and Sandoval (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Wolverine, new girlfriend Pinch, and the Lost Boy go out into the city on a night off while Wolverine gets drugs that keep his metal skeleton from poisoning him. Afterwards, the three of them go to a tattoo parlor where Wolverine gets a tattoo from a superpowered tattoo artist, who has the ability to instantly know what tattoo best fits a person (??). He chooses a rose for Wolverine and, though he doesn't necessarily know why it fits, instantly tattoos it onto his arm. Then the three of them head to Wolverine's favorite bar wherein some of his old pals tend to gather. Tonight, though, Thor is among those old pals and he's not thrilled to see Wolverine. Logan tries to show him the tattoo but it doesn't seem to have an impact on Thor and the three are forced to hustle away. Their next mission will take them to Madripoor in search of Sabretooth.

Story
This issue is more dedicated to character than to story as it's something of a break in the spy work storyline, though a few things are made very slightly more clear story wise. In this case, Wolverine's "I take drugs to stop my skeleton poisoning me" clears that question up with literally the tiniest of explanations (WHATEVER, we're not really reading for the science of this, are we?) and Wolverine sort of reaching out to Thor as if to try to get him to be understand is a neat little story twist, though it's negated somewhat by the fact that SOMEHOW Pinch figures it out. We don't know much about Pinch but I'm willing to believe she's a pretty smart, pretty capable woman. However, the leaps she makes to start to suspect Wolverine's true motive in showing Thor his tattoo feel really convenient, very much like an advance-the-plot kind of thing. 3/5

Character
The focus of this issue is Pinch, which is good because we're five issues in with Wolverine's new team and I feel like we don't know a thing about any of them. I have literally no connection to anyone regularly appearing in this book who isn't named Logan (or Wolverine or James or whatever, you get it). Now Pinch is starting to get a little more personality but, as I mentioned above, I'm not sure it's any more personality than just what's capable of driving the plot forward. The key for Cornell right now is clearly to make Wolverine feel attached to his teammates so he's conflicted when the time comes to turn evidence on them and so most of Pinch's narrative and dialogue this issue can be chalked up to a desire to only do exactly that, drive the plot ahead or tell us more about Wolverine. She's slightly more defined but it's done in such a way that she feels like a plot device as much as anything else. Also, Wolverine's new rose tattoo (meant to symbolize Rose, his childhood friend he ended up accidentally killing as told back in ORIGIN) doesn't so much characterize anything new as it does hit us over the head with the old. 2/5

Writing
There's no big tone to establish here as it's something of a rest issue, meant instead to establish characters over story. As such, I covered most of the writing of the book with my complaints in the above two sections, particularly in character. Not entirely onboard with the writing here. 2/5

Art
Gerardo Sandoval's art isn't totally dissimilar to Ryan Stegman's but it's not totally similar either. Everyone has a rather similar look and build but Sandoval's art seems to be sharper, giving Wolverine's mask and almost Batman Beyond feel. I don't love Wolverine's new costume (reminds me almost too much of someone like Constrictor, weirdly) but I do like Sandoval's much sharper cowl sort of thing. I can't really explain why, just appreciate it aesthetically. And guess what, the art gets full marks because of it. I've gone mad with power! 5/5

Miscellaneous
Whatever.

Total score: 3/5


Origin II 5
Gillen (w) and Adam Kubert (a) and F. Martin w/Beredo (c) and Caramagna (l)

With Clara thought dead, Logan and Victor plan to raid Essex's compound and kill Nathaniel Essex. Logan leads the way, plowing through mines and gunfire and soldiers before reaching the building. He makes his way to Essex, who informs him that Creed tipped them off to where Logan would be. Logan guts Essex then goes to find Creed. The two fight and Creed tells Logan that he ought to kill himself now, or at least take some of Essex's poison, because he can never live as a human. Everyone he loves will leave him somehow. Before the fight concludes, Clara shows up wielding a rifle. She explains to Logan that the Creeds are also mutants with varying skills and tries to convince him not to kill Victor. Logan, not wanting to hear that, holds Creed's head in a vat of Essex's concoction until he seems pretty dead. Clara demands he leave, rebuking him for the act and not seeing him again. Four months later, a more animalistic Creed has re-emerged and finds Clara only for Clara to tell him that their little brother Saul is dead.

Story
The conclusion of ORIGIN II is a nice finish as it brings up all the regular Wolverine themes, animal vs. man, Creed vs. Logan, the price of killing people, etc., while leaving a certain amount of ambiguity to the story. Clara, who has some experience both with dealing with animals (it's apparently her mutant power, along with healing) and dealing with broken people (being a Creed), seems the perfect judge of Wolverine's character and rebukes him not for his animal side but for his cold-blooded killer man side. It's a blow to Logan but it's not inaccurate and it puts this story firmly in the camp of interesting Wolverine stories that make a reader wonder what's really going on in there. The story's ending is a little abrupt and feels like it could lead into another story all its own but without any announcement of that (unless I've missed it) or without knowing what already existing story it might refer to (whatever, I don't know it all, okay?), it feels a little strange. 4/5

Character
It's still a relatively young Wolverine and a young Victor Creed we're dealing with here and Gillen is sure to keep that in mind in each issue. Logan isn't someone at this point who weighs his decisions and thinks carefully about the cost of killing. That ends up being the driving force behind the story of this book but it's also the driving force behind the creation of his character in this book, molded as someone who knows he doesn't fit in the human world but also hasn't really had that pointed out to him so he's not even really pondering why. By the end of the miniseries, he's forced to do exactly that, wondering if he's Essex's bear, the grey family wolf, the lone wolf, or something different. Clara puts it in no uncertain terms: he's something else, something worse than any of those. He's a man who has the ability to have a different nature but doesn't. 5/5

Writing
The story and character sections cover a lot of this nicely, though it's worth noting that there are times where the exposition feels a little rushed (Clara is an exposition machine out there) because there are so many ideas Gillen would rather get across than plot points. Still, it's overall a very solid issue and a good conclusion to the series. 4/5

Art
I've liked Adam Kubert's art throughout and continue to really like his portrayal of this pre-serum Sabretooth. His post-serum Sabretooth is strong too but falls more in line with the current look of Sabretooth (albeit lacking the stupid suit. Man, I am really not onboard with many of these new creative decisions in Cornell's book. Sabretooth wears a suit, Wolverine has a rose tattoo, there's a tattooed guy whose costume is just an unzipped hoodie with no shirt underneath named the Lost Boy? All TERRIBLE). The action is good and smooth while still looking brutal and efficient. Martin's colors continue to shine throughout. No complaints here. 5/5

Miscellaneous
I don't think it was an easy job to come in here and tell another Wolverine ORIGIN after the first one had been so big and after we've uncovered so much of Wolverine's history already. Still, Gillen and Kubert came in with a goal and they clearly achieved what they wanted to achieve. Strong stuff.

Total score: 5/5


What If? Age of Ultron 5
Keatinge (w) and Doyle, Villalobos, Ienco, Edwards, and Magyar (a) and Rosenberg, Serrano, Redmond, Beaulieu, and Major (c) and Sabino (l)

In another universe, Hank Pym begins to consider the possibilities of AI when he's hit with the timeline snap and, though it doesn't harm him physically, the thought disappears from his mind entirely. It's a world without Ultron and Ultron from the first issue of this series, the one where Hank is the only human even sort of left, realizes that Earth is prime for the taking. Portals open up all through the multiverse as Ultrons flood past to shatter a new world. Everyone we've seen so far, from Asgardian Natasha to a new Captain America to Wolverine and Ghost Rider is summoned into the world without Ultron to fight these invading Ultrons. As the world verges on defeat, Hank of the first world finds Jan and directs her and the other remaining Avengers to his old, dead world as one that won't have any Ultrons left on it, a world where they can all start over. They rush through and discover it abandoned, leaving them with a whole new world to try to make better than the worlds they left, a new world where they can ask...wait for...WHAT IF?

Story
It's an incredibly convoluted way to tie everything up, if you can call it that, in this limited series. The rips across space-time start to open up and suddenly everyone we've seen in this inexplicably long series comes together and manages to escape the Ultrons out there. If you're left wondering what the point of this all was, you're not alone. 2/5

Character
There's not a lot to look at character-wise as we've already seen the majority of these characters before and we're not really here to see them evolve, just to see how they end up, I suppose. There's nothing more remarkable about them and it's clearly not Keatinge's intent to improve on them, just to push them through a story. 1/5

Writing
There's exposition aplenty in here but it somehow still never really explains what's happening or why. Ultron just has a need to conquer worlds and his other Ultrons want to conquer them too and portals open up that bond all of these worlds together and now these peole we've seen survive for probably nothing. It's convoluted and rather all over the place. 1/5

Art
The art changes throughout the book with Ming Doyle providing the new universe with art and the other artists from this series rejoining to illustrate their respective universes for one more time. It clashes a little but overall you get the point and it helps to differentiate this confusing plot. 4/5

Miscellaneous
No, I don't know why it existed either.

Total score: 2/5

Comics this week

Another fairly light week for Marvel this week. This goes against EVERYTHING the Marvel blog was set up for, but it's worth pointing out that Image is releasing a slew of older number ones for just a DOLLAR, including ZERO, ALEX + ADA, BLACK SCIENCE, DEADLY CLASS, EAST OF WEST, LAZARUS, MANIFEST DESTINY, PRETTY DEADLY, RAT QUEEN, SAGA, SEX CRIMINALS, STARLIGHT, VELVET, and WALKING DEAD. Dude. There are a LOT of great books in there. I've only read about half of those (GUYS, I did a lot of catching up since that Eisner nominees post I made and I've read a bunch of books) but many are worth checking out. EAST OF WEST is pretty amazing, you guys. LOOK, let's get back to Marvel.

Amazing Spider-Man 1

Peter Parker is back! Just in time for his brand new movie! Go ahead out and grab a new Spider-Man number one in one of about a million possible variants. That's maybe a little crazy. STILL, Peter's back, that's pretty exciting.

New Avengers 17

What are those crazy rascals in the Illuminati up to this time? They've recently re-imprisoned the Black Swan in light of new information about what she's capable of and there's plenty going on, as there has been throughout the series.

Origin II 5

The final issue of Kieron Gillen and Adam Kubert's ORIGIN II comes out as we find out what happens with Sabretooth and Wolverine's first ever team-up and what it means for Mr. Sinister. This series has won me over to a point and I'm excited to see how it wraps up.

Silver Surfer 2

Dan Slott has a pretty big week with the big new AMAZING SPIDER-MAN launch, Amazing Spider-Man 2 in theaters (Slott, to my knowledge, didn't have anything to do with it but that guy LOVES Spider-Man), and a new issue of the new series SILVER SURFER. So check it.

X-Force 4

Guys. Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys. This is the issue where Fantomex will be narrating. Spurrier's Fantomex has already shown himself to be maybe more of a charming rogue than the slightly darker interpretation of Remender's UNCANNY X-FORCE but this is bound to be our first real look behind the curtain. Should be fun, really enjoying this book.

ALSO, don't forget you guys, Saturday is Free Comic Book Day, so head to your local comic shop and pick up some FREE STUFF, DUDES. There's a chance there might even be special guests at your LCS! Gail Simone, inexplicably, will be in Manchester, New Hampshire! So anyone can be ANYWHERE.

Savage Wolverine 16, Origin II 4

Savage Wolverine 16
Isanove (w and a)

Wolverine and Sofia have been locked up and, despite his protestations, won't be released until he can see a judge the next day for claims of disturbing the peace. The peace in the station doesn't last long either, though, as Marion, Pierre, and their hired guns come to the prison to finish off Wolverine and get their girl back. They've been tipped off by one of the officers that Wolverine is being kept there and promised that they'll be able to take him but the chief refuses, saying that's not how things are done. Quickly the situation comes to all guns drawn and gets more hectic when Peter, who has been following Wolverine and Sofia, enters with a machine gun he took out of the back of the gangsters' car. After some tense stand-offs, the guns start going off and the body count ends up rather steep as every cop ends up dead, Wolverine ends up pretty shot up (though ultimately okay), the gangsters we don't really know end up dead, and Peter ends up fatally wounded. Wolverine manages to get Sofia out as Pierre and Marion tend to their own wounds before taking the very near-dead (Wolverine thought he was dead and wasn't able to carry his body as well) Peter with them. Wolverine and Sofia return to the place where Elias' other kids are laying low and finds that things have only gotten worse as Vicky has finally succumbed to her sickness.

It's the very definition of things going from bad to worse for Wolverine here as the kids he was tasked with taking care of begin to drop like flies, most of them in front of him. Isanove has done an excellent job showing one of those stories that you know has probably happened in Wolverine's dark past but that you never really want to think about. There have been plenty of stories about Wolverine's past and just how they've shaped the dark and brooding man today but you occasionally need ones like this to show just how dark it could get. Isanove has come at this with exactly the right eye for the time period and the drama, not to mention a pretty solid take on Wolverine, who has taken almost a backseat to everything else that's happened lately as we've focused on villains Marion and Pierre and even on Peter more than Wolverine over the last couple issues. Still, a good writer can absolutely pull off a Wolverine-in-the-background sort of Wolverine story because he's the type of character who isn't going to push and shove his way into the foreground. More contemplative and more quiet than most, Wolverine can absolutely be a vehicle for action and let the story take place around him when he's handled well. It's pretty good stuff here and it's accompanied by really appropriate art (probably helps when the artist you're trying to communicate with is yourself) and a perfect tone for the book.

Origin II 4
Gillen (w) and Adam Kubert (a) and F. Martin (c)

Clara, Creed, and Logan have been on the run for a month now, moving frequently as Logan continues to have trouble with trust and every day human interactions. He lashes out and attacks when startled and word of who he is has spread, meaning they can't exactly stick around after he reveals himself. Though Clara still sympathizes with Logan and though he's actually begun talking with them now about himself and his past, Creed can't help wondering if maybe he would have been better off with Sinister's experiments. Clara shoos him away after he says it and that night, Clara and Logan talk more and eventually, of course, fall into bed together. Creed sees them from a rooftop across the street (little creepy) but looks on. The pair are woken up as Sinister's men have found them and barge into the room. Logan refuses to be taken and goes berserk as they try to bring him down. In the middle of the fight, he turns and accidentally stabs Clara through the chest. She tells him it's okay, hoping he'll calm down, before she falls to the ground. As the memories of those he's loved and hurt flood through him, he sees red, seemingly giving in to the berserker. When he comes to, he's covered in blood and standing over the bodies of all of Sinister's men and Clara. Creed bursts in and falls on the floor beside Clara. He tells Logan they need to get revenge and, as Logan tells Creed that he loved her, Creed reveals that Clara is his sister. With Logan and Creed out of the apartment, Clara's good eye opens.

More action and a good look at Wolverine's emotions carry this issue as Gillen delves deeper into who Logan is at this moment in time. He remembers what he's done to his mother and his other loved ones and he remembers what happened with the wolves and the polar bear and what Essex has pulled him away from by trying to capture him. He has clearly gained some humanity back with the help of Clara and maybe even with Creed but now that he's killed someone else he loves (this is Wolverine after all, he's certainly not done doing that) it's a matter of where he goes next. One of the most stunning things about this series has been the way the art and the colors and the layout of the pages have all worked so brilliantly together. After a relatively standard format to start this issue off as Logan and Clara work on bringing back his humanity and showing off their love for one another, the issue's action changes up the format of the book, with more chaotic panels and tight camera shots before we get a wide panel of Logan stabbing Clara followed by a series of quick bursts while all of Wolverine's most painful memories sear through him. After that is an entirely red page as Wolverine goes berserk followed by another large panel of a bloody and shocked Logan before the book returns to a more standard format when Creed returns. It's a wonderful layout and it's expert comic presentation as Gillen, Kubert, and Martin direct you through the comic to make you feel as much as possible for the book and to make sure you're torn out of the comfort the beginning of the book provided just as Logan is torn out of the safety and comfort he'd been finally starting to find.




HEY EVERYONE, this is my 616th post on the blog and THAT FEELS IMPORTANT, given the universe designation of the main Marvel Universe! To celebrate, I, uh, have nothing planned. So, sorry, this kind of snuck up on me so I guess I'll just go the normal route of saying thank you so much to anyone who's ever checked in on this blog. You're all aces.

Wolverine 2, Wolverine and the X-Men 42, Origin II 3

Wolverine 2
Cornell (w) and Stegman and Morales (a) and Curiel (c)

As you may have guessed from the intentionally deceptive and big ending of last issue, Wolverine, it seems, has not actually gone full evil. Yes he killed that guy but he killed him only because he was protecting his new teammates and doesn't like that, because of his lost healing factor and reluctance to straight murder people, he's dragging the team down somewhat. His teammates and their boss Offer continue to offer few hints about whether they're good, bad, or in-between but given the fact Wolverine's apparently not gone crazy it's probably a safe bet that they're closer to good than bad. Still, the question remains, how did he get here? Well it started with a meeting with Spider-Man. In the midst of Goblin Nation, Wolverine decided that Goblin must have some sort of deal with Sabretooth to divvy up the city and so he tracks down Spidey hoping that he's heard something. Spider-Man berates him but eventually the two have a chance to talk (after each has saved the other) and Spider-Man asks what he plans to do to Sabretooth while Wolverine asks if the new tone of Spider-Man seems to be working for him. Spidey tells Wolverine that he shouldn't go for Sabretooth and says that his new way may be more brutal but it's also more effective and the issue ends with Spider-Man telling Wolverine that it's easy to change and still be the same person without falling into self-hate and self-doubt before throwing him off the building and saying "don't fall."

There's a kind of unwritten rule at Marvel that says when a book is flailing or just on the bubble of doing well, throw Spider-Man or Wolverine on the cover and into the issue, even if it's just for the smallest of guest spots. It's simple logic to follow: Spider-Man and Wolverine sell books and they're characters people know and can make them feel comfortable jumping into a book they don't know as well. So what, then, does it mean when Spider-Man makes an appearance on the cover of a Wolverine book? Unwarranted and unwanted speculation aside, it makes some sense to put these two together. Wolverine and Spidey have a long history together as poster-boys for the Marvel Universe and typically they're at odds with one another for the other's methods. Here the roles are reversed somewhat, a chance Cornell wasn't going to pass up and, once that speculation is put aside, one that would have been silly to pass up. Now Wolverine doesn't want to kill, afraid he'll fall into bad patterns, and Spider-Man isn't afraid to kill, preferring to end threats longterm. As a result, though it's still hard not to feel as if the superstar cameo isn't a little bit forced even with all of the logic at my disposal, the Spider-Man/Wolverine parts are the strongest in the issue and it's clear Cornell enjoyed writing Spider-Man as much as Stegman enjoyed drawing him again (hard not to put Spider-Man in an issue when you have Stegman as the new artist too). The parts with Wolverine's new team still remain a mystery, but not like, in the way a mystery is a good thing, in the way that I still have yet to care that they're not explaining anything. Ah well, third time's the charm.

Wolverine and the X-Men 42
Aaron (w) and N. Bradshaw, Larraz, R. Perez, Crystal, S. Sanders, Alves, Townsend, and Bachalo (a) and Milla and Loughridge (c)

It's graduation day at the Jean Grey School and everyone's excited for the future except Quentin Quire, who is forced to look inward and ask what's happened to him. He came to the X-Men as a troublemaker and a nuisance (truthfully, those words are too small for how he came to the X-Men with Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely) and now he's set to graduate from the school after becoming class president and one of the most popular students and not even burning down the school once. On top of that, family and friends come from all over to support the new graduates and he doesn't have anyone. Until Captain America shows up. That's right, Cap cares about Quentin to some extent, just like Wolverine cares about Quentin to some extent. SPEAKING OF WOLVERINE, all of the graduation festivities are intercut with a scene from the future, when all of these graduates have gone on to their new lives well down the road, with many joining the X-Men, some elsewhere among the heroverse. Wolverine is now shutting down the Jean Grey School as apparently there is no more interest in it. X-Man Idie has come to keep Wolverine company but has to leave partway through to help the X-Men leaving Wolverine alone until who else but Quentin Quire, the new Phoenix (as we saw in BATTLE OF THE ATOM), arrives. The two talk with Wolverine revealing that he's going to have to go elsewhere before Quentin dumps off a bunch of new students from the Negative Zone School, to Wolverine's annoyance and delight. Back in the present, it's a new day at the Jean Grey School and Wolverine went a whole day without having to pop his claws.

It's not an awful ending to the book here, as this is another one of those series that's going to end and restart quickly with Jason Latour and Mahmud Asrar at the helm. It is, perhaps, a fitting ending as it focuses so heavily on Wolverine and Quentin Quire and their relationship, as the book did throughout its run. There were always other students at the school (I've seen lots of people complaining about the lack of YOUNG X-MEN, like Blindfold, Dust, Rockslide, and Anole, throughout this series and I can't say I blame them, if only because they're clearly a big part of the school but they're almost never referenced; even here, as they graduate, Anole's name gets called along with Pixie's and I don't think we've ever heard them speak in this series set at the Jean Grey School) but the focus was always on this newer batch of students, with Quentin tossed in from the old days, and particularly on Quentin. That makes some sense as Wolverine as a headmaster is something everyone wanted to see and who needs headmastering more than Quentin Quire. So the ending is a fitting one here but still one that focuses itself very narrowly on Quentin and Wolverine. Of course, some of the other storylines wrapped even before this, like Broo regaining his mind and Idie regaining her soul for Broo, and so forth, but it does feel weird, after a 30-page conclusion issue, to really only come away with things to say about two characters.

Origin II 3
Gillen (w) and Adam Kubert (a) and F. Martin (c)

Logan is locked away in a cage, shackled to a machine that will shock him until he does what his new owners want him to do, at a circus, exploited for his beastly look and the claws that pop out of his hands. Of course, Clara has a soft spot for him and wants him to talk to her and the others, sure that they'll let him go if he'll only prove himself to be a man and not an animal. Clara has some experience with this as the current girlfriend of Sabretooth and gets a little too close to Logan for Sabretooth's liking. Sabretooth takes an immediate dislike to Logan but still vows to help Clara after Sinister, having already failed to legally purchase Logan from Hugo the circus owner, takes him for testing and experimentation right out from under the circus. Sabretooth tracks Logan to Sinister's lab and they watch from outside while Sinister experiments and shows Logan that he's created his legion of men by taking people who want to die anyway and granting them that death with a concoction that essentially kills them but moreover makes them not feel pain of being human, making them, as he puts it, übermensch. When he leaves, Sabretooth and Clara break into the lab and go to Logan. He first tells them to run but, with Clara's allowance, instead asks for help and the three of them escape together.

I talked last time about how ORIGIN II comes at, perhaps, a bad time simply by its own concept. To reiterate (or you could just click that link, whatever, I'm not the boss of you), ORIGIN II is coming at a time where we know so much about Wolverine's past and he knows a lot more about his past and so a new story about his origin maybe doesn't hold as much weight with us. I still think that is a flaw in the design but it's a flaw that's made very manageable by Kieron Gillen and Adam Kubert, who are both doing great work on the series, making it a series worth reading despite the thought that maybe it's not really breaking ground we needed broken. Of course, it is the first time that Wolverine meets Sabretooth and deals with Sinister so there's still plenty here to deal with and to learn. Kubert's art is really matching the tone of Gillen's writing and, for as much as I like the way he's drawing Wolverine and the landscapes and what not, I think his Sabretooth is really shining. Instead of the giant, lumbering figure that we see so often as Wolverine's rival, Sabretooth is lean and tall, still the antithesis to Wolverine but a polar opposite to Wolverine's short and bulky. The most recent we've seen Sabretooth in comics (though there's been an influx of him lately) was in Cornell's WOLVERINE and he appeared there as almost a Kingpin like figure, larger than life and, weirdly, wearing a suit. I kinda hated that design as it seemed to really take away from the Sabretooth mythos. Sure it's showing him in a different light, maybe even in the light in which Wolverine is trying to be seen, but it's still a huge change to the character after all that. This one looks different than most of the Sabretooths we've seen but still retains a more animal and feral look, something that can turn from human to animal in a flash. Some really good stuff out of this book that, by all rights, shouldn't be that good.

Wolverine and the X-Men 40, Origin II 2, Cataclysm - Ultimate X-Men 3

Wolverine and the X-Men 40
Aaron (w) and Larraz (a) and Milla (c)

The kids of the Jean Grey School (well, the kids we always see, anyway, sorry Young X-Men) have figured out that Joseph and Josephine are not quite on the level and, though they're disappointed that they couldn't sway them to be cool about everything (particularly saddened by Joseph, who seemed to actually be taking to the school), they resolve to show them everything by having them take a tour with the bamfs. The bamfs jump them from dangerous spot to dangerous spot to dangerous spot in the school and eventually the pair return, shaken and more uptight. The students are still ready to fight if need be but Joseph finally makes his decision and uses his guns to stun his sister. They resolve to have Quentin put new memories into the pair of them, making them forget this whole thing, and to go report back to Dazzler with no real information. Meanwhile, Wolverine and Cyclops have finally finished fighting all of the Sentinels at the mostly abandoned SHIELD base and they search around for first aid. Wolverine is satisfied when they come across the beer supply and the two of them sit and drink beers and talk about things. Cyclops prods Wolverine to figure out why exactly he (and everyone else) hates him so much and Wolverine reveals that it's largely driven by the fact that they shouldn't be hating him. They don't want Cyclops to be the image of the militant mutant or the mutant that people need to be scared of. That should be Wolverine's job. The two don't necessarily bury the hatchet but it's one of the best interactions they've had together since SCHISM and they leave amicably enough.

Not a bad issue. I didn't really need the Joseph/Josephine storyline at all, let alone for as long as it took. I think that storyline will perhaps mean a little more after the next couple of issues drop, with Jason Aaron ending his 40+ issue run on the title with issue 42. If this was his way of mostly saying goodbye to the kids and the school, I think it works fine. If he goes on to do another big goodbye to them all or something, I'm not sure how necessary it is. It's certainly readable but it does carry on a bit past when you get the point and know how things are going to shape up. The Wolverine and Cyclops bit, though, is very well done and hints at the sort of thing that's been happening a little more recently, building on the last issue of X-MEN LEGACY which saw the two fight side by side and even on the ongoing A+X storyline which finds Cap more willing to work with Cyclops than when the story started. It's a nice conversation between the two and it's pretty real. It's also the second book this week (coming in after MARVEL KNIGHTS X-MEN) that posits that Wolverine is allowed to kill and be the dangerous one because he knows who he is. Weird moral, you guys.

Origin II 2
Gillen (w) and Adam Kubert (a) and F. Martin (c)

There's been rumor of a polar bear who wandered too far south into Canada and killed a wolf pack before being murdered by some other unknown creature, like a wildcat but as big and strong as a man. There are two entities that have heard about the strange happenings, Dr. Nathaniel Essex, to whom the bear belonged, and, thanks to one of Essex's blabbermouth trackers (no longer employed/alive), an independent businessman named Hugo and his trackers Clara, good with animals, and Victor Creed, ace tracker. As the two units set out on their own ways, Essex's Marauders run into Wolverine after a gas-based attack draws him out of the woods. He attacks Essex's men but leaves as quickly as he came. After that, Creed tracks him down to an undergrowth and helps capture him for Hugo, to the chagrin of Clara. Hugo, of course, then quickly puts him center-stage in his circus.

I still like this story, its presentation, its characters, and the art of the book. I will say that I have a feeling that ORIGIN II, even as a concept, is a little flawed in a world where we suddenly know SO MUCH about Wolverine and his history. Sure he's lived for over a hundred years at this point so there's plenty out there we still don't know but we now know more than we did. ORIGIN, the first book in this story, came out in 2001 and a lot has changed in a little over a decade for the character. On top of Wolverine's actual memories being restored, the Marvel market has been absolutely saturated with Wolverine in the last several years. He's starred in an untold number of comic books, he's been in a score of major motion pictures, and we've delved pretty deep into his past in every medium in which he's appeared. That doesn't make ORIGIN II a bad book or a bad story or not worth reading, it just means that it almost can't feel necessary. I will say, masterstroke by Marvel in putting Kieron Gillen on this book. Gillen's a guy who, just in the last couple of years, rewrote Loki, one of Marvel's earliest full-fledged villains, into a totally new character and managed to give Iron Man, founding Avenger and star of his own set of major motion pictures, an almost entirely different backstory that somehow still perfectly fits with his history. If anyone can make this meaningful, I trust that Gillen can. Worth sticking with it if just for that, particularly as the price of this one dropped to a more reasonable 3.99.

Cataclysm - Ultimate X-Men 3
Fialkov (w) and A. Martinez, J. Lucas, and R. Fernandez (a) and Bellaire (c)

Rogue powers herself up with everybody's power set (except Beak, turns out she didn't need any of that) and amps THAT up with Amp's power set. She vows that no one else will die and charges headfirst into the swarm. She goes a little crazy up there but manages to do a solid amount of damage to Gah Lak Tus. Unfortunately, she's too late to safe Pixie, who is dying pretty quickly on the ground. The X-Men have to pull her back down and out of her rage so that she can take Pixie's powers and get them all home but getting her out of her rage is a little harder than they bargained for. Rick Jones leaps into action and helps fight alongside Rogue but, more importantly, relates to her about his recent past and everything he's learned from it and who he's chosen to be as a result. The talk (and the fact that he can touch and kiss her without dying thanks to his cosmic powers) inspires her to come back down but she refuses to take Pixie's power since the energy she'll take will certainly kill her. Pixie wants it done, though, as she's dying either way and wants the others to live so she touches Rogue's face and dies peacefully. Rogue prepares to make the jump but, to her continued disappointment, Rick stays behind to give them a chance to go without the swarm. He swears he'll make it out and, I have to say, we have no reason not to believe him. They arrive back home and see that Galactus is still out there and Rogue rallies them to fight him no matter the cost.

It's a nice little story and a fitting finish for the Ultimate X-Men as Rogue has to overcome her issues and understand who she is before she can save the world. The pacing is good as each beat seems pretty necessary, either for plot or for characterization (there's even a nice little moment between Beak and Pixie as Beak helps to care for her while she slips away), and the action moves particularly well. There was maybe a little too much happening in this issue to drop focus on too many of the people there but I don't think it hurts the book in any way. You don't need to know what Guido's doing if Rogue and Rick Jones are fighting against time to destroy the Gah Lak Tus swarm and only have twenty pages to do it. In fact, you never really think about the characters on the ground not integral to what's happening through all of the action, which seems like a pretty good misdirect for Fialkov to pull off. That guy knows how to handle a script and how to handle action. Marvel took a risk putting this event pretty much into the hands of someone who hadn't worked a ton on their books before but I think it's really paid off and turned into a nice and pretty well-structured event, though there might be one too many books out there because it's starting to feel like it's dragging a bit. Fortunately, that doesn't really bite the X-Men because their story is so different from everyone else's. Good work all around.

This week's picks!

Avengers 24 and Origin II 1! Surprise! Hope you guys are all having a good holiday!

Comics this week!

Easiest. Pre-game. Ever.

Avengers 24
The first AVENGERS issue post-INFINITY. This is our lead-in book to All-New Marvel NOW, the newest rebranding and something I've already had to write out too many times. As I said a couple weeks ago when I mistakenly put this on my pre-game, it's a big issue anyway but it's particularly big (as in large) when purchased with the Daniel Acuña foldout AVENGERS 50th Anniversary poster. Look for that one, you guys.

Origin II
You know how when people talk about great Wolverine stories, they always bring up ORIGIN? Well now's your chance to jump onboard with another possible legendary mini-series as Kieron Gillen and Adam Kubert join forces to tell the tale of Wolverine set after ORIGIN, with Wolverine still living his days in the wild. I'm sure this series is going to be a fun ride and something with extra meaning and I'm really interested to see how Gillen works on this, a story set in the past of the Marvel Universe and which is a set five issues, meaning he has to really speed up his more novel-like storytelling. I'm heartily recommending this book as I will with just about anything Kieron Gillen touches these days, but I will add a caveat: Marvel apparently is aware of how big the first ORIGIN was so the price on this mini is 4.99 an issue. Kind of pricey for what seems to be a normal sized issue. I'll confirm that at some point.

THAT'S IT! Just two books out from Marvel this week so neither of them have to fight for top spot on pre-game or on post-game (spoilers). Truth told, though, I can't envision even the most hectic week going by without me suggesting these two books anyway. If you have the ability, get out today (comic shops should have these books out the 24th, as Christmas itself falls on the Wednesday) and check these ones out. Should be fun. I may post my reviews of them ANY OF THESE NEXT THREE DAYS so, I mean, keep checking back? And tell all your friends?



I'd like to say, again, thank you to everyone who's ever shown any sort of even mild interest in this blog. Any and all support means a ton to me. This started as a way to make sure I'm writing about something, anything, just about every day but it's turned into something of a way of life for me. Sometimes that's good, sometimes that's bad, but the support is incredibly meaningful. This blog will reach it's one-year anniversary on Thursday, when I started it because I had been thinking about it in vague terms for a while and I had things to say about the very controversial AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 700 (and, because I'd already started the blog by that point, the less controversial AVENGING SPIDER-MAN 15.1). If you've stopped by for even a moment, even if it was just to snag a screen cap or to hear some news or because you clicked my insidious links on Twitter accidentally...thank you. Thank you all. There might be changes in 2014 to the way I review or to the volume of books I review (GUYS, this has been a ton of books) but we'll talk about that later. Thanks guys. Happy holidays.