Filed under: Uncategorized
So, if I were the creator of a future X-Title that would bend to my will, I think this would be my line-up:
Wolverine:
Yes, it is true, Wolverine is in everything–but it’s because you need him. He adds something to the X-Men that no one else is able to do and not to mention the dude is a tank. While I think he is horribly overpowered, in my stint as an X-Writer, I’d tame the beast that is Logan Howlet and make him more of the drunk Bastard everyone knows him for–think early Astonishing by Whedon and Cassidy. Logan would also not always be around for the group, he sorta is reserve member that graces the covers every now and then to get more readers. Cheap? Yes. Effective? Yes.
Dani Moonstar (AKA Mirage):
This would be the unspoken second in command to Havok of the group who is sort of the glue to the ragtag team of mutants. She hasn’t had a lot of play on an actual X-Team, other than the New Mutants, but most people see the New Mutants as prepubescent teens who are constantly fighting Nordic Gods and myths. My spin on Dani would keep her depowered but somewhere along the stint of the run she’d be repowered. I’d also try to make her past involvement with the Valkyries and whatnot a bit more real looking–something more than winged helmets and flying horses. Maybe an arc reclaiming Dani’s Valkyrie powers?
Chamber (AKA Jonothon Starsmore):
We haven’t seen much of Chamber after his depowering then being pumped up with Apocalypse’s blood. In my arch I’d have him be somewhat of the antagonist but eventually being brought over to the team after they somehow rid him of Apocalypse’s hold on him. I’d have him regain his abilities after the transfusion and have an adept control over them while he is the X-Men’s enemy but then lose control when he crosses back over to the good side. He’d be torn between having control over his ability and having his face, but being Apocalypse’s minion, or being the same misshapen and out of control mutant. Also he’d have a little affair with his past lover…
Husk (AKA Paige Guthrie)
It’s been a while since Husk has made it onto an A-team and this stint would prove that she’s grown up quite a bit but has kept her attitude and wild spirit. A natural-born hero, she sometimes clashes with Dani, but for the most part she is a team player. Logan likes the girl, Dani knows she’s a necessity, and with Chamber around it should make things interesting. Husk is sort of the jack-of-all-traits among the group and is down for almost anything. I’d also write her somewhat up beat, just to counter balance the darkness that comes from Chamber. With her and Chamber we’d get to see how Generation X has fared since their breakup back in the 90s. I think having the skin ripping girl on the team would give it not only a blast from the past but also include a Guthrie in the storyline.
Polaris and Havok (AKA Lorna Dane and Alex Summers)
Back from outer space, the cosmic couple will sort of be the Scott and Jean of the group, giving them a full rounded base. With Logan as the brawn, Lorna and Alex will act as the back line powerhouses–Lorna with her magnetism and Alex with his concussive blasts like his brother. The pair will be the leading man and lady, but I’ll probably throw in Maddy Pryor showing up to throw a wrench in the system.
Prodigy (AKA David Alleyne)
I’d make Prodigy the “Beast” of the group, giving the group someone with some brains who can give the team briefings and insight into everything they get into. He’d also have a new sort of wit that he has started to acquire since he regained all his knowledge by the Cuckoo’s. Also, since he is only human and has uncharted amount of information in his head he had acquired a form of turrets that causes him to go on tangents of spouting useless information. He’ll be more playful and less serious than he use to be depicted back in the New X-Men.
Due to winter break, I have been home from school, which means that I don’t get to rely on the glory of my local comic shop. I guess I’ve been taking my comic shop for granted because returning home I’ve witnessed how unreliable comic book shops can be. UGH! This is awful and I won’t be back at school till the ninth of January… which is so long. Not only that, last week the comic shop didn’t have X-Force #22 or Cable #21… gurrr… So that means I’m so not up to date with Necrosha as of late and won’t be for about two weeks. UGHH! Well here’s a list of all the comics I’m missing out on…
I need these comics, especially that What If? title, which looks epic. Anywho, I was lurking the future comics list on Marvel and I was getting really excited earlier–there is so much that is going to happen in the beginning of this new year. Epicness such as X-Men: The Second Coming and the end of Necrosha plus fun little tidbits like Nation X showing characters like Northstar, Jubilee, Goop, Anole, and other X-Men with less attention. From now until March the X-Universe should be getting extremely interesting. Keep your eyes peeled.
Filed under: X-Men: Legacy | Tags: Bling, Emplate, Gambit, Nation X, Necrosha, Rogue, Trance, X-Men: Legacy
X-Men: Legacy #230
This series, in my eyes, has improved leaps and bounds from where it use to be. I feel like this is sorta the loop in type of comic that goes along with the main plot, but doesn’t directly impact it–the sort of venue to get lesser known characters out in the open and start developing them. However, following Rogue in the last few issues, the series has started to become more down to earth and has gotten a real feel for what it is. While I’m glad that this series isn’t just a Rogue spin-off, I do appreciate that it focuses on our Southern Bell and throws her into the chaos that is Utopia.
So in the last few issues that villain back from Generation X, Emplate, has resurfaced from the dimension that he was thrown into, apparently now able to navigate through it and the real world. With his arrival of course comes Emplate’s hunger for mutant life energy so he is bent on finding a new Penance to feed off of (if you don’t know Penance, I’m sorry but the plot is entirely too long for me to write here, just follow this good ol’link: Penance). In his search, he discovers Ms. Roxie Washington, AKA Bling! (can I mention how much I hate the “!” at the end of her codename. Why?), a mutant with powers similar to Penance’s.
Anywho, Roxie gets abducted, taken to his dimension, only Trance can see the portal where Emplate took Roxie (apprently due to her astral form), Rogue borrows Trance’s powers to hope dimensions where she finds Emplate’s goon and he unleashes some ectoplasmic worm things that attack Rogue. Rogue defeats the ghost worms and heads back to Emplate to get to the bottom of shit, she inadvertently discovers the navigation system and tells it to take her back to Utopia. Meanwhile, while all this is happening, The X-Club is trying to create a device that would seal and remove extradimenional portals.
Okay, so now on to this issue. Rogue is locked in Emplate’s draining grasp when her own powers kick in and absorb his ability. She then leeches on to Emplate and begins to counter his own drainage–ultimately nullifying his ability. Trance’s borrowed powers fade causing Rogue to return to the present dimension, leaving Bling behind. However, Rogue’s plan still works, sending Emplate’s lair into Utopia, which is effectively sealed by Doctor Nemesis and the X-Club.
Emplate, now unable to change his solidity, tries once more to harvest Bling’s energy, but this time, due to his inability to become intangible gets a blast of diamond shards from everyone one’s favorite lesbian diamond. He then is thrusted back into his dimension and sealed–likely to resurface sometime or other with revenge against Bling, Rogue, and the X-Men.
(Bling) Having Rogue come riding to the rescue, and sweep me up in her womanly arms? Kind of hot.
(Trance) God, you are such a slut!
Hahaha, got to love the gayos that is happening in the Marvel world. Anywho, the issue ends with three one page epilogues, each recapping what has happened. One with the X-Students all asking Roxie how it went, another with Scott confirming Rogue’s spot here on Utopia, and the third is the lead in to X-Men: Legacy’s part in Necrosha. Any guesses on whose lips those are on Gambit’s card when he changes over to Apocalypse’s horseman? I’m actually sort of clueless.
Rating: 3/5 art was great, story was a little meh, nice use of a large cast
Filed under: X-Factor | Tags: 200, Fantastic Four, Invisible Woman, M, Madrox, Multiple Man, Shatterstar, Siryn, Strong Guy, The Thing, X-Factor
X-Factor #200
So our super powered Investigators have moved out to New York again to take advantage of a larger superpowered populace. However, not all of our PIs have embarked on this little journey–Madrox (AKA Multiple Man) and Terry (AKA Siryn) have gone their separate ways after their last encounter, which is probably smart cause Terry promised to break Jamie’s neck if she saw him again, and this Irish beauty is a lady of her word. However, apparently finding a base of operation seemed to be difficult for Madrox because the new X-Factor is currently running out of an abandoned funeral home, morgue and hearse included! Everyone quick, to the X-Hearse!
So the New York investigators include our doppelganger leader Jamie Madrox (AKA Multiple Man), super strong tank Guido Carosella (AKA Strong Guy), adaptive powered Armando Muñoz (AKA Darwin), genetically engineered mutant Gaveedra-Seven/Benjamin Russel (AKA Shatterstar), depowered earthshaker Julio Esteban “Ric” Richter (AKA Rictor), and probability manipulator Longshot while Monet St. Croix (AKA M) and Terry Cassidy (AKA Siryn) have stayed back in Detroit, however it is later revealed that Terry closed down her office of investigation.
The issue opens up with two shady characters burying the body of some unknown victim. Having a little banter among the two, the one gravedigger is quickly dematerialized after the body is buried and we come to find out the man who is behind this is none other than Reed Richards, Mr Fantastic! Or at least it appears to him. What is America’s superhero celebrity doing burying bodies?
Well we quickly learn from his two children, Valeria and Franklin Richards, that The Invisible Woman has gone missing and their father is acting casual about the disappearance of their mother. The super-powered geniuses finally get the assistance of Madrox and the crew after a few puns about the disappearance of the Invisible Woman.
Also as a side note, a few cute panels are dedicated to Rictor and Shatterstar sitting around watching a movie together. I love their relationship, and I also love how the writers aren’t afraid of making them real about it too. Guido’s banter, Madrox’s statement, “Who didn’t know about Rictor and Shatterstar”, and just the general feel the two of them have for each other. I’m a supporter of this as a positive image of gays in comics. Score one for X-Queers!
Anywho, also as a side note, what the hell is Terry doing!? Sleeping with Deadpool… Not only is that disgusting but… what the hell, random? While we never see the Merc with a Mouth in any of the panels his costume is strewed across what appears to be Terry’s apartment floor and his characteristic yellow speech bubbles are everywhere with typical Wade Wilson craziness. Oh jeez… what are you doing with your life Siryn?
Well, as the Madrox, Strong Guy, and Shatterstar make their way with the Fantastic kids to confront Mr. Fantastic about the disappearance of his wife, a Madox dupe and Rictor head around the Fantastic Four base to find some clues to what might have happened to Susan. To maintain Rictor and the dupes secrecy, Guido starts a fight with the thing to buy the pair some time to snoop. However, Valeria is quick to catch onto what Madrox plan was, which gives Madrox the feeling that Reed Richards too picked up on the crews plan–however, Mr. Fantastic didn’t do anything to stop them. Something is up.
Meanwhile, back at the base, Monet comes back to try to get Madrox to accompany her to Ireland and talk to Terry who is becoming more and more distant but is quick to judge the funeral home/base and finds a presumably dead Longshot in the morgue. However, it appears that in a drunken stupor the luck manipulator had fallen asleep inside one of the body compartments. However Val Cooper comes to deliver some bad news to M, telling her that her father has been captured by terrorists with plans to behead him on TV. Their only comprise, is M in exchange for her father.
Best line of the entire issue though is when Madrox returns to headquarters to stumble upon M and Val in the middle of discussing what they are going to do about her father: “And… Val…? Are you two together? Not… in the romantic sense, I mean, but…” Love the gayos (gay + chaos).
M asking for some space, gives the crew a chance to piece over the clues they found over at the Richards facility. A single bobbypin that was found in the Fantasticar (lamest name ever) leads to Longshot using his abilities of psychometry to view what happened to the Invisible Woman. This leads him to following Susan through some sort of portal that brings him face to face with what appears to be a cloaked Layla Miller who states she is in Latveria–nation ruled by Doctor Doom.
The story then crosses over to Ireland where Terry is standing before her father’s grave (wonder if this is going to have any relavance or noting in Necrosha sense papa Cassidy is out and about being all TO zombified) rather confused about her life. Madrox then appears behind her and asks if she could us some help, which leads her to clobbering him across the face. However, we quickly find out that this is the dupe of Madrox that is a priest. The pair follow the sound of a gunshot which leads to a pair of idiotic hunters who accidentally kill a baby deer. This leans Siryn to use her powers and scare away the hunters while she laments over her past on the shoulders of the dupe of Madrox.
Rating: 4/5 art is nice, story is looking good, heading in the right direction
Filed under: NCW | Tags: Astonishing X-Men, Cable, NCW, X-Factor, X-Force, X-Men: Legacy
IT’S MY 19TH BIRTHDAY! HUZZAH!
Unfortunately I’m getting my wisdom teeth pulled tomorrow so that means no crazy, sexy parties tonight, but I am in store for some awesome presents and some time with my friends and family. (Also I asked for all the back issues of X-Factor, so we’ll see how that goes *wishes really hard*) Anywho, tomorrow is NCW (my fancy anagram for New Comics Wednesday), which means all us comic fans are getting pumped for the next installments of our favorite superheroes. Here are all the X-Men comics that are coming out this week, just in case you didn’t already know.
Filed under: Necrosha | Tags: Blackest NIght, Genosha, House of M, Marvel Zombies, Necrosha, Resurrected, Selene, TO Virus, Zombies
The Dead shall Rise:
While I am entirely too lazy to recap all the awesomeness that it happening within the Necrosha arch so far, I will give you all the lowdown on whose back from the grave. While this plotline could have easily been Marvel trying to milk the popularity from Marvel Zombies, the writers have skillfully create this plot so that it has inherited something new to it that arcs like The Blackest Night (DC) and Marvel Zombies miss out on.
Also, while House of M was an amazing story that truly brought together Marvel and unified it into what it is today, I never liked the retcon off all those mutants. That was the glory of X-Men, that anyone could be one. But thanks to the psychotic bitch Scarlet Witch it went to 198 (though Marvel rarely has stuck to that). It’s just the principle. However, with the resurrection of so many mutants, and early scans of issues after Necrosha, I’ve made the assumption that many of the resurrection TO virus mutants are going to stay among the living after this arch–or at least Douglas Ramsey (AKA Cypher) is. Cross your fingers that the dwindling mutant population is saved by the very woman who tried to sacrifice them for her own selfish ways.
Resurrected:
- Caliban
- Thunderbird
- Shinobi Shaw
- Harry Leland
- Pyro
- Destiny
- Cypher
- Banshee
- Darkstar
- Firefist
- Risque
- Beef
- Catseye
- Bevatron
- Jetstream
- Roulette
- Tarot
- Berserker
- Scaleface
- Hemingway
- Feral
- Stonewall
- Super Sabre
- Tower
- Hurricane (Dark Riders version)
- Spyne
- Deadbolt
- Spoor
- Katu
- Unus the Untouchable
- REM-RAM
- Static
- Barnacle
- Fabian Cortez
- Marco Delgado
- Seamus Mellencamp
- All the members of John Proudstar’s tribe
- Hundreds of Thousands of Mutant Inhabitants of Genosha
(we can thank Wikipedia for this list)
Filed under: Deadpool | Tags: Colossus, Cyclops, Deadpool, Domino, Mercury, Norman Osbourn, Wolverine
Deadpool #18
I have just recently subscribed to the insanity that is Deadpool, mostly because of his brief stint with the X-Men in his “Want You to Want Me” arch in the Nation X storyline. To begin with, I just want to say that I love Deadpool and his craziness, and I also love how no matter how bad he fucks things up he always manages to get things back on track.
Well the Merc with a Mouth got mixed up with the X-Men a little while back when he decided that he wanted to use his powers for good instead of just being a mercenary. This is only coupled with Deadpool catching the ending news report of Scott Summers announcing that Utopia is the new nation for all mutants. This is where Wade get’s the idea of joining the X-Men and being part of the team (just like old times with Cable… but not). He is quickly differed from the team when he arrives to give his services and this quickly turns into a bunch of dead ends that lead to Deadpool eventually trying to kill Cessily Kincaid’s (AKA Mercury) father, who under the command of Osbourn has stated that the X-Men are holding his daughter as a hostage and aren’t allowing contact to the outside world–when this is in all honesty a bold face lie.
Deadpool goes on a rather brilliantly planned, but incoherent, romp that leads teammates Domino and Wolverine all over the place, trying to stop the Merc Without a Mouth from giving the X-Men an even worse rep then they already have stateside. There is even a moment among this arch that Deadpool has Mercury’s father on live TV declaring that he was going to kill him in the name of the X-Men.
Of course, no Deadpool comic would be complete without Wade’s split personalities bickering at each other and the use of rather alien/odd plot devices–like the chicken he leaves in an air vent that eventually causes Wolverine and Domino to halt in their tracks due to Domino’s fear of chickens (what the hell right?). However by the end of the chaos that is this situation, Scott effectively turns the problem into a blessing and uses Wade as a way of clearing up the X-Men’s name and sticking it to Osbourn all in one attack. Of course this is in the bane of Wade, who gets the shit kicked out of his accelerated healing ass. A rather gross/fantastic fight scene includes Deadpool headbutting Colossus as hard as he possibly can, blinding the metal man with the blood that is pouring from his nose.
Wade eventually agrees to leave Utopia and the X-Men, mostly for the good of Utopia. However, I hope we get more Deadpool/X-Men madness, because it is quite entertaining amidst all the seriousness of Nation X and Necrosha.
Rating: 4.5/5 crazy, chaotic, and hilarious
I found this dandy little checklist whilst perusing the web. Might help all those, who like myself, have no clue what the order of shit is in this whole arch is. So as of this Wednesday (Dec. 16th) these comics will be out:
- Necrosha One Shot
- New Mutants #6
- X-Force #21
- New Mutants #7
- Necrosha: The Gathering
- X-Force #22
Filed under: Necrosha | Tags: Blink, Eli Bard, Mortis, Necrosha, Selene, Senyaka, Wither
X Necrosha: The Gathering
Somewhat of a prequel to the Necrosha one shot, The Gathering gives you the back story on Selene’s inner circle and how each one became a work member of her group. The one shot is beautifully drawn and most of the plots are well thought out, though a few of them are a bit weak. However, for the most part, I was entertained by this one shot and I’m glad that we are going to get a multidimensional view of these characters. However, I’m still wondering how some of the people who are under Selene’s liege army are even there, not to mention I’m highly disappointed with Wither.
The first story is Selene’s death-knight in shining armor’s, Wither. Back way before M Day, I loved this character and the depth he added to the teenybopper run of Academy X/New Mutants. As the story arch became more mature, the characters themselves began to grow up and myself as a teen reader, going through many of the things these kids were going through, found parallels among these mutants and they quickly became my new favorites. So watching Wither stray from his path and wind up just a lackey of Selene initially irked me, but with this story I think that I can support Wither’s choice, or more so Marvel’s choice of making him do this. I have a feeling he is going to turn on Selene and sacrifice himself for the X-Men, but then again this might just be my childhood wanting one of my favorite characters to redeem himself.
Anywho, his story is essential how Selene found him (as an old poor woman who took him in) and how she seduced him into giving into the urges that are caused by his powers of life energy absorption. She essential tricks him, and knowing Selene there are probably a lot of mind games and black magic assisting her conversion of Wither, but nonetheless he falls in love with her and seemingly becomes one of her most trusted servants.
The story with Lois London is one of the stories in this issue that somewhat confuses me. First off, this is a throwback if I’ve ever seen one. Good ol’ Dazzler’s lesser known sister who killed cats with her zapping powers now seems to be thrown into the fray of mainstream mutants–only one thing, why is she playing for the dark side? This question is answered rather vaguely, though we can probably guess that Selene has used some sort of witchery or mind game to twist Lois’s already damaged mind into believing that she is a bringer of death. While I generally agreed with the storyline, the part that bothered me the most was her hatred towards her sister, Dazzler, when Dazzler had promised that she would do all in her power to help her sister live a normal life. Lois is just a ungreatful bitch. I mean, her powers are kickass (for the most part), and she could be just as famous and loved as her sister if she didn’t go work for alchy daddy and go into hiding. Oh well, poo on her.
My favorite story in this issue however was Clarice Ferguson’s (AKA Blink) story. Here we have to mostly forgotten about teleporter being ripped out of a rift in the dimension by Selene and essentially being placed back into this world again. While Blink is easily seduced, Selene does a fantastic job at coming across as the only person who cares about her, and Clarice in her fragile state, agrees to assist Selene. Also, the art in this story is fantastic–I loved the whole fragmented panels used to symbolize Clarice’s untrained teleportation.
Senyaka’s story is pointless and slightly disturbing, but he is sorta a thug so it doesn’t really matter. He essentially just agrees to work for Selene and instantly calls her queen. Whipped I say (oh I’m so punny).
As for another Eli Bard story, it essentially recaps everything we already knew about the character and tells it even more cryptically. It’s written pretty clearly that Wither and him are going to have a good ol’fashion duel for Selene’s love. That should be interesting.
Rating: 3.5/5 nice art, alright story, a little rushed
Dark X-Men #2
The cover art for this series is fantastic, while the first issue might have been a little alien looking, this cover is wonderful. I am in no way a believer in, “you can’t judge a [comic] book by its cover,” because ultimately that is what’s going to catch your eye from across the room. Dark X-Men #2 does this and then some.
The storyline for this issue takes right off from where its predecessor left; the X-Men are talking to Osbourn about the appearance of Nate Gray, Jean Gray’s son from another dimension, and what to do with the situation. Osbourn, knowing that Nate is entirely too powerful to keep under control, decides that a power like his isn’t worth wasting so the team is sent out to apprehend X-Man and essential plug him into the Omega Machine (that funny little machine that most of us sort of forgot about in the wake of Utopia that drains mutants of their powers and siphons them into Omega).
The next part of this story is really fucking weird. They go to a place where a bunch of non-mutant psychics have been rounded up and massed together into, quite literally, a giant brain that acts as a super psychic machine (aka lame). Here the group begins to have some second thoughts, especially Mimic, about how morally correct this is, but Dark Beast quickly cuts to the chase and lances open one of the psychics heads and builds a machine to view Nate. Unfortunately when the giant psychic brain thing tried to target Nate, X-Man was given all the information that has happened over the years he has been gone from the 616 continuity, and I guessing he isn’t going to be too happy about many things. Particularly Mystique posing as his dead mother. Ouch.
I expect there to be serious consequences for this, and I can only imagine the chaos that is going to come from X-Man’s wrath. But one thing I hope that doesn’t happen is X-Man to just become Omega Machine food, he’s entirely too much of a great character to just be used up in a limited series 4 issue installment. However, I fear that Nate Gray’s overall potential is entirely too much for right now, especially with all the shit that is going on in the Marvel Universe at the moment. However, I have a feeling Nate might play a role in the Second Coming arch when Hope returns from the future.
I rate this: 3/5 wonderful art, great direction, weird fucking brain people
