Archives

All posts for the month October, 2013

Fun with YouTube : X-Men Days of Future Past Trailer # 1

Posted by John Klein III on October 31, 2013
Posted in: Film, Fun With YouTube. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

125th Post!

Thanks to YouTuber X-Men Movies for hosting the video!

Kitty Pryde shows up at the 00:24 mark.  Wish they were not continuing the Kitty / Bobby relationship.

Great narration by Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier.

I really dig the Future (present day) X-Men costumes, look really dark and practical.

I saw several new mutant faces such as Bishop and Blink.

At 00:55, they found a one sentence plot summary good job!  Wolverine is going to wake up in his younger body and have to convince young Xavier and Magneto to shape up.  Thus changing the future!

James McAvoy’s Xavier blowing dust off of Cerebro.

As a President fan, I really like the idea of the Oval Office’s Seal of the President being a door to a bunker.  Very clever.

Hugh Jackman, gets in better shape with each one of these movies.  That is not easy to do!

Was that President Nixon?

Peter Dinklage looks bad arse!

My absolute favorite part is James McAvoy’s line reading of :

“I don’t want your suffering … I don’t want your future!”

It is at the 1:47 mark.  It is so amazing!

The two Xaviers face off!  Must be a mental projection that Stewart puts in Wolverine’s head.  That must be unsettling for McAvoy.

“We need you to hope again” such a nice line as well.

Bryan Singer is back ya’ll and he is returning the X-Men to an uncanny level of greatness!

I read that this is just the footage they showed at San Diego Comic Con, makes you wonder why they waited so long if that’s all there was to it.

I also read that Carl’s Jr. / Hardee’s is going to make a special burger for this movie as their tie-in.  Their Man of Steel Super Bacon Burger (bacon in every bite) was very tasty.

…

Also, have a safe and happy Halloween everybody!

X-Men Classic 80

Posted by John Klein III on October 30, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , . 4 Comments

48857_20060705155331_large

Writer Chris Claremont

Penciler John Romita Jr.

Inker Bob Wiacek

Colorist Glynis Wein

Letterer Tom Orzechowski

Reprints Uncanny X-Men 176

It is a rare event when the original artist did the cover as well for the Classic line.  Instead of Cyclops and tenacles, JRJR went the girl and sharks route, not as iconic but pretty good.

This is part of the era that Kitty wasn’t in the latter end of the series as much, but she is represented in the character box on the cover (original and the reprinted) so I own both.  It is part of Claremont’s original legendary run, so I made the exception.

I like seeing Scott and Madelyne happily married.  We join them as they are flying themselves to their honeymoon in Boragora.

I wonder what would happen if X-Factor didn’t happen, if editorial never wanted the Original Five back together?  Jean would have stayed dead, and Scott would have stayed retired and we would only ever see him on special occasions.

Scott is newly married, and can’t keep his hands off of Madelyne.  That panel where he says “but what a way to go” he looks so happy!  Not sure when the last time we saw Scott smile.

Another What If, what if Scott and Madelyne did join the Starjammers?  That way, he has a story reason for not being on Earth and X-Factor probably doesn’t happen.  Let him retire that way.  Probably would have had annual Starjammers annuals, for at least three years, then they would have stopped.

The couple hit some bad weather.

We cut to Mariko and Wolverine in Japan.  Some amazing work with shadows and lighting for these scene.

Mariko has to prove that she is as honorable as Logan, so she can marry him.  Now this guy, editorial would never let get married and retire.  They would let Scott go, but not Wolverine.

Scott is trying to make repairs, but it isn’t eady with Madelyne wearing that black bikini and all of these sharks around.

We get to witness a government security meeting regarding Magneto and dangerous mutants.  Both Henry Gyrich and Dr. Valerie Cooper.  They want their own mutant team to fight mutant criminals.

X-Men Classic 80 Morlocks 1

X-Men Classic 80 Kitty Pryde Picture

X-Men Classic 80 Morlocks 2

I was wrong, the Morlock scene I sort if skipped over last night, along with the government scene, I did not notice Caliban’s picture of Kitty – so that counts.  I like how that was a picture she clearly gave to him but you think she would have put it in a frame for him.

I like how Caliban is never with the Morlocks, he just lives in one of their apartments and doesn’t go to their meetings.

Callisto reminds Caliban of Kitty’s promise to stay with him if he helped the X-Men escape.  Which he did, so she should have at least, have visited once she was feeling better.

Giant tentacles are now attacking Madelyne and Scott.  Scott isn’t quite laying the beat down, until he dons his cowl-visor and ruins that sea monster’s day.

Madelyne also packed a white bikini too, no wonder she gets pregnant as fast as she does.

The plane works again  and they are off!

Uncanny Avengers 13

Posted by John Klein III on October 29, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

287176_20131023120555_large

Writer Rick Remender

Artist Daniel Acuna

Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles

I don’t care for how Havok’s caption boxes and Banshee’s word balloons are the same color.  I know one is square and the other is round but both are white text on black background.  Could be better.

Uncanny Avengers 13 Kitty mention

Havok narrates that some of the nicest people he knows have been corrupted.  Kitty, by Ogun.  Colossus, by the Phoenix Force.  Storm, not exactly sure, maybe when she was just about to go full Mohawk?

He also narrates that Cyclops killed Banshee, but did not tell him to jump out of a plane to stop the Blackbird, and fail miserably at that.  Banshee did that on his own terms.

Wasp goes down Banshee’s throat and rips back out through his vocal cords.  That is fighting dirty as it gets.

Captain America is now hard of hearing, due to taking a full blast from Banshee last issue.  Deaf Captain America is the new character find of the year, so funny.

Some fun moments like Havok stating the guards came from over there, then Cap screaming the same thing.

Wasp volunteers to split from the group, the budding relationship between her and Havok is nice to see.

Cap yells that Wasp likes Havok, Alex’s facial expression is classic.

Thor transports another planet’s ocean onto the current planet he is on, to stop the green lava.

Simon and Wanda are eating with the Twins.  Believe it or not, Wanda looks so weird without the M-piece headgear of hers.

Draken is beating Wolverine to death.

The Twins tell Logan that they plan on opening a school in Wanda’s honor, making it the fourth mutant school.  Nice to have some options.

In the continuing question of who is leading this team, Cap shouts “I don’t follow you” to Havok, based on misunderstanding something Havok said.

Wanda starts talking to Simon, he quickly tells her that the Twins can hear their every word.  Her solution?  To have sex with Simon, that will teach them!

Rogue and Sunfire catch up to Wolverine, and Acuna draws my favorite panel of the issue.  Rogue putting her hands up to her mouth, eyes so big.  It is beautifully drawn.

Logan does the classic close eyes move head to the side death scene, but we all know Logan isn’t dead.

He tells them they have to stop Wanda, Rogue absorbs his claws, they look metal to me, instead of bone.

The thing is, Wanda’s plan is to transport all of the mutants, not into tubes, but awake and well, and have this army attack the Twins en mass.  So Rogue is trying to stop Wanda from winning the day.  Those two have a very complicated relationship.

X-Men Classic 75

Posted by John Klein III on October 28, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

55715_20060824222455_large

Scripter Chris Claremont

Guest Penciler Walt Simonson

Finisher Bob Wiacek

Letterer Tom Orzechowski

Colorist Glynis Wein

Repints Uncanny X-Men 171

Look at that Adam Hughes’ cover!

This is the issue, that if I had the money, I would totally ask Paul Smith to draw as it really breaks up his run on the title.  I would need Claremont’s original script as well.  I wish What If? had an issue that was simply What If Paul Smith Drew Uncanny X-Men 171?  That would have been amazing!  It is a shame that Smith doesn’t get to conclude the Morlock storyline.  Though this is mostly known as the issue Rogue joins the team.

Issue opens with Storm declaring that she is the new leader of the Morlocks, and she lays down the new laws.

Nightcrawler is worried about Storm’s new outlook, she is becoming more aggressive.

Madelyn wakes from a horrible dream, and Scott runs in to check on her. I really like the implied intimacy here with how the couple share one pajama set.  Madelyn gets the top half, and Scott gets the bottom half.  I want to see that more often.  Sounds like a for sure way to get pass the censors, as those two are not married.

We get a seen where Carol Danvers is visiting her parents.  This is the beginning of Walt Simonson not drawing the women attractively.  The men look fine.  I suspect it has to do with being the fill-in artist at the last minute.

Kitty can’t find her floppy disks, remember those?

Illyana is unimpress with Kitty’s outbursts, she was always the more mature of the two.  Growing up in Limbo for seven years, will do that to you.

Xavier is trying to make his new legs work, Llandra is being the supportive girlfriend.

Rogue comes knocking on the mansion’s door.  She needs help.  The cover uses the classice “Welcome … hope you survive the experience” line.

X-Men Classic 75 Kitty 1

X-Men Classic 75 Kitty 2

None of the X-Men want Rogue there.  She stole Carol’s powers and memories and Carol has become a friend to this team.

While Xavier is speaking to Rogue, the X-Men try out a Danger Room sequence run by Illyana.

Unfortunately, the Danger Room sequence is a rehash of Belasco’s realm.

This understandably upsets Illyana.  She loses control and fights Kitty.  Her soulsword cuts Kitty, while she is phased.  Kitty wins this fight.

Illyana cries, remembering her original time in Limbo.

Storm kills her plants, as she over waters them as her powers match her mood and she is very angry.

Xavier has decided to have Rogue join the team.

This upsets the team, right when Carol comes home.

She is Binary at this point, so when she punches Rogue, Rogue goes stellar.

X-Men Classic 75 Kitty 3

X-Men Classic 75 Kitty 4

X-Men Classic 75 Kitty 5

Carol leaves the X-Men, the team agrees to let Rogue on the team on a probationary period.

That image on the third page, John Cassaday would show from a different angle in Uncanny Avengers 2.

Rogue also looks like she isn’t 60 anymore, she will continue to de-age until she looks like she is in her 20s.

Issue ends with Storm wondering if she has to choose, is she Ororo or Storm?

Wolverine and the X-Men 37

Posted by John Klein III on October 27, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , . 2 Comments

287174_20131023120142_large

Writer Jason Aaron

Penciler Giuseppe Camuncoli

Finisher Andrew Currie

Colorist Matt Milla

Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles

Battle of the Atom Part Nine of Ten

The penultimate issue!

Issue starts in Cyclops’ head, he gets to kiss Lady Xorn, she is a better kisser than his Jean.  Which must be horrible, as his Jean has been dead for almost ten years (our time).  You would think his memory would be making her a great kisser.  Though he has been with Emma, so he probably knows how to kiss now too.

Wolverine and the X-Men 37 Magik 1

Future Quentin Quire, whois also a Phoenix, states “You Summers boys and your redheads.”  Scott had both Jean and Madelyn.  Havok dated Madelyn, not sure if that ever became physical, it definitely was in the Mutant X universe.  Cable raised Hope.

Great moment with Cyclops taking charge and telling Magneto and Emma what to do, and then Wolverine telling Beast and Rachel to do those things.

Wolverine and the X-Men 37 Kitty no trust Magik

We finally get to distinguish the two groups of Future X-Men.  Lady Xorn is with the Brotherhood, and Jubilee is leading the Future X-Men.

In all of this, they have not taken off the power dampeners, that would have been my first priority.  There is enough if them, you could do exposition and dampener removal.

The harshest thing that has happened this entire storyline, Kitty telling Magik, “Yeah, but trusts you?”  So harsh!  Poor Illyana is taken some emotional beatings these past two chapters.

Wolverine makes a joke about never having sex again, as he now has a son with Mystique in the multiverse.  Also, he killed so many of his children in the past year.

Kymera confims Future Deadpool is dead.  I feel like this may be Magik’s first human kill, or at least, one of her first five kills.

I don’t get how Xavier was crippled, if Bruiser isn’t crippled.  Maybe Magik knows how to run someone through with a soulsword  and Future Colossus doesn’t.  Or it is her soulsword so she can do it.

We finally get the Original Five awake and helpless.

Young Jean keeps her future knowledge super vague.

Odd seeing Angel and Beast with cowls on.

We get Maria Hill’s reactions to this whole mess, the parts she can tell.

Wolverine and the X-Men 37 Kitty Military Code

We get Present and Future Quentin Quire meeting.  Glad we get the impression that Quentin has matured.

Cyclops come off very well, whereas Wolverine and Storm come off whiney.

Could the code for mutant-related assault on a military base not be X-51?  Who is an actual Marvel character.

The X-Men are heading to Cape Citadel, where the X-Men first fought Magneto in their first appearance and where the the 35th Anniversary celebration took place as well.

We get three squads of X-Men v. Brotherhood, then Future Quentin unleashes the Original Five, so it is four squads now.

We get some fun matchups.

Four Icemans fighting.

Three Hank McCoys fighting.

Wolverine and Raze fighting.

Storm is an idiot for being surprised Kymera is her daughter.  She is walking around with a black panther and she has white hair.

Magik tells Colossus that he grows up to be awesome.  Once this storyline is over, she needs to reconnect with Present Colossus.

Lady Xorn sets all of the Hellicarrier’s missiles set to kill  all the mutants on the ground.

Issue ends with Xorn saying, “Welcome to your future, X-Men.  Hope you survive the experience.”

So cheesy but they are throwing in everything they can.

Have no idea how this ends, I feel like they have so much to set up to end this properly.

Marvel’s Top 50 X-Men

Posted by John Klein III on October 26, 2013
Posted in: Lists. Leave a comment

In honor of the X-Men’s 50th Anniversary, Marvel has ranked the Top 50 X-Men list!

http://marvel.com/news/story/21418/the_50_greatest_x-men_of_all-time_pt_5

I’ve been following the list, fingers cross that Kitty would rank high and yesterday, they announced the top ten!  I could not be happier!

50.  Sabretooth – Barely an X-Man, on MIke Carey’s/Rogue’s team, and that was awesome.  He’s mostly X-Factor in my mind.

49.  Joseph – Magneto’s clone, served with Kitty during the 35th Anniversary Team.

48.  Husk, Wolverine and the X-Men represent!  Plus Generation X

First Tie!

46.  Armor, Astonishing X-Men, who knows what she is up to these days, at the Jean Grey School

46. Darwin, more X-Factor than anything else, was part of the Missing Team, so I guess that counts?  Should be 50 then, one would think.

45.  Marrow, also part of the 35th Anniversary Team

44.  Pixie, part of Cyclops’ Everyone is an X-Man/Fraction era

43.  Sage, people say she is Original Six X-Men, but I have no idea why.  More New Excalibur and X-Treme X-Men

42.  Mimic, one of the original recruits, also more Excalibur

41.  Juggernaut, also more New Excalibur but was part of Chuck Austen’s X-Men run.

40.  Fantomex, part of the Cyclops’ Everyone era and X-Force.

39.  Warpath, Hellions and X-Force

Second Tie!

37.  Thunderbird, first fallen X-Man, if not counting Changeling.

37.  Danger, Gillen’s’s Uncanny X-Men

Third Tie!

35. Hope, more X-Force now, and Generation Hope, she was one of Gillen’s Uncanny X-Men now that I think of it.

35.  Cecilia Reyes, part of the 35th Anniversary team.

34.  Namor, the first mutant!

33.  Polaris, more X-Factor

32.  Chamber, Generation X represent!  Also part of Wolverine and the X-Men, when he shows up.

31.  Sunfire, served as an official X-Man once, swore never again, only really helped twice more since then.  Uncanny Avenger though.

30.  Mystique, X-Factor and part of Rogue’s Response team

29.  Domino, definitely more X-Force

28.  Magik, wish she was higher but the work of Fraction and Gillen got her as far as she could go.  Hopefully Bendis keeps giving her the limelight.  Rather she was in the Top 25!

27.  Forge, more X-Factor

26.  Longshot, Outback Era!

25.  Banshee, All New All Different and Generation X

24.  Northstar, later Astonishing, Alpha Flight representation

23.  Cannonball, the first New Mutant to graduate to the big team!

22. Bishop, crazy went after Hope and killed so many people, now on Storm’s Uncanny X-Force, was an X-Man back in the 90s and after that, X-Treme X-Men.

21.  Havok, part of the original era and Outback era, X-Factor and Uncanny Avenger leader

20.  Rachel Grey, glad she made the list, top 20 so that isn’t bad.  She should also be higher!  And Magik should be closer to this number too!

19.  Dazzler, appeared right after Kitty did in Uncanny X-Men 130.  Part of the Outback era, and New Excalibur

18.  Jubilee, the next Kitty Pryde, now on X-Men with current Kitty Pryde!

17.  Angel, Original Five, the lowest on the list!

16.  Emma Frost, probably should be higher but Astonishing X-Men was amazing and Morrison’s X-Men, now on Uncanny where she has been for quite some time.

15.  Gambit, 90s X-Man.

14.  Professor X, glad he isn’t top ten, barely a member.

13.  Cable, served twice, once after Cyclops died and on Rogue’s team.

12.  Iceman, Original Five!

11.  Psylocke, on X-Men and Storm’s Uncanny X-Force.

10.  Magneto, served during the 200s of Uncanny and has been on Uncanny for quite sometime too, since Fraction’s run.

9.  Jean Grey, Original Five!

8.  Colossus, boo!  I would have swapped him with his sister.

7.  Rogue, got to like her.

Fourth Tie!  and a bit of a cop out so that both camps are not upset.

5.  Cyclops, Original Five and I do like this guy, more than I realize now.

5.  Wolverine, liking him slightly less

4. Storm, also liking less, probably due to Wolverine and leading Uncanny X-Force and maybe leading X-Men.  I don’t know.

3. Beast, the highest ranked Original Five, I would have swapped him and Cyclops.

2.  Nightcrawler, due to him coming back right?

1.  Kitty Pryde!

One would think I made this list and paid Marvel to run it, I wonder if Kitty is going to be getting the largest push since joining Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men run in 2004?

I love this list so much

28. Magik

20. Rachel Grey

5. Cyclops

2. Nightcrawler

1. Kitty Pryde

That’s pretty awesome!

Great job Marvel!

Here’s the list without my comments :

50. SABRETOOTH

49. JOSEPH

48. HUSK

46. ARMOR

46. DARWIN

45. MARROW

44. PIXIE

43. SAGE

42. MIMIC

41. JUGGERNAUT

40. FANTOMEX

39. WARPATH

37. THUNDERBIRD

37. DANGER

35. HOPE

35. CECILIA REYES

34. NAMOR

33. POLARIS

32. CHAMBER

31. SUNFIRE

30. MYSTIQUE

29. DOMINO

28. MAGIK

27. FORGE

26. LONGSHOT

25. BANSHEE

24. NORTHSTAR

23. CANNONBALL

22. BISHOP

21. HAVOK

20. RACHEL GREY

19. DAZZLER

18. JUBILEE

17. ANGEL

16. EMMA FROST

15. GAMBIT

14. PROFESSOR X

13. CABLE

12. ICEMAN

11. PSYLOCKE

10.  MAGNETO

9.  JEAN GREY

8.  COLOSSUS

7.  ROGUE

5. CYCLOPS

5. WOLVERINE

4. STORM

3. BEAST

2. NIGHTCRAWLER

1.  KITTY PRYDE

Doug Ramsey, Cypher

Posted by John Klein III on October 25, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: . Leave a comment

While doing some goofing around on the ol’ Internet, I came across Doug Ramsey.  Here is another character, this time largely due to Magik, that I own so many of his appearances but have not committed to owning all of his.  There was a time, when both he and Illyana were dead; that whenever one of them was mentioned or referenced (are they two different concepts?) the other was also regarded.  Then Doug came back, shortly after Illyana did and joined New Mutants in their third volume.  Then Illyana got promoted to Cyclops’ Extinction Team (Uncanny Vol 2) – as she totally deserves to be on the main team – and I had no reason to keep reading New Mutants Volume Three.  From what Brian and Rob said over on Uncanny X-Cast, that series quickly took a nosedive.

Though I do enjoy Doug, and he has a fascinating power, that forces the creative team to come up with great ways to use him.  Though usually they just forget about him or make him the crucial part of the plan.  The Aquaman Effect, if you would.  Either unnecessary or crucial.  Luckily, once he came back from the dead, they aged him to the age of the current team, and gave him a bit of a power upgrade.  Now he can understand body language with the same skill he could verbal and written communication.  Thus, he is now an awesome fighter.

I am not even sure what his current status is, is he going around doing hero business, is he getting a college degree, what is he up to?  Issue 50 is on my wishlist and I’m sure that one day I will know.  Cannonball and Sunspot have joined the Avengers, Magik is on Cyclops’ new Uncanny Team, Wolfsbane is over on X-Factor (as long as that lasted), Karma is over on Astonishing (as long as that lasts) , not sure what Warlock is up too these days or Magma.  I heard he may be at the Jean Grey School but have yet to see that confirmed.

Ultimate Doug was cool, he wasn’t a mutant, he was extremely smart and “gifted” but with all of Doug’s powers.  A Jeopardy winner, and he died during Ultimatum.

He was super cool in New Mutants Forever, seem to be Claremont’s whole purpose of that title was to make Doug cool.  He also made him a Junior Red Skull, so a sequel to that miniseries would be very interesting.

I bet I own like 90 percent of his stories, it isn’t much.  He started off in New Mutants, but showed up in Uncanny plenty of time as Kitty’s new big friend and fellow dance partner.  He even got Colossus to be jealous, as Doug was a better match for Kitty, as they are both great with computers and very smart.  We never did get Doug’s reaction to that jealousy.

Doug is another character that never got to reunite with Kitty as she was in deep space when he was back and I am not even sure if those two even know they are both back on the planet.

. . .

I did the math!  Of Doug’s 144 appearances, I am missing 40 of them, making my percentage 72%.

What hurts me is that Magik was depowered shortly before his death, so he has a few extra appearances in New Mutants than she does.  She also wasn’t involved in the initial Legion storyline.  Illyana was also in Uncanny X-Men while Doug had a short stint in the second volume of X-Men in 2010.  Then of course, there was New Mutants volume three, where Magik had the good sense to jump out and join the big leagues and he stuck around for 26 through 50. I only own 28, 29 and 30 of that title after the initial 25.   Thus, he was part of the crossover with Journey into Mystery that I heard wonderful things about.

On my wishlist, I got New Mutants 32, 47, and 50, which will raise my percentage just a tad.  Also X-Men (2010) 7 and 11 – and these two, I just want the variants so it isn’t even about Doug.  And Journey into Mystery 637.

The percentage will not rise that much but of the 40, I am willing to get six of those.

X-Men Legacy 18

Posted by John Klein III on October 23, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

286711_20131017144243_large

Writer Simon Spurrier

Penciler Khoi Pham

Inker Jay Leisten

Color Artist Rachelle Rosenberg

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

Wear the Grudge Like a Crown Part Three

The credit page, not sure if Pham did some inks with Leisten, or if it was a bad copy and paste job from the previous issue, but it lists Pham with Inkers, and only lists the one Inker.

Wouldn’t even notice that if not for this blog.  I hope the list of credits above is correct.

Turns out, the past two issues have all been a trap to lure Luca, Blindfold’s brother, out if hiding.  There was no girl with out of control powers, there was no sponge like creature.  David was using Cyclops’ popularity to get some news coverage.

I like the Channel 7 reporter calling Emma, “Miss empowered bikini lady, ma’am?”  That’s fun.

X-Men Legacy 18 Magik 1

Magik doesn’t do much this issue, just asks for clarification and states she wasn’t absorbed into a blob like thing.

Pham draws a nice David looking so smug while having to explain the plan.

The splash page of Cyclops punching David, gorgeous!

David is very pragmatic, that is the best description of who he is.  He has given up on trying to get people to view him differently from his villain /  out of control muntant hay day, now he uses the perception.

Great pacing and facial expressions on David slowly losing focus.

David calls Illyana a bloody Hogwarts reject, seems harsh.  Also, she is nothing like one of those students, and not because she was rejected.  Plus, poor Magik, I bet she had to ask what that meant after this adventure was over.

How much down time do you think X-Men get?  Some issues take place right after one another, like these three issues, but typically, each new storyline starts on a new day.  They probably have time to read a book or devour some TV on DVD.  Unless you’re Cyclops or Wolverine, where you have to keep planning or appearing everywhere, those two don’t get much down time.

Emma and the Cuckoos had a secret  plan as well, the Pyrrhic.  Destroys you with your own self-doubt.

Unfortunately, David has a reservoir of self-doubt.

It manifests itself as Professor Xavier, of course.  Also gives the Evil Xavier a chance to escape David’s mindscape.

Not sure if I am getting the next issue, one would think the Uncanny team will stick around to follow up on this plan.  Abigail Brand is on the next issue’s cover, haven’t seen her in a while.

Not even sure if she knows Hank had another transformation.  Or that he has both a younger and older version running around.

Lockheed

Posted by John Klein III on October 22, 2013
Posted in: Uncategorized. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

I can tell you right now, that I am already thinking of making February, Lockheed Month.  I envision it being new issue reviews when I do those, and between those, more reviews!

Onto my collection :

Adding Lockheed’s one appearance in Mutant X and his one appearance in the X-Men Animation Special, comicbookdb only has three listed characters under Lockheed.  So I threw those other two appearances into his total.

The little purple alien who just so happens to resemble one of our dragons, has 277 appearances!  I am missing … only six of them!

Which is super annoying!

Those missing issues are :

Venom : Dark Origin 3

Captain Britain and MI13 Annual 1

Avengers vs. Pet Avengers 3

Avengers vs. Pet Avengers 4

Wolverine and the X-Men 3

Wolverine and the X-Men 32

That’s it!  If I ever get a chance to do another back issue spurge, I will make a point of just getting these.  I can only imagine it wouldn’t cost much.  The problem in the past has been that they were not available at the website I was given a gift certificate too.  Which my former employer and my mother-in-law have both gotten me cards from Mile High Comics, which was extremely nice of them.

I was really thinking, before I got on this quest, that he had at least 300 appearances.  Poor guy just doesn’t show up as often as I am under the impression of.  You would think he would be an artist’s favorite as how often do they get to draw dragons?

This whole next section, I am mostly typing so that I can reference the numbers when I need too.  It doesn’t read as the most exciting information, but I find it interesting.

His first appearance is in Uncanny X-Men 166, and then he doesn’t show up again until 168.  He gets back to back appearances but then is missing from 170 and 171.  Two issues.

He is there from 172 – 175.

He appears in the first and last issue of X-Men and the Micronaunts, so two on and two off.

Missing from 176 – 179.  Four issues.

He is lucky enough to be included in the Secret Wars story, but only for parts 1, 2, and 12 (thankfully, someone remembered to bring him back!)  So ten issues of missing time.

He is missing in 182 but is in 181 and 183.

He is missing from 184 – 188, five issues.

He guest appears in New Mutants 18 and 21, so he isn’t really missing from those in-between issues.

Appears in 189, but goes missing from 190 and 191, two issues.  Then has a nice run 192, 193, 194.

He practically guest stars in Nightcrawler’s first miniseries, as he is in all four issues of that.

From 195 to 209, he is missing before showing up again in 210.  That’s 15 issues!  His longest break!  At least he is in Mutant Massacre, 210 and 211, and missing 212 and back for the conclusion in 213.  He leaves when Kitty leaves Uncanny.

Of his first run (and only true run) on Uncanny, he is missing :

1+2+2+1+5+2+15 = 28 missing appearances!

He has 18 proper appearances in Uncanny, more off than on!

He misses out on the first two issues of Fantastic Four vs. X-Men, but shows up in the final two issues.

He appears in New Mutants 46, 63, and 65.

Then we come to his second title, Excalibur.

He is in the original Sword is Drawn graphic novel but then misses out on the first two issues!  2 issues.

Nice run from 3 – 6, four issues but misses out on 7 and 8, two issues.

Appears in 9, but not 10.  One issue.

Nice run 11 – 22, 12 issues!  Missing in 23, one issue.

Within there, he appears in Marvel Comics Presents issues 31, 32, and 37, 38.

He appears in Excalibur 24 through 30,  7 issues.

Missing in 31 and 32, two issues.

He appears in all three issues of Thor with Excalibur, 427, 428 and 429.

He appears in Excalibur 33 and 34, and is missing in 35 and 36.  Two more issues – both ways.

He appears in Sensational She-Hulk 26 with the rest of Excalibur.

He appears in 37 but not 38, one issue both ways.

He appears in 39 – 41, three issues.  Missing in 42, one issue.

Appears in 43 – 45, three issues.  Missing in 46 and 47, two issues.

Appears in issues 48 – 51, four issues.  Then Missing in 52 and 53, two issues.

Appears in 54 – 56, three issues.  Missing for 57 and 58, two issues.  Starting to notice a trend.

Appears in 59 – 61, three issues.  Missing in 62 and 63, two issues.

Appears in 64, but not 65, but in 66 – 68.  Four issues and missing in one.

Then he has a break from 69 – 73, five issues!  His biggest yet but not the longest.

Between this time, he has been in two swimsuit specials (Marvel and Amazing Heroes) and a Marvel Holiday Special in 1992.

He appears in Excalibur 74, not 75, but in 76. Two issues on, one off.

Then he is missing from 77 – 95, 19 issues!  They at least have the good sense to explain it away with the Bamfs have kidnapped him but not why no one else noticed.  I suppose we are led to believe in hindsight that he disappears from time to time and having his own adventures that we don’t get to see.  That’s the in-story reason.

He then appears in 96 and 97, so two issues.  Missing from 98 and 99, so two issues off again.

Appears in 100 – 102, three issues.  Missing from 103 to 112, 10 issues.

Appears in 113 and 114, two issues.  Missing in 115 and 116, so two issues.

He shows up for the last two parts of Kitty Pryde : Agent of SHIELD, but misses out on the first.

Appears in Excalibur 117 – 120, four issues.

He appears in both parts of the X-Men / Alpha Flight back in 1985 and the quasi-sequel in 1998.

He also appears in Wolverine 125 and 126.

He is missing from Excalibur issues 121 – 123, three issues.

Then he is around for the final two issues of Excalibur.

Of the 125 issues of Excalibur :

He is missing from 63 issues and appears in 62 of them.

Nowhere close to the numbers I was expecting to see!

Excalibur 125 comes out in October 1998 and no one sees the guy, at all, until November 1999 when he shows up in Mutant X as one of Cyclops’ Starjammers.  But that’s not even the real Lockheed.

He shows up in a memory in the second Excalibur title (a miniseries for Captain Britain, essentially) and that is in February 2001.  So from Oct 1998 to Feb 01, that is over two years.  And that’s not even a real adventure!

He shows up in X-Men Unlimited 35, showing what happen to him after Excalibur 125, in July 2002.  So between his two actual adventures, it is three and a half years for him.  And during this entire time, Kitty is enjoying her second term on that team, and not even one line of dialogue about where he is at all.  Apparently, there was suppose to be a story between the two issues where you find out that the other believes the other is dead but that never got printed.

Then he shows up in X-Men Unlimited 43 in April 2003, and that is the story after Colossus dies and Kitty spreads his ashes, this is the first time they have been reunited.  With no dialogue about when they finally met up.  From Oct 98 to April 03, that is five years for the two characters to be separated and I can see why Marvel was just like, hey, let’s not address that at all.

He then shows up for X-Treme X-Men’s final issue, 46 (june 2004), he does not go to college with Kitty, or at least, we don’t see him.  He appears in two issues of X-Men, Uncanny 444 and X-Men 157.  Both issues pretty much catch up with several characters, and in the same month, July 2004.

He is part of a training procedure in New X-Men 3 and 4.

Then he starts his would be third title, Astonishing X-Men.

He makes an awesome entrance in Astonishing X-Men 2 (missing out on the first issue), and misses out on the 3rd as well.

He is there for 4, 6, 8 but not 5 and 7.

He appears in the Christmas issue, X-Men 165.

We get Future Lockheed in X-Men: The End: Book 2: Heroes & Martyers 1 – 3, missing out on the last three.

His Astonishing appearances next are 9 and 11, so not 10 or 12.

He journeys with Kitty to Japan in X-Men: Kitty Pryde – Shadow and Flame (the series that sparked the name for this here blog!), appearing in all five issues.

He appears in the first three issues of New Excalibur along with Kitty and Rachel.

Future Lockheed continues to appear in X-Men: The End: Book 3: Men and X-Men for issues 1 and 6.  So his luck has not changed at all.

He misses out on the first two issues of X-Men: The 198 but shows up for the final three issues.

Astonishing X-Men, is there for 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22 – 24, and Giant Sized.

Missing out on issues 14, 16, 19 and 21.

Of the 25 issues of Astonishing X-Men :

In 15 and Missing from 10

His best to date!

He was in the first issue of Deadly Genesis, was in the Decimation aftermath (missed out completely on House of M – now I realize), Nightcrawler issue 12, Uncanny X-Men 468, Marvel Team-Up 21, he is there to see Storm get married in Black Panther 18.  Also there for the first issue of Civil War : X-Men and all three issues of World War Hulk : X-Men.

He did a decent job of appearing in X-Men Forever, Claremont’s second chance with the X-Men.

Of the first 25 issues, he has 11 appearances and missing out on 14!

His issues are 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 19, 20, 22, 24 and Giant Size.

He joins the Pet Avengers!  He is one of the bigger names in it, definitely the big three of the team.  I wish it was called Lockheed and the Pet Avengers, we do get a new side of him here as well.  When he isn’t being seen, we might assume that he is having adventures with his new team.  Or this other team :

He gets his own miniseries in SWORD, appearing in all five issues.  This is where we see him grieve for Kitty and a pretty awesome side of him.  Also, now that he is a member of SWORD, when you don’t see him, he is probably having awesome adventures there.  That’s what I tell myself.

Then he shows up in three of the four issues of the sequel to the first Pet Avengers mini.  The second issue is a Throg solo issue.

He also appears in Thor and the Warriors Four, a Power Pack mini, the Pet Avengers show up for the first and last issue.

X-Men Forever was given a sequel series, X-Men Forever 2 (that’s right! – not X-Men More Forever, or something silly like that).

Of that series’ 16 issues, Lockheed shows up in 9 issues, missing out on 7.  His track record remains!

His issues are 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, and 16.  He is lucky enough to become friends with ‘Ro, as this second volume is mostly a love letter to Storm.

He then is a bit of a star to the third Pet Avengers mini : Avengers vs. Pet Avengers, where dragons are taking over.

He had a three issue arc in Astonishing, 38, 40 and 42 (that’s how they published it) teaming up with Kitty on a SWORD adventure involving the Brood.  Which I love that the Brood fear Lockheed so much!  We need some Pre Uncanny X-Men 166 adventures!

Wolverine and the X-Men would technically be his four ongoing but he is rarely in that as well, plus it is still ongoing.  As of the most recent issue, issue 36.

He is in 13 issues, thus being not included in 23 issues.  His worst stats yet.

Lockheed is in issues : 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 11, 14, 17, 18, 29, 30 and 32.  You would think with his actual history with the Bamfs, that there would be a scene with him and all of the Bamfs running around the Jean Grey School, but we don’t get any of that either (unless it is issue three, that I am missing).  Then again, it has always appeared to be Marvel’s policy to completely ignore everything that has happen in Excalibur, including Nightcrawler’s leadership abilities, Rachel’s complete control over the Phoenix force and Alan Davis’ additions to the Days of Future Past.

While not showing up in that series, he has been in Wolverine 306, X-Men Legacy 266, Astonishing X-Men 51 (Norhtstar’s wedding),  AvX: VS 6 (he doesn’t find anyone, just standing next to Ant-Man riding an ant).  He has been in A+X issues 2 and 8, All-New X-Men 5 and 6 – you would think he would have a higher chance of being in this title as that has becoming Professor Pryde and the Original Five.  Avenging Spider-Man 16, X-Men Legacy 6 and his latest appearance, Infinity 1.  He has not appeared in issues 2 through 4.

I have plans to review some of these in the next three months, but expect several in February.

I am missing .02 percent of his appearances, that’s pretty dman impressive, I think.  To whom, may be a different matter.

As luck and time will have it, Lockheed made it to the Comic Geek Speak Top Five Animals list!

http://www.comicgeekspeak.com/episodes/comic_geek_speak-1742.php

Good job!  Thanks to Murd – who may be my favorite host over there.  He is very knowledgeable and is also a huge Kitty Pryde fan.  And a huge Lockheed fan!  Sometimes, the two don’t go hand in hand, which I don’t get how that is possible.

Speaking of Comic Geek Speak, I downloaded their app (as the Kindle wouldn’t let me download the episodes) and they only go as far back as episode 735, or some silly number like that.  I was hoping to get their Dark Phoenix Saga Book of the Month, their Top Five Couples, Footnotes for both JLAvengers and Watchmen episodes.  I sent an e-mail but who knows when I will hear back about process on that front.

Updated June 11, 2014 –

I made this list for easier reference :

Claremont’s X-Men (from 166 to 213) – He’s in 18 and out of 28

Excalibur (he does a better job in this) – in 62 out 63

Whedon / Cassaday’s Astonishing X-Men – in 15 out 10

X-Men Forever 1 – in 11 out 14
X-Men Forever 2- in 9 out 7
So Claremont at least tried to correct his original mistake

Wolverine and the X-Men (the first 36 issues) – in 13 out 23

As it is a little hard to read above.