X-Men Forever 2 #2 - Marvel

First of all, I'm thrilled to see Tom Grummett back on the artistic chores of this book. Although, I'm sure it won't be consistent. Not that it's his fault. With this book coming out bi-weekly, it would be hard for any artist to keep up with that schedule. So I'm sure he'll do the first story-arc, while someone else does the second. Which is ok. I'd rather he take his time and the books look as fantastic as this issue did. And hopefully he'll continue doing the covers for all of them. Speaking of which . . I love this one. Anyways, at the end of the last series, it appears that the mansion, or school, with most of it's grounds have been vaporized. There really appears to be nothing left standing . . including the underground bunkers, and such. There's still X-Men around . . although they aren't officially presenting themselves as such . . but to the world at large they're currently letting them believe that the school, and it's occupants, have been erased from the face of the Earth. Including the Daily Bugle, and Spider-man . . er, Peter Parker, who comes to investigate for them. He also has an interest because some of these people were his friends . . on a professional basis. We also see how the Avengers are feeling . . like they were manipulated. And in Wakanda, how pissed Ororo is that the X-Men are dead. 'Kitty Pryde left her claw mark on my face. I swore to repay her in full measure! The fates cannot be so cruel! How dare they deny me my righteous vengeance?!' Not exactly the reaction I expected. Meanwhile, in Colorado, Warren is trying to regroup and retain order, with the remaining X-Men. But without letting the world at large knowing that they're doing so. Partly because Ziggy Trask has just been named the director of SHIELD. Anyways, while pursuing his investigation, Peter comes across . . accidentally, the new Rogue version of Nightcrawler. But after following her, he finds out that she definitely doesn't have the same tolerance or compassion as his friend. It appears that next issue, while getting to know each other, they'll be heading out on the town . . together. Not on a date . . on patrol. I really like what Chris Claremont has done so far here. And I love the look and feel of the book. It started out, in the first series, feeling kind of nostalgic . . because Chris picked up where he left off oh so many years ago. But now? Now it has a feeling all it's own, because Chris is taking them down a path that hasn't been traveled. It's all new and fresh now. And since this is an alternate version . . Chris doesn't have to follow any of the traditional rules. I think that makes for some really exciting stories. I now look forward to this book every month . . er, every other week. But you know what I mean.