Uncanny X-Men 27, Wolverine and the X-Men 10

Uncanny X-Men 27

Matthew Malloy is still out there, wreaking some serious havoc and baffling the X-Men and SHIELD, nearby in a helicarrier. In an attempt to quell him, Rachel Grey creates a big psychic image in front of him, showing the X-Men and Avengers ready to fight him with Xavier leading the pack, asking if Malloy will allow him to rebuild the barriers in his mind for the good of the world. Malloy waffles between trusting him and hating him but ultimately begins to wonder if maybe he shouldn't be using this power to do much more. He sees through Rachel's trick and lays waste to the helicarrier, transporting most of the X-Men back to their homes (though some remain unaccounted for). Everyone is caught off-guard by this strange tactic but Scott Summers recovers quickly enough for Magik to teleport him back to Malloy, where Cyclops convinces him that he believes what Charles did was wrong and that he wants to help mutant kind, maybe the way Malloy wants to express his new powers. Cyclops asks Malloy if maybe he wants to talk a bit and Malloy consents.

The big plot development here, obviously, is that this sudden omega-level or beyond mutant is potentially ending in Cyclops' smaller camp of militant mutants, tipping the scales of the battle. I have my usual issues with Bendis books (namely some mood-breaking back-and-forth dialogue and quips) but my hesitation about naming this a good arc stems from something bigger here, I think. I don't like SCHISM and I don't like what's spawned from it. Do I think the X-Men probably needed some sort of a shakeup? Yeah, I guess so. Was SCHISM intriguing? Sure. I liked the idea of an increasingly more militant Cyclops and an increasingly more caring and protective Wolverine. On the flipside, I don't think it's carried well and it's clearly weighing on the writers at this point too. Obviously the added wrinkle of "Scott Summers killed Professor X" has extended the life of the split but I even think that's weak. Doing no research on the subject, I'm not sure there's a single character involved in these fights that hasn't been brainwashed or possessed or controlled or what-not. So has Cyclops been skewing another way for a little bit now? Well sure, I suppose people are starting to get more cynical of him. But should they erase their long history with him and his new people because he, very clearly under control of the Phoenix Force he couldn't contain and that they all knew he couldn't contain, was partly responsible for the death of his mentor? Look, I think not. What I'm getting at is that I don't think this whole antipathy between the two sides is warranted and that's entirely what this story is going to boil down to. I also have some amount of problems with omega-level+ mutants just appearing. ANYWAY. Doesn't mean this won't be an interesting story, just means I'm having some trouble buying into it. I also have been wanting to write a tiny bit about the ramifications of SCHISM for a little while now and the WATXM review should be pretty short so WHY NOT PUT IT HERE? Like that cover though.

Total Score: 3/5


Wolverine and the X-Men 10

Wolverine's ex-girlfriend Melita Garner visits the Jean Grey School to collect interviews for her upcoming book on Wolverine, a book that wolverine didn't want her writing but that Beast believes she should write, if just to serve as required reading for the students of the school. She talks with a number of Wolverine's friends and colleagues who all very clearly miss hero. She saves a couple of the big ones for next time, though, between Storm and Quentin Quire.

It's essentially a book of remembrance, showing how everyone is taking the loss and how everyone loved Wolverine. Plenty of books, I'm sure, will be doing this sort of thing over the coming months so I'm sure we'll have plenty of opportunities to talk about these retrospectives, but you could certainly do worse than to read this one, which is sweet, moves pretty well, and highlights a number of different artists. Sometimes the switch between artists is understandably jarring but each section settles into its rhythm nicely.

Total Score: 4/5

All-New X-Men 32, Uncanny X-Men 26, Wolverine and the X-Men 9

All-New X-Men 32

The time-displaced X-Men have been sent to the Ultimate Universe by the uncanny powers of a new mutant they overwhelmed because they are just terrible at this and why does anyone leave these dumb kids alone for more than even a minute? Anyway, Beast ends up in Ultimate Latveria, Iceman ends up with Ultimate Mole Man, X-23 ends up in an Ultimate football game and on the run from Ultimate cops, Angel ends up in Ultimate Savage Land with Ultimate Wolverine, and Jean Grey ends up with Ultimate Spider-Man, whose mind she reads to learn where she is and who escorts her to Amadeus Cho, who has been working with the portal to the 616 universe. Of course, it's disappeared by now and the original X-Men, already stuck out of time, are stuck out of their dimension.

On the plus side, now that the X-Men have been stuck out of time and space, there are very few places they can get stuck that would be new to them. Also on the plus side, the issue moves relatively well as the X-Men are separated and largely not back-and-forthing with one another but having somewhat terse conversations with the people around them. The issue also bounces around between the X-Men, who are inexplicably separated after they run into plot-device girl, so the pacing mostly keeps up. On the downside, though, this book continues to feature very few likable characters and very few likable plots. Doesn't really leave them in a particularly good spot.

Total Score: 2/5


Uncanny X-Men 26

Xavier's will has further split his X-Men, with Scott angry that Xavier was a hypocrite for not giving the extraordinarily powerful Matthew Malloy a chance to control his powers and everyone else angry at Scott for being a hypocrite and also for being Scott. Even though Scott doesn't want to, they go to find Malloy, running into SHIELD on the way. SHIELD saw the disaster Malloy just caused (perfect timing, Xavier's will!) and is on their way to try and take him down. Meanwhile, Scott's new X-team runs simulations fighting the Avengers in their Danger Room until healer Christopher muses (that's a pretty dope joke, you guys) that perhaps they're not the good guys if they're training to fight against the good guys, which leads to an equally dumb fight about the mutant revolution.

There are ideas here but they tend to be brought up and argued so clumsily (mostly just that every point is argued so immediately and so clearly ignoring other facts or ignoring reason for their own purposes) that it's easy to roll your eyes at them. I know that from personal experience. Obviously Christopher has the right idea (and whichever Stepford Cuckoo that says he should have picked up on it soon is right too) but it's a complicated issue when thinking about Scott's resentment that the Avengers haven't helped them enough and that SHIELD isn't really on their side and SHIELD tends to work with the Avengers so they may be guilty by association. However, it's brought up by a bunch of teenagers (and the thirty-year-old David) so it has all the tact and grace of a bunch of dumb teenagers arguing then all feeling like they maybe won the argument. That would then almost be excusable if that's not how the grown X-Men fight too.

Total Score: 3/5


Wolverine and the X-Men 9

Quentin Quire has seen his future and isn't thrilled by it so instead ends up sitting on a pile of money from the Phoenix Corporation and an insane amount of telepathic ability. Where go with all of that, plus a substantial resentment of Wolverine and the X-Men (the man and the team, not the series), but the Hellfire Club? He's now the White King of the Hellfire Club and throws himself a lavish birthday part that Wolverine tries to sneak into to have one last talk with Quire. He's found out and beaten pretty mercilessly until Quire hears him out. However, that doesn't go particularly well either as Quentin starts to command the partygoers, dressed as various X-Men, to attack Wolverine while Quentin responds to Wolverine's attempts, laying much of the blame for Quentin's future at his feet (and perhaps rightfully so, perhaps not, it's complicated). Finally Quire lets Wolverine go after forcing him to look inward for the source of the problem and revealing that Quire himself doesn't believe he won, just that Wolverine lost.

It's a tough blow to Wolverine, who has invested so much time on Quire and the other kids (which hasn't gone unnoticed and doesn't go unmentioned by Quire here) only to find that maybe they don't love him for it and maybe, if the future Quire saw is accurate, he didn't necessarily help things. It's a pretty good issue and like a lot of this series it's more complicated than it has to be, for better or worse. It's better because being a little more complicated allows Latour to go deeper and really get into some of the complexities of the characters, but it's also a little worse because it continues at times to be a little hard to keep straight (even writing the summary, which tends to settle out any issues I've had digesting the plot, didn't clear everything up nicely for me, but then maybe it's not meant to). Still, it's been as deep a character study on Quentin Quire as we've seen since his creation and it's not unimpressive for it. Also pretty strong art from Jorge Fornes throughout, and he's asked to draw quite a lot.

Total Score: 4/5

SUPER QUICK REVIEWS: Amazing X-Men 7, Wolverine and the X-Men 4, All-New X-Factor 8

I was trying not to get into SQRs until later (Wednesday and Thursday I tend to review the most Avengers/X-Men related books or the biggest releases or what-have-you) but then I felt KINDA like there was no other way to do this one? Look, let's just get into it.

Amazing X-Men 7
K. Immonen (w) and Medina (p) and Vlasco (i) and Rosenberg (c) and Caramagna (l)

Firestar and Iceman are sent to the local mini-mart to pick up snacks for "the big game" only to find themselves hurled into an interstellar negotiation as Spider-Man shows up tracking a baby that's just appeared in their cart. After some fighting (plenty of which has to do with resentment about Doc Ock), it's explained that the baby is actually an alien that serves as the only trade-bait that Spider-Man has to re-acquire the mascot for one of the teams in "the big game" that was taken by the aliens for reasons. After much fighting and chasing and squabbling and other actions, the aliens come back down and Spider-Man successfully works out the deal and returns the mascot, a goat, to the game while Firestar and Iceman return to the X-Mansion.

I really love a lot of the stuff I've seen from Kathryn Immonen (I will defend her JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY run with my very LIFE) but this book borders on absolutely inexplicable. There are fun moments throughout, certainly enough to make for an enjoyable enough read but it sometimes does seem to get a little bogged down under the weight of so much joke-making (also, Spider-Man kind of comes off like a jerk, which I suppose is not sacrilege in an X-MEN title). The plot is admittedly thin with plenty of references to "the big game" that don't particularly add weight. Still, it's hard to mistake the tone of this issue as more a fun issue and a throwback to the old Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends cartoon so it's also hard to judge this one harshly because I do think it hits its mark, it's just not a mark I'd be looking to buy.

Total Score: 3/5


Wolverine and the X-Men 4
Latour (w) and Asrar (a) and Silva (c) and Cowles (l)

While reaching out psychically for help, Quentin was discovered by the Cuckoos and co and Cyclops gave the order to pull him to their base. He throws a little simulated psychic fight at him to see how trustworthy he is and he fails pretty miserably but Cyclops decides to listen anyway, hearing about what Quentin saw but unable to offer much advice about the right way to handle news of the Phoenix or Apocalypse. Meanwhile, Wolverine and Storm continue to push forth in their fight to Edan Younge before Wolverine sends Storm back to the school, knowing they'll need her help to stop Faithful John, who is currently pushing through the X-Mansion and convincing some of the students that Evan will be Apocalypse. Preparing to enter the fight to protect Evan, though, is Fantomex, who has secreted Evan to the World and emerges out of it to defend the mansion.

There's a lot happening here and a lot of it is interesting but some of the Younge stuff starts to get a little convoluted in the midst of everything else that's happening. It feels rather like there's just one too many stories happening here (which could, of course, all be skillfully linked together when the arc is said and done) and that one seems compelling but doesn't feel like it fits yet. Obviously Younge was the catalyst for all this but it's still such a weird and disjointed story that it's almost distracting from the other stories which are just as if not more compelling. Still, it's a pretty solid issue and Mahmud Asrar has some pretty strong art to go with it. I also rather like Latour's Quentin Quire, a character I tend not to like.

Total Score: 4/5


All-New X-Factor 8
David (w) and Di Giandomenico (a) and Loughridge (c) and Petit (l)

Cypher has had all the water drained from his body and the team is a bit startled by it. As things very slowly piece themselves together and the situation starts to go crazy as Dakei calls all the cops on the mutant intruders, the team convinces Georgia to do what she can to restore the incredibly weak Cypher. She's never done it before but she vows to try. They bring her past all of the guards and to the kitchen where she can get some water to transfer into Cypher. She eventually succeeds as the team yells at Dakei for berating and hating mutants while his daughter was one and then, as things reach a boiling point, Harrison Snow shows up and has a private meeting with Dakei (who he apparently knows) and the two emerge having come to the decision that Snow will take Georgia.

The tone of this book jumps around so quickly that it's hard to really latch on to it. Sometimes it's tense while they hope for the best for Cypher but then it turns into strange humor but then it jumps into mutant-rights outrage but then it shifts to almost casual conversation. Not helping anything is the inability to lock down an age for Georgia, who occasionally acts like a five-year-old and occasionally acts like a ten-year-old and occasionally acts like a fifteen-year-old. I think we're supposed to get that she's incredibly sheltered (various characters tell us that repeatedly) but I've met some incredibly sheltered people in my life and they still manage to act a consistent age. The humor in the book occasionally works but it also occasionally feels really out of place, which is sometimes pointed out but sometimes ignored. A book that cannot settle on a tone is a book that has some fundamental problems. Hopefully this one straightens it out next time.

Total Score: 3/5

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

X-Men 12, Uncanny X-Men 19, Wolverine and the X-Men 2

X-Men 12
Wood (w) and Anka (a) and Keith (c)
Wood (w) and C. Mann and S. Mann (a) and Mounts (c)

The X-Men were tipped off about Arkea's location by Ana Cortes, who recognized that she was getting in a bit over her head by the end. Fortunately for the X-Men, their approach hadn't been expected and so Arkea's sisterhood hadn't moved from their off-the-grid location, far away from any sort of electrical signals in or out, meaning that Arkea cannot simply escape. Monet busts into the hideout first, plunging through the ground with Amora and leaving her brutally wounded. While Psylocke takes down Typhoid Mary, Rachel and Storm meet Arkea, in Reiko's body which also now holds Lady Deathstrike. Madelyne Pryor and Seline Gallo are with her and ready for a fight. Though they don't particularly relish taking orders from Arkea, they recognize that they're only alive because of her plans. Storm, though, offers them a chance to escape, claiming that they'll settle up later if they'll just leave Arkea by herself. They take the chance with almost no hesitation and depart, leaving Monet, finished with Amora, to hold down Arkea while Karima shoots her in the head with a specially made (by John Sublime) gun that will target and kill Arkea and leave the host body unaffected. With the day won, Karima announces she'll be leaving this X-team and joining Sabra and Gabriel. Story two finds Jubilee emerging from her mist form to distract the Sentinels attacking the beach, giving Quentin a chance to take control of the Sentinels and use them to destroy each other. Successful ending on all sides.

This issue leaves me a teeny bit conflicted. On the one hand, I do feel like the Arkea storyline was starting to drag a bit; though there have been brief interludes (including stupid BATTLE OF THE ATOM) this has been the ongoing story since issue one and I think it's seen better days. That said, it's hard not to see this ending as something of a rush job. Don't get me wrong, I still like the ending well enough; I like the combat and the planning the X-Men have and the fights themselves are certainly fun to watch. However, it feels like it came together really suddenly, with the X-Men able to defeat this foe that just an issue ago seemed completely in control. Maybe there's a greater lesson in that and maybe the change in expectations of a normal comic was the key. Still, it's a little jarring. ON THE OTHER HAND AGAIN, I'm excited to see how this team moves on to the next mission. Certainly, aside from, say, X-Force, my favorite X-team right now. For all that that says.

Uncanny X-Men 19
Bendis (w) and Bachalo, Townsend, Vey, Mendoza, Irwin, Olazaba (a) and Bachalo and Villarrubia (c)

While Hijack, recently released from Cyclops' team, is interrogated by Maria Hill and Mystique shows Sabretooth that she's manufacturing MGH from the captive body of Dazzler, the Uncanny X-Men travel to Chicago to track down a new and powerful mutant that popped up on Cerebro. When they get there, of course, it's a trap and they're faced with a giant Sentinel spewing new, smaller Sentinels that seem to interfere with powers they know about. As a result, many of this team's powers are shut down but the ones who aren't known about are unaffected. As such, Eva is still able to use a time bubble to protect them from an attack and Magik is able to use her new and improved sorcery to protect them from the rest. They manage to force the Sentinels to flee but Scott considers it the last straw, vowing to go to war with whoever is behind these attacks.

Okay, so readers of this blog probably know that I have serious issues with Bendis' preferred writing style for comics. I know it's something of an unpopular opinion and I almost hate it myself because it makes my life harder than it has to be, particularly when I go to review his books and the first thing I want to write every single time is "I don't understand why there's so much back-and-forth dialogue and what anyone is getting out of that." I swear that's not how I want to come at these reviews, just like I swear I'm not out to hate any of his books from the get-go (though I can't always put aside my biases and I'm not sure I should; I would hold a writer I like better to a higher standard because I know their work, why not the other way around?) because, though it's often easier to write reviews about books I don't like (got plenty to say, typically), I don't at all like not liking comics. So I guess what I'm getting at here is that I don't want to level my typical complaint of "I can't stand this writing" at this book even though I just have. On top of that, though, it's hard for me to see Scott as the kind of strategic genius he's meant to be when his plan of attack when the chips were down was "everyone separate and run away" and then he declared war on a foe he can't see. I have other issues, sure, but let's just say what I've said and be done with it, okay?

Wolverine and the X-Men 2
Latour (w) and Asrar (a) and Silva (c)

The Phoenix Corporation that has seemingly appeared out of nowhere has lit a fire under what seems like the entire Jean Grey School. Quentin has taken off, looking to find the Phoenix Corporation for whatever answers it may yield, Wolverine and Storm are forced to follow him, Evan is jealous of him, and Idie is worried about what the Phoenix logo being used by humans means for all of them. Solid questions all around but seemingly no answers anywhere. Quentin arrives at the Phoenix Corporation and immediately runs into a giant maybe-mutant, someone from the future and trained, he reveals, by the Askani priests (like Cable). He seems to know everything about everyone and has the ability to show them bits of their future and to attack their weakest mental points. He reveals to Quentin the path of destruction that lays before him if he continues on his path and, when Wolverine and Storm arrive and promptly attack him, he brings Storm's insecurities down around her and destroys Wolverine in the fight, ending it with what seems to be a threat aimed at Evan, Kid Apocalypse. Meanwhile, unrest surges at the school as Idie fights with Armor, left in charge in Wolverine and Storm's absence (where DOES Beast go all the time?).

There are a number of interesting irons in the fire (just how I like my irons: interesting) here as Evan's (certainly not wrongful) jealousy of Quentin and some of the images John, the Askani-trained maybe-mutant, reveals set the stage for a potential Apocalypse-Phoenix battle between one-time friends Evan and Quentin (of course, the Phoenix and Apocalypse have fought before, at least in other dimensions, but I don't know that it's ever been quite so personal). The Phoenix Corporation stuff is still somewhat shrouded in mystery but there are interesting aspects to the debate over it, including the use of the Phoenix imagery and name all by itself. In addition to that, Storm lays out a compelling argument (after laying out a resistant Wolverine) for why Wolverine needs to cool it, upset with him over his attack-first mentality and for refusing to seek counsel on matters involving Jean or the Phoenix or whatever else. There are some really good nuggets in here and I think it could translate to a really interesting story but I think we still have to learn a little more about what's happening before we can judge that aspect just yet.

Uncanny X-Men 18, Wolverine and the X-Men 1

Uncanny X-Men 18
Bendis (w) and Rudy (a) and Staples (c)

Scott's X-Men have figured out that the O5 X-Men and Kitty are missing and, when they find a piece of Shi'ar weaponry, they piece things together awfully quickly. Then we look back a couple weeks ago to when Illyana brought Kitty to the Xavier School so she could talk to Scott before bringing the rest of the kids there. And, of course, she tries to kill Scott before Scott explains to her how much he hates himself and so she shouldn't kill him because then she'll hate herself. A week later, she brings her team. Scott has an awkward exchange with Jean and then an awkward exchange with Scott and then it's the present and they're gone and they have to decide if they want to find a spaceship and go after them or if they hope for the best.

I want to preface what I'm about to say by noting that I totally understand why the X-Men who didn't side with Scott feel the way they feel about the death of Charles Xavier. I get their anger, I get their sense of betrayal, I get their confusion, I get their sadness, I get their loss, I get it. That said, I am sick to death of former friends prepared to kill Scott. On top of that, I don't believe Kitty Pryde, heart and soul of so many X-Men teams, would legitimately consider cold-blooded revenge assassination. Overall though, I'm just sick of seeing it. I know it hasn't been that long since Xavier died but I don't need to see everyone try to assassinate Scott for it, particularly in a world where people get taken over by cosmic entities or bad guys or whatever else ALL THE TIME (I think Wolverine has a more real gripe which is that he was fighting very firmly on the side of "don't let the Phoenix come to Earth," which is different than just "Xavier is dead because of you." He also had his own problems with Cyclops before that so...). And it's been apparently like, I don't know, a month since Xavier died in this Universe. Bendis claims, through Scott, that Kitty was trapped in space only a year ago, meaning that just about every significant thing with the X-Men over the last five to ten years has happened in the span of one year. Marvel time is totally messed up; it's the result of wanting to keep characters from aging out of usefulness while still trying to maintain a timeline over decades and decades of backlog. That's why most people don't try to draw attention to it. Here, though, Bendis wants to create his own continuity, trying firmly to set Kitty's time trapped in a space bullet into a real timeline and, personal gripe, getting in a useless reference to the fact that Kitty's favorite band is the Beatles (BOLD STATEMENT). Look, what I'm trying to say is I'm mad I have to complain about all this stuff again when I could be talking about what I did and didn't like about Marco Rudy's really interesting art in this issue. There's a lot of stuff I liked about it and a lot I didn't like and now, look at that, we're out of time. SORRY EVERYONE.

Wolverine and the X-Men 1
Latour (w) and Asrar (a) and Silva (c)

The latest class has graduated from the Jean Grey School but don't think that means the X-Men are about to let Quentin Quire out of their sight. Instead, they've made him a teaching assistant, a disastrous idea motivated by the fact that the older version of him appeared last year as a new Phoenix. The first day of summer session starts with a disaster as Rockslide, who didn't graduate with the rest of his classmates, causes a ruckus and Storm has to get involved, blaming Quentin for things getting out of control. They fight, with students like Rockslide and Hellion also getting a piece, and Quentin storms off. Meanwhile, Beast is up in space with a couple of other students and Wolverine is fighting his way through the Block, an inter dimensional prison Fantomex has set up, to get to its owner. When he eventually finds Fantomex, he tries to convince him to become a teacher at the school, even going so far as to bringing Evan, Kid Apocalypse and adopted nephew/pet project of Fantomex, with him. Fantomex refuses but who knows if other events will force him into action, particularly as, back at the Jean Grey School, an image of the Phoenix has appeared on every screen available.

Like with Aaron's run (which ended, you may forget, just one week ago), this one already has a strong focus on the students of the Jean Grey School or, perhaps more accurately, on Quentin Quire. Aside from the teen drama and the problems at the school and everything else, though, there is a real threat lurking somewhere on the corners of things. There are questions here and there (like why Wolverine has decided to let most of the staff go on vacation at such a seemingly crucial time or what the plan with Quentin, who doesn't respond well to adult pressures or manipulation, will be going forward) and obviously Latour is swinging for the fences right out of the gate (I think I'm mixing my metaphors here) as he introduces the Phoenix as a possible villain again immediately. We'll have to see where this one goes and how it gets there before I can really judge it. Too early, my friends, still just too early.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Infinity the Hunt 3, Infinity: Heist 2

Infinity the Hunt 3
Kindt (w) and Sanders (a) and Campbell (c)

The kids at the Pan-Asian School, who were launched into space as a protective measure to keep them from the attacks on the ground, have re-routed themselves and crashed down in Wakanda, hoping to fix up their pod and send it to Atlantis to help the Atlantis students. Wakanda, of course, has problems enough as it is and the students from Wakanda have very little interest in helping out Atlantis. The Pan-Asian students help convince them to be the better heroes and, when they eventually arrive, they find that the other kids have beaten them to the area, though the situation itself is pretty dire as Atlantis is already in trouble and these kids have little training and little experience working together. They do their best, which is considerably good, but, in the end, everyone seems primed to be eaten by a ridiculously giant sea-creature.

My problems with this series continue pretty unabated; we're inventing too many new people to really have stakes. There are a handful of students we already know and they're the only ones we can really pick out and, therefore, hope survive. Sure, it'd be neat if everyone made it out alive, but we don't know these other guys, you know? There's no connection and there's no chance to really, in such a short tie-in, make a connection. I'd also say, and this might be only for me personally, that, for as long as the X-kids we're seeing here (like Quentin Quire and Sprite) have been around, I care way more about the FF kids and the Avengers Academy kids, again limiting the weight of the series. It's not necessarily a bad story, per se, it's just...kind of empty?

Infinity: Heist 2
Tieri (w) and Barrionuevo (a) and Pantazis, Mossa, Loughridge, and Fabela (c)

Blizzard passing out last issue, it turns out, was a result of the Terrigen Mists spreading over Earth. That's right, Blizzard is an Inhuman. Now that he's awoken, he sees his transformation as a way to start his life over. He's not quite sure what his transformation means for his powers or anything else but now seems like a good time to turn his life around. Of course, it comes at a bad time for everyone around him, as Spymaster doesn't take the decision to bow out of the heist very well. In retribution, he attacks Blizzard's friend Whirlwind and, when she tries to intercede, Firebrand. He insist they follow-through lest worse happen to them, though he secretly tells Whiplash that none of them is to make it out of the next day alive.

This has a little more weight to it than Infinity the Hunt. It might be because we know the characters a little bit more, it might be because we know the story a little bit better (villain wants to turn his life around but gets pulled back in), or it might just be because it's a smaller cast here. Really, we're only on the side of three people, whereas, in the Hunt, we're on the side of like, probably a billion kids. Granted, they're kids, but they're mostly teenagers and teenagers can be pretty annoying. Who hasn't pictured them eaten by a giant sea-creature at some point? I...I sense I'm getting a little off-topic here. Anyway, this one is decent. There are stakes, there's an enemy who has proven himself fairly powerful and not to be trifled with, there's redemption, there's backstabbing (even for villains), there's a new power-set to be revealed, etc. Plenty happening here to at least make this an entertaining, if not particularly memorable, story.

Uncanny X-Force 7, Wolverine and the X-Men 32, Wolverine 5

Uncanny X-Force 7
Humphries (w) and Alphona and Talajić (a) and Sotomayor and Loughridge (c)

Cluster and Psylocke are on the search for Fantomex which brings up a few old memories for Betsy. We finally get to see a little bit of what happened in Paris, an event she has referred to a few times to indicate her relationship's decline with Fantomex. Fantomex had convinced her to help him thieve a bit, getting back into his old ways and allowing her to try something new. She gets bored with it, or so she claims, which disappoints Fantomex. Back in the present, Cluster has traced one of Weapon XIII's suppliers to a shady club which allows its patrons to hire women dressed as superheroes for...things. Cluster and Psylocke, wearing a costume that she had when she was thieving with Fantomex and which is a purple variation of Fantomex's costume, decide it's their best opportunity to infiltrate. The pair manage to find the supplier but quickly discover that they've been set up and there are ninjas in the room waiting for them. They chase after the supplier, who has slipped out of the room, and are pursued by the ninjas. Cluster realizes that the ninjas aren't trying to advance, just cutting off escape routes. They turn a corner and find that the supplier has disappeared. Cluster feels a familiar dejā vu sense and realizes that it's the feeling Fantomex's misdirect gives, a power that is now Weapon XIII's. He appears and instantly catches Cluster, holding her at gunpoint and making Psylocke submit to his custody or else. She does and we get another glimpse into her memories. As Fantomex's need to keep thieving starts to annoy her, she begins to separate herself from him a little bit. Cluster, who has been living with them and helping out in their capers, comes to talk to her. She admits that Fantomex seemed to have gotten the scoundrel parts of their personality but they all got love for Psylocke. However, the part of the brain that perhaps had the most love, Psylocke realizes, was Cluster. The two kiss passionately. We cut back to the present, with Betsy tied up in a dark room of Weapon XIII's, who admits that this is all for show. Really, all he wanted was a chance to show, he says with a rose outstretched to her, how much he loves her.

I've been waiting for a Fantomex-driven story since this book was announced. He was the breakout character of Remender's fantastic X-Force series and I thought he was just an awesome addition to the Universe (I know he was there before, but not very much and this role defined him). This story doesn't disappoint. It's exactly as high-strung and crazy and confusing as I would have hoped. There were a couple problems I had but they're problems that I personally have as a fan of Fantomex and not problems in constructing the story. I'm saddened that Fantomex seems kind of like the jerk of the bunch and I'm saddened that Weapon XIII has the misdirect powers. Again, these aren't issues with the story, just issues I have to come to terms with as a fan. Still, it's an interesting story that's going to leave us in a very strange and confusing place but that could ultimately provide exactly what we've wanted from the Fantomex saga.

Wolverine and the X-Men 32
Aaron (w) and Bradshaw and Wong (a) and L. Martin and Milla (c)

Quentin Quire has been tortured extensively since his discovery as a traitor. They tried, it seems, to throw him in the Siege Perilous but he was rejected. He learns that the Philistine was created by the Siege Perilous and has decided that he owes himself to it, following it wherever it needs to go. Right now, it felt it needed to be at the Hellfire Academy so he's there too. As with last issue where we were introduced to the whole school in a sort of montage kind of way, we get a montage of people torturing Quentin mixed with a montage of Wolverine using the little bamfs to help him follow-up on leads and track the Hellfire Academy. Like last time, it comes off as kind of annoying rather than anything worth watching. The Wolverine parts are definitely better than the torture parts which are predictable and irritating. It culminates in a meeting between the heads of the school, now including Kilgore's new headmaster Sabretooth, to figure out how to proceed with the students. The issue ends with Kilgore introducing, via satellite, the new Hellions to the men and women of the Hellfire Club. The Hellions, of course, are the trained students now wearing uniforms and yelling "all hail Hellfire."

Again, it's hard for me to nail down who this book is for and, though that sounds like it might not be a huge issue as long as the book's good, it is. The book isn't good enough to cover for the fact that it's hard to figure out its audience and knowing that would at least help put it in perspective. There's a lot of violence and language and alcohol and the likes for it to be directed at children but there's an equal amount of goofiness and cheap jokes for the adults. Maybe early teens? I don't know. It's a little like Deadpool except it's not as obsessed with puns/in-jokes and Deadpool is decidedly meant for an older audience so at least it can be judged that way. Here it's hard to come to a conclusion on it because I can never shake the feeling that I'm not the one for whom it's intended. Even if I try to view it as an all-ages book, I know it fails with a couple markets (or it should, anyway). It's a hard book to get a feel for and, when you do, it rather feels like it's not hitting home.

Wolverine 5
Cornell (w) and Pierfederici and Kesel w/ Fischer (a) and Mossa (c)

Wolverine has been taken into the SHIELD helicarrier Hercules for debriefing but he's accurately suspected that Fury et al have been infected by the parasite he's been dealing with lately. He goes anyway, after seeing the Watcher last time made him wary of not going. When there, he tries to fight his way through the helicarrier without killing too many people before he manages to escape below deck. The helicarrier, which was built with Atlantis in mind, plunges underwater. Wolverine gets a call off to his cast of supporting characters and they manage to get him plans for the helicarrier to show him his way around. He manages to find a few agents in a decompression chamber and outfits them with oxygen masks before releasing them. They haven't been contaminated, leading Wolverine to suspect that the parasite travels through the air. It doesn't have an effect on him because he heals it out and it hasn't had an effect on them because they were in an airtight chamber when it made its way through the helicarrier. The group works their way through the helicarrier. They make their way, not without incident, to the armory before parasite-controlled Fury decides to open the vent in there and start drowning them.

This was one of the more straightforward issues of this series so far but it still moves awfully slowly. It's unclear entirely what Wolverine's plan is but not knowing isn't a huge detriment to this issue. It's a little bit of one because it's hard to figure out if he has a plan or not but we figure that he'll have one when the time to have one is appropriate. By and large, though, the problem with this issue, as it has been with the series in general, is the feel of the issue. It feels slow and so it is slow. It's hard to get a real grip on Wolverine's character aside from the few things that are rather shoved down our throats. This includes his distaste for killing and his cynic attitude. There are also a couple thought bubbles, which are largely phased out from comics. They don't really have a huge impact but I felt it was worth noting anyway. They take the place of captions, as does Wolverine's decision to talk to himself whenever he's alone. I've complained about Savage Wolverine being too focused on the violence of Wolverine (especially when Wolverine MAX is also around) but this one is too focused on making Wolverine a thinker. I know, I'm getting picky. Honestly, I'm the type of person who would rather see someone plotting than someone fighting in most cases and I don't think Cornell is wrong to focus on Wolverine thinking and trying to find ways to not use his claws, but his thinking tends not to carry the book, as much as it wants to, and his insistence to show Wolverine as the reluctantly violent character doesn't really work because he so quickly pops his claws. I think there is a compelling way to do it but it's not happening right now, at least not well enough to carry the series.

A+X 9, Wolverine MAX 8

A+X 9
Captain America and Wolverine: Edmondson (w) and Ramos and Olazaba (a) and Delgado (c)
Doctor Strange and Quentin Quire, Eyeboy and Pixie: Lapham (w and a) and Loughridge (c)

It's getting harder and harder to review these as it just boils down to a plot summary for A+X because there isn't supposed to be a huge examination of these characters. The problem with it boiling down to plot is that there also isn't supposed to be a huge plot. So we run into a few problems in writing something even a little compelling. This is a particularly weird issue as we have one story, in Captain America and Wolverine, which features two characters who have a really long and complicated relationship teaming up and another story where Doc Strange and a group of X-kids meet up in a team-up I can't imagine anyone was asking for. In this case, Cap and Wolverine are going to help Doc Strange (these stories weren't supposed to come out together but this one got pushed back) rescue a Shaman friend of his who is in trouble. They argue about the sanctity of life and eventually learn a lesson from Doc Strange about how no number of team-ups between Avengers and X-Men can stop all the evils in the world. What's weirdest about this story is that these guys have such a long history and there are really interesting ways to look at it (one is happening in Uncanny Avengers, for example), whereas many of these team-ups so far have been just oddly matched characters interacting for the first time or maybe a little more in-depth than normal. So these guys have a relationship already and it's not even really that closely examined. It feels like it's a random meeting between the two, a pair who have never really worked together before. It just feels like this would have been a nice time to get a little further into their world.

In story two, Quentin Quire and Pixie have had a series of bets that will result in, for the loser, a series of shameful acts. At the moment, Quentin seems to be losing and will be forced to wear baby's clothes at the Jean Grey School. Their next bet is to steal something from the Sanctum Sanctorum of Doctor Strange. Whoever steals the best thing wins. They bring Eyeboy along as an impartial judge. They manage to sneak into Strange's and split up, with Quentin demanding Eyeboy help him. While they search his home, Eyeboy stumbles into Doc's room, where Strange himself is being attacked by the demon D'Spayre. Eyeboy goes screaming for help, bringing Pixie and Quire back. D'Spayre shows people their worst fears and begins to with the kids before Quentin shuts him out of their brains. The group, with the revived Doctor Strange, vanquish D'Spayre. Strange thanks them and sends Pixie and Quentin home, keeping Eyeboy around to give him a gift that enhances what he can see, especially on the magic spectrum. He also tells Eyeboy to hang around with better people. Not much here, not too much to get into. It's hard to figure out how the world views and/or should view Eyeboy, who is often the butt of jokes or the doing something pretty useful. So is he a joke? Is he not going to die at some point to thin out the herd? It's always tough to tell in these cases. NEXT ISSUE, though, is a team-up between Fantomex and Black Widow, so it's possible this whole series has been worth it.

Wolverine MAX 8
Starr (w) and Ruiz (a) and Brown (c)

Wolverine is a little dead but he's quickly recovering. Now he's being brought out to the country to be buried by a couple of Franky's henchmen. When they come for them, he kills both of them quickly and heads back for the mansion. Now with the element of surprise, he's able to storm the mansion and kill just about everyone. He catches up with Candy, who tells him that what's happened was never her intent and she really did quite like his dog. Also, if he kills her, he won't be able to find Franky before he flees. This makes some sense to Wolverine, so he listens to her and they go to the roof, where Franky is getting into a helicopter. Wolverine stops him and brings down the chopper, catching up with Franky and dropping him off the roof. He brings Candy back down and, still mostly unbelieving of her story, tells her to leave the country and return to England. If he ever finds her again, he'll be less forgiving, he promises.

It's hard to write too much about this series that I haven't already. It still feels weird to me that this book takes itself so seriously. Obviously the MAX line has the ability to do that (or not do that, in the case of books like Deadpool MAX) in a way that the normal lines really can't. These are directed for a far more mature audience and allow different aspect of Wolverine's more mature life to be revealed. Instead, it feels kind of cliche and entirely predictable. It's unfortunate because, while I do think this book is capable of doing everything Savage Wolverine has wanted to do (and done somewhat more effectively at this point), there's some real meat in Wolverine's life that hasn't been uncovered in all this time. Still, it's going to go uncovered, it seems, as we'd rather focus on him being angsty and stabbing more stuff while swearing without censors.

Astonishing X-Men 63, Wolverine and the X-Men 31, Ultimate X-Men 27

Astonishing X-Men 63
Liu (w) and Walta (a) and Peter (c)

The mystery surrounding the weather and the recent changes in Bobby persists as his X-Men team gets involved. Bobby himself is unsure exactly what is happening with him as he contacts former girlfriend Opal again to talk. Bobby hints towards rekindling their relationship but Opal rebuffs him, knowing this situation is so strange and that she can't expose her son to the weird happenings of superheroes and what they have to deal with. Dejected and a little ashamed, he leaves, running into Mystique on his way  home. Meanwhile, the X-Men are investigating the strange cold-front that has moved in worldwide as well as investigating Bobby's ex-girlfriends. Even though it was Mystique who tipped Gambit off to looking into Bobby for all of this (and even though she's notoriously untrustworthy), the X-Men have to agree that he might have some link to this. Their suspicions are confirmed when they find a room full of ice every place they attempt to find an ex-girlfriend of Bobby's. Opal and Kitty, now seemingly the only two untouched by Bobby, meet at Opal's home to discuss what's been happening with Bobby and Opal reveals that he's far more complicated than his typically cheery exterior would present. Instead, he's often depressed, haunted by a racist and controlling father and left feeling like he's never been good enough or strong enough. They're interrupted when ice fills the home and Opal, clutching her son Robert, is taken from the home. Kitty follows her, now trapped in an ice cube being escorted by a couple of Bobby's ice clones, and tries to reason with Bobby. Eventually she settles for phasing Opal and Robert out of the ice and falling into the snow below, phasing just below the surface to remain hidden. Wolverine and his team arrives, comprised of himself, Gambit, Warbird, and Karma to find Kitty, Opal, and Robert, but the group is quickly surrounded by ice clones. Karma can't feel any thoughts emanating off of them, nor off of the real Bobby, who has just arrived. Bobby calmly explains that he's done being the nice guy, the obedient friend, and would instead prefer to take everything he deserves. Warbird tries to stab him through the chest but they find he's all ice underneath. He grows huge in scale and crushes Wolverine, declaring himself Iceman, all while a purple glint shines in his eyes.

There's a great deal going on here, as you can tell by the long summary. It's all very interesting and gets into a lot of real questions about Bobby. Iceman has long been the light-hearted jokester of the X-Men, preferring to relieve tension like so much Spider-Man. The reveal that he's actually far darker than he lets on isn't necessarily groundbreaking but it's a nice addition to his character. It's probably an addition that longtime X-fans already know full well but it's still a welcome one, giving the character a bit more depth for this run. There's obviously something even darker going on here but it seems to have its seeds in real issues for Bobby. This also touches on things that X-writers have been playing it for some time now, which is that Bobby is an incredibly powerful mutant who has never touched his potential. Sure seems like he is now, even if it's slightly enhanced by whatever it is that's hiding out inside of him. Really good questions presented here that could lead to a lot of character development, provided Bobby and the crew come out of this alive and not evil.

Wolverine and the X-Men 31
Aaron (w) and Bradshaw and Wong (a) and L. Martin (c)

Quentin Quire has infiltrated the Hellfire Academy in the hopes of helping Idie with her search for Broo's attacker. He doesn't detect any telepaths so he communicates freely with Idie and tries to search the minds of the heads of the school there. There is a running gag about an unfortunate new mutant named Snot who has a tremendous excess of mucus. The gag is mostly that and the fact that he's bad at everything. Eventually he's called to the principal's office and he disappears. We get looks at many of the courses and the instructors, all aimed at developing new evil mutants and led by evildoers from all about the X-Universe. Meanwhile, Wolverine and Storm head up a search for their missing children, but are unsuccessful, leading Wolverine to proclaim that they need to shut down the school as they can't protect the kids this way, it seems. Back at the Hellfire Academy, Quentin is unimpressed by the set-up and eventually gets called down to the principal himself, leading him to a face-to-face with Kade Kilgore. There he finds out that his mind is being read by the Philistine and that none of his secret machinations are, in fact, so secret after all. Kade regrets the fact that he's not the rabble-rousing mutant he once was and plans to throw him into the Siege Perilous, as he did with Snot before Quentin, transforming Snot into a far more impressive mutant (though still with the snot).

I continue to be unsure for whom this book is made. It spends a whole ton of time showing us that the school is made up of evildoers and evildoers are the teachers, which could pay off if every faculty member is really relevant going forward but I'm not sure we wouldn't have sufficed just by seeing them in passing or hearing about them or seeing them when Wolverine eventually fights them, if indeed he does. The Snot jokes are repetitive and mostly gross-out and the plot itself is very barebones. All of this makes me feel like this book is not meant for me and is, instead, meant for a younger audience to have an X-Men book of their own. Looking at it that way, I think it's probably a better book than I'm giving it credit for but still a bit wordy at that rate and filled with a really big cast of C-list villains for kids to digest. Weird book in its intended audience.

Ultimate X-Men 27
Wood (w) and Asrar and Vlasco (a) and Bellaire (c)

The army is primed for attack, but Ross wants to give the mutants a reasonable amount of time to surrender themselves. It's a good thing, too, because things on the island have reached a breaking point. Jean Grey has discovered Psylocke and her plan, leaving two omega level mutants at odds. They fight, with Psylocke psychically impersonating Jean to send her air support away. While they fight, Psylocke is also stirring the mutants on Utopia to prepare for battle, as she has been all along, and nudging soldiers in the army outside ever so slightly to get them to act impulsively and shoot on the land, as she's been doing all along. An initial strike team is led into Utopia and comes across Storm and Blackheath. One of the soldiers, prompted by Psylocke, switches from non-lethal rounds to bullets and injures Storm, causing Blackheath to go a bit berserk and take out the whole unit. Storm is okay and the two embrace. Finally, Jean and Psylocke's fight ends as Jean gets some separation and her air support, who, in fact, did not fall for Psylocke's ruse, crashes down on Psylocke. With their controller apparently dead, everyone's will is freed and Jimmy, among others, begins to feel like maybe they shouldn't pursue this fight. Rogue says that it's possible they won't have to fight this war and instructs Utopia to begin. Utopia, the sentient seed itself, curls up as if to protect the mutants or to stave off the attackers. Guess we'll find out next time.

I've really liked this series through its run (as evidenced by one of my VERY FIRST POSTS on this blog) and this storyline is no different. On top of the fact that the government repossessing mutants is an incredibly compelling storyline (especially the way it backstabs the mutants), knowing what we know now about Psylocke recasts a lot of this long story. We suddenly understand Mach Two's turn and we understand Jimmy's warmongering and we understand the soldiers who are opening fire against orders time and again. Not that we didn't know that Psylocke was pushing them all along, but now we have the hard proof of it. With her dead, how will the story proceed? Another surprise in this storyline has been Jean's embrace of Utopia. There's a very sensible explanation to it, with Jean realizing that the existence of Tian is directly connected to the existence of Utopia, but it's nice to see it coming to fruition and watching Jean understand what their connection means. This has just been a really solid series right from the get-go and has only improved with age. It's a good premise with a lot of good twists along the way. Solid storytelling, solid characters, solid arcs, overall a very entertaining book.

Wolverine and the X-Men 30, Savage Wolverine 5

Wolverine and the X-Men 30
Aaron (w) and Ferry with Larraz and Espin (a) and Campbell (c)

I don't know about the rest of you out there, but I could never really get into precocious children criminal masterminds. That's almost entirely untrue BUT it's the thought that crosses my mind whenever I see the Hellfire Academy anywhere. I do believe that they are seemingly real criminals (because we've seen them at work) but it's always difficult to see them as anything but an idea. I know that sounds weird because all of writing is just an idea and doubly so in comics, where any idea may fly (sometimes literally). However, the Hellfire Academy, led by four precocious child geniuses, stick out like a sore thumb, as if someone in a pitch meeting was like "no, what if they're CHILDREN?" You can break down every character to its essence, sure (Captain America: literally a walking flag in wartime; Storm and her new X-Men: a grab at international markets but with a focus on how the X-Men are family despite their differences; Iron Man: weapons manufacturer who uses his own designs and stops selling weapons to bad guys, etc.), but there feels like there's no way to look at this group of children and not say "yup, they're children just to be children." I don't know, maybe everyone else loves them. Maybe this book isn't aimed at me. Maybe the fact that they're children will play a huge role. Maybe I just can't really believe in four child geniuses the way I can, somehow, believe in men and women who can fly and shoot lasers out of their eyes and what not. But I have trouble with them. It doesn't totally help, either, that this issue is drawn well enough, but with a definite bent towards making everyone at the school look younger. Granted, it is a SCHOOL, so probably they're younger than I expect them to be (Marvel time plays with your head. Quentin Quire has been around for ages now and I think he actually may be younger than when he was introduced. Okay, not actually, but it often seems that way) but the issue made Quentin look like a ten year old, and Toad not much older. You know, Toad. One of Magneto's very first henchmen. Because all of Marvel history MIGHT take place in a very busy week.

Anyway, there's a traitor at the Jean Grey School who has been contacting students and trying to get them to join the Hellfire Academy. They've already taken Glob Herman and Idie, as of last issue, and now they're reaching out to Quire. Quire has a soft spot for Idie and determines to figure out what made her go to the Hellfire Academy. He psychically interrogates a bamf and finds a weird history of their species that he doesn't feel the need to go further into (it has to do with Azazel) before finding that Idie intends to figure out who from the Hellfire Academy shot Broo and kill him or her. Quentin decides to go there too, lending a hand to Idie, presumably. Meanwhile, in space, Hank is trying to restore Broo's mind with the help of alien criminal doctor Starblood. Everything goes to hell up there and the Hellfire Academy's new super-powered recruit the Philistine teleports in, takes Starblood and Broo, and leaves. We find that Husk is behind many of the events at the Jean Grey School as she and Toad are reunited and, along with Quire, they join Philistine, Starblood and Broo. There's lots going on but it's somewhat diluted with all the various plots and the betrayals and the people in the shadows. As last issue showed, there's plenty in store for the people at the Jean Grey School. This issue continues to poke at us to ask about it.

Savage Wolverine 5
Cho (w and a) and Keith (c)

Readers of this blog will know that I have real issues with the premise of Savage Wolverine. I don't really have an issue with Wolverine being violent or being a ladies man because those are both in his character, but I have issues with books that are so openly exploitative. I suppose it's a step above been exploitative and not admitting it. Maybe. But the idea that it sells itself on the basest opinion of what a comic reader is makes it tough for me to root for this book. It's unfortunate, too, because I think Wolverine is characterized here in a somewhat interesting and acceptable way and Cho's art is certainly good when it's not being unbearably sexualized. There is a four panel spread near the start of this book that shows a headshot of Hulk followed by a headshot of Amadeus Cho followed by a headshot of Wolverine followed by a full body shot of Shanna wherein her breasts are easily as big as her head. Anyway, there's some Hulk vs. Wolverine fighting just to have Hulk vs. Wolverine fighting before the Dark Walker emerges and starts to ascend into the sky. Hulk takes the bomb from Wolverine and leaps after it, only to get smacked away effortlessly, have the bomb explode in his hand, and get caught out of the air by a giant whale, which Cho points out was both "pretty awesome and funny." After the writer/artist is done patting himself on the back, we see the Dark Walker return to its leader, an entity known as Visher-Rakk (it's essentially Galactus with the Dark Walker Morrigon serving as a herald), to inform him that there's a new galaxy ripe for eating.

The next arc or issue promises to feature Wolverine in a team-up with Spider-Man as written by Zeb Wells with artist Joe Madureira, the original team behind Avenging Spider-Man. Most recently in Marvel, he's written the two Carnage series, Carnage and Carnage USA with Clayton Crain in the last few years. I don't know if this is a permanent switch or just an interlude before Cho takes the helm again, but I wouldn't be disappointed if this was a break from the first arc. I thought there were some good ideas and some decent writing in this book but not enough to cover for the flaws. If this book was able to get over itself, I think it could be the stronger Wolverine book. However, I can't help but think that maybe this will be Wolverine's Avenging Spider-Man title, which doesn't really disappoint me as long as it changes its need to appeal to the lowest common denominator. Let's think happy thoughts for the future of this series.