Astonishing X-Men #6

LIFE OF X pt VI

Written by Charles Soule
Penciled by Mike Del Mundo
Cover by Mike Del Mundo
Published Dec 6, 2017

   In London, the citizens are brainwashed and under the Shadow King's control, while on the Astral Plane, he declares victory. As he prepares to enter the real world, Charles Xavier asks him for Rogue, Fantomex, and Mystique to kill humanely as was part of their deal. He gives them to him, and Xavier immediately attacks as voraciously as possible.

GET 'EM!

   Archangel attacks a weakening Logan and Gambit, who still prove to be no pushovers, while at the Ministry of Defence, the military gives the command to bomb the city. They send the evac password to their still trapped field agents which tips Psylocke off.
  On the Astral Plane, Xavier's former pupils keep up the pressure while all of the X-Men under his control and out of it proved to have roles. The professor sees an opportunity. For centuries he hasn't attempted escape. Now with Farouk occupied, he explodes from his chains for a final battle. He kills the Shadow King and reassures his students that everything is ok. 

I got this.

   Logan and Gambit slowly drift back to normal, right before Archangel lands on them. The authorities prepare their warhead while Psylocke tries to focus him. She no longer feels the Shadow King's presence and orders him to stop the planes preparing to wipe out the area. Meanwhile Fantomex returns from the Astral Plane unguided. He pulls off his mask to reveal himself to Psylocke as a Charles Xavier hybrid, controlling Fantomex's body... I guess? Not sure. But either way, it certainly appears some semblance of Professor X is back, in the flesh. His explanation though will have to wait, as this issue and this act are concluded.

Abstract X.

   Once more, Charles Soule proves himself to literally be in control of the strongest X-Men book going. With all due respect to Marc Guggenheim and Cullen Bunn, if there was a war for best X-affiliated titles, this one blows the other two out of the water. Everything about it was good except Mike Del Mundo's watercolor abstract ink blobs. Either way, that's something even I can get over when it comes to a great script and solid storytelling. This issue had it all and has me stoked to see what comes next. I give this one a 10/10.

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Batman #36

SUPERFRIENDS pt I

Written by Tom King
Penciled by Clay Mann
Cover by Clay Mann
Published Dec 6 2017

   Superman flies high above a train, preparing to save it from derailment while talking to Lois. He thinks Batman should call HIM. He's the one who got engaged. Meanwhile, Batman shares a similar thought with Catwoman. She reminds him Clark is his closest friend. Batman says Alfred is his closest friend, but Selina tells him that doesn't count because Alfred is on the payroll.

Well I mean, Alfred IS a pretty good friend.

   Clark and Lois leave the Daily Planet. She wants to meet Catwoman but Clark is reluctant to share his secret identity. While Catwoman is clearly already aware a guy who looks just like Superman who writes stories about Superman, is actually him. Clark helps Lois out on a story she's writing about railroads but senses a boulder hurling towards them. Catwoman tells Batman he's afraid to talk to his friends.
   Later on, Superman catches the boulder - which turns out to be some sort of alien villain and admits he didn't call Bruce. She's found some anomalies in her railroad stroy, but insists they talk about him not talking to Batman. At the same moment, Selina asks Bruce if he's ashamed of her. 

Bruce, are you really THAT busy?

He keeps researching but tells her no. The two go to investigate radiation while Superman and Lois go out to investigate as well. The next few pages discuss the to men's similarities and differences, finally opening an elevator and revealing all four of them are on the same floor of the same building, and Lois and Catwoman shake hands. 

Three people wearing costumes. One person wearing normal clothes.

   The issue wraps with the 2 being attacked by the convergence of the two villains they were chasing. After they're both defeated, Superman suggests they all go get a bite to eat and with that, we're left to be continued.

Who's hungry?

   While I'm sure some people will have a problem with it, I always enjoy the occasional story that focuses on character development. And further, if there's any writer who can do that better than Tom King, I'd like to meet them. Everybody knows Batman has layers, and Superman is constantly inundated with similar laid back stories in his own book. But finally a chance to see them both develop. These guys obviously have a friendship to maintain. I'd just like to believe that the Justice League series could maybe take a page from this one. I give it a 9/10.

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Avengers #674

WORLDS COLLIDE pt V

Written by Mark Waid
Penciled by Jesus Saiz
Cover by Alex Ross
Published Dec 6, 2017

   Fresh off the events of Champions #14, they and the Avengers continue their journey to the center of counter-earth. Something was buried deep here by the High Evolutionary, and it holds the key to the two worlds colliding. Finally they reach the door and Hercules and Nova smash the door open.

That's a big ole door.

   There in front of them lies a hole, the likes of which Thor cannot find the bottom of. They pair up, fliers with non-fliers, including the newly humanized Viv Vision, much to her father's dismay. Their long descent gives Vision an opportunity to talk with his daughter. In his adventures, he encountered a much older version of himself, revealing he has thousands of years of existence. His family however does not. Vivian tries to digest this information, while finally they reach the bottom and a horde of Ani-Men stand primed to attack. They battle - Animal Person vs superheros, while human Viv walks off to explore.

Viv sees the perfect opportunity to wander off at the core of a counter-earth and without any powers. 

   She finally finds the High Evolutionary's engine - one that looks an awful lot like him. Both his greatest creation and biggest failure, his child was created out of boredom of the Ani-Men. Only his son included one major principal - compassion. He fought for the Ani-Men's rights to life and was cast out. Today he has chained himself to the orbit engine, refusing to allow Viv to alter it's trajectory.
   With only minutes to spare, the sides continue to battle while Viv begs the Lesser Evolutionary to tamper with the controls. Otherwise, billions will die. She herself was altered by the beings' father. Finally she convinces him to steer it. She moves towards it but he tells her the vibrational feedback would tear her apart. He'll do it. But suddenly the Avengers move in, attacking him. He fights back and Viv uses the distraction to walk through.

Aw Viv. Come on...

   Memories fill the page. Viv and her family. Her father tucking her in. Sitting on the couch watching television. The earths avoid convergence and Vision screams for her to stop. She refuses. As she fades away, she tells her father she loves him, and with that she's gone.
   The issue wraps with the Avengers and Champions standing at her grave. Luckily though, one page later she finds herself in a field of white. She asks "Where am I?" and with that, this issue is left to be continued.

Is this how Field Of Dreams was supposed to start?

   Wow. What an issue. You know, you have to give it to Mark Waid. When a writer has the opportunity to deliver a crossover, it's clearly a double effort when the same guy writes both books. To take both the All New and All Old Avengers and spin them off, only to cross them over - that's a task. And he delivers it flawlessly. I'll be definitely picking up Champions #15. I gotta see where this ends up. For this one, I give it a 9/10.

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Spider-Man #235

SINISTER SIX REBORN pt II

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Penciled by Oscar Bazuldua
Cover by Patrick Brown
Published Dec 6, 2017

   Near the docks, the all new Sinister Six debate the ins and outs of stealing a SHIELD helicarrier while Sandman expresses his doubts. The Iron Spider uses a recon drone to sneak inside, broadcasting all the while on a tiny screen for his partners to see. Sure enough, there it sits. When Spot hears there are no guards, he opens a portal and steps through, only to see the Red Hulk fast asleep. He returns and informs everyone, agitating Sandman even more. Eventually Bombshell uses her powers to scatter him, just to apparently show him who's boss.

Oh damn!

   Meanwhile, the Armadillo runs down the Brooklyn Bridge with some stolen loot before finally Spider-Man swings into action. He's unmasked, so he hopes a tiny venom blast will do the trick. It doesn't, but as adrenaline begins to overwhelm the webcrawler, he's able to pull the villain down with his energy webs. He uppercuts the guy and zips away before the cops can ask questions.

Unmasked Miles showing off his gainz.

   Later at school, he explains to Ganke he's been fighting crime without his costume while Ganke matches him with news that he's been making his web fluid. He's just about to further tell him about who he's been recently dating when in walks Lana, Bombshell's daughter. Miles and her jet out to talk.
   High above on a rooftop, she tells him her mom has recently gotten out of prison. Fresh out, she immediately pressured Lana to get back into crime. Miles offers to call the Champions but she tells him she needs Spider-Man. He pulls out the mask and begrudgingly accepts.

Oh alright.

The issue wraps with her mother, Lori, on another rooftop with Aaron Davis - the Iron Spider. She laments that she can't talk sense into her do-good daughter, but she's supposedly on her way so they'll both get a chance. That showdown, between mother daughter and the uncle that Miles thought was long dead will have to wait though...  as this issue is left to be continued.
   You know, it was so easy to pick on Brian Michael Bendis throughout his Marvel career. At the time I came back into the comic fold, I'd been used to reading writers like Scott Lobdell, Rob Liefield, Mike Carey, Tom DeFalco... He was easy to make sun of and I tore into him. Now that he's leaving, every issue he scripts kind of hits me with a "Don't Know What You Got Till It's Gone" moment. This title in particular, if anything, because it seemed like he speed wrote most of it off the cuff. And it was so good. In some of his final tales, he's giving what seems like his best hits, and I can only hope whomever they've chosen to replace him can be half as quick as he was. For this issue I give it a 9/10.

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The Walking Dead #174

A SOLITARY LIFE

Written by Robert Kirkman
Penciled by Charlie Adlard
Cover by Charlie Adlard
Published Dec 6, 2017

   Although Negan lives a quiet life in exile, talking to flowers and of course dropping constant f-bombs, he still makes time to remember his dear Lucille. Rick gave him his freedom after the Whisperer War, but it seems his reclusive life in the middle of nowhere takes it's toll.

Ooooh, cussing cussing. I love cussing...

   He raids camps, kills dogs, rinse and repeat. But one day, he makes an even bigger discovery. A new bat lies in a corner in a farmhouse, and after some intense internal negotiations, Negan ultimately decides it would make a good substitute, though definitely not a replacement for his dear Lucille.

Not really...

   As he walks along a barbed-wire fence, he wraps his new weapon in it when suddenly he has a guest. Maggie stands behind him with a pistol, clearly catching him by surprise. The more they talk, he seems more and more sorry for what he did. To Glen. To everybody. She screams at him. After everything, doesn't he know what he did?! He does but it was too late. She asks if he can still see his wife in his mind. Yes, he says. He can. Maggie can see Glen as well, except it's with his head bashed in and his eyeball hanging out.

Aw come on, Maggs!

   Negan begs for death, pulling the gun closer and against his forehead. DO IT, he says. Please, he begs. He could do it all again. Eventually Maggie backs away. She won't give him what he wants. Instead, he has to live with what he's done. She walks back out to Dante, stirring up some walkers on the way before planting a big kiss on him. Negan on the other hand stays on his knees. Eventually he rises and walks towards a fire. He tosses the new bat in the flames and smiles. With that, this issue is concluded.

Burn Motherf*cker, Burn...

   So after finally getting an opportunity to kill him, Maggie instead opts for the high road and leaves Negan to deal with his actions. I can't say I'm surprised. If anything, the character's stock is higher than it's ever been. But the ability for an illustrated subject is far easier to keep inside new pages while actors begin to wane. Hence Carl's walker bite in last season's cliffhanger. Either way, this issue of the comic version was a good one. Negan's still crazy after all, if there was really ever any doubt. And the glimmer of a smile on the final page sets him up for getting revenge somewhere down the line. I give this one a 10/10.

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Old Man Logan #31

SCARLET SAMURAI pt I

Written by Ed Brisson
Penciled by Mike Deodato Jr.
Cover by Mukesh Singh
Published Nov 29, 2017

   Old Man Logan walks the streets of Tokyo when he stumbles upon a gang throwing someone through a bar window. He offers to buy a round if they let him go but instead they attack him, resulting in him slicing one of their arms off. If that wasn't alarming enough, the limb regenerates. Realizing it's gonna take some elbow grease, he knocks one of them out and persuades another to spill his guts.

Just need some extra coaching.

   Across town, a technician rebuffs the others from trying to get him to take a break. Once they're gone he steals some vials, but only makes it to the parking garage before his boss confronts him. He demands to know who the stolen goods are for. As the Silver Samurai holds him over the ledge, he confesses it was for Kenji Alzone of the Crazy Thunder Clan, before falling to his death.
   Logan walks towards the Clan's warehouse. As Kenji loudly complains that the vials of the experimental drugs aren't showing up, the future X-Man walks in and tells him that these substances don't need to be on the streets. Obviously this news is not well received, and as Logan tears into them, he realizes that being they're in a freezer, their limbs seem to not be regenerating as quickly. 

These guys clearly don't see things Logan's way.

Finally he gets the upperhand, and with claws to Kenji's neck learns that it's from a man called Touko Kenmochi.
   Meanwhile at the Yashida Corp, Touko is disturbed from a business call as the Hand scale his tower. They attack and he arrogantly takes them out while talking about how easy it is. This time though, he's joined by Gorgon, the Hand's leader. The Silver Samurai uses his powers to defeat all of them, but fails to realize one more still waits in the shadows. 

Was that so hard?!

Their invasion was all meant as a distraction, as he's impaled through the back. The Scarlet Samurai tells the dying Touku that Clan Yahsida is now in her capable hands. What will happen next? We'll have to wait to find out as this issue is left to be continued.
   So finally, Old Man Logan get's his own taste of the Legacy treatment, and it's of course, a doozy. Ed Brisson shows us that he knows how to mold an old character in new and interesting ways, bringing Wolverine back to his Frank Miller inspired Japanese past. I've always been a fan of this characters past exploits there, and this new tale looks to have all the layers and weaponry it needs to be another great story. I've also read interviews alluding to the Scarlet Samurai being someone important from Logan's past. I can't wait to see who it could be. For this one, I give it a 9/10.

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X-Men Blue #16

CROSS TIME CAPERS pt I

Written by Cullen Bunn
Penciled by Thony Silas
Cover by Arthur Adams
Published Nov 29, 2017

  In Madripoor, Magneto sits reading in his study when he's suddenly stricken with pain. Meanwhile, Cyclops and Bloodstorm find each other on the rooftop seeking inner peace. They find that they have more in common than they think. Iceman sits on the couch watching some creepy run Mojo network, when they show an alternate reality that never actually occurred between the X-Men and the Brotherhood.

Hanging out with Bloodstorm is like hanging with Storm. Except she wants to eat you all the time.

   In the Danger room, Angel and Polaris train with Jimmy Hudson. They both try to keep the clawed mutant from holding back when without warning, Polaris disappears. Jean Gray and Beast talk over his curious tinkering when she too is struck with some terrible, inner mind intrusion. It's not her though, she says.. It's Magneto.

"Oh you know Henry... AAAAAAGH!"

   They both enter his chambers and he tells Jean to read his mind. She does so, and sees Xavier calling out to them. Somehow Magneto and the Professor are communicating, indicating a rift in the time constructs. There's consequences to them being in the present and Magneto needs to send them back to the past as soon as possible.
   In the basement sits a time machine, and with Danger at the controls, explains the plan to send them back. Beast explains that in the past, they already saw themselves already there. Danger suddenly disappears as well. Jean guesses that somehow, someone has found where the X-Men are supposed to be, but aren't. Beast mans the controls and zips the Blue Team across the universe.

Hey, I think I saw the Muir Island Saga in there. HEY CULLEN! TALK ABOUT THAT ONE TOO!

   Along the way they encounter some mystery battle, a prehistoric landscape littered with dinosaurs, Apocalypse, Scott and Jeannie's wedding, the Dark Phoenix saga, and finally to their unintended destination. They look up and see the X-Men of 2099, a mysterious group of mutants who tell them they're not where they're supposed to be. Where that is, and who these people exactly are will have to wait though, as this issue is left to be continued.

"Tonight we're gonna party like it's 1995..."

   I've noticed something odd within these newest X-Men books that's beginning to irritate me. For whatever reason, the writers of these titles seem completely obsessed with past stories from X-History. If there isn't a quick shot of Apocalypse or mention of the Phoenix force in every single issue of these books lately, I'd be shocked. When Brian Michael Bendis brought these original members into the future to stop the then-crazed Cyclops, he did so with all new stories. Cullen Bunn and Marc Guggenheim seem driven to point out every reference to every legendary arc from the series at any given opportunity. Now we have another blast from the past with the X-Men of 2099. I'm guessing the next arc will be from the X-Tinction Agenda, or a return to 1988's Fall of the Mutants, or 1994's Legion Quest. I'll keep reading because, I mean it's still the X-Men. But i see a lot of great chances for new and awesome ideas being missed. I give this one a 7/10.

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Venom #158

LETHAL PROTECTOR pt IV

Rad Mark Bagley cover.

Written by Mike Costa
Penciled by Mark Bagley
Cover by Mark Bagley
Published Nov 29 2017

   Beneath the streets, the Dino-People fall for Kraven's rat meat trap, running full speed into the Hunter. They fight back in vain before the NYPD officers in tow back him off. After a discussion amongst themselves about the exact chain of command, they decline to pursue the one's running away.

Q: "Should we go after them?"
A: "Nah, we're apparently the shittiest comic book cops ever."

   Meanwhile Eddie quietly suffers. Stuck under a collapsed portion of the sewer, he can only wait while the structure above dangerously teeters. Tana finally sniffs him out, though the confused and under medicated symbiote takes some time to recognize her. She begins to free him but he explains it would kill innocent people. She in turn finds the moloids who help free him. He makes it back to the rest of the Dino-folk but without the medicine from Alcamax, Eddie is starting to lose it.

"I NEED AN ASSSSSSSSSSPIRINNNNN!"

   On the other side of town, Lee Price's attorney argues before judge about his client's release. How can he be a danger to society when Venom is still out committing crimes? Back in the sewers, Kraven continues executing the dinosaurs when Venom makes it back and attacks. Shriek again, well.. shrieks but this time, rage overpowers her volume. Kraven leaps towards Venom and he throws the screaming supervillain back at him. He starts to eat the Hunter but Tana stabs him in the back with his medicine, saving him though incapacitating him in the process.

Here's your meds. I decided to double the dose and stab them into your back.

   Finally the police order them all to freeze. Tana gives an impassioned speech. The dino people wish no harm on the citizens of New York. The police consider the alternatives and decide to arrest Kraven and Shriek while a healing Venom thanks them for everything. The issue wraps with Lee Price collecting his things from the prison discharge and walking out, a free man. With that, the story continues in the next crossover arc with Spider-Man called Venom Inc, while this arc, Lethal Protector, is concluded.

Wait'll they get a load of me.. You know. Again..

   It's a shame I haven't been reading this book for longer than I have. Venom has always been one of my favorite characters, and Eddie Brock is his only rightful parasitic host. I enjoyed Lee Price's run with him as well, as the man wasn't complete evil but still tended to fight crime a lot less than the newly minted hero, Eddie Brock does. Like Deadpool though, there's no way either of them can keep the alien symbiote on the straight and narrow forever. For this issue, and for this arc overall, I give it a 10/10.

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