X-Men: Rarities

I'm not really sure what this X-Men collection is titled Rarities, considering that I've read 2 of these 5 included stories before. 

The opening story, taken from an issue of Bizarre Adventures marks Bobby Drake, Iceman's first silo adventure which occurred about 3 full years before his 4-issue miniseries by J.M. DeMatteisx. The middle story, penned by Chris Claremont, originally appeared in the pages of Al Milgrom's Marvel Fanfare. It depicts a tense truce between Storm and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutant's Mystique over the soul of Rogue who at the time of the story has ironically gone rogue. 

Those were the two stories that I had previously read. The new-to-me stories include a peek at what happened after the Giant-Size X-Men rescued the Uncanny X-Men from the menace of Krakoa. An untold tale presented in Classic X-Men, it's a story that covers a period of mutant history that I had never really thought about and yet it's such a brilliant idea! When the introduction of the new X-Men concludes, there's like a dozen people now on the team. What happened that fateful first night together that caused Havoc, Angel and several others to decide to forgo membership as part of Professor X's team? Chris Claremont answers those questions with some stunning artwork by John Bolton.

Stan Lee and Steve Ditko are highlighted with a story developed for the pages of Amazing Adults Fantasy #14. 'The Man in the Sky' is a pre-X-Men story, considered by many to be the concept that gave birth to the Children of the Atom. It's a very short story that ends with a typical Ditko finale that is anything but. It makes me wonder if the character of Tad Carter, being Marvel's first official mutant, ever made an appearance in the X-Men universe of comics. (Turns out he has in the pages of X-Men: The Hidden Years.)

The last story, starring Generation X, is in my opinion the only real rarity in the book. An introduction for the all-new team of mutants led by Sean Cassidy, was a Comicon exclusive in 1994. Since this promo comic was only offered to the lucky few who tried to San Diego, I feel like this is a title that can officially be declared a rare find. If you ask me, X-MEN: Rarities should have been comprised of promo stories featuring the legion of mutants that house the Marvel Universe. That would have been more appropriate than putting in several stories that just happened to be published in more lesser known publications.

Finally, I want to comment on the story that starred Mystique. Originally published in 1988, the story offers a revealing glimpse at the character's gender fluidity, since Raven Darkholme is a shape shifter. But even more groundbreaking is what happens after Storm departs the underground club in which Mystique summoned her foe. Right in the middle of the club is Irene Hadler- Destiny! The woman who just recently wed Mystique in the pages of some X-Men book and caused countless fanboys to lose their minds! 'Woke Comics!', they cried. And yet, here's Raven and Destiny as lovers 36 years prior! Seems that these so-called Marvel comics experts know nothing about the history of one of the X-Men's most popular foes!

A fairly decent grab bag of X-Men stories. I think my idea of a collection of promo comics has merit and is more entitled to the title of 'Rarities.' But this is still a good read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 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.

Uncanny Origins #8

   The most thrilling mutant of all stars in this issue of Uncanny Origins- the Swashbuckling Nightcrawler! As I've mentioned in earlier posts, Nightcrawler is one of my favorite X-Men. But the series that made me such a fan wasn't Claremont's epic run on the All-New X-Men but his Anglocentric series, Excalibur in which Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde form a group across the pond when they think that their American teammates have died.

   But this origin story takes place decades for either team has formed with the mutant Mystique on the run from angry villagers who think her blue appearance and yellow eyes are signs that she is a demon. To save her skin, she dumps her baby boy into the river and takes the appearance of a preacher, claiming that he has killed the devil! Wow- mom of the year!

   The child turns out to be Nightcrawler, who in a page from Exodus, is found safely by a gypsy woman who adopts him as her son. Named Kurt, the young mutant grows up living every kid's dream as a member of the circus. This is actually a great thing for Nightcrawler as audiences think that his blue furred appearance is a costume and that his ability to teleport is the result of smoke and mirrors. 

   I really enjoyed this issue. It revealed a lot about the hero that I didn't know. It also boasts a very good story. For once, this series crafts an all-encompassing story that spans the years. But instead of just being a whirlwind barrage of facts. This was an actual epic that had a great plot and didn't skimp on the specifics or the small stuff. The guest creative team of Bill Rosemann and Marc Campos did a masterful job, though, in reality, I miss the art of Dave Hoover.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

   
   

X-Men: Days of Future Past

In the not too distant future, the fate of all sentient life on earth rests in the hands of the X-Men. The sentinels, a group of robotic mutant hunters designed by Bolivar Trask have become the de facto rulers of the planet. Originally design to seek and eradicate all mutant kind, the androids turned on humanity when they finally became sympathetic to the mutant plight.

    Professor X, teamed with former foe Magneto has a plan. He will transfer his consciousness back in time into his younger self in order to prevent Mystique from killing Trask and initiating the Sentinel Program. However, Kitty Pryde has never sent anyone back into time more than a few days and she doesn't believe that Xavier's highly developed brain can stand a 40 year trip through time. Thus, the rapid healing Wolverine is sent back to 1973 in order to reteam Xavier with Magneto in a combined effort to stop the shape-shifting mutant.

 Days of Future Past is based on the 1981 Uncanny X-Men storyline of the same name developed by Chris Claremont and John Byrne. Except for possibly the Dark Phoenix Sage, that time traveling adventure is perhaps the most iconic X-Men tale of all time. I know the cover for Uncanny X-Men #141 surely is the most copied and tributed cover to feature Marvel mutants. Quite a bit of that seminal work is used in this film. But since when has Kitty Pryde had the ability to send people back in time? I've never seen this occur in any X-Men title and I've read my fair share!

  The film is heavy on action and adventure. I saw this film on DVD and unlike Amazing Spider-Man 2, I didn't feel like any of the CGI special effects looked fake. Even it's choreography was quite good. Especially, the character Blink and her ability to create portals in order for mutants to evade the sentinels. It was like watching poetry in motion.

   One aspect that this film got a lot of grief was over some of the casting. While we get the best of both X-Men series in this movie, including the younger and older versions of Professor X and Magneto, along with fan-favorite Wolverine, Storm, and Colossus, many hated the character of Quicksilver. The character, played by Evan Peters was criticized for being too young and immature. But, that kinda was the point of the character and his super-speed abilities were really needed to help speed up a very stagnant part of the movie. Plus, I liked that it's alluded to the Magneto might be Quicksilver's dad as in the comics.

   While I overlooked the casting choices, I did have some issues with plotting. The futuristic parts of Days of Future Past are set some time after the events of X-Men 3. We know this because, in one scene, Wolverine has flashbacks to having killed Jean Grey at that movie's end. So, how come Professor X is alive and in his Patrick Stewart body?  Didn't Jean vaporize him into a billion atoms in X3? I know that it's hinted in X3 that the Professor X took over someone else's body during the chaser scene, But wouldn't he then look different? To the film's fault, it's never explained how he got his new body back.


   There is supposed to be a director's cut of this movie, called the ' Rogue Cut' as a good 20 minutes of the character Rogue played by Anna Paquin was cut out due to time constraints. (The film is almost 2 and a half hours long.) So, maybe Xavier's return along with Magneto regaining his magnetic powers are going to be revealed in that edition on the film. I look forward to it when it drops sometime this summer.

    The ending of this film takes the X-Men franchise into two different directions. The New Class cast is due to appear in a third film, rounding out that trilogy. But I feel that the story of the original X-Men film trilogy's cast isn't over. Since Wolverine was essentially the main character link between both film franchises, hopefully, Hugh Jackman's swan song as Logan will explore just how the timeline has changed. (I hope not to spoil too much but I will say that if like me, you were angered by a certain character's death in X3, then you're going to love the end to this film.)

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Fanfare # 40

In perhaps one of the most beautiful tales I’ve ever read, a grandmother experiencing a crisis of faith, has her prayers answered when Warren Worthington III crashes into her back yard. Believing the mutant, Angel, is the real celestial deal, the heartwarming ending was all it took to make this story an instant classic. 

The backup feature also involves mutants and a crisis of faith of sorts. Here, Mystique summons Storm to a neutral setting in a chess match over the X-Men Rogue’s soul. The morality play is quite good until the ending when Mystique starts to morph into a member of the opposite sex. Then the lines get quite blurry and when she monologues her true intentions, I really haven’t a clue what she is talking about. Too bad, it was a disappointing ending to an otherwise near-flawless issue of Marvel Fanfare.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars