Peach Momoko, Zach Daivsson, and Travis Lanham give us such a compelling penultimate issue! I believe we only have one more after this.
We are introduced to Makoto Amano, who I feel is very Doug Ramsey coded, but I may be completely off base here.
Issue opens with Akihiro still being tortured, so we shouldn’t forget that is happening.
Every couple pages, like chapter breaks, we get this very intriguing hand written information.
# 0 Amano, who is the escaped 256.
# 1 March 2024, Hisako. 256 is telling Mei that Armor is still around. But he’s like a ghost?
# 4 June 2024, Nico. Nico gets a warning from a pair of floating red eyes.
# 5 July 2024, Secret Society X-Men, I want this spin off!
# 5 July 2024, Natsu. Amano taunts Natsu, which isn’t very nice.
# 8 October 2024, Meat case. Good reminder that Kanon’s brother was one of the first characters introduced.
# 9 November 2024, Kanon. Amano helps Kanon channel her ancestors through her stick.
# 9 November 2024, friend. Mei hasn’t given up on Armor yet. Didn’t issue 22 end with Christmas? Interesting that we have gone back to fill that skipped time.
# 11 January 2025, New Home. Natsu is taken back in with the Children of the Atom. Who Amano hates as much as he does the X-Men it seems.
# 12 February 2025, Purpose. Mei is told Armor is still out there.
# 13 March 2025, Crew. Natsu isn’t sure if she deserves to be part of the team. She should be part of the team!
# 22 December 2025, Result. Did Mei get merc-ed? We see her face, with what appears to be blood coming at her, from her? I’m not sure. Such a crucial page to not know what is happening?! Amano clearly did something to her, as he floats into the sky, and appears to be another shadow like being?
What the heck is going on?!
Issue ends with Hi-Chan, maybe? Seeing Iron Lad’s big speech.
We begin a Magik arc, so I guess I’m still on for the rest of this series. I’m all for a series getting extra issues, if those are going to be focus on Magik. I guess I might as well follow Ultimate Endgame until the end, they’re definitely building toward something in issue 4.
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Issue opens with a young Illyana Rasputin (no a).
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She has only ever feared one man, a true monster. A thing that welcomed her into Limbo.
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The character is definitely super gray, with a red cloth for an outfit. Could just be a gray Belasco, but he has both arms, but I’ll miss the pink, there isn’t that many pink characters, and especially pink male characters.
Wolverine and a Sentinel are taking care of Jean Grey. She’s hurt, and needs medicine, so Logan is sent to get some. He comes across Ursa Major, the bear Canadian, eating Crimson Dynamo. They are in EuRussia. Logan has to kill Ursa Major, who is of course a simple beast who was experimented on.
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He gets the medicine, but sees that someone on the wall BRING THEM HOME ILLYANA RASUTPIN. I didn’t recognize any of the characters, but the arc is called, “The Search for Illyana Rasputin” so I’m all in.
Magik was named in the solicitations, which I appreciate as that means I can order a comic as it is released, instead of adding it to my far too big Wishlist.
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Magik only appears on one page, but it is a fun page where she is teaming up with the Hulk to fight Angela.
This comic is all about Luna Snow, trying to get to a gig in K’un-Lun, where Iron Fist gets his powers. She wasn’t given the exact location, and is trying to best to get there.
We get a fun moment where she is taken back by how tall Angela is. She gets to one bar, where Winter Soldier and Namor are fighting, but she calms them down with a war bond theme. Apparently, she is very old, as Peni Parker says later that her grandmother was a huge Luna Snow fan, and this is only the second comic I’ve read with her, so I’m not familiar with her backstory. I play Marvel Rivals, not too much, so I’m not sure if I’ve even seen her in the game. I do like how hectic that game is, and how much this comic matches that energy.
To get directions, maybe, to the actual location, she has to do a drink off with Logan. Which I like the rules being “first one to finish” as if it is first one to fall, that isn’t fair. She freezes his hand, and does her best to finish her drink. She wins, but the guy didn’t think she was going to win, so this was fruitless.
Cloak & Dagger agree to help the actual bar out, but Cloak gets his Lane and Avenue confuse, and sends her to where Doctor Doom is. This turns out to be a Doombot, and if she lets him be her backup singer, he’ll tell her where it is. She agrees, and turns out, the dragons burn the place down, so she goes back to the bar Winter Soldier, Namor, and Logan are, and has a blast.
Before that, we are introduced to Mark, the Cave Squid, as opposed to Jeff, the Land Shark, so that’s fun. Daredevil is there too, he’s never been a lawyer, and his mission is to vanquish all wars, and he got his powers from a dragon, Yinglong. So I’m not familiar at all with the lore of Marvel Rivals, besides the Rogue & Gambit marriage, as I played that season. Apparently, all of the mutants are in a different dimension, and that is why we don’t have many of them in the game. I was told that by reddit.
Paul Allor wrote a fun story, and the art is great, Michael Shelfer & Eric Gapstur. Dee Cunniffe is the color artist, and VC’s Joe Sabino is the letterer.
All I really want from a solo Logan title is to be a team up book with characters I enjoy, and I’m a sucker for Silver Sable, that’s the 90s Spider-Man fan in me. I would had loved an Uncanny Spider-Man reference, as we must NOT forget Uncanny Spider-Man. I just learned last week that Funko made an Uncanny Spider-Man Pop, and I think about it every day. Silver Sable is a lady who stays on task, and I don’t see her asking Logan about Kurt. Though, that would have been fun.
I kept noticing Jesus Aburtov’s coloring this issue, and really liking it. Really highlights Martin Coccolo’s art.
Logan runs out of gas, and comes across a not so abandoned town. Two mutants, and I love so much that they took the time to give themselves code names, that’s just so cute.
They do a decent job of alerting Logan that they are there, but it is Silver Sable who gives him pause. She tranqs him, giving him a bit of a buzz.
Her “are you high?” panel is a delight.
Some military goons show up, and I like how they had a mission statement to just show up, make sure no one was too dangerous, and leave, but then Logan showed up, spanked them, and now it is a whole thing.
Metha, who is in charge of some Department H division, is done with Logan’s nonsense, and calls in Alpha Flight, as the issue ends. We get a classic line up of Vindicator, Puck, Snowbird, and maybe Mera, a green lady with big ol bat wings.
Future Scott swaps minds with Present Day Scott. He does optic blast Doug, BUT! Doesn’t even cause him a concussion. He figures out pretty quickly that Future Beast didn’t swap with him. I guess the plan was that Future Beast was supposed to deliver the death blow? Seems not like Cyclops to train for X years, just to fail at this crucial moment. I do like how he had a plan to attack the X-Men, and he succeeds at that rather well. He takes out Quentin Quire first, then Psylocke, who he was most concern about.
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He dodges Juggernaut, realizes how he must succeed, optic blasts Magik, takes her soulsword, rude!,
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He knocks down Glob Herman, and Beast tackles Future Scott.
In prison, and I like how this was teased in Age of Revelation Finale, so we think this is the end of the story, Future Scott is in The Brig. He explains the situation, but no one wants to kill Doug, as there must be a better way.
I really love that Doug and Bei the Blood Moon are creating their own sign language, that’s very cute. Oya reminds Doug of her time on Krakoa, which I appreciate that we haven’t forgotten she was a prisoner during that time.
Future Scott breaks out, and chats with Magneto, who sticks to his story that he is powerless, so which is it? Is he faking it? Is Age of Revelation already a splintered timeline that will be shredded from memory?
Psylocke shows up, and Future Scott is back in The Brig. Doug goes to talk to him, and dumb Future Scott just tells Doug how he’s going to take over the world by simply telling people to obey him, and geez Scott, just give him the directions to rule? This isn’t the Scott I know, which of all of the AoR characters, he is the one character we don’t know.
Issue ends with Doug, Bei, and Warlock simply leaving.
I like how Magik clearly had the thought that she wasn’t going to fight Scott, and after his attack, she grabs her soulsword, and leaves the issue. My head cannon is that she got attacked by him, and decided to go hang out with her brother, Colossus.
I also really like how this issue doesn’t try to sell you on the Age of Revelation crossover. There’s not even an editor box to tell you to read the crossover. Are you interested in where this Future Scott is from? Go check out Age of Revelation. He’s simply a Cyclops from the FUTURE! If you are interested, you can look it up. That is very new reader friendly.
Issue opens up with Reginald James McNair III, which I like. Not enough of us IIIs around.
We first met him all the way back in issue 4. Famously, the issue where the students learn Kitty Pryde has murdered people, and also, Kitty was still not talking to Rogue.
Reggie can create portals, space and time portals. One might even call them, rifts, as he’s clearly Rift from Expatriate X-Men, as part of the Age of Revelation series.
Reggie can’t break the fourth wall.
Poor Reggie believes he killed Kitty Pryde, not that he knows who that is.
Not Too Far Away, we see the Students holding their own against omega mutant, Iceman.
Bronze gets the win as she tags Iceman.
Bobby is pitch hitting as Kitty stormed off last issue. Bobby calls Nina, they hung out in issue 4. It really was a big issue.
Bobby has a very awkward phone call with Nina, as why would he even bother calling someone if Kitty has only been missing an hour. I wonder if Bobby’s favorite umbrella is yellow?
Ironheart brings Reggie, through an open window, so it isn’t breaking and entering.
Melee is about to say Reggie is Bronze’s crush, but in a sweet recovery – she is an athlete after all, calls him Trista’s creative friend.
Reggie and Trista now have being mutants in common, along with theater.
Ironheart states that Kitty went through one of the rifts.
Emma, being a great mentor, immediately figures out how Reggie’s rift powers work. They even form around his forearms.
Emma prefers to address him as, Reginald, as she’s a classy dame.
Emma refers to his rifts as, swirls, and they’re space-time portals. His blackouts are minor bursts of time travel.
Iceman volunteers to go back in time to rescue Kitty, but Emma squashes that as Bobby and Emma are important to Kitty’s future. Which, I don’t think Bobby and Kitty have that much time spent together outside of the Ultimate Universe, and this series.
Well, besides when they briefly dated, but not real history before that, I’m trying to remember of any times before.
They were in the big battle in ROM 65. Young Iceman was involving in Excalibur : XX Crossing, present day Bobby never appears in Excalibur properly. He stands right next to Kitty during Illyana’s funeral in Uncanny X-Men 303. They’re around each other during Scott and Jean’s wedding in X-Men V2 30. So really, it was fun that they got romantically paired together. Which, I was a fan of the relationship as it gave Kitty a chance to have fun. Setting up Star Lord and Kitty’s relationship, now that I think of it.
Once it is established the students are going back in time, and to be fair, now that they fought Mister Sinister, they are officially X-Men, but it is easier to distinguish them as the students. Bronze runs off to grab early 80s clothes. She doesn’t grab any for Ironheart, who can’t go on the mission, but would have liked the invite.
Emma encourages Reggie to create a rift, and the students are going back in time after Bobby tries to warn them about changing time.
As soon as the students are gone, Sentinel Dogs barge through the wall, so that isn’t great for Priti’s dance studio, but hopefully she got mutant insurance.
Reggie closes the rift, but not before a Sentinel Dog goes through the portal.
Meanwhile. Somewhen else. And somewhere else. Deerfield, Illinois.
The Students land back in time, and not graciously.
Melee makes a great comment about how Kitty Pryde clearly came from some money, but yet doesn’t have access to that money now. Probably due to the questionable career choices. There’s just no money in being an X-Man.
They wonder how they’re going to find Kitty without the Internet, or just asking people. Bronze offers the phone book as an option, but Melee doesn’t know what that is.
Issue ends with Uncanny X-Men 129’s Kitty Pryde, in her all black outfit, and yellow sweater.
Our team found Kitty . . . the wrong Kitty.
Such a great issue!
Also, I got my tenth letter published in it, which is highly exciting for me.
Chris Wildrick and I had to write in to show our appreciation for Lockheed returning!
Though that’s two issues in a row now that we haven’t seen or heard mention of Lockheed.
This issue is going to be my comic of 2025, I can just tell. It makes me so happy.
In issue 9, Emma defeats Mister Sinister, but at a price. Not only did Emma defeat Sinister, but she also rescued Axo. Now Emma is trapped inside Sinister’s mind, where he’s having a Mad Hatter inspired tea party.
Federica Mancin draws these pages in a very fun decision. I really like the visual continuity of having Woodard do the coloring for both artists.
Emma reflects on her and Kitty’s origins, and we get a page from New Mutants V1 15.
Emma is still haunted by her Hellfire Club days, and her treatment of Kitty Pryde. Which, of course, makes me wonder if she is haunted by Firestar’s beloved horse, Butter Rum.
We catch up to the rest of the Exceptional X-Men team, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Melee, Bronze, and Axo. They are distraught by Emma still being unconscious. Axo tells them that Emma is very much still in danger, and has to go back in to rescue her.
I do like how all of the students are X-Men now. They took down a major X-Villain, so they have earned it. Let’s hope they survive the experience.
Kitty, to her credit, did not want them to be present for the confrontation, as she wasn’t raising child soldiers. Sinister sent a clone Iceman to get them, and bring them, but since they are here, they got into the fight.
We see in Sinister’s mindscape, that he’s ten, but not a cute ten year old, he’s Sinister but as a ten year old. He likes to perform dissections, and is generally a cruel child.
Axo returns to the mindscape, Emma doesn’t miss a beat that she sacrificed herself to free him, so this undoes all of that. Sort of like the climax of Top Gun : Maverick.
Meanwhile, the Exceptional X-Men having to fight Sabretooth sabretooth clones. As there is no end to what Sinister will do with Victor Creed’s DNA.
Axo finds a cute plush elephant of Sinister’s, which calms Sinister enough that Axo can force him to nap. Emma compliments Axo, and they are free!
Emma wakes up, which means Sinister wakes up.
in a very classic Claremont Care Bear stare, the united Exceptional X-Men team take down Sinister.
But was it the real Sinister? All we know is that, like the fake Axo clone, or how Dr. Stephanie Burt phased him, Faxo, he explodes in a goo.
But we have no time for that, as Kitty looks over, and sees . . .
LOCKHEED THE DRAGON!!!
. . .
it took ten issues, but we are here!
I keep fondly remembering this fun exchange I had with Carmen Carnero
Way back on April 9, 2025, and a took a while, but her dragon drawing skills are exceptional.
. . .
I can only imagine the only way to top this issue will be if we keep getting more and more Lockheed, but getting him back in monthly comics is all I’ve wanted for so long.
We’re no longer in a Lockheed-less era!
. . .
I do have a concern that Sinister made Sabretooth sabretooth clones, that this could be a Lockheed clone that he created to mess with Kitty Pryde, and all of our emotions, but maybe he was also just keeping him prisoner too?
One of my least favorite villains, and one of my top two favorite characters prisoner.
I’m really hoping that this is the genuine Lockheed, as I don’t want to be hurt again.
. . .
This also explains why we’ve seen him on the covers to Giant Size House of M and Giant Size X-Men 2 as
as Lockheed is back!
I can’t stop smiling 🙂
What a great day this as been, and came at the best time as the school district has decided to shut down the elementary school my wife teaches at, so this comic worked as a perfect distraction when I needed it most.
#Inferno V1 1#SecretWars 2015Magik succumbs to her Darkchild personaA year later, Colossus gathers a team that includes Kitty Pryde, to rescue his beloved sisterIt does NOT go well for anyone involved
#Inferno V1 2#SecretWars 2015Darkchild is having a hard time breaking Kurt, so she rips out his soulA demon updates her that Colossus, Madelyne Pryor, Kid Cable, and Domino are coming for herDarkchild reveals she has own personal Nightcrawler, so she's not that worried
#Inferno V1 3#SecretWars 2015Inferno has been unleased on Earth! Darkchild is taking the fight to the X-Men, including Kitty PrydeThey are definitely way too much for the X-Men to handleMagik easily defeats Captain Britain & RogueMagik then defeats Cyclops pretty easily as wellShe's won
#Inferno V1 4#SecretWars 2015We open with a reminder how sweet young Illyana wasSnap cut to the present, where we find Darkchild just plain enjoying her big winSheriff Strange acknowledges that Baron Summers has last control, and promotes her to Baroness Darkchild
#Inferno V1 5#SecretWars 2015I really like how a defining trait is that Illyana likes to eatDemons are slaughtering X-MenColossus vs Darkchild, she is winning until she threatens Domino, then Colossus slays herMadelyne Pryor arrives & absorbs Darkchild's Limbo energies
#UncannyXForce V1 21#Otherworld Otherworld is under attack, thankfully Meggan and General Widget are there to hold the front lineAoA Kurt is stirring up emotions Meggan has over 616 Kurt being dead Meggan is trying to see the brighter side of things, but it isn't easy right now
#UncannyXForce V1#OtherworldMeggan, Widget & AoA bid farewell to Deadpool & Logan as they split upAoA Kurt explains how bleak his world wasThe invasion begins!
#UncannyXForce V1 23#OtherworldAoA Kurt gets a little too familiar with Meggan, just in time for Widget and Boy Captain Britain to show up.Giant story concluding battles happen. Issue ends with Betsy controlling Brian to kill their older brother, Jamie
Shadow and Flame with Magik 