X-Men #1 (2026 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

1991's X-Men #1 by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee holds the Guinness World Record for the best selling single issue of all-time. The total number of copies sold is around the 8 million mark. However, I don't think it's a fair attribute. 8 million people didn't buy this book. There were 4 different variant covers that revealed a massive battle scene between the X-Men and Magneto. Add the fervor of speculators who gobbled up first issues by the long box full, and in reality, X-Men #1 was probably only purchased by 2-3 million individuals. 

The new series was a restructuring of the X-Men franchise. Seeing that there were just too many mutants to keep track of,  first, Marvel killed off a few fan favorite characters with a massacre in Genosha. Then they split the roster in half and blue some of the all-time greats together in a sister series. Then, Magneto, who had become an ally of the Xavier's School for Gifted Children, renounced his membership and fled to the ruins of his asteroid compound to create a refuge for mutants. In return, Charles Xavier returned to lead the X-Men after years away. 

Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Beast, Storm, Gambit, and Rogue. Plus support from the mechanic genius Forge. If this sounds like the lineup for Fox's classic X-Men: The Animated Series, you're almost right. Only Jubilee is missing. But over time, she'll be recruited by Cyclops to join what will soon be dubbed 'the blue team.'

As Claremont was winding down his lengthy run as the X-Men's scribe, co-plotter and artist Jim Lee's star was rising. In just a couple of issues, Lee would also become the new writer of the series. But his tenure would be short. Feeling undervalued by Marvel, Lee and about a half dozen other writers and artists from the bullpen broke free from the publisher and founded Image Comics. 

A rotating lineup of talent would write on the new X-Men title, including Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, and Grant Morrison. After a brief 2-issue fill-in by Art Thibert, before eventually setting on Andy Kubert as the regular penciler from issue #14-59. As for the series itself, beginning with the Morrison run, issue #114, it was retitled New X-Men. Issue #157 lost the 'New' moniker before another change at issue #208. Becoming X-Men: Legacy, the title went back to just X-Men in 2012 for the milestone 300th issue. Never cancelled due to dwindling sales, X-Men #300 concluded many storylines and paved the way to seasonal relaunches in hopes of streamlined numbering of titles.

 However, if you have ever read any of my reviews of the more recent Deadpool series with a nearly annual reset back to issue #1, you'll know that I hate this new way Marvel numbers it's books. It's a leading reason that I have stayed away from most Marvel series of the past decade. But I don't seem to be the only one who hates this new method of doing business. However, despite how much we hate it, it doesn't seem like Marvel will be ceasing this way of conducting business any time soon.

Completing this review completes Task #36 ( Work by Jim Lee, Fiona Staples or Alex Ross) of the 2026 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

And with this review, my 2026 Reading Challenge is COMPLETE!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Uncanny X-Men: Poptopia

The X-Men are back in London. No, the mutant superteam Excalibur hasn't reformed. Though an original member of the group is one of the heroes visiting England. Cerebro, the X-Men's mutant locating super computer has registered a large population of mutants underneath the streets of London. Nightcrawler, Ice Man, Archangel and Wolverine are on a mission to offer membership to their brethren. However, they'll need to offer sanctuary as an enhanced madman is on the hunt for these 'genetic freaks.'

The X-Men also have a secondary agenda: retrieve the AWOL member of Generation-X, Chamber. After a catastrophic encounter that lead this new generation of X-Men fractured, Chamber fled to London, hoping to find himself. Instead, he finds himself as the British tabloids latest subject when he catches the eye of pop superstar Sugar Kane. 

This volume is book-ended with 2 solo stories. Jean Grey and Wolverine must address their complicated relationship when they are transported into the fracturing mind of a brand new mutant who is enamored with the militant ways of Magneto. Then Warren Worthington, III learns that his family run mega-corporation has invested in a place called the X-Ranch. It's pretty much what you think. The X-Ranch is a sordid bordello where wealthy homo sapiens spend a ton of cash to get their kinky licks in the arms of a harem of seductive homo superiors. 

Published in 2001, this era of the X-Men occurs after Grant Morrison's revamp of the Children of the Atom. Those really cool black with yellow trim uniforms are still in service. Only now everyone looks like they're a cross between a model for American Eagle and a goth frequent shopper at Hot Topic. 

For the most part, the art is really good. Only the costume and character design is too cyberpunk. And there's one issue where the guest artists tried to emulate the fantastic Bill Sienkiewicz and just failed miserably. Joe Casey's plots are good. But the dialogue needs work. Who used the phrase 'What's your major malfunction?' back in 2001. It's an example of how the dialogue was about 20 years too late to appear in a Marvel comic book. 

I found this book at a thrift shop where I don't think I paid more than $2 for it. The UK Sun stylized cover really caught my eye and the price was nice, of course. 'Poptopia' was like riding a roller-coaster. Only it wasn't because of the level of action. Instead, there were extreme moments of superior quality dipping into depths of really bad comic book creating. I'm one to talk. I'm sure that Sean Phillips and Ashley Wood, among others, are much better artists than I will ever be. However, I also felt like a very good portion of this collection of X-Men comics wouldn't have met the standards of former editors Stan Lee or Jim Shooter 

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

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.

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.

Marvel Meow #1 (Family Comic Friday)

The popular Marvel Infinity web comic has arrived at your local comic shop! Celebrating the felines of the Marvel Universe along with their heroic and sometimes dastardly owners, Marvel Meow is a read that should delight many a fan of cats.

I'm a huge cat person. I've owned a cat everyday of my life except for 3. The joke has always been that those were the best 3 days of my life. But in reality, I just can't imagine my life without at least 1 gato in the thick of it.

While I think that the average cat fan will really enjoy this all-ages special, I don't think the casual Marvel fan will understand a lot of things that are going on. Since when did Doctor Doom get to walk around without a care in the world at an Avengers fete? Why is Mister Sinister interacting like a best friend with the X-Men? I didn't know that 2 of Marvel's most fierce foes became teddy bears, not just with their kitties but with the heroes of the MCU as well.

I also think that if you're not a fan of Manga, you might not enjoy this book as much as the average Otaku; a fanatic of Japanese comics. As with manga, the characters change shape, art style or overall appearance when they display intense emotions and for a reader not familiar with that technique, it can be confusing. A lot of the stories and skits in this book rely on pantomime and emoji. Again, it's a standard Manga technique. And they are beautifully illustrated by artist Nao Fuji. But it's kinda unusual for us Generation X and older comic book collectors. Call me a 'boomer' if you want but without word bubbles, it's hard to follow the plot of those stories sometimes.

If you are a regular reader of Marvel Meow online at Marvel Unlimited, you might be wondering why should you read the print version? Well, it's not all reprints. There's an all-new exclusive story added to the mix. Plus an assortment of new covers!

I for one am appreciative of Marvel putting it's digital material into print form. They've done it as well with a couple of specials starring the breakout character of Jeff the Shark, who does appear in this book! I've been trying to show my support by buying up some of these collections. I just hope Marvel will take the hint and release a paper copy of their Unlimited holiday specials! I'd be first in line to not just reserve my copy but to buy it as well. For now, I'm excited with this tribute to the cats of Marvel, even if Manga isn't really my thing.

As they say: cats rule, dogs drool! 

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Wolverine: First Class, Vol. 4: Ninjas, Gods and Divas

A couple of weeks ago, I was wanting to read something fun. Something light. Only, I'd select a book, head to the bedroom to read it and discover that a Halloween themed story is inside. I don't know about you but a personal rule of mine is that you can't read Halloween comics unless it's October. So I held on to that book and went to find another. Wouldn't you know it, it too had a Halloween time set story inside. I went through this like 4 times before I finally gave up. It was like I was cursed or something.

On Saturday, I went ahead and began reading this book. The debut issue of the X-Men/Power Pack miniseries, which is the Halloween tale, was the last story in this volume. I didn't see it as breaking the rules of I didn't read that story until October 1st. I also didn't expect this series to turn out how it did.

Based on the title of 'First Class', I thought that this was going to be a series of untold origin tales starring everyone's favorite Canadian mutant, Wolverine either before Weapon X or during his time as a member of Alpha Flight. That's kinda how X-Men: First Class turned out. Instead, the majority of the stories are set during the early days of the Uncanny X-Men, when Kitty Pryde was the only adolescent student at Xavier's School for Gifted Students. 

Professor X sees that Kitty Pryde needs to toughen up a bit, least she never make it as an X-Man. Xavier also thinks that the hard travelling Logan needs to lighten up a bit and learn some empathy. Thus a classic team-up is born. Only don't expect these stories to just involve Sprite and Wolverine. There are a ton of cameos representing the mutant race as well as pairings with a slew of superstars from the Marvel Universe.

Together Wolverine and Kitty Pryde take on Red Hand ninjas with Daredevil and Elektra, stop a troll invasion with Thor and go on tour with Dazzler, who recently received a death threat in her private dressing room. Even though Wolverine is known to be very good at doing some very un-nice, he's like a grumpy uncle who always acts like he hates kids, but secretly is a softie to them. 

Peter David wrote the 3 stories collected from Wolverine: First Class. David is one of those writers who can write serious as well as lighthearted and both are equally great. Plus, Peter David puts the fun into everything he touches and from what I read, this book was capital F- U-N!

What about that Halloween story? It was a lot of fun too. When Power Pack came out in the 80s, I wasn't a big fan. I thought it was kinda dumb having kid superheroes. As I've gotten older, I have kinda grown to like them a little more. I see now how a group of 4 kids becoming heroes could expand the imagination of a fellow youngster to dream of becoming something fantastic. Plus, since the whole secret identity thing is out the window because Mom and dad both know, a lot of the implausibles that plague kid superheroes are eliminated.

The Halloween story is mostly a Power Pack adventure. One of the kids dresses up like Wolverine in hopes of winning the local costume contest. Getting separated from his siblings, the preteen Wolvie runs smack dab into Sabertooth while his family meets the real deal X-Man.

That story had great banter and was a perfect way to start off my October themed reads. As for Wolverine: First Class, I'm hooked. I want to know how many total issues were in the series and I want to add it to my wishlist. I kinda feel like I should give 2 ratings. One of the team-ups and and for the holiday special. Good thing both reads were flawless.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 1

This volume collects the first 10 issues of Marvel's X-Men ever published. I'm pretty sure that I've read most, if not all of these issues prior. But I have never experienced them in such glorious remastered color!

These issues reflect what I think is some of the very best and very worst of the early days of Marvel Comics. These stories debuted starting in the fall of 1963. That's not quite 2 full years of the Marvel Age of Comics yet. While many of the heavy-hitters including Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the Avengers have already debuted prior to the creation of these mutants, X-Men is really the first Marvel series aimed directly at primarily a teen audience. 

Stan Lee pens these stories and the first 2 or 3 issues show that Stan the Man had zero idea how early 60s high schoolers talked. Spider-Man was great because the kids in the book talked like normal people. Johnny Storm, the first teen of Marvel Comics, used some slang and was annoying. But at least he was only 1 character. Here you've got 5 high school students who despite their mutant abilities, look like kids who would've gone to a prep school and yet they talk like rejects from Blackboard Jungle. 

Thankfully, by issue #5, the bad attempts at 60s teenage language are aborted. But now it's replaced by really bad romantic pinings internally expounded by Cyclops, Jean Grey and even Professor X! Thankfully, Xavier's unrequited love towards his under-aged student, Marvel Girl, is quickly forgotten about. Yet, lots of people complain about how out of touch DC writers were with the youth counter-culture during the 1960s. Sure, the House That Superman Built never could get the generation gap right in their books. However, these early X-Men comics are proof that Marvel was far from perfect when it came to American's youth.

Jack Kirby was the main artist of these 10 first issues. I love Jack Kirby. However, I could tell that the X-Men was definitely a title that Kirby felt at times was beneath him. Some issues, the artwork looks rushed. Especially issues 1,2 and 6. However, when the King got a chance to be less rigid, like the 10th issue which takes place in the prehistoric Savage Lands, you could tell that Kirby had tons of fun drawing all those different dinosaurs and cavemen. Plus, it was really neat getting to see Ka-Zar's re-entry into the Marvel Universe as a teen warrior out of time after having recently reads some of his original exploits as a Tarzan arch-type in the African jungle.

Compared to how the X-Men universe has unfolded today, 1963-64 mutantdom is rather plan. The Danger Room is rather unimaginative. For one training session, Marvel Girl is tasked with telekinetically sewing laces on a practice board! There's no more than a dozen mutants with Magneto being the big baddie and for a character that will one day become a Jewish symbol of resilience and resistance, the X-Men foe sure does have a lot of fascist ideas in the book.

These 10 issues were enjoyable stories. But they definitely were not the best Marvel had to offer at the time. Oddly enough, though X-Men will go on to become the flagship standard of heroes for Marvel Comics from the 1970s to the early 2010s, these guys were in serious danger of becoming swept under the rug for their first dozen years of existence. The X-Men don't really gain a devoted cult status until 1975-76 when Len Wein, Dave Cockrum and a neophyte writer named Chris Claremont retool the entire team to being more of a group of international mutants instead of American misfits. Adding a character by the name of Wolverine to their ranks helped a lot with this newfound popularity. 

If I am at all honest, if I was to pick a group of oddball 1960s superheroes to put all my money on, it would be the Doom Patrol. Many, including series creator Arnold Drake and myself included saw the early X-Men as a poor copy of the DP team. I think it helped that the DC team had better and far more original villains than the students at the Xavier School did at the time. Magneto and the Blob are great foes. The Toad, Mastermind, Unus the Untouchable, and siblings Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver are not. (Can anybody tell me why the Vanisher is dressed like a snake?) But I really think the hearts of both Stan Lee and Jack Kirby just weren't in it 100% with this title and the lack of dedication shows as the consistency of Marvel Age quality just isn't noticeable in about half of these reprinted issues.

Worth Consuming, but just barely.

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

X-Men: Asgardian Wars

Recent posts of some of the artwork done in this collection from Arthur Adams is what persuaded me after all this time to dig it out and finally read it. This trade paperback collects X-Men and Alpha Flight #1-2, New Mutants Special Edition and X-Men Annual #9. The Norse god of mischief, Loki is the villain behind all of these stories. 

In X-Men and Alpha Flight, Loki offers both teams of mutants the chance of a lifetime- to finally be human. Of course, both teams don't realize that it's Loki who's working behind the curtains. So at first, most of the heroes are eager at the chance at being normal; especially characters like Cyclops, Puck and Nightcrawler, whose mutant abilities and appearances make any chance at a normal life impossible. Obviously, Wolverine smells a rat and some of the Alpha Flight team don't want to lose what makes them individuals. Thus, when things don't go perfectly, Loki reveals himself and has a massive hissy fit!

New Mutants Special Edition starts off with the newest generation of gifted mutants enjoying a day at the beach. At this point in time, Storm of the X-Men, has lost her powers. Yet, she valiantly leads the New Mutants with bravery and bravado. This very much intrigues Loki who kidnaps Ororo. While under her spell, Loki offers her all the powers of a god, as long as she'll become his betrothed. 

The New Mutants are dispersed all through Asgard and placed in ideal situations in hopes that the youth will enjoy their new surroundings and forget the whole thing about their teacher getting taken. It seems to work at first. But as memories of their past on earth start breaking through, the teens manage to find themselves. But the collective whole of the New Mutants just isn't enough to take on Loki and his newly juiced up bride-to-be Storm!

The New Mutants story continues in the X-Men annual. Somehow the X-Men have been alerted to Loki's plot and still angry over the Norse deity's actions with Alpha Flight, the mutants are looking for payback.

Chris Claremont penned all 3 stories. They're reflections of his skill as a writer as well as his annoying tendency to turn mutant tales into soap opera fodder. Paul Smith and Bob Wiacek were the artists on the X-Men and Alpha Flight. Adams penciled the New Mutants story and the annual. While Smith and Wiacek's art was good, Art Adams work was light years ahead. Let's face it, Adams is a master and if he only had a body of work that equalled Kirby or Ditko, he'd be a serious contender for Mount Rushmore of Artists contention. 

A good collection of stories. Some of your favorite Asgardians guest stars in these pages. But no appearance from everyone's favorite. That's right; Beta Ray Bill is nowhere in sight. Neither is this golden haired impostor named Thor.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Agents of A.T.L.A.S. Vs. X-Men and the Avengers

A premier edition hardback collecting a pair of crossovers starring the Agents of A.T.L.A.S..

A little background information first- The Agents of ATLAS are a group of superheroes who first operated in the 1950s. (Originally, they were a Roy Thomas and Donald Glut concept floated around in the pages of What If... #9 (June, 1978). The group of heroes became official members of the Marvel universe after Marvel editor Mark Paniccia stumbled across the classic issue and inspired Jeff Parker to bring the group into the present day. 

After the events of the first Secret Invasion, the dastardly Norman Osborn negotiated his way into becoming the head of Earth's intelligence community. Not trusting the sometime Green Goblin, super spy Jimmy Woo took the place of the Chinese crime lord Yellow Claw's criminal underworld. With the help of the simian Gorilla Man, telepathic Marvel Boy, Atlantean Namora and the super-powerful robot M-11, Jimmy Woo keeps tabs on Osborn while transforming the criminal elements he's inherited into a force of good. 

X-Men Vs. Agents of ATLAS opens with teammate Venus being kidnapped by a centaur. With the X-Men having just fled their San Francisco area base, thanks to Osborn declaring the mutant enemies of humanity (once again), Woo hopes to borrow the X-Men's Cerebra device to find the missing agent. The unauthorized use of Cerebra sets off a warning alarm and the X-Men return to their abandoned base to investigate. 

In typical Marvel fashion, when the two teams meet, it's a battle royale. Nobody talks. They always start with fisticuffs. Only, there is a slight twist to this battle as members of both teams seem to have a history of fighting each other previously. Yet nobody can actually recall having done so before. 

Then in Avengers Vs. Atlas, the agents respond to a time anomaly in the heart of New York City. Jimmy Woo's team discovers Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the midst of an epic battle with a gigantic entity that seems to be about 1 second out of sync with time. Thanks to Wolverine being a member of the Avengers and having been in the previous story, Logan prevents a typical first meeting melee. That is until the temporal entity engulfs the modern day Avengers and replaces them with the original line-up! 

Now it's Jimmy Woo's Agents of ATLAS against Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Giant Man and the Wasp. And now the battle begins before a chance of introductions. Remember that the Hulk was one of the original Avengers? Hopefully, he won't show up, right?

I absolutely hated the X-Men story. It had too many characters. There was too much back story that one needed to know in order to enjoy the plot. And while I enjoyed the elements of the original X-Men and their first encounter of the Agents, things got really confusing. And honestly, it didn't feel like some of those feelings of deja vu ever truly got resolved. Plus, this story was a two-parter and it felt like writer Jeff Parker was trying to shove an extra large helping of stuffing into a medium sized turkey. And the opening segment was a giant sized Thanksgiving feast of disappointment. 

At least the artwork was exquisite. Carlo Pagulayan illustrated the modern story and his depictions especially of the female characters was alluring. The flashback segments were by Chris Samnee. Those segments evoked the nostalgic feel of the late, great Darwyn Cooke.

The Avengers story was a 4-parter. I loved the first 3 issues. I had a better understanding of the story. I'll admit that reading the X-Men crossover helped a lot with that. The element of time travel and having lots of surprises pop up was great. The ending was really meta. There's a lot of quantum physics involved. And while I understand that the characters got to point B from point A, I have no idea how the Avengers arrive at that point. And I read that segment at least thrice!

The Avengers tale almost salvaged this entire edition. I was just about ready to keep this book as part of my collection. Yet that complex ending was just way too over my head. I'd rather my limited shelf space be devoted to something else. So I'll trade this in hopes of purchasing some else more permanent for my collection.

Oh! And isn't that like the worst cover to a book that you've ever seen in your life? There were so many other great regular and variant covers used in these comics. Why did they choose that monstrosity from Humberto Ramos? It looks like they dislocated Cap's jaw or something!

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain

The sequel to X-Men Noir has a much different tone. The story starts in jungles of Madripoor with the original '40s Angel, Wolverine, Cyclops and Puck seeking the legendary Eye of Cyttorak. In desperate need of cash, these survivors from the first miniseries take a job for a crime lord which results in a double cross! But when the boss winds up dead back in the States, there's a second chance to score some bread from this rotten deal. The only thing standing in their way- recently paroled Professor Charles Xavier and his newly formed Uncanny X Men!

This Marvel Noir entry had a little bit of everything. The first chapter was like if Indiana Jones was a mutant. Then there's a Hong Kong crime picture. Horror thriller. Mission Impossible type heist. And a wrap up with a Body Heat/Double Indemnity type mystery noir. 

While I did feel that the Mark of Cain was much better than the first X-Men Noir book, it wasn't perfect. At times, this book was a bit schizoid. That's not me trying to be poetic or something. That's a literal assessment.

One thing that I appreciated more with this series was the lack of the prose pulp that really caused the first volume to lag. I think those extra 2-3 pages were needed. This story definitely was action packed!

The behind the scenes stuff was a lot more in-depth this time around too. So many great images. And those variant covers- breathtaking!

The final image of this story sets things up for a third volume. That would round out a trilogy. Alas, that just doesn't seem likely. Mark of Cain debuted on shelves in 2009. I just don't see Marvel rounding things out any time soon. Marvel does get nostalgic and returns to it's theme storylines from time to time. Marvel2099 is making a return currently. Could Marvel Noir be awaiting in the wings? If so, I hope we find out what happened immediately after the curtains feel on this adventure.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

X-Men Noir

In 1940s New York, Eric Magnus is the chief of police. In the pocket of several crime bosses, Magnus let crime take over the Big Apple while putting on a show in front of the press with his war against the X Men. As for the X Men, they aren't heroes. Instead, they're a bunch of former juvenile delinquents who were 'reformed' into the ways of crime by the noted psychiatrist Charles Xavier.

Our story opens on the first day of Eric's son Peter's first day as a detective. Peter and his partner have been called to the docks to investigate a death- that of Jean Grey. Meanwhile, a reporter is snooping around into the history of the X Men. His investigation seems personal. But what those motivations are just aren't clear. But upon an interview with an incarcerated Xavier, the journal is given an urgent tip- 'Find Marie Rankin'- the rogue X Man!

X-Men Noir is an interesting take on the Marvel mutants. I've seen medieval X-Men. Fairy tale X-Men. I've even encountered X-Men Babies. While this may not be my favorite incarnation of the group, I much preferred these gritty heroes to the Noir version of Daredevil that I read previously. There was an air of Batman: The Animated Series to this book. Plus, Daredevil was set in the 1930s. X-Men Noir was in the post-war 1940s and since technology has always been an important element to the Children of the Atom, I think that change of time period was a key element to my enjoyment of this book.

In the Daredevil Noir review, I complained how I didn't like that there were a few characters added that did not have modern comics counterparts. This book includes a character from when Marvel was known as Timely Comics and I loved that touch of nostalgia! While this character isn't an X-Man staple, I did appreciate the addition.

One element of sentimentality that I wasn't such a fan of was the inclusion of a prose story set as a sci-fi pulp multi-parter. While that tale allows for more of the vast cast of X-Men characters to appear in this book, it just felt a little unnecessary. Plus, the story was supposed to be written by a eugenics advocate and entertaining that little bit of prejudice and bigotry felt outdated.

X-Men Noir wasn't prefect. But it was an entertaining mystery. If you enjoy films like Rudolph Mate's D.O.A. or the Bogart classic The Maltese Falcon, then this is the sequential art story you've been looking for. If you decide to skip the prose story at the end of each chapter, you won't be missing anything. But don't skip the BTS stuff at the end of this hardback. They're visually stunning pages!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #59

 It's Hulk Vs. Wolverine Vs. Wolverine. 

The cover with the original X-Men in the background might reveal who this doppelganger is. I'll try not to ruin it just in case you wanna read this issue. Keep in mind, this is a 30 year+ issue. But maybe it's still too soon to spoil it!

The Werewolf by Night story along with the Namor adventure end in this issue. Both were great. I wish the Sub-Mariner tale was longer. It just had this great banter between the ruler of Atlantis and Sandra Rain, a documentary filmmaker with a quick wit and even sharper tongue. 

Finishing out the offerings in this issue is an 8-pager starring the Punisher. A youth is torn between the anti-hero and an arms dealer. A very powerful story with a message. It's classic Marvel storytelling at it's finest. 

4 very good segments.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Comics Presents #16

The American heartland set Colossus saga comes to an end. Thankfully.

The Black Panther saga gets interesting with the edition of a South African miner named Zanti Chikane. Zanti is reluctant to help an injured T'Challa due to the repercussions of harboring a fugitive from the South African government. But he also knows that to do nothing, an good man could die. A good man who happens to also be an Avenger.

We then travel to Australia where the X-Men are in hiding with the world thinking they're all dead. While most of the team is ready to go out for a night of fun, the mutant Longshot is hoping to practice some meditation techniques his learned from the local Aborigines. Only this trip through the dreamscape will have terrifying consequences for Longshot. Life and death consequences.

Lastly, tour the savage land with Ka-Zar and his loyal sabretooth tiger, Zabu. It's probably the weakest story of the bunch. It literally was a forgettable tale.

A Marvelite's passport that just doesn't thrill at every tour stop.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Marvels Epilogue

Phil Sheldon's story continues in this holiday themed close to Busiek and Ross's amazing Marvels storyline.

I've called Marvel Comics a Scrooge because they haven't done any holiday specials this year. For one reason or another the House of Ideas hasn't had any one-shots, annuals or individual issues devoted to Halloween, Thanksgiving or Christmas. But I guess I have to retract that, slightly...

Marvels Epilogue debuted over the Summer to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the groundbreaking miniseries by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross (Astro City). In this 16-pager, photographer every-man, Phil Sheldon has taken his daughters to Rockefeller Center for some holiday bonding. 

Snow is falling. The tree is brightly lit. And Doctor Doom is ice-skating!

Yep- this episode occurs during that iconic re-introduction of the mutant killing Sentinels in X-Men #98 by Claremont and Cockrum. And I think you remember what happened in that!

Though the story is short, this issue isn't. Epilogue contains several interviews, a MAD Magazine style parody and as usual, an Alex Ross sketch book. And all in all, it was worth every penny! 

For sure- don't skip that interview with Busiek and Ross. They reveal a ton of Easter Eggs and cameos throughout this book. You'll spend hours pouring over the meat of the book again and again. 

In my Christmas comics readings, I saved the best for almost last. Just one book left and it's getting finished up just in tine for the New Year. 

If you can find this book, it's worth buying and...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Fox's run on the X-Men movies comes to a close with Dark Phoenix. With some small adjustments, this movie was one of the more faithful-to-the-comics adaptations. However, this was also one of the most boring films I ever sat through.

If you are familiar with Chris Claremont's 'Dark Phoenix Saga', then you have a pretty good idea about the plot. Always troubled by her immense mutant abilities, Jean Grey (Game of Thrones' Spohie Turner) gets possessed by a cosmic force during a rescue mission in space. The entity causes what little command Jean had on her telekinesis to spiral out of control, resulting in a body count. 

It's revealed that Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) had kept a number of secrets from Jean as to how she became a pupil at his School for Gifted Youngsters, mostly through mental barriers established. When the truth comes out, Jean seeks both revenge and answers. Enter the mysterious Jessica Chastain (The Help) who plays an alien with ties to Jean's 'Phoenix force' powers, along with promises to those questions. Now Jean is stuck between the forces of good and evil with control of her new powers with the fragile truce between humans and mutants forged since the previous film hanging in the balance.

I know that I am going to upset a bunch of X-Men fans by saying this; but I really don't like Jean Grey that much. Yes, the 'Dark Phoenix Saga' is awesome, but it's really all of the other characters who make that story so good. It just seems to me that Jean Grey always loses control, dies and then comes back, spending all of her time trying to make amends before going insane with the Phoenix Force yet again.

Then there's the fact that we already had this storyline in 2006's The Last Stand. I didn't feel like I needed to see this plot again so soon, if at all. But I promised my god son we'd go see it. I wish we went to the new Men In Black movie instead...

I thought that the make-up and special effects were quite good. So were the fight scenes. But Dark Phoenix is a movie that is heavy of melodrama and very light on action. I truly think this is the case why the movie had such a steep drop-off at the box office from the first and second weeks. Very few people clamor to see Schindler's List again after first viewing. But they'll jump right back in line for a movie with amazing action and adventure scenes. 

Let's also face the biggest problem with the entire X-Men franchise: the timeline. Everything is just so mixed up. For one thing, this movie occurs in 1992, meaning that in 8 years, Michael Fassbender, who plays Magento, is supposed to look like Ian McClellan and Xavier will turn into Captain Picard! I still cannot figure out how Wolverine ended up back in the Weapon X project after being rescued by Mystique...

One thing is certain, the X-Men are better as a TV show than a movie. X-Men: The Animated Series proved this. There's so many plot threads, that with progression jumping 3-5 years into the future in each chapter, 2-3 hours is no enough time to catch up on all the missing parts. 

This still isn't the worst Marvel movie I've ever seen in theaters (Thor: Dark World wins that distinction). But this also wasn't a necessary film either. I know Fox wanted to milk that cash cow one more time. But with how money hungry Disney is, I am afraid that all Dark Phoenix did was push back an sort of reconciliation of Marvel's mutants with the rest of he MCU back for years to come!

Rating: 5 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.

The Merry X-Men Holiday Special #1

I really don't recognize the X-Men anymore. I'm not talking about the Manga-styled variant cover for this 2018 Christmas special. I actually like thise festive and playful work from Rian Gonzales. No, the things I don't comprehend are all inside the book.

The Merry X-Men Holiday Special is set up like an Advent calendar. There are 25 one-page stories; one for each day of December, leading up to Christmas Day. Actually there are 19 stories, as the Jubliee story is told in multiple parts. She and her son are kidnapped and imprisoned in the most strange shopping mall every conceived. Jubliee's story is spread out over several days throughout the book. I my opinion, it was the best story of the book. Really, it should have been the only story in the book. Instead we get a series of confounding capers.

For instance, there's Magneto in Poland, where apparently Warsaw has become a war zone. Or he's gone back in time to World War II Poland. I really don't know which.

Other oddities include Wolverine with fire claws?! Captain Britain and Meghan have a toddler who can speak better than most 30 year olds. Speedball is no longer wearing his torturous costume as penance from the events that lead to Civil War. Then there's Nightcrawler wearing a beard and surrounded by elves? And what's with the girl with antlers on her head and I'm not talking about faux ones either!

I realize that I haven't read an X-Men book since right around when Ice Man came out as gay. I didn't stop reading because of some protest. I just haven't been to my local library in a while to catch up on the adventures of the Marvel mutants. I've had plenty of chances to buy new X-Men books. But I feel why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? Right?

Anyways, a lot of changes have happened to the X-Men in the year or so since I last caught up with the team. I can't say that I am very happy with all the changes.

I like the Advent idea however. If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know that I am all about the Advent. But I think that the entire Marvel universe would have been better suited for this special instead of just the X-Men. There's so many mutants and so many story lines to follow. Some of these short stories build on that drama and if you don't know everything going on with Xavier's gift students, you will miss something. That omission makes for uneven and disappointing reading. 

Featuring art and stories from a number of artists including Chris Sims, Al Ewing, and Chip Zdarsky, this should have been a home run. But the holiday special barely limps into second base. 

It was bound to happen at some point. This is my first not so great read of the 2018 holiday season. The Advent idea of the book is sound and it should be reused next year. But spread the love to all areas of the Marvel Universe. Or maybe just the villains. Next time, just don't focus on one large and yet very self-contained chunk of Marvel's output.

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

What If? The X-Men #1

Welcome to the world of the EXE/men: EXE/scape!

In the not too distant future, there's no such thing as mutants. At least not in the way you

would think of a traditional Marvel mutant. Instead in this tech driven Utopia in which

people upload their consciousness into the internet, some users have developed special

abilities. Able to hack into people's bank accounts, create firewalls and literally kill users

in real life without even touching them, these renegades have become enemies of the state.

Enter Erik Lehnsherr. Instead of being the powerful Master of Magnetism, he's an influential

computer developer and the leading advocate for EXE/men rights. But an equally powerful

computer virus is about to be uploaded that will neutralize these 'cyber-mutants.’ And it's

about to be uploaded into the brain of a kidnapped Lehnsherr. Thus it's up to the combined

efforts of Charles Xavier, Cable and Domino to save not only Erik but the fate of the

EXE/men as well.

If this premise sounds confusing, then I feel like I did my job as a reviewer quite well.

When I read the story synopsis for this one-shot, I didn't know what the hell Marvel was

talking about. After about 3 tries, I gave up. But I didn't pass up on this book and I am glad

I persevered!

When you actually read the book, it's actually pretty good. I think that the cyberpunk

premise is just so out there that only a fan of William Gibson could truly understand it

without reading it. There's such a thin line between the real world and the online one that

a 200 word description just will not be able to do the actual story by Bryan Edward Hill

(American Carnage) justice.

The artwork by Neil Edwards (Fantastic Four) was pretty cool. There's a definite change

in style between the two world's. That really helps to understand what is going on. I also

loved the cover by Luke Cage's Rahzzah. I couldn't tell if Domino was developed from a

real image or computer generated. Except for Cable's face. That was 100% not realistic

at all!

There was one part of this book that I was a little confused about. At the end are two

appendices. They look like entries in an issue of The Official Handbook of the Marvel

Universe. They're about the EXE/men Jubilee and Rogue. If you'll notice, I didn't mention

either in the synopsis. That's because neither appear in this book except in one panel.

Several normally mutant characters appear in cameo here. So I'm wondering if other

copies of this What If? have features of those other guest stars in them.

This one-shot was a lot better than the advertised teaser. If you can overlook it, you're in

for a treat with this book. And if anyone has read this comic and can attest if there's

different character appendices in the back, I'd appreciate the info. (It might raise my

rating somewhat.)

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Avengers Halloween Special #1

Though it was released on Halloween day, at least Marvel got in the spirit of the season and produced this special. Marvel, earlier in October, did produce an all-ages Halloween special, which I reviewed as a Family Comic Friday selection. However, in the recent past, the House of Ideas has been quite the Scrooge when it came to doing holiday one-shots of any type. 

The Avengers Halloween Special has 5 short stories, some of which are quite eerie. Case in point- the first tale starring Daredevil. It has Matt Murdock undergoing an eye transplant. But when the bandages come off, he is terrified by visions of the dead!

Next up we see a world where Doctor Doom might be the good guy! It has tones of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and I would love to see this explored further in an issue of What If... 

Then Tony Stark goes to the Antarctic to recover a project that his father was working on during World War II. If this sounds a lot like a certain John Carpenter film starring Kurt Russell, give yourself a pat on the back!

The fourth story takes place in France during the 1800s. In Jay Baruchel's writing debut at Marvel, he puts forth an epic in which asks what if the Punisher became the Phantom of the Opera?

Lastly, we go to upstate New York for a ghost story that involves a pair of trick-or-treaters, the destroyed remains of a school for gifted youth and a still functioning Danger Room.

The Daredevil and Doctor Doom stories were the best! I was truly creeped out in the first tale. It was quite horrific with an ending that rivals some of the twists of an EC Comic. The Doctor Doom story as I said earlier is so good and brilliant that it merits a return story in the pages of What If...

The X-Men and Punisher accounts were very good. They had gothic tones but weren't scary. Plus, they had good art. But they just weren't as perfect as the previous adventures I've mentioned. Besides, I thought doing direct tributes to works of literature was DC's Elseworlds kinda of thing to do... (Maybe someone needs to inform Jay Baruchel.)

Then we have the Thing/Iron Man fusion. It should have been good but it was flawed. For one thing, we've got Deadpool and Colossus added to the mix. I only thought these two characters were friends in the Deadpool films. Yet, they're buddy-buddy here. Then there's several deaths that just do not seem plausible based on the method of how they die. I really wish I could expound more, but that would be giving up some massive spoilers. One thing I will say is that if you like the ending of Carpenter's The Thing, you'll love the ending of this thriller.

This special is hyped as the Avengers Halloween Special. But really, they're not even a part of this one-shot. You've got individual characters who have at one time or another been Avengers. (Has Doctor Doom or The Punisher ever even members of the World's Mightiest Heroes?) What was wrong with calling this a Marvel Halloween Special? That being said, does that mean December's X-Men Holiday Special is not going to have the X-Men in it? 

This Halloween release had some great scares as well as so-so moments. I would have liked this to have dropped the week before Halloween so I would have had a chance to read this before All Hallow's Eve. But better late than never I guess. OR you can wait until next Halloween season to give this comic a read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stories.