With jrpbsp back from his honeymoon, we return to our usual custom of full reviews for major Wolverine appearances and mini-reviews by yours truly for secondary Wolverine appearances.

And, as I noted last week, I will no longer be covering non-chronological appearances such as those in ‘X-Babies’ or ‘Marvel Super Hero Squad’.

So on with the jrpbsp reviews!

• ‘X-Force’ #21 (review): Population Explosion
• ‘Uncanny X-Men: First Class’ #5 (review): The Knights Strike

As for the secondary Wolverine stories…

Deadpool #17 (preview)
Writer: Daniel Way
Penciler: Paco Medina
Inker: Juan Vlasco

Wolverine makes a substantial appearance here as a straight man, but as with the previous issue, this story doesn’t work for me.

Comedy, especially in an established, serious environment, is quite hard. And aside from one very funny page near the end of the book, the humor simply falls flat for me.

Deadpool is, without a doubt, a very funny character. I just fear that his countless monthly appearances and titles will bring his resurgent popularity to a quick end.

Now that the Wolverine fan has had his say, what do you Deadpool fans out there think?

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… Next up from this week is ‘Uncanny X-Men: First Class’. Hope you enjoy it.

Uncanny X-Men: First Class #5 (preview)
Writer: Scott Gray
Art: Nelson Decastro & Scott Koblish

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Xavier flying to the Starcore One space station in Astral Form. The place has been demolished and Xavier finds Peter Corbeau and the rest of the surviving personnel being tortured by the Knights of Hykon. The Knights are arguing, one wants to invade Earth immediately but the leader, Burning Moon, wants more knowledge about it first. He then senses Xavier and is able to catch and hold his astral form. The alien pillages Charles’ mind before sending his companions to Earth. One, Sky Song, is to scout and the other, Cloud Runner, to mark the Earth as theirs.

At Xavier’s, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Banshee are sitting in the kitchen waiting for the call to action. Logan gets restless and goes for a walk as Sean decides to check on the others’ progress. Scott, Moira and Lilandra are monitoring Xavier who has yet to return to his body from his mental scouting trip.

Back in the kitchen, neither Kurt or Piotr notice Sky Song’s arrival. But when Wolverine returns he is able to sniff her out and attack. Colossus tries to talk to the alien but she easily knocks him through the wall. Wolverine presses his attack but is unable to hurt Sky Song and is soon disabled. Nightcrawler’s attack fares no better.

Cyclops and Banshee enter the fray and are still not able to breach Sky Song’s defenses. Colossus hurls the diving board at her but she easily knocks it aside with a conjured sword. Scott laments not having Jean and Storm there to help keep her contained.

The two X-ladies are having problems of their own in New York. Jean hears Charles’ psychic scream and then they see Cloud Runner’s marking. He has made the whole sky burn and spew fiery rain. S.H.I.E.L.D. and Fury discover the origin but unfortunately neither the Avengers or the Fantastic Four are available to help.

The X-Men are still not having any luck with Sky Song. Kurt teleports in and grabs her sword but when he goes to bamf out something goes horribly wrong with his ‘port. Fury orders the Helicarrier to attack Cloud Runner who fights through the barrage then grabs and throws the helicarrier like a toy.

Sky Song stops playing with the remaining X-Men and takes Scott, Piotr and Sean down quickly. Moira shows up in time to see Banshee fall. As she cradles him, another figure steps out, it is an unknown Knight of Hykun. Another new Knight has appeared in Central Park. Jean and Storm intercept and Jean is taken out quickly. Storm attacks with a wind storm which is interrupted when she sees the helicarrier falling towards her.

MY TAKE: This is a very good start to the new story arc. The character pieces, of the past four issues, were a mixed bag but this feels a lot more like a classic X-Men tale. There was a lot more action here as well as more actual interaction amongst the team. They have a strong adversary in the Knights and it should be interesting to see how the villains are dealt with.

There is not a lot of motivation for the Knights but then they seem to be a warrior race so they do not really need a reason to invade. The plot is simple but well done and explained. Using Corbeau is a nice tie in to get the X-Men involved early and I was glad to see a mention of both the Avengers and Fantastic Four. It made this seem to be a global event and really gave the story a broad scope.

Of course that ties into my biggest problem with the story. It is so huge that it is hard to fit it in regular continuity. A world wide fire storm and a massive alien attack should have made some sort of impact in history. Also, the Knights are so unbelievably powerful that it seems nearly impossible for the X-Men to prevail. The entire team could not manage to even scratch one member of the Knights and there are at least five of them. Hopefully the story does not end up feeling forced because of that.

I am also a bit confused at where the other two Knights came from. We had only ever seen three throughout the series and suddenly others appear without any explanation. Maybe it will be addressed but the X-Men certainly did not need to have more of a threat to deal with.

In the end this is still one of my favorite issues of the series so far. There is good conflict and a fun and original villain to fight. We finally get to see the whole team in action which is something I have been eagerly awaiting. I just hope there is a smart and logical conclusion to the story arc and we get some indication as to why there has been no mention of the Knights in the present.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… Starting the books that actually came out this week now. First up is ‘X-Force’.  Hope you enjoy it.

X-Force #21 (preview)
Writer: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Art: Clayton Crain

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with the Vanisher, in Portugal, feeling very badly despite being in bed with three women. Realizing he really has a brain tumor, he teleports to Utopia for a cure from Elixir. Unfortunately he lands in the middle of the fight between the X-Men and the Hellions. Scott orders him to take Emma to safety but Vanisher is more concerned about Josh’s safety.

We get quick views of more X-Men fighting a bunch of newly resurrected mutants including former allies Feral, Stonewall, Super Sabre, Tower, Darkstar and Rusty Collins. Warren, Warpath and Prince Hrimhari are fighting Pyro and a couple of Morlocks. They survive the initial attack from Pyro, and Warren notes that they still feel dead, before the Techno-Organic zombies attack again.

On Genosha, Eli Bard informs Selene that he has lost contact with Doug Ramsey. The Black Queen has plans for him and orders the Hellions to find Cypher. We see Jetstream still blasting Wolverine into the air. With the recall, he drops Logan from a massive height and returns to the island. The rest of Emma’s old students break away from combat. Before Scott can have someone follow them, Banshee arrives and attacks.

Sean breaks off after a brief moment of lucidity and Scott orders the Cuckoos to find Selene. Proudstar gets knocked into Blindfold’s room and she tells him that James’ brother is waiting for him. Before he can question her, Risque shows up. She tries to restrain herself and tells Proudstar that Bard is the one who raised them. But she is forced to attack in the end.

Archangel is left alone and slices his two attackers open with his wings only to find out that the Techno-Organic mutants can repair themselves. The other Morlock is chasing Hrimhari and Rahne who is still badly suffering. They are saved by Nemesis and Laura and quickly joined by Vanisher. The injured are looking for Josh but he is still incapacitated.

In the holding facility, Leland and Shinobi Shaw are trying to kill Sebastian Shaw and Empath. Danger arrives and stops the attack but her strikes fail to kill the attackers due to their nature. Back on Genosha, Bard starts to raise all the dead mutants. His activity is detected by Bastion and the Cuckoos. The resurrections are soon in the millions.

MY TAKE: This is an action-filled issue that really manages to make you feel like the X-Men are the underdogs. It has been awhile since it seemed like they had a real and true threat to their lives. There are so many members with such a wide array of power and experience that is takes an army of villains to defeat them. That is what we get here.

There is not much time for characterizations, but Vanisher still managed to steal several scenes. I am still not sure he was the best choice for the team but he injected a lot of good humor here. Though if he did not believe there really was a tumor in his head not sure why he went along with the group for as long as he did. Still I am glad to see him back with the group.

The plot is simplistic but effective. Selene is keeping the X-Men busy, and hopefully killing a few, while engineering her Resurrection Event. Still it works well with some interesting matches and a general feeling of being overwhemed. There are also some nice tie-ins for other parts of the plot and story lines that make everything feel connected and happening at the same time.

Unfortunately the frantic pace is also the biggest weakness. The resurrections come so fast and close together that is is hard to feel any impact from them, even the ones that were not spoiled ahead of time. I have always liked the character of Rusty Collins and wanted him to come back, but by the time it came up, the scene garnered a shrug rather then a gasp.

The art was also a bit of a problem. I do like the dark and painted look most of the time, it fits very well with the over all tone of the series. But it works best when you have a small cast of characters. In this case, with so many figures, it became hard to identify them. It took me several panels, for example, to understand who was in the scene with Wolverine and Jetstream.

In the end, this was a strong and action-packed issue that really upped the ante for the Necrosha storyline. I am definitely excited about what is coming up for this story and do hope some of these characters get to stay around after the end. I do hope they slow the pace of the resurrections and it becomes a bit clearer what is going on. But so far the story is very good and the next issue looks to be excellent.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… This is the second and final review that I missed. So here is ‘Astonishing X-Men’.  Hope you enjoy it.

Astonishing X-Men #32 (preview)
Writer: Warren Ellis
Penciler: Phil Jimenez

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Emma facing off against the organic Sentinel. She initially believes it will not hurt her but still manages to go to diamond form before it hits her. Scott blasts one of its hands and Wolverine attacks as well but is quickly blasted away. Beast and Agent Brand go to their ship as the Sentinel fires out Brood missiles from its fingers.

Storm quickly blasts one of the Sleazoids and attacks the others. Beast fires the grapple from the X-Jet through the Sentinel’s head and begins to drag it out to sea. The others are fighting the remaining Brood. Armor manages to smash one of their heads and Wolverine slices up another one.

Beast and Brand get in trouble when the Sentinel fights back and starts to overload the ship’s engines. Beast applies a bit of science with some rockets and is able to destroy the Sentinel’s head. He has some of Warren’s people, Mutants Sans Frontieres, haul the body back to the X-Men’s headquarters to study it.

Taking their ease in the Med-Lab, Scott refuses pain killers for a wound he took during the fight. Instead the X-Men press Agent Brand about the Sentinel and what she is hiding. Eventually she divulges that there are still a lot of people looking to finish the mutant population and that both the Sentinel and the Brood missiles were based on Henry McCoy’s own theoretical work.

MY TAKE: This was another oddly mixed issue with science fiction and action scenes mixed in with the super hero elements. While it works for the most part, there are definite problems with the focus. The issue reads well enough and is still entertaining but it is just not quite sure exactly what type of story it wants to be.

The plot is not bad and pretty well done. While we have seen a lot of plots recently about destroying all of the remaining mutants, having them use Beast’s ideas is a nice touch. The alien element, while a bit out of place, does serve to incorporate Agent Brand. The timing of bringing back old mutants from the dead, is unfortunate due to the sheer number of resurrections that are occurring as part of Necrosha.

The tone shifts from humorous moments to intensity and back and it does not always work. Some of the dialogue sounds corny and the reactions are a bit overdone. Especially with Hank and Brand’s relationship. Still most of the characterizations are done well and the X-Men, outside of Beast, feel more natural then they have in other arcs. Although I have not been a big fan of Armor and Wolverine’s relationship, I actually enjoyed their interactions here.

The weakest point is some of the absurd and unexplained plot points. The biggest example is Beast telling Brand that there are no weapons on board the jet and then a few panels later firing what appear to be missiles at the Sentinel. They never seem to explain exactly what happens to that bio-robot either. Perhaps it was mentioned last issue but I do not remember and would have liked an explanation on what exactly destroyed it. The Brood missiles confused me at first also. Although they are mentioned later, it just seemed very out of place.

In the end this was a good issue and a fun read but there were too many questions and tonal issues for it to qualify as great. I am glad to see the Brood back and even the new Sentinel makes an interesting villain but so far the story has not used them very well. Still the potential is definitely there and if plot can be shored up and made to be more even and logical, I think the rest of the arc could be very good.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… Starting to play catch up now that I am back. Starting with ‘New Mutants’.  Hope you enjoy it.

New Mutants #6 (preview)
Writer: Zeb Wells
Penciler: Diogenes Neves

NOTE: Wolverine does not appear in this issue.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Professor Xavier talking to Danger. He wants to take a hand in helping out his son, David Haller, but Danger forbids it until Legion’s treatment is finished. The Professor is feeling depressed but perks up when the New Mutants come to visit. He embraces his not so young students as we see Doug watching from the window.

Ramsey reads the nice scene a bit differently with his ability to read languages now working on body language. On the surface, however, it is a touching reunion between the one time students and their teacher. While Doug is watching he is contacted by Warlock, which disturbs the techno-organic mutant, but he resolves to finish his mission and kill Amara.

The New Mutants return to their quarters and Magma goes to her room to change out of her uniform. Ramsey appears and distracts her long enough to beat Amara down with a club. He hauls the severely wounded woman out to the common area to confront the rest of his former teammates.

Although they are surprised at his return to life, the group wastes no time in attacking. Unfortunately, his ability to read their body languages allows Doug the advantage and he manages to avoid all the attacks and take down Magik. Another round of attacks proves to be useless until Karma possesses her friends and makes them unpredictable.

Their strikes begin to land and Sam is able to knock Doug out of the window. Roberto goes to help Amara but is unable to call for medical assistance. Warlock appears cradling Ramsey and demands answers. Warlock tries to access and correct Doug’s code but is infected himself. In the end Ramsey tears off Warlock’s head and shows it to the rest of them.

MY TAKE: While I am not completely sold on the Necrosha crossover, or the New Mutants role in it, I did still enjoy the issue. There was some very good character interaction, especially towards the beginning, and it was nice to finally see Xavier and the New Mutants getting together again. Xavier did form the team and it has been a long time since we have seen them interacting. The almost parental tone was a nice touch as well. The Professor was definitely like a father to the young mutants.

Doug was the glue for the issue, however. He was never a character that I really cared for during the initial run but this new take has a great deal of potential. Increasing his ability in combat helps, especially since it is a nice logical extension of his powers. But more then that, his ability to see beyond the surface adds a whole new layer to the character interactions and has some great story possibilities. The conversation between Xavier and his students was enough to illustrate that.

Most of the rest of the characters had a moment or two but did not get as much time to shine. I did like they way they used Karma’s power to foil Doug, that was both smart and original. Warlock’s return was done well and, aside from the unlikely timing, it felt pretty organic. Having him as a foil to the Techno-Organic virus should provide a believable way to save mutants from Selene’s control and it is definitely nice to have him back in the group. I am more excited about his return then Ramsey’s.

The plot is pretty simple and comes straight from the Necrosha one shot that came out at the same time. While you do not have to read Necrosha to understand what is happening here, it definitely does not make as much sense without that issue. I never like having to have knowledge of one issue to follow another especially when they are not part of the same series. This is even worse when they come out in the same week.

In the end this was another strong issue with amazing writing but is not without some flaws. It seems to be a bit confined by the requirement to fit inside a larger story. It also suffered from having Doug be both the antagonist and the narrator. While his return does merit some extra attention, seeing parts the story through his eyes limits the rest of the team’s involvement. Even with the limitations, it is well written and effective with some great character moments and true drama. I would prefer that this title stay on its own rather then try and cross over but this is still an excellent start to a new story arc.

Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.

It’s been rather quiet on the website recently, so please do leave a note in the comments if you find these ‘Wolverine News & Previews’ helpful.

As for the Wolverine news, Marvel revealed several teaser images for the upcoming ‘Siege’ miniseries, the alleged finale of Norman Osborn’s Dark Reign.

But the one of most interest to us is the unmasking of Daken in a struggle with Wolverine, courtesy of Billy Tan…

In other Wolverine-related news, Marvel has released a sneak peek of the ‘X-Force’ Annual #1, due in stores on December 2…

As for probable (and possible) Wolverine appearances this week (11/11/09), we have previews of…

–Uncanny X-Men: First Class #5 (preview): Things aboard Starcore One come to a head…
–X-Babies #2 (preview): X-Babies fight Planet Terry. Ugh!
–X-Force #21 (preview): Necrosha continues!
–X-Men Forever #11 (preview): Wolverine may be dead, but his spirit continues…

While jrpbsp enjoys his honeymoon, this bitter divorcee will pick up the slack on the Wolverine appearances of the week…

We start first with Astonishing X-Men #32, a not-quite epic issue by Warren Ellis and Phil Jimenez.

Astonishing X-Men #32 (preview)
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Phil Jimenez

While the return of the Brood and the next generation of Sentinels make for a refreshing story, Jimenez’s art doesn’t give the book the astonishing feel that John Cassaday and Simone Bianchi gave before him.

And the reveal of the issue seems to be exploring the same ground that ‘X-Force’ has been plowing since its inception.

That said, the Wolverine vs. Brood sequence is a nice homage to Wolverine’s first encounter with this species back in 1982.

X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #2 (preview)
Writer: Jeff Parker
Pencils: Carlo Pagulayan, Gabriel Hardman, Chris Samnee & Carlos Rodriguez
Inks: Jason Paz, Gabriel Hardman, Chris Samnee & Terry Pallot

I can’t say that I’m really a fan of Agents of Atlas, and this crossover is rather standard team-up fare. Two teams get into a battle over a misunderstanding and compiling assumptions, only to have said misunderstanding resolved by the end of the crossover. So from my perspective, its another meaningless story that adds nothing to the week in comics.

Other than that, big thumbs up!

Psylocke #1 (preview)
Writer: Chris Yost
Penciler: Harvey Tolibao
Inker: Paul Neary

A nice attempt to clean up the continuity and array of bodies that Psylocke has been using of late. Wolverine is along for the ride… quite literally.

Black Widow: Deadly  Origin #1 (preview)
Writer: Paul Cornell
Penciler: Tom Raney
Inker: Scott Hanna

I really enjoyed this romp through Black Widow’s past, though as has been par for Marvel continuity of late, these Logan flashbacks are at odds with the history as revealed within ‘Wolverine: Origins’.

Is it just me or does Daniel Way’s look into Wolverine’s past get very little respect within other Marvel titles?

Shifting gears, I’ve been taking a hard look at my Wolverine collection recently and have come to the conclusion that for me to enjoy Wolverine like I used to, I need to separate the wheat from the chaff. And the first part of my collection to make it to chaff-dom is alternate realities.  So of course, two titles came out this week indulging on that very premise: ‘House of M: Masters of Evil’ #4 and ‘Marvel Zombies: Evil Evolution’.

The former wraps up the miniseries so hopefully no more needs to be said about that. The latter is a painful amalgam of Marvel Zombies who have jumped the shark and Marvel Apes that began their existence, to continue the ‘Happy Days’ analogy, as ‘Joanie Loves Chachi’.

To quote Stan Lee, “‘Nuff said.”

Daniel Way reveals in an interview with ComicBookResources.com that ‘Wolverine: Origins’ will probably be ending with issue #50 and not issue #60 as originally planned (details) due to Daken spinning off in his own series.

What is equally surprising for me is the frank admission of the abject lack of coordination and awareness that Wolverine/Bruce Banner/Skaar/Daken appeared in two different books (‘Wolverine: Origins’ #41 and ‘Incredible Hulk’ #603) that came out in the same week!

Probable and Possible (Dark) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 11/04/09…
–Astonishing X-Men #32 (preview): Wolverine and the X-Men take on Sentinels…
–Black Widow: Deadly Origin #1 (preview): Logan appears in this Black Widow origin…
–X-Men vs. Agents of Atlas #2 (preview): X-Men crossover concludes…