So when deciding which comic to review each week, it’s always a challenge to pick one from the pile because I usually have at least something I want to say about each one, not usually enough to write a whole review, but I feel all pent up without somewhere to get these opinions out. Of course I could write up a blog about it, but if I wrote an article every time I had a thought or opinion then the site would be overloaded, I think. So here’s my solution:
Welcome to Flash Review!
Each week from now on, in addition to my weekly review, I’ll also be doing a BRIEF review write-up of everything from my Pull List. So here we go, the Flash Review from 8/24/11.
Astonishing X-men #41 – I have to be honest, this story is a bit boring for me. I am all for mixing it up and throwing other FF villains at the X-men, but Monster Island and Mentallo? FAIL! And the worst part is that this is supposed to be the real story and “Meanwhile” is like a side story, but its way more interesting! Could be because I am not that into Armor, seems like a new Kitty or Jubilee…and we didn’t need one!
Fear Itself: Youth in Revolt – I didn’t read much (or almost any) of Avengers: The Initiative so I don’t know these characters too well, but if you were going to jump on board with these young heroes and get to know them: THIS IS THE SERIES! You don’t have to know the Initiative, Young Allies or anything else to follow the story, and Sean McKeever is doing an amazing job of showing the turmoil and anguish that these neophytes are feeling as they struggle to hold their own in a war that the veterans are struggling and dying in! AMAZING TIE-IN!
The Iron Age: Omega – Well this turned out to be quite a disappointment. I’m sorry Marvel but you don’t just throw out words like “Dark Phoenix returns” without something really good planned to back it up. This entire time traveling mess seemed sloppy and thrown together, and Phoenix barely made any appearances in the entire thing. The premise was flimsy and the group of heroes wasn’t drawn together by any interesting or special circumstances, Tony gathered them because he saw them on the Phantom’s monitors…but they were only on the monitors because in every alternate reality Tony called them…because they were already on the monitors. There’s just some really haphazard time traveling and storytelling happening in this entire story. I guess no matter how hard they try, we will never get another Dark Phoenix Saga.
New Mutants #30 – Fear Itself trudges on, but this is one of the more interesting tie-in storylines. I have really enjoyed the Valkyrie/Hela/Moonstar business that’s been going on since Siege and love the return of Brightwind. I don’t really think that it was necessary to get Mephisto involved though. In an already confusing and convoluted bringing him in just to ask Magma out on a date seemed a little silly (although I always enjoy big showings of her own bad-assness”. I DO love how seamlessly X-man has folded into the team. He’s a great new addition to a team that has barely changed roster much in over 20 year and a much better team mate then Xi’an “I quit the team every time something else pops up” Coy Mahn. I’m still a little unclear exactly what Dani is fighting and why, but I am intrigued enough to NOT hate yet another Fear Itself book.
Uncanny X-Force #13 – WOW. Just...WOW. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this return trip to the Age of Apocalypse, but it has yet to disappoint! Seeing all these iconic versions of our favorite characters again has been thrilling! Forget the quest for the Life Seed! Watching Logan struggle with trying to save not just any old survivors but his best friend and the love of his life AGAIN is heart breaking. And to watch AOA Jean/Phoenix take the choice right out from under him as she reminds him “I’m not your Jeanie…I’m his” and throws him and all the other 616 mutants through the portal because it wasn’t their fight, was painful to watch. I am intrigued about a few things by the end of the book though: 1) How does Nightcrawler get there (since we know he does from recent teasers) if they already came back through the portal and 2) Is that really Holocaust we see at the end there!?
X-men (Vol. 3) #16 – Eh…this continues to be a lackluster and somewhat BLEH book. Every issue seems to further prove that we don’t need ANOTHER X-men book (you know in addition to Uncanny, Astonishing, Legacy, and the upcoming Wolverine & the X-men). Now that being said, this issue DID have some really great highlights to it. Valeria’s “It wasn’t me…but it could have been” attitude? Amazing! Thing and Wolverine’s exchange about Doom and Magneto? CLASSIC!! And bringing Lee Forrester back in the mix with Magneto, Cyclops, AND Emma (aka the New Girl in Cyclops’ life)? NOT TO BE MISSED!! These few elements alone will keep me interested in this storyline but I still say we don’t need the X-tra X-book.
X-men Legacy #254 – This was ok. Definitely seemed like a decent opening for what COULD be a great story, so I’ll excuse the slow moving-ness of this first issue. Lots of set up for the next few issues here. I would have liked to have seen more of Alex, Lorna and Rachel but again I think this was mostly setting them up for #255. And I guess I wasn’t watching closely back when Magneto accepted Polaris as family, but it really meant a lot to me to hear him refer to her as his daughter. I think it shows that this is more than just a standard rescue mission for him and he has more at stake. I’m less interested in the whole civil war aspect of what’s going on and really not interested the whole Bug People part of it, but I supposed that they had to frame the rescue mission with something! Oh and Rogue’s little group of people? Stupid! Not only are they basically caricatures, but Mike Carey had the audacity to pull out the Arin’nn Haelar! I’m sorry but that is sacred and only to be used in extreme situations, not for Rogue to pull a power play. I am sure that she could have thought of something else… Overall this storyline shows promise and the important part is that the Starjammers make it back to earth.
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