For The Love of Comics

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• Platinum Adapting Hero By Night for TV
  Posted on Friday, November 14th, 2008 in Small Press - Comments: (0)
  One of the biggest problems with being away from blogging for awhile, at least for me, is trying to come back. I feel like I need to write something really interesting to justify all of that time away and the longer I’m gone the bigger the pressure I put on myself to find something good, which makes it even harder to come back and I stay away even longer.
• The Dark Knight For Best Picture
  Posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (5)
  Warner Brothers has begun pushing The Dark Knight for best picture by placing “For Your Consideration” ads in trade papers and across the internet in attempts to sway Oscar voters.

  [/caption]Imagine - a comic book adaptation winning the biggest award of the year.Fellow geeks, validation is at hand.

• Drama at DC
  Posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (3)
  Yesterday’s Lying In The Gutters column has the internet abuzz starting with the successful exposure of a con artist presenting himself as the legendary Art Adams (see what I did there with the “con artist thing? HA!) and ending with several rumors about trouble at DC Comics.First there were rumors about trouble between Dan DiDio and Grant Morrison over Final Crisis:A familiar source known collectively as “New York comics industry employees talking in bars” tells me that the last issue of “Final Crisis” is further delayed as it is suffering from serious rewrites.
• Josh Schwartz Writing X-Men First Class
  Posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 in Marvel - Comments: (2)
  Some of you may remember that Josh Schwartz, creator of Gossip Girl, O.C., and Chuck, let it slip a few months ago that he was working on an X-Men movie script, followed by complete radio silence.Last night, Variety confirmed Schwartz’s slip by reporting that Fox and Marvel will be rebooting the X-Men franchise that Brett Ratner ruined with X-Men First Class, produced by Lauren Schooner Donner and written by Josh Schwartz.
• James Robinson Apparently Staying On Superman
  Posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (0)
  Yesterday, I posted about a rumor that Superman writer James Robinson quit over a heated argument with Dan Didio.According to Superman Homepage, Superman editor Matt Idelson has said that this is not true - James Robinson will still be writing Superman.So now you know. And you know what they say about knowing…
• Captain America Recruits Chronicles of Narnia Writers
  Posted on Wednesday, November 19th, 2008 in Marvel - Comments: (1)
  It’s a big day for Marvel comic movie adaptations and writers!While I was on hiatus, Joe Johnston was announced as the director of First Avenger: Captain America. Johnson directed another WWII-era superhero movie, The Rocketeer, and worked on art direction and character design on the Star Wars movies, so I’m optimimistic that he’ll be able to bring a little something extra to Cap.
• 84 Comic Book Movies in the Works!
  Posted on Sunday, November 23rd, 2008 in Dark Horse - Comments: (0)
  Image via WikipediaSo I found myself scrolling through geek news the other night on Fark.com and came across this little tidbit: Den of the Geek . This page has a pretty full list of comic books being turned into movies. I won’t give a full list here but here are a few of the ones that stand out the most:Doctor Strange (2012)Already the subject of two low-budget adaptations (in 1978 and 2007), there have been many contenders to helm and star in the tale of the New York superhero/mystic; Christian Bale - perhaps unimaginatively - is the latest to be offered the cape, while Guillermo del Toro has flirted endlessly with the project, which remains without a confirmed director.
• Heath Ledger For Best Supporting Actor
  Posted on Monday, November 24th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (0)
  Continuing their Dark Knight Oscar push, Warner Brothers has begun circulating “For Your Consideration” ads for Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker.I’m telling you, we old-school geeks are going to be known as visionary trend-setters!
• The Dark Avengers Are Skrulls
  Posted on Tuesday, November 25th, 2008 in Marvel - Comments: (2)
  Since Marvel released a teaser image of the Dark Avengers (nice throwback to the cover of New Avengers #1, by the way), speculation has been rampant over the identities of these team members. I honestly hadn’t been paying much attention until Mike Hayne’s speculation post last week on Panels of Awesome, when it became very clear to me.I’ll get into my ideas after I show you that teaser image I mentioned, along with the “clues” that Marvel released with the image.
• Batman RIP Off
  Posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 in DC - Comments: (18)
  First of all, I should warn you that this post contains some spoilers of Batman 681 and the Batman RIP storyline if you’ve yet to read these issues and/or you hate having anything spoiled, you should probably stop reading now and come back when you have everything read.As for the rest of you, I just finished reading the final issue of Batman RIP and.
• Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends Rick-Rolls The Nation
  Posted on Thursday, November 27th, 2008 in Miscellany - Comments: (5)
  Absolutely brilliant.
• Gay For Spider-Man!
  Posted on Saturday, November 29th, 2008 in Marvel - Comments: (2)
  Mike Haynes’ reposting of his Spider-man toy comics reminded me of some stuff I’d seen on JayPinkerton.com. Basically, he took old Spider-man comics from the newspapers and wrote new dialogue.

Technorati Tags: Monthly Recap, Platinum, Hero By Night, DJ Coffman, Academy Award, Oscar, Best Picture, The Dark Knight, Best Supporting Actor, Heath Ledger, Joker, Batman, DC, Dan Didio, Garth Ennis, James Robertson, Superman, Final Crisis, Josh Schwartz, X-Men, X-Men First Class, Captain America, Marvel, Joe Johnston, Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely, Chronicles of Narnia, Dark Horse, Deadpool, Green Lantern, Sin City, Iron Fist, Superman, Iron Man, Avengers, Captain America, Shazam, Captain Marvel, Namor, Submariner, Wolverine, Luke Cage, Flash, Witchblade, Bryan Singer, Brandon Routh, Ryan Reynolds, Silver Surfer, Thor, Red Sonja, Nick Fury, Wonder Woman, Doctor Strange, Dark Avengers, Skrulls, Iron Patriot, Fosters Home For Imaginary Friends, Rick Roll, Macy’s, Thanksgiving Day Parade, Spider-Man

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Popularity: 14% [?]

Some of you may remember that Josh Schwartz, creator of Gossip Girl, O.C., and Chuck, let it slip a few months ago that he was working on an X-Men movie script, followed by complete radio silence.

Last night, Variety confirmed Schwartz’s slip by reporting that Fox and Marvel will be rebooting the X-Men franchise that Brett Ratner ruined with X-Men First Class, produced by Lauren Schooner Donner and written by Josh Schwartz.

There are virtually no details on the plot, though Variety’s article mentions a similar theme to the X-Men First Class comic (Young students at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning), but following characters like Colossus, Rogue, Gambit, Iceman, Angel, Shadowcat, and Jubilee, all of whom are the younger students in the previous three movies, rather than the original X-Men team in the comics. It is likely, though, that the main characters in the previous movies will at least make cameos.

This could be interesting, although I’ll miss some of the main cast from the previous films. I really don’t see any other way they could continue the franchise after that trainwreck that Ratner made, though.

Technorati Tags: X-Men, First Class, Colossus, Rogue, Gambit, Iceman, Angel, Shadowcat, Jubilee, Fox, Marvel, Josh Schwartz, movies

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Popularity: 5% [?]

I had a pleasant surprise tonight.

I picked up the first issue of X-Men: Divided We Stand because, let’s face it, I’m an X-men addict, but I wasn’t in any hurry to read it since I didn’t expect much more than creative wanking and filler until the X-Men reformed in the upcoming Uncanny #500.

I couldn’t have been more wrong. This was a really interesting issue with several short stories from several creators exploring the fall-out from Messiah Complex and the Cyclops‘ dissolution of the X-Men and there was not a single story in this issue that was anything less than excellent.

Mike Carey explored Cannonball’s certainty that the war was not over and determination to maintain his edge. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost examined Nehzno’s concept of home and his status as an outsider in his homeland with some gorgeous art by Sana Takeda. Chris Yost wrote a solo story about Hellion’s love for the X-Men and what happens when he’s abandoned by those he loves. Matt Fraction wrote a tale of revenge, forgiveness, and transcendence featuring Nightcrawler and Scalphunter.

Image via Wikipedia

My favorite story, though, was written and drawn by Skottie Young. He uses Anole to explore the effects of the X-Men turning children into soldiers for a cause and then throwing them away when you’re done with them, sending them back into a “normal” life.

Incidentally, on a totally “it doesn’t even matter” note, am I the only one in the world that didn’t know Anole is gay? Like I said, it doesn’t matter, and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since I never even really paid attention to New X-Men, but it still surprised me - in a good way. It’s cool to see a gay character depicted in a non-stereotypical fashion so that their orientation doesn’t define everything they do and someone like me wouldn’t even know that about them. Kudos to that team - Yost and Kyle, I believe?

These are all very melancholy stories with the common theme expressed eloquently that the X-Men, and Cyclops in particular, ruined these people’s lives when they disbanded.

I’m sure the dreaded RJP will be happy to know that this book reminded me of why I’ve always hated Cyclops - he really is a self-centered prick.

I’ve always hated the “stars” or “scale” rating system, so let’s just say that this is easily one of my four most recommended issues of the month.

Get out there and read it!

Technorati Tags: X-Men, Divided We Stand, Anole, Cannonball, Cyclops, Hellion, Nightcrawler, Skottie Young

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Popularity: 10% [?]

Image from Wikipedia

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% [?]

Marvel just released the following image under the headline “Phoenix Rising?” and the words “Stay Tuned”

In other news, thanks to everyone who sent me “Get Better” e-mails, I’m feeling tons better and I’m pretty sure I’ll live. I’m still catching up on alot of work I missed, but there should be more content soon - Sunday at the latest, I would think.

Technorati Tags: Comics, Marvel, X-Men, Phoenix, Legacy, lame marketing stunt, Still Alive

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Popularity: 14% [?]

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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Popularity: 11% [?]

I’ve decided to give the last two chapters of Messiah Complex their own posts, just because I can. I’m power-mad like that. I also don’t want my apathy for New X-Men to taint the final chapter.

As always, spoilers are quite possible, venturing into the range of probable, so spoiler-phobes who have yet to read New X-Men 46 should go read their comics before they read this post. I’m not hunting down the links to all the write-ups leading to this one, but the one before this is right here, and it has links to the ones before it. Right then, on with the show.

Right away, we find out both how and why Mystique took out Sinister - which is actually kinda genius - and why Mystique and Gambit have allied themselves with the Marauders. Something, especially Gambit’s remark that he is finally free of Sinister, makes me think that there is more to Gambit’s motives than saving Rogue, but he’s still redeemed a bit, at least in my eyes. Mystique is still crazy, though.

Sinister appears to be dead, as does Lady Mastermind, but we all know that Sinister will be back, possibly as soon as the climax next week. Mastermind, not so much.

The majority of this issue is one big battle, which is nice after all the talk and build-up. I also enjoyed the way that, every time the Marauders thought that they were being hardcore and were about to get some momentum, a member of X-Force took it just a little farther and was even more ruthless, shocking the hell out of the Marauders. I think I’m going to have to check out X-Force, it could be good. Or it could be totally ridiculous and seem like something Rob Liefeld would put out, but I’ll at least give it a chance.

Back to the comic, Cyclops shows up with the rest of the cavalry right when… it doesn’t seem like they were really needed. But they want to beat up Bishop, so I won’t complain.

Cable and Professor X show up as Gambit keeps Mystique from sacrificing the baby to save Rogue. Something tells me that Mystique misunderstood Destiny’s prophecy or vision or whatever. The baby probably does some kind of unconscious healing/resurrection thing and brings Rogue back, because X-Men thrives on that cliche crap. Professor X takes the baby and Gambit and Mystique stay with Rogue.

Back at the mansion, Predator X doesn’t eat any of the New X-Men, much to my disappointment. Prodigy thinks it’s because they fought back and Predator X is after weaker prey, but you and I both know that Predator X doesn’t like the taste of lame and went downstairs because even when injured, Nightcrawler is much cooler and thus tastier than the New X On The Block.

Pixie, because she’s a moron, teleports everyone to Alaska because X-23 hurt Predator X before and she surely doesn’t have anything better to do than bail them out again. I mean, it’s not like she’s trying to save the mutant race or anything, right?

The first thing that Predator X does is chomp down on a Marauder, because even nameless Marauder chicks that I’ve probably never heard of aren’t nearly as lame as New X-Men.

Professor X gives the baby to Cable who is about to jump into the future right when Bishop (whom I’d actually forgotten was there - I think he only shows up in one other panel all issue) shows up to kill the baby and Predator X shows up to eat the baby because even nameless babies aren’t nearly as lame…you get the idea.

To Be Concluded in X-Men 207!

THE BABY’S FATE DECIDED.
CABLE VS. BISHOP VS. PREDATOR X
THE END OF THE X-MEN

BE THERE!!!!

Technorati Tags: Comics, Marvel, X-Men, Messiah Complex, Messiah Baby, Predator X, New X-Men, Cable, Bishop, Sinister, Mystique, Gambit

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Just a quick braindump of a few things I found interesting; real content will be coming soon, I swear on Elvis Drinkmo’s copy of Batman: Year One.

First of all, I am now on ComicSpace, though I have no idea what to do there. If anyone would like to friend me and show me the ropes, I’d understand.

I’m trying to hold onto my thoughts on the recent Messiah CompleX issues until I have a few more read, but that was a definite “Oh Crap!” moment at the end of X-Men 206. Wouldn’t it be interesting if that character was a traitor all along, since their first appearance? That would cast some things in a much different light, at least.

The rest of this stuff is from Comic Book Resources, because they’re badass and I lost the other stuff I wanted to write about. They may require another “Quickie” post if I can ever find them.

Part 5 of the 5-part One More Day interview with Joe Quesada has just been posted. After reading the interview(s), I’ve come closer to understanding Quesada’s point of view regarding Spidey stories being better off with him being single, but that doesn’t excuse the fact that the idea and execution of One More Day has been utter crap. Quesada mandated a horrible story with a terribly contrived plot and a deus-ex-machina ending that he doesn’t feel needs to be explained (It’s magic, we don’t have to explain it!) in the service of what he feels is the greater long-term goal of the character and his story. If he’s okay with that, fine, but he really needs to be honest about it, both with himself and his fans.

Keith Giffen has moved his intermittent online column from Wizard.com to CBR. Along with being very careful to separate himself from the recent Wizard-bashing, Keith gives us his plans for the column and his resolutions for 2008, or at least the first 2 or three months of 2008.

Finally, for the next 14 weeks, CBR will be featuring the cards from Marvel’s Skrull’s Most Wanted playing card deck week is the worst of the worst, the “Aces” of the deck, which basically amounts to the Illuminati, minus Dr. Strange, because nobody messes with Dr. Strange. Or because Dr. Strange is a Skrull like Blackbolt. It could go either way, really. I’m interested to see if Marvel will actually release these cards as a promo item; that could be a cool collector’s item.

That’s all for now, folks. Like I said before, I plan to get some real content up soon, after I catch up with a bit more comics reading.

tag: Administrivia, comics, ComicSpace, Illuminati, Keith Giffen, Marvel, Messiah Complex, Miscellany, Quesada, Skrulls, 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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