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San Diego Comic Con 2017 : Highlights

Posted by John Klein III on July 26, 2017
Posted in: Convention, Fun With YouTube, Websites. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Thanks to io9’s Charles Pullian-Moore for writing such great reviews of the convention, I felt like I was there.  Also, the studios releasing the trailers pretty quickly, helped too.

I’m going to post links to the days and trailers and offer my opinions on what I thought about what I found interesting.

Thursday

http://io9.gizmodo.com/all-of-thursdays-news-trailers-and-everything-else-fr-1797112240

Noah Hawley, of the incredible Legion show fame (and even more fame with Fargo) is going to bring Doctor Doom to theaters.  I imagine the Fantastic Four, or at the very least, Reed Richards, will appear in the film.  I still say that a West Wing style Doctor Doom show (or film) could be very good.  Maybe he’ll cast Rachel Keller in some role for this.  Legion Season Two will be ten episodes, as opposed to eight episodes, which I’m all for.

Batman 32 will have Catwoman’s response to Batman’s wedding proposal.  I’m all for these two getting married.  I want more heroes to be married and have children.  I’m married and I have a child, and my life is so much better now.

I wish the Ninja Ghostbuster Turtles didn’t have the hair, how much better would that have looked?  I do love the concept of mixing these two franchises together, in toy form.  I just don’t think they needed the extra step.

Friday

http://io9.gizmodo.com/fridays-news-trailers-and-everything-else-from-san-di-1797148502

The Defenders trailer came out!

Thanks to Netflix for hosting their own trailer.

This looks like so much fun!  We are almost done with Daredevil Season Two and still have Luke Cage and Iron Fist to watch, so it’ll be a while before we’re ready for this.

Misty Knight, from Luke Cage, will be coming over to Iron Fist’s second season.  That show has Colleen Wing already so let’s hope that we get a Daughters of the Dragon spinoff out of that!  That’s all I really want.  That and an official Heroes for Hire season of Luke Cage and Iron Fist together.  I take it that, with the low reviews Iron Fist gets, that Luke Cage doesn’t appear in it.  That’s what I’m guessing.

The new X-Men show, Gifted, got a trailer – a long trailer.

Thanks to Marvel Entertainment for hosting this trailer.

We just started Season Five of Person of Interest (the final season) and I’m glad I can go from that show to this show for my Amy Acker needs.  She’s so great on that show.  It has to be super awkward when Stephen Moyer leaves home for the set, right?  Like, are they going to ask him to see if his lovely wife, Anna Paquin, can make an appearance?  I keep having that through in regards to Carrie Preston’s appearances on Person of Interest.  Like, they ask Michael Emerson if his lovely wife can come for a few episodes and she said, “sure, why not.”

I need to get Walker Dennis into Big Hero 6 but we don’t have Disney XD, so I’ll probably hold off on that, for now.

Todd MacFarlane, Kevin Smith and Blumhouse Productions is bringing Spawn to teathers, so MacFarlane’s like 20 year mission for a R-Rated Spawn film might be getting closer to becoming a reality.

Saturday

http://io9.gizmodo.com/saturdays-biggest-news-trailers-and-all-the-other-stu-1797166112

Rob Bricken wrote the above article.

New Thor Ragnarok Trailer!

Thanks to Marvel Entertainment for hosting this trailer.

So much love for this trailer!  What I enjoyed the most was hearing Hulk talk!  That’s character development!  They are both like fire, Hulk is raging fire and Thor is more like a smoldering fire.  So incredible!  It makes sense that Mark Ruffalo is in this but I thought there might be a chance where he wasn’t going to be in the film.

Still no Black Panther trailer nor Infinity Wars trailers!  I was really hoping for that Infinity War trailer, that’s what made me keep checking out YouTube around 10 at night, each night this weekend.

Not thrilled that Captain Marvel is taking place in the 90s, thus pre-Iron Man.  So they are going to have to age her for Infinity War or put Brie Larson in ice to explain the lack of aging?  That seems silly.  I like a two-eyed Nick Fury in this (he’s definitely losing one of those!) and the Skulls being in this. I wonder what FOX got so that Marvel could get the Fantastic Four alien race?  The article implies that it is a “shared custody” issue like Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver.

Oh man!  Michele Pfeiffer is going to be Janet Van Dyne, the Wasp!  We have to get footage of her in any sort of Wasp uniform, that would be incredible!  We never got a good or proper shot of Michael Douglas as old school Ant Man, right?  They won’t make that mistake with Pfeiffer, that’s for sure.  Oh, and Laurence Fishburne is the Ant Man and Wasp film as Bill Foster.  Good thing Marvel already made Civil War.

The Justice League trailer came out!

Thanks to Warner Bros. Pictures for hosting the video.

JK Simmons as Commissioner Gordon, I can get behind that!  I like the Flash not getting the memo on disappearing at the dramatic act break of a conversation.  Still not loving that costume.  Looking at the Wikipedia page for the film –

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League_(film)

William Dafoe is an adviser to Aquaman!  That’s two Raimi Spider-Man cast members in this film!

Amy Adams will be in this too!  I did like the ending “non-reveal” of who Gordon is talking to.  That’s a nice touch.

The Flash film is set to adapt Flashpoint, which seems pretty lofty for two hours.  Also, so odd to not just use the CW shows’ cast members if storylines are already going to be recycled.  Feels like a mess already in the making.

I’m excited about Batman by Gaslight being adapted for an animated film.  Seems fast, but they are going full two films like Dark Knight Returns with Death and Return of Superman.  I liked Doomsday but if they want to expand it, I’m all for that too.  So much was left out of that first attempt.  Though Louise Simonson’s story still brings a slight tear to my eye.

Thanks to gameraspinning for hosting this video.

It really made me think about Ma Kent during that storyline, like I’ve never given it much thought before.  I want more creator retrospectives on these DVD releases or just plain documentaries.  I would watch those so hard!

I still need to read Ready Player One

Thanks to Movieclips Trailers for hosting that video!

They were nice enough to leave a comment about the Easter eggs:
Deadpool/Harley :34, Iron Giant :45, Freddy 1:00, Duke Nukem 1:01, DeLorean 1:43, Ben Mendelsohn 1:48

I caught the Iron Giant cameo, on my own and that was Deadpool and Harley Quinn, so that’s cool.  I should read the book.   I know Rob and Brian with the Uncanny X-Cast loved the book and my friend, Ben Tiller, liked it too.

Flash Season Four trailer!

Thanks to The CW Television Network for hosting this trailer.

So what type of Nega-Barry is going to show up?  I like them handling Iris having to deal with losing her fiance.  Caitlin having a larger role, is nice too.  I keep wanting to watch the Arrow one but I don’t want spoilers as I heard that season finale got intense.

Supergirl Season Three Trailer!

Thanks again to The CW Television Network for hosting this trailer!

Kara Danvers : No More!

Here is the CBR article that I read after the season two finale to help explain who that was at the end of that episode –

http://www.cbr.com/reign-supergirl-season-3-villain-explained/

I’m not familiar with Reign, at all.

I like Adrian Pasdar being in this, he was one of my favorites in Heroes and Agents of SHIELD.  We’re getting some DC and Marvel two-timers going on here.

The Krypton trailer didn’t reveal much.  Still an odd concept for the show, that I thought for sure would just fade away.  Is Syfy Channel still a thing?  It’ll be like if Gotham featured Thomas Wayne’s college years, for how far removed this is.

Riverdale Season 2 trailer.

Thanks to Entertainment Tonight for hosting this trailer.  Seems like an odd choice though.

I’m so pumped for this show to return, that it is crazy!

Strangers Things 2 trailer.

Thanks to Netflix for hosting this video!

There are going to be lots of people super tired on Wednesday, November 1!  I know I’m already tempted to take that day to recover.

Star Trek Discovery trailer.

Thanks to Star Trek for hosting their own video.

This show looks like it is going to be pretty awesome!  I wish it wasn’t going to look that great, as it doesn’t feel like it leads into The Original Series, as it takes place ten years prior to their first mission.  What happens wherein Starfleet goes so retro?  At least Jonathan Archer and his Enterprise stories are still in continuity – that’s what really matters.  I’m still hoping that we get plenty of Jason Isaacs as the Captain, it feels weird to not have a Captain-Centric Trek series.  It reminds me of what the original plan for the West Wing was, but then Martin Sheen committed to more episodes and we got the terrific show that we got.

Orville Trailer.

Thanks to FOX for hosting this video.

I was luke warm on the concept of this show, it could be fantastic like Galaxy Quest, or some show that would be a footnote in Star Trek parodies.  This looks like Seth McFarlane having a lot of fun and now I’m looking forward to this.  I didn’t realize Seth and Todd spelled their last names the same.

Here are the Eisner Awards Winners –

http://io9.gizmodo.com/here-are-the-winners-of-the-2017-eisner-awards-1797155107

I’m so out of touch that I don’t recognize any of the projects, outside of character names but I do know creators still.  Which is nice.  Even nicer is Jill Thompson winning two awards!  Saga is still popular.  Todd Klein (no relation) is still slaying it with lettering.  I bet that Chip Zardsky Jughead series is pretty fun.  I do like The AV Club, I don’t go there as often as I probably should.

I’m super interested in Ed Piskor’s X-Men : Grand Design, especially as Kitty Pryde would definitely be present for that!  Lockheed and Magik too!  30 Years of X-Men, Uncanny X-Men 1 through Uncanny X-Men 280, condensed into 300 pages.  Sign me up!

Harley Quinn Day is replacing Batman Day, September 23, this year.  Which seems pretty dumb to me.  Is she really that popular of a character?  I mean, I like her, and I’ve heard she is DC’s Deadpool but this blows my mind.  The character turns 25 this year, so I guess it is an anniversary year for her.

Sunday

http://io9.gizmodo.com/sundays-biggest-news-trailers-and-all-the-other-stuff-1797175366

Charles Pulliam-Moore is back at the writer of the article.

The Doctor Who Christmas 2017 Trailer!

Thanks to Doctor Who for hosting this video!

I love this concept so much!  From the casting of it to the general overall feeling of the trailer itself.  The article states that Mark Gatiss is not portraying Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, as that’s who I thought he was playing.  He’s a World War I Captain, which I wouldn’t have noticed on my own.  Should be a great time!  I still haven’t watched any additional Doctor Who since my last post on the topic.  I need to get caught up!  David Bradley is the modern day William Hartnell!

This is the Avengers Infinity Poster –

That is beautiful!

Ryan Meinerding is the painter of that poster.  He’s the current Marvel Studios Head of Visual Development.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/dc-has-an-epic-plan-to-save-itself-from-the-comics-apoc-1797174893

So sales are down for both Marvel and DC.  That’s pretty interesting.  I imagine the closing of stores like Hastings, probably plays some part in that, as I know it took me out of the game.

Frank Miller is giving Superman the Year One treatment.  Not sure if that’s necessary.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/in-a-world-without-fantastic-four-comics-dc-basically-1797157225

DC is making their own Fantastic Four title!

The Terrifics is a bit on the nose, sure—Plastic Man’s got Reed’s stretch abilities, Phantom Girl can go intangible and phase through objects like Sue, Metamorpho has the same sort of appearance issues that have plagued Ben Grimm over the years—but hey.

Mr. Terrific is the Human Torch, I guess?  I’m all for Phantom Girl having a larger role in the DCU, outside of the Legion of Superheroes.

Such a fun concept!

It really reminds me of when DC released their “Invasion” trade and wrote “Secret No More” on the cover – poking fun of then Marvel’s current Secret Invasion storyline.  I miss that fun rivalry.

I’m sure I’m missing a bunch of stuff and YouTube hasn’t presented me with any panel coverage like they did last year.  I guess I can look up which panels happened this year and see if any footage found its way onto YouTube but I feel like I got the larger pieces of news.

If anyone has anything I should look at, please let me know!

. . .

I went looking for some comic news, on my own, and found Newsarama’s X-Men Inhumans ResurrXion panel coverage –

https://www.newsarama.com/35601-sdcc-2017-x-men-and-inhumans-s-resurrxion-panel.html

No Kitty Pryde references and no additional article about the art from that panel.  I’m just feeling more and more disconnected with comics.

New Mutants Volume Three Issue 27

Posted by John Klein III on April 16, 2017
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

New Mutants V3 17

Written by Zeb Wells

Art by Leonard Kirk

Colored by Guru EFX

Lettered by VC’s Joe Caramagna

Cover Art by Dave Wilkins

Cover Dated November 2010

Fall of the New Mutants Part Three of Five

Inside front cover ad is for ABC’s No Ordinary Family, that I really enjoyed, especially with the two Kitty Pryde references that they made!

New Mutants V3 17 Recap Page

It took me forever to find this link –

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=6356

Lots of Google searches!

This will be my last New Mutants review, for a while.  This storyline was the New Mutants portion of the fallout from Second Comings.  At the end of that crossover, Magik was sent to Limbo – against her will and she barely escaped.

In order to relax, Cannonball took the team out to the desert to relax.  General Ulysses and his squad have also finally come out of Limbo, after being in there for twenty six years.  They were not alone, the babies from Inferno, now grown adults, are with them – and all of them have a special power of their own.  This group, Project Purgatory, has captured Pixie.

Three Hours Ago.  Dani and Sam are having some drinks.  Sam is claiming that Lila Cheney, the rock goddess, was not a good kisser.  Dani claims that maybe it was Sam that wasn’t the good kisser.  Then we get the moment that was twenty seven years in the making!  Dani and Sam make out!

New Mutants V3 17 Magik 1

Amara, as she is the worst, breaks up the kissing.  Illyana’s soulsword goes wild and Illyana’s goat legs come out!  Which is always a good time!  Usually, for nobody but maybe for the readers as things always get exciting, once the goat legs come out.  Illyana knows that Pixie has been captured.

New Mutants V3 17 Magik 2

Look how amazing that page is!  Kirk outdid himself!  The entire art team did!

New Mutants V3 17 Magik 3

Illyana starts talking like a character of old.  There is no time to inform the X-Men.  That is, until Warlock starts crying and Magik chooses to both – cut the lame characters and inform the X-Men, at the same time.  Warlock had a bad influence on the demons of Limbo, a long time ago, and he really shouldn’t be there.

Sam, the idiot, tries to tell Magik that he is in charge.  Not where they are going, which is awesome!

This storyline, has been what Wells has been leading up to, since the first issue.

Cannonball does not want to be in Limbo.  Poor Cannonball, doesn’t he know that the New Mutants have three storylines that they MUST repeat!  Limbo, David Haller and Asgard – with maybe a Hellions story in there, when they were not dead.  Oh, and the Demon Bear.  They have five stories that get recycled.

Sam huffs his way to Magik but demons stand between him and her, one does not speak harshly to the Queen, in her own domain.

New Mutants V3 17 Magik 4

Cannonball really continues to misread the situation.  The demons of Limbo are Magik’s subordinates, not her friends.

Magma wants to skip the next silly dialogue exchanges and wants to know what the plan is.  Magik explains that, soon, Pixie’s soulgem will be taken and the Bloodstone Amulet will be complete.  Which I’m not sure in thirty years, has ever happened, but we have always been told that nothing good will ever come of it.  Magik further explains that, on Earth, there is only one more hour to get prepared but in Limbo, they have weeks to prepare – for war!

We get implications that this storyline is when Magik left, from the first issue.  Originally, Sam lead his team, straight to their deaths.  Magik wants to keep them safe, and out of the action.

Magik doesn’t know where Pixie is, but her horde of demons can take them to someone who does know.  Magik is hoping, that her being in Limbo, will bring out her enemies.

Project Purgatory.  They know that Magik is in Limbo.  The Inferno Babies are ready for a massive battle.

The New Mutants get to a village, it has taken them two weeks to get there so almost a full hour on Earth, must have passed.

I like how, up to this point, Magik and the demons have been speaking in a foreign tongue – but only now does Doug feel the need to decipher the language, out-loud.  I’m sure Illyana would have told them, if they asked.  Maybe, in those two weeks, Doug finally got a handle on the language.

The horde brings out Witchfire – the main villain of X-Infernus.

New Mutants V3 17 Magik 5

Witchfire gave the soldiers the bloodstone amulet, but not quite as willingly as Magik implies.  Either way, her weakness has brought Limbo into chaos.  More chaos.  Witchfire offers the helpful advice, that if they follow the blood soaked roads, they will find the soldiers.  Magik is tired of her, and tells her demons to make Witchfire suffer.

Project Purgatory.  They have a plan to use Pixie’s gem to get access to the full power of her soul.

There is an ad for Spider-Man Shattered Dimensions, such a great game!  I could have used more of the Spider-Man Noir levels.

New Mutants V3 17 Magik 6

Two Weeks Later, so four total.  The team has made it to Project Purgatory’s base in Limbo, but the soldiers are not there.  The soldiers have lost their access to Limbo, and are having to find a second way back.  They went through a portal in the desert, and Magik knows where they must have done it, so they ride again.

Project Purgatory.  General Ulysses is losing his mind, well, more of it.  Just then, a doorway to Limbo opens.

New York Comic Con 2010 Spider-Man Romitas

There is an ad for New York Comic Con, 2010 by both Romita Legends.  I love the Romitas BUT what the hell is going on there with Spider-Man?  Both of his arms look like they are disconnected!

New Mutants V3 17 Magik 7

Look how battle worn the New Mutants look!  And they haven’t even fought anyone yet, they have been merely surviving in Limbo for a month.  Illyana is angry and wants Pixie back.  Some of the soldiers are not thrilled that the white devil has come into their home.

The Inferno Babies get the first attack.  The leader of the Inferno Babies tells, Toko, to get Illyana’s soulsword.

There is a house ad for Thor 615 by Matt Fraction and Pasqual Ferry.

Illyana’s swordsoul doesn’t even pass through Toko and she knocks the sword out of Magik’s hand, which gets her off her guard.  The leader gets four hits later and Illyana is down.

New Mutants V3 17 Magik 8

Issue ends with the Inferno Babies about to turn their attention to the New Mutants.

There is a house ad for the Wolverine Goes to Hell storyline.  Wolverine 1, X23 1 and Daken, Dark Wolverine 1 – are the new titles.

The back cover ad is for the Mazda 3, looks like they are still making 3s but they aslo had a 6, which I found with a simple Google search and I’m not sure if that means anything.

.  .  .

Happy Easter!!!

Marvel NOW 2016 or Marvel NOW 2.0

Posted by John Klein III on July 16, 2016
Posted in: Websites. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Marvel is deciding to do another relaunch of several titles this October.

http://www.newsarama.com/30098-full-marvel-now-catalog-with-guardians-finale-asgard-shi-ar-war-takebacktheshield-more.html

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/full-marvel-now-2016-lineup

Like a few years ago, these start in October but it may take until December before all of the new number ones are fully out.

Newsarama counts 30 new series, 29 continuing ones.  They also have the creative teams too.  Comic Book Resources has the cover images, which I’ll be using here.

Marvel NOW 2016 Checklist

The titles I’m mostly interested in or have an opinion on are –

Marvel NOW 2016 Champions

Champions by Mark Waid and Humberto Ramos.  Featuring the cast of – Teen Cyclops, Ms. Marvel, Nova, Miles Morales and Awesome Hulk.  I do like this cast and I really like the team name legacy.  Good for Teen Scott for breaking away from the X-Men.

Marvel NOW 2016 Great Lakes Avengers

Great Lakes Avengers by Zac Gorman and Will Robson.  I don’t really know the creative team but the GLA is such a fun team.

Marvel NOW 2016 Black Panther

Black Panther 7 by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Chris Sprouse.  Black Panther and Storm back together!?!  That could be interesting!  Luke Cage and Misty Knight too, so that’s pretty awesome!

Marvel NOW 2016 Sorcerers Supreme

Doctor Strange : Sorcerers Supreme by Robbie Thompson and Javier Rodriguez.  I was really hoping this title was going to be the magic users of the Marvel Universe, that we’ve seen in Civil War II.  I was really hoping this was going to be Magik’s escape from the X-Titles, like how Teen Cyclops and Storm are getting.  Maybe it will be that team title but I would imagine they would be on the cover to the first issue.

Marvel NOW 2016 Death of X A Marvel NOW 2016 Death of X B

Death of X by Jeff Lemire and Charles Soule with Aaron Kuder on art.  This is the big X-Event, in that this is the only X-Comic coming out in October (that we know of) along with two titles that feature mutants.  This has to be the big reveal of what happened during the missing eight months between Secret Wars 2015 and the All New All Different Marvel.  So we should get the official story of what happened to Proper Cyclops.

It is also nice to see that Chris Soule hasn’t left Marvel, after killing off Wolverine and wasting some time with the Wolverines weekly series.  Also, that is Kitty Pryde just under Havok on the right side of the image, right?  It sure looks like her.

Super annoying the Inhumans look on the bottom of that image.  I know it is suppose to look like that, with the super contrast but good grief!

Marvel NOW 2016 Star Lord

Star Lord by Chip Zdarsky and Ramon Perez, possibly only on covers.  I guess I’m not getting my wish of Kitty Pryde becoming the official Star Lord.  Looks like all of the Guardians are being stuck on Earth too.

Marvel NOW 2016 Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy 15 by Brian Michael Bendis and Valerio Schiti.  The final arc, so there goes Kitty being safe in space!  So Kitty and Illyana could be in super jeopardy.

I’m hoping Death of X is only five part sand come January, we get the slow rollout of X-Titles again.  Extraordinary X-Men was pretty good and was heading in an interesting direction.  We just needed less Teen Jean.  Shame the latest batch of X-Titles were detoured with the Apocalypse Wars non-crossover as that’s going to be the legacy of those X-Titles and the few other stories they were able to tell since Secret Wars 2015.  We’re taking a look back, not a step back, to get one of two major plot holes filled.  The other would be the official story with whatever happened to the Richards family.

I’ll probably just end up buying Guardians (unless Kitty isn’t in the final arc) and Death of X.  I don’t see Teen Scott making any references either Kitty and Illyana.  Same for Storm too, over in Black Panther’s title.  So maybe I’ll only be getting one title in this another new era of Marvel.

2015 X-Books Awards Results

Posted by John Klein III on January 24, 2016
Posted in: Lists. Tagged: . Leave a comment

WorstBlogEver announced the winners!

http://community.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?67378-2015-X-Book-Awards-The-Results

FINAL RESULTS:

1/18/2016
Best Onomatopoeia
Winner: CRACK
Doom breaking Cyclops’ neck in Secret Wars 2015 4

Best Quote
2nd Runner-up: “I want them to see the Wolverine coming.“- X-23
1st Runner-up: “Of course i was &#$% right!” – Inferno’s Cyclops

Winner: “To me, my X-Men!“- Storm
from Extraordinary X-Men

Most Bizarre Moment (Rouge Mort Trophy)
Winner: The Utopians

Most Shocking Moment
Winner: God Doom breaks Cyclops’ neck!
Secret Wars 2015 4

Funniest Moment
Winner: Gabby the Clone saves fingers
All New Wolverine

Best Fight/Battle
2nd Runner-up: Civil War Storm vs. Civil War Iron Man
1st Runner-up: God Doom vs. Cyclops, Secret Wars 2015 4
Winner: Martha Johansson vs. Rachel Grey
Spider-Man and the X-Men

Best Death:
2nd Runner-up: Matthew Malloy, Uncanny X-Men Volume Three
1st Runner-up: Clone X-23_3PAR, All New X-Men
Winner: Cyclops

Secret Wars 2015 4

1/19/2016
Best Romance/Kiss:
Winner: Kitty Pryde and Star Lord, I voted for this one!

Best Crossover
2nd Runner-up: Last Days of . . . Magneto, I read the final issue
1st Runner-up: Black Vortex, I’m a fan
Winner: Secret Wars 2015, not enough X-Involvement (in the series proper) but it was the defining crossover of the year

Low Point of the Year
Winner: Handling of the Outgoing of Teen Iceman, All New X-Men 40

High Point of the Year
Winner: Teen Iceman comes out, All New X-Men 40

Most Missed Character
2nd Runner-up: Warpath
1st Runner-up: Banshee
Winner: Dani Moonstar, two years running now

Best Debut Character
2nd Runner-up : The Endless Summers, Siege

I was stumped for this category, I should have said Magik from Siege and Kitty Pryde from “Star Lord and Kitty Pryde”

1st Runner-up: Azimuth, Extraordinary X-Men

Winner: Bo! Who I actually voted for! Glad others thought of her too.

Breakthrough Character
Winner: Sunspot, Avengers

Best Mutant Appearing Outside an X-book
2nd Runner-up: Dazzler, A-Force
1st Runner-up: Sunspot, Avengers
Winner: Rogue, Uncanny Avengers

1/20/2016
Least Favorite Villain(s)
2nd Runner-up: Luminous, Uncanny Avengers
1st Runner-up: Mathew Malloy, Uncanny X-Men
Winner: Mystique, Wolverines

Best Villain(s)
2nd Runner-up: Magik of Inferno, so dark and twisted!
1st Runner-up: Goblyn Queen of Inferno, I would have switched these two
Winner: Mister Sinister, Secret Wars 2015, Age of Apocalypse, Inferno and A-Force (he got around)

Least Favorite Hero
2nd Runner-up: Beast
1st Runner-up: Fantomex (X-Force)
Winner: Teen Jean Grey (All New X-Men)

Best Hero
2nd Runner-up: Magneto
1st Runner-up: Magik
Winner: Storm

1/21/2016
Least Favorite Cover
2nd Runner-up: Uncanny X-Men 600 Morlock Cover, also the Paul Smith variant, which means it should be on a least favorite list!
1st Runner-up: Age of Apocalypse 4
Winner: E is for Extinction 4

I didn’t buy any of these!

Best Cover
2nd Runner-up: Storm Volume Three Issue 10
1st Runner-up: All New Wolverine 1 Hip Hop Variant
Winner: Storm Volume Three Issue 11

I also don’t own any of these!

Best One-Shot
2nd Runner-up: Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men : Black Vortex – Omega 1
1st Runner-up: Guardians of the Galaxy & X-Men : Black Vortex – Alpha 1
Winner: Uncanny X-Men 600

Least Favorite Miniseries
2nd Runner-up: Age of Apocalypse Volume Three
1st Runner-up: Secret Wars 2015
Winner: E is for Extinction

Best Miniseries
2nd Runner-up: Siege, Volume Two – so good!
1st Runner-up: Inferno – so twisted!
Winner: X-Men 92

1/22/2016
Least Favorite Story from a Single X-Title
2nd Runner-up: Counter-Evolution – Uncanny Avengers Volume Two
1st Runner-up: The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier – Uncanny X-Men Volume Three
If only it was four issues and two issues of fallout, it probably would have been better
Winner: Utopians – All New X-Men
So many missed opportunities

Best Story from a Single X-Title
2nd Runner-up: Bring the Thunder – Storm Volume Three
1st Runner-up: Once and Future Juggernaut – Amazing X-Men Volume Two
Lots of fun moments!
Winner: Last Days of Magneto – Magneto Volume Three

Least Favorite Ongoing
2nd Runner-up: Spider-Man and the X-Men
The one issue I read of it, wasn’t that bad
1st Runner-up: All New X-Men Volume One
Winner: Uncanny X-Men Volume Three
Bendis lost some luster on his run, towards the end, too many place holders
Best Ongoing
2nd Runner-up: Amazing X-Men Volume Two
1st Runner-up: Storm Volume Three
Winner: Magneto Volume Three

Best Artist
2nd Runner-up: Chris Bachalo
1st Runner-up: Victor Inanez
Winner: Andrea Sorrentino

Best Writer:
2nd Runner-up: Greg Pak
1st Runner-up: Simon Spurrier
Winner: Cullen Bunn

Thanks WBE for compiling the list!

Years of Future Past 1

Posted by John Klein III on January 11, 2016
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Years of Future Past 1

Writer Marguerite Bennett

Artist Mike Norton

Colorist Fco Plascencia

Letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna

Cover by Art Adams and Paul Mounts

I had to add the Norton variant to my Wishlist.

Thus far, this is my favorite series under the Secret Wars 2015 umbrella.

Years of Future Past 1 Recap

Instead of being a series that takes place after the original storyline, this series takes place years prior to the original story.  All of this is based off of few captions from Uncanny X-Men 141 –

Uncanny X-Men 141 Kate Pryde 4-1

So any new characters that we are taken with, we know their eventful state.  So there is an element of heartbreak with this title.  This is one of the more bleak series, I would add Inferno to that list.

Years of Future Past 1 Christina Pryde 1

Thanks to Marguerite Bennett’s X-Position at Comic Book Resources –

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/x-position-bennett-crafts-a-war-torn-coming-of-age-story-in-years-of-future-past

We know this character isn’t Kitty Pryde, but her daughter – Christina Pryde!  So much of these first few pages are reminiscent of Uncanny X-Men 141.

Years of Future Past 1 Christina Pryde 2a Years of Future Past 1 Christina Pryde 2b

New York City.  Christina is thinking back to how the world use to be, I imagine she doesn’t have any first hand memory of it.  Everything was fine until mutants showed up, then humans decided to blow up the world. Which is never a good idea.  Christina, like her mother, is an optimist.

Years of Future Past 1 Christina Pryde 3

Somehow, she is attacked by a tiger!  Good thing Wolverine is there to save her.  Good job of Bennett to not have it be three tigers to match the number of rogues.

Wolverine isn’t sure why no one has eaten the tigers, with food being so scarce.  He makes a reference to barbecue sauce but she doesn’t know what that is.  She is looking for medicine and the tiger is there as all three are in the Bronx Zoo.

Wolverine calls her, Chrissie, but she wants to be called, Christina – so that’s what I’m going with.  Wolverine remembers changing her diapers so he gets to call her anything that he wants.  With her being (maybe) 18 – I bet she is 14 to match her mother’s first appearance – that makes sense.

Christina asks about Cameron, the son of Wolverine – but he got tangled up.  Logan has a nose for trouble but Cameron only has a taste for it.

Years of Future Past 1 Christina Pryde A

Christina shows Logan that she is the nice blend of her parents, through her words.  Logan teases her and she calls him, a jerk, classic Pryde!

Christina asks Logan for his honest opinion, if he truly believes the flatscans will reverse the Mutant Control Act.  He hints at how many mutants were killed in the first wave and now the rest are in internment camps.  Logan tells Christina that she was the last mutant born.  Mutants are sterilized now.

Christina leaves Logan’s side and tries to get back to her parents.  She sees a few rogues, militia and more tigers.

Years of Future Past 1 Christina Pryde 4

A sentinel finds her but its mode of community seems pretty casual.

There is a SuperHeroStuff.com ad for a hero box that offers $70 worth of product for only $49, which sounds awesome.  We tried, for Walker Dennis, a similar program called – Citrus Lane, which is a more affordable $30 but the items are not as awesome as superhero related merchandise.

The Sentinel is about to open palm blast when Kate Pryde jumps in front of Christina.  The Sentinel calls Kate Pryde, Mutant 187 and she was instrumental to capturing mutants 234 & 339, ten years ago.  I imagine the identities of these mutants will be important, later.

Years of Future Past 1 Kate Pryde A

Christina wants to know if there is any news on Storm, but there are no new graves.  Sentinels give everyone numbers but once the mutant dies, they get to have their mutant names placed on their tombstone.

What the Prydes were looking for are chemicals to dissolve the suppression collars.

Colossus reveals that it has been 15 years since they have been in this camp.  Magneto promised Christina that he would make her a metal pony that gallops.

Meanwhile, aboard Air Force Once.  President Robert Kelly wants to scare his fellow flatsfcans into not revolting the act.  Kelly orders two folks, Martinez & Foster, to get some footage to remind idiots why they want to hate mutants.

South Bronx Mutant Internment Center.  Kate and Rachel are having a chat.  Kate references Xavier giving her a chemical set when she was fourteen.  Rachel says, Doom rest his soul, which I do like how the books all respect that Doom is the god of Battleworld.  They repeat that Christina was the last mutant birth before music was banned, the famine and the sterilizations.

Rachel goes around melting the collars.

Years of Future Past 1 Kate Pryde 1

The X-Men get out and Sentinels are quick to try to shut them down.  Did they keep their uniforms?

The X-Men make short work of a Sentinel.  In its final moment, it eye beams Christina.

Years of Future Past 1 Christina Pryde B

This event is enough to trigger Christina’s mutant gene.  She takes after he father though she reminds me more of Plantium of DC’s Metal Men.

Her parents thought that the collars would have made it impossible for Christina’s mutation to kick in but life always finds a way.

Later.  New Kent Military Base.  We see Iron Man on a pole, run through the middle.  The two government aides wake Mystique and Blob, the two mutants Kate Pryde turned in.  These two villains have been asleep for the past 15 years.

The X-Men are not leading to other mutants, to free them – they are heading towards a virus that can affect Sentinels.

We learn this region’s in-universe title is – United Doomstates Government.

Years of Future Past 1 Christina Pryde C

Christina is the best choice to make this new plan work.  Kate is not happy that her daughter is being burden with the task.  Just like in the original story, a young Pryde is being tasked with the bulk of the mission.  They want a photo op of Christina saving President Kelly.  Christina is up for the task.

Rachel senses that Storm is alive, she tells Christina to head towards the Baxter Building, where Kelly will be.  They have to find Wolverine.

Years of Future Past 1 Kate Pryde B

A building is about to collapse and the X-Men start saving the humans who are now in danger.  Mystique and Blob show up and accuse Kate of betraying her own kind.  She doesn’t know what they are talking about, so maybe those two are not the ones that she turned in.

The government aides are filming the mutant on mutant battle.

Just then, Logan and Cameron arrive.

Years of Future Past 1 Kate Pryde C

Wolverine starts fighting Mystique.  Blob knocks out Christina and Cameron phases through Blob and rips him apart, so who is his mother?  Once he comes out of Blob, he is covered in green, making me think he also resembled a Metal Man.

Christina can’t believe that Cameron just straight up killed Blob.  I have no guesses on who Cameron’s mother is.

Years of Future Past 1 Kate Pryde D

Issue ends with the new Green (Doom inspired?) Sentinels on their way.

Such a great first issue!  Can’t wait for the rest of the series!

Voting for 2015 X-Books Awards

Posted by John Klein III on January 5, 2016
Posted in: Voting. Tagged: . Leave a comment

http://community.comicbookresources.com/showthread.php?64895-Voting-for-the-2015-X-Book-Awards-as-voted-by-CBR-Forums

Voting closes January 9th

Results start January 17th

worstblogever is back with his award nominations!

I have an empty ballot and then my ballot. Once again, I didn’t really do much for the negative categories as that’s not really my thing – unless it is so bad it has to be mentioned.

Categories:

  • Best Ongoing X-Title
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Worst Ongoing X-Title
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best X-Miniseries
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Worst X-Miniseries
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best X-One-Shot
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best X-Book Cover
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Worst X-Book Cover
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best X-Men Crossover
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best X-Men Storyline from a Single Title
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Worst X-Men Storyline from a Single Title
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best Writer
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best Artist
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best Hero/Heroine
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Worst Hero/Heroine
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best Villain(s)
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Worst Villain(s)
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Breakout Star of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Debut Character of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Favorite Mutant on the Cast of a non-X-book
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Guest Star of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Death of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Most Missed Character of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Most Bizarre Character/Appearance of the Year (The Rouge Mort Trophy)
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Shocking Moment of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Funniest Moment of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Quote of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Onomatopoeia of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best Romance/Kiss of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Best Single Battle/Fight of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Low Point of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.
  • Highlight of the Year
    1.
    2.
    3.

 

My votes

Categories:

  • Best Ongoing X-Title
    1.            Uncanny X-Men Volume Three
    2.            Nightcrawler Volume Four
    3.            Wolverines
  • Worst Ongoing X-Title
    1.            All New X-Men Volume One
    2.            Uncanny Avengers Volume Three
  • Best X-Miniseries
    1.            Star Lord and Kitty Pryde
    2.            Years of Future Past
    3.            Giant Size Little Marvels : AvX
  • Worst X-Miniseries
    1.             Secret Wars 2015
  • Best X-One-Shot
    1.            Guardians of the Galaxy / X-Men : Black Vortex – Omega
    2.            Guardians of the Galaxy / X-Men : Black Vortex – Alpha
    3.            Uncanny X-Men 600
  • Best X-Book Cover
    1.            Uncanny X-Men Volume Three Issue 33
    2.            Uncanny X-Men Volume Three Issue 30
    3.            Uncanny X-Men Volume Three Issue 32
  • Best X-Men Crossover
    1.            Black Vortex
    2.            Last Days of
    3.            Secret Wars : Battleworld
  • Best X-Men Storyline from a Single Title
    1.            “Once and Future Juggernaut” Amazing X-Men 15 – 18
    2.            “Reborn” Nightcrawler 10 – 12
    3.            “Dancing with the Devil” Wolverines 1 – 5
  • Worst X-Men Storyline from a Single Title
    1.            “Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier” Uncanny X-Men Vol 3 32
    2.            ”Claw, Blade, and Fang” Wolverines #6-10
    3.            “Utopians” All New X-Men 40 & 41
  • Best Writer
    1.            Sam Humphries
    2.            Marguerite Bennett
    3.            Skottie Young
  • Best Artist
    1.            Chris Bachalo
    2.            Alti Firmansyah
    3.            Skottie Young
  • Best Hero/Heroine
    1.            Kitty Pryde
    2.            Magik
    3.            Cyclops
  • Worst Hero/Heroine
    1.            Colossus
  • Debut Character of the Year
    1. Bo from Uncanny X-Men Volume Three 32
    2.
    3.
  • Favorite Mutant on the Cast of a non-X-book
    1.            Kitty Pryde in Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Death of the Year
    1.             Cyclops
    2.            Matthew Malloy
    3.            Sugar Man
  • Most Missed Character of the Year
    1.            Lockheed
    2.            Dani Moonstar
  • Funniest Moment of the Year
    1.            The X-Men just sitting down in the middle of a Giant Juggernaut appearance – Amazing X-Men 18
  • Best Romance/Kiss of the Year
    1.            Kitty Pryde and Peter Quill
    2.            Ogun (in Sharpe’s body) and Lady Deathstrike
  • Best Single Battle/Fight of the Year
    1.            Genoshians v X-Men in X-Tinction Agenda 1
    2.            Christina v Cameron, Years of Future Past 5
  • Low Point of the Year
    1.            Handling of Full Gay Iceman and revelation of Adult Iceman
    2.            Secret Wars 2015 and lack of X-Men (outside of a few miniseries)
  • Highlight of the Year
    1.            Kitty Pryde joining the Guardians of the Galaxy
    2.            Kitty and Magik being friends again, Uncanny X-Men 33

Sorry I didn’t get this up sooner!

All New X-Men 40

Posted by John Klein III on November 16, 2015
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

All New X-Men 40

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Artist Mahmud Asrar

Colorist Rain Beredo

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

This issue will go down in history for a particular moment but we will get to that.

Utopia Island.  Former Home of the X-Men, San Francisco Bay.  A group of salvagers have arrived on the island.  They suspect that the X-Men left behind a slew of valuables when they left the island nation.  They suspect that the Avengers nor SHIELD has had the time to go back and pick up those islands.  Which is odd, as SHIELD clearly has enough soldiers employed that can go to locations like Utopia and start grabbing important pieces of equipment.

There is a noise from a cave and someone or some group, knock out all of the

All New X-Men 40 Magik 1

The New Xavier School.  Location Secret.  Today.  The All New X-Men are finally back to their school, after a little visit to the Ultimate Universe and then their adventures in outer space during Black Vortex.  They all have been missing their world, Scott has been gone longer than them, though.

Magik arrives, with some brown lunch bags.

All New X-Men 40 Magik A

Magik brought some burgers, which Scott has disparately been missing Earth food.

Hank and Magik get the dialogue exchange of the year.

     Hank : And they don’t freak out when you magically appear in line at a fast food establishment dressed like that?

Magik : I usually get everything for free magically appearing dressed like this.

So great and it answers a very long never before asked question.  How does Magik get so much stuff, so easily and so fast?  Dressed that way, dudes are constantly willing to do anything for her.  Rightfully so.  Magik is so great and she really needs an ongoing series, I could make one last for fifty issues, easily.

Magik informs the team, now that Shadowcat (getting her first of two references, in this issue) is staying in space – Magik will be their instructor.

Scott calls Illyana “ma’am” and Magik, in turn, calls him “Baby Tyke-lops” which is a name that should really stick.  Bendis has a great handle on Magik.

Jean picks up on the fact that something is going wrong inside the school, because she’s a nosy bitch.

All New X-Men 40 Magik 2

Magik is going inside to figure it out, she tells the team to stay outside.  So this issue takes place during Uncanny X-Men Volume Three 32, so Black Vortex takes place between 31 and 32.  So Last Will and Testament of Xavier, Black Vortex, Issue 32, next is this issue and then Uncanny X-Men, so Kitty Pryde must come back to Earth in the next hour to make issue 33 set up.

Bobby, like a jerk, salutes Magik’s unbelievable hotness.  But he isn’t being, like a real jerk about it.  More like a 14 year old boy who is standing in front of an unbelievable hot lady.  Jean, for no good reason, decides to pull Bobby aside.  Bobby stands behind his comment, Magik is hot and he feels the need to address it.  Jean knows Illyana is hot and there is no doubt that Illyana knows it too and makes it work for her.

All New X-Men 40 Jean Outs Bobby 1

Then the page that set the world on fire, one April 21, 2015 day.  Jean tells Bobby that he is gay.  Not him, under his own control, comes out to a dear friend.  No, Jean, goes into his head, and decides to dictate what Bobby is.  Jean, the worst person around.

Jean mind rapes the information from Bobby.  Mind you, she and Bobby have never been close.  They are not complete strangers but they are not close at all.  Jean may be a tad closer to Warren.  She’s always been close to Hank and Scott.  I do like how All New Bobby and Scott were getting close.  If someone was going to tell this story, I would have had Bobby come out to Scott.  Like a scene where Bobby is updating Scott on everything that they did, and then end it with how he is preparing to come out as a homosexual.  Bendis choose to go this route, as Jean is the star of this title and she needs to get all the big moments.

Bobby puts up an ice wall.  We cut to the other members of the team, and they are pretty uninterested.  Back to Bobby and Jean.  Bobby points out that his older proper self is not gay.

Bobby isn’t sure why people like her so much, and I don’t get it ever.

All New X-Men 40 Kitty mention

Bobby isn’t sure how his older self cannot be gay, as well.  Some of the forty pages of Uncanny X-Men 600, will be dedicated to the two Icemen talking about this.

Jean points out that Iceman never had any lasting relationships.  Bobby points out his relationship to Kitty Pryde, BobKat.  This reminds me of the issue of All New where Bobby saw his older self and Professor K making out, and he was disgusted by it.  There also was the issue where Scott and he went on a double date and he was displeased with the lady he was stuck with.  Then there was the issue where Bobby felt like a Disney princess.  Which I like how Bendis has been dropping hints about this.

We get to the main panels that turn me off from this idea.  Bobby tries to say that he could be bisexual.  Jean pretty much, both, insults all bisexuals everywhere – with the comment that most people are bisexual.  Then she identifies Bobby as being more . . . full gay.  As if, full gay, was a term.  But if Bobby wants to self identify as bisexual, let the boy self identify as bisexual.  I mean, really, did Jean spend all of her time, since coming to the present, studying up on modern day sexuality, instead of looking into the ethics of being a telepath?  That sounds about right.

All New X-Men 40 Bobby calls Jean a nosy bitch

We get to the page that makes this whole nonsense okay.  Bobby appreciates that he finally got to voice some of the thoughts that are in his head.

Jean promises to keep his secret, but you know, she could have done that and never talk to Bobby about any of this.

What redeems this, is that Bobby calls Jean by my new favorite name for her – nosy bitch.  I usually don’t like to refer to women as bitches but that’s pretty much what Jean is now, so I’m going with it.

Bobby tries to make the situation light and asks if Jean suspects that Warren could be gay.  Jean shuts that idea down.  Then they laugh about how Tyke-lops is a great nickname.

SHIELD Hellicarrier.  Floating World Headquarters of the UN Peacekeeping Task Force.  Present Location : 1,000 Feet Over London, England.  Some SHIELD soldiers (are all of them called, agents?) tell Commander Maria Hill that there has been a situation.  She instantly wishes that it isn’t mutant related and when they tell her it is, she starts slamming her head on the desk.

We get to the actual good part of the issue, Warren flies in and swoops X23 into his arms.  They have a very nice chat and get some things said.  He explains why he accepted the cosmic power upgrade.  Once he came to the present, he learn how horrible his future was.  He knew, the first chance he got, if he could make a permanent change, he wouldn’t have hesitated to take the opportunity.  Now that he has this new sense of confidence, he can tell X23 that he loves her.  They kiss, which is probably better than how he thought this conversation was going to go.

Utopia Island.  Former home of the X-Men.  San Francisco Bay.  A SHIELD jet begins to land, when like their Hellicarrier, it crashes down onto the surface.

All New X-Men 40 Utopians

We finally meet The Utopians!  They are not the Ultimate X-Men in the Proper Marvel Universe.

They are – The Morlock’s Masque / Elixir / Meltdown / Random / Madison Jeffries / Karma

Pretty decent line up there, I like how they have a color scheme.  How did they get Masque from the New York City tunnels to across the nation?  I also like how Meltdown is the leader of the group.  I guess Elixir survived being nearly killed in Logan Legacy.  Madison Jeffries, I suppose, never left the island.  Random, maybe they are paying him to be there?  Random hasn’t been seen in three years, since his short stint in Generation Hope, issues 15, 16 and 17.  Surprisingly,

http://comicbookdb.com/character_chron.php?ID=4926

Random has been in at least one comic, every year from 2005 to today.  He took 2004 off, had one appearance in 2003, took off 2002 – pretty decent.

Karma, was just not doing much after Astonishing ended.

. . .

As this is obviously months later, I wanted to cite some websites so that people can remember how much conversation was sparked with this issue.

Here are the two threads I was most active on :

Brian Cronin’s “Thoughts on All New X-Men 40 and Whether Flawed Characters Are a Sign of Flawed Writing

http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2015/04/22/thoughts-on-all-new-x-men-40-and-whether-flawed-characters-are-a-sign-of-flawed-writing/

Uncanny X-Cast’s Facebook Group’s Issue Discussion

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4045322485/permalink/10153236850637486/

I post some links in there that made me think I should add them to this post.

Bryan Singer’s Reaction to All New Iceman’s coming out

http://www.newsarama.com/24259-bryan-singer-brian-bendis-talk-about-iceman-outing-in-all-new-x-men.html

 Brian Michael Bendis’ “In Portland, no one cares about this type of stuff”

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/bendis-on-icemans-outing-says-im-not-done-with-this-story-yet

I’m sure there were hundreds of website reviews about the news item, itself, but these were the ones I stuck with or referenced.

X-Position: Gerry Duggan on Zenpool and the Art of “Deadpool” Maintenance

Posted by John Klein III on October 21, 2015
Posted in: Websites. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=57834

CBR News was nice enough to ask my two questions to Gerry Duggan!

JackalsIII has some praise for “Deadpool” cover artist Mark Brooks.

Was it your idea to homage “Uncanny X-Men” #210 for “Deadpool” #38, or was that Mark Brooks? Such a great cover!

All Brooks, though I have to say that he’s working with [Editors] Jordan D. White & Charles Beacham, and they may offer input and notes on covers. The only cover I ever kinda sorta art-directed was the cover to “Deadpool” #7 and the upcoming “Deadpool” #40. At the time I jotted down my thoughts for that cover, I wanted it to land hard to send a message that we were going back to “Demon In A Bottle,” and I had no idea [Kevin] Maguire was going to be the one to draw #7 or I would have been a bit less detailed. I never thought I’d live to see a Maguire cover on a book that had my name. Most times covers show up in my email, and I just get to sit back and be amazed. Mark Brooks has done some wonderful and iconic work on this run and we’re thrilled. There’s a threat of a very special Mark Brooks cover to come, that will make people laugh, I hope.

JackalsIII also has a question about two fan-favorite X-Men.

Thanks for using Shadowcat and Magik in “Hulk,” that was pretty awesome! Can we expect one or both of them in future issues of either series?

Thanks. The two chances I’ve had to write Kitty I’ve had a lot of fun. Comics can be a lot of things, but I do believe that comics have to be fun. Seeing her prod around as an amateur surgeon [in “Hulk”] was fun. As for when or where Magik and Kitty show up again in something I write? Who knows? [Sam] Humphries has some fun plans for Kitty in [2015’s] “The Black Vortex.”

As if I wouldn’t know about Black Vortex but that’s nice of him to promote a crossover he has nothing to do with.

 

Giant Size X-Position – Jeff Lemire – Extraordinary X-Men

Posted by John Klein III on October 19, 2015
Posted in: Websites. Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments

Brett White had a great two part interview with Jeff Lemire, the writer of Extraordinary X-Men.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/giant-size-x-position-lemire-launches-extraordinary-x-men-part-1-2015

As much as I’m not crazy about Colossus, him and his sister, Magik, being on the team, guarantees that she should get plenty of panel time.

Extraordinary X-Men 6 Humberto Ramos cover

I really like Humberto Ramos experimenting with his sytle, as that is an awesome cover for issue six!

It really is the A-List title, with the roster of – Magik, Storm, Nightcrawler, Old Man Logan, Teen Jean Grey and Colossus.

There is a question posed about if Banshee will be appearing in the title, I thought he was back in the realm of the dead, after that Apocalypse Twins storyline in Uncanny Avengers, wherein he was the Horseman of Death, one of them.  Apparently, that storyline ends with Banshee being taken in by the X-Men, to start the long healing process.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsemen_of_Apocalypse#The_Four_Horsemen_of_Death

Good to know!

I like that Magik is going to get her own spotlight storyline, I’m really looking forward to that!  It also sounds like she won’t be as glib as she has been shown to be, in the past.

Kitty Pryde is on Lemire’s list of characters he hopes to write, one day, he does say that he has got to write a few of them, so maybe we will see her within the pages of these series.

Part Two

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/giant-size-x-position-lemire-launches-extraordinary-x-men-part-2

We are definitely going to be getting an X-Men / Inhumans crossover, even if Marvel hasn’t hinted or announced it.

Sinister is the villain of the first arc, that doesn’t excite me too much.

Lemire is a huge Kitty Pryde fan but won’t be able to write her, for the first couple issues.  He references that she is in a couple titles so I wonder what her other title is?

Storm is the new leader of mutants, which makes sense with the other players off the board.

Not too much is revealed, in either interview, but these interviews are part of the hype factory and it is nice to see interior art.

Avengers World 17

Posted by John Klein III on July 28, 2015
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Avengers World 17

Writer Frank Barbiere

Artist Marco Checchetto

Color Artist Andres Mossa

Letterer VC’s Joe Caramagna

Cover Art Jeff Dekal

Before Time Runs Out, Part One

I’ve wanted this issue ever since Barbiere was interviewed by Comic Book Resources’ Dave Richards.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=57797

Which it wasn’t really the interview but the preview art by Checchetto :

Avengers World 17 Magik Preview Art

I’m pretty much coming into this cold, so let’s hope this recap page is informative.  In the future, Cannonball and Smasher have a baby.  Smasher’s real name is, Izzy.  In the past, Smasher tells Captain America that she is falling in love with a teammate, who is Cannonball.  I believe that was during Infinity.

The Present.  Avengers Tower.  Smasher narrates the opening of the issue.  Her full name is Izzy Kane.  Smasher, typically, is a member of the Shi’Ar Imperial Guard.  She has done a pregnancy test and it has come back . . . positive!  The Imperial Guard shows up at this point and tells her that she needs to come home.

The Guthrie Farm.  Cumberland County, Kentucky.  Bobby and Sam have gone home, well, Sam’s home.  Melody, one of Sam’s many siblings, wants to meet Izzy.  Sam references how it has been a long time since he has met someone special.  I guess he has had Dani Moonstar and Lila Cheny as love interests.  Melody references how she has mutant powers, so that’s another Guthrie child, making four total – if I’m counting right.

Izzy holo-calls Sam and informs him that she is leaving the planet on short notice.  By the time she starts talking, she is done.

On the ship, Smasher tells her mentor (or a guy named, Mentor) that she is ready to leave the planet behind.  Once they come out of hyperdrive, the doctors want to inspect her new ‘seed’ as it should be a source of power for the Shi’ar.

Kentucky.  Ma Guthrie tells Sam about how she met his father.  They met at a fair, as they were from different counties, they had a nice time but went their separate ways.  Afterwards, he went to every farm until he found her again.  Oh the days before Facebook!  She tells him to go after Smasher.

Avengers World 17 Magik referred

Avengers Tower.  Manifold, who I believe was an Avenger during Infinity, tells Sam that the Avengers can’t help him.  Bobby wants to help his oldest friend but they don’t know anyone with a spaceship.  Sam actually knows someone with a spaceship, so there is still hope.

Avengers World 17 Magik 1

The New Xavier School.  Sam (and Bobby’s) friend is of course . . . Magik!  I wish Checchetto got to draw a proper page of Magik, instead we get this double page splash (which looks cool) that we only see the back of her head (twice) and see her from behind in the bottom left corner of the page.

I really like the idea of Magik staying in touch with Cannonball, well, I imagine it is Sam who keeps in touch with everybody he has ever worked with.

So Sam knows Illyana and she knows Young Scott Summers, who is a current member of the Starjammers, so it is their ship that Sam and Bobby are going to tag along on.  The Starjammers’ ship should be able to catch up to the Shi’ar ship as they head to their homeworld, Chandilar.

Magik references that young Scott appriciates the chance to see his old All New X-Men teammates but it would have been nice to see a glimpse of the entire cast but I get that Barbiere doesn’t want to get too involved with the X-Men’s current storylines.

Sunspot references what Kitty Pryde knows, nothing good ever comes to the X-Men when they leave the planet.  Sam tells Bobby that he isn’t coming with him.  Bobby doesn’t fight him, as he has a company to run.  He recently bought AIM, so that’s the company I believe.

One of the Starjammers says, “Let’s go catch that Shi’ar bird!” which I like the reminder that the Shi’ar evolve from birds.  Sam calls both Illyana and Sunspot his best friends and the page ends with Sunspot calling him, Tiger.

Shi’ar ship.  Mentor keeps calling her baby, a seed.  I would have corrected him so that he stop calling it that.  At least call it an egg or something.  Also, it is a cold expression that I get keeps the fetus as a detached thing.  I only imagine that Smasher gives birth and the child is enlisted into the Smasher Corp (if that is what it is called).

Mentor’s poor choice of words keeps getting worst as he refers to the fetus as, Spawn of their Guardians.

Corsair is right, their ship caught up to Smasher’s, rather quickly.  Scott has become quite the space pirate.  Cannonball is an honorary pirate now.  The Shi’ar crew freaks out as they are yanked out of hyperspace (so the medical exam hasn’t occurred yet).  Smasher isn’t quite happy with Cannonball being there.

Corsair makes a reference to the Guardians with the Galaxy with a Rocket mention.  Sam goes for a hug but is shot down.  He wants to confess his love to her, but the Shi’ar crew come back to their senses and go on the attack.  Corsair tries to calm the situation down.

Once Mentor knows that Cannonball is Smasher’s partner, he puts him down from the force field.  Izzy talks to Sam, recognizing that it is a sweet gesture coming all the way out there to space, just for her.

I really love X-Nerd Wil Moss giving us a note to check out Uncanny X-Men 341, the issue that Cannonball went toe-to-toe with Gladiator, it is also a Christmas issue.

Sam finally gets to tell Izzy that he loves her and Corsair has such a great reaction, pumping his fist to the sky.

They are all in rogue space, so they get attacked by a third party.  Cannonball tells the crews that he will take care of this as it is his fault, the Starjammers were only doing him a favor.  Smasher is coming along, as she wants to show the universe how great of a couple they are.  Corsair wants them to hurry, as he doesn’t want his ship attacked next.

Smasher tries to tell Cannonball their big news but they have to shake off the alien ship, which isn’t a ship – it is a giant alien!  Cannonball gets tangled up and is about to be eaten when Smasher does her thing and frees him.  She states that she love Sam too.

They straight up explode the alien!

Back on the ship, Sam tries to assure her that he is ready for whatever comes next.  With that, she tells him that she is pregnant.  He is super excited but is now worried that she should have stayed on the ship.

Corsair is told to get off Mentor’s ship.  Once they leave, Mentor turns to Cannonball and tells him he is worthy and that he is Shi’ar now.

Issue ends with them on Chandilar, Months Later.  Sam Guthrie is a proud parent of a baby boy.

Next issue, Sunspot vs AIM, which I doubt I will buy.