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
Filed under: Dark Reign | Tags: Dark X-Men, Mystique, Nate Grey, Norman Osborn, X-Man
Dark X-Men #1
Myself not being a Dark Reign fan too much (nothing personal, but I’m strictly an X-Men kind of guy, I like the general idea I’m just too poor and unenthusiastic to go out and buy other Dark titles), I was surprisingly pleased with the purpose and storyline that has developed out of Dark X-Men. Starting with the Utopia crossover plot, the Dark X-Men have slowly morphed into a less than cohesiveness, yet effective, team that Norman Osborn has little control over. I initially found the team exciting because all the throw back/lesser used team members (members like Mimic, Mystique [weren't you dead?], and Cloak and Dagger) that appeared in it, and not to mention Emma Frost sporting a Black Queen costume was pretty cool too. But once the crossover ended, I sort of thought Norman’s X-Men were kaput–no more Emma, no more Namor, no more Cloak and Dagger. But in this four issue series we are seeing that the team is still together and struggling to remain together.
In this issue, it opens with a whole bunch of people in a weird psychic trance, to which they are all chanting “X-Man” over and over again. It is later revealed that the son of Jean Grey from the AoA timeline is trying to breach back over into 616 timeline but is having a hard time assembling himself in this world. Mystique, no longer under the guise of Professor X, has now taken up the belated X-Men’s, Jean Grey, persona–which effectively fools the newly arrived Nate Grey into thinking that Mystique is actually his mother. However, the overwhelming power that Nate harbors sends Omega into a crazy onslaught as he wrecks havoc with all the ambiant energy while Mimic copies his abilities to try and subdue him–meanwhile Dark Beast is his usually psychotic self.
For the most part I am enjoying this storyline, though I don’t understand how this omega-level psychic could not tell that Mystique was not his true mother. But then again I guess the kid was having a difficult time keeping tangible so I’ll let it slide, but if he continues to be a pansy I’m not going to accept X-Man’s reappearance and Marvel will soon receive a nasty little letter. We don’t need anymore crazy as fuck all-powerful beings anymore (Vulcan, Sentry, etc.).
I rate this: 4/5 a lot of potential, Mystique is up to something, X-Man
