X-Men: Manifest Destiny #3 - Marvel

I like this book. It reminds me a little bit of Marvel Comics Presents . . just in the way that it's formatted. But . . that's not necessarily a bad thing. I kind of liked that title. At least in the beginning. Anyways, in the first story, Bobby's gotten himself out of another jam the Mystique has put him in. I'm not exactly sure why she's pushing him so much, but . . he is growing, and learning more about his powers because of it. Last time she overdosed him with some neurotoxin. He had to find a creative way to purge it from his system. This time she's trying to kill him with a gun. The story ends with her holding a shotgun to his chest. "You want to finish this . . you'll have to look me in the eye as you pull that trigger." Mike Carey and Michael Ryan are doing a pretty good job on that story. In the second one we learn about the origins of Jonas Graymalkin. Apparently he's 200 years old and received his powers when his father buried him alive back during the revolutionary war. It really didn't have anything to do with the war. As it turns out . . he was gay. Back then, that was an abomination. His father beat him with a shovel and then buried him. Somehow during the time he was buried his powers manifested. That's why he gets more powerful in the dark, and has no powers in the sunlight. Marc Guggenheim wrote it and Yanick Paquette did the art. I have to say, in this instance, I actually liked Yanick's art. Finally we have a story about Peter. Basically, he's just down because of Cat, and everyone is trying to cheer him up. It's actually kind of humorous . . in their attempts, but . . Peter's just in that mood that he doesn't really want to be cheered up. Later on, when he's walking alone through the park, a little girl asks for his help because her cats stuck in a tree, and that is finally what cheers him up. This one is by Chris Yost and Humberto Ramos. Of course I loved it, because of Humberto's art . . mostly. Overall, I thought the book was ok. I'm not sure why these stories couldn't be done as back-ups, but . . whatever. I guess it's there way of getting another $4 out of us.