Dark X-Men #1 - Review

This is a book with some real characters in it. You get the always enchanting and dangerous Mystique, the whacked out and needy Mimic, the power junky Omega and supreme evil Dr Henry McCoy from the alternate reality; Age of Apocalypse. That’s a great cast to begin with right? So I was going to pick up the book anyway to see what plans Osborn has for this evil misfit band of X-Men but when I heard Nate Grey was to return in these very pages, the ‘Nathan Summers’ from the same ‘Age of Apocalypse’ reality as Dark Beast, It was moved to the top of my Must Read pile.

What is great about this book is the character work by Paul Cornell, he gets the characters down really well and Leonard Kirk does fine work on the art. The story line at this moment is pretty thin. It seems there are masses of folk walking around in a mind controlled state claiming “I am X-Man”. Osborn sends his team to investigate which results in the team at a hospital bedside of one of these crazies. It seems that somehow the possessed people’s collective thoughts were being controlled by something extremely powerful which ends up consuming both Omega & Mimic and sending their powers out of control. At the end of the issue it is revealed that this power is actually Nate Grey who has returned, though so far how or why is unexplained.

The problem that I have is that this issue is not very new reader friendly, hopefully the second issue will do a short 1 page recap of the history of Nate Grey, not something too long that it holds up the progression of the story and bores older Marvel/ X-Man fans, but gives enough info to get new readers up to speed on one of the coolest Marvel characters from the last decade.

Character focused, the return of X-Man, not a bad start, but not spectacular either.

3 out of 5

This weeks FREE Comics from Marvel.Com

Great set of Free comics this week from Marvel.com. Daredevil #116 is one of the single best issues of any comic I have read this year, X-Men Forever has been a cool new series and worth checking out and I'll be having a read of Dark Wolverine #75 as I've heard some good things about that series. Just click the links guys.

BETA RAY BILL: GODHUNTER #1

DARK REIGN: FANTASTIC FOUR #1

X-MEN FOREVER #1 (2009)

DAREDEVIL #116 (1998)

DARK WOLVERINE #75

X-Men: Second Coming - Begins March 2010!

Comic Book Resources have published a real in depth interview with the current X-Franchise creators on next years big X-event; “X-Men: Second Coming”

What’s it all about? CBR have the rundown:

“In March of 2010, Cable and Hope return to the present. Kicking off the final chapter in the Messiah Trilogy, "X-Men: Second Coming" was announced today at the Diamond Retailer Summit. It's a multi-part crossover that begins in the "X-Men: Second Coming" one-shot, then runs through issues of "Uncanny X-Men," "X-Men: Legacy," "X-Force" and "New Mutants," before ending in June with another one-shot. CBR News spoke with writers Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Matt Fraction, Mike Carey, and Zeb Wells and Editor Nick Lowe about the crossover.2
Chris Yost told CBR. "I think you'll finally see some answers to questions that were posed way back in Messiah Complex,” "Who, and what, is Hope? What does her return mean to the X-Men?"

"You'll see new books being born and existing books being redefined," Mike Carey said. "As with 'Messiah Complex,' I hope it will feel like the natural playing out of elements we've been building for a long time. You'll suddenly see the relevance of a whole lot of stuff." – This is really interesting – What titles will be changed, which titles canceled and which new ones will be born out of this x-over?

One of the titles that will definitely be ending for its creators (and perhaps disappearing from shelves altogether) is X-Force. CBR wrote:

“For Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, "X-Men: Second Coming" is doubly satisfying because not only is it the final chapter of the Messiah Trilogy, it's also the final chapter in their run on "X-Force." "Chris and I have had a plan from the beginning of what we wanted to do with this team. We knew what the last page of our last issue on the title looked like," Craig Kyle said. "This is going to close a chapter for us, and like our run on 'New X-Men,' it's exciting because we planned for it and knew it was coming. We've been talking with everybody for about a year and a half now about how we wanted to go out, and it's going to be in a blaze of glory.”

I’m really happy an end is now in site for the Messiah Complex, I’ve really enjoyed the previous chapters and have been following Hope’s journey in the pages of Cable so I cant wait to see how this plays out and what Hope’s true powers are. Xciting stuff!

To read the full article click HERE, and be sure to check back and let me know your thoughts.

X-Men Legacy Annual #1 – Review

X-Men Legacy Annual #1 – Review

Story by
Mike Carey
Art by
Daniel Acuna, Mirco Pierfederici

Emplate the mutant sucking vampire is back people, yes the same one from the Generation X days. Apparently he has been starving since M day and is on the hunt for some mutants to sustain his hunger, it’s pretty handy for him that all the mutants are now all cooped up in one place on Utopia Island, it’s like a mutant drive through.

There are some really good action scenes as Emplate battles and dominates against Cyclops X-Men. Another highlight are the scenes between Cyclops and Rogue as they discuss the future guidance of the younger mutants on the island.

Daniel Acuna’s art is just simply gorgeous, and I love his rendering of all the different X-Men characters and designs.

There was a second feature following Gambit on a mission to destroy Norman Osborn’s mutant power sucking machine (as you can tell the name for the machine escapes me right now). Gambit runs into a spot of bother and what’s very interesting is we find out that his Death powers (the ones given to him by Apocalypse) are still bubbling under the service and are activated during the battle, very unfortunately for Gambit’s foe.

This is a great issue. “Bold new direction!” says the cover and while it's not quite 'bold' the story threads with Emplate, Rogue’s leadership concerns and Gambit’s power issues make this a very interesting book going forward.

Hex's score: 4 out of 5

Revisiting the "Phalanx Covenant", and why it rocked!

So recently I’ve been re-reading my old x-men comics in chronological order, and just last night I read the Phalanx Covenant, specifically the ‘Generation Next’ story featured in Uncanny X-Men #316 – 317 & X-Men #36-37 (I’ll be reading the concluding parts of the Phalanx in the other x-titles next). I haven’t read these in a while, but basically I thought they rocked. Here’s why:

1. This story line introduces 'Generation Next' to the Marvel U.

Basically this storyline was set up for that exact reason. A new title was being born called Generation Next by Scott Lobdell & Chris Bachalo. These characters were the next generation of mutants, and were a real sorry looking and weird bunch, but that was also their appeal. I have the first 15 or so issues of that series and from what I remember they were pretty good (they’ll be re-read soon also.) The Phalanx Covenant introduces most of the young mutants that will feature in the new title and they were; Skin, Synch, Husk, M & Blink (who didn’t actually make it to ‘Generation Next', but more on her later).

2. A change in writing style.

This was the first few issues where I could generally sense that style in which comics were written were beginning to change. Especially X-Men comics. From the late 80’s through to the early 90s there was a lot of inner monologue from each character and a lot of over explaining everything. For instance it seemed in every issue every time a mutant/ X-Man was seen on page we had to have 3-4 captions explaining their mutant powers and their back story. I can understand this is helpful for new readers, but reading virtually the same text issue after issue got a bit tiresome. In these few issues though I started to get the fell that the writer was moving away from this, dialogue was more realistic and the feel of the book was moving more towards how today’s comics read.

3. Joe Madureira on pencils.

Well, on Uncanny at least, and it really is stunning work. He had already done a couple of issues for uncanny but this is where he started hitting his peak. The forms of characters are much better than they were before this and are later in his career (Ultimates 3!). But overall I adored his work on Uncanny X-Men and Age of Apocalypse. His slight manga style mixed with traditional American superhero work look fantastic, and really influenced other artists (both good and bad). Andy Kubert a few months later noticeably adjusted his style on ‘X-Men’ to look more ‘Jo Mad’, and I think it looked awesome . Check out the images for Uncanny I have posted here for an idea of Joe's work then.

4. Foil Covers.

These issues had a card stock cover with a foil/ metallic strip down the front of them to resemble the robots of the Phalanx. I am a sucker for foil covers for some reason (and the x-titles in the 90’s had quite a few). I think its probably just a total 90’s nostalgia trip, I would never pay full wack for a new comic with a foil cover when I can have the same new issue at normal price, but for back issues that you can pick up cheap... why not?.


5. Blink’s sacrifice.

The character that just got introduced, sacrifices her life to save the rest of the next generation of mutants. It’s a great moment. We do see her again a few months later in the parallel universe of Age of Apocalypse, where she becomes one of the most popular characters in the AOA universe amongst fans.

6. Banshee becomes a Bad Ass!

Seriously, in this comic, he is really cool. I never cared for him before, but this is a great way of re-introducing the character to a new generation of readers and making fans care about him again before him becomes the new mentor and lead character in Generation X.

7. Villains do good.

Sabertooth is a major player and helps Banshee battle the Phalanx, and Emma Frost AKA The White Queen, begins her path to redemption. She ends up becoming the second mentor for Generation Next which basically sets her on the path for the character she is today.

So thanks for bearing with me on my trip down memory lane. I would say if you’re a fan of the x-titles today or just like great artwork these issues are definitely worth a look.

Those of you who have read these (X-Man75 i know you must have) hit me back and let me know what YOU thought of these issues.

Hex Out

Marvel previews - Comics on sale 09/23/09!

Marvel Comics has provided CBR with advance looks at new comics on sale next Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

"Anita Blake, The Laughing Corpse - Necromancer" #5
"Avengers: The Initiative" #28
"Dark Reign: The List - X-Men"
"Dark X-Men: The Confession"
"Ender's Shadow: Command School" #1
"Fantastic Force" #4
"Fantastic Four" #571
"Guardians of the Galaxy" #18
"Immortal Weapons" #3
"Incredible Hercules" #135
"Incredible Hulk" #602
"Ms. Marvel" "45
"New Avengers" #57
"Nova" #29
"Riftwar" #4
"Spider-Woman" #1
"Uncanny X-Men" #515
"Wolverine First Class" #19
"Wolverine Origins" #40
"Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size"

Checking the previews I was really happy to find that Immortal Weapons #3 is drawn by the brilliant Tom Green II. He previously did a great stand alone issue in the Iron Fist series about a futuristic Iron Fist and it was awesome work. He also penciled a previous Star-Lord mini series prior to Guardians of the Galaxy and again it looked great, his style is so unique.

Great Wolverine week next week. Wolverine Origins #40 is the conclusion to the “Romulus” arc which has been pretty good, but I really hope we get some answers, and it doesn’t lead into some other storyline. I mean I think Romulus was first mention in Wolverine 50 a couple of years ago. The mystery has gone on long enough. I want to know who Romulus really is, i.e. some history about him, and why he keeps messing with Logan.

The “Old Man Logan” conclusion is also here, and again the artwork looks fantastic. I’m sure this issue will be all out mayhem, I can’t wait to read that one.

Checking the preview for Uncanny X-Men #515 I see Greg Land is back on art unfortunately, so I probably wait this story arc out until Dobson returns on the next one.

Spider-Woman.... well, I'm on the fence about that one, but the art does look really dark and beautiful. You guys picking it up?

So have a look guys, and let me know what is listed above that you just can’t wait to get your grubby little hands on.

Previews please!

Dark Reign: The List - X-Men - Preview

Batman and Robin #4 - Preview

Brave & Bold #27 -Preview

R.E.B.E.L.S #8 - Preview

Dark Avengers/ Uncanny X-Men: Exodus - Review

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus – Review

Written by: Matt Fraction Art by: Terry Dodson & Mike Deodato

Well the final chapter of Utopia arrived in an extra sized format for an extra sized showdown between the Dark Avengers & the X-Men, it’s the confrontation we have been waiting for in this whole story arc, but unfortunately this issue left out too many plot threads, the characterization was off and was pretty much all round poorly executed.

The issue starts with a flashback (I think) of Cyclops and Emma in their bedroom contemplating whether or not to reveal their individual secrets to each other about their recent shady actions (i.e. Scott forming X-Force and Emma meeting with Norman). But this is not resolved, this is basically a quick advert, and if we want to know the outcome on their discussion we have to pick up Dark X-Men: The Confession. How annoying!

We then switch to the Dark Avengers attacking the X-Men on their island; Utopia, and this pretty much occupies the remainder of the issue. While the action is enjoyable enough, we are let down on previous plot points, such as; we don’t find out what happens to Beast (he was recently depowered in previous issues and started loosing his blue fur, but we don’t yet know to what extent this has affected him), and we also don’t see anything of Mystique at all, who had been deceiving the public as Professor X.

Speaking of Professor X I felt Fraction really wrote him out of character. There was this one scene where Emma rescues Charles and he gives the impression that he and the X-Men must make sure Osborn pays for what he has done. That’s not the peace loving ‘All humans & Mutants need to learn to live together’ guy I know, that’s not the same guy who takes in feral killers like Wolverine & Sabertooth under his wing to try and rehabilitate them. And I’m pretty certain this was not Mystique in disguise as Charles’s telepathy powers were displayed.
One of the better scenes was the start of the confrontation between Angel & Hawkeye/ Bullseye. Warren flies the villain off the Island to keep him out off the way but just as they start to get into a great match up, annoyingly we cut away from the action. Then inexplicably at the end, Warren and Bullseye are seen back on the Island, with no explanation how they got there!

As for art duties, they were split between Terry Dodson & Mike Deodato. The two have very contrasting styles, but I didn’t mind so much as Deodato was used for the main story, and Dodson used for flashback/ side stories. While I think Deodato is a great penciler, I really didn’t like his panel lay outs on this, that really let him down.

All in all, this had sloppy execution, but quite an enjoyable big fight finale. It was just frustrating that a few plot points were still left dangling, but I suppose Marvel need to sell more X-Men books, right? They really do drag these stories out these days, and no last chapter is ever the last chapter. And likewise this story will continue next in Dark Reign: The List – X-Men & Dark X-Men: The Confession. I hope that those titles perform a bit better than this one.

Score: 2.5 out of 5.

Mini reviews - round 2

Blackest Night Superman #1 – Review

Because I wasn’t that crazy about the Batman tie-in to Blackest Night I wasn’t really in an urgency to read this issue, but I was pleasantly surprised, manly due to great art work by Eddy Barrows, he does a really good job here, and it makes me wish he was back on Action Comics full time. Robinson is a bit hit and miss with me, but I like the characters used here and the dialogue between them and it was quite an enjoyable read overall. Kal-L & Lois of Earth 2 are the Black Lanterns here, and we are left wondering whether Pa Kent will be next in line to be raised from the dead. It’s an obvious plot twist but one that still pulls on my heart strings a little and I look forward to see what does happen with Pa.

3 out of 5

X-Men Legacy #227 - Review

After a great tie-in to Utopia last issue, this one was a bit of a let down. It was more of the same, but something was just missing and I’m sot sure what. The Ms. Marvel fight takes up most of the issue which has some cool moments but there was no real progression story wise. The Utopia tie-in could have been one issue easy. The art was fine but again, I remember enjoying it more last issue.

2.5 out of 5

X-Men Forever #6 – Review

Total average filler issue. Grummett is off art for this one but this is still a fine looking book. Very boring story though, the danger room gets out of control and goes wild and nearly kills the X-Men but we have seen that story a thousand times. I don’t mind though. The first 5 issues were so much fun; I know that this was just filling in before we get back to the good stuff next issue.

2.5 out of 5.

Mega mini reviews!

I’m so behind on my comic books because there has been so many I’ve picked up in the last couple of weeks I haven’t got round to reading them all yet. Due to that some of these reviews might be for older comics (I’ve lost track to be honest), but I want to try and do as many mini reviews as I can from now on so here we go:

Batman and Robin #3 - Review

Really really great. The usual thick layering of Morrison’s Batman work continues. Like his run on Batman, Morrison’s comics don’t always read that great as single issues but read together they are fantastic. Pyg as a villain is insanely sick and brilliant and my fav Batman villain for a long time. Quitely also does great work here (and I’m not generally a fan). Stand out scene was when Pyg had Robin tied to the chair and danced provocatively in front of him before Damian responds by saying “You just redefined ‘Wrong’” – Fan-fucking-tastic. Damian rocks.

4 out of 5

Detective Comics #856 - Review

The great work here continues. This really is one of my favorite titles. It is just so beautiful. Rucka pulls no punches when it comes to Kate’s sexuality and I love that. The story is intriguing, but discussion with the supporting cast can be a little confusing, if like me you had never read any story with Kate Kane/Batwoman before. Like Pyg in the pages of Batman & Robin another great addition to the villains of Gotham is the haunting Alice.

Finally The Question back up should not be ignored, this is the best co-feature DC is producing, and like the books namesake is a great little detective story.

4.5 out of 5

Red Circle: The Shield #1 - Review

Ummmm…. It was okay, But I was expecting more after the last issue (The Web) that was pretty good.
So the story goes that the main character is injured in the army. The US government then save his life by attaching liquid armor to his skin that can be absorbed into his body. It allows for super strength and flight amongst about a hundred other things. It’s basically really ridiculous. The little story hook is that the Shield’s father is actually alive (when the Shield believes him dead) and appears to be connected in the background of the Shield project some how. An average read. I’ll try the first issue or so when the regular series hits but I’m not too excited.

2 out of 5

Dark Avengers #8 - Review

Cyclops as the new mutant Messiah! A bit hypocritical really, as at the end of this issue the X-Men raise their ‘Utopia’ island from the sea and declare they want mutants to be separate from humans on the main land, but isn’t that what Magneto did with Asteroid M and what the X-Men are meant to fight against? Anyway, I loved this issue, the best of the cross over so far. Emma and Namor show their true colors to Osborn, which will lead into the big fight finale one-shot between the Dark Avengers and X-Men. It was played well, and rocked. Fraction did a really good job on this issue. All I want to know is what happened to Beast? He sort of disappeared in the middle of the issue, I hope we find out in the next chapter, he looked so sad with his little cat eyes.

4 out of 5

Wolverine Origins #39 - Review

Romulus is here! Finally this is what I have been waiting for. This title was pretty shit form day one but ever since Dark Reign it’s been pretty good. This was a chapter where a couple of big X-Men villains die. Romulus, for those of you who haven’t been reading this book, is the mastermind behind every shitty event in Wolverines life, ever. How are connected? Why has Romulus been doing this to Wolverine? Not sure yet. But he looks like he could be Wolvie’s dad or granddad or something. GIVE ME THE ANSWERS NOW! Or at least next issue… please!!!!!

4 out of 5

Check back tomorrow for mini reviews of Blackest Night Superman #1, X-Men Legacy #227 and more!

Astonishing X-Men - The Motion Comic: Trailer

In my opinion and a large amount of X-fans, one of the best X-Men comics in recent history is without a doubt Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon (Buffy: The Vampire Slayer) and renowned artist John Cassaday (Planetary).

Their fantastic run lasted for 25 issues and Marvel recently announced that the first chapter (Gifted) will be Marvel’s newest motion comic (available October 28 on iTunes). And best of all you can get a first look at the trailer right now by clicking the below link.

Astonishing X-Men trailer.

Personally I think it looks pretty awesome. I haven’t checked out Marvel’s first motion comic; Spider-Woman yet, but plan on doing so very shortly. If any of you guys have seen it, please let me know how it is.

So how do you guys think this X-Men motion picture looks? Will you be buying/ watching them, or sticking to the comics?

Marvel Previews Day!

The usual weekly preview from CBR for next weeks Marvel titles can be found below. There’s a huge amount here which is great. I’m really looking forward to reading the work of the new creative team on Incredible Hulk #601, as well as the next chapter to one of my favourite new series; X-Men Forever.

What are you guys looking forward to from Marvel next week?

Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

"Anita Blake, The Laughing Corpse: Necromancer" #4
"Avengers: The Initiative" #27
"Beta Ray Bill: Godhunter" #3
"Dark Avengers" #8
"Dark Reign: Elektra" #5
"Dark Reign: The Sinister Spider-Man" #3
"Dark Wolverine" #77
"Dark X-Men: The Beginning" #3
"Deadpool" #14
"Fantastic Four" #570
"HALO: Helljumper" #2
"Hulk" #14
"Incredible Hercules" #133
"Incredible Hulk" #601
"Marvel Adventures Spider-Man" #54
"Ms. Marvel" #44
"New Avengers" #56
"New Mutants" #4
"Nova" #28
"Runaways" #13
"Secret Warriors" #7
"Skrull Kill Krew" #4
"Son of Hulk" #14
"Timestorm 2009/2099" #4
"X-Force" #18
"X-Men Forever" #6

More Mini Reviews - Last weeks books

Uncanny X-Men #514

A good chapter in this cool little cross over. Summers steps up and starts putting teams of various X-Men in tactical positions for the final show down. Emma’s true involvement with Osborn is still unclear to me. The Daken/Bullseye ruck was fun, it’s only a matter of time before that really boils over. The art and coloring are really great, writing too, but I would like to see more of Dark Beast and the captured mutants to find out what’s going on there. Hopefully that will be explored next chapter.

Blackest Night: Batman #1

Ummm… I was a bit disappointed with this. It was okay but I think after two great chapters in the main Blackest Night series I was expecting more of the same big action and dark horror, but this didn’t really have it. It mainly sets that up for next issue, and there was too much focus on Deadman for me, and him jumping from body to body. He could easily been given a co-title. Not sure if Tomasi’s writing of Dick and Damian was right for me either, I know the action will be coming next issue, so I look forward to that.

Red Circle: Inferno #1

Really nice art, sketchy and dark, but no real story of how Inferno ended up the way he is, or why he looks completely different when he changes to Inferno (i.e. goes bald and grows a moustache!). Could have been another chapter of Hangman as he was featured a lot, and used well, though the extent of his powers seem unclear. I’m not sure on this series. First issue is all origin for Hangman, this issue has none at all for Inferno. The Web is featured next. Lets see how that issue turns out, but this one is probably another pass.

Matt's Mini Reviews - Last weeks books

Action Comics #880

Codename: Patriot continues in good fashion, good action, and nice interaction between characters. Supes comes back to Earth in hunt of Zod’s shooter and Flamebird and Nightwing get it on. I’m loving General Lane as the villain, and much better work on the art this issue. Captain Atom back up still looks amazing and has me intrigued as to WTF is going on.

Cable #17

Improvement on the last issue but I’m bored with just Bishop chasing Cable now. Nice idea to bring in a love interest for Hope. Cable manages to track down Hope this issue and posing as Stryfe collects a small army and leaves the dying earth for the stars with Bishop hot on his tail again! We’ll see if a bit of space adventure next issue will improve things. I really want it to, I love these characters.

X-Men Forever # 5

Loads of fun still but the story has a reveal that mutants are dying out due to their x-gene. This series is meant to be on a different path to the normal Marvel U but mutants are near extinct in the regular Universe too. That pissed me off a bit as I love the fact that mutants were supposed to be the next stage in human evolution, but this book is now going against that. It’s still a very enjoyable read though and Grummets artwork gets better every issue. The story ends with the X-Men questioning their future. Who ill stay and who will go? Great book for classic x-fans.

Adventure Comics #1

Beautiful art. But bit of a boring start story wise. It was good, but the story basically focuses on Superboy settling back in Smallville, and not much else. There are a few little plot lines seeded and continued from other books including that weird alien thingy from ‘Superman’ (remember the Guardian’s buddy) by Johns that also tied into the Legion back up which was cool. Starman was the focus of the back up and he is such a great character. The back up rocked.

Blackest Night #2

I had an absolute brilliant time reading this. You will all know by now, as you’ve probably read it, this books is fantastic. The artwork is phenomenal; it really is one of the best looking superhero books around. Hawkman is just so creepy, I love it. High point for me was Barry & Hal vs. the Martian Manhunter, that was awesome. But Hal crashing into the bat signal and that last page with the Black Lantern Justice League! Some of the coolest pages ever!

FREE Marvel Comics - 08/10/2009

This weeks FREE comics from Marvel Digital are:

ETERNALS #3 (2006)

HEROES RETURN #1

X-MEN: FIRST CLASS SPECIAL #1

THOR #600

WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #13

Just click the title of your choice and be sure to check back next week for more.

Nate Grey returns! Plus all the other Marvel news from Chicago Comic Con!

Chicago Comic Con 2009– Marvel News Round Up!

So what did we learn this weekend from Chicago Comic Con 2009? Well there were a few Marvel announcements worth a mention. Read on for my quick round up:

- DARK AVENGER ANNUAL #1 was announced. Creative team will be writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Chris Bachalo, and the storyline will focus heavily on Dark Avenger Noh-Varr (Marvel Boy) and promises a Sentry versus Marvel Boy fight. Hmmm could be worth a look then.

- Iron Man’s troubles will continue from the “World’s Most Wanted” arc into a new story arc entitled "Stark Disassembled," beginning this November with issue #20. Series writer Matt Fraction states that the title character will be “making this ultimate sacrifice for the good of the many”!

- The writing team of Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning will continue their Marvel space opera by following “War of Kings” with “Realm of Kings”. Marvel says “In November, get ready to really explore the new Realm of Kings with the REALM OF KINGS one-shot with art by Leonardo Manco, which sets the landscape and tone for the event, two five-issue limited series with REALM OF KINGS: INHUMANS and REALM OF KINGS: IMPERIAL GUARD, as well as tie-in arcs in both GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY and NOVA.”

- Beginning with November's issue #138, fan-favorite writer Jeff Parker takes charge of THUNDERBOLTS.

- ASSAULT ON NEW OLYMPUS PROLOGUE and INCREDIBLE HERCULES #138 will start a new and important story arc for the Prince of Power, both written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente. INCREDIBLE HERCULES #138 will also kick off a new series of Agents of Atlas back-up features, from writer Jeff Parker. So I take it this means the main series will be cancelled. Sorry AOA fans!

- Limited series DARK X-MEN will be hitting shelves this November, by writer Paul Cornell and artist Leonard Kirk, and will be bringing back one of my favorites from the great comic book shop in the sky, none other than X-Man Nate Grey! Can’t wait!

- S.W.O.R.D. was announced as a new Marvel ongoing series. Newsarama says” Spun out of the pages of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday's Astonishing X-Men, S.W.O.R.D. will follow Agent Brand, Beast, and Lockheed as they strike out for new territory unexplored thus far in the Marvel universe.” The creative team involved is writer Kieron Gillen and artist Steven Sanders.

- Lastly an almost pointless Spider-Man mini series was announced, “Writer Paul Tobin and artist Patrick Scherberger give readers a whole new perspective on the classic Secret Wars with SPIDER-MAN AND THE SECRET WARS, a four-issue limited series beginning this December. With each self-contained issue, Tobin returns to a different part of the Secret Wars saga”. I have no Idea why this mini series is needed at all.

So that’s the news round up guys. The big news for me here is the return of Nate Grey. I’m really excited for that. Anything here got your guys attention?

Whoah! That's a lot of previews!

Cover to Deadpool #13, gotta be a contender for cover of the week

Over at CBR we have the following Marvel previews for comics on sale 12 August.
Click the links below to be taken to the preview of your choice.

Cable #13
Captain America Theater Of War: To Soldier On One Shot
Deadpool #13
Dominic Fortune #1
Incredible Hercules #132
Lockjaw and The Pet Avengers #4
Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #14
Marvel Divas #2
Ms. Marvel #43
Pride & Prejudice #5
The Marvels Project #1
Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #1
Uncanny X-Men #514
Uncanny X-Men: First Class #2
X-Men Forever #5

Ultimate Avengers #1 preview can be found over at IGN here.

I’m looking forward to this. I haven’t liked any of the previous Ultimate titles that much but the art looks great and I’m a fan of Millar’s writing, most of the time. Plus the story sounds good (spoilers on!). From what I know Cap goes AWOL after finding out the Red Skull is his son! The rest of the Avengers then have to hunt him down. Sounds really cool to me, and I love the Red Skull twist.

IGN also has a nice 8 page preview of Daredevil #500. Including a back up story with art by David Aja, as seen above! That makes me very happy. Check out the full preview here.


Over at Newsarama they have a preview (art only) for the upcoming mini-series NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD #1 here. I know Flips the Page will be dying to see that if he hasn’t already.

Finally over at DC’s The Source you get a preview of Batman #689 here. Great cover by Andy Kubert as always. It’s a shame he’s not doing the pencils instead of Mark Bagley.

You also get a preview of Red Robin #3 here.

I’m not a fan of the artwork on this title so I was please to also find out at the Source that “Starting in November with RED ROBIN #6, Marcus To (Aspen’s Soulfire) will step in as the new ongoing artist on RED ROBIN, taking over for Ramon Bachs, who steps over to launch AZRAEL with writer Fabian Nicieza.”

So the good news is that Red Robin gets a new artist, the bad news is that Bachs steps over to Azrael, a series I’m looking forward to. Hopefully I’ll prefer his work on that title.

That’s wraps up previews day I think. Thanks for all your comments this week, they’ve been great. Seems I’m getting around 300 hits a week on my site and that is fantastic. I’m really glad people like to keep coming back to my little blog and I love chatting with you all and reading your comments.

Please also check out the other site I write for; A Comic Book Blog if you get a chance. There are lots of great writers and articles over there and is definitely worth a look.

Have a great weekend guys. What will you be up to? I’ll be reading loads. I've got the Ghost World tpb to read, I’ve also bought lots of old Detective Comics issues really cheap this week. Ones written by Alan Grant, who is one of my fav Batman writers, so I look forward to reading them and trying to catch up with my other huge stack of comics I haven’t got round to reading yet, all the while trying to avoid doing work in the garden that my girlfriend wants me to do!

-Hex

Rant about the 40 Thieves... uh, I mean Marvel.

There was news at SDCC about the X-Men line of books and the potential return of millions of mutants.

When I first heard this news I was excited about the prospect of mutantkind returning. I hated the “no more mutants” idea (how comes most of the X-Men kept their powers? Fucking stupid!) and thought that there must have been a better way to strip down the mutant population (as I agree it was getting out of hand).

Anyway, when I was reading the October solicitation for the X-Men books I came across the following:

X-FORCE/NEW MUTANTS: NECROSHA ONE-SHOT # 1 The Story: Death has come to the X-Men. The one true Black Queen has returned, and she wants nothing less than every soul of mutantkind...dead or alive. And everyone that's ever crossed Selene is going to pay. The dead rise, familiar faces haunt mutants across the world, and Selene takes her final steps into becoming a god. It all begins here in a full-length X-FORCE extravaganza, and continues in the pages of next month’s issue of X-FORCE…but the shockwaves of this terrifying event will be felt in NEW MUTANTS and X-MEN: LEGACY as well, and those reverberations begin here in two all-new bonus tales.

Now when I read 'The dead rise, familiar faces haunt mutants across the world,' I couldn’t believe it. What a rip off of Blackest Night! If millions of mutants return as zombies I will not be happy. Mutants need to be back where they belong in the Marvel U as the next step in human evolution, imo this was one of the best ideas in the Marvel U and an idea that really set Marvel apart from DC.

First Marvel copy the extra features idea of DC for $3.99 books (which I admit I’m happy about but still), now they copy Blackest Night, what the fuck is next Marvel? You going to have your own version of Wednesday Comics too but charge us $4.99 per issue instead. You used to be the “House of Ideas” so WTF has happened. Stop stealing other company’s ideas and get back some balls.

What do you guys think? Agree or disagree?

Monday Mini Review - X-Men Legacy #226

X-Men Legacy #226 - Review

Book written by: Mike Carey
Art by: Dustin Weaver

Hex’s score: 4 out of 5

Another week and another ‘Utopia’ book, and I have to say another that I really enjoyed. This is an actual tie-in book which helps, not just some book for Marvel to stick an event banner on that has nothing to do with the overall story, which they have been guilty of many times in the past. X-Men Legacy #226 actually gets right into the thick of it, as I’ll explain.

Rogue, Gambit and Danger fly to San Francisco to help Cyclops and the rest of the X-Men with the mutant/ human riots. Their main priority is to rescue as many mutants as possible from both H.A.M.M.E.R agents and certain Dark Avengers, and there are throw downs galore! We have Rogue vs. Ms. Marvel/ Moonstone, Gambit vs. H.A.M.M.E.R, Gambit vs. Ares and Ares vs. Rogue!! As you can see it’s an all out action issue. It ends with our trio of heroes stealing a H.A.M.M.E.R tank and continuing their search for missing mutants, oh and by the way (spoilers on)…… after Rogue’s confrontation with Ares, she now has the power of the God of War! Very cool.

Carey really writes the main characters well in this issue and there are some great lines of dialogue too. Gambit is at his cocky best, Rogue shows that she is a true warrior and there is a great line where a child Danger rescues refers to her as a Transformer. It was a truly funny moment. There was great artwork too by step in artist Dustin Weaver. It was really nice to look at and very consistent throughout with awesome action scenes.

X-Men Legacy has not been a title I have enjoyed since its name change, and one that I mostly avoided. I enjoyed Carey’s previous work on the ‘Messiah Complex’ crossover and this issue reminded me of that. This was a good solid X-Men adventure, dealing with the problems of the mutant species whilst mixing it up with some cool villains, classic X-Men stuff. I just hope that the direction this book takes after the ‘Utopia’ tie-in concludes (next issue), continues the fun X-Men stories Carey has written here and in the past.

Uncanny X-Men #513 - Review

Uncanny X-Men #513
‘Utopia’ – Part 2

Written by: Matt Fraction
Art by: Terry Dodson

Score: 3.5 out of 5

The second part of this crossover begins straight where the first ended, with the introduction of Charles Xavier to the public and press where he voices his concerns for Cyclops recent actions as mutant kinds ‘leader’. Very unlike Charles, he commits himself to Norman Osborn’s ‘Mutant Solution’ and for most of the first part of this issue Fraction uses Normans voice in the captions which accompanies Dodson’s scenes from the riots the X-Men are involved in, in and around San Francisco. This is an effective way of getting Norman’s points and mission statement across without boring the reader.

One of the highlights of this issue was the introduction of the Dark X-Men. As Osborn’s explains to the press in this issue, his theory is ‘mutant problems, mutant solutions’, and the Dark X-Men are that solution. The team consists of Cloak & Dagger, Mimic, Daken, Omega, Dark Beast, Namor & led by Emma Frost! Fraction gives us his usual funny captions to introduce the characters which are always great and Norman gives us a further bit of background on each character when he introduces them to Emma. We are not sure at this stage whether Emma has turned sides against the X-Men or whether she is undercover as an X-Men operative waiting for the chance to stab Norman in the back. This is one of the more interesting storylines in this issue and I look forward to seeing how it plays out. Oh and spoilers on………… the sneaky and un-characteristic Charles Xavier is in fact none other than the shape shifting Mystique in disguise, working for Osborn. The fact that Charles was a shape shifter was made pretty obvious early on as it seems the real Prof X is locked up in a H.A.M.M.E.R headquarters. Another nice part of the story, one that is sure will be addressed in further chapters.

At the end of the issue the Dark X-Men are drawn out on their first mission to control a rouge group of mutants including Hellion, Sunspot, Avalanche and Adam X (blast from the past!) who want to make a stand against the way Norman and other humans are treating them and their fellow mutants. The two groups meet in Union Square and begin to battle, but we are stopped by seeing the outcome until the next chapter, which is continued in Dark Avengers #7.

This issue was mostly more set up of the storyline but it was well executed by Fraction, his handle of characters like Osborn and Emma was very good and I’m very excited about the introduction of the Dark X-Men and how their story will continue. I’m also confident that lots of action and plot twists will follow in the following chapters and this story will continue to get better.

The art by Dodson is excellent, with the Dark X-Men new costumes looking particularly cool. He does draw a strange looking Venom though, that would my only complaint from his work on this issue. 

Overall good stuff, X-fans should defiantly be reading this.