Astonishing X-Men 62, Uncanny X-Force 4, Wolverine 3

Astonishing X-Men 62
Liu (w) and Walta (a) and Peter (c)


As Astonishing X-Men returns to what it considers normalcy following the X-Termination event, we find Bobby Drake having some serious issues coping with what happened in the Age of Apocalypse. On top of that, he seems to have brought something back with him that's keeping him from sleeping and apparently, a little more sinisterly, has created a whole new thing inside of himself. It seems to be that thing that is bringing a massive snowstorm down on what seems to be the entire world and calling all of Bobby's ex-girlfriends up to seriously confuse and rattle him. It's also what's making his eyes turn red occasionally and rip open his chest to reveal a big purple blot. So he's apparently brought something back with him from the Age of Apocalypse, something that Thor either recognizes or drives Thor completely insane, as he starts repeating "FIMBULVETR" over and over (herein lies the trouble of Asgard, you can never be sure if it's just insane babbling or something Nordic and threatening). The appearance of Bobby's ex-girlfriends has also rattled Kitty, who isn't sure what she feels about her current relationship with Bobby as it is. Seeing all of his exes and the way that he reacts when they're around (he seems to forget that she's even there) confuses her and makes her think about Colossus again, who she knows wouldn't ever have acted that way. Of course, she says to Wolverine in their early morning feelings-chat (to Wolverine's dismay), Peter also helped try to destroy the world when he was Phoenix-possessed, so win some, lose some.

There was some talk, especially around the time of Schism and the creation of Wolverine's school, about Bobby seeing his potential. I think it's a really interesting discussion and is a really interesting question about Bobby's character. He has near limitless power, in a way, and everyone knows it. He's certainly gotten more powerful as time has gone by but he hasn't seen this sort of power at any time in his existence (save, maybe, the Age of Apocalypse Iceman in Remender's X-Force, but even that wasn't the Bobby we're talking about). Now he seems to be imbued with extra power but it's unknown to him and, arguably, it's not his power. On top of allowing fans to ask the question "is Bobby reaching his true potential?" this arc is going to ask plenty more questions. It's definitely a good follow-up to the major X-Termination event and will serve as a good link between a full event and a major story in a dedicated book.

Uncanny X-Force 4
Humphries (w) and Garney and Hanna and Alphona and Strain (a) and Gracia with Gonzalez (c)

Psylocke has entered Bishop's mind only to find that he's not really in control of it anymore. Instead, she's faced off against a couple of huge bears and an owl. The owl seems to be in control of the takeover and, after Psylocke battles with the bears for a bit, expels Betsy telling her that they're searching for a different psychic. That psychic, of course, is Ginny, the girl that Spiral has been protecting for some time. Spiral and Ginny have run off hoping that Puck, Psylocke, and Storm will successfully hold Bishop at bay long enough for them to escape but find that they are out of luck, as Bishop is in close pursuit and Spiral hasn't had enough rest to start teleporting them away yet. Spiral decides to take the fight to Bishop in a last stand of sorts, telling Ginny to run. After seeing Spiral take a few big hits, Ginny jumps into the fight anyway, controlling Bishop with her mind before being overpowered by the psychic owl in Bishop's mind. Ginny disappears as Bishop is released by the owl and bear. With no recollection of how he got there, Bishop is surprised as Puck knocks him out. Spiral begins to grieve while Psylocke demands she finish their fight. Storm calms Psylocke down before Psylocke can kill Spiral, who clearly has no intent of fighting back. The reader sees Ginny enter a hotel, with the owl speaking through her, and promptly take control of everyone she can find. Meanwhile, this whole issue serves as a backdrop to the Fantomex trinity (which is a rad name I picked up from the recap page), with Fantomex and Cluster deciding whether or not to aid Spiral while dark Fantomex gets the drop on them and attacks from behind. Hopefully more to come out of those guys.

The first arc winds down though the story clearly isn't over as Ginny is now possessed by the owl/bear duo (which reveals it's been lying in wait for over four thousand years) and Spiral, in the very least, will have something to say about that. The team itself could shape up to be a good one but it's still too early in the game to tell even what the team will be. If Spiral joins up, that will give an unpredictable ally who will force Betsy to stow her personal feelings about the villain. I will say that, at least for me, the most interesting aspect of the book so far is the Fantomex trinity and I feel we haven't gotten enough of them yet. I'd say we have about enough to rope us into their story but Humphries will need to expand on it in the coming issues to keep readers onboard. I think he will as their limited inclusion feels very deliberate to this point, but it will definitely play a role in the ultimate judging of this book.

Wolverine 3
Cornell (w) and Davis and Farmer (a) and Hollingsworth (c)

The mind control arc continues as Wolverine and new Nick Fury discuss the Watcher's sudden and brief appearance and the strange bullet in Wolverine's arm, respectively. Fury demands they operate on Wolverine to remove the bullet an study it, which leads to a somewhat arduous scene of Wolverine talking with some non-superpowered superhero experts including a superhero fight bookie, a comic book writer (LOL), a detective, a cataloguer of supers (dude, I just pretty much use Wikipedia and it almost ALWAYS has a good description of any superhero, even minor ones. Can you imagine the Wikipedia in the world where superheroes are actually REAL? This guy is SO easily replaced), and the head of Damage Control superhero clean-up crew (not superpowered, they just clean up after supers). Wolverine and Fury then speed off to a corrupt pharmaceutical plant where they've gotten reports the gun has zoomed off to. Wolverine sneaks in and gets a security guy on his side before they both try to break up the mind-controlled party, leading to nothing good. The other guy seems to die, Wolverine and Fury can't stop the gun and shipment from getting away, it all just goes wrong. The last scene shows the aliens (in human forms) using the shipment and explaining that it will help them to breed fast enough to multiply quickly. Weird.

I'm not sold on this series yet and I think probably my review of that shows. I tend not to have a lot of patience for convenient side characters who are so obviously just convenient side characters. If they're developed characters who happen to be on the side, cool, they're just people in our hero's life. But here, it's clear that it was Cornell saying "these people must exist in that world, I'm going to stuff them into a book where they probably don't belong." It's too bad too because I was interested when Wolverine introduced the bar as a place where people like him could go (which has never really been a problem for Wolverine). I like thinking about the ramifications of being a superhero on everyday life and about how they would possibly walk around on the streets and go anywhere, but I don't need to see the kitschy characters that go with those ideas. I still don't really know where the mind thing is going and this issue focused on enough ancillary stuff (like that team scene and Wolverine's fight with the other security guys, riddled with stock fight banter) that I got to the end a little less interested in what was happening. That's a bad place to be going into the thrilling next issue.