Chronological X-Men - Secret Wars II Part 1 Review

Secret Wars II (review part 1)

Dazzler #37 – The Girl in the Machine

Alison gets a call from an old friend of hers asking for help and Alison jumps at the chance to reconnect with her. The only problem is when she reaches Diana’s home she is told that Diana died over six months ago! We see the return of Revenge Inc which was nice but between their return, Diana’s involvement and the whole story behind Revenge Inc using Diana and giving her those operations that eventually caused her to be absorbed into this machine that apparently only she could use and then turn against them was a bit too much and it made it seem forced. This story could have easily been more than one issue, or they should have had a few things here and there that led up to it. Sure there’s the Revenge Inc thing, but we’ve never even heard of Diana Simon before this particular issue. It didn’t need to be a B or C plot in other issues, but at least one page or 2-3 panels here and there would have made this story better than it was.

Dazzler #38 – Challenge

See this right here – the few pages with O.Z. Chase and that mysterious man that we don’t see who suddenly turns to a pile of dust is exactly what I was talking about in the previous issue. There needs to be some kind of build up to the plots – it doesn’t need to have the bulk of an issue devoted to it, but it’s a perfect thing to put in to beef up stand alone stories, or filler issues. I was actually much more interested in the whole bounty hunter thing and that mysterious figure than I was about the main plot. It jumps around too much First Logan and Piotr are fighting Alison then it flashes back to Alison going to the X-Men wanting to train her new powers. There were just too many weird things. I understand Logan’s disgust at Alison wanting to train when she has no interest in being a super hero. I don’t understand why Piotr is all gaga over Alison when he’s busy ‘not loving’ Kitty. Rogue being all pro Alison is odd considering the two of them despise each other and I have no idea why Scott shows up out of the blue.

The New Mutants #29 – Meanwhile, Back at the Mansion…

Roberto and Amara are kidnapped by members of the Gladiators and it’s up to Sam and Illyana to save them. We see the return of the Gladiators from the Beauty and the Beast miniseries as well as Lila Cheney, Dazzler (obviously), Magneto and Lee Forrester. We have the first appearance of Guido Carosella AKA Strong Guy. Charles and the rest of the New Mutants are still on Muir Island so we basically only get Amara, Roberto, Sam and Illyana this time. There isn’t really much to say about this issue, Roberto and Amara stay with the Gladiators to save a bunch of runaway children; Charles contacts Magneto to let him know that the Beyonder has returned and charges Magneto to assemble a team to go up against him to save the world (Illyana and Sam join).

The Uncanny X-Men #195 – It Was A Dark And Stormy Night

We meet The Power Pack for the first time which I guess is okay – honestly I don’t feel one way or another about their appearance here. The X-Men are a little too old to be dealing with kids that young, it would have fit a bit better if this happened in The New Mutants title instead of Uncanny X-men but what can you do? The Morlocks are back: Annalee is still suffering from the murder of her children (they were killed in Uncanny X-Men #193), Leech, Callisto, Masque and Sunder we’ve seen before, I think this is the first time we’ve seen Ape or at the very least the first time Ape has had more than just a group shot in the X-Books I mean. Beautiful Dreamer, Erg and Tar Baby show up for the first time in this book. I’m not really sure where Kurt or Piotr are or why their absence means that Kitty is running point on this mission, especially over a tracker like Logan or a telepath like Rachel. It was a good issue though which is fine by me. Of course we have the build up to Secret Wars II here too because Rachel is summoned telepathically by Magneto ordering that she (how he knows about her I have no idea) and the rest of the X-Men return to the mansion immediately.

Secret Wars II #1 – Earthfall!

You know, I thought that the first Secret Wars series was packed with characters but this one takes the cake. This is just the first issue and we’ve got: The Beyonder, Molecule Man, Volcana, Wolfsbane, Warlock, Mirage, Cannonball, Magik, Captain America, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Shadowcat, Magneto, Rogue, Rachel Summers, Iron Man (James), Tony Stark, Professor X, Moria MacTaggert, David Haller (Legion) Dazzler, Lila Cheney and Doug Ramsey *who for some reason is colored with black hair that makes him look like Roberto. We get a new character ‘Thundersword’ who is a TV writer who obtains a portion of the Beyonder’s power and pretty much goes crazy. I do like the idea of a potential inside joke looking back on it. The writer is sick of having to play by everyone’s rules and just wants to write what he wants to write. It’s funny once you consider that many X-book writers expressed their dislike of having to throw away their own plots to fit in with massive title wide crossovers and events. I like the concept of The Beyonder wanting to learn and grow but I think I need to see more of it before I can really judge it.

The New Mutants #30 – The Singer & Her Song

The New Mutants #31 – Saturday Night Fight

After having the evil portion of her soul pulled out into the open and becoming the demonic Darkchilde by the Beyonder Illyana transports herself, Rachel, Sam, Kitty and Dazzler to Limbo. Kitty manages to take Illyana’s Soulsword and use it on Illyana which effectively causes Darkchilde’s essence to retreat back into Illyana’s soul. From there the group returns to LA where they find that the Beyonder, X-Men, Captain America, Iron Man and Lila Cheney have all vanished. Kitty steps up as the leader of the group and they make their way back to the Gladiators to try once again to free Roberto and Amara. The big reveal here is that the mysterious person that has been running the Gladiators is really Xi’an Coy Manh! Obviously they can’t give out all the details of her sudden resurrection or why she has changed not only in behavior but drastically in the looks department as well. What is kind of explained is why the sudden change in the Gladiators mindset; while it’s not expressly said I’m choosing to believe that is why they returned to their old ways. Ultimately Xi’an gets away and Kitty decides that the New Mutants need to go on their own and track down Karma while she, Rachel, and Alison reconnect with the X-Men.

Dazzler #37 – The Girl in the Machine: B

Dazzler #38 – Challenge: C

The New Mutants #29 – Meanwhile, Back at the Mansion…: B

The Uncanny X-Men #195 – It Was A Dark And Stormy Night: A

Secret Wars II #1 – Earthfall!: B

The New Mutants #30 – The Singer & Her Song: A

The New Mutants #31 – Saturday Night Fight: B

Chronological X-Men - Legion Review

Legion!

The New Mutants #26 – Legion

The New Mutants #27 – Into the Abyss

The New Mutants #28 - Soulwar

This is a small little story but it’s a pretty big one so that’s why I decided to separate it into its own little section. We do get a draw on some recent history as well as a few things that up until this point had seemed to have been forgotten. The most recent events that are covered are the fact that Thunderbird (II) kidnapped Banshee to exact revenge on Charles Xavier, Charles getting jumped and beaten nearly to death only to be saved by Callisto and Emma Frost not being happy with Empath’s recent actions which played a role in ruining Emma’s plans to use Firestar to assassinate Selene. The stories that seemed long forgotten were Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander being transformed by the Demon Bear and Moira and Gabrielle keeping the fact that David Haller is autistic and Charles’ son. The little things really helped to fill out the story - it was nice to see Jamie Madrox show up, he has been MIA for quite some time now. The aftermath of Empath’s actions was surprising because of Emma shutting down his powers. She has always been ruthless but to take away someone’s powers like that is a new level of sadistic even for Emma. Of course this leads to Empath reaching out to a mysterious group to seek revenge on Sunspot and Magma – although I’m not sure why he didn’t go after Emma, Thunderbird (II) and Angelica instead. We touch bases briefly with Magneto and Lee who have started up a romance that appears to end within this particular storyline. The cast is pretty full as it is but it would have been a nice touch to have Illyana present for this story because she was with Moira when they first met Gabrielle. We finally see David Haller for the first time and meet three of his stronger personalities: Jack Wayne – who is a telekinetic, Cyndi who is pyrokinetic and Jemail Karami the telepath who was part of an assassination team sent to kill Daniel Shomron (David’s godfather,) Gabrielle and David. Unfortunately Gabrielle wasn’t there and David’s psychic powers manifested after he witnessed Jemail murder Daniel. David killed the assassination team and unintentionally managed to absorb (at the very least) Jemail’s mind. The main story revolves around Charles and the New Mutants trying to help cure David similar to the way that Charles cured Gabrielle years ago but in the process: Charles, Gabrielle, Dani, Rahne, Doug, Moira, Tom and Sharon all get pulled into David’s mind which is a battlefield. At first we’re led to believe that Jemail has taken over David’s mind and is trying to destroy the boy and take over his body but we learn that Jemail actually wants to help knit David’s fractured mind back together and that Jack Wayne is the one who is trying to keep everything the way it is. Ultimately Jemail and Dani combine their powers to return all of her friends to their physical bodies and Jemail and Jack (under Dani’s threats) piece together David’s mind. However after Dani returns to her physical body Jack built in a failsafe that kept himself, Cyndi and Jemail all separate personalities within David who is now awake and finally comes face to face with the father he thought had abandoned him and Charles remembering that he felt the Beyonder probing David’s mind while they were all trapped in there. It was a good story, nothing really to pick on – there was one little mistake where there’s an image of Gabrielle and Moira with David as a little child but that’s easy to over look. I do wish that they had more time to play up the betrayal factor of the two women he loved the most keeping such a thing from him. Once again the art really suited the story, but I wish it was a bit darker and I’m not really a fan of David’s overall look in the ‘real’ world.

Marvel Graphic Novel #50 – The Scorpio Connection

I put this one in here mostly because I didn’t feel comfortable just doing three issues here and Wolverine/Nick Fury: The Scorpio Connection was the easiest to place. Sure it happens a bit further in the continuity since Dazzler is an X-Man, however she’s only really in one panel so it’s very easy to ignore. Plus Kurt and Ororo aren’t around and that makes sense since Ororo lost her powers and since Nightcrawler is about to go off on his own little adventure thanks to Kitty (who is also not present) and Illyana. The story itself is all about Wolverine and Nick Fury teaming up to take down a man who killed a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents and left a calling card in the shape of the Scorpio Zodiac sign. Logan wants revenge because one of the men that Scorpio killed was an old friend of his that once saved his life; Nick wants in on this not because of the dead agents but because the original Scorpio was Nick’s younger brother. Now the big problem for Nick is that he witnessed his brother killing himself so there’s no way it’s possible for Scorpio to be back. Through the story we have the first appearance of Mikel Fury – Nick’s nephew but we find out that he’s actually Nick’s son. We have the first and only appearance of Amber D’Alexis – Mikel’s mother and an outright ruthless woman who manipulated her son into thinking another man was his father just so she could secretly train him to kill his actual father. I really liked the story despite me not being familiar with the bulk of the characters within the story; the only problem I had was the art and coloring. It just wasn’t my thing and all those red panels kind of hurt my eyes with how they’d pop in and out.

The New Mutants #26 – Legion: A

The New Mutants #27 – Into the Abyss: A

The New Mutants #28 – Soulwar: A

Marvel Graphic Novel #50 – The Scorpio Connection: B

Chronological X-Men - Dazzler The Movie Review

Dazzler – The Movie!

The New Mutants #22 – The Shadow Within

Sam is still trying to learn how to control his abilities and is undergoing training sessions with Kurt which doesn’t go over well with Rahne. The main plot of the story revolves around Rahne writing a story in which she’s a beautiful princess who needs to defeat an evil sorceress. In the story Rahne ends up stopping the sorceress and taking a necklace from her and when the issue actually ends we see Rahne asleep in her bed holding the very necklace. The sub plot introduces us to a new character: Friedrich von Roehm who is one of Selene’s High Priests. Speaking of Selene she has decided to take up a permanent residence in New York and uses Friedrich to find her a suitable place to establish a new power base that would allow her to continue her human sacrifices and feeding off of people. Naturally Friedrich suggests the Hellfire Club and arranges a meeting between Sebastian Shaw and Selene in order to put a bid in for her to become the new Black Queen – it’s as good of a time as any considering Roberto’s father Emanuel DaCosta is about to undergo his initiation into the Inner Circle. It was a good issue I just wish that they would have focused a little bit more on Selene and less on Rahne’s storytelling.

The Uncanny X-Men #189 – Two Girls Out To Have Fun

Okay I just need to get this out of the way – how sad and creepy was it seeing a book that was published in 1985 have a character who traveled back from the 21^st century and one of the things she remembers is the destruction of the Twin Towers. That was just… wow. Okay beyond that the story picks up right where The New Mutants #22 left off with Selene going to Sebastian Shaw to apply for membership to the Hellfire Club and the Inner Circle. She offers to give Sebastian a gift so it would help put her in better standing and of course she decides to give him Rachel and Amara. The two of them are in the city basically bonding and they end up crashing the Hellfire Club when they see Selene. After a heated battle Amara and Rachel are let go and the X-Men and the Inner Circle come to an agreement and the X-Men leave Selene in Sebastian’s hands. The other plots that run through this book is the fact that Alison Blaire has just been publically outted as a mutant (I’ll get in to that later since all of these issues in this review take place during the events of Dazzler – The Movie so they run concurrently); Ororo decides to leave the X-Men since she feels that she can no longer lead the team after the lose of her mutant abilities, and finally the magical necklace that the dock worker found a few issues ago ends up releasing an evil warlock – Kulan Gath -  who intends on exacting his revenge on the world.

The New Mutants #23 – Shadowman

The New Mutants #24 – The Hollow Heart

The New Mutants #25 – The Only Thing To Fear…

Well this set of issues manages to tie up some old plotlines so that’s good. We find out that Rahne wasn’t exactly dreaming her story but it was an interpretation of events that happened while she transformed into her wolf state and attacked two people – who are later recognized by Sam and Dani to be none other than Cloak and Dagger. Roberto ends up loosing control of his abilities and attacks Piotr and later Charles and Moira. It turns out that Roberto and Rahne are suffering from lingering side effects from the time Cloak and Dagger used their abilities to purge the drug from their system back in Marvel Team-Up Annual #6. Piotr comes to the realization finally that he actually didn’t love Zsaji and he figures out that he lost her and Kitty. We touch base with Father Michael Bowen who had been taking care of Leong and Nga Coy Manh ever since Xi’an had died. In a nice little twist he’s revealed to be the uncle of Dagger. I liked how Sam and Dani played off of each other and it was nice to see the little Star Wars reference. Charles learns of the magical armor Illyana and he and Rogue visit Limbo for the first time. The whole internal Illyana is going through while being in the church is a nice touch and a good little nod to exactly what would be going on with her considering half of her soul has been corrupted and given away to black magic in order to create the bloodstones. The other plot with Magneto and Lee was good, but it felt kind of off. This was one of those types of stories that I really liked, but I don’t really picture myself ever going back and reading it a second time. I've got to say though that I'm really digging the art. On some stories it seems a bit choppy but combined with this type of plot (or The Demon Bear plot) the style of the art really helps to set the tone of the book.

Marvel Graphic Novel #12 – Dazzler the Movie

Well eve get a whole hell of a lot of characters here Alison, Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Storm, Wolverine, Roman Nekoboh, Ziggy (roman’s butler) Mr. Witwicky and new characters Eric Beale and Freddy Stanacheck. It’s kind of hard to explain what happens here but I’ll try. Alison ends up having to quit her job after Eric buys the club and makes sexual advances on her. Roman continues to pursue Alison and the two of them eventually pretend to date in order to garner publicity and create a name for Alison. The duo eventually finds out that they do care for each other which is really cliché but oh well. Roman decides to make a movie that stars Alison and himself. Anti mutant hysteria continues to rise, so much so that Ororo calls up Alison and offers to let her come stay with the X-men so she can stay safe but she refuses. Roman decides to reveal to the world that Alison is a mutant (a fact he just recently found out himself) so it would help generate publicity and bring in more money. There’s a new aspect to Alison’s powers, originally she needed to hear sound in order to transmute it into light but now she can also apparently store up sound as well. It turns out that the person financing the movie is none other than Eric who as it turns out orchestrated this entire series of events just to get Roman on contract and to ruin Alison’s life because she turned down his sexual advances. So by the time all is said and done the movie doesn’t get released because Alison destroys the only copy left because she refuses to be Eric’s ‘slave’ (for lack of a better word) and leaving her alone in a world in which she can no longer hide. I wanted this story to be a lot better than it was, but at the same time it wasn’t bad – even with all the clichés.

The Uncanny X-Men #190 – An Age Undreamed Of

The Uncanny X-Men #191 – Raiders of the Lost Temple!

Yeah I don’t really know where to start with this one. Kulan Gath has transformed all of New York into a barbarian era and has essentially brainwashed everyone. It turns out that he has clashed with Selene in the past and she gathers the X-Men, a few Avengers, Callisto and Amara and Illyana to storm Kulan Gath’s palace to stop him. Since the way to fix this is a form of mystical time travel – thanks to Doctor Strange and Illyana it’s hard to tell who really died because the events end up never having happened. I do like that we get the continuation of Selene trying to make Amara and Rachel her slaves, and I’m glad that Charles FINALLY spoke to Doctor Strange about Illyana and I enjoyed the interaction between Ororo and Callisto. Overall though – I’m not really a fan of this story. It seems random and out of place and like it was a very large event that had already been plotted out and then they pulled the idea but had to use a condensed version of it for two filler issues. The big thing here obviously is the fact that we get the first appearance of Nimrod and he’s been a staple in the X-Men mythos for some time now. I guess aside form the book time devoted to Illyana that was the saving grace. I never have read the first few sets of Nimrod storylines so I never fully understood why all of the mutants seem to be more afraid of him/it than all the other villains combined so it will be nice to see if after reading those stories I still think he’s really overrated.

The New Mutants #22 – The Shadow Within: B

The Uncanny X-Men #189 – Two Girls Out To Have Fun: B

The New Mutants #23 – Shadowman: B

The New Mutants #24 – The Hollow Heart: B

The New Mutants #25 – The Only Thing To Fear…: B

Marvel Graphic Novel #12 – Dazzler the Movie: B+

The Uncanny X-Men #190 – An Age Undreamed Of: D

The Uncanny X-Men #191 – Raiders of the Lost Temple!: D

Chronological X-Men - Kitty Pryde and Wolverine Review

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine!

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #1 – Lies

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #2 – Terror

Kitty is still struggling with her recent breakup from her non-relationship with Piotr and has temporarily left the X-Men to spend some time visiting with her parents. I’m not really a fan of the plot device because it’s a little overdone. I do like that she went to visit her father but I’m not exactly glad that they used him. The main plot of the first two issues revolve around Kitty first visiting her father and then finding out that he’s in business with a Japanese crime lord – see that’s a bit odd because it doesn’t seem like something Kitty’s dad would do. Not that we know much about him but it seems odd that Kitty would have been portrayed the way she had been over the previous years and have had her father suddenly be revealed as someone who is willing to bend the rules. Kitty ends up being taken by Ogun as payment for services rendered and he end s up hacking off her hair and after some ceremony she ends up becoming a ninja. Despite the overused ‘my heart is broken let me run home and do soul-searching’ plot the story has been pretty good so far, the art is a little odd – I’m not sure I like the artist’s work but I didn’t really focus on it. There were a few things that I had found odd, first of all Kitty’s haircut I get it, but it is odd that she was sporting short hair when she left the X-Men (I know, I know ‘wig’ but that’s not something Kitty would have done anyway) and I’m not entirely sure why Charles couldn’t have sensed when Kitty got sick, or the fear she felt, or why none of the X-Men noticed when Kitty was caught on camera phasing into an ATM to steal money. You’d think that at least one of those things would have set Charles off and they wouldn’t have had to have resulted to Logan being brought into the plot because of Kitty phoning the mansion.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #3 – Death

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #4 – Rebirth

Logan arrives in Japan to help Kitty out and runs into Yukio who agrees to help Logan out and find out what happened to Kitty. I like Yukio but I don’t really get the point of her in this story other than to prove that Logan isn’t as cold-hearted and willing to kill as he used to be – and she is one of Logan’s few allies in Japan so it does make sense that she would show up in the story. Ogun sends Kitty out to kill Logan (his former student) but the two reach a stalemate. I do like the fact that this possession has made Kitty into a fighter because in the long run it will make her less of a target in battles. I was surprised that Yukio let Shumai live, she doesn’t seem like the type to let others think she has mercy. It was interesting to see how Yukio treated Kitty’s father; maybe she has some daddy/betrayal issues of her own? I didn’t really like the time jump between the two issues – it was too big of a gap, first Kitty runs Logan through with her sword and then suddenly Yukio, Carmen, Logan and Kitty are all in Yukio’s car. The big reveal here is James Hudson’s death but it wasn’t really needed for the progression of the story. Logan’s connection to Ogun is something that anyone could see coming a mile away so there’s no real surprise there.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #5 – Courage

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #6 – Honor

Logan struggles to break Ogun’s hold on Kitty by giving her an abridged version of the training he endured only this time leaving the decision to continue or stop all on Kitty instead of having it forced upon her by Ogun. Kitty ends up fully shedding her past and takes a new codename ‘Shadowcat’ because she doesn’t feel like she will ever be the person she used to be. Carmen decides to make things right and goes and spills all of Shingematsu’s secrets to shut him down which might result in Carmen facing major jail time (but we’ll never know because we really don’t see him again for quite some time.) Mariko and Akiko make appearances when Ogun goes after them to flush Logan and Kitty out. I’m a little confused as to how much time has passed because when we saw Akiko the last time she was barely older than a toddler and now she’s old enough to be in school. I did like the sudden switch from Logan trying to save Kitty from becoming like Ogun to Kitty trying to convince Logan that him killing his former teacher that he actually saved himself and Kitty. I would much rather have seen Yukio be involved in the battle between Kitty, Logan and Ogun – it would have better showcased the differences in the paths of all involved – at the very least they should have included a shot of her looking in at Logan, Mariko, Carmen, Akiko and Kitty all eating ice cream.

Marvel Team-Up #149 – The Incandescent Man

This is an odd little team up here Spider-Man and Cannonball but after the heaviness of what happened to Kitty and the whole Demon Bear/Adversary Dire Wraiths thing recently a light hearted little romp is just what I needed. It was a bit random to see Sam in the city going hat shopping though, and how did he have any money for it – I’ve always wondered how the people associated with the X-Men had money if they didn’t have real jobs plus if they started off as kids (like Illyana, she was a kid, aged rapidly and came from a poor family, Kitty’s family is going through financial trouble, and so is Sam’s so how do they afford stuff? Does Charles just give them money?) At least you get to see some of the struggle with Dazzler and also Spider-Man but he’s not a mutant. The Incandescent Man and his sister don’t really fit in with Sam and Peter since they are part of Project Pegasus – it would have made more sense to have Peter re-team up with Dazzler since they’ve worked together more than once (Sam and Peter only teamed up once so far) and she has had quite a few dealings with Project Pegasus in the past. It was a fun little issue and I liked it but I’m not fully partial because Sam is one of my favorite characters and Spider-Man is starting to grow on me with his interactions with the X-Men.

Marvel Team-Up #150 – ‘Tis Better To Give!

It’s Black Tom Cassidy’s birthday and Juggernaut wants to give him a present so he ends up taking the mystical gem that gave him his powers and giving it to Tom in the hopes that it will also give his friend the power of Juggernaut. Things don’t go exactly as planned though and it ends up dividing the power evenly between Cain and Tom. Peter Parker is still trying to earn money for Aunt May’s hat (Sam gave him the idea last issue) so he takes pictures of the two of them fighting and ends up getting involved himself and eventually teams up with Rogue, Rachel, Colossus and Nightcrawler to take down their shared foes. Rachel struggles with her actions because in her timeline Tom and Cain were allies so she wants to give them a chance to do the right thing but ends up realizing that in this reality they are evil. Rogue doesn’t do too well once she absorbs Cain and Tom’s powers – it leaves her very confused because basically she just absorbed the same abilities twice in a row. Overall the issue was good, there wasn’t anything bad about it – but there wasn’t anything spectacular either.

The New Mutants Annual #1 – The Cosmic Cannonball Caper

I almost feel like this doesn’t belong being lumped in with this current storyline because of the fact that it introduces Lila Cheney who is a mutant rock star (unlike Dazzler who is also a mutant singer Lila can teleport on an intergalactic level whereas Alison has the ability to convert sound into light) it feels like it should be lumped in with a storyline a few more issues down the line but I needed to round things out here. The main plot revolves around the New Mutants (Rahne, Sam, Roberto, Dani, Illyana, Doug and Warlock) enjoying a night out on the town at Lila Cheney’s farewell concert. Sam struggles with finding his place on the team and his inability to control his powers, Dani is continuing to go through her physical rehab with Stevie and struggles with the fact that she just can’t hold her own when it comes to the physical aspect of the team, Doug is of course trying to deal with the fact that his ability to understand almost every form of language and communication is pretty useless in the middle of a physical confrontation with a group of aliens who are trying to steal the Earth. Some of these things play into recurring themes in the main book which work well, and there’s this idea of Sam slowly coming out of his shell which is nice – I like the character but I’m kind of over the younger version of Sam’s ‘Beverly Hillbilly-ness.’ I haven’t read too many stories featuring Lila (aside from her run in the A.O.A. line) so it was nice to see her first appearance here I do wonder what she meant by Earth selling her out already so it justifies the fact that she’s willing to sell Earth. Did she mean the world turned against her because she’s a mutant? I doubt that because of her being so popular in the public eye – so now I really want to know what she meant by that.

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #1 – Lies: B

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #2 – Terror: B

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #3 – Death: A

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #4 – Rebirth: A

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #5 – Courage: A

Kitty Pryde and Wolverine #6 – Honor: A

Marvel Team-Up #149 – The Incandescent Man: A

Marvel Team-Up #150 – ‘Tis Better To Give!: B

The New Mutants Annual #1 – The Cosmic Cannonball Caper: A

Chronological X-Men - The Demon Bear Review

The Demon\Spirit Bear!

The New Mutants #18 – Death-Hunt

Okay I was really looking forward to coming back to this title – there’s something about it that seems more fresh and new compared to Uncanny X-Men or even Dazzler; it helps that it’s got some of my favorite characters: Sam and Illyana. We do get a few changes with this story arch, it’s the first time we meet Warlock and his father Magus; Rahne appears to be able to connect through her rapport with Dani when she’s in her human form now – although that could be a mistake. We see a young woman who is obviously Rachel Summers from the Days of Future Past storyline, who is now in the past to stop her future from coming true (which doesn’t make sense because I thought that timeline was already wiped out when the older Kitty went back to her timeline after stopping Robert Kelly from being killed. We do get a few pieces of information here, we now know that in Rachel’s timeline Illyana never spent any time in Limbo, instead she stayed on Earth and was allowed to age normally, Charles never regained his ability to walk which implies that in Rachel’s timeline the Brood saga never happened. I do like the idea of the Demon Bear hunting Dani but I would have liked a bit more of a build up to it. We know she’s been preparing for the battle for sometime now but we only see one of her Danger Room sessions. I also would have liked to see more tension between Dani and Illyana they should have played that up a bit more than they did. I don’t know what to think about Warlock yet, I like some of the storylines that he’s tied to in the future, but I don’t really know if I like the character.

The New Mutants #19 – Siege

The New Mutants #20 - Badlands

The New Mutants take Dani’s severely damaged body to the hospital where they desperately try to keep the Demon Bear from finishing off Dani who is barely clinging to life while multiple doctors operate on her. Some aspects of the plot are really interesting, Rahne struggling with her religion and seeing her best friend suffer, plus having to deal with the fact that Illyana is a magical being who basically spent time in what Rahne would view as hell. Sam’s willingness to assume that Illyana would kill Amara because Illyana is truly evil, the changes in the appearance of Illyana’s Soulsword, Rahne’s change in appearance in her wolf form; there are a lot of interesting changes here. Is Rahne changing because of her rapport with Dani and is she succumbing to the Demon Bear’s influence? Are the changes in Illyana’s Soulsword and her willingness to potentially kill Amara in order to exorcise the demon that was possessing her hints that another Bloodstone is about to manifest? And what’s up with the armor that appears on Illyana’s body when she’s injured? I know that they do explain it away in the future but it does need more than ‘it’s an extension of her magicks that she never knew she had and when it becomes spikey it is because her darker side is taking over.’ I don’t know how I feel about the big payoff being that the Demon Bear is this entity (I know that later it gets spelled out that he’s an extension of the Adversary during the whole Forge/Naze/Adversary/Cheyenne storyline that I’ll be reading soon) was worth it and I don’t really understand why the Demon Bear transformed the nurse and police officer into Cheyenne and I don’t get why Dani’s parents (also the first time we see them) William and Peg Lonestar were sort of absorbed into the Demon Bear’s entity. The whole Warlock and Magus plotline is really an after thought in these two issues and I’m actually okay with that. Of course the major thing here isn’t only the return of Dani’s parents but also the fact that her injuries were so severe that even after Storm used the Morlocks’ healer Dani still can’t walk.

The New Mutants #21 – Slumber Party

This fun little issue revolves around the New Mutants having a slumber party with some of the girls from the town. You know, I never really noticed it before but I’m glad that they introduced Warlock and that the team pretty much forces Charles to take him on as a student and Doug makes more appearances (he’ll join the team shortly) – it didn’t dawn on me before that Sam and Roberto are the only men on the team. It finally sunk in when at the party we have Rahne, Illyana, Dani, Amara (and previously Xi’an) and yet there are only Sam and Roberto. Magneto’s Asteroid M being destroyed (either by Warlock or Magus) seems a bit odd and out of place, but I’m willing to over look it and assume it’s building up to something.  I like that they played on Doug feeling upset and betrayed by his friends who knew that he was a mutant and kept it from him, but it would have been a better payoff if they had shown Doug interacting with anyone other than Kitty. I really want to know how they explained away the fact that the girls saw Lockheed move, and all the odd events they saw at the school – it’s safe to assume that Charles simply made them forget. One thing – I really want to know what was up with Illyana and her spacesuit and gun and how she was able to shed the Techno Organic Virus that Warlock gave to her when they touched. One thing that kind of confused me is why Rahne was willing to risk her life to help Warlock, yet at the same time she spends the issue struggling with her spirituality and how she was raised. It is a little odd that Rhane thinks she’s evil, yet she doesn’t understand how the world can turn against her and why God would let it happen, and she’s more than willing to go to bat for Warlock, yet every chance she gets Rahne is more than willing to let everyone know how she feels about Illyana.

The Uncanny X-Men #184 – The Past … Of Future Days

We get the first appearances of Forge (who was mentioned last issue) and Naze as Raven and Valerie Cooper witness a heated argument about how Forge has turned his back on his fellow Cheyenne and how they are in great need of his help (so tie in to Dani and the Demon Bear….) Meanwhile Rachel Summers struggles with the new world she has found herself in. She knows that it’s not the past from her timeline because Illyana is older now than she was when she died in the future, Charles can now walk, Ororo has a completely different look and Rogue is a part of the X-Men. I do find it interesting that they did play a little bit with the fact that Rogue wasn’t on the team in Rachel’s timeline – it’s a nice companion to the internal struggle Rogue has been going through and exactly how far Mystique can go before Rogue is forced to make a decision between the woman who raised her or the X-Men. I like that they’re bringing Selene into the main title now but it seems odd that she would suddenly target Rachel. I mean Rachel had been in the past for a while now (she had already met up with Illyana) and Selene had been in New York for – if you go by the monthly releases – at least a month, why would it take for Selene to feel Rachel’s presence? Also I’m a little confused by when Selene and Rogue make physical contact – Selene feeds off of Rouge but Rogue doesn’t absorb any of Selene’s powers. They clearly don’t cancel each other out, so is it Selene’s magical abilities that keep Rogue from absorbing her powers and memories? Does that mean that Rouge could touch Illyana, or any other character that was touched by the supernatural?

Marvel Fanfare #40 – Deal with the Devil (2^nd story)

The Uncanny X-Men #185 – Public Enemy

I’ll start with the Marvel Fanfare portion of this story first before going into the main issue. This story takes place right after Ororo tells Charles that Rogue is missing but obviously before she finds Rogue. Destiny has seen a potential future that will lead to great problems which forces Mystique to arrange a meeting with Storm so they can save Rogue who is being hunted by the government after a member of the Hellfire Club framed her for the murder of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The whole point of this meeting is to upset Ororo and leads to Mystique playing both sides of the fence – she wants to help her adoptive daughter, but she won’t tell Ororo that the future Destiny saw shows whoever helps Rogue suffering the fate that was meant for her. We also get the first hints of a relationship between Raven and Irene. The main issue shows Rogue struggling with Carol’s personality taking over and her trying to figure out what her place in the world is, assuming she can survive having another mind trapped within her own. There are a few things here that stand out to me – why did Ororo go to meet Mystique when Charles said that he could simply locate Rogue via Cerebro; is it because Storm doesn’t trust Charles since he’s trying to become the field commander of the team now that he can walk? Why did Gyrich refer to Raven as ‘doctor?’ What’s up with the fact that Destiny suddenly can’t see the future? Does it have anything to do with the Adversary and the Demon Bear and this whole big thing that’s going on with that? All in all this was pretty good, not as good as the past issue but still pretty damn good. It did throw me that Rogue was suddenly the A story and Rachel was the B plot when last month it was all about Rachel, and the issue just before that one was all about Rogue. There could have been a more even blending of the two. *Note, the first feature in Marvel Fanfare deals with an upcoming storyline I'll be reviewing, so I'll cover it then.*

The Uncanny X-Men #186 – Lifedeath

This special double sized issue deals with the outcome of Ororo loosing her powers as a result o Gyrich shooting her with Forge’s gun. I think that this is one of the few characters that this type of story can really be told well. Storm was so defined by her powers and her connection to the Earth that taking them away from her and allowing her to live is worse than dying. I love this story because it’s so obviously what Claremont originally intended to do to Jean after she had been stripped of her powers (but marvel stepped n and said it wasn’t a big enough consequence so he ended up killing Phoenix) so there’s a lot of strength to this plot that make it an interesting read. There was a juxtaposition that effectively showcases Claremont’s two writing strengths: out of this world super hero battles and soap opera style writing. I could have done without the instant ‘love’ between Ororo and Forge but I do like Forge seeing himself in Ororo and his desperate need to save her as a way of saving himself. The other plot with Rogue hunting down Valerie Cooper to find out what happened to Storm (and to get her revenge) was good too especially the internal struggle between Rogue’s old self that would have killed Valerie in a heartbeat and the person she is today that just wants to save Storm. And of course there are magical space aliens running around that eat brains and then become the people they ate.

The Uncanny X-Men #187 – Wraithkill!

The Uncanny X-Men #188 – Legacy of the Lost

There are quite a few big reveals and things we learn and see for the first time as this story wraps up. Remember my theory that Rogue’s power was negated by magic? Yeah, that doesn’t pan out too well because the Dire Wraiths, Deathwings and Hellhounds are all magic based and Rogue can absorb the Dire Wraith’s form and abilities. Piotr learns that Illyana is a mutant and that she is a sorceress – this appears to shock him but no one else which begs the question why if they both live in Xavier’s school he didn’t know she was a mutant and could teleport at the very least. She is a member of the New Mutants and has the codename Magik, and the New Mutants and Charles know of Illyana’s abilities to spellcast, and the New Mutants know about Illyana’s Soulsword – you would think that someone would have mentioned something in passing to her older brother. Rachel finally realizes and admits that she’s been taken back to the wrong timeline when she finds out that her mother Jean Grey is dead. We learn that Naze has been killed and a Dire Wraith has taken his form, but we don’t know exactly when that happened. The Great One that ‘Naze’ tries to conjure outs Naze as a Dire Wraith and kills him, which begs the question what is this mystical force that is moving about the universe that is targeting the Cheyenne people, and is it at all connected to the magical amulet that makes it’s appearance at the end of the issue when a fisherman finds it? Oh yeah, if all that wasn’t enough going on Kurt tries to quit the team, Storm doesn’t feel like she belongs on the team since she is no longer a mutant which she thinks means she has no place on the team and Scott’s sort of ‘ex’ Lee (remember the ship captain?) saves Magneto from drowning in the ocean – he had crashed on earth after Magus destroyed Asteroid M when he was chasing after Warlock.

The New Mutants #18 – Death-Hunt: A

The New Mutants #19 – Siege: A

The New Mutants #20 – Badlands: A

The New Mutants #21 – Slumber Party: A

The Uncanny X-Men #184 – The Past … Of Future Days: A

Marvel Fanfare #40 – Deal with the Devil (2^nd story): B

The Uncanny X-Men #185 – Public Enemy: B

The Uncanny X-Men #186 – Lifedeath: C

The Uncanny X-Men #187 – Wraithkill!: A

The Uncanny X-Men #188 – Legacy of the Lost: A

Chronological X-Men - Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars Part 1 Review

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars!

The New Mutants #15 – Scaredy Cat!

The New Mutants #16 – Away Game!

The New Mutants #17 – Getaway!

Well this particular story takes place right after the X-Men vanish. Kitty is being held captive by Emma Frost – who has woken up from her coma with no real explanation as to why, and Doug is now at Emma’s Massachusetts Academy and being telepathically controlled by Emma.  Wet get several new characters thanks to Emma’s own team of teenaged mutants The Hellions: Catseye, Empath, Jetstream, Roulette, Tarot and Thunderbird (II) – who is really James Proudstar who has joined Emma’s team to take down the X-Men and Charles Xavier whom he blames for his older brother’s death. Some of the team’s powers act as direct opposition to the New Mutants- Catseye can switch from cat form to human, but she performs her feline form, so she’s their version of Rahne. Jetstream’s abilities are similar to Cannonball’s only Sam is stronger, but Jeatstream has better control over his abilities. Thunderbird is the powerhouse, much like Sunspot is for the New Mutants. Tarot who can create psychic visions based off of her tarot cards is Dani’s counterpart. Empath and Roulette are kind of just extras, and since Emma didn’t know about Amara or Illyana she never recruited counterparts for them. The plot revolves around the New Mutants (which now includes Magik) going after Kitty and Doug to rescue them from Emma Frost once Illyana spies on the Massachusetts Academy while in her astral form and sees what is really going on. There are some interesting things here: Illyana’s ability to use astral projection (so far only a few characters could do this, and with the exception of Magneto they all had telepathic powers,) Dani’s growing ease with using her powers yet they’re taking a toll on her soul – it would be really nice to do some bonding with Illyana and Dani, I always wished the two of them were closer and this would have been the perfect opportunity to do it. I really love Tarot’s powers and I wish she would have had a more visible role over the years. There are a few things though that I wished they cleared up, or explained. Illyana wants to keep her sorceress side hidden from everyone, then maybe she shouldn’t have chosen the codename Magik (the secrets out now though), another odd thing was the fact that Kitty could see Illyana’s astral form, yet Kitty has no psionic powers. How did Emma wake up? Why did she want Doug so badly, when even Charles Xavier didn’t consider him ‘worth’ recruiting? Why did Emma go through all this trouble of taking Doug just to let him go? Why does the team have such a hard time even being in the same room as Magik because they’re afraid of her and what she is and can do, yet the team watched Roberto kill Selene and bury her in her temple? The plot was good, it got us some good new characters and it will provide future material for people to pull from – but there were a lot of unanswered questions that created too many loose ends. One thing I’m really excited for though is to see where they’re going with the whole Demon Bear. It was rather surprising to see him suddenly appear in front of Dani and tell her that he’s coming to claim her soon.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 – War Begins

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #2 – Prisoners of War!

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #3 – Tempest Without, Crisis Within!

Okay let me get one thing out of the way first: this is a huge massive event that was created back in the 80s in order for Kenner Toys to have a publishing event to help promote the sale of their Marvel properties toys. That being said, the cast is HUGE: Captain America, Captain Marvel II (not the original guy, but a new lady taking the name), Hawkeye, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Thro, Wasp, Human Torch, Mr. Fantastic, The Thing, Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Professor X, Rogue, Storm, Wolverine, Lockeed, The Hulk, Spider-Man, Magneto, Dr. Doom, Dr. Octopus, Enchantress, Galactus, Kang, Lizard, Molecule Man, Ultron, Absorbing Man, Bulldozer, Piledriver, Thunderball, and Wrecker. That being said we get (so far) three new characters introduced: The Beyonder, Titania and Volcana. All this and I’m only on issue three. It turns out that The Beyonder has been responsible for the recent disappearances on Earth and he has also been the one who was behind the psychic probing of various characters over recent months. There’s a lot going on here which at times makes the series a bit hard to follow, but I don’t know if it would be easier if I was up to date on the books of the non X-characters. I’m going to try to be more objective about this story until I read all of it. I mean the storyline is pretty popular, but at the same time it was created just to sell toys so it’s either going to be awesome or awful.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #4 – Situation: Hopeless!

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #5 – The Battle of Four Armies!

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #6 – A Little Death…

As the first half of this story closes out we get two apparent deaths – Doom kills Kang for questioning his orders and in the process of trying to bring Lizard back into the villain’s fold it appears that the Wasp was killed trying to save him. We get the introduction of new characters in the form of Spider-Woman II aka Julia Carpenter – but it’s just a cameo, and we meet Zsaji – a healer who fixes Johnny’s broken arm, heals up Spider-Man and saves Colossus. I did find it a little odd that Johnny and Peter have apparently fallen in love with her after she healed them. It’s not odd, but it would make more sense if Spider-Man was also affected by this weird love obsession – especially if it is caused by Zsaji’s healing abilities. Speaking of odd, Piotr’s love for Kitty comes off a little like he’s obsessed with her. It definitely amps up the creepy factor that was always there because of their age differences. We also get the resurrection of Klaw (who had been killed by Dazzler) – honestly I don’t mind this one at all. I know that over the years quite a few of the X-Men have had to kill people but still. I mean out of all the ‘active’ mutants pretty much the only ones who hasn’t killed someone are Sam and Rahne. I do find it a little odd that Charles is so upset that he manipulated Spider-Man’s mind only because over the years he has done that to quite a few people. His guilt over it starts to ring a little hollow when he keeps doing it. So the story has really picked up: why does the Thing keep changing from human to ‘thing,’ is Wasp really dead, is Kang really dead, who is in the shadows watching everyone, is Galactus really about to eat the planet?

The New Mutants #15 – Scaredy Cat!: A

The New Mutants #16 – Away Game!: A

The New Mutants #17 – Getaway!: A

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 – War Begins: C

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #2 – Prisoners of War!: B

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #3 – Tempest Without, Crisis Within!: B

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #4 – Situation: Hopeless!: A

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #5 – The Battle of Four Armies!: B

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #6 – A Little Death…: A

Chronological X-Men - X-Men and the Micronauts Review

X-Men and the Micronauts!

X-Men and the Micronauts #1 – First Encounter

X-Men and the Micronauts #2 – Into the Abyss

X-Men and the Micronauts #3 – Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory!

X-Men and the Micronauts #4 – Doppelganger!

This was a particularly odd miniseries. It wasn’t anywhere nearly as strong of a miniseries as Magik but it didn’t have as slow of a build up as Wolverine did. Clearly this takes place after New Mutants 13 but before 14 because Amara is on the team yet Illyana isn’t and obviously this happens before the events of the next story arch. But what makes this even harder to place in the time line is that Rogue is a member of the team yet she’s nowhere to be seen and isn’t mentioned at all in this miniseries. Dani appears to have left her Psyche codename behind her and is now going by ‘Spellbinder’ – of course this is just a pit stop before Dani switches to her better known codename. I can’t comment too much on anything having to deal with the Micronauts because I never followed any of their exploits so I don’t know if anything was out of character or if it just doesn’t fit at all. One thing I didn’t really understand was how Kitty phasing through Karza would have caused the two of them to switch bodies. The thing I really did enjoy was the whole ‘Dark Xavier’ thing- it is an interesting concept that they should have touched on but at the same time it is a bit odd. Charles has a psychic bond with Lilandra, couldn’t she have sensed the shift in him? It’s understandable that Dani couldn’t sense the change because her powers aren’t anywhere nearly as fully developed and there really aren’t that many other telepaths around that are on the X-Men’s side. It might have been interesting to see The Inner Circle try to use this to their advantage but Mastermind is still in jail and after attacking Emma and putting her into a coma he’s not in good enough standing to try to manipulate Charles – and Emma is in a coma so she can’t do it. It just seemed like a missed opportunity. Another missed opportunity I think was not focusing more on Kitty trapped in Karza’s body while she’s trying to remain hidden and has to see the how Karza and his army rule and sees the inner workings of the Body Banks. It would have been nice to see a little more focus on the fact that it is very similar to the concentration camps the Nazi army had and drawing on what it would feel for Kitty to see something similar to that and deal with how she should react since she is Jewish.

The New Mutants #14 – Do You Believe In – Magik?

So this story sort of acts as an epilogue to the Magik miniseries. Not only does it start with where the miniseries ended – with Illyana standing in the snow watching the New Mutants play, but in the story Illyana is forced to use her stepping discs to bring the New Mutants to her aid when S’ym tries to kill her but in the process they end up in Limbo where they watch S’ym attack and try to kill a younger version of Illyana. There’s a bit of a mistake with this because in the original limited series Amara and Stevie weren’t around for that scene, yet suddenly they’re included now. Obviously in Amara’s case it’s because she didn’t exist within the series yet, but it’s easy to explain away as the two of them simply still being in the car at the moment. A few more odd things are: while there is no announcement with this issue Illyana joins the New Mutants. Also without explanation Charles suddenly can walk without any pain. It seems odd that they would give that story such a build up in the main book but then never explain how or why it got fixed. The issue ends with Doug telling Kitty that he has been accepted at the Massachusetts Academy – which plays into the next issue of The Uncanny X-Men.

The Uncanny X-Men #180 – Whose Life Is It, Anyway?

The issue ends up switching its focus on Ororo trying to come to terms with the changes that have happened to her recently and Kitty trying to figure out how to save Doug from the Inner Circle without letting him know that she’s doing it. I wouldn’t call the scene where Doug asks Kitty to go with him to check out the school as a retelling or even a retcon it could just be a recap, or given everything that was going on the night before – the party, the shock of Doug’s revelation, seeing Charles walk it’s possible that Kitty never gave him an answer and this is just Doug’s way of asking again. It does seem odd that Charles reveals to everyone that Doug is a mutant and that he’s been keeping tabs on him. Charles claims that he never invited Doug to the school because his mutant ability to understand all forms of languages isn’t really as productive or useful compared to some of the other X-Men. Now I find this odd considering Stevie isn’t a mutant, yet she’s involved in the school, up until like three seconds ago no one knew that Illyana was a mutant, sure you could argue that they keep her there because of her aging seven years over the course of a few minutes (she’s fifteen now, which theoretically should make Kitty 16, but Kitty was recently retconned into being 14 – even though she’s had 2 birthdays since joining the team when she was 13 ½) but it doesn’t explain why no one bothered to return her home when she was rescued from Murderworld when Arcade abducted her when she was only 7. The main thing is we kind of resolved the whole Kitty/Ororo fight. I don’t get why Kitty was so upset about the changes in Ororo’s look, but it does make sense considering her friendship was the only stable thing she had since joining the team and her parents divorcing – but it is odd that Kitty assumed that Ororo would automatically become Mom2.0. I like that they resolved the conflict but I wish they would just explain why Ororo changed already. The issue ends with Kitty and Doug being taken by Emma who is on the plane and has apparently woken from her coma and the X-Men vanishing into a mysterious void.

X-Men and the Micronauts #1 – First Encounter: C

X-Men and the Micronauts #2 – Into the Abyss: C

X-Men and the Micronauts #3 – Mine Eyes Have Seen The Glory!: B

X-Men and the Micronauts #4 – Doppelganger!: B

The New Mutants #14 – Do You Believe In – Magik?: A

The Uncanny X-Men #180 – Whose Life Is It, Anyway?: B