X-force 20

COVER BY: Mike Choi|Sonia Oback
WRITER: Craig Kyle
Christopher Yost
PENCILS: Mike Choi
Sonia Oback
INKS: Jason Pearson
COLORED BY: Sonia Oback|Dave Stewart
LETTERED BY: VC - Cory Petit

X-23 is finally home safe and sound after her misadventure with Agent Morales and Kimura. I had greater hopes for the story, but I was left with a blinking light screaming “FILLER ARC!” The story arc served no greater purpose other than to keep readers at bay for three months as we wait for Necrosha. Throughout the arc, not much actually happened. We see X-23 get her arm chopped off and Logan gets to wallow in guilt. And the issue of Julian and Laura’s “relationship” is touched on briefly and will likely be expanded upon when Laura returns home next issue. But all in all we see X-23 finally come to the realization that she cannot escape who she was.
However, the story feels rushed and as previously stated, meant to keep fans at bay as we head into Necrosha. The art however is fantastic and Choi continues to impress as the panels seem to slow down the rushed story. My only complaint concerning the art is of the final snipet of the story. We are given a taste of Necrosha and we finally get to see Douglass Ramsey and he looks featureless. There are no traits that clearly define him. I’m not as familiar with Ramsey’s character as I would like to be. However, the art for the character seemed featureless and bland in comparison to all of Choi’s other work. That being stated, Choi brilliantly captures the emotions of Laura and Logan throughout this issue and it’s clear exactly what they are thinking and what they are experiencing and is in a word amazing. 3.5 out 5.

Dark Wolverine #79

COVER BY: Greg Land
WRITER: Marjorie Liu
Daniel Way
PENCILS: Stephen Segovia
INKS: Jay Leisten
COLORED BY: Marte Gracia
LETTERED BY: VC - Cory Petit

Daken is put up against a group of mis-fit low-level villains…and loses in Dark Wolverine number 79. The story follows Daken as Norman Osbourne desperately tries to cover up the now infamous “move you stupid bitch!” that Daken leaked on the internet. The story remains ambiguous as to what Daken’s plan actually is. On the one hand he is giving the pseudo Ms. Marvel, Karla Sofen, porn and has repeatedly flirted with her. He’s propositioned Bullseye, Ares, and Venom sexually. He has struck a deal with the Fantastic Four and it was him who leaked the video onto the internet. So the question still remains. What is Daken’s end-game. We know that his ultimate goal is to humiliate his father and enact his revenge on him. However, the problem that remains is how this achieves his ultimate goal. It seems that his current plan is to do all that he can to destroy Norman Osbourne, and sexually toy with the other Dark Avengers. But what does that do for him and his rampage against his father.
Marjorie Liu continues to impress with her development of an extremely complex character. Under her pen Daken has become far more than an angry pit-bull with daddy’s claws. The writing remains amazing. However it seems that the artwork has slid quite a bit since Camuncoli and Catacchio left the book last issue. The new artist, Stephen Segovia joined the project last issue. The artwork is uneven throughout the issue. Some pages are clean and precise, whereas other are dark and cluttered.
The story progresses fairly quickly and the complex characters flow easily together. It will be interesting to see where this story is going and how it will tie up into Daken’s ultimate goal.

Uncanny X-men 516 review

COVER BY: Greg Land
WRITER: Matt Fraction
PENCILS: Greg Land
INKS: Greg Land
COLORED BY: Justin Ponsor
LETTERED BY: VC - Joe Caramagna

Magneto’s much anticipated yet wholly unexpected arrival has certainly shook up our hero’s in this week’s Uncanny X-men. The issue begins by showing us what happened to Scalphunter after he was captured by the band of obviously traced, recycled, and posed villains. Also returning is a certain silver skinned predator species that we thought had been obliterated from the face of the earth. Magneto’s arrival has caused some division on the island of Utopia, with many of the mutants taking Scott’s side and…Beast on the Professor’s. The book leaves us hanging as Scalphunter and a small herd of predators fly toward the new island paradise.

Fraction’s story is fantastic and it is exciting to see where he is going with this series. The re-introduction of Magneto as well as this plethora of new characters is just what this book needs after the chaos created by the Dark Avenger’s crossover. But, for all the story’s strengths, it has some major weakness. Firstly the dialogue is horrendous. The professor lapses in and out of Shatner speech throughout the issue. The conversations are filled with horridly cliché phrasing such as “Battle Stations” and the infamous “It’s a trap!” a phrase that should remains out of any comic book at risk of the reader beginning to chuckle manically. (If you didn’t get it… good luck with life.) The artwork was pretty well balanced between crappy and fantastic. Characters like Scalphunter, Magneto, Scott, and Emma were pretty well drawn and not too obviously recycled or traced. However, everyone in the background was horrid and it was pretty easy to tell what each pose came from. The worst of all the posing had to be the new villains the premiered last issue. What I will give Land and colorist Justin Ponsor is that they consistently pull off making Emma Frost’s diamond form absolutely beautiful and as it should be. 3 out 5

X-factor 49

COVER BY: David Yardin
WRITER: Peter David
PENCILS: Valentine De Landro
INKS: Pat Davidson
COLORED BY: Jeromy Cox
LETTERED BY: VC - Cory Petit


The epic man kiss that broke the internet in half is finally addressed in X-factor 49. PAD continues to amaze as the his powers of dialogue and characterization deliver fantastic conversation between a joyous Rictor, a disturbed Guido, and an completely unfazed Shatterstar. The red haired alien’s long leave of absence from the Marvel Universe is briefly explained and then brushed away to reveal a new power-set that will likely be left unexplained till after the jump to issue 200. Beyond the comedic triad things are heating up in the future as the Cortex is summoned by Dr. Doom to destroy all mutants.
While the issues writing is superb, it’s terrible that I can’t say the same about the artwork. Valentine De Landro’s artwork, while fantastic from distance shots, have deformed close ups. Faces look like they have been smushed and eyes are often not level and to far apart. He should probably stick to anything that is not a close up of a character’s face.
The issue is full of clever writing, brilliant characters, and a large dose of suspense. This is the perfect issue to bring the story arc into it’s conclusion at issue 50 which will be at your local comic book stores on October 28th.

Uncanny X-men 515 review

COVER BY: Greg Land
WRITER: Matt Fraction
PENCILS: Greg Land
INKS: Jay Leisten
COLORED BY: Justin Ponsor
LETTERED BY: VC - Joe Caramagna

A plethora of new faces join the X-men cast as a ragtag bunch of new villains decide to attack Scalphunter in the beat-up restaurant we last saw him in way back in Divided We Stand. All the little logistics of raising an asteroid that has been at the bottom of the ocean for at least a decade has come to Scott’s attention and it all is beginning to beat down on him. Emma is still stuck in her diamond form in order to contain the sliver of the void that remains in her after her confrontation with the Sentry in the Utopia crossover. The issue ends with the much anticipated return of the X-men’s greatest enemy and their greatest ally.
While I am not usually a fan of Fractions writing this book seems to put him in his own. Unlike the choppy “I am no one attack dog” of the Utopia crossover, the dialogue flows and the dialogue between Scott and Emma is especially in character. None of Greg Land’s art seems to be copied out of porn or Maxim. However in some pages the characters seem far to posed and stiff to be real. Although I must give kudos’ to colorist Justin Ponsor and inker Jay Lienstien for an exquisite diamond Emma Frost. It was absolutely beautiful. Issue 3.5 out 5.

Cable 19

COVER BY: Dave Wilkins
WRITER: Duane Swierczynski
PENCILS: GABRIEL GUZMAN
INKS: Rodolfo Mariano Taibo
COLORED BY: Thomas Mason
LETTERED BY: VC - Joe Caramagna

Cable continues his battle with the invading brood parasites in this issue. While the issue has seemed to have picked up steam Post-Messiah war, the dynamic of Cable and Hope avoid Bishop still plays a major role to the story dynamic. Cable continues to be a book that serves as a place holder for Hope as we prepare for the third part of the Messiah Trilogy, which, will occur in March 2010 as announced this week on CBR. This issue is another dull filler precluding the upcoming return of Jean Grey. The art is second rate to the point where it is impossible to distinguish Hope from a boy. However the art succeeds in making Cable look his age other than a grey haired body builder. The dark lines make the panels look busy and cluttered. But despite all it’s short comings the issue was not terrible. It succeeds in what it set out to accomplish which is grow Hope up until she is ready to return to her own time. 2.25 out 5.

New Mutants 5

WRITER: Zeb Wells
PENCILS: Zachary Baldus
LETTERED BY: VC - Joe Caramagna

Everyone is safely “home” on asteroid M after their battle with Legion in the previous four issues. The story begins with the resurrected Warlock aiding a plane that is about to crash. It rapidly cuts to the main point of the issue, Daniel Moonstar not being put on the team. The issue guest star’s Rogue, who’s powers has recently matured to a point where she can finally touch people without knocking them out. She aids the New Mutants in picking up the pieces of Legion’s mind. Her appearance in this issue may or may not be a foreshadow to her part of Necrosha which will hit comic book stands starting in mid October. The story also has a side plot between Shan and Illyana hiding the fact that Shan brutally murdered one of Legion’s personalities. The book ends with Warlock looking over the dug up grave of Douglas Ramsey, yet another prelude to Necrosha
The art in this issue is strange, childish and it looks like a ten year old got a new chalk set for Christmas. The characters are stick thin and stuck in unnatural possess. The story is hard to follow and the dialogue is forced. The panels don’t flow together well and the story flows weird. But the story does bring back Warlock and there is no way I can give any book with Rogue in it less than 2. So 2 out of 5 it is.