For The Love of Comics

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So Divided We Stand, the aftermath of Messiah Complex, has begun and I feel a bit… conflicted. Actually, I’m feeling a bit negative about it, overall. The things I like are really not surprising or outstanding by any means, but the stuff I don’t like has me very annoyed.

Let’s just jump into this. I think The RJP is going to love this.

Uncanny X-Men 495 left me the most conflicted.

I’ve found that I only like Cyclops when he’s fighting against someone or something. Whenever he gets anything resembling a quiet moment, he turns into a whiny emo girl that makes poor relationship and life decisions and is one step away from cutting himself.

This issue opens with Scott being emo and Emma not knowing the concept of boundaries while hiding away in the Savage Land and making me want to burn shit. We then get a flashback sequence with Scott telling Tony Stark precisely what he can do with his registration act. This really makes me want to like Cyclops again, but it all just feels very forced and contrived after his backslide into emo lameness. Combine this with Stark saying the exact same line twice and this scene just falls flat.

It is good that they get it out in the open right away that Cyclops has no intention of keeping the X-Men disbanded. I would feel a bit insulted if they were still trying to push that idea. That one point aside, the entire “Scott and Emma on vacation” sequence seems like a total waste of space - mostly because I don’t really like either character.

As a contrast, I love the “Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Colossus on the Road” vignette, even though it doesn’t really serve any purpose at the moment. I’m highly amused by the idea of Logan hacking Kurt’s image thingamob as a prank. It’s nice to see those three longtime friends actually acting like friends.

Annd the issue closes with Angel stumbling upon some kind of weird hallucinogenic crap in Haight-Ashbury, which I guess will be the adventure of next issue.

This wasn’t a terrible issue, but it’s so totally and completely obvious that it’s just filler until the next big thing that I wonder if I should just save my money and check out for now.

I’m just going to go alphabetically here, so that would make Wolverine 62 next up.

Honestly, I kinda liked this issue. I know some people consider Wolverine a one-note-character, and he kinda is, but I LIKE that note. Any issue that consists of Wolverine hunting and killing is an issue that I enjoy.

And that is really all this issue is. Immediately after the end of Messiah Complex, Cyclops asks Wolverine to hunt down Mystique. Wolverine, of course, agrees. While remembering the first time he met Mystique, Wolverine tracks her around the world, finally tracking her down in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, he kills one of the villagers that Mystique is hiding with and the rest of the village decides to do something about it. I noticed that the woman he kills is white with blue eyes, obviously not of Afghani descent. I wonder if that will play into later issues.

In all, there’s not much to this issue, it seems to just be the set-up issue for the four-part “Get Mystique” arc, but like I said - killing is enough for me.

X-Factor 28 is probably the best of this bunch, due to both Peter David’s writing and the fact that things actually happened in this issue. Obviously, Rahne leaves the team and can’t tell anyone why, which inevitably causes some tension, but we all knew that was gonna happen. We also find out which of the ladies are pregnant, and apparently there are TWO pregnancies. Rictor and Jamie both have chips on their shoulders, so Rictor gets into a fight with some pimps and Jamie decides to take on some Purifiers. Oh, and Jamie DOES have the “M” tattoo… interesting.

Finally, we have X-Force 1. This also isn’t a bad issue, there’s just nothing that special or that I didn’t see coming. Cyclops asks Wolverine to continue X-Force, Wolverine refuses and says that they don’t need to ruin those kid’s lives, Cyclops tells him that they’ve all already signed up and will do it with or without Wolverine, Wolverine feels obligated to join to help the other people. I guess you could say that this is another case of Cyclops being the badass strategist that he apparently can be, since he manipulated Wolverine into not really having any choice but to lead X-Force, but I already knew that was going to happen, so… no real suspense or surprise there.

We see X-23 slipping back into her Weapon X days while investigating the breakout of the Purifier leader. I don’t think we’ve seen her say the words “What is my mission?” since the Weapon X days. Correct me if I’m wrong, people.

Other than the cliffhanger “possible death” of Rahne - and we all know better - and the return of Bastion, that’s about the highlight of the issue. All the other character moments felt either cliche or not really believable. I mean, are we really supposed to believe that Cyclops is hiding the existence of X-Force from his telepathic girlfriend who isn’t exactly known for respecting people’s boundaries? I sure as hell don’t believe it.

All in all, I feel a bit let down so far. It could just be the calm in between storms, so to speak, and I’m definitely hanging in there, but… these issues just felt a bit weak after Messiah Complex. I could have alot more to say, but I’m trying to start avoiding any major spoilers, especially considering the pregnancies in X-Factor. I definitely recommend picking that one up, it seems to be a good jumping on point, if nothing else.

Technorati Tags: Comics, X-Men, Divided We Stand, X-Factor, X-Force, Wolverine

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Popularity: 13% [?]

Okay, here it is final chapter of the best crossover this year! Let’s get this party start - errr…. ended!

Fair warning - I’m not even trying to avoid spoilers since they’ve already been posted all over the internet. If you haven’t read the issue yet and hate spoilers, go read the comic and then come back and join the fun.

We start where we left off - Bishop vs. Cable vs Predator X, because time travelers from the future taste better than… never mind, I ran that joke into the ground last issue. At least, I think that’s what’s going on in these first panels. The artwork makes it kinda hard to tell what’s up, but that’s my informed guess.

Judging from the images, it looks to me like Bishop shoots at Cable, Cable dodges, Bishop shoots at Predator X, and Predator X eats Bishop, which can’t be right. Again, this art leaves alot to be desired.

Meanwhile, Cyclops figures out that the Marauders have been specifically training for the X-Men so he sends the X-Kids into the battle as an “x” factor (see what I did there?) that the Marauders aren’t prepared for.

Logan and the rest of X-Force break off to find Predator X and discover that its supa-dupa healing factor won’t let them fatally wound it.

Meanwhile, Cyclops finds Cable and demands that Cable hand over the baby. Cable tries to explain that he needs to get the baby out of there, but Professor X tells him to give the child to Scott.

This exchange actually has two points that I love.

First, I can’t remember another time that Cable has called Scott “Dad”. The fact that he does now somehow conveys his depth of feeling to me, how deeply he needs Scott to be on his side in this.

Second, although he doesn’t actually speak the words for another few pages, the Professor shows that he finally realizes that the team now belongs to Cyclops. His insistence that Scott decide what path the X-Men and mutant-kind will follow signifies a passing of the torch that was needed in this issue.

Rogue wakes up and finds out just what Mystique has been up to all this time. Fed up and believing that she is still infected with Strain 88 (I missed those issues and had to have this explained to me, by the way), she attempts to use the “death touch” on Mystique. At this point, we find out that the baby’s touch has wiped out all of the previous powers and personalities that Rogue had absorbed, including Strain 88, and all she did was partially absorb Mystique. Rogue is horrified that in her attempt to rid the world of her foster mother, she has doomed herself to be constantly stuck with Raven in her head. Rogue decides she needs some time to come to terms with it being just her and Mystique in her head and asks Gambit to not follow her. I must have missed something important in my years away from the books of “X”, because I thought that powers and personalities absorbed by Rogue eventually dissipated. Regardless, a shapeshifting Rogue could be a pretty good assassin. They would never know she was there until she was siphoning off their energy and she’d leave no trace. I doubt she’ll be an assassin, but expect Rogue to show up again - in one guise or another - soon.

A comment that Jason left on my penultimate MC write-up speculated that if Layla IS the baby, it’s possible that Rogue picked up her ability to “know stuff” and will be the next “Destiny”. That’s totally possible, but I hope he’s wrong. Do we really need a second coming of a useless, obscure character? I think not.

We see Bishop in the foreground while X-Force is battling Predator X, so we know that he’s still alive. Maybe it was just Bishop’s arm that Predator X ate. Even so, wouldn’t he have died from blood loss and/or shock by now?

The New X-Men prove that they’re good for something other than cannon fodder and kick the crap out of the Marauders. Too bad their series was cancelled.

While Professor X is handing the baby over to Cyclops, we clearly see that she has red hair and green eyes. In the same comment that referenced Layla Miller Jason speculates that this, combined with Scott’s flashbacks to sending baby Cable to the future and Jean Grey’s last death, as a sign that the baby is either a resurrected Jean Grey or As’kani sent back to save Nathan again. In a comment on the same post, AJ states his belief that “it seems pretty obvious” from that same close-up that the baby is Jean reborn. My interpretation is a bit different. I took the flashbacks as Scott learning that sometimes you have to let go in order to move forward and realizing that this is exactly what he needs to do now. As for the red hair and green eyes, I agree that you usually aren’t shown something for no reason, so the red hair and green eyes likely indicated something, but I’m hoping that it’s not Jean Grey again. You may have noticed that I’m a little fed up with resurrections and retcons and things of that nature, and Jean Grey is the most resurrected character in comics.

In a truly awesome yet totally disgusting show of ingenuity, Wolverine allows Predator X to swallow him whole so that he can dig his way back out and kill the beast-monster-thing.

As mentioned earlier, Cyclops accepts that he can’t control the future and has to let go in order to move forward, so he gives the baby back to Cable and tells him to keep her safe.

So we’ve had a passing of the torch, an acceptance of the need to move on and move forward, so you know what needs to happen, right? Somebody needs to die and, if you’ve been reading the internet at all, you know who it is.

As Cable fades away to… wherever he’s going, Bishop picks up his gun and starts firing at where Cable used to be. The bullets go right into Professor X’s head and Cyclops blasts Bishop through a wall.

Realizing that Professor X, the “dreamer” is dead, Cyclops decides that the dream is over and there are no X-Men anymore, which sounds similar to the recent storylines in Ultimate X-Men.

But note the difference between these two panels:

The professor’s body has disappeared!!

And remember, Bishop absorbs energy!!

So shed no tears, my friends - I’m sure they’ll both be back!

To support my hypothesis, here are the teasers for the new direction of the X-Books:

Uncanny X-Men #495
In the wake of Messiah Complex, the X-Men have disbanded. What’s next for our wayward mutants? Find out in two weeks!

X-Force #1
The X-men may be finished, but X-Force isn’t. Wolverine and his black ops team go to tie up the loose end of the mutant hating religious group, the Purifiers. Don’t miss this book!

X-Factor #28
After his return from the future, Madrox has only two goals in life: rescuing Layla and preventing the horrors he witnessed from ever happening. But to do so, can he stop his team from falling apart?

Cable #1
The battle may be over but the war has only begun for this soldier. the time-jumping quest of Cable and the baby continues in March!
Interviews have indicated that Bishop will be the main villain of this book’s initial arc.

X-Men Legacy #208
What becomes of the world’s most powerful telepath after his mind has been shattered by a bullet? Find out here!!
It doesn’t mention this here, but CBR’s interview with Mike Carey says that the one main character in this book will be Prof. X and will feature him exploring the past of the X-Men in a quest to figure out what comes next.

Young X-Men #1
With the Xavier Institute destroyed, class is over for the student body. Until, that is, Cyclops taps them to hunt and eliminate the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Don’t miss it when it comes out in April!

Soooo…. my thoughts. Honestly, the art in this issue was pretty weak, but I don’t think that can entirely be blamed on penciler Chris Bacchalo - the dark dark DARK inks and coloring had alot to do with my inability to make out what was going on.

To contrast the weak art, though, the writing on this issue was excellent and spot-on. This was easily the best crossover finale in my recent memory. There was absolutely no letdown, the storyline was tied up very well, and you’re left with a very real sense that these characters have been on a journey and are not the same as they were before this began. This may be a credit to all of the X-Writers rather than Mike Carey specifically, because this entire crossover was excellent. At the beginning of this - very long - post, I jokingly called this the best crossover of 2008, but this could easily be the best crossover of almost any year. It was better than Countdown, better than Civil War, better than Back in Black or One More Day, better than World War Hulk or Amazon’s Attack. The only thing it wasn’t better than, arguably, was Sinestro Corps, but it came damn close.

Needless to say, I am once again a diehard X-Fan. Strong work, Marvel.

Technorati Tags: Comics, Marvel, X-Men, Messiah Complex, Cyclops, Cable, Messiah Baby, Bishop, X-Force, Rogue, Jean Grey, Layla Miller, Wolverine, Professor X

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Popularity: 20% [?]

Comic Book Resources’ George A. Tramountanas has posted an interview with X-Force editor John Barber about the post-Messiah Complex direction of the X-books in general and X-Force in particular.

I recognize that there are plenty of reasons for me to dread this title - from the lame title to the black, “edgy” costumes to the endless hype. They’re one step away from calling this X-Treme Force and totally backsliding into something from the 90’s, but I can’t help myself. Maybe it’s the 12-year-old X-men fanboy in me, but I’m really interested in this book.

After the “Messiah CompleX” story concludes, the X-books are labeled “X-Men: Divided We Stand.” How does “X-Force” play into this new heading?

The landscape after “Messiah CompleX” is different. The X-Men aren’t functioning as a unit anymore; the school’s gone, and it feels like everybody’s on their own. X-Force is a part of that. But even more – they’re secret. The rest of the X-family doesn’t know about them. Rahne can’t tell her friends in X-Factor what she’s doing. Scott’s not telling Emma – but it’s harder to keep secrets from a telepath, and we’ll be delving into that in “Uncanny” and “X-Force” as time goes on.

Even within the X-Force team, there are divisions. Everybody’s there for their own reasons, and that doesn’t mean they’ll be getting along.

Dude, they’re a super secret strike force rampant with internal strife and angst!!

How can you not be excited?!?!

This is something Wolverine has had to live with as long as he’s been an X-Man, and he’s reluctant to let anybody else go down that path. He’s always walked a dark path, but he’s always bonded with people on the light side of life, like Kitty Pryde or Jubilee. This time, though, Logan’s surrounded by people willing – even eager – to embrace his path, which doesn’t sit well with him.

See?!?! ANGST!!!

You’re all laughing at me right now - stop it.

In all seriousness, though, there is no doubt that this book has the potential to be totally lame and have crap like X-23 listening to Morrissey and using her claws to cut her arms while she sits in her room and cries, but statements like this:

Wolverine wouldn’t do that. On the field, he’s the best there is right? But he’s a loner when he’s doing this kind of work – killing work – because he doesn’t want to bring those people with him.

If he were more of a leader, he probably would lead X-23, Warpath, and Wolfsbane the hell away from X-Force. As it is, he accepts their decisions. Well, except for Rahne. But you’ll have to read to see what I mean, there.

Logan is very matter-of-fact. But you’re right; he’s not a natural leader. And the rest of the team are not natural followers.

and

These are lost souls, the X-Force team. At least, that’s how I see them. You might disagree. I know the characters would disagree with me. But I think they’re all looking for something, and none of them know what it is they’re looking for. Or maybe they don’t even know they’re looking.

Give me hope that they’ll find a smart, mature way to do this and explore the character of these team members and their motivations. It could be incredibly lame, but it could also be incredibly good.

Read the rest of the interview at CBR

Technorati Tags: comics, John Barber, Marvel, X-Force, x-men

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In contrast to Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul, Messiah Complex not only lives up to expectations, it exceeds them. The storyline is full of fan service and interesting plot developments; although some of the more understated points, like Rahne and Warpath - both former members of Cable’s X-Force team - being on the team sent to possibly kill Cable, may be lost on those not steeped in X-men lore, at least until they come out and say that Warpath may be having some issues with the idea. I did find it interesting that it was never raised as a possibility that Rahne may have issues with it, too. Were there issues between Cable and Rahne? I never followed X-Force too closely.

It was nice to see Professor X raise the big question that last issue left me (and probably everyone else) with - How could Cyclops authorize the death of his own son, with no evidence that Cable is in opposition to the X-Men. I’m not sure I agree with Cyclops, but I can understand his “desperate times…’ justification.

I’m starting to feel bad for Professor X that everyone is basically telling him to stay out of the way and, in the belief that they rarely show you something for no reason, I’m starting to think that Professor X will be the one to betray the team. Whether it’s on purpose or in a misguided attempt to “help”, something he does will bring about the Mutant Camps in the future that Madrox and Layla Miller are exploring.

Back to X-Force, I’m starting to like the idea that the squad is made up of characters known for being loners who are used to doing things their own way; it could make for an interesting team dynamic and some cool moments, like Thunderbird subtly reminding Wolverine that he’s not a complete idiot and there was a reason behind him knocking out the security guard and it’s completely within character to take the suggestion but refuse to admit he was wrong.

Even my continuing streak of not really caring what happens in New X-Men issues doesn’t ruin this crossover for me. I mean, I have no idea why X-23 is pissed at Deathstrike, but I really don’t care. Yay for claws and blood flying everywhere! And then they remind me why X-23 wants Deathstrike dead - I told you I don’t care about the New X-Men and forgetting about Hellion-ka-bab should prove that. I rest my case.

Although I’m a bit apathetic towards most of the New X-Men and still a bit hostile towards Emma Frost, moments like this betray an amazing self-awareness of what she is and is not capable of and of the essential nature of others:

I won’t spoil which X-man “falls” in this issue, but it was a character I was never very familiar with and I always felt like I may have been missing out because of that, even before this issue. No matter how little I know the character, though, I was touched by their death.

And finally, Cable is smooth like butta.

Ok, so I obviously am loving this crossover, but in the interest of full disclosure, I have a few things to say. First, I’ve always loved the X-Men, even when I wasn’t reading them. The X-Men, and particularly Wolverine, brought me into comics, and you never really forget your first. Because of this, I’m prone to looking favorably upon most things “X”, even when admitting their faults. Second, I had incredibly low expectations coming into this crossover in contrast to the high expectations I had coming into the Resurrection of Ra’s al Ghul crossover, so the only thing Messiah Complex really had to do in order to not be a disappointment is not suck. All I really wanted was lots of fighting and I’ve gotten that and more. Thus, while I maintain that Messiah Complex is of higher quality, I’ll admit that the bar isn’t set nearly as high for it.

tag: Comics, X-Men, X-Factor 26, X-Force, New X-Men 45, Messiah Complex, Cable, Cyclops, Wolverine, Professor X

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Popularity: 14% [?]

I’m still very far behind in my reading stack - almost a month behind in some spots - to the point that I’m seriously considering dropping a few titles and just picking up the trade so that I can keep up with some other titles.

I tell you this to explain why none of the titles in this post came out this week. In fact, I don’t think any of them even came out in the same week as another. I’m trying to do better, I swear.

On to the reviews! As always, there may be minor spoilers. If you have not read the issue and want to come into it without any foreknowledge of plot whatsoever, skip this until you’ve read the comic.

First of all, 52 Aftermath – Crime Bible: 5 Lessons of Blood really needs to shorten their title. I’m already sick of typing it all out, I’m slightly offended as a consumer that they’re trying to manipulate me into buying this based on the 52 name, and I’m offended as a fan of Greg Rucka, The Question, and Renee Montoya that DC thinks they need to manipulate fans to sell this title. It’s a good book with a good main character and they should let it stand on its own merits. I’ve heard a rumor that this is not just called The Question because DC has reservations about having a homosexual main character in a series, and that just offends me as a human being.

Now that I’m done with my soapbox, the lesson of issue #2 is “Lust”. Renee tries to infiltrate a “convent” disguised as a Washington DC brothel and run by Crime Bible adherents. Apparently, the “nuns” try to recruit powerful DC figures into the Crime Bible faith through the lesson of lust. During her investigation, Renee is nearly seduced by one of the women of the cloth, so to speak.

I’m still a fairly big fan of this series, though I can certainly understand some criticisms of not really knowing where Rucka is going with this. This issue seems to help in that regard, several subtle clues given throughout the issue, and one statement made by the monk of stone at the end, make me think that they know exactly who Renee is and what she thinks she’s doing and reinforce my belief that Renee is unknowingly being taught each of the Five Lessons of Blood, in the hopes that she will become an adherent of the Crime Bible.

Rucka does mystery and subtle intrigue quite well, and he is an excellent fit for this book. I hope to see him write more Question stories in the future, even without an exclusive DC contract.

I moved Uncanny X-men #493 to the top of my stack to keep up to date with Messiah Complex (I got it this past Tuesday, I’m not sure why I didn’t wait until the next day and just get this week’s stuff too. That would have made too much sense, I suppose) and because I feel like I shafted y’all a bit in my recap earlier this week. Unfortunately – or fortunately, depending on your perspective – I’ve decide to still shaft y’all a bit; I’m not going to do a play-by-play, since I figure there may be some of y’all who are as far behind as I am and would like to read the issue first. I will still give you my impressions, though.

This… was not the strongest chapter of the event. It’s still better than the last New X-Men chapter, but it’s probably weaker than all the others. It just did not do much for me. The art was still gorgeous, there was nothing wrong with the writing per se, but… I don’t know, there wasn’t much to move the plot forward, other than the introduction of the X-Force, “we all gonna cutchoo” team.

I can understand Cyclops reasoning in going after Cable, to a point. I get that if you know nothing, it’s best to plan for the worst, but when has Cable ever played for the other team when it comes to the X-Men and what’s right? He’s not a traitor and I think sending a team to take the baby by any means necessary, including killing Cyclops’s son, is a bit rash. But then, as Cyclops said, these are desperate times and there may not be room for half-ass actions, so it does fit into the story, it just rubs me the wrong way a bit.

Of course, this issue could be absolute crap and I’d still be sticking around, and this issue was NOT crap. Second weakest chapter out of a bunch this strong is still pretty good.

I’ve been waiting for Northlanders for what feels like almost a year, so I was excited to see it finally came out. Now that I’ve read the first issue, I’m…intrigued.

I was a bit iffy on Davide Gianfelice’s art at first, it seemed a bit grainy, but the more I looked at it the more I liked it to the point that I now feel like it fits the feel of this book perfectly. Brian Wood’s writing is strong and – as far as I can tell – historically accurate regarding the Varangians and Norsemen of the era, with the exception of their mode of speech. I was definitely struck by the fact that the characters in this book are almost all unlikable people, but I doubt Vikings were very pleasant people.

It’s always hard to tell how much I’ll enjoy a book just from the first, setup issue, so I have no idea how long I’ll be sticking with this series, but I’m definitely interested enough to pick up issue 2.

Now, for the comic I was fairly certain I would hate, All Star Batman and Robin #8…

My god, I actually loved this issue; it was easily my favorite of the bunch! The Joker was definitely my favorite character, especially with his opening monologue and musings on love (in his own special way) but even Bats was excellent in this issue! There was none of the “Goddamned Batman”, but more of a softening of his character, particularly towards Dick Grayson. There was none of the posturing and puffing of the chest, only some grudging affection towards Grayson and some musing on his assuming a father-figure role.

There were even some amusing moments when Batman’s talking to himself caused him to question his sanity and his disdain for the mental prowess of Green Lantern (who is a bit of a twit in the All Star universe.) We even got to see the debut of Robin’s costume, with a twist on the original origin.

This issue left me with an impression that Frank Miller is painting a picture of Batman slowly evolving from a violent, twisted vigilante, to a humanized crime-fighter who serves as a father figure to a young man who has been through similar circumstances as him, which makes me accept the “Goddamned Batman” as an understandable starting point.

I just might have to reevaluate my opinion of Frank Miller as long past his prime, he could be doing something very excellent with this book. Now if it only came out on time….

Also, I’ve been thinking that my reviews are a bit too much of a lovefest, I only review what I like. I’ve been considering the stuff I haven’t liked as not even worth mentioning, but I’ll try to start posting a bit about those comics and why I don’t like them, to save you the money, if nothing else.

As always, comments, suggestions, criticisms, and concurrences are ALWAYS welcome!

tag: Comics, DC, Marvel, Vertigo, Question, Renee Montoya, Crime Bible, 5 Lessons of Blood, Greg Rucka, X-Men, Messiah Complex, Cyclops, Cable, X-Force, Ed Brubaker, Northlanders, Brian Wood, Davide Gianfelice, All Star Batman and Robin, Batman, Robin, Joker, Dick Grayson, Green Lantern, Frank Miller, Review

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Popularity: 21% [?]

Ok, just a few quick links and blurbs here…

Geekanerd has compared some promo shots from the upcoming Watchmen movie with corresponding panels from the comic.

Here’s my favorite, even if it doesn’t have a direct counterpart in the comic:

Newsarama has an interview with Mike Carlin and Tony Bedard about DC’s Countdown and has some preview images of what’s coming, most notably this:

Rich Johnston has a new rumor regarding a new series being spawned:

Look for a new “Gotham Girls”-style series to spin out of “Countdown,” starring Harley Quinn and Holly Robinson. And on art, none other than Stephane Roux.

I’m sure I heard one fangirl out there go “squee.”

That squee was me, actually.

Back to Newsarama, who has new preview pages for Fantastic Four #554 (I don’t care) and the new X-Force #1, which is kinda awesome.

Here’s their pitch:

X-Force, Party Patrol?

Comic book crossovers are like a party. Characters come over, hang out, have a good time, put their feet up on the furniture, and then after leaving a mess for the host to clean up, they go their own way. Marvel, because of the leaving-the-mess-behind part, had not done an X-Men crossover in over a decade until this fall’s cataclysmic “Messiah Complex.” But even that storyline left a mess behind that had to be cleaned up. The X-Men were on the hunt for the first mutant child born since House of M depopulated Marvel’s mutant population. Not everything went well, and that’s where February’s X-Force #1 comes in!

In the aftermath of “Messiah Complex,” Cyclops comes to realize that there are some problems the X-Men simply aren’t equipped to deal with. Special circumstances call for special operatives, and he assembles a new X-Force team — Wolverine, Warpath, X-23, and Wolfsbane — to handle the dirty jobs, the questionable jobs that no one else can handle — or be trusted to handle! New X-Men writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost and artist Clayton Crain open a new chapter in X-Force history in the first part of “Angels and Demons” as the team comes together for their first assignment, one that the X-Men can never know about!

No Marvel mutant fan will want to miss this high-octane team book. With a line-up of some of the X-Men’s most feral characters, X-Force #1 promises action and excitement as the team takes on the dirty missions — and the post-crossover-party clean-up! Look for X-Force #1 in this month’s Marvel Previews, and catch the excitement!

Finally, MTV Movies Blog reports that eagle-eyed viewers of I Am Legend will catch plenty of inside jokes and shoutouts, including a fake movie poster for my favorite film that will never be made:

Sometime around the turn of this century, movie geeks began buzzing over a proposed showdown between the two biggest icons in comic book history. Now, a new movie poster is advertising 2009 as the release date for the long-awaited “Batman vs. Superman,” and the flick is finally coming to a theater near you.

Annnd I’m spent. Back to Heroes and my comic book backlog

tag: Batman Beyond, Batman vs Superman, comics, Countdown, Cyclops, Feral, I Am Legend, Warpath, Watchmen, Wolverine, X-23, X-Force, Movies, Countdown, Harley Quinn, Holly Robinson, Batman, Superman

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Popularity: 10% [?]