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All New X-Men 15

Posted by John Klein III on August 12, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

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Written by Brian Michael Bendis

Artist is David Lafuente

Colored by Jim Campbell

Nice seeing Lafuente’s art again.  I know him from the second volume of Ultimate Spider-Man.  Where he also got to draw Ultimate Iceman and Kitty Pryde.

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Which this issue, all that Kitty does is make out with present day Iceman.  Which is throwing young Bobby’s world into orbit.  I know Astonishing exists in its own world “unofficially” but if he thinks making out with teacher is bad, wait until he learns he is responsible for hundreds of deaths, including maybe his own father.

Nice to see Rachel and teen Jean finally be face to face, we get it twice here.  They have been on the same page before, such as with Scarlet Spider 17, comes to mind.

I like Logan getting mad that everyone is either taking his stuff or breaking it.

I do not care for how Jean keeps reading people’s minds without permission or with any skill.  Weird that Hank would be having those thoughts too.  It isn’t the same as seeing a girl from high school so many years later and thinking of her again.  It’s more of a going back in time as an adult, and being still attracted to that young lady.  Though his thoughts are more align to daydreaming innocent thoughts, he is her teacher now.  It is like the whole Professor Xavier / Onslaught thing, maybe that’s what it is reminding me.

I like seeing young Bobby and Scott hanging out, those two are not one of the natural pairings you get with the original five X-Men.  Wish the red head wasn’t the one who came to Scott, but that’s his type , if he can’t have Jean, he will just find another red head.

Poor Dazzler fans, that’s not her there.

That double page with Jean and young Hank looks beautiful.  Great emotions, the layout is great.  There’s something abiut the way Lafuente draws Jean’s face, you can tell why three out of four guys are attracted ro her.  Which really, if you think about it, of course Hank “loved” she was the only girl he was  allowed to see until they all graduated.

The page where they are  kissing, reminds me that they really need new outfits.  They are walking around with booty shorts, and everyone is just cool with it.

Last page, is Jean forcing herself on Hank try to change the future?  As it doesn’t matter, Xavier is going to mind wipe them anyways.

Can’t believe Battle of the Atom starts next issue!  Going to be an intense twi months!

X-Men Legacy 14

Posted by John Klein III on August 11, 2013
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Written by Simon Spurrier

Penciled by Tan Eng Huat

Inked by Craig Yeung

Colored by Jose Villarrubia

I bought this issue as there is a panel depicting all the people Pete Wisdom has lost, as David Haller, Legion, is making him see it.  In the panel is Nightcrawler, Maureen, his mother, Kitty Pryde, and John Sublime.  Now I know what happened to everyone but Maureen and his mother.  I take it that he lost Maureen some time recently.  His mother, I will have to assume that this is the Marvel Universe and he lost her a while ago.

I have liked Pete Wisdom from very on. I am not one of those guys who despise Wisdom.   No, I fall more into the Can’t Stand Colossus camp.  As far as former boyfriends of Kitty’s go, I would have to rank them as:

Pete Wisdom

Ultimate Peter Parker

Iceman

Ultimate Iceman

Colossus

Earth X Colossus

Age of Apocalypse Colossus

Shame that Alistaire Stuart, Doug Ramsey, heck even Shan Coy Mahn never got off the fround.  This is why you will see Marvel keep throwing her back to Colossus all the time, there is no one else.

Which is something I have never understood about television series where the first dame we see the main male character fall for, we have to cheer him on his quest and once they break up, we want them back  together.  In RL, people date other people all the time, and we don’t pine for former loves when there are other options.  But with television series, it feels like there is only ever the first option we see.  It’s just odd to me that our entertainment wires us like that.

Back to the issue, the comic has two moments I really like and have read a couple times now.

The scene where Haller, he doesn’t like being called Legion anymore as it is pretty insulting to someone with his disease, explains the threat at hand.  There are dozens and he explains it via which characters are located where in Britain and what they are going to do.

The follow up scene where it pays off and you see that these heroes do basically do what Haller said they wouldd do, but with hero twists to them.  As that is what they do, they are heroes.  By doing so, they make England more tolerant to mutants.  Which is nice.

The heroes are: Lila Cheney, Psylocke, Chamber. Pixie, Alchemy, Liam Connaughton (who I don’t know, but he blows things up by just thinking about it), and Pete Wisdom.

Issue ends with David’s mother going to appear next isue.

X-Men Volume Three Issue 3

Posted by John Klein III on August 10, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

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Written by Brian Wood

Penciled by Olivier Coipel

Inked by Mark Morales & Olivier Coipel

Colored by Laura Martin

Primer Part Three

The book is broken down in two teams.

Away team is Storm, Psylocke, Rogue, Rachel, Sublime, Jubilee and baby.

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X-Men V3 3 Kitty 2

Home team is Kitty Pryde, Bling, Hellion, Pixie, and Primal.

I completely forgot that Primal was still around, I only own six issues of Generation Hope.  He had that one good scene where he is on trial.

Sublime is hitting on Rachel.  She doesn’t seem put off by it.  She hasn’t really been romantically linked to anyone since her first appearance with Franklin Richards.  In Excalibur, Alistaire Stuart had feelings for her, but she never seemed to notice.

The bomb at the mansion did not explode, it released something into the air.

Not sure what other comic or who would have yelled at Bling for damaging the school, as none of the teachers seem to be the yelling type and the school gets damaged so much already.  But I get not wanting to get yelled at.

Bling should know that if you got Kitty having your back for forever, that you have a friend for life.

Once the away team gets to the hospital, there is a panel with Jubilee and baby where the baby is mimicking Jubilee’s gesture.  So cute!

I like Kitty knowing that while she has to destroy the Danget Room, it is going to be expensive to repair.  That’s what happens when you are on staff.

Seems weird, like we are missing a huge scene wherein Omega Sentinel gets control of herself again and kicks Arkea out of her system.  Like Wood could have used a fourth issue with Coipel.  But that’s okay as I would have summed it up like that anyway.  Looks like Omega Sentinel and Rogue are going to be the X-Men team for a second time.  Hopefully, it goes smoother than the first time.  At least this team now, doesn’t have any active villains on it.

Jubilee’s son’s name is Shogo Lee.  I forgot her last name wad Lee. Jubilation Lee, doesn’t get more 90s than that folks.

The conversation between Rogue and Storm harkens back to that missing scene.  When did it fet dicey?  Probably cut back to it next issue.

Next issue promises an appearance by Wolverine.  It makes sense as Jubilee added a new member to her family and Logan would take an interest in that.

There is a variant cover to this issue that I added to my wishlist.

Uncanny X-Men Volume Three Issue 9

Posted by John Klein III on August 8, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , . 4 Comments

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Written by Brian Michael Bendis

Pencils / Colors by Chris Bachalo

Inked by Tim Townsend, Mark Irwin, Al Vey & Jaime Mendoza

We pick up with Dazzler and the Medina family.  Fabio’s sister recognizes Dazzler from her original singing career.  His father just comes off super racist instead of being overly protective.

Really liking Bachalo’s redesign for Dazzler, glad it got the cover treatment.

New mutant, David, gets given his mutant name, Hijack.  Pretty decent name coming from Cyclops.

Uncanny X-Men V3 9 Magik funny

Irma gets a new hair style, so now we can tell one of them apart.  That other one should dye her hair red.

Uncanny X-Men V3 9 Magik ta-daa

Favorite part of the issue would have to be the interactions between Dazzler, Emma, Scott, and Illyana.  A quick and fast way to show their history, and really fun.

I feel really bad for those Dazzler fans who thought she was being given a a huge push.

The Wolverine

Posted by John Klein III on August 6, 2013
Posted in: Film, Review. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

My wife and I saw The Wolverine last night.

It was nice to see additional Catching Fire footage, the Games’ uniforms don’t look as bad as I thought they would.

The only other remarkable trailer to note is the sequel to Thor, which I was not expecting to see.  I prefer my Thor to be on Earth, so hopefully we get plenty of that.

I really dug The Wolverine.

I liked how they kept making baby steps toward  making Movie Viper match Comic Viper, but they stop short of giving her green hair.  Which is disappointing.

I thought the actress playing Mariko did an amazing job.  Once they get off the train, she becomes instantly likeable.

I could have done with three less scenes with Jean Grey.  The first one is a nice  surprise but then we keep getting more.  The final one is cool with the White Hot Room.

I liked the battle with Mariko’s father, they probably threw that in there so that the fight from the Claremont / Miller miniseries would be represented.

Hopefully they do release an Unrated edition as Wolverine stabs a bunch of fools in the film.  It was cool to see him unleashed.

Mariko gets three love interests in the film, good for her.

I wish Yukio was given more of a free spirit in the film.  Or maybe just not with red hair, as if she can have red hair, why couldn’t Viper get green haur?  It really did bug me, I thought that’s why they did it, to get us used to non-traditional hair colors.

Mariko’s father was played by the actor who played Dogan on Lost.  I knew I recognized him from a television show.

Really couldn’t believe they took Wolverine’s adamantium claws away, that’s insane to me.

Some really good action sequences.  Some good characterization.  I wish  Mariko was still alive in the comics as I never really got any exposure to her outside of the failed wedding.

Not to many jokes, but they do stick out.  I guess they were looking for a balance.  Surprised about the profanity, made the film feel like it was more mature, which is what I want from a Wolverine film.

Hopefully Tao Okamoto, Mariko, gets to break out in the states as she was quite good in this film.

I wished we got more of Viper and Silver Samurai on screen together.  Or rather that Silver Samurai’s concept was more in line with the comic version and less of a giant robot / battlesuit.  Though it never felt like Wolverine vs. Iron Man, so that is good.

Also would have been cool to get Wolverine vs. Ninjas but Yakuza was awesome.

I had plans to ramp up to this post with reviews of the other films, but my wife surprised me with this.  Either I will do it for the DVD release or for Days of Future Past, probably for the latter.

That post credit scene is absolutely amazing!  Glad I was able to stay clear of any spoilers.  My wife believes that Wolverine got his metal claws back, vut they looked like bone to me.  I like how Logan has two year’s worth of adventures out there.

Uncanny Avengers 4

Posted by John Klein III on August 5, 2013
Posted in: Homage, Review. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

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Written by Rick Remender

Aritist is John Cassaday

Color Artist are Laura Martin and Larry Molina

I have made no secret about how I am a nut for covers paying homage to Uncanny X-Men 141.  There is a splash page in this issue that also pays homage.  I had to make a decision if I was going to start collecting interior art that does that.  I know that it so rarely happens that I really should.  It happens so rare that I bought two issues of Wizard that has a Joker / Harly Quinn homage.   Issue 181 had the first ever and then issue 200 reprinted as a showcase of great original commission art.  I figured I might as well buy it own it twice.

This issue if Uncanny Avengers, is the final part of the Red Skull has Professor Xavier’s brain storyline.

I like seeing the Cyclops’ origin story from Havok’s point of view, as it is Alex’s origin story as well.  I just never have seen it as Alex’s as, to me, he is the lesser of the two brothers.

Though I must state, I freaking adored Alex’s ongoing series, Mutant X, back in the 90s, that was a great series.  Also one of the better alternate timelines, it was well thought out and all of the changes that were made were from known storylines, so you knew where it happen.  A real shame that the series doesn’t get more references made now, but it makes sense as the last issue came out in 2001, oooof, twelve years ago.  Also, there are no available trades, so the series is not readily available.  Some of Howard Mackie’s best work, outside of his Spider-Man career.

Scarlet Witch vs. Thor, pretty impressive of Wanda.

I like the idea of Red Skull and Captain America just walking around and talking.  At this point, they have done it all, practically, so they might as well hold off on the pynching until it is truly necessary.

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The Alex / Wanda budding relationship seems to be happening here.

Alex loses points for hitting Rogue, even if he was being mind controlled, nit cool dude.

It is not until Thor picks up Wolverine’s limp body that I realize we have not seen Logan until now.

I like the little moments at the end.  Cap letting Havok stay as the leader.  Rogue not trusting Wanda.  Though that is super weird that Rogue abd Magneto have had a relationship, and niw she has to deal with his adult crazy daughter.  Thor and Wolverine’s tender moment feels like two warriors talking to each other.

Issue ends with a three month time cut to Red Skull as Onslaught that just looks cool.

Not sure how they broke it down between Martin and Molina on art, as it looks like Martin’s high quality, maybe Molina helped make it look darker, or something.  Just know this, if you have Laura Martin coloring your book, it will look timeless and beautiful.  Marvel better make like Mark Bagley, and chain her to a desk as well.

Ultimate Comics X-Men 29

Posted by John Klein III on August 1, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

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Written by Brian Wood

Penciled by Alvaro Martinez

Inked by John Lucas

Colored by Chris Sotomayor

World War X Part One

This is the final comic of the ones I didn’t get last month.  Apparently the mutants beat the American soldiers.  Now, Kitty has to fight against Jean Grey.

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Ultimate Comics X-Men 29 Shadowcat 2

James breaks up with Kitty.  As her third boyfriend, he is better than Bobby, but still nowhere near Peter.

Glad Wood remembered that Ultimate Colossus is into dudes, yet another reason why I like the Ultimate version better.

Jean is all types of crazy in this universe!

Should be a very interesting arc.

Apparently, there is a variant cover for this issue, that I will have to add to my wishlist once comicbookdb has it updated.

Wolverine and the X-Men 33

Posted by John Klein III on July 30, 2013
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Written by Jason Aaron

Penciled by Nick Bradshaw

Inked by Walden Wong

Colored by Laura Martin

Hellfire Saga Part Three

To start with, Kitty and Lockheed only appear on the cover for this issue.  Kitty apparently had a big role last issue, and hopefully I can get that one one if these days.

Toad and Kid Omega are going through the Hellfire Academy, video game style.

My main take away from this issue is this, has Oya always been depicted as being 14 years old?  Seems like I have seen her drawn much older, and the outfit she dons is completely inappropriate for a 14 year old to wear.  How old is Quire suppose to be?  I say at least 18, and now I don’t like those two flirting with each other.

I know that Kitty was 14 and Colossus was 18ish, but I wasn’t cool with that either, but mostly as that ended horribly and I don’t like Colossus.

Just that a boy learns a bunch in those four years.

I just think Aaron made a mistake making her that young, at least make her 16.  Took Kitty forever to become 18 and then 21, and that is with at least two backtracks to keep her young.

Toad and Husk have a great moment this issue as well.

Kade Kilgore is going to get ruin next issue.

Boy, this blog is making me look like a prude, which I swear, I’m not, I just want 14 year olds to grow up without having to kill a bunch of dudes and not to be depicted as sex kittens.  Which in previous artists’ defenses, I’m sure they thought she was older.

That’s pretty much that for me, I thought she was older and really surprised she isn’t.

Cable and X-Force 6

Posted by John Klein III on July 26, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

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Written by Dennis Hopeless

Art by Salvador Larroca

Colored by Frank D’ Armata

I bought this issue just for the two pages Kitty shows up for.

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Cable and X-Force 6 Kitty 2

She brings Colossus some art supplies and a letter while he is in prison.  It is done very well, Hopeless captures her character nicely, Larroca draws her nicely and D’ Armata’s coloring gives the entire book a nice realistic feel.

Other things happen in this issue like it starts with Wolverine escorting Colossus to prison.  Colossus is there for what X-Force did in previous issues, but he really is there due to him wanting to repent for what he did during AvX.

Because of losing the Phoenix force, his powers are broken.  I really like how the art team displays how his powers are in flux.  Not sure if it is all D’ Armata, like I had first thought, but it could be a combination of him and Larroca as I’m not sure who draws the metal stripes that make up the actual power aspect of Colossus.  The flux power, from panel to panel, really gives these sections a nice kinetic feel.  I really get the impression that his armor form is appearing and disappearing on its own.  It is very interesting how it is done.

There is also a whole section of the comic wherein Meltdown is running around in what can only be described as barely a bikini.  Which I feel bad as I don’t view Larroca as one of those cheesecake artists.  I’m sure he will have no problem selling those pages in the Original Art sector.

It makes story sense, in that, she is trying to trick young dumb soldiers to let her into the prison, but I just don’t read comics for T&A.  It is one of those times, when I’m rereading the issue for this post, that I was hoping my wife wasn’t going to walk in on me reading those pages.

Meltdown is breaking into the same prison that Colossus is it.  She and Domino are trying to break out an alien under Cable’s orders as he got a new vision.

Issue ends with Cyclops wanting to speak to Cable, which sounds like a cool cliffhanger.

I did not buy the next issue, mostly just been skimming the issues to see  toif Kitty or Magik appear or are mentioned.

All New X-Men 14

Posted by John Klein III on July 24, 2013
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

All-New_X-Men_Vol_1_14

Written by Brian Michael Bendis

Penciled by Stuart Immonen

Inked by Wade Von Grawbadger

Colored by Marte Gracia

This issue has everything!  Fights, jokes, kissing (fake), illusion, Avengers

A great deal of sight gags and some actual funny dialogue.

Love how quick Wolverine was to cut Jean as she was projecting the Phoenix.  Good thing Scott was there to stop him.

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Really dug the fight matchups.  Beast v Sabretooth.  Jean v Mystique.  Lady Mastermind and Jean one upping each other.

Really liked Mystique and Wolverine’s back and forth, and how Logan did know what was happening.

Scott switching opponents with Beast was a good idea.  I could had used more Beast and Sabretooth.

Jean making both Mystique and Sabretooth fall asleep, never been done before in a fight.

I like how Jean keeps apologizing for the Phoenix vision.

Kitty gets to show off smart, sass and fighting abilities with Lady Mastermind.  Love the correction of “Professor Kitty Pryde.”

With Kitty’s left hook, Immonen steals the show for the rest of the issue.

From Bobby’s fear of the Uncanny Avengers to his throwing a snowball at Thor, such great moments.  Also in the panel with Bobby being scared, Wolverine head goes down in shame.  Immonen is quite talented.

The Havok / Scott exhange and high five stole my heart.  I like how Alex is trying to have this relationship with Scott, that neither one of them has had before.

That last page with Jean and the Phoenix is odd, wish I had the last issue to see what that was about.

Next issue teases Jean and young Hank might be kissing.  It was super weird over in Claremont’s X-Men Forever, but who knows how it will play out here.

Also, this cover is musleading as well.