Uncanny X-Force 12, Ultimate X-Men 32

Uncanny X-Force 12
Humphries (w) and Alphona (a) and Sotomayor w/ Rosenberg (c)

We get a look at how Spiral's been passing the time with X-Force and Bishop dealing with Revenants and, as it happens, Spiral's been on the tail of the Revenant's too. She has been searching for Ginny relentlessly, holding her vicious nature in check as best she can to try to get information out of any sources. Two different sources, one woman who has lost a friend recently and another who was killed trying to save her daughter (reanimated by Spiral so she could relate the tale), point Spiral to a White Robe cult. Neither woman seems to know much about them except that neither has heard from the person they lost since they joined up with the cult. The killed woman manages to relate to Spiral where to find the White Robes and Spiral sets off their quickly, eventually (with a couple stops first) leading her to the base of the Revenants, where she finds out that the Owl Queen has taken over Ginny's body and that she's really Cassandra Nova, evil, seemingly immortal twin of Charles Xavier. Spiral relates all of this to X-Force, having realized she cannot do this alone.

Solid entry that both serves to clear up a few things about the Revenants (while also asking a few more questions) and to establish Spiral better for this series. We already know her connection to Ginny and we can trust, even more now, that it's particularly strong and meaningful to her. More importantly, though, we get the real, mostly unbiased look into her psyche as someone who has been broken and molded by Mojo into whatever it is she is now and who has stepped so far from her humanity that she's left with only the killer inside of her. We also see a little bit of her magical abilities with the reanimation of the killed woman, though she's quick to point out that her magic is far more limited these days. Finally, we get the reveal of Cassandra Nova as the big baddie and that has its own implications, especially in a world where, as she so immediately recognizes, Charles is dead. Interesting stuff and Spiral's short nature makes the book move pretty well, even with as much narration as we have. One of the better issues of this book so far, I'd say, even with just the fairly brief action sequences.

Ultimate X-Men 32
Wood (w) and A. Martinez and J. Lucas (a) and Sotomayor (c)

Jimmy Hudson is attacking Tian so, for all intents and purposes, it looks like Utopia is attacking Tian. Jimmy manages to take down a few people though he's brought down surprisingly quickly by the full might of Tian. Derek Morgan, one of the good mutants in Tian, tries to stop him from attacking and lift him out peacefully but doesn't have any luck with that, eventually ceding to a troll in the city. The incapacitated Jimmy is brought to Jean, who begins to psychically attempt to kill him. Liz Allen steps in, though, at the expense of being called a traitor to deem Jean a murderer. Meanwhile, on Utopia, Kitty has decided she is going to Tian with the help of new Utopia resident Pixie and talk with Jean, which will, one way or another, lead to the end of this fight. Either Jean listens and they sort things out in a more peaceful manner (unlikely) or Utopia prepares to bombard Tian. It's time to end things.

I've praised this series' ability to keep tension running just as high from issue to issue without really missing a beat and it pays off in issue's like this, where you see the beginnings of the end of the arc. All the tension that has built up over the course of this series and, more directly, this World War X storyline is bubbling now and is likely to dispel as we reach the end. How quickly it dispels is anyone's guess but it's a perfectly structured story with smart characters and writing. That's all it takes to make a series this reliably good. Brian Wood is one of the best in the business at this kind of pacing and at writing a complete story, beginning to end, without particularly slow beats. This issue is another great example of it and you can already see the framework for the next issue, or for however long the resolution of this storyline takes. Really solid book and another particularly good issue. If you like the X-Men, even if you're not terribly familiar with the Ultimate Universe, this is one to get into. Frankly, it's a good one to get into even if you don't love the X-Men and just want to get into a book with understandably and unmistakably high stakes, near-perfect pacing and story, and solid characters and writing. Good book all around.

Uncanny X-Force 11, Wolverine 9

Uncanny X-Force 11
Humphries (w) and R. Pérez (a) and Rosenberg w/ J.D. Ramos (c)

Bishop and the demon bear are the only ones who haven't been captured by the Revenants and are doing what they can to get the team back. The issue comes from Bishop's perspective, then, as he relies on his training and wits to stage an attack on where the Revenants are holding Storm, Psylocke, and Puck. The Revenants still have their versions of Bishop's new teammates, now standing guard. When the demon bear and Bishop break in and manage to free Storm, Psylocke, and Puck, a fight breaks out, which is pretty quickly handled. Storm kills her own Revenant and Bishop lauds her for her strength; killing a Revenant is how you join his order so he makes her a member on the spot. Before she fully dies, though, the Storm Revenant tells Storm that Bishop is crazy and wrong, that he doesn't know them by their real name and that he thinks the Queen is from the future when Storm already knows her in the present. Bishop says this fight is just the beginning, that they have to go for the Revenant Queen. As he says it, Spiral appears, claiming to know where the Queen is and wanting a piece of the action.

I've never had a particularly deep connection to Bishop as a character which might be part of why I didn't really connect with this issue. It very much does rely on feeling something for Bishop, who frames a lot of the story in thoughts directed at his own Revenant, a promising man who he killed to join his order. There's real regret there in that he had to kill what seemed like a good man but also in his longing to have been that man and not whatever he is now. Otherwise, the characters kind of fall into the roles we've already seen with Psylocke overpowering her Revenant and Storm acting decisively as needed to kill her own while Puck continues to act as comic relief with just a twinge of something more. Spiral appearing begs some questions and hopefully those will be answered next time out. I'm still finding it a little hard to connect with this book as a whole and I can't quite put my finger on why. I'm hoping some things solidify as we see what seems to be much of the team finally working together in the coming issues.

Wolverine 9
Cornell (w) and A. Davis and M. Farmer (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

Wolverine is still killable, the virus is still out there, and Mystique has just broken into and out of the Jean Grey School. Wolverine has decided he can't do anything about the virus at this point, that it's better left in SHIELD's hands (though I'm sure we'll come back to it, you never just start a story and leave it, nor do you still cut back to a story that you're not coming back to), and that he needs to focus on Mystique and, of course, Sabretooth. His friends tell him that maybe now is the time to take a break and lay low but he refuses, eventually leaving to track his foes with a note Mystique left in his room. Kitty stows away on the jet, still trying to get him to turn around but, assuming that won't work, prepared to help him. The jet is shot down by Batroc the Leaper who is apparently working for Sabretooth. Sabretooth has put a hit on Wolverine while he's killable and it seems all manner of villain will be coming for him now. Wolverine tells Kitty to get the note out of the jet before it explodes while he takes care of Batroc. It's a good fight but Wolverine eventually bests Batroc after admitting that maybe he's gotten a little slower with his healing to fall back on. Batroc teleports away before they can finish him or get answers out of him. Wolverine allows Kitty to stay with him as Batroc didn't seem to expect her, meaning Sabretooth won't either. They leave to return to the place where Wolverine was born.

Regular readers of this blog will know that I absolutely love Batroc the Leaper. There's something truly great about the character, even since Brubaker brought him back as a legitimate foe, someone who was trained extremely well in savate and who moves with grace and precision. The goofiness is still there and the character is still better for it. They can't all be Red Skulls. I don't love this Batroc though, pretty much from his start shooting the jet down. Batroc has long been focused on honor, pretty rare for a mercenary. He has no problem killing people or defeating them in combat but he wants to do it when they have an equal chance of winning, where it just comes down to skill. For that matter, Sabretooth hiring out mercenaries to kill Wolverine seems wrong to; Sabretooth has always wanted Wolverine dead but there's no question he wants it done by his own hand. At least, Sabretooth putting a hit on him is what's assumed, that he's behind the Hand's bounty. Maybe he's not. Still, the issue moves about as deliberately as every other issue of this book has. It continues to be a bit of a slow series but I wouldn't be upset if they did just drop the virus thing altogether. That's where it's been slowest throughout the series.

Uncanny X-Force 6, Deadpool 11

Uncanny X-Force 6
Humphries (w) and Alphona and Soy (a) and Sotomayor and Curiel (c)

In the physical world, Betsy has been kidnapped by Cluster, who fears that Fantomex has been captured by Weapon XIII and wants Betsy's help. Betsy, still angry with Fantomex and the way things ended with them, refuses. The conversation is cut short when Spiral, free from Puck and Storm, teleports beside them and attacks, knocking Cluster away and teleporting away with Psylocke. When they land, the two begin fighting, with Psylocke still furious at Spiral for a great number of things. Right as Betsy seems in the prime position to kill Spiral, Spiral's apparent actual concern for Ginny and her seemingly real desire to just live a normal life wins out and Betsy spares her. Meanwhile, through all of this, Psylocke has also been having a mental chat with Wolverine which involves Wolverine being mostly angry at the way things are turning out for this X-Force team. The two traverse a calmer section of Betsy's mind, talking and arguing a good deal. When things finally get a little heated and Wolverine and Psylocke seem poised to fight one another, the giant bear that was in Bishop's mind appears behind Betsy, backing her. Apparently he has connected to her after she pulled a thorn from its paw and now resides in her mind. Wolverine settles down and Betsy ends the mental conversation. Back in the real world, Psylocke has rejoined her team, who Cluster had also returned to after she lost Psylocke rethinks and agrees to help Cluster to rescue Fantomex.

This book is on the brink, it feels like, of being a really great book. There are lots of things being set up quietly that you can see if you squint hard enough. It's still a mystery how these pieces will fall into place but the pieces themselves are pretty impressive. Each individual issue (this one included) are solid reads, engaging and entertaining enough, but it feels like whatever it is they're leading to has a chance to be truly incredible. Of course, time will tell for that and it's hard to say too much just yet but there's still a lot happening as Humphries has had a little more time to delve into characters these last couple of issues. I can also almost safely say, hopefully for real this time as opposed to EVERY OTHER TIME I'VE SAID THIS, that the Fantomexes will play a big role in the next issue. Still REALLY looking forward to seeing more on their end.

Deadpool 11
Posehn and Duggan (w) and Hawthorne (a) and Staples (c)

Deadpool is taking a more personal approach with the Agent Preston story as he's entered her house and tied up her husband and son in order to explain things and cook them food. He's also invited Agent Adsit along because apparently the writers wanted to remind me how much I hate in-jokes. The three people from Preston's life believe Deadpool's story and intend to try to help Agent Preston in any way they can. For the time being, though, Deadpool must deliver another soul for Vetis. The soul this issue is of a creepy man who, thanks to his powers, can shapeshift. We first see him pose as Luke Cage to try and have sex with Jessica Jones before Deadpool breaks in and chases him out (Jessica was, fortunately, at the point of realizing how not Luke Cage the guy was). Back on the streets, the shapeshifter takes a couple different identities, all of which Deadpool spots and tries to attack, only to be rebuffed by local civilians who believe he's attacking someone innocent. Finally Deadpool runs afoul of Daredevil. Suspecting that this Daredevil is also the shapeshifter, he attacks only to find that it is, in fact, the real Daredevil. Deadpool gets pretty thoroughly beaten by Daredevil as the shapeshifter escapes. Deadpool breaks out of the restraints Daredevil has put him in and shoots a civilian in his thigh, hitting the femoral artery and forcing Daredevil to take the man to the hospital. Deadpool trails the shapeshifter and kills him, delivering the soul to Vetis. The next person on Vetis' list is Deadpool's friend Michael, who Deadpool explains he's already killed and sent the soul to hell, meaning that Vetis can't have his powers. Vetis is enraged and, with the powers he has now, attacks Deadpool as the issue ends.

I'm still not a huge fan of this series. I do think this arc has been a significant step forward from the last one, featuring the dead presidents, which felt rather like the same joke over and over again and was certainly more laden with in-jokes and puns and references and what not. This arc has taken a step away from that formula (though not a giant step) and the writing is improved by it. Still I often find myself halfway through an issue wondering how the issue isn't over yet. The scene with Daredevil in this issue was certainly the most compelling scene, even if it didn't particularly add anything (that's too soon to tell; if Daredevil or other heroes come back in a bigger way because of Deadpool's actions today, it'll make this scene more important). The way that he interacts with Daredevil and other heroes is always an interesting look into Deadpool as a character and his solution to get Daredevil off his back is a nice character choice. Still the book feels mostly weak overall. Any step in the right direction, though, is a good one.