Issue opens where the last one ended. The Sinister created Cyclops (a mixed of Summers’ DNA and some unknown Inhuman DNA) stands before the X-Men. Jean reads its mind and conforms that isn’t the real Cyclops. That’s all Old Man Logan needed to hear, as he charges at NotCyclops, Notclops.
Notclops blasts Old Man Logan through the sewers and out onto the streets. Sinister doesn’t want Notclops to be hurt, but the X-Men don’t care what Sinister wants. Storm tells Iceman to deep freeze Notclops.
It doesn’t take long for the Inhuman DNA to take over and Notclops grows even more scales and loses control. Sinister gets lost in this dramatic transformation and while he is distracted, Colossus straight punches him in the back. Colossus does it so hard that we get to see a Gwen Stacy inspired “SNAP!” So Sinister’s back is way broken.
Storm checks in on Jean. Iceman gives chase after Notclyops. Colossus has to stay behind to watch over Illyana. Iceman tries to confine Notclops in a ice ring.
Jean can’t shut Notclops down, as it doesn’t have a brain. Storm tells Jean to look after Old Man Logan. Storm will take on Notclops and Iceman starts saving civilians.
Illyana is starting to wake up. She directs her brother to turn around. A body of Sinister picks up the head of the broken back Sinister and puts it into its neck. This body is suppose to be more durable than the last one. Colossus is ready for Round Two.
Jean checks in on Old Man Logan, I like how slow his healing factor is now. That was one of the biggest issues with Present Day Wolverine.
Iceman saves a dude whose legs are stuck under a bus. Iceman creates a giant Abominable Snowman to lift the bus.
Storm tries to talk Notclops down but he can only growl. Old Man Logan gets a few slices in but gets blasted back.
Colossus keeps beating on Sinister. Sinister makes the point that Colossus wrecks and he builds. With that, Sinister slams Colossus into the ground.
Sinister’s experiments has revealed that mutants are dying (again). Mutants are no long Homo Superior, they have become Inferior.
Meanwhile, Jean has been keeping Notclops’ body from exploding and is trying to raise it into the air to cut down on the blast radius.
Illyana has gotten into the fight, with the bold move of slicing Sinister’s head off.
Magik doesn’t think the X-Men are the last of their kind but the first. I like the phase “Children of Xavier” it just rings true and I really dig Illyana making with a monologue. She’s typically more of a doer than a talker.
Notclops explodes in the sky, so he isn’t coming back anytime soon.
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Illyana looks to be drawn taller now, but I’m sure that’s just an artistic choice.
Poor Kurt, he has clearly been through some things but he does recognize one of his oldest friends, and her brother.
The X-Men are finally reunited, for the first time this series. Jean wants to go home but Storm has a speech she wants to make. She tells everybody in attendance, and the world around them (via the news crew) that the mutant race is dying.
The X-Men will no longer be hiding. They will continue to protect and serve those who would fear and hate them. They will also be gathering any mutants that are not already at X-Haven. If anyone tries to hurt them, the X-Men will squash that fool.
Storm is still seeing Xavier’s ghost.
With a classic “to me, my X-Men” Storm asks Magik to send them home.
Cerebra likes Storm’s speech. Forge informs Storm that Maria Hill wants to have a meeting, so that they can get on the same page. Magik doesn’t trust SHIELD but Storm wants to give them a chance.
Magik notices that a fight occurred in Limbo, which I’m sure causes some conflict within her. She’ll have to tell those demons to leave the mutants alone.
Issue ends with Old Man Logan not wanting to go into the school. Jean thinks Glob Herman is a little cute and she tells Old Man Logan that there is a teenage Scott Summers, which doesn’t thrill him.
Next issue starts the Search and Rescue storyline, that Magik is involved in, so we’ll be definitely be buying it.
The Guardians are regrouping. Drax and Quill really want to go back to Spartax and save Gamora. Rocket wants to do that too, but only once they have an actual plan.
Quill is also motivated by not wanting the planet he is in charge of to be destroyed. Drax doesn’t want to live a friend behind, on a live battlefield. I get the impression that Pryde is on Rocket’s side.
Spartax. Where Gamora was Left to Die. (Depending on your point of view.) Gamora, to her credit, stands and prepares to fight Hala for a third round.
The team are making arguments of why they should go back and save Gamora. Rocket has to repeat, that they need a plan first. That is all he is trying to convey.
Grimm, who wasn’t around during Black Vortex, has to ask the question. Did they destroy Hala? I love how angry the dudes get over the question.
Quill taking the pause, before fully explaining the situation. They didn’t destroy the planet, they just didn’t save it. Quill’s father pressed a button and Hala (the planet, and thorneworld of the Kree) was destroyed.
Pryde tries to relieve the guilt Quill is feeling. I do like how Quill, though he may hate the administrative tasks of being the president of a student, he actually cares for his citizens. Is this what happened between the eight months? Quill pushing her away to get more involved with the planet? She didn’t want to be seen as First-Lady-In-Wait so started hanging out with the Guardians? I could see that being the issue, or the beginning of the issues. I suspect we are never going to find out what happened during the missing eight months. Or, all of the Marvel titles are going to have their third or fifth storylines, deal with the missing months.
Quill whispers that Earth is next on Hala’s hit list. This makes Pryde, Grimm and Venom committed to stopping Hala, even more.
Finally, the entire team tells Rocket that they are going back to Spartax.
On Spartax, Hala is beating Gamora even beyond the beating from before. Hala keeps asking where is King Peter Quill. King Quill finally states that he is there. Quill tries to charm Hala, to no effect.
Rocket is wearing a cute hoodie, that has room for his ears.
Quill tells Hala that it was his father who destroyed her planet. She understands this new information but it doesn’t change anything.
See how cute that hoodie is?
Quill tries to further explain that J-Son wouldn’t care if the planet that rejected him, was destroyed. She’s committed to her plan.
Quill gives Pryde the command and Pryde strikes!
Pryde pulls the same trick she did to Thor in Thor 427 / 428, where she phases a person into the ground. Which I’m surprised this doesn’t straight kills the person but we can’t be having Pryde murdering people using a planet.
To Hala’s credit, she doesn’t seem that wounded. It isn’t until the combined might of Drax and Grimm start slugging her, that she starts to bleed.
Hala explodes the ground around her. Everyone is knocked back. Is it me or is Quill overly concerned for Gamora’s health? Is that what happened between him and Pryde? Maybe I’m just looking for clues everywhere I can find them.
Gamora isn’t dead. Everyone is so glad to see her breathing.
Grimm has been spending this time, punching Hala’s face.
Quill wants to get the planet back in order, which seems to upset Pryde. I do like how Quill already has a plan to get the military back up on their feet.
I do like that panel of Pryde and Quill getting close, so those two are still sweet on each other.
As soon as one threat is down, Yotat, the Destroyer of Destroyers arrives. Rocket opens fire on Yotat, thinking the threat is taken care of.
Yotat still stands and it is his turn to unload his gun. The Guardians are knocked back, yet again.
Pretty good conclusion to the first arc. Though I imagine Yotat and Hala team-up and this storyline isn’t over yet.
There is an Original Trek meets Original X-Men (plus Bishop, Storm and Wolverine – of course) but that one doesn’t involve Kitty so it lacks being in my collection. This one, involves the best series of the Star Trek franchise – The Next Generation. Largely due to them having the best captain, Jean-Luc Picard. Though those first two seasons are hard to watch, largely due to the heavy focus on Wesley Crusher and Data. So the next generation of the Enterprise meets the next generation of the X-Men.
This story takes place a minute after Star Trek : First Contact –
Thanks to YouTuber Nathan Travis for hosting the trailer!
In that film, old nemesis (and possibly the most dangerous) The Borg go back in time to stop humans “first contact” with an alien race. Hence why this is titled, Second Contact. The Enterprise is in back in time, already but not only go further in time but they also go into an alternate universe where the X-Men are.
In fact, this comic starts one minute after the end credits of that film. Which I really need to see if I can find a copy of the film to watch.
The cast of the two teams are –
Star Trek : Next Generation : Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William T. Rider, Commander Data, Commander Deanna Troi, Dr. Beverly Crusher, Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge, Lt. Commoner Worf and the Borg. X-Men : Wolverine, Storm, Angel, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, Banshee, Kang, Sentinels and the Thunderbolts.
Captain’s Log. April 5, 2063 – or so. The Enterprise is trying to wade through time to get back to their present. Once out of warp, they notice they are not near their Earth.
Editor “Continuity Chief” Timothy Tuohy lets us know that this issue takes place before X-Men Zero Tolerance, Heroes Return and Thunderbolts 10 – so we know exactly where we are.
Their attempt to go forward in time has caused them to go backwards in time. Geordi informs them that they need to replace their processing core. Crusher tries to explain that this primitive Earth shouldn’t have that type of continuity. Riker corrects her, there is Shi’ar tech that has been located and will work. Little do they know how much alien life has come into contact with this Earth. Picard is going to send two away teams – to the two locations in North America that has the technology they need.
The first team – Worf, Riker and Crusher, come across the Thunderbolts. In the late 90s, in Star Trek time, New York City should be in the Eugenics War. The three have come to the Baxter Building, which is currently the homebase of the Thunderbolts. Their twelfth issue is so great.
Since the first team came across costume folk, they abandon that goal and try a nice country home in Westchester.
Banshee likes that the X-Men have come together, not during a time of crisis, but to just hang out. This really is a decent group of seven X-Men. Angel serves as the Original Five placeholder; Kitty, Kurt and even Colossus represent Excalibur as well as the inclusion of Storm and Wolverine adds to the 35th Anniversary era. Banshee is the lone holdout, except he adds another face from the Second Class of X-Men.
Kitty likes it when they gather too.
The second away team is – Geordi, Data and Troi. Geordi locates the Shi’ar tech behind a panel. Before he can make much progress, Wolverine pops his two outer claws around Geordi’s throat. Data grabs Wolverine by the shoulder and merely flings him across the room. We get a fun match up between Data and Colossus. Colossus throws a punch, Data tries to catch it but ends up on the other side of the room, as well.
Troi gets between the boyz and quickly explains that they are from the Enterprise. Wolverine recognizes the name of the starship from the previous teamup.
Later, Picard can’t believe that he is following in the footsteps of his most illustrious predecessor.
Such a great double splash page of two groups together. The X-Men took the time to get dressed, as did Geordi, Data and Troi.
We get a very quick recap of the previous crossover. Picard also recaps his film, so now everyone knows what happened before they each woke up this morning.
Kitty, as the smartest person in the room, announces that the Enterprise being here is causing a major upset in the timestream.
I love how much Wolf and Wolverine (who are great together) are so over timelines and alternate Earths. A stable of both franchises.
Troi states that an evil presence is is about to arrive.
That force is . . . Kang! An Avengers villain but the X-Men don’t really have a time traveling foe so the villain borrowing makes sense. Always better to use an established character instead of creating a new one.
Is only Banshee facing Kang? That’s not good staging on Kang’s behalf.
Kang doesn’t waste too much time explaining the stakes. There is a grave disruption in the time space continuities, so the two franchises’ histories are about to mix. As fun as it is to read, it isn’t great for the characters. There are two huge anomalies that need intimidate attention.
I do like Picard and Storm having asides with each other.
Riker’s providing a log. Kang gave them eight chronal compass watches, so there will be two groups of four characters. Team One is – Colossus, Picard, Troi and Kurt. Team Two is – Wolverine, Data, Storm and Worf. A bit of an odd grouping for both sets. At least Wolverine and Worf makes sense. Surprised the writers didn’t try to put Colossus and Data on the same teams, or some other fun combo like Picard and Storm on the same team.
That leaves poor Kitty, Angel and Banshee just standing around on the Enterprise-E.
Team One goes to the Days of Future Past timeline – the most famous of the X-Men’s alternate histories. Makes sense that Colossus is on this team as his future self is in the storyline. Storm was too so she really should have been on this team. I guess Wolverine and Kitty could have been there too.
Kurt talks about this as if it makes perfect sense, I guess Rachel probably painted a very visual telling of this future. 2013 is still the far future, in the late 90s. Filthy flatscans begin to throw rocks at the mutants and Starfleet officers. Sentinels arrive on scene and everyone scatters.
Team Two. Data recognizes that they are in the middle of The Battle of Wolf 359 –
This happens during Star Trek Next Generation’s Best of Both Worlds Part II and Deep Space Nine’s pilot, Emissary, during Captain Sisko’s flashback. Picard was assimilated into the Borg fold at this point. The Borg use his knowledge of Starfleet to make short work of the opposition.
The battle from Emissary –
Thanks to YouTuber Psyker Sith for hosting this video.
The aftermath (and the lead up) from Best of Both Worlds, Part II –
Thanks to YouTuber Mad Monkey for hosting this video.
So for those folks who are not familiar with Star Trek / Borg canon, that’s the best I can do. I hope it helps.
Worf and Wolverine start tearing into the Borg. Storm whips up a tornado, which may not be the smartest move on a spaceship. With a lightning strike, the Borg are taken out.
Days of Future Past. Picard takes down a Sentinel. As do Colossus and Kurt. Troi feels like something is missing. Kang, talking aloud, to himself. He reveals, to himself, his own plans, that the anomalies are keeping history together, so once the heroes fix those two pieces – history should be for Kang’s taking.
On the bridge of the Enterprise. Two officers are getting restless, as Kitty has to watch on. Just then, Wesley Crusher and the Traveler arrive.
Traveler explains how Kang is tricking them into doing his bidding. The anomalies need to stay in place, as time fixes itself.
I do like the idea of Wesley and Kitty being a pair. Traveler is going to guide the Enterprise to where Kang is. Mr. Crusher and Ms. Pryde are going to warn the teams.
As the two youngsters leave, Banshee and Angel reflect on how Kitty has grown up.
Battle of Wolf 359. Sisko is giving orders to Thunderbird, so we know he is the anomaly. Now we just need Sunfire and all of the Second Class folks would be present. Well, and Cyclops too, I suppose.
Wolverine is about to kill Thunderbird (as he’s better than Count Nefaria, I guess). Luckily, Kitty arrives and hugs Wolverine. Wesley is forced to yell at Data to not do anything that Kang told them to do. Storm wants an explanation, I would have just taken Kitty at her word. I’m good like that.
Just then, Sisko is about to be killed when Proudstar takes the hit – like a champ.
Data suspects that Kang wanted Sisko to die so that he never becomes the Emissary of the Prophets. Wesley tells them to use their watches to go back to the Enterprise. Kitty and him need to catch up to the other team. Worf respects how brave Kitty is.
Kang breaks a monitor, as the Enterprise attacks. Kang isn’t gong to go down quietly.
Days of Future Past. We get to see Tasha Yar filling in for Rachel Grey, as Kate Pryde sleeps. Well, as she’s back in the 80s and it is really Kitty’s mind that is taking the nap.
Kurt is able to work in the phase “Days of Future Past” which can’t be easy to do.
Troi confirms this isn’t their Tasha Yar.
Picard can’t bring himself to kill Yar. Wesley and Kitty arrive to stop what Picard has already decided to not do.
Borg inspired Sentinels break through the walls.
I don’t quite get how Tasha Yar was able to send Kate’s mind back to the past, that isn’t part of her skill set. She was a kick arse Security Chief.
Troi volunteers to replace Yar and get the two Prydes minds back to their rightful bodies.
Colossus and Kitty are taking out SentiBorgs.
Wait, did Colossus fastball special Kitty? He’s been doing that since before Whedon did it, that’s pretty awesome.
Kitty destroys a head of a SentiBorg and lands. She sees Troi syncing Yar and Kate’s minds.
Kitty, for the first time, witnesses the event that has been a pretty pivotal moment in her history. One of the first real defining stories of hers.
Wait, am I reading Troi’s dialogue correctly? Kate’s mind is going back to Tasha Yar’s younger mind? Shouldn’t this have been Rachel doing this to a sleeping Yar? That would have make more sense.
Riker, Banshee and the Traveler are on Kang’s ship. As soon as Traveler is finished tampering with Kang’s ship, the come back to the bridge. Picard and the gang are waiting for him.
The two ships begin a fire fight. The Enterprise ends the duel with a win.
Captain’s Log, Kang’s ship imploded onto itself. Kitty kisses Wesley on the cheek! If only we could get a tad more of that relationship. The two teams say their good byes.
The X-Men return to Earth and one second later, are beginning the adventure of Planet X, which we’ll be reviewing in a few days.
Head Writers / Coordinators Jeff Christiansen & Mike O’Sullivan
Assistant Coordinators Stuart Vandal, Markus Raymond & Mike Fichera
Writers Sean McQuaid, Rob London, Stuart Vandal, Kevin Garcia, Michael Hoskin, Ronald Byrd, Madison Carter, Markus Raymond, David Wiltfong & Chris Biggs
Cover Artists Tom Raney with Frank D’Armata
Cover Dated March 2011
Last year, we lost legend Alan Kupperberg and we are remembering him with this issue.
His art is used in the World War Two section –
He drew Josef Stalin.
Other events featured in this handbook –
Annihilation War
Armor Wars
Atlantis Attacks
Avengers / Defenders War
Battletide
Civil War
Crossing
Dark Reign
Destiny War
Doom Supreme
Evolutionary War
Fall of the Hammer
Forces of Darkness, Forces of Light
Great Cataclysm
Heroes Reborn / Return
House of M / M-Day – Kitty at least played a role in this one
I.T. Plot
Inferno!
Art by Marc Silvestri
Art by Alan Davis
A storyline that ends Magik and only halts Kitty just a tad.
Infinity Gauntlet, Kitty appeared in one panel of this event
Kree-Skrull War
Lost in Space-Time
Maximum Carnage, still one of the greatest Spider-Man stories of all time!
Maximum Security
Midnight Massacre
Mutant Massacre
Art by Gus Vazquez
A storyline that took Kitty out of the X-Men and her into forming Excalibur.
Mys-Tech Wars, Kitty played a small role in this one
Odyssey
Operation : Galactic Storm
Richards-Storm Wedding
Secret Invasion
Secret Wars
Art by Angel Medina
This image is from the Venom Dark Origin miniseries. Kitty and Lockheed both played parts of this one, Kitty in memories but Lockheed was present.
Inks Tim Townsend, Al Vey, Mark Irwin, John Livesay, Wayne Faucher, Victor Olazaba & Jaime Mendoza
Letters VC’s Cory Petit
My first comic of 2016!
John Livesay and Wayne Faucher are new inkers to Team Bachalo. I wonder how that studio actually works.
I’ve been, unofficially, following this series – as I do enjoy the creative team. Glad to finally have a reason to buy this title. I figured I would, eventually, as Doctor Strange has been keeping a posse of magicians with him. That isn’t all he’s been doing for three issues.
More and more, each day, supernatural forces are coming to New York City. Magic beings are running from their original locations to our world. Someone is killing Sorcerer Supremes. I didn’t even know there were other Sorcerer Supremes. I suppose, Brother Voodoo would still be considered a Sorcerer Supreme – even if he isn’t the current fellow.
Years Ago. We’re getting a training session with Strange and the Ancient One. We didn’t get scenes like that, in the early issues – so it is nice to see these scenes. Strange doesn’t want to punch the Ancient One, for one – his hands are still crippled. Plus, he’s trying to learn sorcery from him.
I do like how the flashbacks are in black and white – that’s a nice touch.
Strange throws the punch and hurts his hand. The most important lesson of being a sorcerer is – the harder you punch, the more it hurts you. Which sort of makes sense, that’s how head butting works.
I also like seeing a young Strange, not knowing the names of spells and not really taking it seriously. Even though he is successfully levitating a yak, so he knows there is magic in the world – but he doesn’t quite have a handle on it. Apparently, every spell comes at a price – sort of like on Once Upon A Time – all magic has a price. Strange has been casting spells for a week, and now is throwing up.
Now. Strange is throwing up. Which is embarrassing, as he is throwing a party. Chondu, the other Wong, isn’t thrilled about the throwing up. It took a lot of stronger magic, to clean up the mess. So we’re to believe that Strange has been throwing up for fifty years? That isn’t a great idea. Throwing up is the worst.
The Bar With No Door. So glad that Magik has made it to this series! I knew she had to, as the solicts have stated that Strange was going to be keeping in touch with his magical friends. Plus, Bachalo drawing Magik again, is always a good thing. I would have liked, her in her current outfit but I understand Bachalo wanting to keep her in his own design outfit.
The magical inclined heroes are here to hear the bad news that they know Strange has. I wish I recognized more of these characters. Damian Hellstom, I know from Facebook : Avengers Alliance. Alpha Flight’s Shaman has been in this series thus far – plus, as a X-Fan, I know who Alpha Flight is. Looks like a guy with Cloak’s . . . cloak but with a messed up jaw, is in attendance. Who is that next to Magik? I imagine that is Wanda (who has also been in this series, thus far) is sitting next to Shaman.
Strange has buried seventeen Sorcerer Supremes. They were the top sorcerer of their respected dimensions. Each was killed, horribly – hours of torture that ended with being burned alive. Not only are they dead, but their dimensions have been cut off. Their bodies were hidden away so that someone like Strange, would have to look for them. This threat is now coming to Earth.
Brother Voodoo asks how many Sorcerer Supremes are there. Strange doesn’t know and the Ancient One never revealed it. Strange sent out a call to the rest of them. He stood around, for hours and no one answered the summons.
I like how Count Kaoz name checks himself. Plus, he seems very interesting with that bear attack story.
Magik, being as great as she is, volunteers to invest in Limbo and see if anyone is taking credit for the murders.
Damian Hellstom is going to investigate Hell, which seems like a place to get some answers.
The Cloak cloak borrower is either Professor Xu or Mahatma Doom, suggests that they all mindlink so that they can be better informed.
El Merico Mistico, in Spanish, is willing to fight to the death.
Monako (none of these people are familiar to me) is under the impression that Strange brought this on himself (and them) for not being more active. Which seems silly, to me.
Strange doesn’t believe any of his rogue gallery is responsible for this.
Wong calls the bar, there has been another murder.
Zelma Stanton, the character that brought this threat to Strange’s attention, is found the book that hit her. When it hit her head, she had a little creature forming in her hair – it looks like Strange dealt with that. Now she is hanging around.
marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Zelma_Stanton_(Earth-616)
I looked it up and she is now Strange’s librarian.
Zelma is telling Strange that the book that hit her on the head – The Grimoire of Watoomb – is now blank. She says the book died, which surprises Strange as well. Which isn’t good, if Strange is in uncertain waters, don’t follow that guy, too closely.
Since the pages are empty, that must mean that something horrible has happened at the Temple of Watoomb. Strange plans on investigating. Before he can do that, he collapses. Wong brings him to the table, so he can eat lunch. Wong lets Zelma know, that after these years of being who he is, Strange has a very special diet. Strange tells her not to watch him eat, once she does, she can never unsee it. She describes the dish as, culinary afterbirth. Which, really, is all I need to know. Jason Aaron seems to be really getting into the day-to-day of what it is like to be Doctor Strange. Hopefully Brother Voodoo was warn of all of this, when Strange was making him the next Sorcerer Supreme. The food would kill a normal man and it should kill Strange, eventually.
Later, Zelma is worried about books being murdered, or if magic is being murdered. Strange wouldn’t have thought it was possible to murder magic but someone is doing a fine job of doing just that.
Strange opens a portal, that appears to be to the ocean floor. He instructs her to go home, as he enters the ocean. The Temple of Watoomb is deep beneath the Indian Ocean. Watoomb, seems like such a familiar word, I’m sure it is one of his go-to spells. Strange is able to simply swim pass defenses, so clearly something is wrong. A machine that disrupts sorcery stops him. Apparently, that shouldn’t be a thing.
This reminds me of Waid / Wiering’s run on Fantastic Four. When Reed had to fight Doctor Doom. Reed doesn’t know magic so Strange gave him some simple spells, I believe that all Reed had to do, was repeat one phrase and had some simple spells at his disposal. I wonder if he threw up after that?
Zelma calls Strange, via the spell he cast on her phone. She tells him that all of the books are dying. Her phone gets disconnected, I’m not sure how he was talking to her. Maybe the call just appears near his head?
Issue ends with Strange, triumphant over the machine. He makes a conference call to all mystical beings. He was wrong, the enemy isn’t coming – they are already here! dun dun DUN!!!
Such a great issue! I should be reading this series properly.
. . .
I’m writing this on January 9, 2016 – let’s see how long it is before it is published!
This is being published on July 12, 2016. So seven months to see the first comic of 2016.
Like I do every year, I keep track of what the best comics were of 2016 – typically, it is always my first ten comics.
Issue opens with Colossus having a flashback to when he was a kid. Except that Kurt is there and Colossus is looking for his sister. Kurt hints that the Inhumans and Cyclops are ruining the mutant race.
Colossus wakes from that dream state, into a nightmare. His precious sister is in one of those Inhumanity eggs.
Colossus gets terrified by the sight of an Inhuman-induced Illyana. Luckily, she is still in her original form. Well, her form since Belasco changed her course.
Colossus finally gets out of all of these dreams. He’s hanging upside down in Mister Sinister’s lair. Sinister is trying to make Home Superior, even more Superior. He is currently experimenting on a purple version of Mammomax.
The new Marauders start getting name checked. The old guy with the horns is Aries – which makes sense with the horns and all.
Sinister points to Kurt, who has lost his mind – only speaking in bible verses or with a biblical flair.
Sinister gives the elephant mutant a giant dose of Terrigen Mist. I guess everyone has access to it now. Typically, no one survives the process – mutant DNA and Inhuman DNA doesn’t mix well.
Sinister hints that Magik will be experimented on next, as she is made of sterner material.
X-Haven, Limbo. Storm is happy to see Old Man Logan, he’s happy to be laying into demons.
Iceman saves Anole, who would like a moment to talk to Bobby, now that he has admitted to being gay. Iceman starts trying to joke around with Old Man Logan. Forge gets the shield ready to go but he wants the demons to be pushed back, so that none of them are inside the force field. Jean starts pushing the demons back, with her mind.
Iceman and Old Man Logan are happy to see each other.
Cerebra reminds Storm that they should probably look for Illyana and Kurt. She can’t track them but Old Man Logan offers to do that. He refuses to work with Cerebra, which seems odd to me as this is the guy who killed all of the X-Men, so who is he to judge things.
Forge offers up Kurt’s tail, so that Old Man Logan can get the scent.
Manhattan. The X-Men teleport in and this guy immediately overreacts to their presence. He doesn’t want his children to be affected by M-Pox. Old Man Logan and Jean exchange a few words. Iceman tries to joke about them, but takes it too far. He mocks them for having a grandfather – daughter relationship but hints at the original versions chemistry.
Chimera, the lady Marauder, wants to just kill Illyana. Colossus protests that plan, but he is powerless to do anything about that. Sinister has pumped Colossus with a lot of power-dampening serum.
Sinister believes Illyana is a threat, due to her magic – it separates her from the others. That’s not the only thing that puts her out of everyone else’s league.
Before Sinister can do anything, he gets three claws through his back – which I love how the X-Men arriving, isn’t hinted at, at all. It works so well as a next page turn.
Storm announces that the team should kick some aarse, which I like this take on Storm – she’s so much more fun now.
Old Man Logan skips the fight, as freeing Colossus is a higher priority.
Jean takes out Chimera, who has a black hole in her head. So she’s like Xorn, I suppose.
Colossus frees Illyana. She is still knocked out.
Old Man Logan and Iceman notice that Kurt is out of sorts.
Sinister is able to get back to his feet, he picks up where he left off. All of his experiments have ended in failure, except for one. The issue ends with the reveal that Cyclops is alive! But with some form of Inhuman scales. I’m sure it is only a clone of Cyclops but who knows. This is the flagship title so this could be the real Cyclops.
For a Sinister story, this one isn’t horrible – thus far.
Marvel’s attempts to get me to buy the satellite Guardians titles continues!
I flipped through the first issue, I liked the art – but there was no Kitty Pryde to be seen. Here is what happened – Venom saved a mother and her children from a space pirate. He dropped them off at their home, and picked up a robot, 803.
That’s right, I own this issue just for this one amazing page! Look how awesome that is! Get Olivetti over to an issue of Guardians of the Galaxy!
Flash is at an AA meeting. Good for him, for both finding a meeting and keeping up with it, while in space. Flash has two jobs, one has great coworkers (the Guardians) and the other, is that he is a Space Knight.
Like many episodes of ABC’s Revenge – this issue takes place 63 Hours, Fifteen Minutes, Three Seconds Ago.
Venom is fighting a giant space crab. 803 tries to give him a status update but Venom is busy. He does want 803 to find the ship that is following them.
Venom heard a cry for help from the native P’Qui by the Klyntari (from what the translation box states). Flash expands the symbiotic to cover himself and the four aliens, as he gets them home. I’m not sure how he is still standing, as he doesn’t have legs, but he is.
These aliens are drilling and that spurred the crab creature to strike out. The drill actually fell from space, and has been upsetting everybody. The drill fills up, sends the product to space and continues drilling – all on its own.
Venom has 803 target the drill and explodes it, that was an easy one.
As Venon rejoins 803 on his ship and blasts off, the war ship is on top of them. The war ship tractor beams Venom’s ship and Venom gets ready for a fight. Flash keeps making Earth references like the Death Star and 911, but no one knows what he is talking about.
Venom comes across a purple bulky alien fella, with the head of a hammerhead shark. Venom tries to talk to it, as he sees the purple is a fellow symbiote. Venom name checks the symbiote race – Klyntars. That doesn’t overly complicate things, does it?
All of Venom’s chattering gets the other guy to start talking. Since the Klyntars are peaceful, Venom knows the host must be a rough type.
A white symbiote speaks up. The white one is Myntril and the purple one is, Tarna. They are all agents of the cosmos, like Venom is. Venom, Agent of the Cosmos, could have been a pretty good title instead of stealing ROM’s Space Knight title.
Tarna mocks Venom for being both weak and not in touch with his symbiote. Venom stands up for himself, good for him! His relationship is good, besides the voices in his head. Myntril states that the voices are from the cosmos. He goes on to say that once they hear the voice, they must answer the call. Flash likes having this purpose. These two have been testing Venom. Myntril likes Flash and Tarna is not that impress with him – I like having the two different takes. Tarna is a lady, it turns out, I see the boobs now.
Myntril didn’t recognize the drill from any known alien race. Myntril also suspects the drill is related to the weapons Venom found in the first issue – it is all connected.
Myntril leaves, letting Venom know that Tarna is in charge of his training.
We catch up, 36 hours later and the AA meeting ends. They even have donuts!
Issue ends with Lord Mercurio, not happy that Venom has stopped his goals, twice. Tubin calls him, Lord but he doesn’t deserve the title until they get their planet back. Mercurio sends their most dangerous prisoner, Pik Rollo, to go kill Venom (and bring back his head!) so next issue should get pretty intense!
I doubt I’ll get the next issue but this issue was pretty fun!
Writers Anthony Flamini, Stuart Vandal & Eric J. Moreels
Art Coordinator Mike Fichera
Cartographer Eliot R. Brown
Cover Art Staz Johnson & Chris Sotomayor
Cover Dated 2008
Each entry gets – Official Name / Population / Capital City / Places of Interest / Government / Major Languages / Monetary Unit / Major Resources / National Defense / International Relations / Extraterrestrial Relations / Nonhuman Population / Domestic Superhumans / Prominent Citizens / Superhman Residents / Domestic Crime / International Crime / History.
The countries shown in this issue are –
Canada
Mexico
United States of America
Kitty is referenced as being a Domestic Superhuman.
Subsections are – Camp Hammond / Gamma Base / Manhattan
Boca Caliente
Cuba
Haiti
Costa Salvador
Costa Verde
Delvadia
Santo Rico
Terra Verde
Argentina
Bastrona
Bolivia
Bosqueverde
Brazil
Estrella
Medisuela
Peru
San Diablo
San Gusto
Santo Marco
Tierra Verde
Venezuela
Algeria
Azania
Burunda
Canaan
Congo
Egypt
Genosha
Halwan
Imaya
Kenya
Mbangawi
Narobia
Rudyarda
South Africa
Tanzania
Wakanda and the Kingdom of Wakanda
Aqiria
Iraq
Israel
Mazikhandar
Saudi Arabia
Trans-Sabal
The Aerie (Sky Island)
Atlantis
Savage Land, along with The Savage Land, Pangea
The Index has so many countries listed.
. . .
Happy July 4th!
. . .
Big Brother 18 : Episode 6 – July 3, 2016
Who will become the new HoH? Who will be nominated? Who wins BB Roadkill? Who will they nominate?
So many questions! This should be a packed episode! My wife has pretty much spoiled this for me but let’s continue as I do like seeing things play out.
HoH Comp, continuation from Thursday.
Day 16. Natalie falls first, and is eliminated.
Five minutes before the live show, Frank had a meeting with Victor. Frank wants Victor out.
Poor Freakazoids, as they only have Corey and Tiffany playing for them as Nicole is the outgoing HoH. Big Sister isn’t doing it so well, Da’Vonne and Zakiyah are super slow – which is killing Paul. Tiffany falls, as she’s the worst. Now Corey has to do everything. Then Corey falls ad loses everything! James likes to throw competitions, which one should NEVER do! Poor James, he is on the wrong team as everyone on Team Unicorn (besides him) tried to vote Paulie out. James falls.
Category4 gets 40 balls. They have to decide which one is getting the 41st one – that person gets to be HoH for the week. Since Paulie was on the block for the week, he got to become the HoH. None of the team can be nominated.
Bronte, Victor and Paul know that they are being nominated this week. Victor is straight up crying in DR.
Some of the houseguests are keeping their balls from the competition. That’s what I’ll do! I’ll pack a small bag for the keepsakes.
8Pack are so excited their side won, poor Paulie he’s under the impression there is a Pack9 but he’s the ninth person of an eight person alliance.
Paul suspects that Natalie flipped but Bronte swears that she didn’t. Zakiyah and Tiffany are the ones that flopped, as well as Michelle. Corey too, I forgot about him. Paul and Victor try to see where Paulie’s head is. Bronte joins the conversation. Victor tries to throw Natalie under the bus, so there goes that showmance. Paul really wants to get rid of Victor.
Later, Paulie and Corey meet with Paul. Paulie wants to build trust with Paulie. Paulie wants to use Paul as a pawn, which Paul has no choice but to go along with that plan.
James has been flirting it up with all of the ladies, none have been safe. He seems to be drawn to Nicole, Natalie and Bridgette.
Nominations! (we’re at the half way mark of the episode) Paul (pawn) and Bronte (???) are the nominees. He’s going after those who voted him out, which is smart. Paulie wants to backdoor Victor. Victor suspects he’s a target.
Nicole and Corey are in bed together, while Victor is in the room. Get the hint dude! Corey apparently spends a lot of money on Christmas decorations, so he must have some money. He’s a big Christmas fan. James came in and heard this and just left. James tries to snuggle with Natalie but she gets out of bed to get Bronte. Bronte gets into the bed and James scares her.
BB Roadkill. They have to mark six items that equals $18, the fastest gets to nominate a third person. Looks like this is a hold over from when Big Brother visited the Price is Right.
Paulie – Da’Vonne – Nicole – Tiffany – Zakiyah – James – Natalie – Corey – Bronte – Michelle – Bridgette – Frank – Paul – Victor (this is the order we see people play in)
It looks like no one is simply adding up to eighteen dollars. Actually, some are shown trying to do the math. Natalie doesn’t like hot dogs, that’s a shame!
The winner of the second BB Roadkill is . . . VICTOR!!! Victor told Paulie that he won, which is a mistake. Victor was trying to earn trust but he only added yet another target to his back. He can wins comps. Victor told Frank too. Learn to keep a secret, gosh! After Victor tells Paul, Paul tells him to stop telling people.
Tiffany feels gross as she is gross.
Victor asks for some suggestions for who he should nominate. Paulie doesn’t care as he has the numbers and can keep the third nominee safe.
The third nominee is . . . Tiffany! Let’s work to get her sent home, ya’ll!
I’m all for Tiffany being sent home, who needs Vanessa 2.0 – not me!
Here is Bronte’s pool image.
I wouldn’t really miss her if she left but she is fun in DR.
The Ultimate Universe comes to an end, and it goes out with a whimper.
The big hero on hero fight that began at the end of last issue, is halted when Miles Morales shows up.
Bombshell shouts his real name, most other heroes stop fighting to see what this young kid has to say.
Spider-Man vouches for Miles. Luke Cage believes he should, as Miles looks to be the president of the Spider-Man fan club. Which is pretty funny.
Ultimate Shadowcat wants to hear what her friend and former teammate has to say. I really like Storm’s comment about letting him talk as they can go back to halfheartedly fighting each other. I imagine, in all of those previous hero matchups, that they don’t go all out on each other. Unless there is a grudge to be settle.
Ultimate Fury declares a cease fire.
Ultimate Cloak also says Miles’ real name and he has to finally ask people to stop saying it. Miles starts to hint at what has happened. Teen Jean starts the psychic invasion (because she is the worst) that Emma and Rachel rapidly join in. Emma opens everyone’s mind to what Miles has in his.
We begin the sequence of a couple pages of beautifully drawn pages by Bagley. The first page features Bagley drawing everyone from the Proper Marvel Universe – The Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Avengers (Beast, Captain America, Iron Man, Wasp, Thor and Warbird). Goliath, Vision, Scarlet Witch and the worst – Wonder Man. Even the X-Men make it – John Proudstar, Cyclops, Angel, Jean Grey, Xavier, Colossus, Wolverine, Iceman (gayness, questionable), Storm and Nightcrawler.
Miles states that the Proper Marvel Universe, is the way the universe should have been. He hints that the current New York has been created by one person.
We get the Ultimate Universe pin up page. The Ultimates – Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, Hulk and Hawkeye. Nick Fury. The Fantastic Four. The All New Ultimates – Bombshell, Spider-Woman, Cloak & Dagger. I wish Ultimate Shadowcat was inbetween this team and the X-Men, it would have been a nice transition. The X-Men are – Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine and Nightcrawler.
Miles really goes on about how horrible this current state of the world is.
Two amazing pages and then we get a double page spread of God Doom’s face. Not quite the victory lap I would have liked but it is okay. Miles really rips into God Doom. Miles recalls the way it use to be, as he was in the Life Raft. He knows Doom as the super villain and king of his own kingdom – not the over ruler of an entire world. Doom created this region of New York so that he can punish those fools that have annoyed him over the years.
See the page above? Be prepared to see it two more times (three more, if you own the issue). Which is a shame, as I’m sure this issue was mainly delayed due to issues seven, eight and nine being reworked of Secret Wars 2015. They added issue nine, took pages away from seven and eight as well as moved pages around to make the flow better. But having a two page spread, repeated but less art, seems like a cost cutting measure. So that makes eight pages of the comic super easy to do. Then there is the issue of the pinup art, with narration boxes, so this issue feels lack luster. It looks amazing but it is a fast read. Plus, the way it ends – just like Old Man Logan’s fifth issue – there are two completely white pages and Miles wakes up in the All New All Different Marvel Universe. I wish Marvel had the courage to just put a giant “Buy Issue Nine of Secret Wars 2015” box on the one page. Maybe I’ll end up buying issue nine, if it really is a giant all heroes fighting issue.
Let’s get to the positives. Ultimate Shadowcat is between Ultimate Iron Man and Proper Iceman. Magik is between Storm and Rogue.
The heroes are having, pretty much, the same reaction to hearing that their God Doom is really just a regular dude. Or at least, that he started life as a regular dude. He is all powerful here, on Battleworld.
Miles continues to describe that others were on the Life Raft. The gathered heroes are having to deal with the fact that they are not the original character but a duplicate or alternate universe. Ultimate Dagger is worried that she isn’t real – which is what I’m always writing about, that if you went to an alternate universe, it will lower the stakes for everybody. Nothing really matters, and you might as well live your life as you wish. Miles explains that they are all real, they are from different places. Miles get help from Spider-Man, who we now know isn’t the same one from the Life Raft.
Ultimate Hulk loses his mind and starts attacking Miles. Old Man Logan gets Hulk to calm down. It is almost as if this issue is serving the only purpose of getting Miles to the All New All Different Marvel Universe, the other storypoints of the Iron Men tries to figure out the secrets of this world or where Proper Bruce Banner is, are completely dropped. I guess the Iron Men story doesn’t really matter, now that the heroes know that this region was created.
Old Man Logan confirms Miles story, as Old Man Logan has climbed the walls of Battleworld and has seen the various regions, that don’t add up or mix well with the other ones. The X-Men freak out, seeing an older Wolverine. So this issue takes place before Old Man Logan 5, I suppose. Or in a super awkward way, at the same time of it?
The Thors show up, as Miles is clearly making rules being there – as is Old Man Logan.
Cyclops asks Magik to teleport them to safely. So yay for Magik being used in an important way!
Whichever Punisher survived the fight with the other, starts firing on the Thors. He doesn’t last long.
Magik has a penthouse safehouse, of course she does!
The Iron Men are not sure what should happen next. If the united heroes do fight Doom, and win (somehow) what happens then? FalCap says they will deal with that, once they get there. Other heroes start losing confidence, as the stakes are too high.
Ultimate Captain America simplifies the situation. He says, “A truly bad man did something horrendous. He needs to be stopped. The end.” Which is pretty awesome!
Actually Doc Green is Proper Hulk, so with Ultimate Hulk, I guess all subplots are addresssed but the issue really took a hard turn to deal with this issue’s story.
The heroes are worried that things may be too broken.
Everyone wants to go their separate ways, to get their affairs in order. Doom will be stopped.
The Home of Peter Parker, Queens. Peter calls his Aunt May, of the Ultimate Universe.
The Home of Miles Morales, Brooklyn. Miles checks in on his father and his best friend, Granke.
Stark Tower, New York City. Tony leaves a voicemail for Pepper Potts.
So for the rest of the issue, we get these three character’s message or conversations, as they say goodbye. Makes sense that Bendis picked these three characters. He is going to be writing the main Iron Man title, that has already come out – so he has one last big chance to show his take on the character. Bendis has amazing runs with both Peter Parker and Miles Morales, both being major parts of the Ultimate Universe.
We do get to see the heroes going to God Doom. A Fire Galactus (who I believe is Franklin Richards, maybe?) and the Thors are there.
I looked and looked and didn’t see Magik nor Ultimate Shadowcat in the attacking heroes – so that’s a shame as Bagley has been able to put them into the previous shots.
At least Magik and Ultimate Shadowcat make it to this page! Iceman is gone, to Ultimate Shadowcat’s right and Rogue is gone to Magik’s right.
The goodbyes continue, I can’t really say the messages are all that touching. At least, Tony’s is nice in that he keeps giving Pepper a hard time for how she is of course missing out on this important moment in the world.
I’m not really sure if these heroes are dying, and that’s why they are not present, anymore.
So we turn the page, and get the exact same image – except with less characters’ faces! See how lame that is? It looks like a fun visual but it doesn’t read that well.
Ultimate Shadowcat is now gone from Tony’s right. Magik starts to fade away.
Turn the page again, and only the Spider-Men and the Iron Men are present. They are fading away though.
Turn the page and we get treated to two completely blank pages!
Miles wakes up, to his mother saying his name. Earlier in the issue, he talked about how he lost his mother to his superhero life style – so that’s nice that she made it to the All New All Different Marvel Universe. His friends also made it to the New Marvel Universe. His three friends don’t get name checked, one of them is Ganke.
Issue ends with Miles, in his Spider-Man costume, webslinging along the city. In the background, is the Ultimates’ home base, so I’m not sure how that survived, or how that will effect things.
So a lousy way to end the Ultimate Universe, hopefully Miles’ series will deal with some closure to that once proud universe.
This series started out well but ooof, what a way to end!
Shadow and Flame with Magik 