100th Anniversary Special X-Men 1
Furth (w) and Masters (a) and Campbell and Gandini (c) and Petit (l)
Decades into the future in Marvel comics, Cyclops has been elected president. Hot on the heels of Cyclops and his team saving New York from disaster caused by tampering with a large Hadron collider, mutants have never been so appreciated. Of course, as ever with mutants, that doesn't mean there isn't still a whole ton of hate out there. As protestors push their way onto the White House lawn on inauguration night, Scott has bigger concerns, namely the sudden disappearance and apparent erasure of wife Emma Frost from the timeline. As others start to disappear and Cyclops inadvertently attacks the protestors, he himself is transported to the white hot room, where the Phoenix, in Jean's body, meets him to say that it's not time for him to be elected yet and sends him back in time to his first wedding day with Jean. There's a sort of interesting story here with mutants suddenly in the seat of power (though it seems ready immediately to disappear) but this one suffers from what some of the other 100th Anniversary books have suffered, namely the need to explain so much of what's happened in recent days because obviously the audience has such a limited grasp of it. Some choppy writing and over-exposition hurts the issue but it continues to be an exceedingly hard task.
Total Score: 2/5
All-New X-Factor 11
David (w) and Di Giandomenico (a) and Loughridge (c) and Petit (l)
Gambit has been left behind by the teleporter, though Polaris is quick to notice and demand answers. When she gets none, at least none that are satisfactory, she becomes suspicious. However, her suspicion has to wait as Memento Mori's interrogation of Gambit yielded the word "Snow" and Mori figured out immediately where his daughter is being kept. He sends a warship to Serval, which manages to get its defenses (a forcefield powered by Layla Miller's glove tapped into the building's network) up just in time. X-Factor attacks, managing to slow Mori some and rescue Gambit. When the tide starts to turn towards Mori again, though, his ex-wife appears on the scene, revealing that she had been the power hungry one in the marriage and that she had practiced magic when they were together, enough to siphon the magic off of Mori and to activate the living bomb inside of him, killing both of them but saving everyone else. Certainly some interesting things happening here as Georgia Dakei ends up without parents almost immediately and as the Gambit-Snow problem instantly comes to a head, but the deus ex machina of Mori's ex-wife proves both confusing and very sudden, killing whatever tension had been created. Still, the writing is stronger here as the references take it down a notch and Di Giandomenico's art continues to impress in action.
Total Score: 4/5
Magneto 7
Bunn (w) and Walta and J. Fernandez (a) and Bellaire and D. Brown (c) and Petit (l)
Raleigh's information has led Magneto to Hong Kong, where an underground group has been kidnapping mutants off the streets, never to be seen again. Magneto gets himself captured, taking care not to reveal who he truly is. He's kept in a cell to await whatever comes next. He's eventually retrieved and brought to an arena filled with spectators. As he surveys his surroundings, his adversaries release a Predator X into the ring with him. The fight against the man-made hunter-killer beast is a hard one but Magneto manages to win it, shouting a warning to everyone in the arena as he does and killing the guards who come to subdue him. He tracks the owner of the arena, demanding to know where such a small organization obtained Predators X and MGH, which he discovers upstairs. When the man refuses to tell, Magneto drags him to the holding area for the surviving Predators X and injects the man with MGH, enough for the beasts to recognize him as mutant, then tosses him in the pit. It's another very strong issue, one that finds Magneto's inner monologue talking a lot about power and the sorts of people who feel they wield it when, in fact, he can immediately recognize who actually has power (hint: no one in this place). The ending is brutal but rather what we've come to expect from this young series and it certainly resonates. Another strong issue.
Total Score: 5/5
Nova 19
Duggan (w) and Baldeon (p) and Pallot (i) and Curiel (c) and Deschesne (l)
A shell-shocked Sam needs to learn more about his missing father, about whom the Watcher's eye revealed maybe a little more than Sam wanted. He flies into space as his mother sets up the move to a new apartment. Sam finds Rocket Raccoon and the two pair to track down Adomox, another Black Nova who appeared in the vision, and Rocket, remembering that Adomox owes him money, agrees to take Sam to him. They arrive at scum central Oblitus and work their way into Adomox's casino, eventually pushing up to his room, where Sam questions him while Rocket keeps guards at bay. Adomox tells Sam that the Black Nova were independent of the corps and that they were little more than mercenaries themselves, but ones who also believed that the Novas were squandering their powers, choosing instead to tap straight into the Nova Force and power themselves up more. Sam wants to know more but Adomox releases a poison into the room. After inoculating himself, Adomox demands that Sam and Rocket travel to an old Black Nova bunker that contains a machine that will reprogram Sam's helmet so Adomox can use it. Though the stakes are high here and the news Sam receives is devastating, the book manages to be very fun, showing Rocket at his absolute best and forging an unlikely friendship between the two. It moves pretty well and Rocket, who can easily turn sort of annoying, carries a lot of the book on his furry little shoulders. Very fun issue, plenty of places for the arc to go.
Total Score: 5/5
Savage Hulk 2
A. Davis (w and p) and Farmer (i) and Hollingsworth (c) and Cowles (l)
The X-Men fight off Abomination and reconvene with Banner. Xavier thanks him for the cure to his own coma, the one that didn't work to treat Hulk, and says that they believe they've figured out a way to remove Hulk from Banner. After they set up (with Leader covertly keeping an eye on things), they begin their attempt. The Hulk does seem to leave Banner, but it enters Jean Grey, immediately turning her into a Hulk. It feels like not a lot happened in this book until right up to the end, aside from Abomination and the Leader's brief appearance, neither of which meant a whole lot to the current story and both of which feel out of place. With so much exposition and rather boring dialogue, the issue drags, not helped by my distaste for Davis and Farmer (though I quite like Hollingsworth and Cowles, so, I don't know, does that even things out?), and the end result seems almost non-sensical and like such an elaborate and deliberate ploy to set the Hulk on Jean that it's almost eye-rollingly frustrating.
Total Score: 1/5
Savage Wolverine 21
Arcudi (w) and Quinones (a and c) and Petit (l)
Back in WWII, Logan's Canadian unit features both he and another possible mutant, a mind-reader named Lieutenant Bellamy. A large part of the German army has had their supply lines cut, leaving them desperate to maintain one last bridge, their last supply route. The Canadians want to take the bridge down but are forced to go in with a small troop in secret, lest the Germans blow the bridge themselves with the Canadians on it or radio for an artillery strike. With Bellamy's assistance from just off the front lines, Logan leads a team in and manages to destroy the radio shack. However, as things seem won, Bellamy realizes another officer is running for a second radio hidden in a tent. Logan chases him and the two end up with guns drawn at one another and Logan realizes the officer looks just like someone he's seen in his dreams recently. It's another look at Wolverine's past and one that finds him on a covert mission for the Canadian Army, something that hasn't been explored too, too much. Still, the story moves a little slowly and the Wolverine design here leaves a little to be desired, though I typically like Quinones' art and I quite like his colors here. I guess part of the issue is that the stakes seem a little vague. We're told that the quiet destruction of this bridge will cut off supply lines for the Germans entirely but it's kind of hard to get a real sense of that here. Still, kind of interesting in the end and the book reads quickly enough, though I think that some of the dialogue would have been better off cut from the book.
Total Score: 3/5
She-Hulk 6
Soule (w) and Wimberly (a and c) and Cowles (l)
The phone cut out before She-Hulk could say the trigger word to Wyatt Wingfoot, saving him from any programmed suicidal thoughts. Still, with Pansy in the hospital and no more answers, only more questions and more danger, Jen decides to call off the investigation for the time being, to the dismay of Angie Huang, who nearly died in the fire in North Dakota but was saved mysteriously by Hei Hei, and who found out some incredible things on her trip, though Jen doesn't want to hear them just yet. Also on Jen's mind was a recent attack aimed at her in their own office place as tons of little demons swarmed the building shouting her name. With the assistance of the other tenants and friend Kevin Trench AKA Nightwatch, whose name also appeared on the blue file, She-Hulk fought them off but the attack did cause her rent to be raised. However, Trench, who has many wealthy contacts, sends plenty of work her way to help her out. There's a lot happening here and a lot of it, including the blue file and the demons, is interesting, just as the dialogue is pretty strong and the characters are starting to come into their own. This issue features, as the last one did, the art of Ron Wimberly, which perhaps follows in the tradition of the interesting choice of Javier Pulido as main series artist as both have very unique and probably polarizing styles. However, I've landed pretty firmly on the positive side with Pulido and I'm rather in the opposite camp with Wimberly, so that rather dulled my enjoyment of the book. Still some strong writing and plenty of places to go, but not my favorite issue.
Total Score: 4/5
Silver Surfer 4
Slott (w) and M. Allred (a) and L. Allred (c) and Cowles (l)
Silver Surfer and Dawn Greenwood head for Earth, though they're stopped momentarily by the Guardians of the Galaxy, claiming to check every alien headed for Earth but secretly scanning the Surfer for any trace of Galactus, trying to be sure that the two truly have split up. Satisfied, they let him pass and he returns Dawn to Anchor Bay. Though he spent a lot of the trip nearing Earth complaining about his time trapped on the planet, stopped from escaping by an unseen barrier, he agrees to stay for lunch with Dawn's relieved family at their B&B. He silvers down at Dawn's behest to enjoy the meal and takes a nap in his non-silver form afterwards. Things are off in Anchor Bay though, with strange happenings occurring always just out of sight, though it's gained the attention of former Defenders Dr. Strange and Hulk, who head for the small town. Silver Surfer awakens from his nap and begins to set off again, only to discover that somehow the barrier around Earth has been restored. As the book begins its second arc, Slott continues to put an emphasis on the fun tone and the character relationships. There's still a darkness seeping in from the edges but it's relegated to the background as jokes and humor run the book from the front. It's mostly strong in that way and the upbeat tone with the sinister hints plays perfectly into the Allreds' style, which gives the book a sort of synergy that can be hard to hit so early. Strong stuff.
Total Score: 5/5
Thunderbolts 28
Acker and Blacker (w) and Sandoval (a) and Silva (c) and Sabino (l)
Iron Man and Hawkeye examine the scene the Thunderbolts left, the one that Faustus' men had set up in to take down the Avengers, while the Thunderbolts examine their new guns, including the Hulk gun, which Deadpool refers to as Chekov's when Leader explains that its ammo would temporarily revert Hulk to Banner, certainly long enough to shoot him. As Red Hulk tells the team it's up to them to stay or leave in the wake of Punisher's exit and in the wake of the news that they'll be keeping their villains so that they might work for them, Hawkeye investigates the blown-up Punisher safehouse, convinced that he had something to do with the scene they had seen earlier and that said scene had something to do with the Avengers. He arrives there just as Elektra does, looking for Punisher but finding the exploded ruins and a charred body. The two briefly fight but Elektra leaves, though it seems Hawkeye may have tagged her with a tracer. She returns to the T-Bolts hideout and accuses Red Hulk of killing Punisher. As a fight begins to break out, they're distracted by gunshots elsewhere and hurry off to find Red Leader shot through the head, Faustus shot through the gut, and the Hulk gun missing. Another very strong issue in the wake of the announcement that, sadly,
THUNDERBOLTS will end with issue 32. There's plenty happening here and new-ish comic book writers Acker and Blacker seem ambitious with their first and likely only arc on the series as they begin to pull elements from all around the Marvel Universe together to have the series go out with a bang. Strong writing, fun dialogue, and interesting choices prop up the issue, helped too by Sandoval's frantic and kinetic art. Lot of fun here.
Total Score: 5/5
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
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
