Wolverine and the X-Men 6

Posted by John Klein III on March 24, 2014
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

243460_20120222184047_large

Writer Jason Aaron

Pencils Nick Bradshaw

Inks Walden Wong, Jay Leisten, Norman Lee and Cam Smith

Colorists Justin Ponsor and Matthew Wilson

Letterer Rob Steen

Production Irene V. Lee, what does she do?

Cover Dated April 2012

Mutatis Mutandis Part Two of Three

There is a couple house ads for AvX.  My wife earned herself quite the back rub for being able to name nearly all the characters on the face off ad.  She didn’t know Luke Cage, Captain Marvel, Iron Fist, Spider-Woman, X23, Armor, Warpath, Namor and Hope Summers.

I Googled Mutatis Mutandis, as it looked fake but what if it was a real phase?  It means, changing those things that need to be changed.  Which I don’t see how that applies to this arc.

Wolverine is taking Quentin Quire to Planet Sin.  Wolverine needs money to keep the Jean Grey School afloat.  Quire makes some funny father son cover story options.

Wolverine tells him that if he doesn’t want to stick to the mission, he can go back to Rogue’s gym class.  Wolverine tells him that Wolverine is the hands and Quire is the brains, which delights Quire.  It also describes their powers in a fast method.

Wolverine mentions Quire’s attempted school riot and his involvement in the X-Men Schism.  He is practically a new character now.

Meanwhile, back at the school, Kitty is super pregnant with Brood.  She really is infested but resembles a pregnant woman.  If early Kitty could see her now, she looks good pregnant.  She is wearing a pink shirt and purple short shorts, but she makes it work.  Early Kitty, circa early Excalibur, wanted bigger breasts and now she has them.

Wolverine and the X-Men 6 Lockheed 1

The team of Iceman, Kid Gladiator, Warbird, Rachel, Beast and Lockheed have been shrunked down and are in Kitty’s body.  I love that Aaron knows that Lockheed is the Brood’s greatest enemy.

Kitty is communicating with the team via Rachel, but they also have bluetooths.  Also, the team has awesome spacesuits.  Lockheed looks awesome in his.  They can use their powers while in their suits.

Kitty keeps breathing smoke, she would like Lockheed to go easy with the flames.

Wolverine and the X-Men 6 Kitty heartburn

Kitty states she now has heart burn, cut to Kid Gladiator blasting Broods with his eyes.  Kid Gladiator is loving this adventure.

Beast tells Kitty not to worry, help is on the way.  Henry states they can find an extraction point.  Kitty makes a joke about not referring to any part of her body as an extraction point.

 We cut to outside wherein the SWORD medical team are being killed, and eaten, bt the Brood led by Professor Xanto Starblood.

There another AvX ad.  Cyclops versus Hawkeye.  A matchup I am not sure if it occurred, plus, who wants to see that?

Kitty is under orders not to move.  Broo comes in, sensing that Brood are about.  She tells him that they are closer than he knows, indicating her stomach.  He climbs on top of her belly.  She says. “Oh yeah sure, jump right in there.  Everybody else already has.”  Broo puts his ear to her belly.  He hears those ones, but no, he hears others.

Inside Kitty, the team catches up to Kid Gladiator.  Beast gives him a thousand demerits – which is what Xavier used to do.  It means nothing.

Kitty takes Broo and starts running.  The team starts bouncing about.  I really liked Kitty under Aaron’s pen.  He really captures her voice – funny, smart, independent and in charge.

There is a two page spread, celebrating that Miles Morales won Best New Character of 2011.

We catch up to Wolverine and Quire.  Wolverine is moving from table to table.  Quire is also gambling now.  Quire starts to flirt with two female aliens.  Wolverine starts to feel they have over stayed their welcome.

Kitty and Broo are now in the East Wing.  Otherwise known as the Math and Accounting Department, the offices of Professor Iceman.

Poor Kitty is now with pregnancy symptoms and barefoot on ice.  Broo states she shouldn’t be running.  She tells him he is right.  She then activates a safety protocol, capturing Broo in a small globe.  Now she can deal with the Sleazoids.  She apologizes for the racial slur.

Husk, with Doop, over the intercom, asks if she needs any help.  Doop really should have stopped this invasion so much sooner.

Beast tells Kitty not to phase, he has no idea what that might mean for everyone inside her.  With no other options, she takes matters into her own hands.

Wolverine and the X-Men 6 Kitty Gun a
Wolverine and the X-Men 6 Kitty Gun b

She calls upon the computer to give her a gun.  It does, and she straight up head shots a Brood.  Her command is simple, “Computer.  Gun.”

Kitty asks the computer to confirm there are no more Brood.  It does.  Then Professor Starblood comes up behind her.

Starblood and Kitty have a very fun and almost flirtly exchange.  He takes credit for her Brood spawn.  She jokes, asking for his name so she can name her babies after him.  She thinks he is here for her.  He throws her to the ground, stating that he was never there for her.

Wolverine and Quire are being chased for tricking the casino.

At this point, Ultimate Comics X-Men are up to issue nine, jt isn’t very good.

Kitty is knocked out.  Kid Gladiator was bit by a Brood, now he is one himself.

Starblood wants Broo, as he is a wretched little beast.

Vice Principal Beast answers the letters.

I forgot how much I enjoyed this title, it was so fun and great.

I still very much love Nick Bradshaw’s art.  I don’t know if it is mostly to his talent or due to Justin Ponsor and Matthew Wilson, the colorists.  Either way, he can do no wrong.  There are times when I want to announce that he is the new Paul Smith, but I hold back as that is too much pressure.  Plus, there can only be the one Paul Smith.

Back cover is an ad for Avengers Assemble, a title Marvel created to tie into the Avengers film.  It was in continuity, which was impressive as most characters were not on the team or available, but they made it work – from what I remember reading.

Thanks to this website for the above images :

http://www.theweeklycrisis.com/2012/02/comic-book-moments-of-week-for-022212.html

CSBG’s March Madness 2014, Round Two

Posted by John Klein III on March 23, 2014
Posted in: Voting. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2014/03/22/dcmarvel-tourney-marvel-street-level-round-2/#comment-4528201

Kitty did it!  She defeated Beast.  One blue mutant down, one more left to go!

That’s right, Kitty versus Nightcrawler, but I also expect her to win this easily as well, but don’t forget to vote.

I voted like this for the rest :

Spider-Man < Deadpool

Kitty Pryde > Nightcrawler

Captain America < Reed Richards

Wolverine < Iron Fist

Brian Cronin posted the results of Round One :

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2014/03/22/dcmarvel-tourney-marvel-street-level-region-round-1-winners-2/#comment-4528206

Out of 2,362 votes, Kitty Pryde made Beast cry, 54% to 46%…

That is way to close!  Amazing, how many people voted.

Uncanny X-Men Volume Three Issue 19

Posted by John Klein III on March 22, 2014
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Uncanny_X-Men_Vol_3_19.NOW

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Pencils Chris Bachalo

Inks Tim Townsend, Al Vey, Jaime Mendoza, Mark Irwin & Victor Orlazara

Colors Chris Bachalo & Jose Villarrrubia

Lettering & Production VC’s Joe Caramagna

Uncanny X-Men vs. SHIELD Part One

Issue opens, in Atlanta, with Maria Hill and some SHIELD soldiers in Hijack’s apartment.  Hill tells him that there are no vehicles for him to control, the entire neighborhood’s cars have been towed.  Imagine how loud that must have been?  Also, people running out of their homes, all angry.  Hill wants to know where Cyclops is.

In an unknown location, we finally see where Mystique is keeping Dazzler.  It is what I was worried it is, not a spa at all but a hostage situation.  Dazzler’s eyes are taped over, Mystique reveals to Sabretooth – who looks like Triple H here, that Dazzler’s ears are plugged as well.  Mystique doesn’t quite know how her powers work, so she has to take every precaution.

Mystique, and by that I mean Bendis, says some horrible things about Dazzler.  How she is a race traitor, a sell out whore.  Quite despicable.  Makes me wonder how Bendis / Mystique feels about the Scarlet Witch.

Hill repeats her question.  Hijack tells her that he doesn’t know.  Not sure if it is out of loyalty or what, but we know he knows that they are at a Weapon X facility.  Which is all she would need to know, to locate these X-Men.

To lighten the mood, she gives him some advice – don’t beg in a text, women don’t like that.  Which makes sense as begging is already a sign of weakness, then on top of that, it is a text – so she can reread that statement over and over.

There is an ad for Avengers Confidential – Black Widow & Punisher, a new Marvel animated film.  It doesn’t look anime inspired.  If it was based on any story, it would already have some buzz to it.  Instead, I have to find out about it in print.  Which tells me Marvel isn’t really behind it.  Thor, Iron Man and Hulk are along for the ride.  So Punisher replaces Cap, which is awkward as he has a movie coming out in two weeks.

I really like the shade of blue for Mystique.  It is darker than her usual color, and the white of her dress makes her look darker, it really works.

Mystique also reveals that Dazzler is the source of the Mutant Growth Hormone drug.

The scene ends with those two leaving and Dazzler saying, ow.

Hill explains to Hijack, that this is all going along Cyclops’ plan.  Kick him off the team, have SHIELD approach Hijack and learn what they know.

Meanwhile, Cyclops is using his Cerebro and not thinking about Hijack at all.  He is speaking with Tempus, wanting to know what happened to her during the students’ trip to Tabula Rasa.  I really like Scott not wearing his cowl, reminds me of his 90s look.  He should go back to that.

Tempus looks older. Her hair is longer, it is a good look.

Cyclops tells her that she can tell him anything, she isn’t sure about that.

Cerebro detects a power mutant, he runs off shouting, To me my X-Men.

In Chicago, the Uncanny X-Men arrive.

Goldballs is in an awesome costume, it is a total throw back design.  I wish we got the scene of him revealing his costume to the team.  Did he go to Cyclops with the design?  No, I see that being an Emma department.

Celeste believes their presence is upsetting the normies.  Magik counters, that people find them exciting.  Also, how Emma doesn’t wear proper shirts.  Which Emma quips that neither does Magik.

I want a miniseries or a sister ongoing series, where Magik and Emma just hang out or do stuff – I don’t care, I love those two together.  Issue 14 and small scenes here and there are not enough.  I would be cool with a solo Magik series, where she tells a third party what happens in Uncanny, and she gets to be snarky.  It would be awesome.

Irma tells Magik that a guy looking at them has pooed himself.  This is the benefit of a hive mind.

In the background, is a giant Sentinel, it is a trap!

The giant Sentinel burps out smaller Sentinels.

Cyclops orders Magik to get everyone out of there as he unleashes Optic Rage!  Not exactly sure how he blasts from the side of his head.

Magik isn’t able to teleport, her power is being blocked.

Tempus creates a time bubble.

Uncanny X-Men V3 19 Magik spell

Magik’s mutant power may be blocked, but not her sorcerer powers.  As she unleashes a giant orange dragon.

In a continuation of how Doctor Stange’s powers were displayed during Age of Ultron, with the same font even, shows the spell’s name and location in the magic book.  Julani’s Spell of Energy Manipulation.  From the Scrolls of Agamotto.  Nice touch.

Magik takes out all of the man sized Sentinels.

Odd how these Sentinels could only block ‘known’ powers.  Or a makes perfect sense, as it must be easier to design a Sentinel to block specific powers instead of countering all powers.

Cyclops learns that Magik is being tutored by Doctor Strange.

Cyclops gives Tempus a, well done, and she likes the attention.  Celeste whispers that Tempus has to tell Cyclops about her crush.  But what would that do?  He isn’t her real teacher, so they could have a relationship, it would be awkward with Emma being right there.

Goldballs, my balls are working again.  He is so excited and Emma has been working with him on his wording.

Uncanny X-Men V3 19 Magik smarty

Cyclops thinks SHIELD is behind the attacks.  Magik is quick to point out, it could be someone trying to make him think that.

The crowd turns on them as the issue ends with Cyclops declaring war on SHIELD.  Either it is SHIELD or someone framing SHIELD and yet SHIELD isn’t stopping that third party.

Who would be that poor man’s Mysterio from right before Battle of the Atom and the Irving issues.

Next issues cover is by Bachalo with Cyclops centered and Emma and Magik on either side of him.  I did not realize before this, are Emma and Magik wearing the same black booty shorts, just with differing size belts?

CSBG’s DC / Marvel 6th Annual March Madness

Posted by John Klein III on March 21, 2014
Posted in: Voting. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

I was starting to think Brian Cronin wasn’t going to do one this year.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2014/03/20/dcmarvel-tourney-marvel-street-level-round-1/

Round One is up now, Marvel Street Level.  Kitty Pryde vs. Beast, let’s get her to the third round!

In 2012, she got to the second round and went up against stupid Batman.  She got an actual respectable amount of votes.  Kitty is a real contender.  That same year, she took out Punisher in the first round.  Batman went on to win the entire tournament, ending with him versus Spider-Man.

You have maybe 24 more hours to vote and get the word out!

For the record, this is how I voted :

Spider-Man < Punisher

Winter Soldier < Deadpool

Kitty Pryde > Beast, super easy – she will win in a landslide but still vote!

Cyclops < Nightcrawler

Daredevil < Reed Richards

Captain America > Hawkeye

Iron Fist > Nick Fury

Wolverine < Jamie Madrox, trying to prevent Wolverine from sweeping this division.  Should have done the same with Deadpool but I wasn’t thinking about that.

Edit to add :

I had to look it up and correct the 2012 March Madness.  Kitty only got to round two but went up against Batman, who went on to win the entire tournament that year against Spider-Man 51 to 49 percent of the vote.

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/03/23/dcmarvel-character-tourney-gotham-city-region-round-2-winners/

The results – Out of 948 votes, we get it, Kitty, Batman is a jerk, as he wins 72% to 28%….

Not even close. Kitty did much better during Round one :

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/03/18/dcmarvel-character-tourney-gotham-city-region-round-1-winners/

Out of 886 voles, Kitty Pryde killed Punisher 69% to 31%….

More people voted this year than two years ago.  That must be a pure result of CSBG getting more popular.

2013 had Teams from Great Comic Runs tournament instead of characters.  I was going for Claremont/Smith era of the X-Men so hard but it didn’t go as far.  Claremont/Byrne won the whole thing and that my second choice so that’s something.  Claremont / Byrne won over Lee / Kirby Fantastic Four with 51 to 49 percent of the vote.  That’s a pretty good fight.

Chris Claremont / Paul Smith run beat out Joe Casey’s WILDCats in Round One and lost to Ellis / Cassaday’s Planetary.

Since I’m apparently keeping track of this,

Round One

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2013/03/24/comic-book-team-tournament-baxter-building-region-round-1-winners/

Out of 1,147 votes, Claremont/Smith’s Uncanny X-Men burned Casey’s Wildcats 83% to 17%…

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2013/03/27/comic-book-team-tournament-baxter-building-region-round-2-winners/

Out of 1,386 votes, Ellis/Cassaday’s Planetary burrowed into and then exploded Claremont/Smith’s Uncanny X-Men like a Queen Brood, 63% to 37%…

These tournaments, they reward and they destroy hopes!  I’ve only been following CSBG for two years or at least, been invested in it for two years.  Now I’m not sure how I got this far into my hobby without having this blog or Comic Book Resources in my daily websites I go to.

She wasn’t in the 2011 tournament.  Thor beat out Batman (somehow!?!) 58 to 42 percent of the vote.  I imagine it was Bat-lash for how he won two years in a row.  Spider-Man was taken out by Captain America in round three then Batman took out Cap in round five.  Thor fought Batman and won after beating Superman in the semifinals.

In 2010, Kitty beat Swamp Thing but lost to Darkseid.  2010 had the same result as 2012, Batman beating out Spider-Man.

In 2009, Kitty beat Jean Grey (345 to 273) but lost to Superman in round two (519 to 292). Once again, Batman versus Spider-Man with Batman the winner.  Which is odd, as Spider-Man isn’t the greatest Marvel character of all time.  It isn’t Wolverine either but it makes perfect sense for Batman to keep beating Spider-Man.  This isn’t the 90s when I would have said Spider-Man is the bees knees.

It took 13 pages of going through all the data but that’s the Six Years of March Madness for you.  With the matches I cared about and the winners.

Once the 2014 winner is announced, I’ll probably update this again to reflect that so that this time next year, I can have it all in one easy location.

Because I wrote it all types of weird up there, I’m cleaning it up with this handy chart :

2009 – Batman > Spider-Man

2010 – Batman > Spider-Man

2011 – Thor > Batman

2012 – Batman > Spider-Man

2013 – Claremont / Byrne X-Men > Lee / Kirby Fantastic Four

2014 – Thor < Superman

2015 – Christopher Reeve’s Superman > Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man

Marvel June 2014 Solicitations

Posted by John Klein III on March 20, 2014
Posted in: Solicitations. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

Marvel Comics FULL JUNE 2014 SOLICITATIONS

http://www.newsarama.com/20614-marvel-comics-june-2014-solicitations.html

ORIGINAL SIN #3 (of 8)
JASON AARON (W)  MIKE DEODATO (A)
ANSWERS AT ALL COSTS.
• In the wake of last issue’s explosion of secrets, the heroes of the Marvel U are reeling, leaving Nick Fury to stand alone.
• He Who Holds the Eye is still on the run, and now we meet his boss, the villainous mastermind behind the raid on the Watcher’s lair.
• And in deep space, the Winter Soldier leads a team that uncovers the most bizarre murder of all.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

ORIGINAL SIN #4 (of 8)
JASON AARON (W) MIKE DEODATO (A)
TRUST NO ONE. NOT EVEN YOURSELF.
• One hero goes rogue. Another loses his head.
• Dr. Strange and the Punisher team up for a daring raid.
• And all trails now lead to one suspect.
• But he… how is that even possible?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

FANTASTIC FOUR #6
JAMES ROBINSON (W) LEONARD KIRK (A/C)
EVERYBODY HAS ONE…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

ALL-NEW INVADERS #6
JAMES ROBINSON (W) Marc Laming (A)
EVERYBODY HAS ONE…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

NOVA #18
GERRY DUGGAN (W) DAVID BALDEON (A)
EVERYBODY HAS ONE…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

ORIGINAL SINS #1-2 (of 5)
EVERYBODY HAS ONE…
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T+ …$3.99 (EACH)

ORIGINAL SIN #3.1
MARK WAID (W) MARK BAGLEY (A)
EVERYBODY HAS ONE…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

ORIGINAL SIN #3.2
KIERON GILLEN (W) LUKE ROSS (A)
EVERYBODY HAS ONE…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

ORIGINAL SIN #3.3
MARK WAID (W) MARK BAGLEY (A)
EVERYBODY HAS ONE…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

ORIGINAL SIN #3.4
KIERON GILLEN (W) LUKE ROSS (A)
EVERYBODY HAS ONE…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

            Is it just me or does all of these point issues make this event overly complicated?  I’m sure there is market research that shows that if you keep the main event’s name and just add decimals, the issues sell better instead of naming your tie in Original Sin – X-Men, then it gives the buyer the idea that it is part of the event, but not really.  Without more information, it still seems like the X-Men are not involved, but I’m sure I’ll be tricked into buying an issue here or there. 

 

SAVAGE HULK #1
ALAN DAVIS (W/A/C)
AN ALL-NEW SERIES!!!
Alan Davis writes and draws a blockbuster story pitting the HULK against… the X-MEN!?!?! Learn the startling secret of Professor Xavier’s connection to Bruce Banner! Guest starring the Leader and the Abomination!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Alan Davis on the Hulk, is awesome for more Alan Davis in the world but what I’m excited by is the X-Men appearance!  The cover is a lame silhouette of the characters, but Alan Davis makes me think that Kitty might be one of them.   I’ll get the first issue and hope I’m not wrong. 

FIGMENT #1 (OF 5)
JIM ZUB (W) • FILIPE ANDRADE (A)
THE NEXT DISNEY ADVENTURE IS HERE –
STARRING ONE OF DISNEY’S MOST IMAGINATIVE CHARACTERS!
• Dive into a steampunk fantasy story exploring the never-before-revealed origin of the inventor known as Dreamfinder, and how one little spark of inspiration created a dragon called Figment.
• What is the Academy Scientifica-Lucidus? Who is Blarion Mercurial? What is the Integrated Mesmonic Spark Convertor? Find out as we give a Marvel spin to Epcot® Theme Park’s mind-expanding attraction, Journey Into Imagination!
• Brought to you by the acclaimed and uniquely talented team of Jim Zub (Skullkickers) and Filipe Andrade (CAPTAIN MARVEL)!
Elements based on Figment © Disney
32 PGS./All Ages …$3.99

So I didn’t know this before to this announcement, but Disney already has its own purple dragon.  I wonder if this means they wouldn’t care if Lockheed makes the Pet Avengers animated movie or television series (that only exists in my head).  I imagine a company like Disney doesn’t want to create any brand confusion.  Shame that FOX will never use Lockheed in any film or project. 

 

UNCANNY AVENGERS #21
RICK REMENDER (W) • DANIEL ACUNA (A/C)
AVENGE THE EARTH Finale!
• This is it! The conclusion to an epic two years in the making and rest assured nothing will ever be the same again!
• The final battle will not be with the enemy–it will be with ourselves.
• In our darkest hour The Avengers Unity Squad unite entirely and the fate of the seven futures decided!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

 

            This title makes me realize that I no longer have a maybe list on DCBS, as I have to either buy it or not buy it.  So I’ll be adding UA to my pull list.  This is the finale so might be my last Uncanny Avengers title for a while. 

 

ALL-NEW ULTIMATES #3 & 4
MICHEL FIFFE (W) • AMILCAR PINNA (A)
Issue #3 – FROM THE CREATOR OF THE HIT COMIC “COPRA”
• Miles Morales the Ultimate Spider-Man! Cloak & Dagger! Bombshell! Black Widow! Kitty Pride!
• The next generation of ULTIMATES is here, but are they in over their heads?
• They’ve fought Galactus but can they survive super-powered street gangs and a psycho trying to clean up the streets?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
Issue #4 – THE NEXT GENERATION OF ULTIMATES!!!
• Hot bods & fun in the sun: What, you thought this was a new Marvel Swimsuit Special? It’s just Black Widow, Kitty Pryde, Dagger & Bombshell getting in trouble, Coney Island style!
• What villainess does Spider-Man fall in love with?
• And what tragedy will change the life of Bombshell?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

 

            Issue four sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun.  Glad that the Tech Gang storyline ins’t going to be 12 issues or anything.  This is the Ultimates, they need to be dealing with big threats and quashing big threats in two issues or less!  I guess Spider-Woman is officially changing her name to Black Widow.  Who in the Ultimate Universe, was a traitor, so maybe she is trying to take the name back. 

 

MILES MORALES: THE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #2
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • DAVE MARQUEZ (A/C)
PART TWO OF THE BIGGEST SPIDER-MAN STORY OF THE YEAR “REVIVAL”
• After the mind-blowing reveal at the end of the first issue, miles life will NEVER be the same again.
• With SHIELD gone, the biggest villain in SPIDER-MAN history is out and nothing can stop him.
• Miles has made a huge choice about the woman he loves. Will he live to regret it?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

 

            Not planning on buying this issue but curious how SHIELD is no longer a threat.  Just because their fancy flying base got destroyed, no reason why they can’t still exist.  Imagine if the CIA and the FBI just ceased to exist?  So weird.  Just don’t hire super humans for your missions and everything should be okay. 

 

SILVER SURFER #4
DAN SLOTT (W) • MICHAEL ALLRED (A/C)
• In order to return alien abductee Dawn Greenwood home, the Surfer must travel to the one place in the galaxy he dreads the most… Planet Earth!
• And what should be a quick drop off turns into turns into one very… strange adventure.
• Featuring: DOCTOR STRANGE, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, and some surprise guest stars. Including those movie stars on the cover!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Curious who the guest stars would be?  Mostly Avengers, the cover doesn’t hint at any X-Men. 

 

UNCANNY X-MEN SPECIAL #1
SEAN RYAN (W) • RON ACKINS (A)
• UNCANNY X-MEN, IRON MAN & NOVA CROSS OVER!
• Cyclops is kidnapped, but by who?!
• But what force could bring the Children of the Atom, the Armored Avenger and the Human Rocket together!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

 

            Magik is on the cover, so I’m pot committed.  Not thrilled about the five dollar cover price.  Four dollars is already asking too much but when it goes to five, I might have to quit this funny book business.  I didn’t see that this was a trilogy involving Iron Man and Nova, the other two must be next month, that makes it easier on the ol’ wallet. 

 

UNCANNY X-MEN #22
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) CHRIS BACHALO (A)
• The war between the Uncanny X-Men and S.H.I.E.L.D. heats up!
• Can Cyclops and his team track down the source of this new brand of sentinels? And is S.H.I.E.L.D. really behind these attacks?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Can only imagine Magik keeps being part of this, so we’re committed.  Plus, Bachalo art! 

 

ALL-NEW X-MEN #28
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) STUART IMMONEN (A/C)
• The future Brotherhood of Evil Mutants make their next devastating step against the sanctity of the X-Men.
• Plus, more on the new mysteries surrounding Jean Grey!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

 

            No cover provided but Kitty has to be part of this, right? 

 

ALL-NEW DOOP #3 (of 5)
PETER MILLIGAN (W) DAVID LAFUENTE (A)
• Behind the scenes and beyond the margins of Battle for the Atom, Doop’s unrequited love for Kitty continues unabated, forcing the little green guy to drag Bobby Drake into Doopland for some highly unusual questioning.
• Doop discovers that Raze is not really future Kitty Pryde.
• But the shapey-shapeshifter has a VERY dark secret that just might stop Doop from telling the other X-Men the truth about his identity.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

 

            So weird the decision to make this miniseries into a side story of Battle of the Atom, but it has Kitty Pryde, and promises to be nothing but fun so I’m still eagerly anticipating the first issue. 

 

SAVAGE WOLVERINE #20
FRANK TIERI (W) • FELIX RUIZ (A)
• Meet the sole survivor of the Valentine’s Day Massacre – WOLVERINE!
• Gangsters, bullets, babes, villains, heroes and murder!
• Frank Tieri returns to Wolverine with Felix Ruiz of Wolverine MAX fame for a showdown in Capone’s town!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99

Seriously, Tieri is going to insert Wolverine into yet another famous moment in history?  Honestly, it is so pointless.  At one point, people are going to sue Marvel for eye damage from all of the rolling! 

 

NIGHTCRAWLER #3
CHRIS CLAREMONT (W) • TODD NAUCK (A)
• Racing across the globe to save his nearest and dearest from the fate he just escaped, Nightcrawler makes a grim discovery: Could it be his return that set these events in motion in the first place?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Still no word on which issue has him talking to Kitty but she would have to be in the Solict, right?

MARVEL FAMOUS FIRSTS: 75TH ANNIVERSARY MASTERWORKS SLIPCASE SET
In celebration of its 75th Anniversary, Marvel Comics proudly presents this deluxe collection of its 10 mightiest Masterworks hardcovers – plus the all-new, long-in-demand NOT BRAND ECHH VOL. 1 and the AVENGERS 75TH ANNIVERSARY BY ALEX ROSS POSTER signed by none other than Stan “The Man” Lee! Each titanic tome in this limited-edition boxed set features a newly designed cover treatment and interlocking spine artwork, and the slipcase itself is patterned after stately Avengers Mansion! Order yours today, True Believer, while supplies last!
All Ages…$500.00
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9128-5
Trim size: 13 x 11-1/2 x 7-5/8

Slipcase set includes:

CAPTAIN AMERICA VOL. 1 HC
264 PGS./Collecting TALES OF SUSPENSE #59-81.

DAREDEVIL VOL. 1 HC
256 PGS./Collecting DAREDEVIL #1-11.

DOCTOR STRANGE VOL. 1 HC
328 PGS./Collecting STRANGE TALES #110-111 and #114-141, and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #2.

THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN VOL. 1 HC
272 PGS./Collecting AMAZING FANTASY #15 and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1-10.

THE AVENGERS VOL. 1 HC
248 PGS./Collecting AVENGERS #1-10.

THE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 1 HC
272 PGS./Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #1-10.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK VOL. 1 HC
176 PGS./Collecting HULK #1-6.

THE INVINCIBLE IRON MAN VOL. 1 HC
208 PGS./Collecting TALES OF SUSPENSE #39-50

THE MIGHTY THOR VOL. 1 HC
280 PGS./Collecting JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #83-100

THE X-MEN VOL. 1 HC
248 PGS./Collecting X-MEN #1-10

NOT BRAND ECHH VOL. 1 HC
456 PGS./Collecting NOT BRAND ECHH (1967) #1-13 and material from DAREDEVIL ANNUAL (1967) #1, FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL (1963) #5, SGT. FURY ANNUAL (1965) #4, AVENGERS ANNUAL (1967) #2 & AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL (1964) #5

 

            This is quite the collection but five hundred dollars!?!   Honestly, who is buying these?  Amazon pre-order must still be around $450, right?  Though I do like the idea of the first ten issues or so of each of those being in a fancy hardcover and it comes with the slipcase, so that must take a bunch of room.  At least a foot of shelf space! 

 

DEADPOOL MINIBUS HC
Written by CULLEN BUNN
Penciled by DALIBOR TALAJIC, MATTEO LOLLI, SALVA ESPIN & RAMON ROSANAS
Cover by MICHAEL DEL MUNDO
Deadpool’s wildest adventures are collected in one blood-soaked volume! What if Deadpool decided to kill everyone and everything that makes up the Marvel Universe? What if he followed that up by slaughtering the most famous fictional characters in classic literature? And what if he finally took aim at the ultimate target: himself? You’d have the fan-favorite “Deadpool Killogy,” that’s what! But when Deadpool battles Deadpool, will he win or perish? Yes! Then: Deadpool awakes from a food coma to find…the zombie apocalypse has occurred! Can the Merc with a Mouth avoid becoming the Merc in their mouths?! And when Deadpool takes on Carnage, good-crazy battles bad-crazy, blood will flow — and Deadpool will literally go to pieces! Collecting DEADPOOL KILLS THE MARVEL UNIVERSE #1-4, DEADPOOL KILLUSTRATED #1-4, DEADPOOL KILLS DEADPOOL #1-4, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEADPOOL #1-4, DEADPOOL VS. CARNAGE #1-4.
480 PGS./Parental Advisory …$59.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9030-1
Trim size: oversized

 

            Minibus, because it is an omnibus of miniseries, that’s funny!  I can say that Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe issue three, is pretty good. 

 

WHAT IF? AGE OF ULTRON TPB
Written by JOE KEATINGE
Penciled by RAFFAELE IENCO, RAMON VILLALOBOS, MICO SUAYAN, PIOTR KOWALSKI & MING DOYLE
Cover by CHRIS STEVENS
In AGE OF ULTRON, a time-traveling Wolverine killed Hank Pym before he could create the world-conquering Ultron. But what if other founding Avengers had been killed instead? Find out in five alternate adventures! In a world without the Wasp, Hank Pym created an Ultron even more heinous than the one we know! Without Iron Man, the Armor Wars scorch the earth until Spider-Man forms a familiar Fantastic Four to seek out a forgotten weapon! Without Thor, Ragnarok wipes out every super-powered being — leaving only Nick Fury and his unpowered allies to face the Midgard Serpent! Without Captain America, the United States loses its spirit — until a secret cabal uses Frank Castle to recreate a legend! And if Hank Pym never created Ultron, the Vision never existed — but without the Vision, can the world survive? Collecting WHAT IF? AGE OF ULTRON #1-5.
112 PGS./Rated T+ …$16.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9054-7

 

            Still surprised I read the description for the Iron Man issue and didn’t pick up on the fact that it was a New Fantastic Four reteam.  Once again, if you bought all five comics, which all came out in the same month, you spent $20 but if you waited for this trade, you would have saved three dollars.  So odd that business practice.  I’m only planning on buying that (Lack of) Iron Man issue. 

 

As I was doing the math on this, I started getting worried that I was adding too much before I even got the bulk of the X-Men titles but I think we might be okay.

Savage Hulk 1
Uncanny Avengers 21
All New Ultimates 3 & 4
Uncanny X-Men 22
All New X-Men 28
All New Doop 3
All for four dollars each = 28 dollars plus the five dollar Uncanny X-Men Special, brings my total to 32.  Well within my forty, so that’s awesome!  Then with the discount, which doesn’t come out to a dollar off per book but maybe round up to fifty cents a book and maybe its 28.  Not sure when I can finalize the order, I’ll look into that but if I can get the shipping once per week might go that route as long as long as I’m within budget.

. . .

Edit on April 9, 2014

Through Discount Comic Book Service, my seven titles cost – on their own – $17.33.  That’s pretty amazing!

Weekly shipping, brings my total to $38.07, which is clearly under $40, so we are still on track!

What I’m not counting is the 87 cents for the bags and boards but that seems more than reasonable.  I can’t wait for May to come so that I can see how this actually works out.  Cost wise, is perfect but we’ll see how the mail aspect works.

Since they revealed (in time) that Savage Hulk is a story set during the Original Five X-Men, I was able to not include it in my order.  I most likely will regret the Uncanny Avengers 21 addition, but maybe Kitty or Magik will show up in it.

X-Men Classic 94

Posted by John Klein III on March 19, 2014
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

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Writer Chris Claremont

Artists John Romita Jr. and Dan Green

Colorist Glynis Wein

Letterer Tom Orzechowski

Reprint of Uncanny X-Men 190

Cover Dated April 1994

Another fine cover by Tom Raney.

We are off and running with the Kulan Gath storyline.  I think, rereading it now, my problem is that it is such a departure from an X-Men story.  Seems like you can insert any hero and have the same results.  One thing that I do enjoy is that it takes place in New York City and it actually has a collection of heroes that would be found in the city at that time, such as Spider-Man and various members of the Avengers.  Also, the merged version of Xavier and Caliban is unsettling, so when I read it as a kid, that may have left a bad impression.  Also, now that I am thinking about it, I may not have known as much about the Marvel Universe, so all of these characters were pretty new to me.

So the issue opens with the outside of Manhattan being fine.  There is an energy barrier surrounding the island, and everything inside of the barrier resembles Medieval times.

We get a meeting of government officials, including Val Cooper. I like how Claremont uses this scene to establish the rules of the barrier and gets us up to speed.  The barrier has only been up for an hour.  We know that anyone who walks in, converts to Medieval times.  Their clothes, their weapons and vehicles all change.  One nice benefit is that you keep your personality.  If you were a hero, you are still a hero in the barrier.  You remember that if you have siblings or family members, they are still your family members.  Also, if you for whatever reason walk outside of the barrier, you revert back to who you are, and you remember what happened inside.  So this is where most of their intel is coming from.  Since it is an island, most of the people who are coming back out, are through the water ways.

We find out that the person behind this is Kulan Gath.  He is using the Morlocks as his personal army.  He is able to use magic in a way that seems like magic is common place.  He also, for some reason, has taken to children sacrifice.

The government has only been able to confirm a certain number of heroes inside the barrier.  For the Avengers – Captain America (looking very much like He-Man from the cover), Wasp, Starfox (the only Avenger prone to rape-y situations), Vision and Scarlet Witch.  For the X-Men – Colossus (who is sporting a narly looking horn helmet), Nightcrawler (all Swashbucklery), Rogue and Storm.  Spider-Man is also bouncing around but his costume hasn’t been converted so he is inside the barrier but not affected by it.

While Val Cooper is providing this intel, men start piping up.  One complains that the X-Men shouldn’t be counted amongst the heroes such as the Avengers.  One gentleman speaks up, stating that these comments are pretty racist and should stop.  Honestly, I never get these comments about rounding up mutants and keeping them away from other races, just typing that points to how horribly racist the metaphor is.  We don’t treat any races like that, nor should we.

Within the barrier, Storm wakes up, from a dream of a future time.  Sunder crashes through her wall and Callisto is close behind.  JRJR has decided that all women’s costumes are going going to be skimpy bathing suits or will have those Valkyrie breast plate thingies.  Honestly, how do those breast plate cone things work?  Does one factory make hundreds in various sizes or is it one size fits most?  Callisto has one, Storm eventually gets a set, as does Dani Moonstar later.

Sunder tries to place a red hot slave collar on Storm, she breaks free and runs off.  Callisto gives chase.  During their confrontation, Callisto stabs Storm, such like she did to her to gain leadership.  This time, she stabbed her in the stomach.  For whatever reason, this triggers Storm’s real memories.  Now Storm is in pain and confused by her surroundings.  Storm pushes Callisto and they both fall into the water.  They float out of the barrier – thus regaining their memories.

Storm wonders who has the power to do this and Callisto informs her that Kulan Gath does.  Storm tells her that all of the X-Men were in the city last night and wonders if the others are under the spell, so she was by herself this entire time.

This transitions us to Kulan Gath, as he taunts his prisoner, Dr. Strange.  Poor Dr. Strange’s mouth as been sealed and his fingers no longer work.  Which was something I have thought for years is pretty silly.  For instance, we always see Xavier point to his head to indicate he is using his power at that moment.  But if he was about to bring his hand to his head and you got there in time to slap his hand, it isn’t like he has to do that motion to activate his power, that’s just something to show that it is working.  It’ll be like taping Storm’s mouth shut, making her not able to use her power.  She can summon the weather without having to shout about it.

Speaking of Xavier, Kulan Gath states that it is easy to manipulate flesh to Dr. Strange.  To further his point, he merges Xavier and Caliban together into one weird chalk white man worm of a creature.  This way, Caliban’s mutant ability to track and Xavier’s telepathic powers are now one.

Due to Spider-Man, who Kulan Gath refers to as Man-Spider – which is a shame as Man-Spider was an awesome action figure from the 90s Spider-Man cartoon, fighting Kulan Gath back in Marvel Team-Up 79, is immune to his transformation spell.

Kulah Gath uses Caliver to summon the New Mutants – Dani, Sunspot, Cannonball and Wolfsbane.  Warlock comes along but he isn’t under the spell.  He also looks like Peter Parker sort of, which I thought was confusing but then he speaks with that Warlock specific word balloon.

Kulah Gath wants to use the New Mutants as his hounds, which Claremont with Rachel, is really into the concept of human trackers chasing individuals.

Warlock tries to rescue his friends but Kulah Gath is much stronger and now Warlock has to flee from the attacking New Mutants.  Now the New Mutants are not only just wearing Medieval costumes, now they look like hulkling versions of themselves.

Kulah Gath orders Caliver to seek Warlock.  Xavier part doesn’t want to but Caliban wants to please his new master.  We see that Selene is watching this unfold.  She recognizes Kulah Gath as she is as old as time.  I get the impression that she is older than him.

We see that Magma and Rachel have been taken captive by some Morlocks.  Selene shows up to free them.  The Morlocks are no match for her.  The two gals are under the spell so they don’t know that they hate Selene.

Storm and Callisto are trying to figure out their next move.  They have new clothes, essentially it seems like they just switched outfits but tailored to their specific tastes.  Callisto is mad for two reasons, firstly, she doesn’t like owing Storm anything and secondly, she doesn’t like the fact that she and her family were turned into soldiers.

Selene communicates with Storm, and Storm can tell from the image that Selene has become the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club.  Selene is using Rachel’s telepathy to communicate.  Selene wants to work together after Storm threatens to hurt Selene if she hurt Rachel.  Selene states that she knows Kulan Gath and that if this spell isn’t reversed soon, the spell will become permanent and then it will start to expand.

Callisto explains that inside the barrier, she was part of his army.  Selene explains she can cast a spell wherein Storm and Callisto will retain that they are there to fight him and not be lost in the transformation.

Storm tries to pick the lock of the door they are stuck in.  Callisto explains that now is no time to show off and she should use her powers.  Storm explains that she no longer has her powers.  Callisto isn’t happy about this, as she wants Storm to be at full power so that she can fight her for leadership of the Morlocks again.  Callisto also states that if she will kill the person who did that to Storm, as n one is safe from him.  They enter the sewer system to get back inside the barrier.

We catch up to Spider-Man, who has both the New Mutants and the Morlocks chasing him.  He recognizes the New Mutants from the various times he has met them before.  So he doesn’t want to hurt them so he is holding back his punches but they don’t care or know him so they are not limiting themselves in anyway.

Spider-Man ducks into a tavern to try to hide in a crowd.  As luck would have it, though his luck is never this good in his own title, Starfox and Wasp are also in this tavern.  Spider-Man’s strength is disappearing due to the spell.  Dani mentions Kulah Gath and that’s the only words he can understand as everyone is speaking Latin or something.  Now he knows what is up.

The New Mutants chain Spider-Man up.  Caliver explains there is another threat.  Dani looks around and sees who the threat is, and it is Illyana!

Captain America steps inbetween the two ladies.  He isn’t going to let Illyana get taken away.  Then Kurt and Rogue show up to help this band of Avengers.

Storm and Callisto take a breath before they step through the barrier.  This time, they don’t have their old personalities, they have brand new ones.  Callisto is a mercenary and Storm is a sorceress.  Of course, they are attacked by Morlocks, so they don’t get to get their bearings.

Morlocks, typical of their fighting style, swarm the Avengers with their mass numbers.  Cap, being the leader that he is, will not back down or retreat.  Turns out, Magik, being a sorceress herself, was never under the spell.  She was just trying to figure out what to do.  She takes her soulsword and strikes her brother.  Colossus is now no longer under the spell.  It is amazing how Claremont defined the soulsword and then kept coming up with threats that the soulsword could be used against.

Sunspot blasts the ground, forcing Illyana to drop her sword, so she can’t continue to wake the other heroes up.  Thanks to Kulan Gath’s spell, if he didn’t make it so, you don’t have access to your powers.  No one in the comic refers to Kulan Gath except by his full name, so I’m not sure if I could be shortening it or not.

Selene acts as the carvery, and crashes through the roof.  Sunder saves the New Mutants from the debris and they all run off.  The heroes are saved!

Selene explains to Captain America that she is on his side, as Rachel and Magma come through the roof to join the scene.  Selene recruits the Avengers for her side.  Right then, Kulan Gath teleports Selene away.  He does recognize her from the good ol’ days.  He offers the gathered heroes to surrender, as he does so, Storm and Callisto arrive onto the scene.

Once more Morlocks show up, the heroes have already disappeared.  Kulan Gath orders Caliver to locate the heroes and he/it/they can’t.  Selene mocks the wizard for his limitations.

The heroes are in the old Morlock tunnels.  They wonder if they are safe there.  Rachel and Magma do not sit with the other heroes and this causes Callisto to wonder about them and their loyalty.

Captain America reveals that in this new age, non-mutants look upon mutants as if they are magical.  Illyana reveals that she like Selene, magical and above the transformation.  She asks Cap if he will still protect her and fight along side her.  Of course he will, he judges people on deeds and not on what others tell him.  So great to see Cap and Magik talking to each other.  I suspect that the Avengers’ memories of this interaction vanishes so it isn’t brought up again but I could be wrong.  My memory of this story is pretty hazy.

Cap does state that Selene is most likely as deadly as Kulan Gath, so once they defeat him, they will have to worry about her.  Kurt states that without Selene, they have lost their greatest weapon.  Storm offers that they can use that to their advantage, that Kulan Gath will no doubt suspect them easy pickings.  Storm wants them to use stealth to attack the wizard.  He is not a god, but a man so he can be defeated.  This is the Marvel Universe, even if he was a god, he could be defeated, I mean even Thor loses in the first round so that he can heroically stage a come back.

Captain America stands up, he has fought evil as long as he could remember and evil will not win this time either.  He cares not if mutants are in danger, as far as he sees them, they are people and people need to be saved!  He gives us an “Avengers Assemble!” and morale is boosted.  Except for Magma and Rachel, they are wet blankets.

BuzzFeed’s 94 X-Men Members

Posted by John Klein III on March 18, 2014
Posted in: Lists. Tagged: . Leave a comment

Ranked from Worst to Best by Matthew Perpetua

http://www.buzzfeed.com/perpetua/94-x-men-members-ranked-from-worst-to-best

The list proper will follow my comment version.  Some notes to start off with, there is no introductory paragraph that I could find on the site.  Mr. Perpetua does write a few sentences for each character but that’s it.  Also, I am not sure how much of a fan he is, as some of his descriptions imply that he is up to date but then there are others that indicate he hasn’t been reading for years.

So I have no idea why students made the list when they were never part of an actual field team.  Also, field teams count such as X-Treme X-Men and X-Force, even Dark X-Men counts.

Something I think needs to start being considered in these lists, or at least, in terms of making these lists.  If a character hasn’t been active in a while, I feel that should hurt their overall standing.  Now, as a Nightcrawler fan, if any list was made during the time he was dead, I can see him not making any top ten lists (though he will always be in my top ten) but he is also a respected member and been part of every legendary line up, for the most part.

94. Broo – I like Broo, but he’s a student, he may have had adventures but I’m not sure what team you would say he has been a member of.  Wolverine and the X-Men is a title about the Jean Grey School.  He was active in AvX, so maybe that’s what counts.  He is not the worst X-Man, by a bunch.

93. Slipstream – Member of X-Treme X-Men and has been pretty forgotten.

92. Lifeguard – Also a member of X-Treme X-Men, I have no real interaction with, at least she is paired with her brother.

91. Thunderbird (Neal Shaara) – I do agree that Thunderbird isn’t really a codename that should have a legacy for it, especially as Proudstar’s own brother didn’t want to pick it up as his own.  I know Neal as being the reason why Warren and Betsy broke up.

90. Joseph – The clone of Magneto, that made it only quasi-acceptable that Rogue had a relationship with as he was at least closer in age to her.

89. Mimic – I know him more as a supporting cast member of Excalibur and Rogue’s final run on X-Men Legacy.  There was an awesome version of him in Exiles, that I would have liked our version to learn about, probably send him into an even deeper depression.

88. Warbird – I don’t despise her as much as others seem to.  I like that she finds Iceman attractive, it brings out a fun side to her personality.

87. Toad  – Not a field member but janitorial crew in Wolverine and the X-Men, I suspect this guy doesn’t know how that title works.

86. X-Man – He pal-ed around with New Mutants for a bit but never been a member of a proper X-Men team.

85. Hepzibah – Part of the Uncanny turned Starjammers Brubaker team, does that really count?  I guess that team did have a few Earth adventures, so it does.

84. Omega Sentinel – Fun character on Facebook’s Avengers Alliance, and I liked her when she was part of Rogue’s team during Mike Carey’s awesome run on the title.

83. Stacy X  – Completely missed out on Chuck Austen’s run so I have no connection to her.  So I am surprised she made the list over actual members.

82. Cloak and Dagger – Only been part of Emma’s Dark X-Men, which was nothing more than a fake team to mess with Norman Osborn.  Does that really count?  I am a big fan of this Bill Mantlo created duo, though, but they are not X-Men.

81. Maggott – I don’t hate him like many do, he just barely missed being part of the 35th Anniversary team.

80. Dust – Only been a student

79. Legion – Only ever been a foe of the New Mutants.

78. Blindfold – Only been a student – this list is so confusing.  A reference to Whedon, her creator, but no referenced to X-Men Legacy.

77. Frenzy – Still getting to know this character, she is currently a member of Wolverine’s teaching staff.

76. Thunderbird (James Proudstar) – How does this guy rank so high, he had two adventures and completely failed during the second one.  In-story, he isn’t even that well remembered, except for when people list dead X-Men.

75. Juggernaut – Barely a member, and during Chuck Austen’s era.  I liked him on New Excalibur.

74. Firestar – She is the nega-Thunderbird, she is only now having her first adventure and ranked so high?  I feel like I’m only doing this list to make fun of the author.  She will always be a New Warrior and Avenger during Busiek’s amazing run.

73. Sage  – X-Treme X-Men represent!  Also a nice run on Exiles, which also doesn’t count.

72. Genesis – Only a student, what are the parameters for this list?

71. Marrow – She has a fun interaction with Kitty during the 35th Anniversary era.

70. Doop – Only been a part of the X-Force / X-Static and is staff at the Jean Grey School.  He is slowly growing on me.

69. Aurora – He writes himself that she is barely an X-Man and that is being generous.  She has never been a member.

68. Husk – Generation X representation and was part of Chuck Austen’s team, wherein he had her date Warren.

67. Goldballs – This guy has already quit the team once and has had one bad experience in Limbo and witnessed Battle of the Atom, how is he so high?  But see how he is a new member within the past year?  Who made this list?

66. Angel Salvadore – He references that Angel was suppose to be the opposite of Kitty Pryde, is that stated anywhere?  Once Morrison was done with his run, I don’t believe she has been used since.  Are all of her children still alive?  I know some have

65. Lady Mastermind – Was part of Mike Carey / Rogue’s team.  Such a fun time.

64. Armor – Was slated to be huge but now is only a student.  She was part of an epic Astonishing team by Whedon / Cassaday but she is a kid so I can see Wolverine wanting to keep her in the classroom.

63. Madison Jeffries  – Was part of Matt Fraction’s era Uncanny and then X-Club.  Started out as Alpha Flight.

62. Deadpool – Part of Wolverine’s X-Force

61. Wolfsbane – Mostly New Mutants member, was on Wolverine’s X-Force for a bit as well as Peter David’s X-Factor.

60. Magma – Also, mostly a New Mutants member but was part of Matt Fraction’s “Everyone is an X-Man” era.

59. Polaris – Second daughter of Magneto’s (well third but that’s a sad story) member of X-Factor a couple times and was part of Chuck Austen’s team.

58. Danger – Started as an Astonishing foe, then was part of Gillen’s Extinction Team during his Uncanny run.

57. Warlock – Now he has only ever been New Mutants, and now part of Peter David’s third X-Factor.  List maker gets props for making a Community reference though Cypher is the Troy to Warlock’s Abed if anything.

56. Cypher – I like Doug as a character, with 94, the half way point is 47 and he should at least be considered the top half of characters.  Though he has only ever been a New Mutant.

55. Hijack – Another new Bendis character and only has 20 appearances to his name, no way is he above Doug, at the very least.

54. Chamber – Generation X leader and teacher at the Jean Grey School.

53. Sunfire – Should Sunfire even be considered for this list, as he hates the X-Men?  He is part of Uncanny Avengers, half of the time so he should be lower on the list.

52. Warpath – Hellion, X-Force and Brubaker’s X-Men, decent character.  Going to be in X-Men : Days of Future Past.

51. Domino – Mostly X-Force, a couple different versions but was on several of Fraction’s adventures.

50. X-23 – She was part of New X-Men, was part of Avengers Arena and Avengers Academy but proper X-Man?  Maybe here and there.

49. Dr. Cecilia Reyes – I liked her the best of Maggot and Marrow.  She was recently part of the last team of Astonishing X-Men.

48. Beak – Since Morrison, I don’t think he has been used that much, was on Exiles for a moment and was depowered and was part of that Former Mutants New Warriors team.

47. Longshot – Here we are at the halfway part, all of the characters below are not better than Longshot?  I can cherry pick at least ten to fifteen that are.

46. Blink – She has only been a part of the Pre-Generation X team, and then died.  She is only known for her Age of Apocalypse version. She came back to life for X-Necosha but as a villain.  Should be lower on the list.

45. M – Generation X and now on Wood’s X-Men team.

44. Sabretooth – Was part of the Havok run X-Factor team and then Rogue’s team.  Neither was ideal for him.

43. Hope – Part of Gillien’s Extinction team and now part of Cable’s current X-Force.  She is okay but after AvX, has served her purpose.  Also, Generation Hope, not that many characters have had ongoings named after them.

42. Sunspot – Another New Mutant, is currently an Avenger.

41. Pixie – I never thought of her as a mix of Magik and Jubilee that is an interesting view on the character.  Was part of Fraction’s era.

40. Northstar – Now Northstar has had proper runs as a member of the X-Men, pun very much intended!

39. Banshee – Started as part of the All New All Different team, I know him best as one of the two mentors of Generation X.

38. Bishop – I was lucky enough to miss out on his first years, but I liked him in X-Treme X-Men.  Before he chased Cable and Hope and killed millions so that he could try to kill a baby.

37. Karma – New Mutant and Astonishing X-Men member at the end.

36. Forge – Has he ever really been an X-Man?  I know he has been part of Cable’s current X-Force and was on X-Factor with Havok.  Not a fan.

35. Triage – The second of Bendis’ new members on his Uncanny X-Men.

34. Oya – Member of Generation Hope, and the very reason the Schism happened.  Now a student at the Jean Grey School.

33. Tempus – Defeated the Avengers with barely a wave of her hand.  Definitely deserves to be in the upper half.

32. Morph – He literally only had one moment, which I get people love in that solo adventure late last year with Emma but to be ranked higher than Tempus, seems crazy to me.

31. Dr. Nemesis – Fraction era, then X-Club and now Cable’s current X-Force, he ha a charm that grows on you.

30. Cable  – Joined the X-Men when his father merged with Apocalypse.

29. Xorn – Really, the mess that is Xorn makes it this close to the top 25?  Inconceivable!

28. Jubilee – The replacement Kitty Pryde!

27. Dani Moonstar – Probably my second favorite New Mutant.  She’s almost have done too much as a character that now writers have a hard time knowing what to do with her.

26. Gambit – Wow, of the ‘known’ and ‘beloved’ X-Men, Gambit can’t crack the Top 25, this list may be have an agenda.  Let’s face it, all that came before has been nothing more than an excuse, these lists strive for who makes the Top 25, then Top 10, Top 3 and who is the number one gunna.

25. The Stepford Cuckoos – Wow, so the Cuckoos make the Top 25, and they are only now becoming interesting.  Phoenix Warsong really killed my enthusiasm for these ladies but the farther we get from that story the better.

24. Rachel Summers – My first of my favorite characters, of my personal top five, she is usually at number five.  Glad she made it, just barely but she made it.

23. Namor – The first mutant, though only technically as in, he is really a mutant and not an X-Gene mutant.  But still, a mutant is a mutant.  Part of Fraction’s era and then Gillen’s Extinction team.

22. Dazzler – Outback era and then from there, floated about.  My least favorite era, but I come around to her again during New Excalibur, wherein she felt like a new character.  In my heart, I only really know her as the mutant that came after Kitty Pryde.  One would think I’m a bigger fan of hers based off of how much I want Mystique to free her.

21. Fantomex – Wow, can’t believe Fantomex made it this high up!

20. Mystique – Mystique, was a member of X-Factor (forcibly) and then Rogue’s X-Men (with an agenda of her own) but she does serve some fun dynamics.

19. Quentin Quire – Quire should have been lower on the list.  Barely a student, but Marvel keeps trying to make him into something.

18. Havok – Leader of X-Factor, been part of the next crew after the Original Five, I feel for this guy during Mutant X, an awesome series.  Was part of Chuck Austen’s time and now is the leader of Uncanny Avengers – when Captain America lets him.

17. Iceman – Oh wow, the first of the Original Five to make the list.  Did not think Bobby would be the first one listed.  Now that Kitty broke up with him, I am not that much of a fan of his.

16. Cannonball – One of the leaders of the New Mutants, was the first one to graduate to the big team and now is an actual Avenger.

15. Angel – Warrant is probably my least favorite of the Original Five, but I did like him as Archangel and then when he was Psylocke’s boyfriend.  Not so much as Husk’s boyfriend.

14. Psylocke – Once she got her latest uniform, looking at her in her purple bathing suit is hard to do, such an improvement and it is sad that her old one lasted as long as it did.  I do miss British Betsy but that’s not my Psylocke.

13. Colossus – Ugh, my least favorite X-Man, and he made top 13! At least he’s number 13, but that feels like a hallow victory.

12. Magik – I would have made her at least top ten, especially with the two who knocked her out of the running.

11. Professor X – He is like Barry Allen and Jean Grey, he now works so much better as a dead character than a living one.

10. Magneto – I do like Magneto, but more than Magik?  Impossible!  I do like how they have been on the same team twice now, Extinction and Bendis’ Uncanny.  They could have more interactions.  He was her mentor during his team on the X-Men and when he was watching over the New Mutants.

9. Emma Frost – Can’t believe she is ranked before Jean!  She would not like that, and I would have her over the next two!

8. Jean Grey – I like Teen Jean and I feel like Adult Jean, we got everything we were going to get from her, besides an actual relationship with Wolverine but we saw what happens if they get together during Earth X.

7. Storm – I use to love 80s Storm but she should have been allowed to be married and disappeared for a while.  I get why the X-Office didn’t want to let her go but what they did with her and since, has it been worth it?  No.

6. Nightcrawler – Kurt I would have in the top five and especially over the next two on the list.  He deserves that much at the very least, such a great character.

5. Rogue – Have no clue how current day Rogue is on this list.  She was given her own series, practically, in X-Men Legacy but once that was over, she didn’t go anywhere and now that she is a member of Uncanny Avengers (and dead at the moment) she hasn’t been seen at all.

4. Beast – I guess I would rate Beast as my second favorite member of the Original Five, didn’t know that until right now.  But current day Beast is not the Beast that I feel for so long ago.  Gone is the fun genius and has been replaced with whatever he is now.  I guess Fraction had an issue with Beast as it was soon after Whedon’s Astonishing run that Hank McCoy stopped being fun.

3. Kitty Pryde – Here we go, this is the entire reason why I am even giving this list any additional thought.  She is number three and it makes sense with who has the top two positions, she really can’t be ranked any higher.  I mean, I could do it and Marvel easily did it for their Top 50 Mutants list but still.  I adore that the author used a Paul Smith image for her, that’s awesome.  His paragrah about her being Colossus’ girlfriend makes me think he isn’t reading current comics.  But he refrences her replacing Xavier as the mentor to the Original Five X-Men.  Contradictions!  What does it all mean!?!

2. Wolverine – No denying that Wolverine is the most popular member of the X-Men but I am glad he is ranked number two as he isn’t the most important.

1. Cyclops – It is crazy how much of a fan of Cyclops that I am.  I wouldn’t have said I have always been a gigantic fan.  It definitely started with Whedon’s run as I didn’t read Morrison’s as it was published.  Then Matt Fraction really got me liking Scott.  I guess him being with Emma, really cemented Scott to me.  I do love 80s Cyclops but I would say he is better now than he ever was back then.  I mean, this guy has Magneto bowing down to him and showing him the respect!

Thanks Matthew Perpetua for creating your list, and giving me a post to create!  Sorry I went after you so much, I’m just confused over the criteria for the list but thanks for ranking Kitty as high as you did!

The List, Proper!

94. Broo

93. Slipstream

92. Lifeguard

91. Thunderbird (Neal Shaara)

90. Joseph

89. Mimic

88. Warbird

87. Toad

86. X-Man

85. Hepzibah

84. Omega Sentinel

83. Stacy X

82. Cloak and Dagger

81. Maggott

80. Dust

79. Legion

78. Blindfold

77. Frenzy

76. Thunderbird (James Proudstar)

75. Juggernaut

74. Firestar

73. Sage

72. Genesis

71. Marrow

70. Doop

69. Aurora

68. Husk

67. Goldballs

66. Angel Salvadore

65. Lady Mastermind

64. Armor

63. Madison Jeffries

62. Deadpool

61. Wolfsbane

60. Magma

59. Polaris

58. Danger

57. Warlock

56. Cypher

55. Hijack

54. Chamber

53. Sunfire

52. Warpath

51. Domino

50. X-23

49. Dr. Cecilia Reyes

48. Beak

47. Longshot

46. Blink

45. M

44. Sabretooth

43. Hope

42. Sunspot

41. Pixie

40. Northstar

39. Banshee

38. Bishop

37. Karma

36. Forge

35. Triage

34. Oya

33. Tempus

32. Morph

31. Dr. Nemesis

30. Cable

29. Xorn

28. Jubilee

27. Dani Moonstar

26. Gambit

25. The Stepford Cuckoos

24. Rachel Summers

23. Namor

22. Dazzler

21. Fantomex

20. Mystique

19. Quentin Quire

18. Havok

17. Iceman

16. Cannonball

15. Angel

14. Psylocke

13. Colossus

12. Magik

11. Professor X

10. Magneto

9. Emma Frost

8. Jean Grey

7. Storm

6. Nightcrawler

5. Rogue

4. Beast

3. Kitty Pryde

2. Wolverine

1. Cyclops

Contest of Champions 1

Posted by John Klein III on March 17, 2014
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

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Story Mark Gruenwald, Bill Mantlo and Steven Grant

Script Bill Mantlo

Pencils John Romita Jr.

Inks Pablo Marcos

Lettering Joe Rosen

Coloring Andy Yanchus and Patricia DeFalco

Additional Art Bob Layton

Cover Dated June 1982

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  What better way than to celebrate with the first appearance of Shamrock, Ireland’s leading superhero!  I own five of her appearances, so we can do this for a little bit.

Contest of Champions was the very first Marvel Limited Series.

Issue opens with two cosmic characters, who are suppose to be a mystery at the moment.  We get a classic floating heads of all the heroes by JRJR.  Which is cool unless your favorite fictional character doesn’t really have a distinctive head.

Kitty has only had a few masks over her career.  She had the classic X-Men black sock, and there was the time that sock had a giant yellow X on it.  Her green and orange costume had green diamonds over her eyes and during Excalibur, she had the blue domino mask.  For the most part, during these floating head montages, it is hard to figure out which brunette lady is suppose to be Kitty.  There was a time that they would put her hair in a ponytail and that was how you could tell.  Makes it hard when you are trying to collect every appearance and not sure if that is her only appearance in an issue.  It all goes back to how you market yourself, I suppose.

The two cosmic beings have decided that they will use Earth’s superheroes in their contest as that planet has the most superbeings.  One of them implies that the stakes are life and … death, which once the reveal happens, is a cheesy line.

We catch up with the Avengers, who at this time are – Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Wasp and the lousy Wonder Man.  They are working out and are being treated to a guest, Beast.  Vision and Iron Man are jogging.  Wanda is testing Simon’s strength, or trying too, he’s complaining about how the weights are not heavy enough.  He’s the worst.

Wasp and Captain America are doing their gymnastics routine and Beast is fouling it up, trying to be playful.  Beast is there as the Defenders don’t have a fancy facility like the Avengers.  To try to make it up to them, Beast challenges the Avengers to fight him, and if he can survive for a full minute, then they have to stop working out and party with him upstairs.

So the Avengers try to grab him, not working together so he prevails for the first thirty seconds.  Then the team realizes that no one force can stop them when they are united and agree to work as a team.  Which I like as that’s how their narration box starts at the beginning of their comic series.  Which I like those little caption boxes, I’m pretty sure they are not used anymore but in the 80s, you couldn’t escape them.  I liked how the Spider-Man titles had the same overall premise but would each have a few unique sentences to distinguish themselves.

Right as the Avengers are going to attack en mass, they and Beast are teleported away in a red glow.

Over in Russia’s Nonanya Zemiya, Red Ghost is fighting Russia’s Soviet Super Soldiers – Crimson Dynamo, Darkstar, Ursa Major and Vanguard.  Which I really like crossovers and events as they work as wonderful time capsules on what was happening with comics at that time.

Due to Red Ghost having one of the best powers in the business, intangibility, he phases through most of their attacks and is able to counter many of them.  Shame we don’t get to see any of his Space Apes, in these pages.

Darkstar is able to use her powers to imprison him, and tells her team to dismantle the machines.  Then the heroes are teleported away in a red glow and I’m not sure if they did destroy the machines so Red Ghost is probably set up to cause those earthquakes now.

The Fantastic Four are at a party in their honor.  Johnny and Ben are not enjoying themselves, and Sue is getting tired of them.  Reed gets up to make a speech.  Turns out, he’s only introducing Ben as that’s who they are there to hear from.  Which is odd as why would the speaker introduce Reed so Reed can introduce Ben?  Except for the surprise reveal.  Which is also a jerk move as now Ben has nothing prepared to say.  Good going, Reed!  Luckily, they get teleported away and thus, Ben is only slightly embarrassed.

Alpha Flight are coming back from a mission where they were surrounded by nature.  Half the team wishes they could be outside more and the other half are ready to get back to their lives.  We are now entering the phase of the title where the characters are pretty much given two panels, one to show us the characters and the second to disappear.

The X-Men – Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm and the stupid Colossus are in the Danger Room.  They are teleported away.  We do not see Kitty or Xavier.

Iron Fist and Luke Cage are in Harlem, doing their business when they are teleported away.

Spider-Man is wall crawling and a guy is complaining about it when Spider-Man disappears.  To the guy, it looks like he turned invisible.  Whereas, other people actually see the red glow.

Hellcat and Valkyrie are enjoying a Dazzler show when all three disappear.  No one notices the lady Defenders but they think Dazzler’s disappearance is part of her act.  Good thing it was at the end of the show and not the beginning.

Moon Knight is telling Daredevil about the red glow and poor Daredevil can’t see it but he can feel it.  They teleport away and I’m not sure what happens to Moon Knight’s helicopter, I suppose it crashes.

Ka-Zar and Shanna are teleported away from the Savage Land.

Dr. Strange and Devil-Slayer, the first character, I’m not familiar with, are both teleported away from Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum.

Gypsy Moth is about to get a clear victory over Spider-Woman (the first one, the second one isn’t even a thought yet) when Spider-Woman disappears.  Which I like that for the most part, the heroes were most relaxing or exercising and only a few were actually fighting anyone else.

Machine Man, who I thought was Stilt Man as his legs are super long.

Qusar is thanking Jack of Hearts for the assist.  Poor Jack thinks that Quasar’s losing control over his energy powers as they disappear.  This is the earliest of Jack of Hearts appearances, I mostly know him from the later days of Avengers, right before the Disassemble storyline.

Hulk is about to fight Doc Samson when they both teleport away.  Poor Doc Samson looked like he just wanted to talk to the Hulk.

The Eternals disappear, and I’m not that familiar with them outside that they are creations of Jack Kirby.

Daimon Hellstrom disappears.

Thor disappears.

Red Wolf disappears.

Sunfire disappears.

Captain Britain disappears, unfortunately, he’s wearing that horrible Pre-Excalibur costume.

Black Knight disappears.

The Inhumans disappear, which are Black Bolt, Medusa, Crystal, Quicksilver, Gordon, Karnak, Triton and Lockjaw.

Then we get to the page of first appearances.  France’s le Peregine, Australia’s Talisman, Argentina’s Defensor and Ireland’s Shamrock.

Isreal’s Sabra (not her first appearance), China’s Collective Man, Saudri Arabia’s Arabian Knight and West Germany’s Blitzkrieg, these last three all making their first appearance.

I like how these new characters are suppose to be the superhero representatives of their respected countries but they are not the Captain America’s of their countries.  They have unique looks and powers.

In the back of the issue, along with what will one day become the format of the Official Handbooks of the Marvel Universe, is a brief origin of this limited series.  It was meant to tie in with the 1980 Olympics but the United States boycotted so it no longer made sense to make a comic book tie in.  So two years later, they updated these first pages so that it reflected the then continuity and they had their first Limited Series.  There are hints that future limited series will star – Wolverine (amazing!), Hercules, Hawkeye and Vision.  The last three, I’ve never heard of.

With the turn of the page, we get JRJR’s awesome two page spread of all the heroes in a giant ceiling stadium.  I like how Daredevil is looking in a difference direction than most of the other heroes.  Everyone is looking around and trying to figure out what is happening.  Ant-Man is on Namor’s shoulder, which could have been a bad thing but the King of Atlantis lets it fly.

Then we get some fun pairings.  Thor finds the External Icarus, neither knows what is up.  Wolverine accuses Alpha Flight of being behind this, which is odd as this seems way out of their league.  Beast makes a Big Foot joke to Sasquatch, “Do they call you Big Foot?” “No, they call me Sir” which is awesome as that’s not the Sasquatch I know.

Iron Man sees Russia’s Vanguard and Crimson Dynamo and suspects Russia is behind it, because its the early 80s.  People are making horrible first impressions, and accusations.

Shamrock sees Captain Britain in his horrible costume and they are cold to each other as you know, Northern Ireland and England’s long lasting feud.  Which is clever to show the heroes not being above it.

Iceman sees Darkstar and he likes her new costume.  They were in the Champions together.

Machine Man and Vision meet up, and neither has any information in their stored memory banks to provide a clue.

Contest of Champions 1 Kitty Collective Man

Now we get confirmation that Kitty is there, as she’s standing with Colossus as Collective Man approaches.  He wants to know why Colossus doesn’t serve Russia like how he does China.  Colossus states it is because he wants to use his powers for the benefit of the entire world instead of one nation.  Which I wish we had one or two more panels as what a jerk thing to say without some extra dialogue about how it would be an honor to represent one’s nation and such.  Kitty gets no dialogue and the only hero she meets that isn’t already a teammate is Collective Man.

Black Panther finds Captain America, Cap is trying to figure out who could have teleported all of the heroes here.

Spider-Man and Spider-Woman both find each other, calling each other ‘Wall Crawler’ it is a cute single panel.

Thankfully, Dr. Druid and Hellstorm confirm that the devil isn’t behind it!  Imagine if that was where the story was heading?  Good thing Spider-Man doesn’t need or want for something as that could take the story into a third direction!

Black Knight, Arabian Knight and Defensor all would like a chance to test their swords against each other and so would I!

Windshear, Karnak and Namor are talking and Namor wants to get Dr. Strange’s input.

Human Torch tells Ben that every superhero on the planet is there.  Quasar is surprised there are as many heroes as there are.  Ben introduces Quasar to Johnny, which I like, as we could have gotten a slew of mini fights breaking out but instead people are in shock and trying to find friends or fellow swordsmiths.

Contest of Champions 1 Illuminati

Then we get the panel that will set us down a path, decades later.  From this issue to Bendis’ New Avengers 7 (in 2005) 23 years later, we get the meeting.  Xavier, Dr. Strange, Reed Richards and Iron Man find each other and huddle up.  So amazing that Bendis saw this and created an entire history off of this.  I like how Namor looking for Strange earlier plays into this.  The only one missing is Black Bolt, and I imagine that he can’t ditch his fellow Inhumans so find this group.  Mockingbird is standing close enough to the group, that you would think she would have been part of the group – representing super spies and women.  Shanna is shown walking away from the group.  Super fun how this would be thrown away panel actually is pretty cool in that the leaders of their respected fields are shown communicating and how long it takes to have this brought up again.

Then the big reveal happens.  Grandmaster and a cloaked lady, who modern readers will instantly know who it is, arrive.  It has taken this long to set up the premise.

Grandmaster wants to restore his brother, the Collector, back to life, he died during the Avengers’ Korvac Saga.  He needs to pick 12 champions and his lady friend will pick 12 champions.  If Grandmaster wins, his brother will be alive and if he loses, then he dies as well.

The heroes, naturally, get upset that this entire endeavor is a silly game to restore one bro’s life or have two dead bros.

Grandmaster tries to quiet them with the threat that if the heroes don’t play along the Earth will stay in its stasis field, forever!

So the rules are that the Globe of Life is going to get quartered and the heroes have to receive the pieces.  Who gets the most pieces, wins.

Before they chose, they exclude some groups such as all the immortals, the Inhumans, the Atlanteans (who should just be Namor at this point), Eternals and the aliens to to the planet.  So Thor is probably eliminated.  Thus, making this as fair of a fight as possible.

Grandmaster chooses Captain America first, which makes sense, go for the best.  Cap isn’t thrilled about the situation and Grandmaster, reading his thoughts, announces if he wins, he will not bother Earth again.

Contest of Champions 1 The Sides

So the issue ends with the two teams chosen.  Since I’m not planning on reviewing the next three parts (Kitty is in all three) and Shamrock isn’t in the second part so next year, the plan is to review the third one, unless I do it before then.  The cloak lady is Death, herself.  The very same as who Deadpool falls for.

Grandmaster’s Team is – Captain America, Talisman, Darkstar, Wolverine, Captain Britain, Defensor, Sasquatch, Daredevil, She-Hulk, le Peregine, Blitzkrieg and Thing.

Four Americans, Two Canadians, two attorneys and a very international group.

Deaths’ team is – Iron Man, Vanguard, Shamrock, Iron Fist, Storm, Arabian Knight, Sabra, Angel, Invisible Woman, Black Panther, Sunfire and the Collective Man.

So annoying how she is still referred to as Invisible Girl in this issue, twenty years after her creation.  Already seems like Death has the lesser of the two teams.  I might just be saying that due to Angel being on her team and he doesn’t have a bat or a gun.

Makes complete sense that all the new characters have made the team.  Death’s team also has four Americans on it, and two X-Men (and members who haven’t really worked together yet).

I also like how we get the first of three times Iron Man and Captain America have had teams against each other.

Some of the notable entries in the back of the issue are :

Acroyear – Karnak

Angel / Ant-Man (Scott Lang) / Aurora / Beast / Black Bolt / Black Knight / Black Panther / Black Widow Brother Voodoo / Bug / Captain America / Captain Britain / Clea / Crystal / Cyclops / Dardevil / Darkstar / Dazzler / Doctor Stange / Falcon / Havok / Hawkeye / Hellcat / Hercules / Hulk / Human Torch / Invisible Woman / Iron Fist / Iron Man / Jocasta

All entries get Hero Name, Real Name, two sentences regarding powers and background and first appearance.

X-Men Legacy 300

Posted by John Klein III on March 16, 2014
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

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Writers Simon Spurrier, Mike Carey and Christos Gage

Pencilers Tan Eng Huat, Steve Kurth and Rafa Sandoval

Inkers Craig Yeung, Allen Martinez and Jordi Tarragona

Colorists Jose Villarrubia, Rachelle Rosenberg and Ulises Arreola

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

Nice cover by Clay Mann!  I really like how Xavier is at the forefront as when Legacy was added to the X-Men title, it was his solo book then it became Rogue’s then David’s.  Which is why they are position in the forefront.  Very clever!

I am calling it now, ForgetMeNot is the character debut of the year!  If not, has to be in the top three.

This was a fun issue.

Issue opens with a gal, who isn’t named at all in the issue, is trying to break into the Jean Grey School.  The school’s defenses have her locked in place.  ForgetMeNot is the X-Man that shows up to try to free her.

His real name is also not revealed.  I suppose the reason these two are not named, is so that this tale is forgotten in a matter of time.  That is my theory.

She doesn’t recognize her rescuer.  That is because his mutant ability is to make or have people forget about him, as soon as they take their eyes off of him.  The X-Men’s answer to Doctor Who’s The Silent.  He can’t control it, as he can’t get anyone to train him for any amount of time.

ForgetMeNot has been on the team for six years.  I like how he has the Morrison era uniform motif.  That was probably the last time anyone saw him long enough to get him a uniform.

He makes a fun reference to how his place in the official X-Men roster history is always forgotten.

The gal is wearing a motorcycle helmet.  He takes it off, as there are no masks at the school.  Which, when you think about it, no one besides Wolverine wears a mask these days.

She was wearing the helmet due to the scarring on her left side of her face.  Her origin is pretty tragic.  A stupid football player boy tried to rape her, his friends just laughed, she finally punched her way free.  On her way home, the jerk found her.  He threw chimcals at her, causing her lost of vision in the eye and the scars.  She has had seven operations, and her face isn’t getting better.

The football player was only in jail for six months.  Five thousand people signed an online petition to get him freed, while she is forced to be the town freak.

Her parents can’t stand to look at her, and everyone else can’t help but stare.

Heartbreaking

She has always been a fan of the X-Men.  She is hoping to join the school, so she wouldn’t be the most interesting person in the room.  I get the impression that she isn’t a mutant, not that it matters.

The more she struggles with the force field, the more it tries to trap her.

He decides to take her mind off her current situation by telling her about his tenure with the team.

These pages were drawn by Huat, so I imagine Spurrier wrote this section.

This next section deals with ForgetMeNot’s time during the Age of X storyline, so this section has to be written by Mike Carey with art by Kurth who was the other artist.

The main thing is that it is nice to see the Age of X character designs again : Basilisk (Cyclops), Berserker (Warpath), Legion (no real redesign but nice to see him make an appearance in this issue), Legacy (Rogue), Magneto and of course, the Tempo Cadre – Frenzy and Nightmare (Pixie with those bad arse bat wings!)

Even here, ForgetMeNot isn’t remembered past the initial moment of being seen.  He gives Magneto the idea of having someone go to the border of the battlefield.  Which is what Katherine Pryde does in the original story.  But she doesn’t do it for Magneto and gets in trouble for the pictures she takes, which were all blank as there is nothing that exists beyond the border.

Back in the present, ForgetMeNot is trying to free the gal by wiggling her free.  He then starts the tale of how he tried to actively lose his powers.

This section is drawn by Cage and Sandoval.

First we get a moment where he explains away any X-Men victories that seem to have come out of nowhere or whenever a dumb happenstance occurred and the X-Men turn things around at the last minute or come back from behind.  It was all before ForgetMeNot took charge of the situation or got behind enemy lines.

ForgetMeNot, there has to be another name for him!  Reveals that Xavier made a big point to mentally remind himself, once an hour, that ForgetMeNot exists and is living at the mansion.  Once Xavier died, ForgetMetNot is sad as now no one remembers him past the initial moment.

X-Men Legacy 300 Kitty tombstone

We see Kitty and Storm at Xavier’s tombstone.  Sandoval draws a nice Kitty.  That tombstone, instead of a fancy one, they should have added some security so that Red Skull wouldn’t have such an easy time to steal Xavier’s body.

ForgetMeNot recalls Weapon Omega’s ability to steal mutant powers (and absorb them enough to kill them – most of the time).  Weapon Omega and Mimic are helping some hurricane relief efforts (doing some actual good, which I like to think that most mutants – when not fighting other mutants or on some X-Team – this is what they do).  ForgetMeNot shows up, has a nice conversation with these two heroes.

They bring up the point of the difference between having the power of not being seen and the sad reality of not being noticed.  At least he knows he isn’t being seen due to his power.  How will he feel that once his power is gone, after a lifetime of having no one notice him, once they can see him – they still don’t pay him any attention.  What is a worst situation?

While thinking about it, the Uncanny X-Men show up and we get Sandoval drawing Magik, which is also pretty nice.

Once the X-Men forget that Mimic and Weapon Omega are there, they leave.

Weapon Omega and Mimic try their best to keep their eyes on ForgetMeNot as he is debating if he wants to risk his life to lose his power.  But since he is only sitting there and thinking – it is hard to keep their attention and eventually they look at each other and forget about him.

Which is an odd aspect of his powers, wouldn’t they remember seeing him once their eyes see him again when they look around the room?

Back to the present, ForgetMeNow finally gets her out of the flypaper and gets himself stuck.  She wants to go get help and as soon as she turns around, forgets about him.

On a better note, she calls her mother, and tells her she is coming home.  She feels better about her life and is ready to restart fresh.

Issue ends with him stuck on the fly paper defense grid.  Which, really, there has to be a second protocol and someone needs to walk that parameter.  I really want to see ForgetMeNot in a panel after this issue as that is one horrible way to die!

Mile High Comics $2,197.68

Posted by John Klein III on March 15, 2014
Posted in: Websites. Tagged: , . 2 Comments

So I was at comicbookdb after adding a few comics to my Wishlist due to Marvel Comics Database :

Generation Hope 10 (Lockheed in a photo)

Fallen Angels 7 (Magik in a flashback)

X-Men Unlimited 27 (Magik in a flashback)

Young X-Men 5 (Magik in a flashforward)

New Mutants Volume 3 37 (Magik is mentioned by name)

Bringing the total of my Wishlist to 294 comics, which I’m not thrilled about.

I had some time and I thought I’ll check to see how our friends at Mile High Comics, http://www.milehighcomics.com, could help me out.  I had no intentions of going through the whole list but I had an hour to kill and so here is the break down :

Title Issue Number Variant Name Mile High Comics
Power Pack (1984) #20 $1.00
The Marvel Tarot (2007) #1 $1.00
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #58 $1.00
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #71 $1.00
Universe X (2000) #3 $1.00
Wolverine Saga (1989) #2 $1.00
X-Men Adventures (1994) #4 $1.00
Young X-Men (2008) #5 $1.00
Fallen Angels (1987) #7 $1.25
Hulk Team-Up (2009) #1 $1.25
Marvel: The Year-in-Review (1989) #1 $1.25
Ultimate Fallout (2011) #1 $1.25
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #29 $1.25
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #30 $1.25
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #31 $1.25
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #32 $1.25
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #37 $1.25
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #38 $1.25
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #39 $1.25
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #75 $1.25
What The–?! (1988) #7 $1.25
Wolverine Saga (1989) #1 $1.25
Wolverine Saga (1989) #3 $1.25
X-Men Classic (1990) #48 $1.25
X-Men Classic (1990) #49 $1.25
X-Men Classic (1990) #50 $1.25
X-Men Classic (1990) #51 $1.25
X-Treme X-Men (2012) #7.1 $1.25
Marvel Universe vs. Wolverine (2011) #1 $1.50
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #44 $1.50
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #50 $1.50
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #62 $1.50
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #63 $1.50
X-Men (1991) Annual 02 $1.50
X-Men Unlimited (1993) #27 $1.50
X-Men: Evolution (2002) #9 $1.50
X-Men: Prelude To Schism (2011) #1 $1.50
Spider-Men (2012) #4 $1.60
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #90 $1.60
What The–?! (1988) #2 $1.60
Wolverine: First Class (2008) #14 $1.60
X-Men Classic (1990) #95 $1.60
X-Men Classic (1990) #107 $56.10 for 43 comics $1.60
Classic X-Men (1986) #38 $2.00
Fantastic Four Roast (1982) #1 $2.00
Guardians Of The Galaxy (1990) #9 $2.00
Official Index to the Marvel Universe (2009) #3 $2.00
Official Index to the Marvel Universe (2009) #5 $2.00
Second Coming: Prepare (2010) #1 $2.00
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #79 $2.00
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #176 $2.00
What The–?! (1988) #1 $2.00
What The–?! (1988) #11 $2.00
X-Men Classic (1990) #60 $2.00
X-Men Classic (1990) #64 $2.00
X-Men Classic (1990) #104 $2.20
Captain Britain and MI13 (2008) Annual 01 $2.30
Hot Shots: X-Men (1996) nn $2.30
ROM Spaceknight (1979) #19 $2.30
Wolverine (2010) #7 $2.30
X-Men Classic (1990) #46 $2.30
X-Men Classic (1990) #63 $2.30
Captain Marvel (1999) #6 $2.50
Dark Angel (1992) #14 $2.50
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition (1990) #4 $2.50
Wolverine (1988) #173 $2.50
X-Men: Alpha (1995) #1 $2.50
X-Men: Evolution (2002) #1 $2.50
X-Men: Evolution (2002) #4 $2.50
X-Men: Evolution (2002) #5 $2.50
X-Men: Evolution (2002) #7 $2.50
X-Men: Phoenix – Legacy of Fire (2003) #2 $2.50
Marvel: The Year-in-Review (1989) #5 $2.60
X-Men (2010) #32 $2.60
X-Men Classic (1990) #106 $2.60
X-Men: Hellbound  (2010) #1 $2.60
New Mutants (2009) #24 $2.70
Uncanny X-Force (2010) #21 $2.70
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #241 $2.70
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #531 $2.70
X-Club (2012) #5 $2.70
Amazing Heroes (1981) #67 $2.90
Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural (2009) #4 $2.90
Giant-Size X-Men (1975) #4 $2.90
Lockjaw And The Pet Avengers Unleashed (2010) #1 Langridge Variant $2.90
Venom: Dark Origin (2008) #3 $2.90
X-Men Classic (1990) #65 $2.90
X-Men Legacy (2008) #231 $2.90
Astonishing X-Men (2004) #46 $3.00
Avengers Academy (2010) #32 $3.00
Avengers vs. X-Men Program (2012) #1 $3.00
Bullet Points (2007) #5 $3.00
Dark Angel (1992) #15 $3.00
Excalibur (2001) #4 $3.00
Gambit & Bishop: Sons of the Atom (2001) #3 $3.00
New Mutants (2009) #17 $3.00
New Mutants (2009) #50 $3.00
Official Index to the Marvel Universe (2009) #4 $3.00
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #205 $3.00
X-Men Legacy (2008) #269 $3.00
X-Men: Evolution (2002) #6 $3.00
X-Men: Evolution (2002) #8 $3.00
Amazing Heroes (1981) #75 $3.20
X-Men: Regenesis (2011) #1 $3.20
X-Men: Return of Magik (2008) #1 $3.55
Amazing Heroes (1981) #134 $3.60
Astonishing X-Men (2004) #45 $3.60
Generation Hope (2011) #10 $3.60
Journey Into Mystery (1952) #637 $3.60
Shame Itself (2012) #1 $3.60
The Official Marvel Index To The X-Men (1987) #7 $3.60
Wolverine Saga (1989) #4 $3.60
X-Factor Forever (2010) #4 $3.60
X-Men Classic (1990) #61 $3.60
X-Men: The Times and Life of Lucas Bishop (2009) #3 $3.60
Generation Hope (2011) #4 $3.75
Gambit (2012) #17 $3.99
X-Men: Legacy (2013) #20 $3.99
X-Men: Legacy (2013) #23 $3.99
Avengers Academy (2010) #3 Women of Marvel Variant $4.00
What If…? (1989) #47 $4.10
Vampires: The Marvel Undead (2011) #1 $4.20
X-Club (2012) #3 $4.20
Lockjaw and the Pet Avengers (2009) #1 Second Printing $4.35
David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview (1983) #46 $4.40
New Mutants (2009) #37 $4.40
X-Force (1991) #99 $4.40
X-Men Forever 2  (2010) #14 $4.40
Phoenix (1984) #1 $4.50
X-Club (2012) #4 $4.50
X-Men Forever (2009) #10 Zombie variant $4.50
New Mutants (2009) #47 $4.65
Wolverine And Jubilee (2011) #1 $4.65
All-New X-Men (2013) #7 50th Anniversary Variant Cover $4.80
Comics Scene (1987) #30 $4.80
David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview (1983) #11 $4.80
Marvel Universe vs. The Avengers (2012) #1 $4.80
Ultimate Mystery (2010) #4 $4.80
Uncanny X-Men (2013) #1 Skottie Young Baby Variant $4.80
X-Men: Schism (2011) #1 $4.80
Marvel: Now What?! (2013) #1 $4.99
Ultimate Comics X-Men (2011) #28 $4.99
Wolverine (2013) #10 $4.99
Wolverine & The X-Men (2011) #32 $4.99
Spider-Man/Fantastic Four (2010) #3 $5.00
Uncanny X-Men (1963) Annual 14 $5.00
New Mutants (2009) #1 Benjamin Variant $5.45
Amazing Heroes (1981) #193 $5.60
Marvel Zombies Halloween (2012) #1 $5.60
New Mutants (2009) #1 $5.80
X-Men Classic (1990) #105 $5.80
X-Men: Schism (2011) #2 $5.95
Comics Feature (1980) #51 $6.00
Daredevil: End of Days (2012) #8 $6.00
Generation Hope (2011) #6 $6.00
New Avengers (2010) #3 Women of Marvel Variant $6.00
Ultimate X-Men (2001) #91 $6.00
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #544 2nd Printing Variant $6.40
Superboy (1994) #27 $6.75
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (1989) #53 $6.80
The All New Exiles Vs. X-Men (1995) #0 $6.80
X-Men Forever (2009) #4 30s Decade Variant $6.80
Doctor Voodoo: Avenger of the Supernatural (2009) #5 $7.00
Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme (1988) #2 $7.20
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #523 Finch Variant $7.20
Avengers (2013) #24 Allred Variant $7.50
Avengers (2013) #24 Anka Variant $7.50
New Mutants (2009) #6 Zombie Variant $7.50
David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview (1983) #56 $8.00
Marvel Zombies Return (2009) #5 $8.00
Wizard (1991) #219 $8.00
Lockjaw And The Pet Avengers Unleashed (2010) #3 Miyazawa Variant $8.65
Uncanny X-Force (2013) #13 $8.65
What If? (1977) #13 $8.70
Ultimate Spider-Man (2000) #100 Mark Bagley Heads cover $8.80
All-New X-Men (2013) #13 $9.00
Crazy Magazine (1973) #82 $9.00
Masters of the Universe (1986) #4 $9.00
Ultimate Comics X-Men (2011) #1 Variant Cover $9.60
Uncanny X-Men (2012) #1 Keown Variant $9.75
Michael Wm. Kaluta Sketchbook Series (2012) OGN SC vol. 03 $10.00
Uncanny X-Force (2010) #19 $10.00
Wizard (1991) #85 ‘Wolverine/Superman’ cover $10.00
X-Men (2013) #1 Young Variant $10.00
X-Men: The Ultra Collection (1994) #5 $10.00
Iron Fist (1975) #10 $10.20
New Mutants (2009) #4 70th Frame Variant $10.80
Wolverine: First Class (2008) #6 Variant – Monkey $10.80
Wolverine: First Class (2008) #14 Wolverine Art Appreciation $10.80
G.I. Joe (2011) #5 Cover RI $12.00
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #222 $12.00
X-Men (2010) #4 Vampire Variant $12.00
New Mutants (2009) #1 McLeod Variant $12.80
Wolverine & The X-Men (2011) #1 Nick Bradshaw Variant Cover $12.80
X-Men (1991) #100 Leinil Francis Yu Cover $14.40
Guardians Of The Galaxy (2013) #1 Phantom Variant $14.95
Avengers vs. Pet Avengers (2010) #1 Hardman Variant $15.00
The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Master Edition (1990) #30 $15.00
Thor (1966) #614 Women of Marvel Variant $15.00
Astonishing X-Men (2004) #51 Djurdevic Variant Cover $16.00
AVX: VS (2012) #3 Dodson Variant $20.00
Wolverine: First Class (2008) #18 70th Anniversary Frame variant $20.00
X-Men (2013) #1 Dynamic Forces variant $20.00
A+X (2012) #2 Del Mundo Variant $22.50
Marvel Graphic Novel (1982) #12 $22.50
The Uncanny Dave Cockrum… A Tribute (2004) OGN SC $22.50
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #132 $24.30
X-Men (2013) #1 Phantom Variant $24.95
All-New X-Men (2013) #17 Immonen Variant $25.00
Marvel Knights: X-Men (2014) #1 Rivera Variant $25.00
Ultimate Comics X-Men (2011) #13 Jorge Molina Cover $25.00
Ultimate Comics X-Men (2011) #29 Pagulayan Cover $25.00
Wolverine & The X-Men (2011) #36 Kris Anka Variant $25.00
Noble Causes: Family Secrets (2002) #3 B  Version $28.80
A+X (2012) #2 McGuinness Variant $30.00
A+X (2012) #4 McGuinness Variant $30.00
Captain America (2013) #8 Wolverine Through The Ages $30.00
Cataclysm: The Ultimates’ Last Stand (2014) #3 Mico Suayan Variant $30.00
Deadpool (2008) #7 $30.00
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #360 DF Exclusive $30.00
X-Men: Schism (2011) #5 Variant Cover $30.00
X-Infernus (2009) #1 J. Scott Campbell Variant $36.00
X-Men (2013) #1 Dodson Variant $50.00
X-Men (2013) #2 Conner Variant $50.00
X-Men (2013) #3 Anka Variant $50.00
Superheroes: The Heroic Visions of Boris Vallejo and Julie Bell (2000) Artbook $54.00
Avengers Vs. X-Men (2012) #8 Kubert Variant $64.00
Uncanny X-Men (2013) #1 Dell’Otto Variant $64.00
Uncanny X-Men (2013) #3 Noto Variant $64.00
Captain America (2011) #6 Marvel Comics 50th Anniversary $80.00
Wolverine & The X-Men (2011) #2 50th Anniversary Variant $80.00
Wolverine & The X-Men (2011) #25 McGuinness Variant $80.00
X-Men (2010) #7 Marko Djurdjevic Variant $100.00
$2,197.68
All-New X-Men (2013) #20 X-Men 50th Anniversary Variant None
Avengers vs. Pet Avengers (2010) #3 None
Avengers vs. Pet Avengers (2010) #4 None
Back Issue (2003) #4 None
Back Issue (2003) #33 None
Black Panther (1998) #23 None
Care Bears (1985) #7 None
Comics Feature (1980) #45 None
Darkwing Duck (2010) #12 Cover B None
David Anthony Kraft’s Comics Interview (1983) #98 None
Deadpool Kills Deadpool (2013) #1 My Little Pony variant None
G.I. Joe: Snake Eyes (2011) #5 Cover RI None
Lockjaw And The Pet Avengers Unleashed (2010) #2 Kurtz Variant None
M.A.X. Yearbook (1993) #1 None
Marvel Collectible Classics: X-Men (1998) #2 None
Marvel Collectible Classics: X-Men (1998) #5 None
Marvel Collector’s Edition (1993) #1 None
Marvel Holiday Special 2011 (2012) #1 None
Muppet Babies (1985) #10 None
Neal Adams Sketch Book (2005) Convention Exclusive None
New Mutants (2009) #1 Second Printing None
New Mutants (2009) #10 Deadpool Variant None
New Mutants (2009) #13 Heroic Age variant None
New Mutants (2009) #15 Arthur Adams cover None
New Mutants (2009) #25 Arthur Adams Variant None
Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe (1995) #1 None
Scarlet Spider (2012) #18 None
Sketchbook Varanda (2010) #3 None
Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Last Generation (2008) #1 Retailer Incentive Variant None
Star Wars Insider (1994) #87 None
Tails of the Pet Avengers (MDCU) (2010) #1 None
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (1989) #56 None
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures (1989) #61 None
The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #641 Women of Marvel Variant None
The Comic Reader (1961) #167 None
Ultimate Comics X-Men (2011) #1 Paco Medina Variant None
Uncanny X-Force (2010) #2 None
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #375 AnotherUniverse.COM edition None
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #472 None
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #500 X-Women Variant Cover B None
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #522 Brooks Variant None
Uncanny X-Men (1963) #536 None
Uncanny X-Men (2013) #7 None
What If? AvX (2013) #2 None
What If? AvX (2013) #3 None
What The–?! (1988) #25 None
Wizard (1991) #90 None
Wizard (1991) #159 None
Wolverine (2013) #11 50th Anniversary Variant None
Wolverine & The X-Men (2011) #3 None
Wolverine & The X-Men (2011) #4 Venom Variant None
Wolverine and Power Pack (2009) #2 None
X-Babies (2009) #1 Zombie variant None
X-Force (1991) #100 None
X-Men (1991) #100 Dynamic Forces Variant None
X-Men (2010) #11 X-Men Evolutions Variant None
X-Men (2013) #5 2nd Printing None
X-Men: Battle of the Atom (2013) #2 Ribic Variant None
X-Men: Prelude To Schism (2011) #4 None
X-Men: Schism (2011) #3 Cho Variant None
X-Men: To Serve And Protect (2011) #3 None
60 that were not

$2,197.68 for all of them and only 61 comics were not an option, that is a very impressive inventory.

I would like to spend at least $56.10 for the 43 comics that are under two dollars.  If I play my cards right, maybe with a little bit of Tax Return money but the chances are higher that I won’t be able too.  The important thing is this, that I keep saying that with one thousand dollars, I can buy all of the comics I want and it turns out, that I need closer to two thousand but now I know.  Plus, if you take away the variant covers (those I don’t really need – if I need any of these) the number is a much more reasonable number.

$754.58 for 174 comics sounds awesome to me.  Another thing that sounds awesome is how affordable some of the variants were.  Usually I think they are over twenty dollars and so they are on a ‘never going to buy’ list but the six that were under the five dollar mark are ones I wouldn’t mind buying those, those are priced right.  59 variants for $1,443.10, yeah that’s not going to happened.

One of these days, I would love to get my Wishlist of comics down to under 200 comics, and then maybe 100 but not in the near future.

The great thing about Mile High Comics, is their code word sales, wherein you can save a bunch of money and get even more comics!  I like hitting the $40 mark, free shipping at that price, and then enter the code word, get to see the savings, add comics to go back up to the $40 mark, enter the code word and see where I am at then.  Usually, I get two rounds out of this and it is silly but it is a great way to appreciate the savings and the extra comics.

Ever since watching Josh Radnor’s ThankYouMorePlease, I have really been practicing appreciating everything.