X-Men: Worlds Apart

Ororo and T'Challa. A match made in Heaven, destined to be separated by their bloodlines and responsibilities. For Ororo is the mutant X-Man Storm and T'Challa is the king of Wakanda and sometimes Avenger Black Panther. 

X-Men: Worlds Apart was a 4- issue miniseries released 16 years ago in 2008. So, I think I'm not going to spoil much by saying that this story marks the start of the crumbling foundation in Ororo and T'Challa's marriage. When a Wakandan mutant is accused of murdering a high ranking official, it's up to Queen Ororo to head a royal inquiry in T'Challa's absence. 

Tensions in Wakanda are already at an all-time high. Many of the Wakandan people are distrustful of outsiders. They're even more suspicious and afraid of the mutant master of the weather. How dare an X-Man marry into the royal family! Storm discovers that a powerful psychic from her past has returned and was actually behind the murder. Unfortunately, her subjects refuse to let the lad who was manipulated into the death escape mandatory Wakandan execution. So Ororo will cross loyalties from the Queen of Wakanda to X-Men leader to ensure justice prevails. But when the Black Panther suddenly returns, possessed by the Storm's ancient foe, Ororo will have to cross some lines that will forever mar her place in the Wakandan palace and in her bonds of Holy Matrimony with T'Challa.

The main story was tedious to read. Not because of the main plotline taking place in Wakanda. It was the secondary plot involving Cyclops and the those mutated CHUDS, the Morlocks. They've got to be my least favorite part of the X-Men universe. I've never liked the Morlocks. I've always found them to be unnecessary. I thought this was going to be a tale about Storm and T'Challa. Instead, about a third of the main feature involves those annoying sewer dwellers! And it takes place during the X-Men's exile in San Francisco; perhaps the weakest of any of the Marvel mutant eras!

There was a brightspot. This book also includes a team-up of the two lovers from the pages of Marvel Team-up #100 and a late 90s issue of Black Panther. The earlier story was classic 80s Marvel with writing, plotting and art by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Back when Storm was illustrated with those mysterious cat-like eyes. That too brief short story details the origins of the two lovers first meeting as children.

The more modern tale was kinda powerful with its allegory of racism and bigotry. Yet it's also rather absurd with the narration being provided by State Department liaison to Wakanda, Everett K. Ross. True, Ross has always been a sort nervous sort of fellow. But the story was supposed to reflect a report Ross was sending to his supervisors. It was anything but professional with a bunch of jokes that fall flat.

A must for die hard X-Men fans who think the Morlocks are great. However, that's not me in the very least. That's still to not say I wouldn't be open to more stories about Storm and T'Challa. Maybe it's happened prior and I just don't know it, but I would really dig a What If... detailing what would have happened if as youngsters, T'Challa forsook the throne of Wakanda and instead went off to live with Ororo in the Kilimanjaro valley of Kenya. Would Ororo have become Storm at the request of Professor X? Would Klaw or the Man-Ape have claimed the title of Black Panther after the death of King T'Chaka? That's a story I want to read. 

Hey, Marvel... call me! I'm willing to help punch out a script!

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Marvel and DC Present The Uncanny X-Men and The New Teen Titans #1

This is a book that I've seen numerous times online, having been purchased by others. Yet, I never once found it in the wild. Man, would such posts make me jealous! So you can be sure when I finally did get a chance to buy a copy, I promptly declared it was mine and added it to my pull pile.

This X-Men/New Teen Titans crossover continues the Phoenix Saga. But the main baddie chosen for this story is one that just seems unlikely. Darkseid, in yet another attempt to bring his Anti-Life Equation to fruition, has traded some powerful tech with the morally ambiguous Metron. Yet, up until 1982, when this book was published, the New Gods of Apokolips were never considered to be major foes of the Teen Titans. Yes, Deathstroke, the Terminator is involved in this plot. But he's a hired hand of Darkseid's and not the mastermind behind everything. I guess writer Chris Claremont (X-Men Vs. Dracula) really needed a powerful villain in order to bring Jean Grey back from the dead. 

That resurrection isn't a spoiler. You can see that Dark Phoenix has returned on the cover! The real mystery that I won't spoil, is whether or not the entity that has returned is Jean Grey or not. 

The most interesting thing about this story was how both the X-Men and Teen Titans exist in the same universe. I was expecting some sort of inter-dimensional tear in the fabric of reality bringing the two biggest sellers of DC and Marvel together. But I had forgotten that Superman and Spider-Man were a part of the same shared universe in their crossovers in the 1970s. 

It would be a dozen years before DC and Marvel would produce another crossover. The 90s were full of them because Marvel was close to folding and needed the sales boost such epic meetings brought with them. Nowadays, the Marvel and DC universes seem as far apart as the East is from the West. But I know in my heart that the boundary between both worlds is separated by the mere width of a single page. 

Featuring art by Walt Simonson (Fantastic Four) with inks by Terry Austin and a roster of over a dozen A-list characters, this epic was a true all-star event. Considering how beloved this book was and the fact that a reprint was issued in the mid-90s, I can't believe that it took me over 40 years to find my copy! Was it worth the wait? Visually- yes! But the story gets a little busy and Claremont really tries too tug too tight on the heart strings with Scott Summers in terms of the return of the Dark Phoenix. That overtly soap opera feel of the Uncanny X-Men is what put me off that series after a while and the book's ending sure does get soapy... I mean sappy.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #24

Marvel Comics Presents says goodbye to one Summers and welcomes another to its pages.

The Cyclops crap-o-rama finally comes to a close. It was terrible. Why is X-Factor on my wish list when I hate Scott Summers (and Jean Grey) so?! Am I a glutton for punishment?

Cyclops' brother Xavok takes the reigns in a new multi-issue story. It starts off with Wolverine in a guest-starring role. Why do I get the feeling that this story is going to focus more on him and not Alex Summers?

The Black Panther story keeps dragging on for way to long. 

The last story- a single 8-pager- stars a character that I am not familiar with: Shamrock. A former contestant in The Contest of Champions, this Irish super-heroine returns to her homeland to reconcile with her estranged father. This story delves into her origin and complicated family dynamic. It was a very good story that I wish was longer.

Another MCP stinker. Only one out of 4 stories was any good and it was way too short!

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #22

If you haven't seen the latest Marvel flick, Eternals, don't read this review.

If you do so anyway, don't blame me. Yes, I am spoiling something about the film. But I haven't seen Eternals either. 

This issue features an 8-pager by that latest darling of the MCU- Starfox. It's an off-the-wall tale that was refreshing considering how grim a lot of the material in MCP is. 

The Cyclops tale is about a terrible virus designed to wipe out the mutant population. The Black Panther story is about apartheid, racism and hate. And then there's the other 8-page one-shot starring Wolfsbane and Mirage of the New Mutants. It was about indigenous peoples and their loss of identity to white suppression.

For those of you who claim that today's comics from Marvel and DC are WOKE; let me just say Marvel Comics Presents was woke long before the alarm went off. 

I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with these type of stories. It's just if you are looking for stories to cheer you up and feel good about yourself and maybe even humanity- only the Starfox story is gonna do that for you.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #20

 

The cover focus might be on Cyclops and Black Panther, but the stars of this issue are Doctor Strange and Clea.

Doctor Strange's 2-parter titled 'Nightmare in Suburbia' has the Sorceror Supreme making a house call. The family Strange visits is clearly possessed by a demon. But just who is behind the household evils will surprise everyone!

The Clea story was beautiful. The former lover of Doctor Strange is now the leader of Dormammu's former realm- the Dark Dimension. This land can be known to blacken the heart of even the most pure of heart, such as Clea. So what is going to keep her path on the side of the angels and not become just another Dark Dimension despot?

I really have no need for the Cyclops story. It's boring. Scott Summers is boring. He's always been like my least favorite X-Man. Well, Marvel Girl gets annoying too. But that's because Jean Grey just can't stay alive or dead or whatever state of being she's a part of.

The Black Panther story isn't bad. It's just long. Scenes that should be over in 2-3 pages are stretching out over multiple issues. If Black Panther's mother was alive, he'd have found out by now if this was a Stan Lee/Jack Kirby production. And we're only at part 8 here! It's a 25 part long story!!! Good Grief. 

Not the best effort by Marvel Comics Presents. But it at least had 2 very good stories starring members of the Doctor Strange family of characters.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #17

A new X-Man headlines this anthology series. Team leader Cyclops heads to Muir island to visit Moira McTaggert and Banshee. While at the research station Cyclops observes Moira in a sort of trance. Clearly, something odd is afoot.

But the story that really got my attention stars Uatu the Watcher. It's a holiday set story that has The Watcher waxing poetic with an allegory of the Nativity story. Only it's set with aliens. Okay- this story was a little goofy. But I don't care. It's an unexpected Christmas tale from the house of ideas!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

New X-Men: Imperial

The beginnings of where the controversial Brian Michael Bendis run on X-Men ends. Grant Morrison, along with Frank Quitely and Evan Van Schier, had just taken over the reigns of X-Men, now New X-Men. Emma Frost and her Stepford Cuckoos have joined Xavier's school. Hank McCoy has evolved into a more feline looking creature and struggles to maintain his sanity. There's a hint of something between Cyclops and the former White Queen. The Sh'air Empire is in shambles. And Professor X is trapped in the body of Cassandra Nova and the villain is working in Charles to destroy the X-Men once and for all...

It's been a little over 15 years since these issues were first published. And Bendis ended his destruction of the X-Men in the last 18-months or so. Who realized that it would take a decade and a half for Marvel to unravel all this great work?

Grant Morrison is an odd duck. But he always manages to take all these great classic and shoot them into the 21st century. It's no different here with the children of the atom. Only when Morrison incorporates racial, religious and gender diversity, it's not preachy or condescending. It just feels right. This is a storytelling talent that the modern bull pen of Marvel needs to learn.

Fantastic art by Frank Quitely. He's my favorite light-inks artists. He has such an eye for detail and he literally can craft worlds.

A great read. I wish I had the previous volume that really capped the Morrison era off. But this was an acceptable start.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

X-Men Apocalypse

In the latest offering from the X-Men film series, an ancient Egyptian mutant is released from his centuries-old slumber. This being, known as En Sabah Nur, is so powerful that along with his four disciples of doom, he can literally change the world. One of Nur's disciples is Magneto, who seeming went straight after the events of Days of Future Past, but is now wishing to unleash his vengeance on the world after the death of his wife and child. 

   Seeking to stop Magneto is his former ally, Mystique. Since she parted ways with Magento at the end of the last film, the shape-shifting mutant has been on a personal mission, secretly savings mutants from humans seeking to exploit them. Mystique's actions in saving Nixon in 1973 has made her a hero in both the human and mutant communities of 1983. So when Nur's Four Horsemen kidnap Professor Xavier, it's up to Mystique to lead a group of untested but equally star-struck mutants to stop En Sabah Nur's plan to unleash the destruction of the apocalypse onto the world.

    X-Men: Apocalypse is my favorite of the new trilogy. It narrowly beats outs First Class and it leaves Days of Future Past lying in its wake. Now whether this film is better than X2: X-Men United is up for debate. 

   Personally, I don't think it outpaces X2, but it's close. To me, the reason why Apocalypse doesn't assume the throne as the greatest X-Men movie ever is because of the character of William Stryker. I thought Stryker died at the end of Days of Future Past what with Mystique impersonating him at the film's end in order to rescue Wolverine from the Potomac. But the evil army officer rears his ugly head once again with no explanation as to his return and possible resurrection. (But if I know director Bryan Singer, this will all be covered in the film's DVD director's cut due out sometime in the next couple of years...)

   Speaking of Bryan Singer, I think he does yet another bang up job at the helm of the X-Men franchise. I heard earlier this week that he's taking a break from directing X-Men movies for a while and some fans cheered. I think they're more upset at the amazing job he has done and how each success keeps Marvel from adding most of the mutant population to its cinematic universe.

     Apocalypse was a fun ride of almost 2 and a half hours of action, adventure, humor, and surprises galore! Seeing the younger versions of Jean Grey, Scott Summers, and Nightcrawler was pretty cool and just wait until you see them in uniform at movie's end. While some feel that the character of Jubilee was underused, I think the real victim was Olivia Munn's Psylocke. She mostly poses for the camera for about 9/10 of her scenes and when she actually does something it's wasn't that impressive.

  With some mild violence, a few swears, with a biggie or two thrown it, it's a good movie for the 12 and up crowd. (My God Son loved it!) And unlike Civil War, I wasn't bored one bit. There I said it, X-Men Apocalypse beats Captain America: Civil War. But it's Deadpool that is still leading as the best Marvel movie of 2016. 
   
  Worth Consuming

     Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

X-Men: Battle of the Atom

 A few months ago, I noticed that both the collected volumes of Marvel NOW series All-new X- Men and Uncanny X-Men were missing a couple of issues. Battle of the Atom is the work that collects those missing issues. A couple of issues of Wolverine and the X-Men ( along with the 2-issue miniseries of Battle of the Atom) are contained within this volume as well. I assume that those issues are missing from the Wolverine trades, but my library doesn't carry that series, so I'm not sure if this is the case.

   I was really excited to finally get this book as I have waited forever for it. I had requested that my local library carry this book since before Thanksgiving and it took until late last month to finally arrive.  But it was worth the extra wait.

    Pressure mounts for the original X- Men to return to their own time. With no one to trust, Jean Grey and Scott Summers make a run for it. But on their tails are a group of X-Men claiming to be from the future. They to want to see the original Children of the Atom returned to their proper place on the timeline.  Only this group of X-Men  more vindictive and cunning in pursuit of their goal, leads Wolverine to smell a rat and do something he never thought he'd do in a million years- team up with the present's Cyclops band of mutant freedom fighters in order to save and protect the first X-Men from being wiped out of existence.

   Battle of the Atom was an epic adventure that pits multiple X-Men teams from across the decades. The only team missing it seems is the Giant-Sized X-Men team created by Chris Claremont in the mid-70s.Written by Brian Michael Bendis, with Jason Aaron and Brian Wood, this trio actually gives Claremont a run for his money on this. The artwork lead by Frank Cho and Stuart Immonen was really good too. However, the last two chapters seemed to have a different inker as the art didn't quite look as clean as the rest of the book.

    Essential reading and a must to complete your Marvel NOW X-titles run, especially if you are collecting only the trades.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

   

Uncanny Origins #1

Now that I have seen Batman V Superman, my anticipation for Captain America: Civil War is beginning to grow. So I decided to spend some time getting to know the members of the Marvel Universe a little better. My choice of reading is Uncanny Origins, a secret Origins type title from the mid-90s.

  Uncanny Origins started in 1996 and lasted about a dozen issues or so. Though not a very common series to find, I was able to get most of my full run in bargain books. I spent no more than a dollar a book, except for issue #7, starring Venom. For some reason, it lists for upwards of $10 and I had to take to eBay to finally securing one and completing my collection.

    This series was written as an all ages primer for mostly young readers though adults could enjoy this title as well. Uncanny Origins was part of Marvel's .99¢ line of books that included a Spider-Man series, at least two X-Men titles, and a reboot of Marvel Fanfare. With the exception of the last title, one of this book's most appealing quality was that the issues were drawn in the art deco style of DC’s Batman: The Animated Series.

   The first subject for the debut issue of Uncanny Origins is the story of Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops, the first X-Man. When aliens attack his family’s plane, Scott and little brother Alex are forced to bail out using only one parachute. This results in severe head injuries for the boys that will eventually impact their latent mutant abilities.

   Separation results in Alex getting a new forever home and lots of additional tragedy for Scott. One day on a trip to visit an eye specialist, Scott's mutant abilities manifest in him uncontrollably shooting laser beams from his eyes. With the FBI aware of a rogue mutant’s existence, Scott goes on the run but runs afoul of other mutants who seek to use the lad for their nefarious schemes. Thankfully there's a very powerful mutant on the side of good whose taken an interest in Scott's case. But can this mystery man get to the young mutant before it's too late?

  I liked this story very much. I had always had trouble with Cyclops' origin because I thought it strange that he would just happen to know that ruby quartz could help him control his laser blasts. But this story does an admirable job explaining how Scott came to be wearing the red sunglasses prior to his latent abilities which would literally explode onto the scene.

  I thought the art was quite good. Artist Dave Hoover does a masterful job though I thought his Professor X looked a little weird. Still, it was the artwork that first sold me on this series but if the stories are as good as this first one, I will be a fan for life.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.