Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… Starting to wind up the reviews for the week. Next we have the X-Men issue of the ‘The List’.  Hope you enjoy it.

Dark Reign: The List – X-Men
(preview | thread)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciler: Alan Davis
Inker: Mark Farmer

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Norman Osborn revealing his secret weapon against the Atlanteans to his assistant Victoria. He has genetically changed Namor’s ex-wife and former member of Alpha Flight member Marrina into a monster that will kill and eat any Atlantean it can find. He releases the creature as revenge for Namor’s betrayal in joining the X-Men.

Marrina does her job well hunting down and killing the peaceful underwater people in great numbers. Namor discovers this and brings one of his dead people to the new mutant island nation. Namor does not want the X-Men’s help in this but he is not given a choice in the matter by Emma.

Pixie and Illyana teleport all of Namor’s people in the Pacific to a safe area in the Norwegian sea, leaving Namor to be the bait for his ex to attack. The creature comes to the island and the Cuckoos confirm that there is nothing left in her head but hate.

Bobby and Betsy take the first attack with Psylocke increasing Iceman’s powers to try and freeze Marrina in place. It works for a moment but he can not hold her. Wolverine then attacks to get her attention while Surge gets on her back and electrocutes the monster. Immediately after Nightcrawler teleports her to safety leaving a bomb in his wake.

The combination attacks draw her to the land where Namor is waiting. He survives her first attack and is able to lift her up into the air. He then takes Marrina down deep into Mariana trench where the pressure destroys her.

Namor then flies her body to New York and smashes it into Avengers tower where he serves warning to Osborn. At the end we see all the Atlanteans come back through the portals to presumably settle near Utopia.

MY TAKE: This was a decent one-off story with some actual consequences and impact and even some character development. All of this is rare in a one shot and I believe this one was helped by the fact that Fraction wrote it as a tie in directly to ‘Uncanny X-Men’. I am interested to see if the Atlanteans are going to be remaining around Utopia and if so where that will lead.

It was nice to see  Osborn hatch a plan that is both practical and ruthless. He is attacking Namor both through his people and through his heart and that can be a nasty combination. I am sorry to see Marrina used this way but I can understand the reasoning for it and she did make a powerful villain. It led to Namor showing his feelings a bit which is good development for the character based on his recent appearances.

The team work and timing the X-Men showed while fighting Marrina was impressive and I am glad that they are still being shown as a well-trained unit. They had multiple levels and waves of attack and executed them perfectly. The effect was kind of spoiled by Namor more or less defeating the monster single handedly however.

I am still on the fence about Namor being on the team and this does not help. In a group with so many members I would much rather see the spotlight fall on some of  lesser-used and not have a well-known character from other titles being the focus. In truth I am not sure that this belongs as an X-title. This was Namor and Atlantis’ story and the X-Men were really just a back drop for it. I would have preferred that the story focus more on the mutants and less on the undersea kingdom.

Not much else really happened in the issue. The plot was a simplistic and straightforward revenge tale. If it does lead to a treaty or alliance between the mutants and the Atlanteans that will be a major development for the whole Marvel Universe. It would be very unusual to have that happen from a one shot but otherwise I do not see the point of the ending. I supposed only time will tell.

In the end this was a good story that had some important  moments and strong action and it tied in very well with the main titles. I just would have liked it better if this story had focused on more background characters that do not get much attention in the ongoing series. It seems like a missed opportunity for a tie-in comic to focus on an already well-exposed character.

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… Next up on the list is Uncanny X-Men the beginning of ‘Nation X’.  Hope you enjoy it.

Uncanny X-Men #515
(preview | thread)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Penciler: Greg Land
Inker: Jay Leisten

NOTE: Wolverine only cameos in this issue.

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Scalphunter in his diner being attacked by a super-powered team. Though he fights back well, he is severely outnumbered and outgunned, and he is taken down. Their leader plans to take him back to New York and feed him to their predators.

Jumping to Utopia, we see Betsy bringing Dr Yuriko Takiguchi his breakfast. The old man only says a few words before he passes away peacefully.

Scott is meeting with Emma, Namor, Hank, Bobby, Xavier and Storm to go over their plans now that the island nation is formed. Things like water and food are priority but so is defining their role to come. Scott admits to not really knowing what their purpose is besides peace and safety.

Emma is critical of gathering everyone up together, and she and Storm exchange harsh words before Psylocke brings the group news of the death. The Science Team meets to pay their respects but Scott is being practical about what to do with the body.

Cyclops decides he needs to go to the mainland and meet with the Mayor to see where they stand. Xavier tries to come with him but Scott forbids it. Meanwhile Nightcrawler, Emma and Danger break into their old base and go down to the prison level. Emma convinces Danger to be the new warden and use her abilities to create a prison of the mind and help them rehabilitate.

The Science team decides that Dr. Takiguchi’s body should be disposed of on the island and work to make a furnace usable for that purpose. Scott meets with the mayor to try and get supply shipments and see what his legal standing is. He is reassured that she does not know of anyone looking to arrest them.

The funeral is held but Scott keeps himself distant from it. He returns to Emma and gets no sympathy from her. He starts to yell at Frost but she explains she is incapable of feelings in diamond form especially with a part of the Void in her head. Their discussion is interrupted by the arrival of Magneto to his old base.

MY TAKE: This issue begins the new Nation X storyline so it was all about setting up a new status quo. Some of the roles are defined and a number of practical issues get worked out. Still it seemed to lack any real spark to draw me into the issue or larger story. Parts of it seemed more like a business meeting then a super hero comic book. Plus many of the plots did not really seem to fit together. I am sure some of this will be addressed in the future but it makes for a less then compelling start to a new arc.

The issue is most definitively not bad however and it has some good parts. I am interested in this new team that took down Scalphunter, and I think making Danger into a jailer is a nice twist and a good way to remove her gracefully from the spotlight in ‘X-Men Legacy’. I am also a fan of Magneto and his return is definitely the most exciting part of the issue to me. It will be exciting to see how he is going to react to the new mutant ‘Utopia’.

I did not see the point of killing off Dr. Yuriko. He is a background character so his death really affects nothing. It seems to be thrown it to make an emotional statement but we do not know the character enough to really care that he has died.

Scott is being thrust more and more into the spotlight and although he is a good character, he was never made to carry a title on his shoulders. Watching him meltdown will only be interesting for so long. While is it nice to have the realism of his dealing with water, food and their legal status, it is not exactly page turning especially when focused on a character that has traditionally not had a outgoing personality.

It seems like the purpose of infecting Emma was to return her to her bitchier ways. Since I am not a fan of the character, I do not much care but I would like to see it being consistent. She goes from picking fights with friends and loved ones to being the person to convince Danger to take a new role. It just seems like they are trying to please both her old fans and the new ones and it does not work to me.

In the end this is an alright start to the new story but I am really more interested in the side plots than the main thrust with Scott and Emma. With Magneto jumping in for the next issue I am worried that I will actually like the villain more then some of the primary characters fighting him. Hopefully, once everything is established the stories will be less about running the nation and more about the characters living on it.

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… I’m wasting no time this week so here is my second review ‘Wolverine: First Class’.  Hope you enjoy it.

Wolverine: First Class #19
(preview | thread)
Writer: Peter David
Art: Dennis Calero

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with Kitty Pryde getting up and doing her morning routine. It is not until she opens her blinds that she notices that instead of her bedroom she is actually on a space ship. At first she thinks it might be a trick but after testing the outside with a cup she learns that the view is real.

But she is still having a better day then Logan who is also on the ship and is being tortured by the Super Skrull. Wolverine is confident of his escape even though his bonds are adamantium. The Skrull does not reveal his intentions but shows a video of Kitty in her ‘room’ which was recreated from hard-light and which is protected by a field which activates when she tries to phase through it.

Wolverine tries to get the Super-Skrull to tell his plans but the alien refuses. But in the few moments of distraction, Kitty apparently vanishes from the room.

A group of Skrulls are sent in to search but they do not see her. That is when Kitty emerges the bed she phased into and makes a break for it. One of the Skrulls catches her but Shadowcat phases him and uses the room’s defense against him. More Skrulls arrive from each direction, but Kitty phases through their fire so they shoot each other.

She then runs into Wolverine in the hall who says he escaped from the Super Skrull but is hurt. As Kitty helps him, ‘Wolverine’ reveals himself to be another Skrull and knocks her out. The green alien is interrupted by someone and taken out as well.

We return to Logan who is still a captive being tortured by the Super Skrull.The alien is demanding to know where Kitty went. His question is answered by the timely arrival of Shadowcat and her rescuer Captain Marvel.

MY TAKE: The story is very Kitty-centric and it starts out very strong. The scenes in her room are definitely the best in the issue. The rest of the plot is kind of weak however, and it seems to just be set up as an excuse to allow the use of Captain Marvel. While the character is interesting that should never be the driving force for a comic.

The characterizations are very good especially Kitty and it is great to see her using her mind and thinking through problems rather then just phasing through them. We do not see much of Wolverine but he is still given a strong fighter voice which works well for him.

The plot is the weak point here. While it was nice that the Super Skrull is smart enough not to fall into a villain monologue, the lack of discussion gives us nothing of the reasons behind the abductions. We are left with a whole bunch of questions that distract from the enjoyment of the story.

While the beginning was great, I do not see the logic in the Skrulls recreating Kitty’s bedroom. She is a prisoner so why should they care if she knows it immediately? She would find out when she tried to leave the room anyway.

Besides which we are not given any real explanation at why or how the pair are snatched from the mansion without detection. Or in fact how Wolverine was taken at all considering his senses and fighting skills. All we have is a general explanation about wanting to conduct tests on the mutants which seems to be a pretty poor reason to risk it.

In truth the plot just feels like a generic science fiction story, even the cover has that feel. I want more from the writing then vague references and excuses as to how the heroes got into trouble. We do not get it here.

I do want to mention that the artwork was very good. It especially strong in the expressions on Kitty’s face. I do not believe her scenes would have been nearly as effective without the little artistic touches.

In the end this is a cute issue with some good Shadowcat scenes but very little story to back them up. Hopefully we will get some more explanations next issue along with the Skrull smashing that is sure to ensue.

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… It is going to be a full week of reviews, I might even have to postpone one or two until next week. So starting with a bang, here’s the conclusion to ‘Old Man Logan’.  Hope you enjoy it.

Giant Size Wolverine: Old Man Logan
(preview | thread)
Writer: Mark Millar
Penciler: Steve McNiven
Inker: Dexter Vines & Mark Morales

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with two of the Hulk clan washing the blood of Logan’s family off them and discussing cannibalism and the movie they are going to watch that night. In a flash one of them is in pieces and as his kin looks around, he is taken down by Wolverine from the water.

Three more of the country behemoths are enjoying some booze and flesh in Stark’s bar. The lights go out suddenly and one of them is dead. By the time his family gets a light going, Logan is ready to take them down as well.

Another trio are out celebrating with prostitutes. When they emerge from the house Logan is standing there with claws popped ready for them.

At Banner’s lair the rest of the brood are gathered. Bruce himself waits confidently for Wolverine to arrive. One of the Hulk clan’s transports slams into the trailers outside of Banner’s cave and riding it is Beau, one of the Hulks from the whorehouse who is wired to a massive amount of explosive.

Before the rest of the family can recover from the explosion, Logan is among them killing with abandon. When they are all dead, Wolverine goes to the cave and calls out Banner who attacks in human form.

Treating it like sport, Bruce batters Logan around even swinging a cow at the mutant. But Logan is not there for games and slices up Bruce forcing him to change into his alter ego, the Hulk.

Hulk snatches up Wolverine and eats him. Hours later the last surviving member of the Hulk clan, Billy-Bob arrives home to find only Banner and baby Bruce left alive. The Hulk is convinced that they can start again but is soon overwhelmed by stomach cramps. Falling to his knees in pain, Logan explodes out of Bruce’s back.

A month later Logan has tended to his family and is preparing to leave. There is nothing left for him but memories but he now has a mission to free this land from villains. He says goodbye to the folks of his town and rides off into the sunset with baby Bruce on his back.

MY TAKE: This was a fun issue filled with blood and explosions and revenge, basically everything you need to make a big summer blockbuster. Unfortunately, it also contained plenty of the plot holes and inconsistencies that plague those same movies but so long as you do not want to think too much, you can really enjoy it.

This is not to say that I did not like the comic because I definitely did. The story is fast paced and exciting, and Millar has made the villains so loathsome and heinous that you root for them to die in horrible ways. And they do. It makes for a very quick read since you are constantly turning the pages to see how each batch of Hulks gets killed. The ending is satisfyingly vicious and you are glad that Logan gets his revenge and is back on the right path.

If you do not read it quickly, however, you start to notice some pretty serious plot holes. For example how does a poor farmer that cannot even pay his rent get his hands on what must have been a metric ton of plastic explosive? The scene is effective of course and I understand wanting to use an explosion but it does not make sense.

Another example is how Logan still has his adamantium skeleton after being eaten. Sure the Hulk could have swallowed it whole but I do not see why he would. After all he would then have to try and pass it later and that would be truly unpleasant.

The worse one to me was the inclusion of Banner Jr. as a child. While I certainly appreciate trying to tie the series to Fantastic Force’s Hooded Man, those heroes are from thousands of years beyond Old Man Logan. We see that the Hulk’s age so even if the child could survive that long he would not appear so young. It was this that pulled me out of the story the most, although people not familiar with Fantastic Force probably would not even notice.

But those are all minor quibbles. What the issue lacks in plot and characterization it more then makes up for in fun and excitement. It makes for a fitting and blood-soaked end to the plot line and it is what we have been waiting for more than a year to see. Logan finally getting mad. I, for one, was not disappointed.

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.

Marvel released their December solicitations today and we present the major Wolverine issues below…

WOLVERINE WEAPON X #8
Written by JASON AARON; Penciled by YANICK PAQUETTE
In the deepest darkest dungeons of the Dunwich Sanatorium, the true nature of this maddest of all madhouses is finally revealed, but will the answer come too late for Wolverine to salvage what’s left of his sanity? And just what is Dr. Rot building with all of those brains?

WOLVERINE ORIGINS #43
Written by DANIEL WAY; Pencils by DOUG BRAITHWAITE
“7 The Hard Way,” Part 3
With Bruce Banner and his fearsome son Skaar onboard, and with the enigmatic X-Man Cloak apparently on his side, Wolverine’s mysterious plan to finally defeat Romulus seems to be going well…but that was before coming face to face—and blade to blade—with Kenuichio Harada, the Silver Samurai! Is he part of the plan, or the one who will completely derail it?

WOLVERINE: UNDER THE BOARDWALK
Written by STUART MOORE; Pencils by TOMM COKER
Forty years ago, Logan spent one amazing night with a cocktail waitress — and witnessed a murder. Now an anonymous tip summons him to Atlantic City, promising answers to a gangland mystery spanning the decades. But as Logan slashes and claws his way toward the truth, he finds himself caught between an old flame and a fiery young woman — at least one of whom hides a deadly secret.

DARK WOLVERINE #81
Written by MARJORIE LIU & DANIEL WAY; Penciled by GUISSEPPE CAMMUNCOLI
“A CAUTIONARY TALE”
In this standalone story, everything you thought you knew about the enigmatic Dark Avenger Daken gets turned upside-down. Moonstone lets her curiosity—and her training as a doctor of psychology—get the better of her as she attempts to uncover what lies beneath Daken’s surface. But when she finally gets him alone, what she finds just might kill her. A perfect place to jump on board to find out why critics are calling this series 
“a must read”!

For the full list of comics, see ComicBookResources.com (details)…

Probable and Possible (Dark) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 9/23/09…
–Dark Reign: The List – X-Men (preview): Fallout from ‘Exodus’…
–Dark X-Men: The Confession (preview): Secrets revealed…
–Fantastic Force #4 (preview): Series finale…
–Uncanny X-Men #515 (preview): ‘Nation X’ begins…
–Wolverine: First Class #19 (preview): Preview looks brilliant!
–Wolverine: Origins #40 (preview): ‘Romulus’ conclusion…
–Wolverine: Old Man Logan Giant-Size (preview): Mark Millar epic finally wraps up…

(Dark) Wolverine appeared in FIVE TITLES last week (September 16, 2009), plus we catch up on the review of ‘Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus’ from the week before. So without further ado, let’s get to the trio of reviews by our very own jrpbsp…

• Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus (from previous week): A Nation Rises
• X-Men Legacy Annual #1: Two Beginnings
• Uncanny X-Men: First Class #3: Irish Ghosts

And as usual, I share my curmudgeonly impressions for the rest of the Wolverine docket…

Marvel Zombies Return #3 (details)
Writer: Jonathan Maberry
Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander

Let me start by giving props to Jason Shawn Alexander and his terrific zombie art.

And while not a bad story, I find Jonathan Maberry mining the same old ground that ruined this franchise in the first place, that zombies are somehow redeemable.

Sorry, they are not.

That’s why killing zombies is morally approved by everyone, including the Pope.

From my perspective, either produce a fun, bloody series about Marvel superheroes turned zombie or create a genuinely scary book around the same concept.

But rehashing that some zombies can be “saved” brings along a ton of questions that makes me uneasy.

Does that mean we should forgive the irresistible zombie impulse of killing whole galaxies full of sentient beings? Are some heroes genuinely more heroic than others, able to stave off the uncontrollable zombie hunger? Does it follow, then, that some heroes are less heroic or perhaps, not really heroes at all?

As I have said in weeks past, Marvel Zombies should return to its roots or be allowed to stay dead.

Or undead.

Well, you know what I mean…

Dark Wolverine #78 (preview)
Writers: Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu
Art: Stephen Segovia

To my surprise, I found that I really enjoyed Dark Wolverine, giving credit to Marjorie Liu for a subtle touch that I found lacking in Daniel Way’s usual writing.

Well, the heavy handedness has returned with this issue as does an equally heavy dose of huge American breasts.

The machinations of Daken and Norman Osborn are absurd, risking career-ending exposure for minor gains, and invariably involving scantily-clad women wearing miniskirts.

To which some of you may ask, what’s the problem?

Dark Avengers #9 (preview)
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Art: Mike Deodato

Not much Dark Wolverine, but an astounding issue nonetheless.

This is quickly becoming the core Dark Reign title.

Kudos to the exquisite team of Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Deodato who seem to feed off of each other quite effectively…

Shifting gears to animation, we had another new episode of ‘Wolverine and the X-Men’ this past Friday, Rover, a well-done episode focusing on the future, Marrow and an injured Sentinel. For full details, see the Marvel.com preview…

As always, share your opinion in the comments below OR or simply join in on the fun at the Wolverine Files Forums…

Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here… For my final review of the week I am doing ‘Uncanny X-Men: First Class’.  Hope you enjoy it.

Uncanny X-Men: First Class #3 (preview)
Writer: Scott Gray
Art: Roger Cruz

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with the X-Men doing a training exercise with everyone against Banshee. They are trying to prevent the Irish mutant from capturing the flag but despite their best efforts they fail to stop him. Cyclops is very impressed with Sean’s performance.

We cut to Sean and Moira out on a date. Sean is ready to commit to her but Moira thinks things are moving too fast. They leave and she refuses to be flown back to the mansion. On the way out of the restaurant, Banshee’s pocket is picked.

When he gets back to Xavier’s, his ex-father-in-law Patrick is there ranting about his daughter. Sean relates to Moira the story of meeting his wife Maeve and their relationship up to her death in a bombing while Banshee was away deep under cover.

After the story, Sean finally notices his wallet is gone and we see the pick-pocket conducting a voodoo ritual to raise his deceased wife. That night Sean sees Maeve who tells him to go to Belfast. He awakens Patrick and he relays that he had seen the same thing.

The next day Sean, Patrick and Moira head to Belfast, Maine where Sean originally proposed to Maeve.  We then see a brief interlude with Peter Corbeau and his scientists studying the strange people that are standing on the sun.

Upon arriving in Belfast, Sean leaves the others to go and fly around looking for Maeve. Not long after he leaves, Patrick drugs Moira. Banshee does find his departed wife but she turns into a monster and attacks him claiming he owes her a blood debt. Refusing to fight back, she tears him up and he falls into the sea.

Meanwhile Patrick explains to a captive Moira that he planned the whole thing and hired Julius Dupree, the Voodoo man, when he found out he was dying. He blames Sean for Moira’s death and did not want to see him happy with another woman. Moira figures out that Julius is actually a mutant and is psionically creating Maeve.

Maeve delivers Sean soon after and Patrick reveals that the whole place is wired to explode. Sean fights back but it is Maeve who saves him in the end, freeing him from his bonds. Dupree escapes as do Sean and Moira but Maeve keeps Patrick in the building as it explodes. In the end Sean makes his peace with his wife and Moira lets him fly her.

MY TAKE: While Banshee is not one of my favorite characters, you can not help but like him in this issue. It is definitely the strongest of the series so far and is filled with a decent amount of plot and a lot of very good character moments. In fact the entire thing is an exploration of love both past and present and it shows how love might die it never truly stays buried.

Thankfully, the character moments are well done since there is little else in the issue. But you can definitely feel for Sean and even Moira here. Starting a new relationship is always difficult and it is worse when you have to deal with the ghosts of an old love, in this case quite literally. Although Patrick is little more then a two-dimensional villain, I am glad they at least made an attempt to provide him a believable motivation for his actions.

There were definite flaws with the issue though. The training sequence was unneeded, it just allowed the rest of the X-Men to have a cameo and show Banshee is an experienced fighter. But since there was no real combat in the issue it was just wasted pages that could have gone to the main story. I also disagreed with how easily Banshee humiliated the rest of the team. Many of them are just as experienced as he is and yet they are all made to look foolish.

I also do not see the purpose of inventing yet another mutant for the story. It seems obvious that we are meant to see the character of Julius again but he was an uninteresting stereotype to me and I would have preferred to see established X-villains being used for the stories.

In the end though, this was a strong, character based story that really explored the relationships of Banshee and gave you a look inside his mind and heart. It made for a nice little one off and it was  good to see the First Class format being put to use. I just hope we get the spotlight aimed at some of the other characters soon, like Wolverine, Jean or Storm.

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 of the week doing ‘X-Men: Legacy’.  Hope you enjoy it.

X-Men Legacy Annual #1 (preview)
Writer: Mike Carey
Art: Daniel Acuna & Mirco Pierfederici

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with construction being performed at the location where Xavier’s school once stood. The workers hit something they believe to be a gas line but get a visit from Emplate instead. He kills a couple of the humans and sets out in search of the X-Men.

The mutants are on their new home in San Francisco Bay. We see Scott talking to Rogue trying to convince her to take on responsibility for helping some of the younger mutants. She thinks he is using it to sideline her but agrees to consider it.

Meanwhile Mason Jeffries is doing some diagnostics on Danger and during the process she detects someone spying on them. Emplate jumps into the room and knocks Mason down as he calls for help. Danger attacks but is blasted when Emplate phases through Jeffries’ counterattack.

Emplate is starting to feed on Mason when the X-Men arrive. Emplate jumps Cyclops and uses his power against Wolverine, Angel and Kurt. Seeing he is solid Thunderbird decks him. He recovers and knocks Kurt away and feeds on Pixie. Wolverine attacks again and forces Emplate to flee to his dimension.

Scott calls an emergency meeting and briefs the others on Emplate’s history and powers. He orders no one to be alone until they can be sure what Emplate is after.

Rogue goes to speak to Indra and helps to comfront and reassure him after he attacked a H.A.M.M.E.R. agent in order to save himself. He follows a path of strict pacifism as a Jain. Although he does not seem to be completely assuaged, Rogue does seem to help the young man.

We see Emplate and D.O.A. in their dimension. Emplate is planning another strike at a different target since Penance is not with the X-Men.

Hellion and Rockslide are having a contest about their powers with Onyx and Roxy are watching. But Bling gets bored with the fight and wanders off. She immediately see a lighthouse coming towards her. Watching the spectacle she gets pulled into the place by Emplate who has found his new meal.

A second story is shown featuring Gambit breaking into a H.A.M.M.E.R. center to destroy the Omega Machine. He defeats a telekinetic calls Hijack by powering up his body armor. The telepath gives him more of a fight until the man makes the mistake of activating Gambit’s suppressed Apocalypse conditioning. The Death persona kills the telepath with a card and then shifts back to Gambit who charges up the machine and destroys it.

MY TAKE: This is an interesting set up issue although very little happens as far as plot goes. The first story was obviously the stronger of the two, introducing the new direction of the series for Rogue. While being a counseler is not a role I would normally associate with her, I can understand the appeal for her. She has just recently gotten her head straight after many years. Being able to offer that peace to young mutants must be very tempting.

Scott’s stated reason is that with her powers she is better able to train and help them control their own. But considering this is a person that could not control her abilities until recently, she seems better suited to emotional support and assistance. While I am not sure how interesting this will be for most people considering the small amount of conflict, it could work out very well from a character perspective. Especially since it will allow a spotlight to be shown on lesser used characters like Roxy.

I am not really sold on having Emplate as a villain in the arc, however. He was another silly concept from the 90s that would have been better left buried. As a single foe he is reasonably formidable but he comes with a history that is so convoluted and bizarre it is not worth the effort to revive him.

The plot was pretty much non-existent but it was filled with good character moments which are Carey’s strong point. Rogue and Indra especially shine here in their conversation. You can really understand and feel for the young mutant in their short discussion.

The art was decent but I am not a major fan of the art style of coloring the pencils and not inking it. It looks very faded and lacks the details needed to really tell the character’s expressions.

The second story was a very basic if vaguely amusing story with Gambit fighting a couple powered guards. There is no real plot and I do not understand the purpose of including it. If this is a new role for Remy then I am not too interested in it. Infiltrating places and stealing or destroying the contents seems like a step back for the character. His history is as a thief but he had seemed to move past that and we really do not need yet another Black Ops type character running around in the X-Men.

If it was just a one off plot to highlight Gambit then it works but we do not really see anything new about him, just his combat and stealth skills. It was a decent read but I am still not sure why it was set up as a prologue in the comic.

In the end we were given a good start to Rogue’s new direction and an alright story that hints at an old direction for Gambit. I would have preferred a different antagonist for the main story and more character development for Remy but I am still looking forward to the new stories. Carey’s strengths are characterization and X-Men canon and we should be seeing a lot of both in the months to come.

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… Playing catch up this week so I am going to go ahead and start with the final chapter of Utopia.  Hope you enjoy.

Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Exodus
(preview | thread)
Writer: Matt Fraction
Art: Mike Deodato and Terry Dodson with Rachel Dodson

SPOILERS BELOW…

RECAP: The issue opens with a flashback to a scene from ‘Uncanny X-Men’ with Beast confronting Scott and Emma about their secrets. This will lead into ‘Dark X-Men: The Confession’ one shot.

The action then jumps to the present where Osborn is leading his Avengers and the remains of his X-Men against the real X-Men and their assembled mutants.

Bullseye attacks first with a barrage of arrows and Scott sends Warren to take him out. Angel snags the man and hauls him off.

The next wave attacks and are met with a group of girls piling on Moonstone. The defenders use fire to attack Venom before Colossus moves in to slug it out with him. Laura goes head-to-head and claw-to-claw with Daken while Wolverine puts his claws through Omega.

Warren drops the Dark Hawkeye and changes to his Archangel persona and the two go bow-to-wings in a ranged shoot out. Seeing things are not going well, Norman joins the attack with Sentry and Ares. Namor intercepts Sentry and they knock each other through a few buildings. Scott attacks Osborn but is quickly blasted down.

Mirage returns with the powers of a Valkyrie and Hela’s blessing, and she and the rest of the New Mutants intercept and knock down Ares. Dark Beast is still up but he is quickly taken down by the Science Team in revenge for their Beast’s treatment. Colossus is shown to be holding his own against Venom, keeping him out of the fight.

Mimic gets attacked by Iceman who is helped by a bunch of others to overpower Rankin’s duplication ability. Laura is joined by Armor and Pixie to combat Daken while Emma seeks out Xavier to get his telepathic help.

Together the two mutants are able to pierce the Sentry’s mind and find the White Room to talk to Bob. The room has been corrupted by the Void and Emma has to force Bob back to himself. Finally achieving clarity, he flies off into deep space with the Void hot on his heels. But there is a price to pay, a piece of the evil embeds itself in Emma’s mind forcing her to remain in diamond shape to deny it access to her telepathy.

With one big gun gone, Osborn only has Ares left, but he is stabbed and taken down by Mirage. Omega is still unable to defeat Wolverine and Daken is pulled down by the three girls. Norman blasts Cyclops again but is told by Moonstone that the only way to win now would be to kill them all. But with the cameras rolling that is not something he could spin away. With no further choices he withdraws his team.

Scott declares the island sacred ground and a safe zone for all mutants to the press but Norman holds his own meeting and says the island is a mutant detainment camp holding dangerous militants.

The X-Men start to rebuild their home with refugees pouring into the city. Emma points out the last time they declared an island home it did not work out well but Scott promises it will be different this time.

MY TAKE: This issue is a solid if simplistic finale to the series. It was pretty much one big fight scene, but for the most part the combats were interesting and well done. There was not much plot but they did manage to cram in some story and little character moments that made the issue better.

It was nice to see that Fraction did put some thought into the match ups and most of them had meaning. I liked seeing Daken getting taken apart by Laura and Wolverine’s girls and it was nice watching Omega getting taken to task for the death of Alpha Flight. Most of the remaining fights were decent but nothing I had a particular interest in although I did enjoy the scenes between Cyclops and Osborn.

Of course it goes without saying that I am overjoyed to see Mirage returned to powered status, especially since I was always a fan of her Valkyrie powers and persona.

I was not particularly happy with the amount of time dedicated to the Sentry. He is very uninteresting in my opinion and we have seen him fly off into space so many times it is silly. The payoff with Emma has potential though so we will see where that goes.

Some of the powers and the fights seemed a bit off as well, which took me out of the story. I still believe that the Avengers were given far too much credit and did too much damage to hardened combatants. With the sheer number and power of the gathered mutants the fight should have been over before it began. On the other side of the coin it seemed like Namor was overpowered to be able to go toe-to-toe solo with the Sentry for as long as he did.

In the end we have some strong fights which are really only there to set up the new status quo for Nation X. But in the process we are given a good story with plenty of action and enough character moments and plot to keep it entertaining. While I am not personally excited to have yet another mutant homeland scenario, if it is done well, it has the potential to be a springboard for some very good stories.

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.

Big DVD day for Wolverine with the release of the summer blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine, volume two of the NickToon’s animated series Wolverine and the X-Men, and volumes three and four of the classic 90s animated series X-Men. Newsarama has all the details in The Three (DVD) Faces of Wolverine…

In other Wolverine News…

• Marvel: ‘Wolverine vs. Thor’ Digital Comic Released (details)
• CBR: More Wolverine 2 Movie Details (details)
• CBR: Matt Fraction on ‘Utopia’ (details)
• CBR: Chris Claremont on ‘X-Men Forever’ (details)

Probable (and Possible) (Dark) Wolverine Appearances in stores on 9/16/09…
–Dark Avengers #9 (preview): Brian Bendis and Mike Deodato return…
–Dark Wolverine #78 (preview): Things start to fall apart for Daken…
–Marvel Zombies Return #3 (details): The return of Zombie Wolverine…
–Uncanny X-Men: First Class #3 (preview): More early New X-Men fun…
–X-Men Legacy Annual #1 (preview): Wolverine makes the cover at the very least…