Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… My final make up review is for ‘New Mutants.’ Hope you enjoy it.

New Mutants #9 (preview)
Writer: Zeb Wells
Art: Paul Davidson

NOTE: Wolverine appears only in the background in this issue.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with a scientist working in an undisclosed location. A solider comes in and reports there is ice and they both leave. They approach a location where a third man is watching a gate to hell. The gate opens and some men come through. The scientist challenges them and General Ulysses has the correct response. He and his men keep coming through the portal.

On Utopia, Doug and Warlock are being checked out by Nemesis and Danger and are free from Bard’s infection although Warlock is still operating at only 3.8% capacity. Danger seems quite interested in Warlock until she finds out he reproduces asexually. Warlock then reveals that Illyana is not the original but rather a copy.

In the Danger Room, Sunspot is fighting a demon and gets into trouble forcing Illyana to teleport it back to Limbo. Dani and Shan come in and say that Emma wants to speak to Magik in her office.

Magma is still trapped in her molten form and is being visited by Sam. She says she will be let out soon and thanks him for saving her but Sam says it was Roberto that took care of her. Their discussion is interrupted by Doug’s appearance. Amara is still scared of Ramsey and tells him to leave and Sunspot reinforces it. Doug leaves rather then cause a problem.

In her office, Emma questions who Magik really is and Illyana answers honestly that she has the body and mind of Magik but not her soul. She explains about the first Inferno and how she was reborn from Belasco’s magic. She then went into the future after the second Inferno and saw what would happen if she had not stopped Legion.  He would have killed the X-Men until Emma slayed him.

In the control room, Amara confronts Doug and wants him to leave the island. She does not feel like he is really her friend because he is so different. Ramsey explains that he now can translate everything. Although she is still frightened, Doug wants to talk to her in a language that he made just for her. When he finishes, she hugs him and welcomes him back.

Illyana explains some of what she did when she was in the future. Magik hunted down Witchfire and put her to the sword but did not get her Bloodstones back. In her travels, Illyana heard of creatures from Limbo leading the X-Men to the Bloodstones but Magik arrived too late to save them. So she came back in time to make her former teammates ready for the attack which could happen at any time.

MY TAKE: This is another good issue and gives a very nice start to the next plot, which looks to be a return to form. I am glad that the cross-over event is finished and I am looking forward to this new take on Limbo. I am not sure what exactly the general and his troops are but I have wanted a new type of Limbo story for a long time. Hopefully, the group will prove to be an interesting and powerful enemy.

The characterization is uniformly good, as expected, and mostly focused on Illyana, Amara and Doug. I was glad to see that the attack on Magma was addressed and that there was a focus on making peace between her and Ramsey. I am not sure I completely buy how quickly Amara changed her mind but a lot of the issue was focused on them, so it was good to get past it.

I was a bit disappointed with Illyana’s part in the issue, however. I love her character and am glad to see her get some focus but the story was a victim of the advertising that focused on Magik’s secret. I was expecting some sort of major relevation about her personality and her past and instead got a brief recap and a little additional information to fill in the gab between X-Infernus and the first issue of the series. Hopefully, we will see her get her soul back in this story, the last panel hints that is at least possible.

In the end, this is a great story that does feel a bit slow. That is pretty normal when transitioning from one story arc to another. I am glad that there was an effort to address the plot threads from Necrosha but this does seem to give away at least some of the ending of that story.  Still, it works to build a continuity and it gives a very good introduction to the next story, which looks to be excellent. Hopefully, the next issues will continue to have a strong focus on Magik.

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.

A light week for Wolverine appearances, so let’s kick it off with…

…a brief money-losing appearance for Wolverine in ‘Nation X: X-Factor’ #1 (preview)…

…followed by ‘X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain’ #2 (preview) with a drunkingly noir-ish Logan showing up for a mere single panel…

…there is NO Wolverine appearance in the mega ‘Dark Reign’ follow-up, Siege #2 (preview), a somewhat disappointing redux of ‘Civil War’…

…finally, Wolverine did appear in two previous ‘What If? stories (thanks to Comusiv for the heads up), ‘What If? Spider-Man House of M’ (preview) and ‘What If? Daredevil vs. Elektra’ (preview)…

FYI, jrpbsp‘s review of ‘New Mutants’ #9 and the latest chapter of the X-Necrosha storyline will run later in the week.

My apologies for the late run of posts this week.

We will make sure to get back on track for next week.

That said, there was a paucity of Wolverine news for the week, with the possible exception of the ‘Ultimate X’ teaser image (details) and…

The Marvel Digital Exclusive issues of  ‘Wolverine vs. Thor’ (see issues 1 | 2 | 3)

As for probable/possible Wolverine appearances this week (1/6/09), we have previews of…

–Siege #1 (preview): No Wolverine, but Dark Wolverine stars in this latest Marvel crossover…
–X-Men Noir: Mark of Cain #12 (preview): More Noir, more drunk Wolverine…

Still playing catch up with the comics from over the holidays, so let’s start with the jrpbsp reviews…

• ‘‘Wolverine: Weapon X’ #8 (review): Brain Power…
• ‘Wolverine: Origins’ #43 (review): Swords and Schemes…
• ‘Uncanny X-Men’ #519 (review): A Beastly Exit (sans Wolverine)…
• ‘X-Men Legacy’ #231 (review): Reality Shift (Wolverine on cover only)…
• ‘New Mutants’ #8 (review): Universal Language (sans Wolverine)…

As for other Wolverine appearances from the holidays, Wolverine guest starred in the “Assault on New Olympus” storyline from ‘Incredible Hercules’ #139 (preview). On that note, I should mention that Wolverine had a cameo on the final page of the ‘Assault on New Olympus’ One Shot (preview) that kicked off the storyline back in November…

Wolverine also appeared in a rather uninspiring ‘What If? Astonishing X-Men’ (preview), as a single-panel vision in ‘X-Men Forever’ #14 (preview) and on the cover only of ‘New Avengers’ #60 (preview)…

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… My final make up review is for ‘New Mutants.’ Hope you enjoy it.

New Mutants #8 (preview)
Writer: Zeb Wells
Art: Diogenes Neves

NOTE: Wolverine does NOT appear in this issue.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with crabs crawling up a beach. They are set upon and absorbed by a Warlock crab. We then join Roberto, carrying Amara, with Dani on his heels. They are being tracked by Feral.

Doug is with the Hellions and they are attempting to wipe his programming with a reboot. The New Mutants arrive and Shan mentally takes control of Roulette but can not control her for long. The friends demand Doug Ramsey but are told to come and take him.

Feral has nearly caught the med-bay trio and Dani offers to stay behind to face her. She plans to close the door on Feral as she did on Jetstream but she hits the wrong switch and is soon fighting the cat-like mutant hand to hand. Dani does not hold her for long and Feral quickly attacks Sunspot who tears off one of her arms. She tackles him but Dani throws the severed arm out the window and Feral jumps after it.

Sam hits Jetstream and pulls him out of the fight while Magik faces off against Tarot and banishes her card monsters. Sam slams Jetstream into the ground hard and gets attacked by Catseye. Karma tries to control Beef and Bevatron but can not distract them for long. Magik takes Tarot down and kicks her into a portal but one of Roulette’s bad luck disks causes the portal to open above Illyana taking her down.The girls then kick Illyana off the building.

Sam slams into Karma’s attackers and carts them off with Catseye in close pursuit. On the ground, Illyana runs into a still corrupted Warlock and uses her Soulsword on him. It removes the magical effects and allows him to regain his personality and control.

Roberto and the girls arrive in the infirmary to find only Nemesis there. Although he can not heal her, the doctor gives Magma a serum to jump start her powers and force the change into lava form. She wakes up just in time to hear Roberto call her ‘baby’.

Bevatron manages to take Sam down for a moment and the Hellions regroup to destroy Ramsey before he can be converted. They are interrupted by the arrival of a mostly reconstituted Warlock. As they move to face the new threat, we see that Warlock has called the converted missiles from his initial arrival to his aid. He tells them to detonate on the Hellions as Illyana teleports him and Ramsey to safety.

Warlock asks for Illyana’s sword and she hands it over. Warlock stabs Doug and forces the malicious code from his body. Warlock asks what language Ramsey is just as Dani and Roberto make their appearance. Doug responds that the New Mutants are his language.

MY TAKE: This is another good issue with a strong plot and some very nice interactions. It did feel a bit rushed, however, so there was not as much characterization as there usually is. Still what is there is strong and I am glad there is a bit more focus on the Hellions. While none of them was truly able to shine, they at least showed flickers of their former selves. I just hope they stick around long enough to get some more development.

Much of the issue focused on combat, which seems to be pretty standard for these types of stories. The fight scenes are done well and they are interlaced with some fun and entertaining moments. It does rend the plot pretty thin though. Basically the entire issue is either getting Amara to the infirmary or getting Doug from the Hellions. While that is not exactly a problem, it does give the story less of a narrative punch.

I was strongly impressed with Warlock’s subplot that continued from the first issue of the story arc. I had pretty much forgotten all about the missiles before they were brought back into focus. It really felt like a throw-away plot point but I am glad it had a purpose and was useful. I like when a writer makes an effort to tie different issues of a story like this together. Having Illyana’s sword be the key to freeing him was another nice touch.

In the end, this was a great issue but a bit lacking in the overall plot. I do enjoy fight scenes, but when the story and characterizations are normally so strong, they can feel a trifle flat. Still I liked how everything was brought together and the conclusion worked on several levels. I hope the fact that Illyana’s Soulsword can break the mutants free of Selene is touched on in the larger story. This is still my favorite  current series and I am really looking forward to the next issue when we finally get a strong focus on Illyana.

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… Continuing with my reviews from last week we have ‘X-Men: Legacy.’ Hope you enjoy it.

X-Men Legacy #231 (preview)
Writer: Mike Carey
Penciler: Clay Mann
Inkers: Danny Miki with Allen Martinez & Walden Wong

NOTE: Wolverine appears on the cover only.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Cyclops and the X-Men fighting a losing battle against the Techno-zombies including a newly revealed Maggott. Blindfold walks into the middle of the fight and asks for a moment of Cyclops’ time and he gets the Cuckoos to set up a meeting in her mind space. Ruth reveals what Destiny told her and said the Muir Island is a cancer that needs to be dealt with.

Back on Necrosha, Irene talks to one of her jailers, Leon, and reveals some secrets of his past. She trades him a vision of the future for her freedom. In Ruth’s head she manages to convince Scott of the need to send a team to Muir Island. She also questions whether her mother is really dead. In the real world Cyclops orders Nightcrawler to prep an away team while Psylocke tries to comfort Blindfold.

Soon Kurt is taking his team across the Atlantic. He has tapped Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Rogue, Trance, Husk as well as Blindfold. Kurt tries to explain the reason for leaving their friends behind in the middle of a war but it does not go over well. Meanwhile, Magneto attempts to rekindle a spark with Rogue who rebuffs him.

On the island, Kurt has Trance scout the area while he jumps to the lab to make sure it is not a trap. While they wait, Colossus asks Betsy about her powers and she demonstrates that she still has plenty of telekinetic punch to go along with her telepathy. Rogue talks to Ruth and tries to get details on Destiny’s visit. Blindfold admits that Irene called her daughter but seemed surprised to see her face.

On Necrosha, the guard is brought before Selene for letting Destiny escape and trying to kill himself. The Black Queen does not opt to send anyone after Irene.

Back on Muir island, neither Kurt nor Trance have found any trace of an enemy. Nightcrawler sends them into the lab hard and fast but no one seems to be present. They question Blindfold but she does not make much sense. When Colossus touches her, she screams and runs away.

Rogue offers to go after the girl, who runs into Destiny in the hallway. Irene says that she was manipulated into giving that warning and tells Ruth not to touch anything before it is too late. Ruth ignores that request and grabs Destiny asking if she is her mother. Irene denies it but then there is a power surge that knocks the old woman out.

Rogue arrives to find a very changed Blindfold who smashes and restrains Rogue with pieces of metal from the walls. Marie asks how Ruth can suddenly do these things and the girls reveals herself to be Proteus.

MY TAKE: This is a pretty decent issue but with some odd pacing and story problems that took away from the quality. I like the idea of Proteus coming back, he is an interesting villain and can be very effective as seen in the Exiles series. I am not sure I understand how exactly he is managing to come back but when you deal with threats of that level, they do not really need to make sense.

The characterizations are good, as usual for this series, and it will be nice to have some attention focused on Blindfold. She is one of the more enigmatic new X-Men and I think she has a lot of potential. I was also glad to see Magneto and Rogue at least addressing their shared history. While I do not expect it to go anywhere, it is a nice scene for long term readers.

My biggest problem with the story is that is really has nothing to do with Necrosha. This is a tale that could have been told at any time and in fact would have worked better after the event, assuming Destiny survives in some form. The whole first scene felt out of place and the idea of some of the X-Men’s biggest guns leaving in the middle of a war they are losing makes no sense. Even though they tried to address this in the story, it made me shake my head. I do not understand anyone sending away their fighters before they even manage to secure their home. Adding in the cameo, with Proudstar in one panel, felt like it was pandering to the event as well.

I also wonder about the pacing. While I certainly do not mind having some personal interactions, waiting in potentially hostile terrain hardly seems like the best time. The setup felt very rushed too, so the sudden pauses in the middle were a bit jarring. Basically these were scenes that should have been done at the start of the story but could not be, due to the overall event.

In the end, this is a good setup with a strong team and definitely a lot of potential now that they are away from Utopia. I think we will get a lot of good action and some fun fights between the X-Men power players and Proteus. I just do not believe it really falls within the Necrosha story line and having to add in scenes with Selene and other Techno-zombies just muddies the story and the flow. Hopefully we will not see much more of the Necrosha bunch in the remaining two issues.

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… Since there are no Marvel titles next week I am breaking up the reviews. I will do three this week and three next. First up is ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’. Hope you enjoy it.

Uncanny X-Men #519 (preview)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciller: Terry Dodson
Inker: Rachel Dodson

NOTE: Wolverine does NOT appear in this issue

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with a young mutant, the boyfriend of the girl killed last issue, explaining her death and his flight to someone he believes can help. He describes hearing some sort of large animal but he does not know what it was. The man is then shown to be Fantomex and he offers to help.

Back on Utopia, Xavier, Emma and Betsy are restraining Cyclops and trying to figure out what to do for him now that he is infected by the Void. Emma wants to go back into Scott’s head and tells Psylocke to cut off both of their heads should Xavier give the order. In his mind, Cyclops is looking for Emma but finds only Void echoes of her.

Deep in the bowels of the complex, Magneto is working with the Science team to help power their turbines. Even though he gives it everything he has, it is not enough to even slow the sinking. Jeffries, meanwhile, reveals that they have been invaded by recording nanobots that came from the Predators Xs. Magneto tells the Science team to deal with the nanobots and find where they came from and he will take care of the sinking asteroid.

Back in Scott’s mind, he is still fighting the Void, without much luck, until Emma arrives and shatters her dark doppelgangers. She explains it is still his mind and he can fight there. But it is not long before he is buried by the darkness. In the real world Betsy is preparing to attack as Scott cries out. Xavier says there is still a chance but to strike if Scott wakes before Emma.

In the water outside, Magneto goes to talk with Namor. Erik wants the Atlanteans to build a pillar underneath the island which will save Utopia and give Namor’s people a home for themselves. Namor wonders about Scott, but Magneto promises he will be able to bring him around. On the surface Hank and Bobby are still talking. Beast is haunted by his torture and does not know if his place is still with the others.

Scott begins to fight back inside his mind and is able to get to his safe room. Emma tries to reach him but Cyclops refuses her entry, saying he needs to do this himself. Emma is jolted awake but pleads with the others to give Scott a chance to save himself. Xavier decides to have faith in his student but warns Betsy to stand ready should he fail.

Cyclops is once again drowning in his mind but refuses to give in. He is able to pull all of the Void essence into a small box and contain it deep within his head and then blocks the door to the room. There is a celebration when he wakes up which is cut short by Beast’s arrival. He tells Scott he is leaving for a while but Cyclops treats it like just another problem to be dealt with later.

MY TAKE: This is a pretty good issue which deals with a couple of the ongoing problems while building the current story nicely. I was never much of a fan of the Void sliver plot so I am glad it get nicely resolved. I appreciate how Scott was portrayed here as having such a strong mind and how he gave thanks to Jean for teaching him how to control himself. I do think they missed an obvious connection when they did not mention how Scott was able to overcome Apocalypse in much the same way. While it does not really hurt the story, it would have been a nice nod to continuity.

Magneto is becoming pretty interesting as well. He is still trying to find his place, both helping and trying to lead at the same time. It will be fun to watch him and Scott butt heads, as they are obviously going to do, since neither is truly right or wrong. His idea for Namor’s people, for example, is quite an elegant solution for both sides.

Beast’s departure was a low point for the story mostly because it does not really fit with his personality. Not too long ago he was making his own bargin with Dark Beast and doing all sorts of questionable things for the greater good, so he does not really have any room to judge. Plus he has suffered worse as an X-Man and bounced back. Basically this is an excuse for him to jump to S.W.O.R.D. and I never like sudden plot changes for those reasons. I am still irritated by Storm’s wedding too.

While I am not much of a fan of Fantomax’s involvement, the Predator X story is definitely picking up. The nanobots were good idea and it is nice to see that the villains were not dumb enough to think five monsters could wipe out Utopia. I am excited to see what is revealed next issue and I hope we start getting some answers on the group behind it all.

In the end, this was a solid issue that took care of a couple of lingering plot threads and worked at least one more towards a good solution. I am glad to see that some of the story elements are actually being addressed in a timely manner rather then being allowed to drag out forever. I would have preferred a bit of action or excitement here but it looks like we will be getting plenty of that soon. So I could enjoy this more downbeat story with its strong characterization and good plot advancement. I just hope we can see a few different characters next issue as these last two have been a bit limited in scope.

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… For my second review we have ‘Wolverine: Origins’. Hope you enjoy it.

Wolverine: Origins #43 (preview)
Writer: Daniel Way
Pencils: Doug Braithwaite
Inks: Bill Reinhold with Doug Braithwaite

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Logan being trained by the Silver Samurai in sword work. Wolverine is given half of a bokuto to fight against Harada’s two practice swords. After four days, Logan’s skills return and he bows out of further training. He admits to being in the Samurai’s debt.

Logan calls Cloak for a pickup but he refuses saying that Dagger has been taken. The description of the captor matches Victor Hudson who played on her sympathy as a blind man before drugging and taking her prisoner. Dagger wakes up tied to a chair with a middle aged man questioning her. He punches her in the face and says he is sorry but he has no choice but to do this for his own daughter’s sake. He wants to know of Wolverine’s plan. They are interrupted by Victor’s arrival.

Logan tells Cloak that he knows Dagger is still in San Francisco and he knows who took her but will not say who. He does tell Cloak what he needs to know. They wait for the call from Dagger which does not take long. Wolverine has set up a trace with Prodigy ahead of time. When Dagger calls, she tells Cloak not to tell them the plan but instead to trace the call.

Her tormentor grabs her hair and goes to hit her but she tells him she knows there is no daughter. At which point Victor decides the man is useless and kills him. Before the big mute can hurt her though, Cloak and Wolverine arrive. Dagger begs Cloak not to hurt him because it would turn Cloak to the dark but Logan has no problem cutting his foe in half with his sword.

Dagger attacks Wolverine as a monster and blasts him forcing his mind deep into Cloak’s darkness. Though it affects him, Logan is able to shrug it off as he has been in the dark many times before. As Logan leaves, Cloak apologizes to Dagger for keeping secrets and reveals that it is not Wolverine’s past that haunts him but his future.

She tells Cloak to go with Logan and help and to be there when he is ready to face the future. He meets up with Wolverine in an alley and asks where they are going next. In an unnamed prison a female guard talks to her prisoner who questions why the guard keeps bringing her food when she does not eat. Wolverine arrives and says this is a prison break.

MY TAKE: I have certainly made no secret of my general dislike for this series so I was highly surprised to find myself rather enjoying this issue. It is by no means perfect, but it is a pretty good Wolverine story taken on its own. I really liked seeing Cloak and Dagger here and I glad to see the duo getting a bit more focus. They did draw some of the attention from Wolverine but in a complimentary way.

I like the fact that we are finally seeing Logan using both his head and the resources at his disposal. He is taking advantage of having teleporters on the X-Men as well as using Prodigy’s knowledge. Even better is that he is being depicted as a strong character with real will power and skills. It is somewhat understable that his skill with a sword has waned due to lack of practice but the end fight with Silver Samurai shows how good he is. It was also telling that he is able to shrug off the effects of Cloak’s darkness.

The plot is still convoluted and does not really appeal to me. I still do not like Romulus but at least he will hopefully be dealt with by the end of this story. Seeing Victor finally getting finished gives me hope that maybe there will be a definitive conclusion to the story.

Although I do not really like the style of story, with the constant interruption of the plot with thoughtt balloons and opinions, it was not too distracting here. It would still be nice to see a greater focus on the events rather then Logan’s internal dialogue, it might make things move along a little bit faster.

Still, in the end, this was a good issue and an entertaining story to read. It could be that my expectations are very low but I really found myself getting immersed in the story. While I have no clue who the woman at the end is, I am actually interested in seeing who she is and what her role will be in Logan’s little cabal. I have no idea if the next issue will be good but at least this gives me hope that the series will end on a high note.

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.