Last issue we saw that Scalphunter was bearing down on the island in a plane loaded with . . not one, but 5 Predator X. Kurt did a little reconnaissance and gave the team a warning, but . . it wasn't much of one. By the time Scott takes the plane down, it only kills one of the beasts . . and the rest are left close enough to swim to shore. The ensuing battle went pretty much as expected. One by one the X-Men take down the animals, with various tactics and the military like leadership of Scott. As far as that goes . . it was all rather predictable. But I'm guessing that was the point behind the whole thing. Whomever sent these animals after the X-Men had to have known that they would take them all down . . especially in their seat of power. At most they probably thought that the X-Men would lose 1 or 2 soldiers in the process. But that doesn't happen. So I'm thinking that this was a way to measure the X-Men. While they stood back and watched, they could measure the X-Men's readiness and response. I'm not sure how, but I think because of that they take out their strongest weapon, the Cuckoos and the Phoenix force. With them in place it was relatively easy for Scott to coordinate the whole thing, putting his biggest bats in the game while keeping the rest of his Nation X relatively safe. But no sooner do they beat the final Predator X than the Cuckoos go down, and it appears that the Phoenix force leaves, heading off into space. Now the X-Men just have to figure out why these things were cybernetically enhanced, and who sent them. To me, the most important part of the story was the little pieces of information that come out during all of this. First of all, we see that Namor is still on his own page. He doesn't like to take orders and has no intentions of being a soldier. Also while he's out in the ocean fighting one of them, all by himself, he's quickly aided by a squad of his elite guard. 'My lord. I have 2 dozen of the finest warriors Atlantis ever bred armed and ready to alleviate you of this tiresome task . .' So it looks like Namor isn't as alienated as he thought he was. I don't think he'll be sticking around with the X-Men very much longer. Also, when Magneto tries to take out one of the monsters . . they are covered with liquid metal after all, he finds out that his age appears to be catching up with him. He becomes over taxed very quickly. Maybe that's why he's here. He either knows that he's living on borrowed time, or . . he's not near the powerful tyrant that he once was. Maybe he just doesn't have the strength or stamina to be a world conqueror anymore. Also, we get a great display of Rogue's 'new' powers. When one of the Predator X is bearing down on her and the kids, she absorbs the powers of all 7 of them, simultaneously. She then takes on the animal solo, and with the coordination of all the powers quickly takes the thing apart. 'Hol-lee . . we can . . we can do that?' Rogue simply responds, 'Teamwork's a hell of a thing, kids . .' And finally, as Scott's about to take out the last one, Scalphunter comes to his aid and blows the animal away. Is he going to switch sides too? Scott's not going to take the chance. He puts him in the brig right away, and Danger begins interrogating him. It was also interesting to note that Emma wasn't really happy with Scott during this whole thing. I don't know if she didn't like his assertiveness or leadership. During the heat of battle she even makes the comment to Rogue, 'God knows we'd hate to upset Scott Summers.' But I'm not sure if that's her talking or the influence of the Void. Or it could just be because she's stuck in her diamond form. But that may not matter because after the Cuckoos are taken out Scott decides that it's time that they do a psychic rescue and get Emma out of her diamond prison. Apparently that's what the next issue is going to be about. I thought this was a fantastic issue . . obviously, because of my lengthy detail here . . and Matt Fraction is doing a terrific job. I think he's got a great handle on all these characters and I love the direction that he seems to be steering them in. Also Greg Land's art was a beautiful as usual. Next issue should be . . interesting.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Uncanny X-Men #517 - Marvel
Last issue we saw that Scalphunter was bearing down on the island in a plane loaded with . . not one, but 5 Predator X. Kurt did a little reconnaissance and gave the team a warning, but . . it wasn't much of one. By the time Scott takes the plane down, it only kills one of the beasts . . and the rest are left close enough to swim to shore. The ensuing battle went pretty much as expected. One by one the X-Men take down the animals, with various tactics and the military like leadership of Scott. As far as that goes . . it was all rather predictable. But I'm guessing that was the point behind the whole thing. Whomever sent these animals after the X-Men had to have known that they would take them all down . . especially in their seat of power. At most they probably thought that the X-Men would lose 1 or 2 soldiers in the process. But that doesn't happen. So I'm thinking that this was a way to measure the X-Men. While they stood back and watched, they could measure the X-Men's readiness and response. I'm not sure how, but I think because of that they take out their strongest weapon, the Cuckoos and the Phoenix force. With them in place it was relatively easy for Scott to coordinate the whole thing, putting his biggest bats in the game while keeping the rest of his Nation X relatively safe. But no sooner do they beat the final Predator X than the Cuckoos go down, and it appears that the Phoenix force leaves, heading off into space. Now the X-Men just have to figure out why these things were cybernetically enhanced, and who sent them. To me, the most important part of the story was the little pieces of information that come out during all of this. First of all, we see that Namor is still on his own page. He doesn't like to take orders and has no intentions of being a soldier. Also while he's out in the ocean fighting one of them, all by himself, he's quickly aided by a squad of his elite guard. 'My lord. I have 2 dozen of the finest warriors Atlantis ever bred armed and ready to alleviate you of this tiresome task . .' So it looks like Namor isn't as alienated as he thought he was. I don't think he'll be sticking around with the X-Men very much longer. Also, when Magneto tries to take out one of the monsters . . they are covered with liquid metal after all, he finds out that his age appears to be catching up with him. He becomes over taxed very quickly. Maybe that's why he's here. He either knows that he's living on borrowed time, or . . he's not near the powerful tyrant that he once was. Maybe he just doesn't have the strength or stamina to be a world conqueror anymore. Also, we get a great display of Rogue's 'new' powers. When one of the Predator X is bearing down on her and the kids, she absorbs the powers of all 7 of them, simultaneously. She then takes on the animal solo, and with the coordination of all the powers quickly takes the thing apart. 'Hol-lee . . we can . . we can do that?' Rogue simply responds, 'Teamwork's a hell of a thing, kids . .' And finally, as Scott's about to take out the last one, Scalphunter comes to his aid and blows the animal away. Is he going to switch sides too? Scott's not going to take the chance. He puts him in the brig right away, and Danger begins interrogating him. It was also interesting to note that Emma wasn't really happy with Scott during this whole thing. I don't know if she didn't like his assertiveness or leadership. During the heat of battle she even makes the comment to Rogue, 'God knows we'd hate to upset Scott Summers.' But I'm not sure if that's her talking or the influence of the Void. Or it could just be because she's stuck in her diamond form. But that may not matter because after the Cuckoos are taken out Scott decides that it's time that they do a psychic rescue and get Emma out of her diamond prison. Apparently that's what the next issue is going to be about. I thought this was a fantastic issue . . obviously, because of my lengthy detail here . . and Matt Fraction is doing a terrific job. I think he's got a great handle on all these characters and I love the direction that he seems to be steering them in. Also Greg Land's art was a beautiful as usual. Next issue should be . . interesting.
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