X-Force #7-10: The Counterfeit King

THE COUNTERFEIT KING

Written by Ed Brisson
Penciled by Dylan Burnett
Published May-July 2019

   With Kid Cable abducted by Stryfe and transported to the future, X-Force knows time is of the essence. Deathlok struggles to get the time portal working as the man known as Nathan Dayspring continues to be tortured by his clone. Meanwhile, the Cronen keep Rachel Summers in flux. Eventually they crack her, and are able to message Clan Aksani to return to Ebonshire where the MLA will be waiting to butcher them.

"Come on dudes, I"m sure we'll be safe over here...."

   With Cable's technovirus overtaking him, X-Force is able to transport just in time to see one of Rachel's fake messages. They head to Ebonshire, where they eventually encounter Blaquesmith and deduce what Stryfe's plan is, but are subsequently attacked by the Mutant Liberation Army. The fight is tough but with MLA eventually beginning to wain, Stryfe decides he no longer need's Rachel and wants to kill everybody with the quickness.

Big Metallica fan, Stryfe?

   As their initial battle winds down, Deathlock cuts Cable out of his technovirus prison just as Stryfe has made it to Ebonshire. But they won't be alone. Now psychically released, Rachel is contacted by her future self, and reveals what is actually happening. Renewed with strength and anger, she springs into battle against her former captors and makes pretty quick work out of all of them.

Well, that was easy.

   Cable talks her into sparing Stryfe. They imprison him in the future and wipe his mind. Now that the battle's won, Cable bids Clan Chosen goodbye, including future girlfriend Aaliyah. They power up the portal and walk through. With that, this story and series comes to a conclusion - but lucky for us, more stories about X-Force and their now younger leader are just beginning...

With a wink and a nod....

   I'm sad to see this series end because I really think they'd just hit quite an amazing run. X-Force's classic lineup without Cable felt weird but having them lead by a younger version of him, plus fresh off the events of killing old Cable during Extermination - well it all just made sense. The artwork was interesting and the story sharp, I was pleased with it from start to finish. I give this arc a 10/10.

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X-Force #7
X-Force #8
X-Force #9
X-Force #10

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Uncanny X-Men #17-22: We Have Always Been

WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN

Written by Matthew Rosenberg
Penciled by Salvador Larocca, Carlos Gomez and Carlos Villa
Published May-July 2019

   Wolfsbane is dead. Mourned by most of the remaining X-Men, burn sworn to avenge her, Wolverine and Kwannon head out to murder the bigoted humans who killed her. Before they get the chance though, O.N.E. shows up interrupts their revenge mission. Back at Harry's bar, Juggernaut makes an interesting discovery - Emma Frost isn't on Cyclops' revenge list - but why?

   After a mission to fight the Marauders for some reason, the X-Men whisk through one of Illyana's portals to find the bar in flames. There Mr. Sinister is waiting, but gives up a little too easily. Meanwhile Karma and Mirage debate quitting the team again while Cyclops gives a call to the lady who made so much of his previous life a living hell.

   In the interim, we learn how General Callahan and his Office of National Emergency has Emma Frost under their control. In fact, she was the one who told Wolverine that Cyclops was still alive, but now Callahan knows of his reemergence as well.

   Meanwhile, several kids are turning up dead from a mutant vaccine spreading around the world while Wolverine goes after Emma Frost. Reason being - Dark Beast convinced Cyclops he could make a vaccine to reverse engineer the mutant sterilizing gene... I think. To be honest, I don't really understand what's happening in the story now... Callahan imprisons Emma Frost while Magick kills Dark Beast. Suddenly the White Queen calls to Scott and reminds him just who she is.

   They run to her to find out just what exactly going on.. which is really what I'd like to know as well. Turns out it was all a ruse to trap all of them. Callahan sends some super huge sentinel to attack them while Magick sends them all to limbo on accident. Inside the hellish wasteland, they fight a demon who eventually kills Banshee and Juggernaut. But it's all ok because at the end of it all, Emma Frost makes the entire universe forget mutants ever existed. And just like that, all the wars are over.

   The story begins to conclude in central park. Scott and Havok discuss living in a world where there's finally peace. Wolverine wakes up from a coma and tries to kill Mr Sinister but is then reminded that he was knocked out and everything is ok now. Only problem is that Callahan has one more ace up his sleeve. He sends the last of his super sentinels to attack the mansion but Havok decides to blow himself up to save the day.

   It apparently does nothing. But the Warlock/Jamie Madrox hybrid recognizes them all as mutated parts of him. He attempts to reclaim them and blows himself up in the process. It ends up turning them all off for a second, and the X-Men are able to attack them care of hundreds of Multiple Man clones. Furthermore, all their teamates they thought dead suddenly return, and in 5 pages are able to stop the fight.  With that, the X-Men are back but very thankfully this story comes to a merciful ending.

   Wow. So I don't really know what to say. This story had a lot of potential, but in the end ran into such a confusing smashup of plot twists and artist substitutions that I couldn't figure out what was going on. It's like Marvel told Matt Rosenberg that he could do anything he wanted, let himi come up with some elaborate story but then said "Wait, nevermind. You have to wrap it all up in one issue..". It was poorly finished, turned into a mess of artwork, and didn't end up making a lot of sense. I liked where they were going but don't like how they ended.. and for that, I give this story a 5/10.

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Champions #5-6: War Of The Realms

WAR OF THE REALMS

Written by Jim Zub

Penciled by Juanan Ramirez

Published April-June 2019

   With the War of the Realms raging, half of the new Champions battle trolls in New York when Ms Marvel meets up with an old friend. Cyclops bails on the X-Men to fall in with the team he ran with as a kid. Together he inspires his old allies and they bring a hell of a fight to the frost giants. He leaves them with a renewed sense of vigor, though Ms Marvel is clearly struggling.

"...X-Me... uh, Champions..? You know... whatever.."

   Next up, they continue waging war on the elves in Brazil. It comes to a head when the Disir warriors make a final stand, and their leader Brun reveals her previous death in the Middle East. With her distracted, Disir stabs Power Man but the kinetic energy allows him to pretty much destroy the entire lot. With the battle over, Ms Marvel reveals to the team she can no longer lead them, but what does that mean for the rest of the Champions? With only 4 issues left, we'll know soon enough.

Quitter.

   So I'm pretty tired of this series, and the fact it was canceled probably means Marvel is pretty tired of it as well. They did the best they could with what they have, but Jim Zub is kind of above this. I'm looking forward so see what they do with Nova coming up, as it's a pretty good way to end this saga. As far as the War of the Filler Of The Realms, I give the Champions turn at it a 7/10.

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Champions #5
Champions #6

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Venom #13-16: War of the Realms

WAR OF THE REALMS

Written by Donny Cates
Penciled by Iban Coello and Juan Gadeon
Published April - July 2019

   As the trolls attack Midgard, a now powerless Eddie Brock seeks to just survive and protect his son. Eventually he's approached by a witch who gives him a dreamstone. It can give him all the powers he could ever wish for but eventually turns the user into a tool of Malekith's. He uses it to become Venom once again, but unfortunately, he's not her only target.

"Not 'we'. Just 'me'!"

   Eddie locks Dylan in the safehouse and roams the streets in a troll slaughtering rage. The more anger he uses, the more powerful he becomes. Eventually he's forced to fight Jack O'Lantern, the other subject who possesses the same power wielding stone he does. Eventually he flees while Venom takes out his anger on a few hapless frost giants.

   Eventually he begins to take more of an Asgardian shape, and although the power surges in his fight, Eddie can feel something supernatural beginning to take hold. He eventually defeats Jack O'Lantern, who turns out to just be fake who found his costume, and throws the dreamstone towards the crowd which empowers them in their own fight..

Y'all look like you could use one of these!

   The story ends with a quick one shot. Now with the war finished, Eddie is forced to deal with a very sick Dylan in need of some medicine. He heads to the Daily Globe to pick up a photographer gig to make some cash, and ends up fighting a group of possessed bums who've been kidnappin children. Once he lets his inner demons out, he beats them to a pulp and rescues the kids. Now able to pay for his kids meds, alls right in the Brock household, but for how long? We'll have to wait to find out as this story arc drifts to a final conclusion.

Oh the soup sucks? Well you know something? You suck!

   So obviously with the War of the Realms over, it's time to move on to Absolute Carnage. And right off the heels of a super long and drawn out multibook event, why not leap into another. I think we all know Donny Cates isn't scared to take it on, and this series doesn't look to be in any danger of losing out on great artwork. I give this story an 8/10.

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Venom #13
Venom #14
Venom #15
Venom #16

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Avengers #18-21: War of the Realms

WAR OF THE REALMS

Written by Jason Aaron
Penciled by Ed McGuinness
Published April-July 2019

   As the War of the Realms rages across midguard, the Avengers obviously have their hands full. But that doesn't stop Hyperion, Power Princess, Nighthawk, Blur and Doctor Spectrum, also known as the Squadron Supreme of America - from protecting Washington DC. Agent Coulson's Justice League knockoffs are able to repel the frost giants and elves all the way to Canada with ease. But with the eerie connection between the former SHIELD agent and Mephisto still very much in play, what will this mean for our favorite super heroes?

   We might know soon enough. Blank Panther uses Wakanda agent Gorilla Man to protect Avengers Mountain from the Frost Giants while the battle rages outside. In addition to this, he's supposed to find a way to power up the ancient celestial that the mountain used to be. He does so, kicking an elf into a power converter and bringing the dead being's weapons back to life. They destroy the bifrost but the issue ends to reveal Gorilla Man serves Dracula, and his entire mission will likely be a betrayal.

   The arc goes on to show the inner struggles of She-Hulk. Not used to her powers being supercharged, she works to keep them in check but still relishes being able to unleash them. And nothing says unleashing supercharged hulk powers like fighting the war of the realms. This particular issue focuses on her trials and tribulations while Blade vamps the super out of Roxxon's super soldiers.

   When the war ends, Issue #21 picks up the pieces, but to consider this an epilogue would not be doing it justice. Most of the Avengers enjoy some well needed camaraderie, but Black Panther works tirelessly to discover the link between the resurrected Agent Phil Coulson and his Squadron Supreme. It ends like this arc began - with a shadowy glimpse of Mephisto's involvement, while teasing Starbrand and Ghost Rider stories, but as far as the war is concerned, this tale finally drifts to a conclusion.

  So in addition to writing the limited series, Jason Aaron made sure not to skimp on the details, using all his regular series to shore them up. I've been a huge fan of his since way back when he was writing Star Wars, and he has a tremendous penchant for backstories that would make even Chris Claremont blush. Can't wait to see where he takes it. I give this series a 9/10.

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Avengers #18
Avengers #19
Avengers #20
Avengers #21

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Tony Stark: Iron Man #10-11

STARK REALITIES pts V & VI

Written by Dan Slott and Jim Zub
Penciled by Valerio Schiti
Published April-May 2019

   With Stark Unlimited running out of resources, Jacosta unwittingly allows Sunset Bain and Arno Stark into the eScape. Meanwhile, Amanda Armstrong and Machine Man struggle against Motherboard, the AI iterations of Tony's adopted mother and father, in the fight for Tony himself. Soon discovered, the Stark's banish them from the gameworld.

   In the real world however, the Avengers fight the Controller while Tony continues the fight. Finally realizing he still has control, he's able to fashion himself into the godbuster as his parents reveal that Arno was secretly their favorite son. Unfortunately it takes a toll on the virtual version of Iron Man and he passes out, later being rocketed back to earth by his brother, who can't ever allow him to just die.

   Rhodey catches him on his fall, and now aware of Bain's intrusion, Tony uses all of his competitors' 3D printers to fashion a real version of the godbuster armor. He goes thermonuclear and levels the Controller with a massive ion blast. With the threat now neutralized, he uses the now radioactive armor to destroy the Bain Electronics laboratory and the world is now able to rest soundly.

   The story ends with Tony forced to confront some new demons. He now knows he's merely a genetic copy of his original self and he has to find out some answers. Almost falling off the wagon, he nearly opens a bar door when Rhodey appears, saving his friend once again in more ways than one. With that and nearly a half year of books later, this arc finally comes to a close.

   So it's no secret that this book comes to an end in the next 10 issues, but post War of the Realms, it's good to know that their setting up the long game on how to wind it down. Dan Slott made his mark on Spider-Man and it's clear he's made his with Tony Stark as well. But really, was that ever in doubt? This story had everything I wanted in it and more. I give it a 10/10.

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Tony Stark: Iron-Man #10
Tony Stark: Iron-Man #11

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Thor #12-14: War of the Realms

WAR OF THE REALMS

Written by Jason Aaron
Penciled by Mike Del Mundo and Scot Hepburn
Published April - June 2019

   While the War of the Realms raged in it's own miniseries, Jason Aaron continued the side action in the pages of Thor in three distinct issues. The first of which details just what went on in Loki's head after being eaten by his father, Laufey.

   Inside his own mind, Thor's adopted brother is visited by three different versions of himself. One much older, who shows him a past where Malekith is just an innocent boy. Another vision of where Loki is a spoiled child and finally one where he is corrupted by the Venom-formed necrogod. But either way, the story concludes with him still floating inside the frost giant's stomach.. and obviously he has to find a way out.

   The next story is the ballad of Cul Borsen. Once destined to be the king of Asgard, he was eventually bested by his brother Odin and at one point died. Regardless he eventually returned to life and now is undercover to find out about Malekith's black bifrost. In this issue, he eventually learns its secrets but then dies saving the slave children of the elves. In the end, his name inspires a rallying cry.

   Finally, Thor #14 begins many years in the past with a young Thor unworthy of lifting Mjolnir. He's soon visited by the Fantastic Four, whom in a bid to stop Malekith have united several Thors from different timelines. They charge into battle to fight the dark elf whom is now joined with the Knull symbiote. Between King Thor giving him advice, the youngest of them is able to feel every striking blow. It ends with his mother being threatened, sending the young god into a rage but now worthy to lift the hammer while the war goes on.

  So although these three stories weren't necessarily related, they all furthered the backstory of the War of the Realms and I think did a pretty good job of doing so. I'm obviously not a huge fan of Mike Del Mundo's artwork but his style is definitely fitting of this kind of story. He draws epic landscapes and features and here it just works. And even though Jason Aaron was actually writing the 6 part series, he didn't take anything away from the regular series he's worked on for so long, and it certainly shows here. I give these books a 10/10.

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Thor #12
Thor #13
Thor #14

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