Review: All New X-men #16

All New X-men #16

All new X-men 16 is the second installment of the battle of the atom event and its a good one. It picks up right where the Battle of the Atom #1 left off and and sees  the future x-men coming to warn their past counterparts about the repercussions of letting the past x-men stay in the present.

RECAP

The books briefly looks into how Old Cyclops and his team are taking the recent sentinel attacks and particularly how the new healer kid (still cant recall his name) is dealing with his powers as he has possible not just healed Cyclops but raised him from the dead.

Review: Battle of The Atom #1

Battle of The Atom #1

Twas a fantastic start to the fall crossover that sets the stage for what looks like a promising event.

RECAP

The book opens showing Illyana  taking a trip to the future to see the outcome of the presence of the present day mutants. We get a glimpse of the future x-men in battle with several sentinels.The rest of the story jumps in on what I  guess is an average day at JGS. Bendis continues to give delightful little looks into the time displaced youngsters’ interactions and adjustment to the JGS. Baby Iceman’s about to start a cafeteria foodfight when Cerebro alerts Kitty to a new, powerful, mutant. Kitty and the original mutants go out to get a handling it. The mutant just so happens to be a “career criminal” who suddenly realized she could conjure dragons and started wreaking havoc. 

The team doesn't even get to deal with her enough before sentinels show up! And shortly after that its old cyclops (in an incredible display of his…. different… powers) and his team to the rescue. They all manage to contain the sentinels but not before young Cyclops gets hit. He almost dies (or DID die), at which point old cyclops vanishes without a trace from the scene, but is brought back in time by the new healer, at which point old cyclops reappears.

Review: X-factor #262

X-factor #262

This issue was a quaint ending to the arc, and the title I’ve been following since it first began. Yup, this is one of the few titles I actually started from its first release and followed all through to the ending.

RECAP

This installment of the arc kicks of with Layla, living in the Madrox family old home, discovering that she’s pregnant, two years too soon, ‘cause, you know, she’s Layla Miller and she’s supposed to know stuff, future stuff.

Shortly after she’s visited by weird ghostly future Tryp who’s having an issue with another version of himself. Long story short, Tryp has mysterious issues with Layla that’s connected to this other him as well and he calls his goons, who happen to be law men, to evict her from the house, where nobody knows she’s keeping demonic Madrox in the basement.

Review: Wolverine and The X-men #35

Wolverine and The X-men #35

I’m fighting so hard to understand how the writer and creators of this title expertly fit so much action, adventure, twists and fun - that have you on the edge of your seat, eyes wide open trying not to miss anything- in 22 pages. It’s unfathomable and yet it was done. The end of the Hellfire Saga was an immensely satisfying read.

RECAP (very abbreviated because too much happens for me to write down)

Quentidie (Quentin and Idie) continue fighting their way out of the Hellfire Academy. Toad beats the skin off of husk, till she comes to her senses. JGS teachers >>> Hellfire teachers. Kade doesn’t get offed by his friends, now turned enemies, because no Hellfire weapon can be used against him.

Before the JGS staff can get their students out Kade and Philistine puts the whole school on lockdown; no one gets in and no one gets out.

Review: Ultimate Comics Spider Man #26

Ultimate Comics Spider Man #26

Ultimate Spiderman still continues to intrigue me. It’s a good read. This issue is a little off the usual Miles wagon and dives into Bombshell’s history.

RECAP

This issue goes back and forth between mommy Bombshell’s story and daughter Bombshell’s current predicament. In short, mommy Bombshell was in prison when Roxxon approached her getting her released so they could carry out experiments to turn her into the next “Captain America” and put them lightyears ahead of Oscorp. It’s the usual experiment gone awry.

As it turns out there are a few other people Roxxon had experimented on, Cloak and Dagger got the list and went on hunt for them (not sure why) and that’s why they were after Bombshell. Spiderman and Spidergirl finally catches up with the you Bombshell. They just want to help her, but they dont catch up to her too soon before Roxxons hired mercenary The Taskmaster catches up to them.

WHAT I LIKED ?

This...

I’m glad that the comic has moved a little from being centred around Miles although I was expecting a bit more character development around this older Miles before the title moved into a story like this. I enjoyed exploring Bombshell’s history and seeing how it ties in with Cloak and Dagger’s. Obviously Roxxon has a lot coming to them first creating so many superhumans and then making the mistake of going after them and capturing super heroes to boot.

There Is a gentleman among the panels who appears to be some incarnation of Mr. Sinister working for Roxxon. He looks nothing like the Sinister I remember from the earlier Ultimate X-men days, so it would be interesting to find out later on who and what he is as well as who and what the monster who duelled it out with Cloak and Dagger in the last issue’s flashbacks (if any f you know drop it in the comments).

I just really liked the story over all, the art was great and it was a good read.

WHAT DIDN’T I LIKE?

Well, as I said before I was kind of expecting the title to be a little more Miles-centric and was looking forward to getting to know more about older Miles and how he’s dealing with being back in a costume and his life general but I’m still okay with the turn the the story has taken.

Seeing things like this (possibly) new Sinister always get me just a minuscule bit on edge since I already know who and what the Ultimate Universe’s Sinister is supposed to be. However, I have faith that whoever that Mr. Sinister is It’ll be quite interesting to find out in the long run what the logical explanation behind him is (kinda like faux Psylocke in UCXM).

I give this issue an 8

Review: Young Avengers #9

Young Avengers #9

Well it would appear my theories were right… sorta.. well… close enough. This issue of Young Avengers continues to entertain in its typical refreshingly young and fun fashion. It follows the outcome of the Hulkling/Prodigy lip lock and Loki’s awkward run in.

RECAP

We start off right where we left off in the last issue. Post kiss, Prodigy is embarrassed and runs off.

The story then jumps right over to Leah’s side of the multiverse. She only manages to tell the team who she is “Leah of Hel” and brushes them aside telling them to leave her be. Loki doesn't seem to want to tell them much either (hiding a lot obviously) and proceeds to lead them out of  Leah’s world.

Prodigy finally gets a talking to Hulkling and as it turns out he’s bi (close enough) and didn't come to this realization (or so it would seem) until he was absorbing everyone’s knowledge and, as it would seem, also their sexual preferences(?). He didn't want to die without having experienced at least kissing a guy and Hulking was the perfect candidate as he seems to be the perfect boyfriend to Billy. “Who wouldn't want a slice of that?”. Hulkling explains that things aren't as perfect as they seem and tells him about the concerns he has about his relationship with Billy. Prodigy gives him some advice saying maybe he should get some space from Billy.

Eventually when the rest of the team gets back to evil mommy's dimension they bring along with them a hoard of badass versions of themselves from the multiverse to attack the parasite (or maybe Loki conjured them?). This gives them enough time to escape, rescuing Hulking and Prodigy, but not before evil tentacle mom points out that Hawkeye is almost eighteen now. They back to 616 where they briefly encounter doppelganger Patriot before he disappears again.

They are back to analyzing their situations over noodles. Later on Billy tells Tedd all about what happened and they decide to spend some time apart… Even further later on it would seem that Hulkling has turned to Leah of all persons for advice.

WHAT I LIKED ?

Everything really.

I wasn't so far off thinking that what happened with Hulking and Prodigy was more as a means of helping Hulking forward in the issues that he’s been having in his relationship more so than a big reveal of Prodigy’s sexuality.

During noodles Loki finally explained something that happened two issues ago saying that Billy is “a singular multidimensional messiah” and I can’t wait to see how that pans out as America’s issue with Billy.

Leah… Leah Leah Leah… both her dialogue at the beginning and at the end of the book seem to hint and some vengeance afoot. Any JIM fans care to explain?

What’s gonna happen when Hawkeye turns eighteen?

All in all.. there’s a lot going on with the story and plot in this title and I'm quite pleased with how everything is playing out thus far. Usually I like for things to happen a little faster, but I find the pacing pretty good for now.

Hats off again to the artwork.

WHAT DIDNT I LIKE?

*shrugs*

I give it an 8