Leftovers 10-8-14

All-New Ultimates 9

Scourge is being transferred to federal prison and the Ultimates want to watch over the transfer, which proves to be the right thing to do as a white-supremacist group, believing Scourge to be one of them, breaks him out. The Ultimates stop the racists but Scourge, who doesn't want to be associated with the white-supremacist group, gets away. Dagger is wounded in the fight and she and Cloak leave to get medical assistance, only to be sniped by a mysterious assailant, thus showcasing the one exciting moment this series has ever had, though also distracting from it by dealing with more relationship crap just beforehand. Total Score: 3/5

Amazing Spider-Man 7

The first half of this issue is a team-up between Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel, written by Christos Gage, which is delightful. The second half is an EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE tie-in by Dan Slott that finds Billy Braddock, Spider-UK of the Captain Britain Corps observing the family of Spider-Killers doing some work on the multiverse's spiders. The Ms. Marvel team-up, which will be continuing next time, is great and the EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE tie-ins are starting to drag a bit, though it is still interesting. Things are much nicer in this book when we don't see crazy Black Cat. Total Score: 4/5

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool 1

Hawkeye and Deadpool have been forced into something of a team-up as someone who ran into both of them on one night has been killed. Also on the case (perhaps more effectively) is Kate Bishop. Deadpool and Hawkeye's investigation leads them to more brainwashed super soldiers and to Black Cat, the one seemingly behind all of this, while Kate's leads her to the place where Ellsden shot his video, where she runs into Agent Adsit. When Hawkeye returns home, though, someone else is waiting for him looking for help. It's a relatively fun little book but we'll have to see where the plot is going before we can make too many judgements. Total Score: 3/5

Nightcrawler 7

Wolverine has died (because the release schedule is all messed up) and Nightcrawler has to deal with it. This one's a bit weird because the story credit is given to Marguerite Bennett with Claremont scripting but the story pretty much amounts to "Nightcrawler misses Wolverine, here's some flashbacks and some weird coping mechanisms." The problems start with the troubled release schedule and end with "this book is boring." Total Score: 2/5

Savage Hulk 5

Years ago, Dr. Strange sent Hulk to a mystical crossroads where he could access a number of other planets, ones where he couldn't do harm. While on trial for his unilateral decision on Earth, a representative from one of the planets Hulk could visit appears and accuses Strange of genocide, sending Hulk to his planet. Strange, accompanied by a SHIELD agent, heads to the other world to find that Hulk has destroyed weapon after weapon the citizens have sent after him and that he has a cave full of dead citizens. This one's certainly a more interesting storyline than the last and Strange is proving to be compelling all on his own. Pretty strong work, though I'd like to see a little more before I make a judgment on it. Total Score: 4/5

Leftovers 9-10-14

Wowwwwww, managed to knock out enough books that I only have SIX ISSUES to quick-review today. Not saying I'm super-duper proud of myself but it'd be okay if you were all super-duper proud of me.

All-New Ultimates 8

The Ultimates meet to figure out their next plan, particularly where they're going to live and how they're going to operate now when Spider-Man tells them that J. Jonah Jameson offered them "whatever they need" to help and maybe he could help with this. Meanwhile, the Femme Fatales, a new villain group with some sort of puppeteer over them, attack Manhattan. The Ultimates dispatch them well enough but constant bickering between Cloak and Dagger comes to a head and the two remove themselves to break up. Oh, and the Future Foundation shows up for some plot device and someone is watching them/researching them on some monitors. You know how it goes. The series continues to drag with exposition and would-be playful dialogue hampering the pacing. The banter during the fight is as constant and as head-shakingly frustrating as it's ever been. Total Score: 2/5




Deadpool 34
In another throwback story, this one tied to ORIGINAL SIN, we learn that Deadpool used to work willingly (sort of) for Butler, giving him his blood and doing jobs for him. His personality is still there but there is an element of coercion to it. Things come to a head when Butler, testing the limits of Deadpool's subservience, sends Deadpool to kill his own parents. After a brief encounter with Alpha Flight, Deadpool burns his childhood home down with his parents sleeping inside. He returns home to find Carmelita on Butler's doorstep with little Ellie. Butler takes a blood sample from Ellie before Deadpool sends them away, shouting about how dangerous he is. He also leaves Butler's employ, leading to Butler to capture him covertly whenever he needs a new sample. Back in the present, Adsit has seen all of this courtesy of the truth bomb but Preston refuses to let Deadpool know about it. It's a pretty strong issue with the expected amounts of '90s comic-book references and homages which tend to be a lot of fun but can also carry on a little long. Instead, here, Duggan and Posehn front-load the issue with such references (making it a little bit of a drag but not giving it enough time to really slow things) and then really put some weight in the back half. Pretty strong stuff. Total Score: 4/5


Fantastic Four 10

Thing learns that She-Thing runs his Ryker's prison wing as dictated by someone higher up on the food chain, Sue steals one of the Fantastic Four transports from under SHIELD's nose, Johnny continues to party, and Reed finds himself alone in a fight in Chicago against the Wizard and the women of the Salem Seven, only surviving the fight with the appearance of Scarlet Witch. It's funny that this book should come after the '90s throwback DEADPOOL issue because that issue made fun of the '90s tradition of long-winded mid-fight exposition, among other things, then here all of that is in a real, non-tongue-in-cheek FANTASTIC FOUR book. Just further highlights why books aren't written that way any more. As ever, this book drags, the dialogue is terrible, and nobody has a thought they don't shout to the world. Total Score: 1/5





Magneto 9
Magneto sets off for Genosha, where he's learned more atrocities are being committed. He recalls times in the concentration camp as he finds mutants and Inhumans imprisoned at Genosha, held by the Red Skull, who Magneto soon learns has old friend Charles Xavier's brain. In his anger and his desire for justice, he goes alone to attack Skull and his S-Men only to be humiliated by the S-Men and captured. It's as dark an issue as that summary would make you expect, but it's a pretty good issue as Magneto fails for pretty much the first time in this series and as we get a little bit of a teaser of what we can expect out of the upcoming AXIS. More strong work out of Bunn, Walta, and Bellaire on this series. Total Score: 4/5


New Warriors 9

Scarlet Spider wants to quit the team and the mountain has brought him "home," which, to his chagrin, means Houston. He and Justice fight about the team and about Scarlet Spider's heroism but the two are interrupted by Choke the Bear, a giant former NBA mascot granted insane powers and size by a meteorite that once crashed through his court and landed on him. As Scarlet Spider tries to leave, hoping that Choke, who is set on fighting a villain in Houston, will follow him, he runs into old friend and police lieutenant Wally Layton who tells him that he was wrong when he blamed Kaine for Houston's problems, that Kaine really was a hero and saved the city and his own life multiple times. Kaine reluctantly goes back and, with the help of Justice, takes Choke down, even more reluctantly agreeing to stick with the team. Meanwhile, Aracely reveals to Speedball that Mictlan is coming and she will die soon. This issue is a lot of fun and Yost again shows off his prowess for taking any character, giving them a unique voice, and making you care about them. Everyone on the team gets at least one line this time out and there's not really a wasted line. Everything is meant to color a character or to advance the plot and it all works really well. Excellent work as ever and the book continues to be a really entertaining read. Really sad this one's ending. Total Score: 5/5


Nightcrawler 6
Nightcrawler and Scorpion-Boy team to fight their way through the Crimson Pirates in their attempt to save mutant genius Ziggy Karst. Together they plow through the pirates with seeming ease and Nightcrawler begins to believe there's more to it than the pirates just killing a bunch of people to get to Karst. Indeed, when they finally rescue Karst (who is immediately taken with Rico), they find that the pirates have been shooting everyone but the guns have been teleporting them to interdimensional slaver Tullamore Voge. Nightcrawler uses the gun on himself and rescues the civilians and Ziggy, returning home triumphant again. The book continues to be really start-and-stop with the dialogue and exposition stepping on the toes of the plot and the character-building. The plot twists, too, seem to come out of nowhere, which is kind of what you want a plot twist to do but a twist doesn't mean anything if there's absolutely no precedence for it, as in this case. This is a new mutant we know nothing about being attacked by pirates we haven't seen in decades for a slaver we haven't seen in decades and it's all over and done with in one issue. What a weird book. Total Score: 2/5

Leftovers 8-13-14 PART TWO

Alright, let's try this again and hope this is the conclusion of this two part arc on the blog. I can DO IT.

Nightcrawler 5
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Sabino (l)

Total Score: 2/5

Nightcrawler is sad about Amanda and sad that the X-Men appear to be in such disarray but sometimes you just gotta grit your teeth and move on, so Kurt accepts a job at the Jean Grey school teaching whatever he can. For his first teaching assignment, he leads a handful of students in Danger Room exercises. Later that night, he takes the Blackbird out for a spin along with bug-like student Rico, who bonds with Nightcrawler over scary physical mutations. While out, Storm sends them to find a new potential student, a genius girl named Ziggy Kurst (??) but, unbeknownst to the X-Men, Ziggy has already been targeted by a group of aliens looking to profit off the girl's potential. Claremont's strength was always in building characters even in the midst of big, sweeping stories. Let's hope that strength comes to bear here as he's re-energizing the reborn Nightcrawler but the plots and the ancillary characters have left me less than interested.

Brief detour here just to note that if all goes well, I'll be finishing up this post today but I'm hoping to go even faster as I'm only able to keep working on this today because I'm out sick from work but ALSO I'm sick so lucidity might be right out the window and staring at a small computer screen almost certainly is.

Nova Special 1
Ryan (w) and Timms (p) and Poggi (i) and Redmond (c) and Cowles (l)

So this story continues as the bounty hunter Monark Starstalker has kidnapped Cyclops, who turns out to be the wrong Summers brother, and asks Nova's help to smooth things over with the man for whom Scott was kidnapped. Meanwhile, Scott's students try to track their teacher and Iron Man tries to track the kids who tricked and evaded him. The story ends up being better and more fun than I had expected though I can't help but still feel like it's a bit of a strange choice as some weird characters get teamed up here. Still decent fun and solid writing and art propel this one high enough that it's worth a read if you're interested in any or all of these characters. Total Score: 4/5


Spider-Man 2099 2
David (w) and Sliney (a) and Fabela (c) and Caramagna (l)

Miguel has been trying his hand at the heroing business in the present and finds the same sort of ease with street criminals and the same sort of anger with cops as the modern Spider-Man. He also deduces that his building's super is sick and boss Liz Allan deduces that he's the Spider-Man who "broke into" Alchemax, though he convinces her he's just a man from the future hoping to investigate Alchemax at its roots. She kisses him and leaves. There are bits and pieces of this issue and, so far, of this series that are interesting but there are plenty that are predictable and uninspired. I like Peter David and I think his strengths tend to be in dialogue, though his habit of tongue-in-cheek winks to the audience about the comic format (referencing how often people die and come back, pop culture references, and mentions of superhero tropes in casual conversation) do tend to wear a little thin, particularly, for some reason, here. Total Score: 3/5



Thunderbolts 29
Acker and Blacker (w) and Jacinto (a) and Silva (c) and Sabino (l)

Punisher is still pretty mad about the assassination attempt on him (here we learn that everything in his safehouses is bomb- and bullet-proof so the mini-fridge in which the bomb was placed softened the blow) and takes it out on the team by tracking and destroying each member. First is Deadpool, who he cuts up and places in jars despite Deadpool's protests that he quit the team. He also has a long and impressive battle with Ghost Rider that ends a little differently than Frank would like as he frees Ketch of the Spirit of Vengeance, but it works well enough as the threat is removed. Finally, Elektra tries to talk to him but it seems Punisher isn't in the mood to talk. MEANWHILE, Hawkeye keeps his search up. This is really an extreme Punisher story as we learn that Frank has long been planning, as you would assume, the ways to kill his teammates and now starts to enact his plots. Some cool stuff and a fun twist on the Ghost Rider fight but the end of the series looms large over this one. Total Score: 4/5


Ultimate FF 6
Fialkov and S. Moore (s) and S. Moore (w) and Araujo (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Sabino (l)

Sue is having baby as a portal to a dangerous world opens outside her hospital room. The thought is that it's the baby of Sue and Reed, as recommended by Miles Morhames to save their universe, but Sue reveals once the little girl is born that it is, in fact, boyfriend Ben's child, which Reed helped to obtain and artificially Sue with. Not a way to make that sentence sound good. Anyway, they fight off the aliens and then the series ends. I feel bad for Fialkov, who I think has largely done well in his time with Marvel, that the series ended so abruptly here before he could really get into the crazy designs he seemed to have. Still, not a particularly strong series. Total Score: 2/5


Wolverine 11
Cornell (w) and Woods (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Wolverine strikes Sabretooth's compound with SHIELD's help as Sabretooth prepares to start his new world with the help of the orb. Wolverine breaks out Lost Boy and Pinch and together they catch and interrogate Mystique before knocking her unconscious. In pursuit of Sabretooth, Lost Boy and Pinch get trapped behind a forcefield as Wolverine moves on to his final test, another friggin mall. I think there's stuff in this series and in the last that could work if it wasn't so incredibly full of itself. This one is complete with, as the mall is revealed, a sudden and inexplicable narrator announcing dramatically the "zen joke" of the mall. I also really hate this Sabretooth, which negates pretty much this entire series for me. Could he use an update after decades of pretty much being a one-note act? Sure. Is it weird businessman with a sense of irony/humor? Nope. Total Score: 2/5




Wolverine and the X-Men 7
Latour (w) and Veltri, Deering, and Messina (a) and Silva and B. Smith (c) and Cowles (l)

Wolverine's ex-girlfriend Melita Garner wants to write a book about her old boyfriend, hoping to show a human element to him as opposed to just some cartoon monster and is undeterred even when she's given a cease and desist by Wolverine's lawyer Daredevil. She explains what she wants to do and he goes to present the case to Wolverine, also telling him that he can't live in fear. The speech at least works to the extent that Logan calls Storm to ask her on a date. Meanwhile, Idie sulks about what she's seen and Fantomex wonders who the Jean Grey School's enemies will fear with a powerless Wolverine. Plenty going on here and lots of places for the book to go as it focuses on Wolverine and his story but certainly keeps a light on the rest of the school. The art changes with just about each scene change and sometimes it works well and sometimes it falls a little flat. Not a bad book but certainly not a great one either. Total Score: 3/5


X-Force 8
Spurrier (w) and Kim (a and c) and Sabino (l)

With Volga thought defeated, we follow a British army troop as they, with mega top secret clearance, try to show themselves capable in the Middle East to win a contract to take over superhuman affairs back home. Embedded with them is an American journalist, from whom we get all the narration. The team itself seems to have powers, though they attempt to keep them hidden but they also keep getting guerrilla attacked by X-Force out in the desert, eventually provoking them to use their powers and signaling to current British superhuman affairs contract-holder Pete Wisdom and MI13 to come check the situation. They had been monitoring it for a bit and the only discrepancy they found was dodgy paperwork allowing the journalist, who Wisdom quickly attacks, revealing MeMe controlling a robotic body and forcing X-Force to reveal themselves. Certainly one of those issue where I can't really judge the content because it's clearly so tied to the coming issue(s) and this is just a set-up for that. It's a confusing issue for sure and one that merits reading over a couple times, though it drags a little more than this series usually does, undoubtedly a drawback of such a new story with so many new characters. Still some fun parts and more than enough happening (and enough leeway) to rep going with this series. Total Score: 4/5

Leftovers 7/9/14

100th Anniversary Special: Amazing Spider-Man 1
S. Ryan (w) and I. Lee (a and c) and Cowles (l)

Another glimpse into the future as we see where Peter Parker might be in another few decades, battling Kingpin over a techno-symbiote, a Venom that grants him access to the world's electrical data. In a city where even the cars are connected to a giant grid, it gives him unparalleled control and the ability to hunt Peter at any turn. Peter manages to escape into the technology-less Central Park and make himself a torch, which he wields as Venom approaches. He dives at Kingpin with it and manages to burn off the suit, taking Kingpin down. He returns home and we learn that he's recently lost Aunt May (hard to feel too bad, she lived to maybe 700 years old, given the way she looks in early SPIDER-MAN) but he's ready to keep fighting. It's not a bad in medias res book (though it claims to be 8 of 8 and it's the first time Kingpin is revealed as the villain, so it's indicative of a pacing problem in the arc) and Sean Ryan's writing doesn't over-explain too much (as would be the temptation as you jump into a whole new world and the end of an arc) while In-Hyuk Lee's art is very impressive. Strong stuff, certainly entertaining enough to read, though it seems a little heavy-handed about the role of electronics and the pace of technology and so forth. 4/5

All-New Invaders 7
J. Robinson (w) and Laming (a) and Guru eFX (c) and Petit (l)

Torch continues to explain to SHIELD agent Malloy what happened with Radiance, which leads to a story within a story within a story and ALL OF THEM ARE BORING. The original Invaders were set to cause a tsunami in Japan that would likely end the war but Golden Girl, Radiance's grandmother, could not abide the loss of innocent lives the tsunami would cause. She and the Kid Commandoes fight against the Invaders and eventually cause them to see the innocent people and they all refuse to go through with the plan, prompting the army to drop the bombs. Radiance backs off, ashamed that she took such steps to nearly really hurt some people, and Torch takes the fall for her and he explains it to Malloy and Malloy is apparently an alien AI and I DO NOT CARE. This book has SO MUCH over-exposition, kicking off with Malloy literally saying "let me list what you've said" at one point and it's just stuff like that that make this one of the most poorly written and therefore boring books I've seen. 1/5

Amazing Spider-Man 1.3
Slott (w) and R. Pérez (a) and Herring (c) and Caramagna (l)

As the science fair approaches, Peter decides to enter a magnetic device he used against the Vulture. It fails to impress but it works well when Clayton Cole shows up at the fair in his Clash get-up and Peter assumes the worst, changing to Spider-Man and attacking before Clash can hurt anyone. Of course, it makes matters worse and Clash is more powerful than he was before. Spider-Man forces him to flee with the magnetic device but has earned the ire of everyone around and his turned Clash even more against Spider-Man. This is a fairly slow issue with equal time given to the new storyline as to the old ones (like the Vulture fight) so you already know a lot of the stuff that's happening. More than that, though, it reverts Spidey to his original personality maybe a little too well, making him far less likable and more reactionary. He is rather the cause of all of these troubles (with a generous helping of Clayton Cole's insanity). 2/5

Avengers Undercover 7
Hopeless (w) and Walker (p) and Gorder (i) and Beaulieu (c) and Caramagna (l)

Chase is in neurosurgery even after Nico uses her power to heal his chest and it rather sends her off the deep end. She's been training with Alex, her evil, one-time, thought dead boyfriend, who has determined that her power is legendary but her willingness to use it is holding her back. When Chase returns near death, she flips and decides to give up, letting in to her more wrong desires and kissing Alex. Meanwhile, Maria Hill, Hank Pym, and Steve Rogers lament the loss of AIM's prisoner, a SHIELD agent named Crenshaw who pretty much built their entire communications security and who is now in Zemo's grasp and Cammi, kept quietly in a cell, creates a peephole to see where she's being kept only to find out that it's right above Zemo's living room. She sees them celebrating, Zemo's hand around the waist of a woman with her back to the cell, and can't figure out what the celebration is for, leading her cellmate, the still alive Arcade, to offer some theories. Really interesting book as these kids only get more interesting and as their situation seems to get more dire. Lot of fun with a couple of good twists and turns and the promise of the next issue zooming us three months into the future. 5/5

Deadly Hands of Kung Fu 3
M. Benson (w) and Huat (p) and Yeung (i) and Aburtov (c) and Sabino (l)

Shang-Chi, with the help of the Daughters of the Dragon and MI6, follows after White Dragon and a mysterious friend, learning that they've taken hold of a book of powerful dark magic. Shang is joined by sometimes adversary Skull Crusher, also believing White Dragon is up to something too sinister to continue. They sneak into the White Dragon's lair and come upon him, managing to subdue him but ultimately succumbing to the magic in the room. Then Dragon's friend appears, revealing himself to be Midnight Sun, brother to Shang-Chi, who is set on taking his father's place and running the crime world of England. They've already killed most of the Triads' leaders, using their heads for their enchantments, and White Dragon offers up his own to Midnight Sun, who takes it and then proceeds to take Skull Crusher's. Things look as bad as they have for Shang-Chi, who is facing quite an adversary in his own brother. The book moves well and doesn't over-explain, though still gives enough of a sense of things for unfamiliar readers to get a foothold in the story. I'm also particularly partial to Huat's art after X-MEN LEGACY so this book is doing pretty well in my book, though it does get a little too deep into Shang-Chi's story for the casual reader. 4/5


Deadpool 31
Posehn and Duggan (w) and J. Lucas (a) and Staples (c) and Sabino (l)

While Deadpool and Dazzler keep pulling apart the vampire nests, Preston meets with Butler's brother in Chicago. She meets Ellie, who has something of a fondness for violence and gore, but she's asked to leave by Utler before anything really happens. However, a separate task force appears to capture Ellie and Preston manages to all but fight them off. When she's shot and taken out in the process, though, she manages to spend a text to Deadpool to tell him what's happening, which sends him looking for any help to get him to Chicago quickly. After exhausting all his likely allies, he happens upon Thor at Avenger's Mansion, who allows him to hang on to Mjolnir while he throws it for Chicago. The book moves pretty well and advances the plot nicely, though the vampire hunt seems to be taking something of a backseat to the Ellie situation, which feels a little strange. The art is maybe a little more disconcerting than I'd like but otherwise, pretty strong showing. 4/5

Fantastic Four 7
J. Robinson (w) and Kirk and Haspiel (p) and Haspiel and Kesel w/Magyar (i) and Aburtov and Woodard (c)

Johnny ruined Reed's chance to help Ben in the past and now Thing remembers it all and demands Johnny not speak to him again. He leaves Johnny's apartment and heads to the bar, where he gets a call from Alicia saying she's been kidnapped by her step-father, the Puppet Master. He rushes to her, calling Reed to come help on the way. When Reed arrives, he finds Thing standing over the body of Puppet Master, swearing that he didn't do it. Much of the first half of the issue is dedicated to the ORIGINAL SIN flashback, which is rather unnecessary as we pretty much got the gist of it last time. There's still plenty going on with Puppet Master and it feels like this is the sort of crime/trial/mystery that could go on for a while and maybe have an easy wrap-up. Still, the book reads alright, though a little over expository, and the differing art styles (Haspiel for the OS flashback and Kirk for the rest) work for their parts. 3/5

Nightcrawler 4
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Sabino (l)

The Trimegas attack the school and Wolverine and Nightcrawler find that Margali has escaped after dismantling Storm and Beast to just their memories. Amanda sets to work repairing them but finds that they have memories missing, specifically the ones about Kurt's return. Her plan seems to be to go to Heaven and conquer that world with her Trimegas and her magic but Kurt and Amanda find and stop her out on the lawn, though not before she opens a portal between the two. Amanda dives into it to help close it from that side but Kurt is barred access, already having chosen to leave Heaven. She refuses to let him try, fearing he'll erase himself from eternity of he tries (??) but promises she'll be waiting for him and the portal closes. The adventure is a fairly strong one and it intends in classic Claremont fashion but the issue is bogged down a little by unnecessary dialogue and explanation, such as Nightcrawler's inner monologue that runs through his list of everyone fighting, something that has come up in just about every issue so far and which wasn't even necessary the first time. There are things here that are interesting but they'll have to get past the bogged down presentation to really unleash them. 3/5

Original Sins 3
Inhuman: Soule (w) and Browne (a) and Delgado (c) and Cowles (l)
Young Avengers: North (w) and Villalobos (a) and Gibson (c) and Cowles (l)
J. Jonah Jameson: Slott (w) and Bagley (p) and Rubinstein (i) and Mounts (c) and Cowles (l)

An Inhuman named Lineage learns that Black Bolt started a war with the Kree, the Young Avengers are convinced to make a mini-Cerebro for the Hood to learn everything they can from the drug addicts who took too many secrets, and J. Jonah Jameson fires a young reporter who digs a little too deep into Spider-Man's past only to learn that Jameson had once reviewed Spidey's one-man show positively. The INHUMAN story, written by INHUMAN writer Charles Soule, seems to indicate more coming, the YOUNG AVENGERS story continues to be well-written with a lot of fun moments but ultimately a little slow, and the Jameson story is a fast enough read that it's just a cute little one-off. Can't complain too much on this one. 4/5

Spider-Man 2099 1
David (w) and Sliney (a) and Fabela (c) and Caramagna (l)

Miguel O'Hara, posing as Mike O'Mara in the present, is the Spider-Man of 2099 but he's trapped in 2014 and trying to make ends meet. He works for Alchemax, the company that will go on to ruin the world by his time and he rents a pretty crappy apartment in the city. He's chased by something of a timecop, sent back to destroy him before he changes anything, but he manages to outmaneuver it, causing it to blow its own head off instead of his or Alchemax owner Liz Allan. As Spidey 2099 leaves her office, Liz has her assistant verify that no windows have been broken, believing that this Spider-Man is on her payroll somewhere. There are interesting things happening as this series kicks off, particularly with the added twist of an intelligent Liz Allan immediately taking steps that seemingly no one else has ever taken for Spider-Man, but the issue starts to get a little too cute as banter slows things down and makes the timecop (from future agency TOTEM) almost comical at times while being threatening and cold at others. Still, strong first entry and only a couple times with Miguel saying future-swear "shock." 4/5

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 13
Spencer (w) and Lieber (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Cowles (l)

Chameleon managed to get away from the crime scene as the cops and Mach VII showed up, but most of the other guys were taken away. Boomerang and his team, though, successfully snuck out with the portrait, planning to head to a safehouse. Meanwhile, Shocker and the head of Silvermane make it out of their predicament when Shocker realizes he can use his gauntlets to fly away from Hammerhead and his goons. He lands at the safehouse before Boomerang, setting Shocker and his old team for a reunion. The book drags a little bit when it focuses on Shocker and Silvermane but overall it's an incredibly fun book with a lot of truly funny moments. Many books that go for funny fall a little flat because they seem to come out of left field or the situation doesn't really call for funny or something like that but this book reliably manages to hit just the right tone and to keep the book fun. Strong showing for this one. 4/5


Wolverine 10
Cornell (w) and P. Woods (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Sabretooth has access to the weapon now and is ready to transform New York entirely, making it truly Darwinian world, one where his strengths should set him up to be the ruler of all (which seems to work in counterpoint to his new CEO Sabretooth appearance). Meanwhile, Wolverine tracks him with help from the X-Men, to whom he apologizes, and prepares to attack with the help of his Guerica Bar pals, to whom he apologizes, Thor, to whom he apologizes, and SHIELD, to whom he apologizes. Wolverine has decided to accept help finally and now it'll be a matter of timing about whether Wolverine's forces can stop Sabretooth before he unleashes his weapon. Things are shaping up here for a big final showdown but it's still slowed by the stupid Guernica Bar stuff, the maudlin Wolverine, some weird art, and CEO Sabretooth. 3/5

Wolverine 8, Savage Wolverine 20, Nightcrawler 3

Wolverine 8
Cornell (w) and Anka (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Wolverine, guided by Shang-Chi and Iron Fist, visits a mystical temple where it is said that death takes a holiday. Offer comes to Sabretooth to, in theory, work out a way for him to free Pinch and her daughter Annie and Lost Boy. Of course, he doesn't really care about that and manages instead to offer up a way to track Wolverine in exchange for his services. Accepting, Sabretooth sends a team of ninjas to attack Wolverine.

With the much advertised DEATH OF WOLVERINE coming, Cornell kicks off his three part THREE MONTHS TO DIE run by sending Wolverine, still trying to rediscover himself in the new killable world, to meet Death and to work out with Shang-Chi and Iron Fist. I tend to be wary of the physical representation of Death whenever it appears in fiction, just as I'm still a little flummoxed by the physical Heaven that we saw in AMAZING X-MEN to bring back Nightcrawler (although, somehow, I'm past the point of quibbling over Hell existing in Marvel - maybe it's just time that these things need). I tend to believe that having a character who actually is Death is a little on the nose for my liking. Still, teaming Wolverine with Shang-Chi and Iron Fist isn't a bad thing so maybe this will all turn out okay. Still don't like businessman Sabretooth.

Total Score: 3/5


Savage Wolverine 20
Tieri (w) and F. Ruiz (a) and Brown (c) and Petit (l)

It's the roaring '20s (the roaring late '20s, to be exact) and prohibition is all over the place with Al Capone running the most successful bootlegging gig though it puts him at odds with Bugs Moran, a Canadian bootlegger who's enlisted Wolverine. When Wolverine's girlfriend turns up dead (fridging at its finest), he hunts down Capone, who gives him the name of the man who actually did it. Of course, that man is Sabretooth and Sabretooth enacts the St. Valentine's Day Massacre, of which Wolverine was a victim before healing.

The tone of this book is pretty dead on to where it needs to be and Felix Ruiz does a swell job making it feel like the '20s, making this another interesting enough installment of "how does Wolverine play into this time/this event?" a game that this series has been playing since the first couple of arcs passed. Still, the story isn't particularly compelling (which might be my own bias against gangster stuff, I just tend not to care unless it's really a different take on gangsters) and somehow businessman Sabretooth turns up again, albeit in a more questioning and mercenary sort of way. I wouldn't say that I'm burnt out on Wolverine, exactly, which is a credit because boy is he EVERYWHERE but I am certainly, at this point, well burnt out on Sabretooth.

Total Score: 3/5


Nightcrawler 3
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Petit (l)

Trimega, showing up with three robots now, attacks the circus and immediately begins to show off how powerful he is, tearing through Kurt's friends and adopted family like nothing. Margali shows up just in time and easily overpowers them and Kurt decides, to keep the others safe and to get some back up, that he'll bring Amanda and Margali to the Jean Grey School, where they're greeted with suspicion and hostility. There are far deeper issues at play, though, as Margali and Amanda attack their interrogators behind closed doors and as a horde of Trimegas show up to attack the school.

While the story feels like it's moving a little too slowly to be particularly compelling, there's a bit more to like here. I want to clarify - the story itself isn't necessarily moving that slowly but the sheer amount of dialogue and exposition slows down the actual pacing of the book to a point where it's sometimes hard to get really drawn into the story itself. There is some decent characterization based on the way the X-Men react to Margali and to Kurt and the way Kurt has to continue to struggle with his return to life, leaving behind everything he'd lived his previous life working towards. Heaven is real, confirming all of his hope and faith, but he still rejected it, which is a compelling story but seems pretty well over by the time the issue's done with.

Total Score: 3/5

SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: Wolverine 6, Nightcrawler 2

Wolverine 6
Cornell (w) and Sandoval (a) and Curiel (c) and Petit (l)

Wolverine and his team have been sent by Offer to Madripoor to find an alien item that Sabretooth is trying to get his hands on before Sabretooth can get his hands on it. Logan leads his team to his old bar, disguised as old Madripoor standby Patch but the team is attacked by the Hand searching for Logan. He's whisked away as one of the people teamed with the Hand stays in the bar to deal with the team. It turns out all three are with MI13 and this was all organized by Wolverine. Pete Wisdom, Dane Whitman, and tech guy O run over the plan and give Wolverine a tracker to find the stolen item as Faiza Hussain leads Wolverine's team to their meeting. As "the Hand" flee, Wolverine brings his team step-by-step to the item, losing them just as he comes across Sabretooth.

I think there are parts of this story that are interesting, more interesting than I've found most of Cornell's run on WOLVERINE to be, but it's sometimes bogged down by over-explanation and a desire to maybe be a little more than it outwardly seems. As I intimated last issue, Pinch somehow put some pieces together and decided maybe Wolverine was playing them all and it comes up here a couple of times but it still doesn't really work for me. On top of that, there's a weird segment in here where suddenly narrative kicks in and goes third person omniscient, giving us access to Wolverine's thoughts but in a third person narration. Just weird.

Total Score: 3/5

Nightcrawler 2
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Petit (l)

Nightcrawler and Amanda Sefton made it out of the fight with Trimega by the skin of their teeth and have set out to find their foster mother from their youthful days in the circus, Margali. They go to Wizendorf, reminisce a bit and flirt a bit more, and then make their way to the typical resting place of the traveling circus. They're promptly attacked by old friends not believing they're who they say they are but eventually they're swayed and celebrate the return of their friends. Amanda and Margali, though, have developed a feud that won't be so easily forgotten but it has to be put aside when Trimega does eventually turn up.

It's a little hard to feel terribly invested in this series as we don't really have a good sense of who Trimega is or why he's so dangerous. Add to that a bit too much exposition and some sickly sweet writing (there are few people who hate exclamation points used outside of shouts more than I) and so far the book is off to a shaky start. I will credit Todd Nauck for some solid art and I'll credit Marvel for getting Jamie McKelvie to do the covers on this series (as well as on MS. MARVEL, while we're talking about it) because they very nearly make it worth it to pick this one up regardless of your personal connection to it.

Total Score: 2/5

Amazing X-Men 6, Wolverine and the X-Men 3

Amazing X-Men 6
Aaron (w) and C. Stewart (a) and Rosenberg (c) and Caramagna (l)

Nightcrawler has returned and he's got to make the best of things knowing that he can never return to the afterworld. He watches as a SHIELD transport takes Azazel to Ryker's while he's supposed to be at a party with all of his old pals. Feeling okay that Azazel is in custody, he returns and mingles, even welcoming Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Kitty into the bar to celebrate the night. However, he realizes that Mystique is among the gathering and she figures out where Azazel is. He tries to stop her from attacking him and/or setting him free but cannot stop the red bamfs from freeing Azazel. He returns to the bar with Wolverine as Mystique and Azazel join forces.

Story
With Nightcrawler's return now cemented, we see where things are going to go next. This feels like a necessary issue, one where Nightcrawler meets again with all his old pals and even with Mystique. The team-up of Nightcrawler's parents isn't necessarily the most thrilling team-up in the world but I guess we'll see where it leads. 3/5

Character
As of right now, at least, AMAZING X-MEN is really Nightcrawler's book. That could very well change as Nightcrawler's return is less of a surprise to everyone around and as his own book continues, but for now Aaron is one of the key people writing Nightcrawler and I appreciate his take on him. It's very clear that something is changed about Nightcrawler and there's certainly a sadness to him that hadn't been there before. I'm interested to see how he takes this. 5/5

Writing
The writing feels at times a little incongruous as Nightcrawler's depression drives the better part of this book only to be replaced by his parents bickering and CONTINUALLY referencing the fact that they're his parents. Also, I'd be fine if they just flat-out dropped the "Scott Summers leads the outcast X-Men" storyline and mixed all of them back in with the rest of the mutants without any sort of explanation. They so constantly meet up with the other mutants in the world that I feel like everyone is just dying for this all to be over and if it's my go-ahead they're waiting for, they have it. 3/5

Art
I like Cameron Stewart's art here and it's a rather nice change from series regular Ed McGuinness, with whom I sometimes have issues (particularly in the way he draws women's faces). It's strong art here and it works equally well in the calm and happiness of the bar and in the darkness and action of the fights. 5/5

Miscellaneous
It's always nice to see that a resurrection in comics does have some effect on both the recently deceased and on the ones who it affected. I'm interested to see how Nightcrawler handles himself in the coming months of Marvel comics and how his resurrection impacts the rest of the universe but so far I'm liking Aaron's take more than Claremont's (still very early).

Total score: 3/5


Wolverine and the X-Men 3
Latour (w) and Asrar (a) and Silva (c) and Cowles (l)

Askani John injures Wolverine and their Bamf enough that he and Storm can't rush back to the school quickly enough to stop John's attack on Evan. Meanwhile, Edan Younge of the new Phoenix Corporation enters Quentin Quire's mind to tell him that he's bound someday to wield the Phoenix Force and that he should be prepared better than what the X-Men can offer and to tell him that he's lost his edge. Quire doesn't take kindly to this and he uses Wolverine and Storm's appearance to force Younge out of his mind and to leave with a Bamf. Back at the school, the students step forward to try to defend Evan from John but John forces an image on all of them of the future Evan would give them as the new Apocalypse.

Story
There is a somewhat interesting story here and it's the story that things have been heading towards since Wolverine delivered Evan to the Jean Grey School however long ago he did it. It's a little bit muddy right now because there's just so much going on and the Phoenix Corporation confuses things a bit so it's a little hard to see how things are really shaking out. Still, things are getting interesting as Quentin thinks about his potential and, perhaps, his responsibility and as everyone else is forced to see what Evan could become. 4/5

Character
There's a nice moment for Storm in here as everyone is forced to respect how incredible she is. It's probably the best character moment in the book as Quentin gets the focus but continues to be rather obnoxious. Even when he gets a nice moment as he refuses to be defined by all the people trying to do so, he's still just a little too quippy and too...I don't know, know-it-all teen for me? I think that's in his design so it's not anything Latour or Asrar is responsible for but it's hard to put him in the center of the book and ask us to care unduly. 3/5

Writing
As I said, I think the story in here is going where it needs to go and in an interesting direction but it is a little hard to follow at times. It may just be a result of too many plot points converging at the start of a new book and things will fall into place more readily when we've got a little ground under our feet. Still, the rapidly switching narrative and the jumping timeline make it a little harder than it feels like maybe it needs to be. It doesn't read particularly quickly either so expect to need to double back on dialogue a few times in the course of the book. 3/5

Art
It feels like Mahmud Asrar is getting better and better every time out. His art is impressive and the people that he draws are all fairly expressive and he illustrates the calm as well as he does the action. There are a couple times here where it can get a little hard to follow what's happening, particularly as it pertains to the Bamfs, but overall some good art here. 4/5

Miscellaneous
I'll never penalize a book for referencing Remender's unbelievably great UNCANNY X-FORCE so this book may be losing points here and there for a convoluted plot and under-explained new characters but it won't lose points for shooting for the stars here.

Total score: 3/5

Nightcrawler 1, Superior Foes of Spider-Man 11, All-New Doop 1

Nightcrawler 1
Claremont (w) and Nauck (a and c)

Nightcrawler is back in the Marvel Universe and he's making the rounds meeting up with all his old friends at the Jean Grey School and elsewhere. After checking in with all of the X-Men around, he decides to head to Manhattan to meet up with foster sister turned girlfriend Amanda Sefton. She's excited to see him (though, frankly, not excited enough considering where he's been) and they rekindle their old relationship immediately until a robot sort of villain attacks, looking for Amanda (not sure what we're calling her; far as I know, her last name was Magik and that's kind of re-taken and I really don't want to get that all backwards. Daytripper maybe? Ugh). After a bit of a fight, Nightcrawler dispatches the would-be kidnapper and he and Amanda agree to go make sure other people in her family and in her life are safe.

It's really hard to judge any book (unless it totally blows you away) on the first issue. They have to establish their character, establish their world, establish their stories, establish their villains, establish their tone, etc. I find it doubly hard to judge this one on the first issue. If you've never read an X-MEN comic or, you know, a comic before, this one might not be so bad for you? What I'm trying to say is that Claremont, in his big return to the Marvel Universe, is really ready to explain who everyone is (though, weirdly, doesn't really explain Amanda Sefton, easily the least recognizable character in the pages of this book). Hopefully, as all the key players have been explained or are explained, this will die down a bit and let the story do the talking. I admit to being skeptical about this series. Claremont changed the Marvel Universe for the better in the '70s and '80s but the style of writing is very different these days and there's less of a need for over explanation to say what's happening in the panels. We'll see if that starts to tone down a bit as well. Nauck's art is strong and absolutely fits the more lighthearted tone of the issue. We'll see how this one presses forward.

Superior Foes of Spider-Man 11
A Grizzly Situation: Peyer (w) and Carnero and Pallot (a) and Sotomayor (c)
The Superior Looter: Kalan (w) and Plati (a) and Rauch (c)

SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN 11 is split into two different stories, both told by villains at a Super Villains Anonymous meeting. The first, by Tom Peyer and Carmen Carnero, features Grizzly, Maxwell Markham, telling a story about how depressing and sad he is. He gives a little bit of his history (he's a former wrestler who's also not a very good super villain) and talks about a recent mugging he perpetrated, wherein he took some money from a guy's wallet and then returned the wallet to him with the cards and everything else in it. He goes and buys a pizza and brings it back to share with the guy he mugged, still tied up, and the two talk because Grizzly is just lonely and depressed. A lot of the depression, it seems, is caused by the fact that Spider-Man is so scary now. Gone are the days of a simple fight and some traded quips, replaced by a horrifying potential encounter with a man who would sooner leave you paralyzed than webbed up for the police to find. After the mugging, Grizzly did run into Spider-Man and did get brutalized for it. Now he's at the meeting, sympathizing with other Spidey villains about how terrible life is now.

Elliott Kalan and Nuno Plati bring us the second story, focusing on Norman Fester, AKA the Looter. Tired of continually losing to Spider-Man and not taking a criminal empire like he wanted, Looter left New York for a while on something of a spiritual journey. Also a journey to beat up the lesser heroes spread out around the US and to improve himself on every level. When he finally decides to return to New York, he's stronger, faster, better in every way. Other criminals warn him that Spider-Man is different now but he's sure he's a match for the Spider. He, of course, is not and the two quickly meet only to find that people were not lying and is quickly put in a wheelchair with all manner of broken bones. Despite this, the scary thing Looter has taken away is that he still wants to rob and assault and do all these vicious things, that there's something darker in him than just committing crimes as means to an end, that everyone has a Superior Spider-Man in them. It's a fairly strong piece by Kalan of The Daily Show and the Flop House podcast fame and one that finds Kalan writing a pretty good Spider-Man. Bit of a different issue in general as we take a step back from our usual protagonists of this series (I mean, if you can call them protagonists). Nice little one-shot, good for a change of pace. The regular creators return to the series and presumably to the regular story next issue.

All-New Doop 1
Milligan (w) and Lafuente (a) and L. Allred (c)

Doop lives on the margins of the pages, navigating the Doopspace as he sees fit. Today, he sees fit to follow Kitty Pryde around at key moments over the last year. He writes and gives her a letter during a fight she and the ANXM and Scott's X-Men are having with some sentinels (back from some time ago). Later, during BATTLE OF THE ATOM, he encourages her to read the letter that she had since pocketed. The letter is a love letter, ultimately asking Kitty to marry him. She's very surprised, though touched, but she explains that it could never work between them. Citing a reason, she says that they can't even communicate. In response, Doop peels off his skin, revealing another version of himself (the same physically) who is able to sort of speak English.

Doop finally gets the limited series I'm not sure anyone was asking for. Regardless, there are some neat things happening here. Doop, not unlike the character Forget-Me-Not introduced in X-MEN LEGACY 300, is not only able to live on the outskirts of any situation, he often has some level of interference that helps the people though goes unnoticed. The way Lafuente presents this "living on the margins" and the way he makes his way through the world is very interesting, sometimes literally diving down across a page and over the panels. It's interesting to see, even if the book maybe goes a little too far out of the way to show it happening as Doop drops in on various moments over the last year (that might be entirely personal bias as I've been rather against most things happening in the X-world over the last year). Interesting book to see, I'm curious as to where it will go moving forward.

Comics this week

Hey all my buddies, it's the start to another new comics week so it's time to highlight the five I'm anticipating most. There are eighteen new books out this week and more than a QUARTER of them start with the worlds "ALL-NEW," as the list on the right would indicate (unless you're looking at this post sometime after the week of this post, in which case there are hopefully different comics there). Though I am interested to see how ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER 2 is after a pretty strong debut issue, I refuse to put it on this list because there are FIVE "ALL-NEW" TITLES and I kind of hate the "ALL-NEW" designation. The tiniest protest aside, there are still more than enough books to choose from this week.

Avengers Undercover 2
A strong opener from Dennis Hopeless and company put the survivors of AVENGERS ARENA back on the map and now they're reunited to try to save the revenge-fueled Cullen Bloodstone from destruction or worse at the hands of bigger villains than even Arcade because, you know, Arcade isn't that big of a villain outside of his island. The tone and the focus on characters drove the initial series and I'd look for it to drive this one too.

Captain Marvel 2
Carol Danvers has gone to space hoping that the time off Earth gets her in a new headspace. It's a whole new start for Carol Danvers and one that will shake things up a bit for our hero. She's taken on a role for the Avengers as a sort of space warning system, fighting off or alerting the Avengers to threats to Earth coming from space. She's also set to join up with the Guardians of the Galaxy as they continue to gain popularity. Could lead to interesting stuff.

Daredevil 1.50
This is one I'm not a hundred percent sure of as it launches. To celebrate the fiftieth year of Daredevil, this 1.50 issue is a standalone issue that will purportedly give us a glimpse into DD's 2014 from the creators of his current series as well as a few stories from DD's past from past creators. By "not sure of it," I mostly mean that I tend not to put in standalone stories or retrospective stories to this list but I really like Daredevil and I think this one will still matter in the long run. Plus, I'm sure it'll still be good.

Iron Fist: The Living Weapon 1
Everyone's favorite K'un-Lun chosen one returns to the forefront of Marvel comics as IRON FIST: THE LIVING WEAPON takes off. Writer/artist Kaare Andrews will lead Daniel Rand through all sorts of new and, given Andrews' work with Iron Fist before, presumably beautiful places in this all-new (but pointedly not ALL-NEW) series. I love Iron Fist; he's somewhere up pretty high in my pantheon of superheroes. I'm really excited to see where this series goes.

Nightcrawler 1
With the return of beloved mutant Nightcrawler comes the return of beloved X-Men legend Chris Claremont. I'm very intrigued to see how Claremont comes at this new series. He was always a little wordy for my tastes but that was also certainly a product of the times. Now, in a world where comics are more accepted and understood and the artists are able to do more storytelling with a page, we'll see how Claremont handles a brand new series. I'm interested enough that I'm not even going to mention how much I miss X-MEN LEGACY, the book this one is replacing (kind of, anyway. Originally Nightcrawler was just going to take over LEGACY but then they were like "well hey, let's just title the book NIGHTCRAWLER." Regardless, I think Spurrier's LEGACY would have been over anyway).

Amazing X-Men 5, All-New X-Factor 5, Marvel Knights X-Men 5

Amazing X-Men 5
Aaron (w) and McGuinness and Vines (a) and Gracia (c)

With all of the X-Men by Nightcrawler's side again, they prepare for war with Azazel's ship. Nightcrawler and his friends do what they can to keep Azazel and his pirates at bay but they begin to make a real push against the X-Men and, after Wolverine is stabbed through his back, Nightcrawler is forced to consummate his deal with the Bamfs, the terms of which are still unknown to us. He goes through with it, despite the pleadings of an also-Heavenly Charles Xavier in his head, and the Bamfs pile on Azazel, forcing him to Earth, while Nightcrawler and the X-Men make their way back out of the portal. The deal that Nightcrawler made chained Azazel to Earth, meaning he can't take over Heaven or Hell or anything out there at the cost of his own soul. But hey, Nightcrawler's back!

I still don't really like this arc in its conceit. I think it's a dangerous move to bring Heaven and Hell into a universe that can't possibly abide them. Well, okay, Hell already exists in the Marvel Universe so I suppose it's not that much of a stretch to say that Heaven is there too but the truth of the matter is that Hell works in a somewhat different way than the typical model of Hell. Heaven, then, seems just like a place that would contain the souls of all of the heroes that have ever died and how do you close that door once it's been opened? Obviously heroes don't exactly suffer from overly long deaths, but dropping Heaven into the equation seems both like it's going to bring up religious issues and just be a possible panacea for any deaths that are still to come. On top of that, the scale of the story almost didn't seem big enough; I don't know that it ever truly found its footing here and I particularly don't like introducing Heaven so blatantly with a story that doesn't really shine. I continue to be very torn on Ed McGuinness, who has all the basics of drawing really mastered but whose characters (particularly the women) have really child-like faces (Storm on the cover of this issue terrifies me more than most things in the world). But hey, Nightcrawler's back!

All-New X-Factor 5
David (w) and Di Giandomenico (a) and Loughridge (c)

When Gambit wakes, Danger is standing in his room. She explains to him that his kiss introduced organic counteractions to the programming Nil had done to erase what she once was but that she fears it wasn't enough and needs more counteracting. Gambit doesn't really know what this means and he leaves more than a little shaken. Meanwhile, the introduction of Danger to the team has made things a little trickier around the office as she recognizes immediately that Quicksilver had left through the bathroom window and run somewhere before running back and pretending to be finished with the bathroom based on his heart rate and she deduces that Harrison Snow is having an affair with his assistant when she scans that the assistant has Snow's DNA on her in ways that suggest such an affair. Of course, everyone denies these allegations and Danger is left doubting herself even more. Finally, when X-Factor is brought into a business meeting with the head of an up-and-coming tech business that Snow wants to buy out, Danger immediately recognizes that the man isn't human. As everyone protests Danger's accusation, she plunges her hand through his chest to reveal his true nature. It's the Magus, head of the Technarchy and father of former New Mutant Warlock, who turns up apparently on the side of his one-time enemy Magus as X-Factor faces off against him. Warlock appears to save his father and the two escape while X-Factor tries to put everything together. Polaris decides they need to go see Cypher to understand what's happening with Warlock.

The introduction of Danger to this team has already made the book a good deal more interesting. It's thrown another dynamic in with this team and it's already showing how much more difficult it's going to be to keep secrets around here. With the reveal that Danger can sniff out everyone's little lies, we're able to see just how much of a powder keg Peter David has built with his core three characters and with Harrison Snow, who is still obviously set to be the villain of the piece. In that way, this issue has to be the strongest so far of the bunch and it hints that things may continue to improve as we get a little deeper into a new plot and as we start to establish new members for the team (color me surprised if Cypher and/or Warlock doesn't end up on the team when all of this is said and done). There are perhaps a few too many nerdy references in here for the characters - I have no doubt that they don't sail over the head of anyone reading it but I don't believe that some of the characters would actually make them let alone make them in the situations in which they are made (Snow makes a Doctor Who reference to the head of the other company and then quickly explains that it's a Doctor Who reference for literally no one's benefit in his first time meeting the other company's head). Still, the plot is moving, the characters are coming into their own, and everything's working out one way or another so let's hope this ball keeps rolling.

Marvel Knights X-Men 5
Revel (w and a) and Peter (c)

The dream-Xavier shows up at just the right time as he gives Kitty all of the inspiration she needs to continue fighting and to inspire Krystal into doing what she can to give them an army and to find her way to Darla. Meanwhile, Rogue and Wolverine, their recent fight put aside, re-enter the fray near Darla and manage to keep things chaotic for the young mutant while she begins to panic and tries to use the drugs she got from the head of the cult to up her powers. Kitty and Krystal, leading a Krystal-controlled team of bikers back into the town, cut a swath through the battles and all of the X-Men present begin to get added help when they create their own backups in the form of dream-Storm, dream-Nightcrawler, and dream-Colossus. While the fight rages, Krystal makes her way to Darla and tries to talk her down. Though it's a struggle to convince Darla that she's not doing the right thing here, Krystal eventually succeeds and gets Darla to give up the fight and let the X-Men help her. Finally everything begins to calm down and, to help a little bit more, Krystal convinces the press that everything they'd seen from the outside of these fights were created by a mine cave-in and subsequent explosions from that.

It's a nice little ending for what has been a nice little series. One of the most apparent things about writer/artist Brahm Revel throughout this series has been a true love for the X-Men. He cares who these characters are and where they've come from and, while this story was a sweeping tale about two scared mutants in a town that hates and fears what they are, it's what really drove the story all the way through, right up to its ending with the dream-X-Men team coming to the aid of fellow X-Men Wolverine, Rogue, and Kitty Pryde. The book reads as a real love story to the X-Men while managing to create and craft a story all distinctly its own, aided by Revel's outstanding art. I liked a lot of the things that were happening in MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN (thanks, in large part, to the incredible Marco Rudy art) but I think this series stands a little better as a complete story. Certainly a story worth telling and I think we can safely say, now that the newest batch of MARVEL KNIGHTS books have all been completed, this little experiment of reintroducing the MARVEL KNIGHTS line was a success.

Aaron leaving AMAZING X-MEN, Kyle and Yost to take over

Scheduling demands have forced Jason Aaron to leave new title AMAZING X-MEN after only six issues, as CBR reports. His run will end with April's AMAZING X-MEN 6, which will be the conclusion of the current arc and Nightcrawler's return. Issue 7 will feature the fantastic Kathryn Immonen writing before Craig Kyle and Chris Yost take over on issue 8. It will mark a return for the two Thor: The Dark World writers to the X-world after their run on an X-23 miniseries and books like YOUNG X-MEN back in the 2000s. Aaron's explanation is here, in several tweets:

So yeah, because of my overall schedule demands, I had to step away from Amazing X-Men a bit sooner than I'd hoped.

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

Though as far as parting shots go, I think the Return of Nightcrawler is a pretty satisfying way to end my tenure as an X-writer.

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

Without Amazing, that leaves me writing Original Sin, Thor, Southern Bastards and a couple of other things I can't talk about yet.

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

It was definitely weird to leave the X-verse behind after spending pretty much my entire Marvel career there.

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

But I couldn't be happier with the stuff I'm working on now. Fun times ahead!

— Jason Aaron (@jasonaaron) March 10, 2014

X-Men 11, Uncanny X-Men 17, Amazing X-Men 4

X-Men 11
Wood (w) and Anka (a) and Keith (c)
AND Wood (w) and C. Mann and S. Mann (a) and Mounts (c)

A story in two parts as part one, the significantly longer part, finds the majority of the team working to try to figure out what Arkea's plan is and why they've come across an empty boat. They actually do a pretty good job of figuring out what Arkea is up to, based on who she's allied herself with and where the money's coming from, tracing Arkea even to the resurrection of Selene Galio and Madelyne Pryor. Their solid deductions still don't stop the infighting amongst them, of course, not helped by the fact that now the always argumentative Monet is on the team. They also realize that the boat being out there has lured all of them out to it, leaving whatever other targets they might be at unprotected. CUT TO the second part of the story, illustrated by the Manns, which focuses on Jubilee leading the fight against the restored and constantly healing Sentinels. The fight goes well enough but Jubilee does the "vampire mist thing" and suddenly no one can trace where she's gone.

The X-Men aren't the only ones with infighting as Ana Cortes pleads with Typhoid Mary to kill her, worrying about the implications of the things she's done and knowing that she won't be able to keep up with the supervillains as their plans progress. On top of that, John Sublime is asking some pointed questions to Quentin Quire, the care of whom he has been not-so-lovingly placed under. There's a lot here to enjoy and a lot to think about as this book suddenly has real steam. The characters are all strong, the relationships between them are already pretty defined and are growing more defined by the issue, and the threat is becoming more and more real. In truth, the threat and the plot are still the vaguest part about this book, but that's a little to be expected with a new villain and a new team finding its way. It's rare that a team book features a team that feels so fleshed out so early on. Wood is deftly drawing on years of backstory from each of these characters to show that this isn't some randomly assembled team, it's a team meant to work together and who know better than to get hung up on their relationships. Lots of good stuff here and the art (I'm particularly fond of Kris Anka's) is matching the writing really well.

Uncanny X-Men 17
Bendis (w) and Bachalo and Townsend w/ Vey and Mendoza (a) and Bachalo (c)

It's training day for the new X-Men and Magik dumps them off in Tabula Rasa, the section of Montana that Archangel deposited a life seed in back in UNCANNY X-FORCE (but, you know, not the last UNCANNY X-FORCE. Thanks, comics). Everyone toys with their powers a bit and some of them have to square off against highly evolved life-forms. Eva goes through something serious that she refuses to talk about and it's possible she's aged a bit out there. Hijack's cellphone, which he refused to give up, alerts SHIELD to their whereabouts and, after a little bit of time, they show up and attempt to escort them out. Hijack turns their armor against them and they manage to escape before Magik brings them home. Cyclops is unimpressed by the way they handled themselves and particularly by the fact that Hijack didn't relinquish his phone and allowed SHIELD to track them, then didn't admit to his mistake when pressed about it. Unwilling to allow that kind of careless attitude, he kicks Hijack off the team and sends him home.

Here's the thing that's a little impossible to explain. I get why training is necessary and why showing the kids here training is necessary. I also get that they're kids and that they're unexperienced and even that they're very new to their powers. However, I can't believe that these kids would get dumped into some foreign situation and all immediately start back-and-forth dialoguing and talking about who Eva has a crush on (GUYS, it's Cyclops because Bendis can't go five seconds without throwing in a hundred love triangles with a lead male protagonist in his book!) and debating where they are. Of those things, the last one is the only thing I am willing to buy. The rest is just...it's kind of unbearable to read. I've talked at length about back-and-forth dialogue slowing scenes but the worst part is it's not even doing the job it's actually effective at doing, which is creating chaos. If someone who doesn't use that style of dialogue regularly starts using it, it makes a scene more out of control. More word bubbles, depending on the word count inside, can make things seem out of control and harried. If there are too many words, though, it just makes things slow down tremendously. It does that here and it makes everyone fairly unlikeable because everyone is the same and everyone is making this book a treacherous and slow read.

Amazing X-Men 4
Aaron (w) and McGuinness and Vines (a) and Gracia (c)

Nightcrawler and Storm work to free Beast from his rage and manage it just before he strangles Nightcrawler. From there, they set sail in their new boat and Nightcrawler and his legion of bamfs spread out to find the others, first rescuing Firestar and Iceman from Hell, where Iceman had tried to freeze the whole place and Firestar had tried to burn the whole place, before tracking down Wolverine and Northstar in the horrible icy lands of maybe-limbo. There are plenty of reunions and Kurt even explains the history of the bamfs, claiming that they were born in Hell of a union between a giant maggot and a shapeshifter and Azazel found them all starving and fed them his blood, binding them to him. Kurt, however, made a dark deal with them, one that has yet to be revealed, to bring them (or many of them, anyway) to his side and they, in turn, have helped him find his friends here in the afterlife to wage his war against Azazel.

I have combatting feelings about all of this, just as I did with Aaron's WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN. The comic landscape right now is a very different one than its ever been, allowing for books that are extremely dark, books that are much lighter, books that are deeper than ever, and books that are none of the above. I can't necessarily fit AMAZING X-MEN into any of these places and I'm not sure I should be trying to. It's absolutely its own book and I'd like to judge it on its own grounds and not weigh it against a greater universe. At the same time, though, it is undoubtedly part of a greater universe and that reality makes it very hard if not impossible to distinguish it. That greater universe, while certainly not having a unified tone, thus allowing books like X-MEN LEGACY or YOUNG AVENGERS or HAWKEYE or SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN in, tends to feel...I don't know, more grown-up than this book. ON THE CONTRARY AGAIN, comics started in the hands of children and it is sad that, aside from specific made-for-a-younger-audience books, there are no major titles out that kids can really read and get into (maybe SPIDER-MAN but that strays pretty dark occasionally too...like how Peter Parker's archnemesis killed him that time and took over his body). So it's hard for me to get into this book and hard for me to find a place in my brain for this book, as it was for WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN. I like to think I'm still capable of fun and whimsy but GEEZ, it's starting to look like maybe not so much. Oh, and I rather have decided that I don't care for Ed McGuinness' art style after seeing it here and in NOVA and finding all the same problems with it. Gracia's color work is solid here, though, and shows really great range as the issue traverses just about every imaginable landscape and lighting.

All-New X-Men 21, Uncanny X-Men 16, Amazing X-Men 3

All-New X-Men 21
Bendis (w) and Peterson and B. Anderson w/J. Campbell (a) and Silva (c)

The ANXM have been captured and chained up by the Purifiers who are discussing what they should do with the original X-Men. For the son of Reverend William Stryker, it's a chance to kill these powerful mutants before they ever gain influence, creating a paradox but also ridding the world of a whole ton of mutants. It doesn't make a lot of sense but, good news, it's time for another long lesson in time travel as the Purifiers debate the butterfly effect and how bad it would be if everything changed and paradoxes and so on. Eventually they call in Dr. Monica Rappaccini of AIM to sort things out and she says that the mutants should be released (after they've taken samples from them) because a paradox is "the best thing [killing them] could do." She also is confused by the young X-Men and spends the same amount of time everyone for 21 issues has spent being surprised by the youth of the X-Men. She determines that the Purifiers can kill Kitty Pryde if they want since she wouldn't harm the timeline but, before they can do it, Kitty wakes up and phases out of her chains. She breaks everyone else out and they fight everybody and they all get away. The only kind of lasting damage stuff that happens is that a.) the ANXM know about the Purifiers and AIM, and b.) X-23 has seen that the AVENGERS ARENA footage has gone live to the internet and has jumped into Scott's arms while Jean was watching (because it wouldn't be a Bendis book without a love triangle where two girls fight over one guy, even if that guy is oatmeal).

I did an experiment with this book this issue. In the experiment, I flipped through the pages of the book doing my darndest not to pick up any of the words and just looking at the art to see if I could figure out what was happening without the trouble of all the words. When I eventually went back and read it, I was astounding to find that not only was I pretty close, I had mostly only missed another reiteration of how time travel might work and the shock of finding out these X-Men are young. Guess I should have assumed that was all mentioned here since it comes up in seemingly every issue. It's probably not a fair experiment, there are likely plenty of books where this same experiment would hold mostly true (though I imagine that there would be some bits I'd be a bit more confused by) and it might just be a shining recommendation of the art (which is fine in this book). Still, it kind of begs the question why we have to have just so much dialogue in the book when so little of it is really necessary. Also, the one thing that wasn't over-explained was who this guy is, since the only 616 son of William Stryker I'm aware of is dead. There's one over in the Ultimate Universe (or was, knowing that universe, he's probably dead. I think maybe Rogue killed him?) but Jason is the only one I know here and he died immediately after birth. Unless we're getting ready for retcons! Wooooooooo.

Uncanny X-Men 16
Bendis (w) and Bachalo and Townsend w/Vey, Irwin, and Olazaba (a) and Bachalo (c)

Magneto visits the same pro-mutant rally-area the Uncanny X-Men had visited not so long ago in Michigan to meet with Dazzler and try to find information on the Sentinels SHIELD seems to have. She doesn't so much help him as direct him to Madripoor where, she claims, a mutant seems to be running things. Magneto goes to check it out and sees everyone running around with mutant growth hormone. Eventually he's ushered to the top of what used to be Hydra tower where he meets up with a bunch of old school evil mutants like Blob, Sabretooth, and Silver Samurai. As they talk, Dazzler arrives as well, revealing herself to be Mystique and telling Magneto that this new Madripoor is all for him. It's a place where mutants can hold power and have their own little world. Magneto is disgusted by it, angry that it neither fulfills Xavier's dream of a world with both mutants and humans living together nor fulfills Magneto's dream of mutants rising up to be the dominant species. Instead, it's a pit of an island where MGH is everywhere. He uses Silver Samurai to attack Mystique and controls a horde of bullets to attack the others as he makes his escape on the helicopter, wrecking the building behind him. The issue promises that his adventures will continue in the upcoming MAGNETO series, written by Cullen Bunn.

This is both a one-off issue to set up MAGNETO and, seemingly, an important piece to the UNCANNY X-MEN canon, assuming that it reveals Mystique as Dazzler for good and not as a "oh, Magneto knows but he didn't tell anyone so she goes back to it" kind of deal. In that respect, it's not bad. There are still some obnoxious pieces of dialogue from Mystique (who can never quite decide if she's evil and cold or evil and playfully obnoxious, a problem that isn't held to just this issue) and from background characters here and there. Magneto's done well and it certainly goes a ways to establishing the new series. I typically like Chris Bachalo's art and I don't think it all-out doesn't work here or anything but I will say that I don't think this is him at his best. I think his best, anyway, isn't this sort of story or this sort of seriousness. In a way, his style is a little too cartoony to go with the grim feel of this issue. Hopefully the MAGNETO book carries this momentum and finds itself in a pretty solid place.

Amazing X-Men 3
Aaron (w) and McGuinness and Vines (a) and Gracia (c)

Azazel reveals his plan to the audience in great detail as he, for whatever reason, reiterates it to his shipmates. They listen dutifully as he explains that he's saving them from the tortures of hell, the nothingness of purgatory, and the boredom of heaven so that they can ride with him in a life of piracy and doin' stuff. Some of the bamfs drag a listening Hank McCoy out and drop him overboard to the delight of the pirates. After he claims his way back up, he begins to attack the pirates and Azazel, with whom he has an EXTREMELY long fight-conversation which AGAIN reiterates Azazel's plan and debates the merits of it and of just about everything else Azazel's ever done. Like with THOR: GOD OF THUNDER earlier this week, it also involves a whole bunch of name-checking and little random fact-dropping that feels unnatural and forced, though at least this time it's coming from Hank McCoy who is known for his long-windedness. Eventually Azazel stabs him in the side and throws him overboard again. Before the focus of the issue shifts, we see his hand cling to the side of the boat again. On a nearby Azazel pirate ship, a group of Azazel's pirates talk about what to do with Storm before Nightcrawler shows up and begins to dispatch them. Ororo is extremely pleased to see Nightcrawler and the two pick up arms together and get awfully close to one another. After they've done away with all of the pirates on the ship, they're greeted by none other than a feral Hank McCoy who seems pretty impossible to relax.

I think there's a story here that, while a little over-the-top and fanfic-like, might well be worth telling. What better way to get Nightcrawler back into the world than with a rip-roaring pirate tale that pits father against son and X-Men against pirates? Okay, there may be better ways but this is the one we've got (and for anyone checking, it does indeed seem as if Nightcrawler is back for good as he's getting his own solo title in April, written by none other than legendary X-Men scribe Chris Claremont). Like my complaints with THOR this week, I can't help feeling like this is maybe a little too reader's-first-comic for me. That's fine, I suppose, maybe I'm not the target audience on books like this or WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN. I will say it feels weird if that's true since that's not really Marvel's style but it's hard to argue with the excessive amounts of name-checks and current-plot summarization next to brief Marvel history lessons and the oddly colorful and playful Ed McGuinness art (I felt this way a little on the opening issues of NOVA, too, which found McGuinness on art duties again. I think it's shaped up a bit since then, still having something of a younger vibe but only because Nova is a younger hero, not because it's written for a younger audience). It means that the darker moments don't have any real weight to them and I don't see any stakes just about anywhere. But again, as with anything ever written on this blog because it is a blog about opinions, this is just my opinion and maybe someone else out there is far less snooty about it.