I'm going to try something new here. I really am trying to stay caught up on all of these titles, and be current. Right now, I'm about 3 weeks behind. But, I really do have a lot going on when I'm not sitting in front of this computer. That's not an excuse . . this is my choice to pursue this . . it's my hobby . . my passion. Anyways, in an attempt to get a little closer to the current weeks books, I'm going to try combining multiple issues together when I have the same titles waiting in my stack. I think, sometimes
it'll work, and sometimes . . maybe not so well. But we'll see. If it'll get me more current, that'll be better all around. Plus this should only be a temporary measure until I am caught up. I'll start with this one and we'll see how it goes. This story-arc is done by Chris Claremont and Tim Seeley. The back-up story, also written by Chris, is drawn by Vincenc Villagrasa. Both stories were pretty good. Sage is noticeably absent from the lead story, but the back-up describes why, and the trials that she's facing of her own back at the palace. The first thing I notice, reading 2 issues in a row like this, is the time the waste in beginning of each story catching the reader back up from the last issue. I understand their reason, and concern, but reading multiple issues . . it's seems redundant. But I don't think it'll ever change. In the lead story, the team . . Morph, Rogue, Psylocke, Mystiq, Gambit and even Cat . . have gone to this world to protect a runaway Queen. It turns out that Nerimani is actually a Shi'ar Queen. She's been gone for so long that she was hoping that they would've given up pursuing her, or forgotten about her. But, the Shi'ar are nothing if not relentless. And as long as an heir to the throne exists out there, and could disrupt their political climate, you can bet that they're not going to let an unknown quantity like that exist out of their control. But this world has protectors of it's own . . the Sons of Iron and the Daughters of the Dragon. They're trying to protect Nerimani themselves, but they're not really a match for the Shi'ar Death Commandos. During the ensuing battle they find themselves in combat with an elite Shi'ar force also. It consists of Krait, Hypernova, Colony, Devo, Black Cloak and Warshot. They are Warren Worthington, Moira Kinross, Samantha Summers, Scott Summers, Charles Xavier and Alex Summers. Definitely an evil version of the X-Men. And, by the end of the second issue, we find that the Shi'ar are also in league with Madame Hydra . . you know, Susan Storm . . which apparently is how they're able to travel across dimension. Madame Hydra is especially pissed at Cat. "Little Cat, you killed my beloved Wolverine. I didn't think such a thing was possible. I especially didn't think a child such as you could inspire such an expression of fear on his face. So part of me is very impressed. But I have to think . . . the creature capable of such a thing will one day likely come for me." In the back-up stories, Sage is fighting with her evil counter-persona, Amanda Fox. Basically they're wrestling for control. The problem they have is that they're both part of the same person. So they're perfectly matched. There appears to be no solution. But then the other entities which fill Sage's mind . . thanks to Roma . . decide to make their presence known. By the end of the story we learn that they're acting under the leadership of Merlyn, Roma's father. He's guiding them and is trying to crush Sage, body and soul. Through her he wants to gain control of the Crystal Palace and then . . the Omniverse. So it looks like either Sage and Diana are going to have to cooperate, or they'll both fall to Merlyn's villainy. On the lead stories I actually enjoyed Tim's art. It's not perfect yet, but . . it shows a whole lot of potential. And there are moments of brilliance. Vincenc's art on the back-up story was almost as impressive. They're definitely of different styles, but Vincenc also shows a lot of potential. I think he has a little more work than Tim, but . . you can definitely see the promise. I do still however miss Tom Grummett's work. I assume he'll be back after this story-arc. Anyways, this is still one of my favorite books. And, it was nice reading 2 issues in a row. Of course they were part of the same story-line also. That helped. 
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