Quite a backlog to talk about.
First, a quick shout out to Vengeance 3. Not an X book, but it features X alums Angel and Beak in significant roles, Beak being badass as ever, really cant stress enough how good it is to see those two again.
So starting with Astonishing. I don't know if its because of the rotating nature of Astonishing, or if its because this story so obviously happened forever ago given Kitty's status, but I've had a hard time investing in this story.
Its not poorly written, the kernel of the idea is a good one, if one I've seen before in other forms, and its always nice to see Abigail Brand, the fact that S.W.O.R.D. was as short lived as it was is truly a comic tragedy.
The art is interesting to look at, if perhaps a bit messy, maybe its just Juan Bobillo's take on the Brood, they always look just a tiny bit off. I will say that even as a Brood, he draws a really dynamic and powerful Colossus thats made me appreciate the characters power for the first time in a while, and his Storm rocks a costume which I normally find to be the worst the character has ever worn. Really Bobillo excels at drawing beautiful girls, and neat scifi stuff, if not non human characters, but being able to draw less human looking stuff should be a requirement for working on an Xbook.
I mostly picked this up to learn a bit more about the Brood kid who is joining Wolverine and the X-Men next month. We get a fairly good bead on his mindset, which is about what you'd expect, as one of the only good Brood, he's an outcast, a mutant among his own kind. I like the Brood kid, but I really wish that his head was a bit more Brood shaped, instead of the rounded look he possess.
Overall its not a bad issue, but maybe a tad rushed, or maybe just a tad stretched for something that should feel like an immediate action story.
Moving on to Uncanny 543, this is a book I really thoroughly enjoyed. Gillen shows a deft hand at maneuvering mutants through tricky situations, both those involving super hero action and those involving personal or political drama.
This issue concludes the Fear Itself tie in that saw Juggernaut under the control of the Serpent marching on Utopia, issuing and Ultimatum to destroy either it or San Francisco. This particular caveat really works for both the Fear Itself story and for the X-Men, really capitalizing on the already present fear of mutants in a way few of the other Worthy really have.
Juggernaut showing himself more unstoppable than usual, Scott, having gone this route so often now it must feel natural, has decided to make a deal with a devil, this particular devil, Cytorrak is the source of Juggernauts normal powers. Cyclops sent Magik, who had recently endangered and betrayed all of the X-men in a gambit to get revenge on the demons who have abused her for years, to deal with Cyttorak and become the new Juggernaut in order to fight him. Colossus of course, unwilling to see his already black stained sister tainted any further steps in and becomes the Juggernaut in her place, and so is able to stop the Worthy's march on San Fran.
Colossus like a lot of the 70s X-Men had in many ways run his course as a character. No one was doing much with him, and he'd basically been boiled down to a couple of tropes, as people dont seem to like seeing their characters trying something new in these uncertain times, thats why, despite not caring much for the visual, I really approve of Pete as Juggernaut, the juxtaposition of his artists soul against the incredibly destructive nature of the Juggernaut promises for some really interesting and insightful situations going down the road.
If I'm to complain about anything in the issue, it would be Greg Lands art. It told the story competently enough, but, as is usual for Land, the man draws basically one or two girls over and over, its completely impossible to tell Magik from Emma by a face shot.
Oh and speaking of Emma, theres a subplot in this going on with her and Hope, thats really really fun to see.
Next I'll speak quickly about X-Men 17 and 18.
The issues involve the FF and the X-Men going to another dimension to rescue some old acquaintances. The main rescue-ey in question is a woman who has a past with both Cyclops and Magneto, so it works rather well from that angle. Even more fun is seeing this particular mix of characters. Having teams that include Dr. Doom and Magneto on them make for some of the most interesting dynamics in a super hero book in years. Also letting some of the newer but prominent X-characters like Dr. Nemesis and Pixie have some time to interact with Marvel classics is always a good idea.
The dimension they are in gives us a lot of great aliens, and weird races of people to play with, its all a lot of fun, if a bit rushed. I can mostly forgive this, as its obvious this is meant to be a quick romp, but the one thing I can't forgive is the fact that the writer Victor Gischler just doesn't seem to have the knack for writing character interaction that well.
Its not terrible, but a lot of his dialog comes off as awkward, like when he has a guy introduce the Future Foundation as the FF, or just some of the more mundane things he has Magneto say. Gischler I think could polish this stuff, but given the schedule he's on, and the rotating cast of characters he has to deal with, I dont think he's really had enough time and experience with these characters to find their voices.
Its a shame too, because this is a story so rife with potential for interesting character discussions.
All in all X-Men 17 and 18 were a fun enough rollick through a kind of pulp atmosphere with some of my favorite Marvel characters. The art is good enough, and the plotting is quite fun. Gischler just really needs to get a better handle on some of these characters voices.
X-Factor 225 picks up from a plot point left from the recent 224.1 issue, as Madrox and co are called upon to investigate a murder which took place in Madrox's previously abandoned family home. As its X-Factor crazy shit abounds. Madrox had just visited the woman who was murdered and spent several hours talking with her and her apparent son, when the police call to have him investigate her body, they find they know nothing about any child at all, then the womans body gets up and starts talking, and THEN it starts to get weird.
X-Factor is always throwing mysteries at us, which keeps it engaging, but sometimes I wish it could just relax a little bit, clear the decks, and let us enjoy the character drama. Oh and is there ever character drama. Richtor has just gotten his powers back, and his actions are now causing boyfriend Shatterstar some jealousy, and Wolfsbane, depressed over her rejection of her mystical wolf baby has taken to binge eating. Horrible as this might be to say, I hope this plot point continues for a while as I'm all for actually having a character with a weight problem in a Marvel book.
X-Factor is exciting, interesting, and somewhat exhausting, a great book, but a bit of an undertaking.
Last up for the night we have X-Men Legacy 255.
This is a book I'm a tad conflicted about. Its very much of a classic X-men style, but the whole thing is a bit...convenient.
This comes out of a plot point left of from Age of X, where Rachel Grey's psychic manifestation called out for help from the X-men. Rogue temporarily gifted with an amazing teleporting power she stole from one of Legions rogue personalities has taken a small group of Xmen to the rescue, and has of course landed in a heck of a mess, and of course ran into the one group of Shi'ar that shes managed to piss off in recent history.
Despite all the story conveniences, the really classic feel of this piece is a lot of fun, and as usual its fun to see Rogue kicking ass. The Xmen have landed in the middle of a conflict between the Shiar and an insect like alien people that the Shiar had enslaved. The insectoid aliens have somehow mind whammied Havok and Polaris into their service (man thats REALLY classic X-Men there) and the Xmen have to get them back, and stop the entire space station they are on from falling into the sun.
As a side note I'm really enjoying Frenzy. Mike Carey, as he usually does, has take a character I couldn't give a care about, and made her into someone I'm really enjoying seeing as an X-Man each month.
I guess any of the slight dissatisfaction with this issue I have could be layed on Steve Kurth's art, which though competent, doesnt exactly set the atmosphere that well, though he draws some great looking horrific aliens.
Thats it for a while. Next week I'll come back with the final Schism discussion, but before then look forward to a post about some more obscure but neat mutants that I hope to become prominent going forward into the regenesis.
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