X-Men Forever 2 #5, #6, #7, #8, #9 and #10 - Marvel

I know this is taking on a lot, but . . since I'm behind, I decided to go ahead and do all of these issues. We'll see how it goes. In issue #5, the X-Men have gone into the Morlock tunnels in search of Sabretooth and Moira. We ended the last issue with Masque deforming the faces of Remy and Scott. And of course there's a struggle between the X-Men and the Morlocks. But eventually calmer heads prevail. However, shortly after that happens, and Masque fixes his tampering . . a squad a SHIELD agents shows up. So now everybody has to clear out. The SHIELD agent's comms aren't working down here, but they all know as soon as the do Ziggy Trask will have a squad of neo-Sentinels down here. The X-Men head back to the mansion, but the Morlocks allow themselves to be captured . . knowing that their other members will ambush this little party long before they leave the tunnels. However, they find Calisto has some Morlocks of their own waiting for them. And she seems to be working for the Ghost Panther, back in Genosha. Anyways, we also saw last issue the Mystique has asked the X-Men for asylum. She claims that she's tired of seeing loved ones dying. And since Kurt and Rogue are all that she has left . . she apparently wants to spend some time with them . . or protect them. You know she's up to something else, but . . we don't know what yet. But while she's there, Moira wants to examine Mystique's and Rogue's blood to find out what makes them immune to Burnout. And since Kurt's immunity transferred to Rogue when they switched powers . . she also has a base reading to work off of. And in Alaska . . Dr Hanover is worming her way into the Summers family . . and closer to Scott's son. But . . who exactly is Robyn Hanover? I think she's . . Mr Sinister. Obviously Chris Claremont is writing all these stories. But issue #5's art is brought to us by Rodney Buchemi. In issue #6, Chris touches on several different storylines, but most of the book is about Robyn's attempt to abscond with Nathan. Corsair tries to protect him, but the Marauders are there also. Even as tough as the Starjammers are . . the Marauders are a hard nut to crack. Anyways, Moira has been able to use what she's found in Mystique's blood to help boost up Creed's healing factor. It's not strong enough to regenerate his hand or eyes, but . . she's working on it. And in the meantime Kitty has fashioned a cybernetic hand for him. Calisto has taken the Morlocks to Genosha, and the Ghost Panther. He claims that the island is on the brink of war, and that the Morlocks can help him stop it. And Scott who sensed something was wrong in Alaska, when Corsair's communications broke up . . is trying to get either the X-Men or SHIELD on alert to help him . . if need be. Obviously it needs be because the Starjammers, as well as Alex and Lorna, are fighting the Marauders, but they're not making much headway. The issue ends with Corsair teleporting to the school to warn Scott. However when he gets there he mistakes Creed for the Sabretooth that's attacking him in Alaska. He's ready to blow his head off. The art in this one is by Tom Grummett. Issues #7 & #8 wrap up this Mr Sinister storyline. And as with the first 30+ issues of this series, Chris has it loaded up with twists and turns. First of all . . Mr Sinister, is actually a 10 year old boy. Yes he's immortal and has lived forever, but . . somehow he got stuck at this age. The 'Sinisters' that end up out in the real world are simply his constructs. Plus he's found that the Marauders, and anyone else really, takes him more serious if appears as a full-grown adult. So even though Scott thought he killed him . . obviously he didn't. Also the X-Men have finally gleaned that these Marauders are simply more constructs, clones, of Mr Sinister's. But that's ok for Sabretooth. When he gets to Alaska he takes on the Clone of himself. And after he takes him down . . he takes his hand and eye for himself. He wants to see if Moira can use them to fix him. For a little while Malice takes over Hepzibah, but Lockheed is the one that finally ferrets her out. However, when Alex cuts off the broach around her neck, he leaves it laying on the ground. A little while later Mystique picks it up. But I don't know why. Sinister also throws a little psychological attack at the X-Men when he attacks them with a clone of Logan. Remy ends up taking him down, by blowing his head off, but we all know he's not that easy to kill. And before he does so, Logan has a little fight with Kitty. She's got the Adamantium claw on her right hand, but it appears that she's got some bone talons that are popping out of her fingers on her left hand. Nobody knew about those. And in the end, after the Marauders are beat, her and Remy decide to stay behind. They say to help watch over the Summers family. But Kitty is staying behind because of her injuries . . and also, I think, because she knows that the Logan clone might not really be dead. And Remy is staying behind to keep an eye on Kitty. Which is probably a good thing because Dr Hanover has come out of this whole thing without revealing that she's actually an agent of Sinister's. So who knows what she might stir up. And we see that Sinister has decided to stay hidden for now . . to continue his games. We also get a couple hints at some other story-lines. In Japan, Mariko is upset because she wants some kind of vengeance on Logan. But now that he's gone, she feels that she's been cheated of her revenge. It appears to have something to do with Jean because she vows to make her suffer. And in Wakanda, Ororo has made the first strides in what will probably be the war that the Ghost Panther warned Calisto about. She wants Wakanda to annex the island of Genosha. The art in issues #7 and #8 is brought to us by Ron Lim. In issues #9 and #10 we're dealing with the aftermath of the Marauder's attack in Alaska. I'm thinking of them as one story because this is the beginning of a new story-arc. Or, because it's Chris writing this . . and his story-arc's never really end, it's probably more like an extension of the previous one. Anyways, Kitty has stayed behind to rest while her wounds heal. But I think there's 2 things going on. First I think she was pretty freaked by seeing Logan again. Even if it was just a clone. And I don't think she's even told Jean what happened, yet. Secondly, Kitty is having nightmares about this encounter . . and the possible repercussions. But mostly, I think, she's worried about the noticeable changes that have been happening to her lately. She thought that she just have Logan's claw, but . . she's starting to think that she may have absorbed a portion of his psyche . . and it seems to be exerting more and more control. Anyways, Sinister seems to be out of the picture right now. But, Dr Hanover has stayed behind. And since she seems to be the kind of professional that the X-Men need right now . . she's kind of entrenched herself within their ranks. She's also gotten very close to Nathan. We do see a passing thought with Scott, though. He remembers someone vaguely like Robyn, back when he was in the orphanage. She was also a psychiatrist. And he seems to remember that they kind of resemble each other. Sooner or later he'll put those pieces together. Also, we see that Sinister is still interested in Nathan as he's convinced that he is the key to Burnout. Anyways, Kitty knows that it's not that easy to put Logan down . . even if he is a clone. So she goes back out in search of the body. It's gone. But she uses some Shi'ar technology to track his mutant signature, and she finds that he's gone back to Japan. Which is also connected to her, as she's been dreaming in Japanese lately. She heads off to Japan, not only to find Logan but also to warn Mariko. But she finds that things are a lot worse than she had anticipated. Even without Logan involved . . Clan Yashida has made a pact with the Hand and are now working in concert with them. And Mariko has exerted her power and influence to become the head of the Consortium. All of this is being done because of the anger and betrayal that she feels over the X-Men. But when Kitty steals one of the Starjammer's skimmers to head to Japan, unbeknownst to her 'Lil 'Ro and Lockheed were on board. So now not only does she have to find Logan . . while dealing with all these revelations about someone who used to be one of the X-Men's allies, but she also has to try to keep these 2 safe. But that's going to be easier said than done, because . . now that Mariko is the head of the Consortium, she also has control over SHIELD. And since Ziggy Trask also hates the X-Men, it's not to hard for Mariko to get SHIELD to do her bidding. So while Kitty is fighting Logan, and trying to escape from his murderous impulses . . she then comes face to face with Mariko . . and her new-found SHIELD friends. But it's not long before Remy and Jean show up in search of their friends. But in the confusion, Mariko makes off with 'Lil 'Ro. We'd gotten a glimpse of how Wakanda's annexation of Genosha is starting to progress . . with Orora and the Ghost Panther being the leader of the respective sides of that impending war. But what I didn't expect was at the end when Mariko offers 'Lil 'Ro up to Orora for trade in trying to acquire Wakanda as an allie. And the only witness to this little transaction is Lockheed. As expected, Chris is the driving force behind this series. With Tom Grummett being his accomplice. He seems to be Chris' go-to guy for the art on this series. Because even when he doesn't do the interiors, he still does all the covers. But the interiors on these 2 issues are done by Mike Grell. Which was a pleasant surprise, for me. I really like this series. I know it falls outside of the accepted continuity of the current X-Men story-lines, but . . I like that we're getting familiar story-lines and characters, but with a little bit of a twist by Chris. It's not the Ultimate Universe, but rather another way the X-Men could've gone had Chris not taken his sabbatical from the series. I like it's because it's a bit nostalgic, and fresh . . all at the same time. Plus these twists that Chris throws in here keep surprising me. He's a fantastic writer, and was born to write this series.

Curse of the Mutants: Storm and Gambit #1 - Marvel

Ok . . this is one of those periphery books that I was talking about. This one I decided to pick up . . for the most part, because Chris Bachalo does the art. He's easily one of my favorites. So any chance to see some more of his work . . is ok by me. I've already read the first 4 issues of the new X-Men title, with it's Curse of the Mutants story-line. And this one, I think, fit's in somewhere during issue #2 . . or maybe between #2 and #3. Anyways, with Scott's plan to bring Dracula back . . hoping to thwart Xarus, they need someone to go after Dracula's body, and his head. So in this issue, Storm and Gambit are the ones elected to head to the Vampire island to recover the body. As a note, I understand that the first couple issues of Namor are spent with him recovering the head. I haven't decided if I'm going to pick those up yet, or not. Anyways, this is an action packed issue, with Storm and Gambit up to their necks in Vampires and Vampire blood. Along the way they come across Janus, first son of Dracula. I think he's helping them because he's not necessarily happy with the way that the Vampire-nation has progressed since his father's demise. He should be in power, but . . he's not. There's other factions at work here. And I know I'm jumping ahead, but . . I have to wonder . . what's Janus going to do when he discovers Xarus' plans? He's seems to be more than willing to help the X-Men with the return of his father. But . . he's got to have some ulterior motives. Anyways, Storm and Gambit are victorious on both fronts here . . they recover the body, plus . . Storm finds and deactivates the source of the shield covering the island. Unfortunately, in order to do so . . Storm has to sacrifice some innocents. The Vampires in control of the shield are hooked up to children through feeding tubes. But there's not really any way to shut down the device, or disconnect the tubes, without massive blood loss and death. So, it's either continue with the plan, helping the X-Men in their ultimate goal, or . . not do it and watch as she and Gambit suffer an evil fate. Storm does the right thing . . the only thing, really . . but . . in the process, it may have changed her forever. 'When I joined the X-Men I was a different woman. I swore never to take a life. But that changed. I made an exception. And exceptions became justifications. Taking a life became less horrifying. And today I crossed a line. I took another life. Not a monster or a Vampire. An innocent. I'm worried now. Because I wonder, the next time I cross that line . . will it be too much to bear?' Because of Storms conflict, I thought it was an interesting . . and relevant, story. I think Chuck Kim did a great job with it. And of course I wasn't disappointed with the fantastic art of Chris Bachalo. There were some really cool panels in this book. As an overview, I kind of have to wonder what they're setting Storm up for here. She obviously spending more and more time with the X-Men. Which leaves less and less time with her husband. But the more time she spends with the X-Men, I think she's questioning their motives, their actions and their agenda. I think eventually she's going to reach the point where she's either 'all in, or all out'. And if she decides that she's 'all out' . . what happens then? Anyways . . it's just something to think about. I thought it was a good book, and I'm glad I picked it up.

Wolverine #89 and #90 - Marvel

Issue #89, I didn't like at all. Well . . except for the beautiful cover by Simone Bianchi and Simone Peruzzi. Of course, part of that was because I'm not following this whole Franken-Castle storyline. But even so, had I been reading it . . I don't think that I would've missed much without this issue. The entire issue is spent with Frank and Logan going back and forth. Frank is trying to get to Daken . . to kill him. Logan doesn't want to let him. So they spend the whole issue taking pieces off of each other. And really this issue just serves to set up the story-line for the conclusion in Franken-Castle #20. I used to follow the Punisher . . a long time ago. But to me . . this whole thing just seemed kind of silly. But it doesn't matter, because I'm not following it now. This issue was brought to us by Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu. With Stephen Segovia and Paco Diaz on the art. And then, in issue #90 . . it seems like this issue kind of serves as the prelude to the new Wolverine title coming soon, and Daken's own book. Most of this issue is spent with Daken trying to decide what he wants to do with his life. He's going through and contemplating on how he compares to his father . . in motivation, action, and what he wants out of his life. 'The wolf is at the door. And I am hungry. But . . it's just to easy . . my father's life is so small. So caught up in it's own gravity. There's no scope. No vision. That's why I don't even want it. I want something else . . something more.' Which is apparently what he'll go after in his own title. I know Daken has pretty much been the main character of this title for a while now, but . . I still don't feel like we know him all that much. Sure he comes across as an ego-maniacal blow-hard . . who's elevated his own importance to an almost god-like level. But . . I think there's more to this character that we haven't seen or experienced . . yet. The question is, when we start digging in to him a little more . . seeing the human side of his facade, will we be just as interested? Which, I guess, is what Marvel is betting on with the new series. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. So overall . . I liked both issues . . I guess. But I don't feel like I really would've have missed anything important if I hadn't picked them up. Neither of them really moved the story-line along all that much. But . . they were what they were . . epilogue and prologue all wrapped in to one. Daniel and Marjorie again write #90. But it featured some beautiful art by Mirco Pierfederici.

X-Men #2, #3 and #4 - Marvel

So we all saw, in the prologue for this storyline, how the Vampires have engineered a new 'virus' that can infect the human population through the air. Basically, they sent out suicide bombers, infected with the virus. But one of these guys ended up in Union Square, with a specific target in mind . . Jubilee. But we find out that Jubilee wasn't actually their primary target. Their primary target was that man they knew that the X-Men would send after her . . Wolverine. All of this is being orchestrated by Dracula's son, Xarus. He wants to join the Vampire and Mutant races to create an army powerful enough to take over the world. So it's kind of the 'evil guy with plans of world domination' story-line . . with a twist. Anyways, this virus is designed to create 'the hunger' in it's recipients. Bringing the Vampires food-source, and fodder for their ranks . . straight to their doorstep. All they have to do is sit back and wait. It's ingenious . . really. Through this process, before they know it, the X-Men have come to realize that Xarus' ranks are swelling by the thousands . . daily. Add to this the amulet that they've designed . . it allows them to go out during the day, as it protects it's wearer from ultraviolet light . . and they're starting to seem pretty much unstoppable. But the X-Men aren't ones to give up hope so easily . . especially Scott. So he's come up with a plan. It's not a good one, but . . it's about the only option that they have. Scott wants to reunite Dracula's body, with his head . . and hope that he'll seek out his throne, now occupied by his son. His hope is that in the battle that ensues, the father will take out the son, and thereby eliminate his plans for world conquest. However, my concern is . . as with most of these hail-mary plays . . things are going to get worse before they get better. After Scott implements the plan . . and Dracula is resurrected, the X-Men fill him in on what's going on. He doesn't seem to happy about it, but . . he's also convinced that the X-Men are trying to back the lesser of two evils . . literally. Or . .'the devil they know'. To him, the X-Men seem desperate and without options. So before he leaves, he doesn't really say or do anything to convince them that he'll do anything that will bring their plan to fruition. During all of this, Blade is also playing a big part in this story-line . . as he is the foremost Vampire expert. Anyways, we eventually get to the point where Logan has gone after Jubilee and descends right into the devil's lair . . as it were. Logan's a pretty tough guy, but even he isn't a match for the sheer numbers he's up against here. He's quickly captured and converted . . with Jubilee as the bait. I don't even think that he was surprised when he found out that she was turned. Anyways, by the end of issue #4, the X-Men have found out that Logan and Jubilee are both working with Xarus. And as a Vampire army begins to descend upon Utopia, I'm sure they're starting to wonder . .'What happened to Dracula?'. I think it's an interesting story-line. And I like the whole 'world-domination' thing, with the vampire twist . . we all know that Vampires are all the rage right now. I just hope that there's some actual change that comes out of all of this. Wolverine appears to be transformed, but . . I can't imagine that he's going to stay that way. I'm sure he'll work out of that . . somehow. But Jubilee's character seems to be diminished, of late. So maybe this is a way to bolster her character a bit. A way to give her . . something. And of course we have to begin wondering what the aftermath of all of this will be. The Vampires seem to be making a pretty big impact on San Francisco. Since everything that this city has been through since the X-Men's arrival . . I can't imagine that they haven't crossed the 'point of no return' yet. When do the citizen's of this city proclaim . . 'Enough is enough!'? So I think there's a lot of potential here. And I'm sure it'll be a roller-coaster ride along the way. My only problem is . . I'm sure there will be oodles of peripheral books. I don't want to get them all, so . . I have to pick and choose which ones I think will be the most interesting, or best serve to progress the story-line. Anyways, this story-line is being created by Victor Gischler. I've never heard of this guy before, but . . he's seems to be pretty adept at creating an interesting storyline here. The interior art is by Paco Medina. With Adi Granov contributing some pretty amazing covers. All in all I think this is a great start to this new title. I can't wait to see where things go from here.

X-Force - Sex and Violence #2 and #3 - Marvel

Don't get me wrong . . I loved this book. But . . it really was not much more than one big fight scene. The premise is . . basically, Domino had taken on a job for the Assassins Guild. Well . . to her credit, when she initially took the job . . she didn't know it was for the Guild. Anyways, as is usual for these types of missions . . she wasn't given all of the information. So when she goes to steal a shipment that belongs to the Hand . . thinking that it's guns, or drugs, or something . . she's surprised to find out that it's actually a shipment of young Asian girls. Well this crosses the line for even Domino's sensibilities, so . . she takes the truck, leaving her goons behind, and returns the girls to the nearest Japanese embassy. So now the Guild feels that she's betrayed them. And the Hand thinks that she's stolen from them. Also, along the way, she discovers another secret in the truck that she uses to spirit away the girls. She finds it loaded with money. About $240 million worth. Apparently this money belongs to the Guild. Although, I can't really imagine somebody leaving a truckload of money sitting around someplace. So . . knowing that she's got the Guild and the Hand after her . . she goes straight to the man that she thinks can best help her . . Wolverine. Needless to say, they work their way through the Hand and the Guild . . leaving many corpses in their wake. But it isn't until they actually get to the Bayou . . and confront Belladonna . . knowing that the Hand is right behind them . . that the rest of X-Force eventually gets involved. To Wolverine's credit though . . he tried to give Belladonna a choice. 'Here's the deal . . you leave us alone, and we let you live! And the money? It goes to charity . . all of it!' After watching them take on her own warriors, as well as the Hand's, Belladonna notices . . 'Wait a minute. You're not the X-Men. The X-Men don't kill.' Anyways, I thought it was all a bit predictable. I didn't feel like Craig Kyle or Christopher Yost introduced anything really new here. Basically, I felt, it was a story to keep X-Force busy until their new series starts. However, if you're an action and violence junkie . . this is the book for you. And there are a couple rather intimate scenes with Logan and Neena. Hence the name . . 'Sex & Violence'. You didn't think they put it there just to draw your attention? Did you? Anyways, to me it would've been just another average book except the artwork of Gabriele Dell'Otto was amazing. The covers are beautiful. So imagine another 24 pages of the same stuff in each issue. It was actually pretty sweet lookin'. So overall . . I liked it. This is a great bunch of characters. But I can't wait until the new series so we can see what Fantomex and Deadpool bring to this group. Not to mention Psylocke. I'm looking forward to it.

the New Mutants Forever #1 , #2 and #3 - Marvel

The story in this series begins back when Magneto was the Headmaster of the school. It starts shortly after he's been chosen, and asked, to become the White King of the Hellfire Club. And, to his surprise, urged to take the position by Ororo. He and the New Mutants are at the Hellfire club's mansion. I assume for protection . . body-guards, of a sort. That's when, from their room, the New Mutants hear gunfire in Central Park. Of course, being the heroes that they are, they go rushing to the unknown victim's aid. And they find it to be Amama's dad . . the Senator. He and his bodyguards are being attacked by a para-military type group. Anyways, they end up saving the Senator. He's still armed, but not captured. But it appears that pretty much everyone else, on both sides, is gone. This of course quickly brings Selene into the mix, as the Senator is not only her son, but from Nova Roma . . as well as herself and Amara. Her resolve is even furthered when the para-military group attacks again, but this time they hit the mansion. Their attack seems better organized this time as they attack on several different fronts. The result of which is . . they abscond with Amara and Doug. After which, all attackers have been killed, or taken their own life when Emma tries to probe them. Well, all except the one that Illyana sent to Limbo. Through him, Selene learns where her granddaughter has been taken, as well as who is behind all of this. It turns out, which we discover at the end of issue #1, Amara has been returned to Nova Roma, and . . this is all the plan of the Red Skull. In issue #2, Roberto and Warlock are dragged into the mix. They were separate from the group, and vacationing in Rio de Janeiro, Roberto's home. It appears that his mother . . archaeologist Nina de Costa . . was in Nova Roma when it became enslaved by the Red Skull. When the Senator took off for New York, to ask the X-Men for help, she decided to return home and use their family's influence to garner some support. But she, as well as the Senator, were quickly set upon the the Skull's forces. Which is where Bobby and Warlock come in, when she calls for help. We then find Doug and Amara locked in a cell in Nova Roma. As well as a boy called Tiberius. We don't know what his story is exactly, but . . there's something different about him. I guess we'll learn his story later. For now he seems to be part of the Red Skull's entourage, when he uses some sort of drug to enable their allegiance. After the painful injection, they all seem to follow the Skull without question. But Doug's formula seems to be different as it also transforms him into the Skull's image . . Jr Skull, or Son of Skull . . as it were. Anyways, Selene and her group have join up with Bobby and Warlock when they all make seem to make their way to Nova Roma simultaneously. It isn't long before they're beset by the Skull's forces. And by the end of issue #2, they come face to face with their transformed team-mates. Although I think Amara is the only one they really seem to recognize. Issue #3 starts out with them fighting their friends. But they don't make much headway. Doug and Amara take down Warlock, burning him with lava and encasing him in molten rock. And, when it appears that they don't have the fortitude to stand up to the Skull's forces, Selene is also injected with the drug that transformed Doug. She seems to be fighting it, but due to their defeat, and Selene's fate, Illyana transports them all to Limbo before the full effects can take place. Since Illyana's magic can't do anything against science, it seems that Selene is fighting this drug's affect on sheer willpower. That is until they return to Nova Roma and she takes the life-force of one of her loyal followers. We also see that Doug seems to be fully embracing his transformation, and we finally get a bit of emotion from Tiberius when the Red Skull makes an advance on Amara and kisses her. He seems jealous. We also find out that somehow Warlock has not perished, and is instead keeping an eye on his friends while remaining hidden. By the end of issue #3 there seems to be a turn in the tide. Selene has successfully fought her transformation. And somehow Doug's mind has returned to him. The physical transformation is irreversible, but . . at least he's thinking on his own again. The problem is . . he can't let anyone know. He fears that the skull may be watching him. And on the final page of the issue, Warlock comes to confront him. He's mad about the termination of his friend Doug. He doesn't know yet that this is him. So far . . I think this is an ok story. I'm not overly thrilled with it, but . . it is great to see another story with all of these great characters. My problem is . . for the theme of this book, it doesn't seem like all that much is different. Yes Selene is working in concert with the New Mutants, but . . I don't think it's that big of a leap. Plus, I'm not real big on the Red Skull's character. The guy is pretty single minded in his mission and endeavors, so . . to me, it seems kind of obvious as to the way this story will go. I'm sure we'll see some things changed . . as is the theme of these 'Forever' titles. But I don't see that it'll be that dramatic. Of course we've seen more changes in the X-Men Forever books . . it's gone 30 or so issues by now. I don't know how much can change in a 5 issues series. But, having said that . . I do find the book and story entertaining. Chris Claremont is writing it, with Al Rio and Bob McLeod doing the art. I like Al and Bob's art because it's kind of nostalgic. It kind of feels like we've gone right back to this book . . back then. They also seem to be using former New Mutant artists on the covers . . Bill Sienkiewicz, Art Adams and Bob McLeod. Overall . . I think it's ok. But if you haven't picked it up yet . . I'd wait for the TPB. Then you can read it all together.

X-Men Forever 2 #4 - Marvel

Well, last issue Mystique helped out Rogue and Spider-man. All she asked in return was that she was allowed to join the X-Men. So this issue . . they take her back to the mansion. Nick Fury, with the help of Jean Grey are interrogating her. But they're not getting much information. Nick decides to send Jean in, but when she enters Mystique's mind . . she finds more chaos there than she did in Rogue's. She's going to have to prepare herself before she attempts that again. Meanwhile, the Morlocks have captured Dr Mactaggert and Sabretooth. They've taken them down to the tunnels because Masque has it in her head the Moira will be able to help them with the Burnout problem. I guess she just didn't trust that if Moira and Charles ever found a cure that it would filter down towards their level. As a result, Daisy, Scott, Kitty and Remy have gone after them. 'Ro is also following . . although they don't know it. Anyways, they go down and confront Masque, but in the confusion she gets her hands on Scott and Remy. And you know how disastrous that can be. The issue ends with them screaming in agony. Oh yeah, and now that Trask is in charge of SHIELD, she's out to prove herself. They've recently activated the sensors in the tunnels so they now know that there's activity down there. They don't know who's involved, but . . she decides to send some of the neo-Sentinels down to clean it up. So if the X-Men don't get this cleaned up fast, their secret is about to be broken. A very entertaining book by Chris Claremont, with Rodney Buchemi doing the art. Tom Grummett does the cover. It looks like this series is going to be even more exciting than the last one.

X-Factor Forever #5 - Marvel

I feel like there's something wrong with me. I liked this book. I thought the series was entertaining. It was informative, and a bit educational. But . . to me . . it just wasn't all that exciting. Yeah, I know . . we had the whole thing with Apocalypse and the Celestials. Plus Sinister, and his army of mutant clones got involved. But, I remember reading the original story . . way back when, and this one just didn't seem as exciting. Maybe because I read it once already. And yes I know that this one was different. But overall, I think it had the same type of feel to it. But the reason I think there's something wrong with me is because when I read the letters page . . something I don't do very much . . everyone there just couldn't stop raving about it. I admit it was a pretty good story. And it was nice to this this group of characters back together again . . facing down Apocalypse, but . . I just didn't think it was all that. Basically, Christopher saved the mutant species. Even though he's not ever going to remember it. He is just a toddler after all. But when Arishem, the Judge . . he's one of the Celestials . . when he looks at him apparently he's pleased because he gives Scott, and thereby the mutant race, a thumbs up. He's not going to wipe them out. Of course, Apocalypse just took out Sinister, when he was attacking X-Force. Apocalypse was concerned that it was Sinster's kind of games that were part of what would lead the Judge to a negative decision. It looked like both of them had been vaporized when Apocalypse took down Sinister's compound. But you know that those 2 are like cockroaches. They'll be back. So then the Celestials decide to turn their attention towards Genosha. Apparently they don't like what's happened to the mutant race there. X-Factor races there to try to help save as many people as possible. And a lot of them make it off the island. But there were millions of people there, so . . a lot more died. And now Ship is more like an arc. And overall . . we have a happy ending. But my question is . . if the Celestials were this disapproving of Genosha, why would they let anyone escape? I'm sure it would be within their power to wipe these people out, whether they were on the island or not. I don't know. To me, there were just a lot of unanswered questions at the end. I did enjoy the story. It just doesn't feel like it's over. There's more that needs explained, or told. But maybe that's the way it's supposed to be. Maybe they're trying to save something for another story-line. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Anyways, I thought Louise Simonson and Dan Panosian did a pretty good job with this. Obviously it could go on a lot longer, I just don't know whether that's in the plans or not. So for now . . it is what it is, and it ended the way it ended. It seems like a happy ending. But . . I just don't know.

Wolverine Weapon X #15 - Marvel

Unfortunately, unlike my previous few blogs, the 2 issues in this series were completely different story-lines. So . . issue #15 wraps up the Deathlok story-line. In it, Miranda thinks that she can kill this kid in the past . . the one who becomes the Deathlok that's hunting her down, and stop all of this from happening. Logan ends up talking her down. He tries to make her believe that they may be able to change him more out of compassion than necessarily termination. It ends up being true. This Deathlok is conflicted by the 2 minds inhabiting it. The human brain is that of the child's, grown up, after leading a life of neglect, abuse and violence. It's the psychopathic part of their personality. While the Cyborg part of his brain in trying to be logical, and . . apparently has evolved to want human experience, interaction and feelings. The emotion of the situation when they spare the child is enough for that part to claim dominance in thier situation. He goes on to help the heroes defeat the rest of the Deathloks. However, we find out in the future that the General is actually the future version of this Deathlok. He cements his position by instructing Miranda, in the past, to take the boy to the same orphanage where he was abused for all those years. It was an interesting story, and kind of touching. But the whole thing had a kind of 'Terminator' type feel to it. At least to me. But it was still cool. Jason Aaron wrote it, with Ron Garney doing the art. In issue #16, the last of this series, we see Logan dealing with the loss of his friend, Kurt. This one was actually very touching. In his will, Kurt has asked Logan to delivery a piano to a church that he's donated it to . . the Church of the Holy Ascension. It sits on top of a mountain in Venezuela. As he's performing this task, pushing himself to his physical limits, he's thinking back on the various conversations he and Kurt had. I think Kurt was always trying to save his soul. And although Logan was always acting like he wasn't listening, I think more got through than he'd care to admit. In the end Logan feels better for having done it, but . . the real kicker came with the present that Kurt had left there for him when he visited the previous year. It was something from one of the very first conversations that they had, and it really brought everything around full circle. In the end, he holds the item, looking up at the Venezuelan horizon, and says . .'Ok, elf. You win.' It was very touching. Jason also wrote this one, with Davide Gianfelice doing the art. I actually started to get teary eyed near the end of this one. But don't tell anybody I said that. Again, this is the final issue in this series so that we can get ready for the launch of the Wolverine-family of books next month.

Wolverine Origins #50 - Marvel

Next month not only does Wolverine restart his own book, but . . he's about to have his own family of books also. There's the solo book, plus Daken's title. Not to mention Laura, X-23's title. Plus the myriad mini-series and one shots that he'll be involved in. The first being Wolverine: Road to Hell. So, it seems that this issue was a way of Logan kind of clearing up his past before he moves on to all of that. We saw last issue that he went out to the woods to get away from everything, but when Nick Fury shows up, and mentions that it's his birthday . . all of his old programming seems to kick in. But as Logan's discovered lately, not only does he have the programming of Weapon X to worry about, but . . he's also got everything that Romulus has drilled into his head over the years. What he comes to realize this issue, thanks to the influence of all the various women that he's fallen in love with over the years . . the truly bright moments that he's had . . what he learns is that the future is forever changing. It's a blank canvas written to be drawn. And if he keeps looking to his past before making his decisions for the future, he's going to end up in the same place he's always been. Logan has decided that it's time to change his path. Maybe not a lot, but . . even a little bit counts. Past actions do not define future behavior. Unless you let it. And Logan has decided that he's tired of falling into that trap. The main thing I'm going to miss about this book is Daniel Way's thought provoking stories. I'm sure he'll end up someplace else, but . . it won't be here. That's kind of sad. I've really enjoyed his stories over the last couple of years. Will Conrad steps in for the art this issue. This has been a great series. And we've learned a lot about Logan through it. It's a shame it's reached it's end.

X-Men Legacy #238 and #239 - Marvel

We start out issue #238 with a few of the X-Men heading to Mumbai. Specifically Victor, Alani, Paras, Rogue and Magneto. Paras' parents have arranged a marriage between Paras' brother and a young woman, Viapala. Paras' parents live in a 15th century castle and . . there's a lot of upkeep that needs to be maintained. It's starting to become a burden on the family. Viapala's family is very influential, so . . the union would help out their situation tremendously. The problem is, these electrical storms have been popping up around the city, and when they do . . some of the people go into a coma, of sorts. We find out later that somehow their energy is blocking their brainwaves. Anyways, this has happened to Paras' brother, so . . obviously he can't complete the union. So . . Paras' Pita has asked him to do it. He's not happy about it, but . . obligation to family comes first. Viapala also doesn't seem happy about it, but . . she's keep her reluctance under wraps. Anyways, we also find out that there's a side dimension, the Corridor, in which rests a city. That city seems to consist of all super-powered people. And somehow they all seem to play a part in it's existence. A young girl from there, Luz, escapes to our world. Rogue came along as a chaperon to the kids, but the reason Magneto came was because he could sense the flux in the EM fields that were coming from this area. We find out later that it's because of the Corridor, and the position of the city in relation to Mumbai. Somehow the energies are overlapping into our world and creating these storms. Anyways, this Luz girl escapes into our world and her 'sister', Corregidora, sends some Servidors out to get her. We find out at the end of this issue that those Servidors are actually Sentinels that have been re-tasked to manual labor. By the way, they also have a Master Mold in this dimension. Anyways, issue #238 ends with the X-Men finding Luz, because of the energy flux that follows her, and then standing at the feet of these Servidors who are hot on her heels. Issue #239 starts out with the X-Men fighting these Sentinels and quickly taking them down. It seems that the energies in this other dimension are extremely corrosive to the Sentinels, and weakened them tremendously. Magneto and Rogue are very suspicious of Luz, and are trying to get information about her home out of her. There's also the whole thing about Paras and his marriage going on in the background. But if the X-Men can figure this out, maybe they can 'fix' these people that have gone into the comas. Which in turn would release Paras of his obligations. Anyways, the 'reveal' this issue is at the end when Corregidora decides to assemble a squad and go after her 'sister'. When she gets a view of the X-Men earlier, we see that she's got some kind of grudge against them. But we don't know why. At the end, when they come for Luz, they announce themselves as 'the Children of the Vault'. Aren't those those mutants that were hyper-evolutionized in that floating tanker way back when? I wondered what ever happened to them. Remember, they lived liked 1000 years in one of ours? Or something like that. I wonder why they're coming back now. It's been a few years since we've heard from them. Anyways, these issues were brought to us by Mike Carey and Clay Mann. I thought they were pretty cool. That's one of the things I like about the X-Men. They have all of this stuff in their past and you just never know when some of it's going to reach out and bite them right in the ass. Mike also spent a little bit of time in these issues having Rogue and Magneto sort out their uncomfortable relationship . . at least for Rogue it is. Anyways, the beautiful covers were by Leinil Francis Yu. They're both incredible.

Uncanny X-Men #526 - Marvel

In this issue the X-Men begin watching 'the Five Lights'. They're the new gen-actives that Cerebro picked up shortly after Hope arrived. Well . . I guess I should say, shortly after the X-Men defeated Bastion and they could finally return to Utopia and call it home. Anyways, the problem they're having is . . nothing is really happening. Sure there's some physical things that are happening to them . . hair falling out, different sensations throughout the body, and general confusion over what is happening to them. But overall, the X-Men don't really want to get involved, other that making sure they're safe and waiting to see what happens. They are confused though because most of these people are in their late teens. Most of the X-Men's powers activated shortly after adolescence. So Scott feels that the mutant race is still . . mutating. Anyways, while they're keeping an eye on the kids around the world, Hope has gone to Alaska in search of her parents . . her biological parents. There's no clue as to her father, but she finds her mother, and that she died in the fire at the hospital. The X-Men help her find extended family . . a grandmother. And they arrange a meeting between them at her mother's grave. They end up talking and she finds out who her mother really was . . a person who wanted to help people, a fire-fighter, and overall a pretty good person to be around. Hope returns from Alaska in a much better mood, and feeling a lot better about Scott. On their way back, Bobby calls from Vancouver. The girl they're watching is starting to lose it. She's on top of a building getting ready to jump off because she's confused about what's happening to her. So Hope and her entourage go over to offer back-up. Here's what happens. The girl freaks out and decides to jump off the roof. Hope, probably from her recent enthusiasm, decides to jump after her. When they connect, Hope's arms start to glow. It appears that this activates the girl's powers. She begins to fly. When they land back on the roof, she has a completely different attitude. "It was . . it feel good. Because I feel . . I feel . . I feel brand new. From the inside out. I feel brand new. My life is a disaster . . as of this exact second. Okay? A total disaster. I have, like, six finals and . . and I swear to god I'll follow you wherever you go. Whenever you go there. I'm Laurie. Thank you for saving me.' Hope turns to Rogue and says, 'Who's next?' Overall I thought it was a pretty cool story by Matt Fraction and Whilce Portacio. Hope definitely got to feel some 'highs' on this day. Oh yeah, also Dr Rao, Piotr and Madison Jeffries are trying to figure out how to cure Kitty. They think that she stayed in her altered state for so long . . she simply forgot how to turn back. So now it's just a waiting game. In the backup story, by Allan Heinberg and Olivier Coipel we see the X-Men rebuilding Utopia. Magneto wants to help, but Nemesis suggests against it. And then he tells him about the Young Avengers. Specifically, Wiccan and Speed. They think that they may be his grand-kids. Their names are William and Thomas, just like Wanda's boys. But the problem is, Wanda's boys were made up magically. While the resemblance is uncanny, nobody else believes that it's really them. Magneto decides to help in the rebuilding effort . . to try to get his mind off of things. But in the process, he finds a picture of Wanda's boys. No matter what anybody else says, I don't think he's going to give up on this. This story is continues in Avengers: the Children's Crusade #1, but . . I won't be buying that one. I've got enough books in my pile. I'm sure we'll hear about what happens back here in the X-Men books. Anyways, overall I thought it was a really good book. I enjoyed it. Terry Dodson does the cover.

X-Factor #207 - Marvel

All of X-Factor is back together again, and . . they're all in New York City. There's some repercussions from the Second Coming story-line that they still have to deal with . . like Baron Mordo's deal with Monet. She promised him that if he helped them all get back home that he would let him use whatever part of her powers he needed to get himself back to health. He's dying of cancer. Well, Monet is a person of her word, but . . she also knows that Mordo is a very evil person. So she creates the illusion, in his mind, that she's done exactly what she said she would. In his mind's eye, he is better and looks 10 years younger. But, like I said, it's all just an illusion. Monet is hoping that by the time it wears off, or he figures out what's going on, the disease will ravage his body and he'll just pass away. But you just know that this is going to come back to bite them in the butt sooner or later. Anyways, during all of this, the team is hired by a very handsome seductress to go after a man. She's got a Hammer of Thor necklace, but . . it's a fake. She wants X-Factor to retrieve the original from the man who stole it. However when they do get it, they find out that this guy is actually just an imp, and the necklace appears to have been masquerading his appearance. He's quite upset and he talks about the woman being a Goddess. I'm guessing Loki, but . . I might be wrong. Anyways, Rictor and Shatterstar also make some headway sorting out their relationship. But . . just as things start to get normal . . well, more normal than before . . Rahne shows up. And it appears that she's pregnant. This was another great issue by Peter David. But . .he knows these characters better than anybody, and it definitely shows. Sebastian Fiumara does the art, and . . it looks fantastic. Now that Second Coming is over, this team can get back to some of their own story-lines. And Peter can do what he does best . . pull this group across the nails and through the glass and kicking and screaming into their own future. That is what he's doing. Right?

New Mutants #15 - Marvel

I really liked this issue because the team is all back together. And . . unlike the issues of Second Coming, this issue focus' on this books characters. Instead of the entire spectrum of the X-Men. These characters are who I buy this book for . . it's who I want to see. Unfortunately, I don't know how long all of this is going to last. When the New Mutants went to limbo to find Illyana, the US Government, with some nudging from Bastion, I'm sure . . they sent a team of soldiers in after the mutants. They included General Ulysses and Doctor Noc. The problem is . . things in Limbo don't work the same as they do here. Including the passage of time. So, not only were these soldiers changed . . we don't know if they were given powers, or if they just picked up some magical influence along the way, but . . they were gone from Earth for 2 years, but to them they were in there for 20 years fighting and trying to survive. And the General especially seems to have a very big chip on his shoulder when it comes to Illyana. So, while the New Mutants are trying to recover from all the things that have happened to them over the previous few months, General Ulysses is forming a plan to get Illyana into his custody. Sam takes everyone away for a weekend get-away. They need to talk, and relax, and just be together. But we also see the General taking action. We think he's coming after Illyana, but really . . he's gone straight after Pixie. I guess he thought he's pick off the one that's by herself. But Illyana can tell that somethings wrong. She just doesn't know what it is . . yet. The issue ends with the General and his team capturing Pixie. He's got Pixie's blade. 'You're right . . it's not the soul sword. But . . it will do.' Like I said, it's good to see the whole team all back together, but . . I don't think they're going to be coming out of this one the same way they go in to it. I have a feeling that this is going to change the team irrevocably. Zeb Wells does a great job with the story on this one. I know they're bad guys, but . . I really like this group, Delta Black. They're some very interesting characters. Plus, really . . they're just reacting to everything that they experienced in Limbo . . for 20 years. Leonard Kirk does a great job with the art. And the amazing cover is by Dave Wilkins. I can't wait to see what happens next.

X-Force: Sex and Violence #1 - Marvel

This issue opens up the story and sets the stage. Basically, Domino had done some work for the Assassin's Guild . . without actually realizing whom she was working for . . that put her in direct conflict with the Hand. This all happened a while ago, but . . this day the Guild has decided that it's time to come after Domino and settle their debts. So, of course . . she comes running straight to X-Force. I mean . . who else is she going to go to. Anyways, her story is . . they hired her because the Hand was running guns through the Gulf. This was the Guild's territory, so they weren't very happy about that. So, as she's doing what she's told she finds out that the Hand is actually trafficking in human slaves . . young Asian women. So she cuts her losses. She leaves the Guild hanging, and . . she takes the Hand's shipment of girls and gets them out of the bayou. The only problem is . . Domino isn't being completely above board with her story. Later she and Logan are attacked by the Guild. They make pretty short work of their soldiers. However, they've brought an enforcer with them, and he says he's come for payback. 'NEENA!! Where's the money!!' Apparently Domino stole a little more from them than just the girls. This was another cool X-Force story by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. I guess this will fill in for the interim until they get their new title . . and new team. Josh is here to help them this issue, but really he's about the only one we see. I thought it was a good story . . or beginning to one. We'll see how the next 2 issues play out. Also, Gabriele Dell'Otto did an incredible job with the art. What is it about this book that brings out the best in it's artists? Anyways . . I can't wait to see what happens next.

X-Men: Hellbound #3 - Marvel

This one pretty much ends the way we expect it to, but . . it was still a pretty cool ride along the way. I thought Chris Yost did a good job with the story. And Harvey Tolibao's pencils this issue . . the some help from Tom Raney . . were simply fantastic. The story was pretty cool, but . . the art was amazing. There are some really cool pictures in this issue. I especially liked Harvey's interpretation of Illyana and Megan. They're really two sides of the same coin . . who share an intimate connection, since Illyana has a piece of her soul. But despite the prodding that N'Astirh has been pushing on to Megan, she still fights for Illyana. 'She's an X-man. That's what we do!' We also see that Remy has given in to his Death persona . . as appropriated to him via Apocalypse . . or, it's come to the forefront because of the influence of this realm. Regardless, during the course of this story he's decided that he wants to be the ruler of Limbo. It was a pretty cool gambit . . pun intended . . that resulting in Sam stepping up and showing us that he's still one of the strongest X-Men there is. We've gotten used to him being his 'aw-shucks', hayseed self lately. But we're reminded that he was actually trained by Nathan . . to be a soldier. Anyways, in the end, the team rescues Illyana with minimal casualties. She's once again the ruler of Limbo, but I think she's a little more tolerant of the X-Men now. I think the piece of Megan's soul that she possesses may actually be helping her. She's never been 'social', but . . I think she's found some friends in these young X-Men that keep stepping up to the plate for her. I thought it was a good issue and a great series. I'm interested to see what the aftereffects on these characters will be though. Especially Remy. And hopefully Illyana will have a more prominent role in the New Mutants title.

X-Men Forever 2 #3 - Marvel

Well . . as I suspected the X-men are indeed still alive and well. I know . . not really a big leap there. We all knew something was up. Anyways, I'm assuming through Nick Fury's SHIELD clearance, they've taken the entire mansion and grounds and secured it within a tesseract field . . they're just out of sync with reality . . by a fraction of a second. But it was a necessary step if they want to be able to challenge the Consortium. They have to stay out of the spotlight for now. Anyways, at the end of last issue we saw that Spider-man had found Nightcrawler . . er, Rogue swashbuckling around town. After chasing her down for a while he finally convinces her to talk and they have a night on the town . . busting heads and taking names. But back at the mansion Nick and Scott are concerned because if anyone were to see her, it would blow their cover. And they have a right to be concerned because Sigrid Trask, in her new position as the director of SHIELD, has sent a squad a Sentinels into New York City to keep on a constant patrol for mutants. But regardless . . Scott sends Jean, Kurt and Kitty into the city to retrieve Rogue. And, as expected, they come into a direct confrontation with the mutant-hunting Sentinels. They hold their own, and probably would've made a clean get-away, but . . they end up getting some help from an old friend that helps to assure their victory. It appears that Mystique has come to their aid. Why? 'I'm here to join the X-Men!' We've heard that spiel before. I wonder what she's up to this time? I think Chris Claremont has done an excellent job of keeping us guessing with this series. It's definitely been exciting and adventurous. So far I really like the feel that he's given this book . . and these characters. And so far Tom Grummett has done the pencils for the first 3 issues. I really like his work. It's very upbeat. Anyways . . I'm sold on this series. If you're not reading it . . I don't know what else to tell you, other than that you're really missing out on some good stuff.

Uncanny X-Men: the Heroic Age #1 - Marvel

Like some of the previous X-Men mini-series . . this issue gives us the story of 3 different X-Men. Specifically . . Cyclops, Beast and Hope. But rather than have 3 separate stories . . they have these 3 intertwined throughout the book. All stories are written by Matt Fraction, but . . the Cyclops story is drawn by Whilce Portacio. First of all I want to say . . Whilce's artwork looks fantastic on this story. Probably the best I've seen from him in quite a while. Anyways, the story starts out with he and Beast fighting over the semantics of what Scott has done to win this current struggle. Afterwards, he heads off to the Savage Land to blow off a little steam. Surprisingly, Steve Rogers finds him there. Steve wants Scott to take the positive press . . the images of the X-Men saving San Francisco, and use them as a launching pad to put the X-Men back in the spotlight . . the positive spotlight. Although Scott is a little reluctant, Steve is nothing if not persuasive. And he starts out with a very public viewing of the President giving Scott the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In Beast's story, drawn by Steve Sanders, while waiting for his new girlfriend, he comes across a rather inquisitive young mutant . . Molly Hayes . . Bruiser, or Princess Power. The interaction between these two is fantastic. And I think they've both given each other something to think about. Finally, in Hope's story . . drawn by Jamie McKelvie, Hope goes to Manhattan to undergo some testing by Mr Fantastic. At Scott's request, Reed is running a full diagnostic on Hope to make sure that she's prepared for her life in the 21st century. The best part of this story though is her interaction with Franklin. Franklin relates to her. Like her, he is someone that everybody is always looking at and expecting great things from. It's a little disconcerting, and daunting. And in Hope I think he sees someone he can relate to on a level playing field. Well . . there is the age difference, but . . I think he's thinking as far as expectations and potential. Anyways, their little encounter prods Hope to think about her parents . . her actual parents. She was afterall born in a hospital in Cooperstown Alaska. There should have been a birth-mother, and father, somewhere in the vicinity. So . . she's decided she's going to go looking for them. Overall I thought it was a good issue. I think it's main purpose was to show that the X-Men are indeed trying to move forward in a positive direction. They've had to do some things in their recent struggle that they wouldn't normally do, but . . everybody is allowed a new start. Right? So they've decided that they're going to put all of that behind them and move forward in a more positive, 'heroic' direction. All I can say is . . good luck with that. Unfortunately bad things always seem to have a way of finding the X-Men. And most of the situations they find themselves in . . aren't always black & white. I hope the best for them, but . . it's going to be a serious struggle.They're setting out to change the opinion of . . well, the entire world. They've definitely got their work cut out for them.

X-Men: Second Coming #2 - Marvel

This was a fantastic issue. And a great way to wrap up this storyline. It's presented in 4 chapters . . I assume by the creative talent responsible for the various X-books. Chapter one is by Zeb Wells and Ibraim Roberson. Chapter 2 - Mike Carey and Esad Ribic. Chapter 3 - Craig Kyle & Chris Yost, with Greg Land doing the art. And Chapter 4 by Matt Fraction and Terry Dodson. Not to mention the awesome covers by Adi Granov and David Finch. A stellar creative team if ever there was one assembled. This issue basically wraps up everything, while at the same time giving us hints of what the future of the X-Men hold. In chapter one we see Hope, Scott, and the rest of the X-Men dealing with thier losses . . Nathan, Kurt, and others. As well as each of their own personal losses . . some physically . . some emotionally. It was very moving, and very poignant. In chapter 2, Hope is thinking back to her time with Nathan . . her father. He wasn't actually her father, but . . he was the only father figure she knew for her entire existence. He literally protected her with his life since the day she was born. Who could ask for a better father than that? The funeral scene was especially moving. We also see how some of the other mutants . . the younger ones, are reacting to Hope's presence. They've all been waiting for this day for quite a while, but they're more scared of her than in awe. Also Scott takes Rogue off of active duty. Chapter 3 is some defining moments in a few personal relationships. First Ororo, having found out about X-Force is appalled and in disgust of both Scott and Logan. Especially when she finds out that they don't much regret anything that they had to do. In fact . . both of them would probably do it over. It's probably the last time she'll talk to either of them . . for quite a while. Meanwhile Logan cuts the strings with Laura. He wants her to go out on her own . . find her own life. He wants her to stop living on someone else's agenda. The problem is . . she doesn't have the faintest idea where to start. And Logan and Scott cut their strings . . as far as X-Force is concerned. It's finished . . they did what they had to do. Now Scott just wants to move on and give the X-Men a dream again. The problem here is . . Logan hasn't given up on the team. In fact it now consists of Fantomex, Archangel, Psylocke and Deadpool. 'This is X-Force. There's only one rule . . No one can know!' And finally in Chapter 4 we see that everybody is moving on . . either with the X-Men, or away from them. Namor and Hank are both leaving. While Emma has reverted to her diamond form because she's tired of feeling so much. And when she goes to see Hope . . she swears that she sees the Phoenix Force in the fire around her. But when she tries to warn Scott . . it falls on deaf ears because he's staring at Cerebro and seeing the realization of their dream . . there's new X-genes being activated all over the globe. Although he's been second guessing himself the last few days, he looks at Emma and says, 'We were right!' And that's really what this whole book comes down to. They beat Bastion . . they came through the war . . a little worse for wear, but . . their dreams, their hopes, their goal . . the re-ignition of the mutant race has been achieved. My only question is . . how is Nathan going to come back? I mean, you know he's going to be back sooner or later. Most likely it'll be a younger version of him, but . . he'll be back. I thought this was an excellent issue and a great way to wrap up this story. I couldn't have hoped for more. Now we just have to wait and see where the X-Men go from here. I have a feeling we're only getting started.

X-Force #28 - Marvel

Reading this book, I'm kind of morose knowing that it'll shortly be coming to it's conclusion. But I'm sure that doesn't mean that we won't see these characters in action again . . soon. Probably just not under this banner. Anyways this is the final chapter of Second Coming. Well, except for the Second Coming #2 issue, and the last issue of the Hellbound mini-series. But basically . . this is it. At the end of the last chapter we saw Cable coming through the portal from the future. As I suspected it was because of the techno-organic virus. But not Doug's. It appears that Cable let his own run rampant through is system. Anyways, they all make it through . . hurt and damaged. But shortly after Hope sees Cable blow up in front of her. The only thing left is his arm. Which really pisses her off. So when Bastion attacks, she takes it all out on him. Which apparently triggers her powers. We don't know exactly what they are, yet, but . . it appears that she's got some kind of energy manipulation. She can expel it from her hands, her eyes, and it looks like in the form of a shield or barrier. Long story short . . she takes down Bastion, which then takes down the dome over San Francisco. At the end, when the Avengers and the X-Club come to see what's happened, she's floating over the Golden Gate Bridge . . probably adjusting to her powers, and . . everyone else is just standing in awe looking at her. We can pretty much tell from this story how everything is going to turn out. But . . I'm guessing that Second Coming #2 will provide the definitive answers, setting the stage for the future of the X-Men. I thought it was a good issue. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost did a good job with the story. And Mike Choi's art looked fantastic. I would say he's gotten as good, or better than Clayton Crain. But that's a discussion for another time. I'm going to be sad to see this book go. But . . I'm also excited about what the future has in store for all of these characters. I'm sure there definitely won't be a lack of entertainment or excitement.