Turns out Leah and Magik are an item in this Battleworld Realmalso, first and last kiss we've ever seen an Illyana have Leah is committed to finding Magik – as she should be Siege V2 2
Lockheed and Kitty Pride (a collective of tan cats that share a consciousness) fight off an army of Ultrons Magik & Leah meet up, destroy an army, and catch up with Agent Brand, just to tell her that they are leavingSiege V2 3
Another terrific Secret Wars 2015 miniseries, comes to an end.
Inferno. The Outer Boroughs. Darkchild is eating hot dogs, watching her demons wreck havoc. She’s pretty bored. N’astirh arrives with news.
I adore how much Darkchild isn’t dismayed that N’astirh is holding his head in his hands. He tells her that her brother is the one that beheaded him, and that he has her soulsword. The only news that fazes her is that Madelyn Pryor has tamed Bamfy, the deformed Nightcrawler.
Darkchild does like knowing that all of her enemies are united and down in the sewers.
The Sewers Beneath NYC. Sinister is trying to get people pumped. He has been stuck, for five years, in the sewers and he will not let Darkchild stop him from enjoying the surface. Sinister has faith in his clone army but Scott Summers points out how she defeated the vast number of X-Men, in minutes. Sinister wants to use Colossus and the soulsword, against Darkchild – the combination is most likely, Illyana’s only weakness.
While Sinister goes on, Madelyn relives her origins. Sinister and the X-Men will fight off the demons, as Colossus finds and fights his sister. Madelyn, not listening to any of this, charges at Sinister. She controls the Boom Boom Goblin hybrids and they start attacking Sinister. One of them attacks Havok.
With Sinister out of commission, Colossus and Domino reach out to Tabitha. Bamfy starts to take out the rest of the hybrids.
A giant battle occurs – X-Men v Demons v Goblins v Hybrids. It is chaos. Scott looks up, as things are about to get worst.
Darkchild has arrived to the battle. She has brought along another army of demons.
Colossus starts slashing away at demons, trying to lead Domino and Meltdown to safety.
Colossus is about to come out of the sewer, and his sister brings him up, the rest of the way. Darkchild really enjoys mocking her brother. He has committed to the fact that she is pure evil.
I really like the color contrast between the Rasputin siblings, Sotomayor does a great job here and with the entire issue.
Colossus finally gets enough courage to try to fight slash save his sister. He had to get angry enough but he is ready to attack her with her own sword. She plays a sinfully delightful mind trick on him, making him see her as the sweet snowflake that she use to be.
As Charlton Heston taught us, so many years ago – on Space Ghost Coast to Coast – thou shall not hesitate! As Colossus didn’t see that episode, Episode 53 – Dam – so he gets his chest ripped apart.
Domino isn’t going to just stand by and watch this happen.
Darkchild uses black magic, so she can make Colossus bleed. As he has never bled before, in his armor form – he rightfully freaks out.
Darkchild trips over some rumble and has fallen before her brother. He goes in for the killer strike, but she plays another mind trick on him.
Domino shouts to man up and slay the demon spawn.
Pretty great that Colossus even tries to go through with it, I’m sure it would be a moment that haunts him.
Darkchild parries and is straight prepared to murder her older brother.
Garron has really brought it this issue. Look at Colossus’ innards! This issue is pretty intense.
Domino is tired of watching her boyfriend get completely outmatched. Her guns have no effect on Darkchild. Domino gets to close and Darkchild is about to add two more dead X-Men, to her already impressive resume.
This is all the motivation Colossus needed and he cuts Darkchild straight down the middle!
Instead of seeing some innocent form, of Illyana, all that is on the ground is an empty husk. Now that Colossus’ burden of his sister, has been lifted, he shifts back to boyfriend mode with Domino. I really like these two together.
Tabitha breaks up the genuinely nice moment. Tabitha informs the couple that most of the X-Men are dead and the sewers are being overrun with demons.
Colossus hears a voice in his head, telling him that he may be able to teleport with the soulsword – which actually works. The trio are going to hop regions as they are okay with letting this region burn. Which goes back to my theory about living in a world that knows about alternate universes. If you have any slight thought that the world you live in, isn’t the real world – the stakes are always low. Especially if you can hop to other universes.
Later. Madelyn and her son, Nathan, arrive at Darkchild’s dead body. Darkchld had so much power, that hours later, she is still bleeding power. Nathan wonders where it is going. Madelyn steps into the flames and comes out, looking even better!
Shame this won’t go anywhere, except that I do believe she did appear in Secret Wars 2015 6, but in a more traditional Goblin Queen outfit.
The Sentinel Territories. I’m a big fan of Tolstoy, bigger fan of Anna Karenina than War and Peace. I wish I had the chance to take a Russian Literature class, senior year of high school. Instead, we had English Literature, which felt like Sophomore year, part deux.
I like the quote, attributed to Tolstoy – the two most powerful warriors are patience and time.
Great homage to Uncanny X-Men 141. That would have been enough for me to buy this issue, but there are more reasons (two more!) but that’s a decent start.
Since this issue takes place in The Sentinel Territories, so this takes place within the same realm of the series, Years of Future Past.
Kyle Jinadu, husband to Northstar, has found Psylocke – who is living a lie. She is blonde and living in the suburbs. Once he mentions, Kitty Pryde, he ruins Psylocke’s day.
Kyle wants to save Northstar, who is stuck in a concentration camp. She tells Kyle that she won’t help. Later that night, she erases her husband’s memories and takes off. She has made a decision.
Psylocke has joined Kyle’s quest. The two make short work of the soldiers, in the camp. Psylocke has really missed, cutting loose.
We get a very touching panel, of the two husbands hugging.
A dumb Sentinel tries to ruin the moment, but Psylocke destroys it.
Kyle really does owe Kitty a giant gift basket! It is the least they could do.
Eight more Sentinels are coming, and a dozen more guards. Psylocke tells Northstar to fly him and Kyle out of their, The poor guy only has enough strength to carry the two of them, and only a very short distance.
Issue ends with Psylocke fighting on, even though she (and we) know she doesn’t really stand a chance. Since she doesn’t appear in Years of Future Past, I suspect she doesn’t survive. Though, neither does Kyle and Northstar.
Not a bad ten pages.
There is another story, Primary Function, that stars Punisher and Iron Fist, it is the lead story.
I really like Sabino’s commitment to making their speech balloons are upside down, along with them. AoA Shadowcat and Peter Quill are blaming each other, for their present situation.
Gambit corrects them, they are both to blame. Gambit, correctly, assumes that Quill is Pryde’s sidekick. He denies, this, though he is willing to be Thor’s sidekick.
Gambit likes to remind Pryde of their time together in Higher Avalon. I like how he wants to put a Spider-Man mask, on her. They make references to the other domains, as they are in the know.
There is a huge KLANG and Gambit goes to investigate.
Shadowcat explains why she is powerless against Widget. When God Doom created Battleworld, he knew he would be having duplicated heroes. I guess he also figured they would eventfully meet and wanted to make sure that any fights, will have to be bad arse.
Look at those various Shadowcats! A teenage one, maybe from House of M. Ultimate Shadowcat. Black Queen, from Mutant X – so great! AoA Shadowcat, in the center, as she is the star of this series. Widget, from the Proper Marvel Universe or that one from the Uncanny X-Force storyline when they went to the Captain Britain Corps (Otherworld). issues 20 – 23. Proper Kitty Pryde, from the costume and the awesome Lockheed! Finally, there is a Tigra Shadowcat, which is pretty fun.
Quill gets a plan, since Widget is a Kitty Pryde, it should be attracted to him – so he starts a flirtmance.
He sings, as he always does, Once Upon A Dream – from Cinderella.
Thanks to YouTuber DisneyMusicVEVO for hosting the video.
It totally works and Widget and Quill kiss!
Gambit comes back, he couldn’t find anything except for a tacky white jacket.
Since it worked, Widget has let StarKat go. Shadowcat tries to stab Gambit, we are told more about the actual mission in Avalon. Gambit stole the Sword of the Knight Crawler (get it?) so that must be how he screwed her over. The knife she tried to use, was one of the Longshot knives so it bounces off of Gambit. It bounces from Gambit, off of Shadowcat, off the head of a statue of God Doom, nearly misses Widget and it slices Quill’s right arm.
What a fun and soft homage to Uncanny X-Men 141. At first, I didn’t think it was suppose to be that, but the posters of God Doom and Shadowcat’s outstretch arm, seals the deal.
God Doom appears and scares Gambit. I keep typing it “Gabmit” does anyone else do that?
With a nasty upper cut, Gambit is taken out. Shadowcat starts trying to explain the situation. I take it, that she deals more with Valeria, his daughter.
God Doom was really Fun Loving Drax, which I’m sure must be super illegal!
Later. Quill and Drax want to know what has been in the briefcase, this entire time. She reveals what it is . . . A tail! Quill instantly recognizes that it is his old pal, Rocket’s tail! Apparently, there is a rumor that Rocket’s tail is fake, if that makes any sense.
Twenty minutes later, Quill is still hugging the tail. Drax reveals that he left Gambit in front of a defaced God Doom poster, Doom Sux. The Thors arrive, the penalty for defiling the image of God Doom, with a typo, is . . . DEATH! I sort of love the concept of that rule book, with that cause in it.
Shadowcat wants the tail back. Quill, in a very touching moment, doesn’t want to depart with it. It is the only piece of home he has, plus of his friend, that he has seen in forever. Shadowcat can relate, as she isn’t home either. Quill tries to hand it over, but she lets him keep it.
Look how happy he is! This comic (and series) has been so great. Quill proceeds to try to ruin the moment.
Pryde can’t resist anymore, all of that disgust has turn around to attraction. He guesses at what it was, that turn her.
It was his puppy dog eyes. She does love that song, good thing Disney films are everywhere. Pryde leaves, stating that she hopes he doesn’t get himself killed.
Drax hears Quill’s real name, as he was using “Steve Rogers” as an alias. Drax knew he wasn’t a variant of Captain America, as Rogers has never had a singing voice.
Issue ends with the two guys joking, Quill wants an army of Rockets.
This has been one of the best series to come out of Secret Wars 2015. From the writing, to the art, to the coloring, the atmosphere has just been pure fun.
Double Page Spreads Julian Totino Tedesco; Juan Jose Ryp & Andy Troy; Michael Wm. Kaluta & Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
The Shield. Fun joke on the credit page, about the title of the series being about how the story is about a siege, on the Shield.
I believe this double page spread is is done by Julian Totino Tedesco, based off of the TT on the far right. Pretty great spread!
Not only do we get the hive mind blue Kitty Pride, we also get a pretty large Lockheed! I do like how Gillen combined Nick Fury with the Fury, old school Captain Britain villain. Pretty clever!
Brand has sent a request to the barons of Battleworld, send aid now!
Marvel put the pull out ad in the middle of another double page spread. Super awkward. The Summers Clones take on Nick the Fury.
Scott tells Brand that he is down to the final 100. I need to start using “fluster of clucks” as it is fun to both write and say. Kang is trying to figure out a way to use the timestream to take out Fury. Brand uses Thing to transport them to the Units. We learn that the Units are in love with each other, so they are committed to ending Fury and the army of Ultrons.
The Units don’t do that great of a job, taking out Fury but they slow him down. Kate Bishop and Ms. America don’t stand up, much better, against Fury. This is all a good distraction, as Kang grabs Fury The Fury and goes through time.
The plural of Units is Unite, apparently.
Kang uses the chronomines to hurt Fury, which actually works. With Fury out the way, now they have to deal with the Perfection (the army of Ultrons) but they are prepared for that. The only problem, now, is that they barely survived the fight with Fury.
Good thing Magik and Leah arrive! I’m so glad that Magik lives! I do like the idea of them traveling on a giant Colossus.
I’m not sure who provided the art, for this double page spread.
Through Abigail Brand’s War Journal, we learn the motivation of Illyana and Leah. Essentially, it boils down to them being in love. Doom doesn’t care about anything, south of the Shield. So the two demonic queens fled their domains and dove into the southern realms.
The two are married now, great for them! They are also in control of the Marvel Zombies.
It is great to see Magik, not evil like in Inferno and in the present day of the pages of this series. Baby Magik, in Giant Size Little Marvel AvX, has been adorable.
The ladies are not going to rejoin the team, they will not serve God Doom, at all.
Brand threatens to out them to Doom, but they all know she won’t.
Kang returns, triumphant. Kang and Brand have a nice hug.
The issue ends with Thanos, the real deal, arriving on the scene. He surrenders himself to Brand and Kang.
“Time Before the Fall of the Shield : 1 Day and Counting. There is No Hope.”
Hopeless makes the good call to have this issue open with a pleasant memory of Illyana, as she has nearly killed the X-Men last issue.
Limbo, Now. Colossus is force to look outside of the barrier and see a destroyed New York City.
Darkchild is walking the streets, like the boss that she is! Look at those goat legs! She has nicknamed the deformed Nightcrawler, Bamfy. Darkchild is growing stronger, as she stands on this side of the field.
Longshot is sneaking around, thinking he has a chance to take on Darkchild. Which, with his luck powers, his chances may be pretty good.
The top panel confirms that this issue takes place before Secret Wars 2015 5. Strange is here to offer Darkchild the position of Baron. Scott Summers is no longer fit for the job, as the domain is clearly no longer under his control.
Meanwhile. Jean seeks out Scott, as he is in his own head – making plans. Longshot interrupts their conversation, to tell Scott that he is no longer Doom-chosen. Even with this news, Scott doesn’t want to abandon the city.
Scott is tired, they allowed Illyana to take Limbo and now, after five years, she’s taking New York. They shouldn’t allow this to progress, as there will be no place to hide.
Bamfy brings the demon horde to the remaining X-Men.
Elsewhere, In Limbo. Colossus, Domino and their new alliance with Madelyn Pryor, Havok and young Nathan Summers. They are trying to get to the end of Limbo, but in seven blocks, they have fought five groups of demons. They are losing goblins (as Maddie is the Goblin Queen) but Maddie doesn’t seem to mind. They get respawned after five days. Sym is part of this traveling band, so he is going to try to undermine the team. That’s what Sym do. Havok is prepared to shut him down. Maddie needs to take the fight to Illyana, as the alternative is to wait around until a super strong Illyana comes to rule the entire domain.
Meltdown comes out of the ground, to rejoin Colossus and Domino. They are happy to see that she isn’t dead, like they thought. Tabitha takes the Limbo folks into the sewers. Maddie doesn’t really like the idea, but who would?
Madelyn is suspicious of why Boom Boom isn’t more hurt. Tabitha had her guts hanging out of her, but she is ready for round two.
Colossus hears demons and knocks down a sewer wall, which I’m not sure if that was the best way to handle the situation. Are sewer walls expendable? I would imagine they are serving an important function. Bamfy is leading the demons. By knocking down the wall, Colossus’ side and Madelyn’s side have joined the X-Men. Jean is overwhelmed by Bamfy, as she doesn’t want to hurt her friend. Plus, she’s the weaker of the two, between her and Madelyn. I do like how much Pryor has about how Kurt is dead as she tames Bamfy.
Colossus cuts down the head of Darkchild’s lieutenant, a horse heade red demon, with wings. Once that is over, Colossus takes the time to apologize to Scott, as Scott was right about his sister.
Cyclops straights blasts the dude, as OF COURSE HE WAS RIGHT!!! Darkchild has been tormenting peeps for years and they were losing people, trying to reach out to her. Colossus feels like he has been blasted enough, so he clearly doesn’t know how much damage his little snowflake has truly caused.
Mister Sinister arrives, with his own demon horde. He introduces himself, as he doesn’t believe he has met all of them. I’m not sure how that lines up with the original timeline but I’ll take it for the truth. Goblin Queen is surprised that Sinister lives, she thought Havok killed him. Havok had that same thought.
Two page house ad for 50 Years of SHIELD, which is pretty amazing. I do like how the characters of the Agents of SHIELD show are now proper Marvel characters. Of the six issues spotlighted, I’ve bought SHIELD 10.
Tabitha vouches for Sinister, as he saved her. She tells them that Sinister’s demon horde are actually clones of Tabitha, and I figure they must have demon blood in them. Maybe it is goblin blood, now that I think of it. They are definitely red. Sinister explains that they are a mix of Tabitha’s blood and three succubus, and they are a mutant / demon hybrid clone army. He also reveals that he has tinkered with Tabitha’s brain, to make her more subservient. Explaining one of the bigger reasons why I don’t care for Sinister.
Issue ends with Sinister stating that he will be the heroes’ villain later, today, he is their savior.
Avengers Tower. The SHIELD Hellicarrier arrives. Our Maria Hill is talking to Ultimate Nick Fury, they are not finding either Iron Man. Out from the Hellicarrier comes – Ultimate Thing, Ultimate Hawkeye, Spider-Man, Ultimate Cap (who they still not explaining how he is no longer dead), FalCap, Ultimate Human Torch, Ultimate Invisible Woman and Black Widow. The gathered heroes are not looking forward to fighting two Iron Men and a Hulk. They are not sure how to proceed, as they are in front of the door. Do they knock, or do they knock the door down.
Just then, every Iron Man armor greets them. Without a minute passing, Ultimate Cap figures out what is happening. Cap notices that the Iron Man armor was holding back. This was all a distracting ploy. Our Tony wants to protect his friend, Banner, and he really didn’t want to fight his friends. He’s okay with annoying Ultimate Fury. Ultimate Stark wants Tony to break the communication signal.
Brooklyn. Bombshell is telling civilians to run, as the Punisher is trying to kill her, with a sniper rifle. I didn’t know she could use her blasting powers to fly (or jump high). She finally gets to where he use to be, but only sees the rifle.
Punisher was behind a wall and shoots Bombshell. Just then, Ultimate Cloak and Dagger (to bad that we won’t see the two Cloak and Daggers meet!) arrive on teh scene and take out Punisher. Bombshell is bleeding but only from her ear. Punisher is constantly ranting about how it is all of their faults. Cloak absorbs the Punisher, into his . . . cloak.
Cloak gets a belly ache and Punisher comes out, firing. Punisher throws some grenades and leaves. I do believe this is Ultimate Punisher, who is crazier than regular Punisher.
I like how Bombshell says “swear word” instead of actually swearing, when Ultimate Iron Man arrives. He needs the young heroes help. He has called the FBI and the police, to deal with the Punisher. As that has always worked in the pass.
Doomstadt. The High Court of Doom. Doom. Valeria is talking to Doom, informing him of the Manhattan domain. We get a hint that there are dimensional anomalies, that has resulted in doppelganger chaos. So that might explain why nothing there makes sense. Doom has a special interest in this region. She tells him that there is a fraction that is going against his will.
Ultimate Tony wants to tell Doom’s Science team of their findings. Proper Stark wants to keep it a secret, until they know something for sure. Proper Banner really suspects that they should have worked this out before hand.
I’m not really sure what this page is for, besides to give Bagley a chance to draw all of these characters. Which is pretty great but it goes to show, that this isn’t quite the last hurrah of the Ultimate Universe, like how it was billed.
It does have Old Man Logan in it, as he has escaped his region and is now touring Battleworld. Which is tight continuity, but it helps that Bendis is writing both of these titles.
Doom wants to see how this all plays out.
This is essentially the same page as from Issue One –
No, it is exactly the same page. Still pretty great, but I’m glad the previous page was included.
I’m not really sure what makes the two universe’s heroes start fighting each other, the next issue is the last – so we have to get to this moment eventually.
Doom isn’t concern, as he can just undo and restart this region – like how he has, in the past.
Issue ends Valeria wondering what would happen if something unexpected happens – which we see Miles Morales webslinging, so I guess he’s the last hope. It would make sense, as he has to jump over to the Proper New Marvel Universe.
Hopefully we get answers in the next and final issue.
Pizza My Heart. Best Slice in the Manhattan Domain. Shadowcat has Quill handcuffed to her arm. We get our first glimpse of . . . The Mutdroids!
The Mutdroids are awesome! These are robotic New Mutants – Cannonball, Dani Moonstar, Warlock, Magik and Sunspot. Shadowcat is not intimidated by these foes. She slices Sunspot’s knees, which is awesome.
Quill is trying to understand why Shadowcat is working for Doom.
This Shadowcat is intense! Cannonball comes . . . cannonbaling towards the non-couple, and Shadowcat opens the microwave and melts the young man from Kentucky.
Quill is trying to explain to Shadowcat that Battleworld is a fake, he is from the previous world, and knows that Doom has masterminded this world’s creation.
Quill gets in the fight, flinging pizzas around the place. Shadowcat phase punches Dani to her dumb robotic face. So fun having Dani say “malfunction..the focused totality of my psyyyychic powwwwwers” even though that isn’t the thing she says – that would be Psylocke but I love that silly expression.
We get a slight tease of a Shadowcat v Magik fight but it is over, off panel.
Quill takes the time to see the similarities between this Shadowcat and his fiance, Kitty Pryde. He can’t help falling in love, though she frightens him.
We do see that Shadowcat has pushed her claws through the bottom of Magik’s head and straight through her eyeballs.
Warlock shows up, upset that all of his friends are dead. Shadowcat notices that he is speaking with nouns, so she shreds into him. Doug was using Warlock like a suit of armor. She forces him to reveal where Gambit is. He tells her Gambit is at the museum. Shadowcat and Quill start walking away when Doug makes the fatal mistake of recognizing Shadowcat. She can’t let him live, and snikts him through the chest. Warlock is sad and self-destructs. Selfgoodbye.
The Union of Doom Square. Later. Shadowcat wakes up, to discover that Quill has undone his handcuff. She is impress that he didn’t run off. She saved him, so he felt obligated to stick around.
Since the stakes are low, they take the time to chat. This issue can be broken down into three parts, the first opening battle. This nice scene in the Square and the final one, but I really adore all three of them. This is such a great issue.
Shadowcat asks about her counterpart, Quill really loves her. The coloring in this issue, is outstanding. Kholinne makes the issue look light hearted and fun.
Shadowcat asks if the two ladies are the same, and Quill is far to quick to say that they are nothing alike. This, naturally, offends her.
I can’t believe we got an issue where Kitty Pryde killed both Magik and Doug Ramsey! At least there wasn’t a scene where she strangled Lockheed!
They get heated, which is also fun to see. She’s a freakin’ psycho. He’s a lousy singer and she isn’t good at kissing.
I like the very real quiet beat there, for the top panel. The two let the moment rest, probably replaying the previous minutes, in their heads.
Quill needs to have the situation explained to him. Kitty can’t request backup, as she is on a renegade mission. Doom has two hands – one hand with Science, the other, Law. The two often collide.
Shadowcat confirms that she is from the Kingdom of Apocalypse, so now we know that she is the AoA Shadowcat – or some version of that one. If she didn’t go work for Doom, everyone in the region would be killed.
Shadowcat allows Quill to walk away but he is committed to follow this through. This doesn’t thrill her, at all.
The Doomenheim Museum. Quill isn’t impressed that Doom made himself a museum. Shadowcat has to explain that Doom had nothing to do with it, Doom doesn’t care about any of this nonsense. She phases the two of them through the ceiling, which the falls excites Quill. Who lets out a giant scream, when they are on a covert mission?
They fall to the ground, she falls on top of him and they look like they are about to kiss.
Shadowcat pulls away, as she sees Gambit’s bag, with the lock of hair in it. She opens the bag to reveal . . . WIDGET!!! That’s right, ya’ll, Humphries straight up brought Widget back! So awesome!
Widget is able to cancel Shadowcat’s powers, which informs her that Widget is an alternate version of herself. Quill doesn’t know how to make of this. Gambit, who I haven’t enjoyed this much – in years – waltzes in.
Issue ends with Gambit revealing that he wants to add Shadowcat to his own collection. So creepy! but understandable – still creepy!
Such a great series! By far, the best series to come out of Secret Wars 2015 – including the mains series, itself.
Double Page Spreads Yasmine Putri, Kyle Strahm & Jesus Aburtov; In-Hyuk Lee
Letterer VC’s Clayton Cowles
The Shield. Brand is trying to get Leah to not go after Magik. Leah has to go, she loves her. As she should! Leah is sure she can find Thanos, before Kang could. Brand isn’t looking forward to having to work with Kang, at all. Leah believes she can find Magik and come back, before the 20th day, when the Shield is philosophized to fall, from a future Kang. If Leah can find Magik, then Illyana can use a stepping disc to come right back. Which, if she could do that, Illyana would be there right now.
How great is this double page spread? So many pages like this, in these first two issues!
Brand’s Journal. Brand likes Magik, immediately – who wouldn’t? Leah and Illyana got together, as they worked well together, as they both employ magic. So they were paired up, quite often. Look how happy Illyana is there! I didn’t even know she could smile!
Illyana’s prescense brings out the lighter side of Brand – which I like.
I really need to learn more about Leah, Marvel Database makes it seem like she has a complicated short history.
Leah is determined to go after her special lady friend. Leah takes off, confident that she will, both, find Magik and return.
15 Days Later. 5 days Before the Shield Falls. Which is a crazy time jump! Kang takes great pleasure in announcing his promotion, as Leah and her Hel-Ranchers have gone missing. This news takes Brand to her knees. She is super angry at how Kang went about telling her the news.
Apparently, if Brand fights anyone, if the other person wins – they become the Commander of the Shield. Summers attacks Kang, so that Brand wouldn’t have to. This makes Kang believe that Brand is weak.
Summers doesn’t live with any fear, he is like the thousandth clone, so he can be replaced. Summers reveals that Brand doesn’t make friends easy, or at all. She has lost few and has even lost her love of her life.
This leads to another two page spread. Hank McCoy, Beast, has returned to the Shield. Except he did it as a giant gross worm like creature. Brand had to kill him with a laser, through the head. Head shot, boom!
Brand hasn’t loved anything, ever since. Kang respects Brand now, as her underlings have such loyalty for her.
Later. Leonardo Da Vinci reveals that Thanos is seeking a glove, one might even call it – an Infinity Gauntlet. Kang suspects the future Kang was a fake, as any Kang should be a master of the timestream.
Brand wonders what would Fury do, and this segues us to a flashback. Fury believes that Brand is too hard on people.
Brand asks the robots, Unit and another Unit. There is no Thanos in their database. Units access the Perfection database, the Ultron database. This is what the Ultrons have been waiting for, as the Unit robots are bombarded. The Units believe in 47 years, the Ultrons will own the wastelands – but not the Wastelands where Old Man Logan is from. Every week, the Ultrons attack one part of the Shield, severely weakening it.
I had to read this page, so many times!
Ms. America calls the pride of blue kitties, Kitty Pride – but I thought she was calling Kate of Bishop, that she was Kitty Pryde. It was pretty confusing. I think the cats being blue, like Beast – really threw me off. Hopefully they appear in anther issue, so that I can make sense of it all. So it is like five cats, that share a hive mind, like the Cuckoos? That’s my guess.
On the Wall. The issue ends with Brand seeing who is leading the Ultrons. It is Nick Fury! It looks like the Fury, as he did as the final boss fight of Avengers Alliance 2, but all purple.
Siege 2’s Last Page –
Ultimate Alliance 2 –
Well, I guess they are not that similar but that was the impression I got.
The official countdown, in Two Days, the Shield will fall.
Issue opens with Shang Chi giving us his origin story. Emperor Zu forged his heart out of the ebon blade, his eyes are made of infinity gems, his mind is a cosmic cube, he was baptized in in the River Styx. Shang Chi was still born, until his father breathed the Phoenix force into his lungs. His training was intense – If he wanted some water, he had to fight foes, every time. Every night, was a terror. Every playmate was an assassin. He grew to be the greatest student.
I like how, after three pages of amazing art – he just shrugs this off. He mostly likely was born from one of Zu’s many women. Why he is explaining this to Red Sai and Iron Fist, is beyond me. Iron Fist comes at Shang Chi hard and fast. He’s still upset that Chi killed his master.
Shang Chi reveals Zu’s master plan, to have Chi and Iron Fist beat each other, so that they are weak for Zu. Red Sai gets a cheap shot, as Red Sai’s blade slices Shang Chi’s forehead.
Shang Chi falls to his knees. Red Sai states that the blade has poison on it.
I can’t believe, that I didn’t see this reveal coming . . . Red Sai is Elektra! She is the other most famous fighter in the Marvel Universe, who hadn’t been in this series. Elektra was suppose to kill Tuan, the Master of the Iron Fist, but she couldn’t. Zu threatened to kill her but Shang Chi stepped up and did the deed. It is a pretty awesome reveal. Red Sai, it was so obvious but I wasn’t thinking about it.
Kitten pleads with Iron First to heal Shang Chi, as he had no choice but to kill Tuan. Iron Fist states that there must have been another way.
Iron Fist knows that Shang Chi is the best hope for K’un Lun, so he does heal him.
This drains Iron Fist, good thing he isn’t needed for the rest of the issue.
With Elektra’s head band, for luck, Kitten and Shang Chi enter the Thirteenth Chamber.
The fight between father and son, is rather intense. The art team out does themselves here. Neither Zu or Shang Chi hold anything back. Zu makes the mistake of making fun of Shang’s new school, the Lower Caste (the X-Men). This inspires Shang Chi to just wail on Zu. There may be ten rings but he has learned an eleventh!
This new move is very much like Grey Gargoyle’s power, to turn a living thing to stone. He has learned this move, so that he can turn Kitten solid, again. As she is like a sprite, or a shadow. Haden has worked all of Kitty Pryde’s nicknames, into one sentence! Well, I guess, Ariel, isn’t used but that’s okay.
Issue ends with Shang Chi as the emperor. This was a very great series, probably my third favorite behind Star Lord & Kitty Pryde and Years of Future Past. Inferno and Giant Size Little Marvel AvX are up there too, I guess I just made a top five list. The only other series I’m reading, thus far, is X-Tinction Agenda.
This creative team should be given a shot at the X-Men, or a Kitty Pryde solo series!
Shadow and Flame with Magik 