Otherworld War - Review Uncanny X-Force #21

                Jesus, remember in Excalibur (Vol. 1) when the Captain Britain Corps was a bunch of limey blokes who hung around Otherworld, a kooky land where magic reigned and Merlin occasionally caused his silly mischief?  Yeah well that’s over.  This isn’t your parents Otherworld kids!  In this new magical realm we have warring factions, a brutal Captain Britain Corp who does just punish criminals but erases them from existence, and a sane Jaime Braddock has more than a little bit of influence.  Also Deadpool still has no head following his decapitation last issue.  The best part of this issue is that it gave us an update of where some of our ole English favorites are lately.

                I’ll be the first to admit that I didn’t read the MI:13 title when it was running so I might be a little bit behind on my Captain Britain and Meggan history, but I know all about him ruling Otherworld and her being Gloriana and what not.  What I didn’t know was what happened to Saturnyne and Widget in the last bunch of years!  Truth be told I only picked up the entire original run of Excalibur (issues #1-70) like a year or two ago, so all the stories involving these two character are relatively fresh for me and it was exciting to see them around again.  For Widget it was nice to see him (or, more accurately, her since Widget is technically the spirit of Kitty Pryde from the future, but that’s a much longer story then I have space/time for now) returned to his former floating head form again, and I hope that we see more of him/her before the storyline ends.  As for Saturnyne, well I was a bit taken aback by her whole involvement in the situation.  I mean, she was always yelling about punishing this one or that one and threatening to erase Earth-616 from the multi-verse, but to be honest they always seemed like idle threats used mostly to motivate Captain Britain or Excalibur into action.  Like back at the end of the Cross-Time Caper, after having Phoenix chased across England and the timestream, she clearly wasn’t fooled by a simple “Kitty Pryde” disguise.  She chose to let the Phoenix host go free, but yet she’s going to have Fantomex from reality for shooting a kid that MAY have grown up to be Apocalypse?  And as for the strange phenomenon of him being the only Fantomex in any reality…well so what?  That’s just another trait that he and Rachel Summers have in common.  I think there’s more going on here than just his shooting of Apocalypse Jr., and I bet Jaime has something to do with it…

                And is it me or did Otherworld suddenly get much larger and more brutal??  In the past, the most we’ve seen of this mystical realm was the Elysium Fields surrounding the Starlight Citadel but all of a sudden we are getting a new look at this ethereal realm complete with evil forests, ram-headed evil mystics, and Besty Braddock siding against her brothers and the entire Corps. On the bright side we also got to see Besty in the guise of Lady Britain, which we haven’t been seen since the late 70’s-early 80’s.  I’ve never seen the land of Otherworld take on such a brutal tone and rely so heavily on physical force rather than magic. Even the supposed erasure of Fantomex is uncharacteristically brutal when we’ve certainly heard of characters being “erased” using a spell or some other less violent method.  Needles into his brain just seemed to be a be unnecessary in my humble opinion.

                Overall this was a great second chapter to this arc.  We had some updates on some old favorites, and an expansion on a long standing world not to mention revisiting an old look for a popular character.  I am not sure that I like the brutal tone that the writers are giving to this once light hearted and magical world but I still give them lots of points for creativity.  I’m also not completely sold on the art; Greg Tocchini’s art rings a bit cartoony for my taste but still, he rendered the character very well.  On the other hand, it was nice to see Nightcrawler’s reaction to other people mistaking him for his counterpart softening a bit.  He was far too caustic originally so it’s nice to see him relaxing into his new life better.  Thus far, I think this arc is off to a great start, and I can’t wait to see what’s going on and if Jaime is secretly still completely insane.

The Curtain Falls - Review Uncanny X-men #544

And there you have it, Uncanny X-men (Vol. 1) is officially history.  Marvel has finally pulled the plug on its longest unbroken run.  Yeah Avengers, Spider-man, and Fantastic Four have been around longer but they all at one time or another (if not several times) have been rebooted or renumbered since their inception, while Uncanny X-men has gone unscathed since the 60’s (except that one period where they were cancelled, but they came right back with the same numbering at issue #94).  I have long gone on record as being VERY anti-reboot/renumbering since to me it just seems like a cheap marketing ploy and now, and now those of us who have been collecting for years will forever be missing issues #545 through #599 (since I suspect they will revert to the old numbering at #600).  But enough griping about the cancellation of it all, let’s get on with the issue.

Now, looking past the whole “final issue” deal, this was an amazing issue.  Right off the bat, we were treated to a retro page that gave me tingles when I read it.  A flashback to the first page of X-men #1 from September 1963, with Professor X calling to his X-men from his wheelchair and asking for an update as to the status of his original X-men (minus Jean of course).  And to be honest the best part of this issue was that this was the end of the nostalgic pandering.  From there we moved right into the future as we see Bobby leaving (with Domino, Psylocke and Hope staying) and we witness him and Scott say their goodbyes.  Then just before he leaves he asks Scott if he remembers when…BOOM! Splash page of the X-men’s finest and worst moments! Magneto, Juggernaut, Sauron, Blue-furred Beast, Dark Phoenix, Emma Frost as the White Queen, Storm’s Mohawk, Sinister, Apocalypse, the Brood, and Scott and Jean Grey kissing at the very center of it.  Back to Bobby and Scott, Iceman leaves Utopia with a somber farewell to his best friend.  A quick snippy word with his other “best friend” Beast and Wolverine’s plane of his own X-men leaves, and the splitting of the X-men is complete.

Framing this entire affair is a eulogy by none other than Mr. Sinister himself.  As he disintegrated and reforms his own body over and over again, with different personality changes each time, he laborious writes in a text labeled the Uncanny X-men, as though trying to finish the volume with us.  LOVED IT!  Thank god hes, back, Miss Sinister was a joke, and I almost don’t care about whatever silly explanation they have for getting rid of her completely and bringing him back.  Would it be nice to have seen his return before now? Maybe, but the important thing is that he’s back!  Hearing him write out the final chapters of this title in his various personalities was hilarious, I can’t wait to see what he does in Uncanny X-men (Vol. 2) #1.

Watching Scott take down the old photos of past team lineups was sad, but it really showed that he was serious about moving forward into the future not backtracking into the past (which is how he sees Logan).  As sad as I am to see this volume go, I am forgoing my annoyance about the reboot and I am eagerly anticipating the new series.  I think they are making a good choice by opening it with a classic villain like Sinister, as opposed to some crappy vampire storyline like they did with X-men (Vol. 3).  So far ReGenesis is off to an amazing start and it has barely even started yet!

I Think Wolverine Has Some Nerve

OK So now that all is said and done, and the Schism has happened.  I have to ask…Where does Wolverine get off!  I know that this topic is highly controversial in comic circles, and I want to be clear that this is just my opinion.  

When we were waiting for the series to start, we all had our theories as far as what the schism would be caused by.  Even as it was happening my guesses were changing with every issue!  Is it over how to handle Quire?  Is it how to deal with the Sentinel? Is it over something else entirely??  No, it was over sending children into battle.  Let me be very clear, I am by no means advocating children being sent to war.  I don’t want to get any hate mail where people say that I am evil for sending kids to fight epic battles.  That being said, let me repeat, Where the hell does Wolverine get off?!

I understand that what happened with Idie was awful.  And yes, the children were marginally in better shape when they lived in a school.  But! Come on guys this is nothing new, right?  Haven’t the X-men been sending kids to battle since their very inception?  Didn’t Charles Xavier recruit a 16 year old Bobby Drake and send him against a powerful terrorist foe, Magneto?  Knowing full well that at that point in his crusade, the battle could have gone fatal?  And I didn’t see Wolverine throwing a fit when Kitty Pryde was brought to space to battle Brood creatures.  And just where was Logan when the New Mutants were traipsing through Asgard?  I didn’t see him take his ball and go home after that ordeal was over because Xavier didn’t shut down that team.  Back to Kitty Pryde, Wolverine couldn’t say anything to her about moving to England for Excalibur and fighting Necrom and Jaime Braddock, or Sat-yr-9 because by then he was dragging a 15 year old Jubilee (a mere 1 year old then Idie I might add) through Madripoor with a newly reconstructed, and possibly a touch insane, Psylocke then.  So all these situations were fine at the time but now, when there’s only a handful of mutants left and each regularly has to fight for their own survive, he suddenly has a massive non-ignorable problem.

Again, let me clarify that I am NOT supporting the flagrant sending of children to war, but Scott has a major point that is being completely ignored.  They don’t live in a world where they can hide anymore.  These children are on display for friend and foe alike and are expected to fend for themselves on a regular basis.  Not to mention that this specific situation they were literally the only force available to fight.  While Cyclops and Wolverine were having a childish tantrum with each other, the children defeated the sentinel that defeated or scatter many of the senior members of the team.  Should they be called on for that purpose as a regular occurrence, of course not, but if another force arises that requires their power and the skills they’ve been learning for years now, then why  shouldn’t they be allowed to fight for their own lives.  If anything they have more of a right to it then Kitty or Jubilee did because back then there were only a small number of children at a time to watch out for and a lot fewer massive threats directed at them, but now is a much larger number of children to be responsible, to the point where they couldn’t possibly be expected to keep track of each one at all times and they need to somewhat be responsible for themselves.

In the end, Wolverine is just being stubborn and unfair to Scott.  It was a tough situation where tough calls had to be made.  There was no right answer, there was only decisions made while trying to survive, and, in all fairness, that is exactly what Scott (or any leader) was chosen to do.  No major decisions are loved by everyone at all times, but for a top general in an army (for lack of a better metaphor) to quit just because he doesn’t like a call made is both immature and, I thought, beneath him.  And like it or not, the kids won the day.  There were no casualties, Utopia still floats, and the major threat was defeated with little to no help from any senior members.  If anything Wolverine should give credit that he made the wrong call rigging the place to blow up.  He doesn’t have to like it but, in the end, Scott made the right call and deserves, if not an apology, then at least the respect he earned.  But again remember, this is just my opinion and everyone is entitled to disagree with me.

Countdown to ReGenesis Part 4

OK We finally have full reveals for the Blue and Gold teams!!  I'll be honest, even I am surprised by some of the new additions.  A few people showed up in this last round that I was completely not expecting and some seemed logical even if I hadn't thought of them before!

Generation Hope - The last reveal for Generation Hope is Kenji.  Not a big shock, I assumed that that weird shaped person was him.  Again, still no Idie, but we may now have an answer as to why...just keep reading...but the big question is still why is Sebastian Shaw with them???

X-men (Vol. 3) - With the addition of Domino, this team looks suspiciously like a Wolverine team...except that Storm is leading... Are Jubilee, Psylocke and Warpath playing spies for Logan?  Seems at least like a possibility...

Uncanny X-men - Nothing new here, loving this team set up!  Glad Magneto is still here, thrilled Namor is gone, and excited that Magik has made it from captivity to X-man!  Oh! And Emma is fabulous!!

New Mutants - Our last reveal for the New Mutants are Cypher and Magma.  More shocking then who IS here, is who ISN'T here!  What happened to Cannonball?? He can't still be in the psych ward recovering from Age of X can he???  I mean, I know we still have Dani but still!  It should be Cannonball leading them.

Uncanny X-Force - Just to dispel all rumors, yes its really Psylocke in this picture, not Revanche.  So this brings up the entire "spy" aspect again.However, the big question: Where is Warren Worthington??? Does he not make it through the Dark Angel Saga??

Wolverine and the X-men - Here we get a few surprises actually!  We already saw Wolverine, Iceman, Kitty and Lockheed (and upon closer look at the LAST reveals, we also have Toad at the bottom), but now we have some real bombshells!  As I predicted, we have Kid Omega on the left, but we also have Beast on the right (which I think is messed up because he left when he found out about Scott's X-Force but its not like Wolverine FORCED him to do it, he was more then willing so why does Beast side against his oldest friend???)  A reall shocker is the glowing figure in the back!  Now I know a lot of people were hoping for Rachel (hold for more on that) or even the elusive Jean Grey (NOT!!), but it looks like the fiery schoolgirl might be Idie (aka Oya) which would account for her being missing from Generation Hope.  It really looks like Wolverine's team is all people that have issues with Scott already or are somehow on the run.  So what makes Kitty and Bobby turn against him?

X-men: Legacy - This is the least "wowzers" of all the teams I think.  Not that its a bad dynamic but its not surprising at all.  Gambit and Frenzy just joined Rogue in some sort of team capacity (and they made a big deal over Frenzy) so it would have been silly to get rid of them, and Rachel is being rescued right now in that very book so it makes sense that she sticks with Rogue.  I am a little taken aback that Rahcel returns and quickly sides against her father, but they haven't had the most nurturing relationship so I suppose it's not THAT huge of an upset.  And it makes sense that Magneto would stay with Scott, as far as he's concerned Scott is the leader of the mutant world now.

X-Factor - WOW!  Large cast much??  I will start off by saying that 11 principle members is way too many, but that's where my criticisms stop!  I am thrilled to see that not only is Madrox NOT dead (as was suspected) but Polaris will be joining Havok back on X-Factor (as its damn well should be) as well as the confirmation that Longshot is still around!  I DO wonder what this means for the leadership of X-Factor though, Jaime has done a great job but (minus Quicksilver) this is the full government X-Factor roster that Alex led so it would make sense for him to be back in charge.  Another thing to wonder is who WILL be the team member death we have been hearing about??  I will be super pissed if it ends up being Darwin...

Countdown to ReGenesis Part 3

Big updates on the ReGenesis promotional images!  And with fewer and fewer shadowy figures left, we can now start to make some guesses as to who's left to be seen!

Generation Hope - Well there's no surprises here except for Sebastian Shaw (who we've seen for a while now) and Idie seems to be missing but if you're reading Schism then that shouldn't be a surprise.  My guess for the last shadow is kind of a no-brainer, Kenji.

X-men (Vol. 3) - We knew that Jubilee and Storm were there but now we've got Warpath and Psylocke!  I'm really not sure who the last shadow is going to be but if I had to guess I would say Polaris or Marvel Girl (remember Lorna's late 70's and early 80's costume that Erik the Red gave her? And I can't honestly see Marvel bring Rachel back and then NOT putting her with her father somehow).

Uncanny X-men - Nothing to guess here! Cyclops, Emma, Jugger-lossus, Magik, Magneto and Danger.  Awesome team!!  I'm a bit disappointed to see Illyana not on the New Mutants anymore but I'm guessing that she has to look after her newly Cyttorak-enhanced brother.

New Mutants - No real surprises here either.  We already saw X-man, but now we've got Warlock, Mirage and Sunspot.  I think the last two figures are going to be Cypher (in the middle) and, I don't know, maybe Dust? or Amelia Voight?  The cloudy wake behind whoever it is (and it looks kinda like a girl) kinda makes it seem like it could be one of these ladies.

Uncanny X-Force - Joining AOA Nightcrawler (nerdgasm!) on X-Force is Deadpool which is no  shock.  In the shadow on the right seems to clearly be Fantomex but who's that on the left?  It appears to be Psylocke with her glowing swords and telltale waist sash, but she's already been shown to be over in X-men (Vol. 3) so what going on?? Here's my theories: A) She pulling double duty here and over there as a mole for Wolverine (especially since, technically, no one knows X-Force exists) or B) Somehow, someway, Revanche has made a return.  It's strange days for the X-men lately so either of these could be true, but more important is Warren Worthington's notable absence from the picture...

Wolverine & the X-men - Kitty Pryde and Wolverine back together again (with Lockheed in tow)! With Jubilee on the other side of the Schism, maybe we will see a resurgence of this old partnership from the early 80's.  Joining them on the new Gold Team is Iceman the only original X-man to be confirmed as NOT on Cyclops' side. As for the shadows, I am having trouble with this one...for the silhouette on the right I am thinking its a big muscle character all hunched over so maybe Rockslide or Onyxx (who may or may not be deceased, I am not entirely clear on that), or maybe its a returning Beast fresh from his Secret Avengers adventures!  The left shadow I think may end up being Kid Omega.  I doubt they'd make him so important in the Schism only to have him die (again).  I'm even tempted to say that the cause of the Schism is over how to handle Quentin Quire, and maybe Wolverine is forced to prevent Cyclops from handing him over to the local authorities.  And the one on top is a real puzzler...it seems distinctly female and with a fiery aura about her so some people are rumoring it to be Jean, but I think more likely its Rachel if anything (although I am hoping she ends up on Cyclops' side instead).

X-men: Legacy - It's no surprise to see Gambit and Frenzy still with Rogue, after all they made a huge deal about them joining her book/team and, honestly, I doubt anyone else wants them on their squad at the moment.  The shadow I have to be honest, I have absolutely no idea!  Strangely enough when I look at the silhouette I get a picture of the 90's Malibu character, Siren, which I know is impossible and silly.  My BEST guess?  Hepzibah!!  We have barely seen her since the team moved to San Francisco and she's I think she's due to come back!  Although if it turns out to be her, I wonder what that would mean for her relationsip with Warpath, who is shown over on Cyclops' side on the cover of X-men (Vol. 3) #20.

X-Factor #230 - The big shock here isn't what IS shown, but what ISN'T shown!  Everyone got very excited at the prospect of Havok coming back, but as more and more characters have been revealed a startling roster change is becoming more apparent.  Joining Alex Summers, we now have Wolfsbane, Shatterstar, Rictor, Layla, and M, with two shadows left who very obviously seem like Guido and Banshee (Teresa Cassidy not a resurrected Sean).  What we DON'T see is Jaime Madrox!  With the former leader of X-Factor returning to the fold it might seem weird for him to take a back seat to Jaime's leadership...unless Jaime's no longer there?!  With the recent revelation that someone on X-Factor IS going to die soon, maybe the founder of X-Factor Investigations is going to die, again, to make way for the leader of the government sponsored X-Factor to step back into the driver's seat.  Also missing from this shot is Longshot and Darwin, but these aren't huge shocks since Darwin's been gone for a minute (and apparently isn't returning) and Longshot always seems to just up and disappear at a moment's notice (i.e. Uncanny X-men #248).

So there's your ReGenesis update!  A few questions to mull over though...with all these casting shake-ups happening what about the members that they have been building up for the past few years like Dazzler? or Pixie and Anole (not to mention the rest of the New/Young X-men)?  And what does this split mean for the Astonishing team?  I mean, sure Cyclops, Emma, Storm, Colossus are together on one side, but Wolverine and Kitty are on the other side and Wolverine and Armor have become very close so where do her loyalties lie?

Is the Way Mutant Powers Manifest Reactionary?

Ever notice that some powers manifest in just the exact right way to save or fix a situation?  Even though mutant powers are something that they are born with, they always seem to have just the right manifestation to save the day.   

Take Cannonball for example.  What if he never got trapped in that mine shaft?  In that exact moment he need a cannonball or a wrecking ball or something destructive with forward momentum to save his own life so he became a human cannonball.  However we've now seen in later year that that's not the extent of his power...what if he was in a collapsing building and had tons of debris falling on top of him? Would his power have activated then in the effect of a forcefield (which we now know he can do)?  Or what if Sam Guthrie wasn't the good upstanding person he is and instead got into a drunken fight with someone much larger then him?  Could his power have first manifested in blast field powered punch to save himself in the fight?  These are all powers that he is now shown to have so I would think his powers could easily have activated in those ways first under the right conditions.  Maybe he could only cannonball at first because that's the form his power first catalyzed in so he got stuck (much like mental blocks self-imposed by Rogue's powers and maybe Cyclops' but I don't know that we are sure about that yet).

Another good example may be Karma and her twin brother.  We never saw much of Tran but Shan has often been noted for having such a very specific telepathic ability.  Well when it first manifested it was in a situation where she needed to control somebody to save her brother...so that's how her power manifested.  And since we are talking about psionic twins, its not such a stretch to think they had some link that caused his powers to react the same as her at that moment.  Even with Jean Grey, her abilities first manifested to connect to her dying friend's mind and from then on her telepathic powers always seemed to have a very empathic feel to them, unlike Psylocke's colder more clinical seeming TP powers.  Other psychics who maybe had no traumatic or specific event happen, such as Professor X, seem to have more general and well rounded powers with less specific features to them.

Even Dazzler to some extent shows evidence of this reactionary power pattern.  One could argue that BECAUSE her powers need sound to create light, shes automatically a good singer (much like Banshee's exceptional hearing), but what if its the other way around?   She grew up always being a good singer and wanting to perform so her powers kicked in while singing onstage at a high school dance the lights on her so she started glowing and then she needed to blind the audience to protect herself.  What if she was just born to convert energy from one form to another but based on the situation when it kicked it, her body adapted to the sound = light combo.  

This of course don't necessarily work in all cases.  Some mutants have powers that they are just born with no matter what (for example claws, wings, or blue skin), but I think some mutants aren't born with a specific powers, just the potential for a type of ability.  With this in mind, who knows if Illyana's life might have gone differently if her teleportation potential had activated somewhere where the link to Limbo was less potent?  Maybe she wouldn't have been connected to stepping disc and she would have opened a different type of portal like Ariel or Blink.