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Post by sabongero on Oct 6, 2017 16:48:19 GMT -5
 Astonishing X-Men v3 #2"Gifted (part 2)" 2.99 USD/4.25 CAN @ August 2004 Writer: Joss Whedon Artist: John Cassaday Inker: John Cassaday Colorist: Laura Martin Letterer: Chris Eliopolous Editor: Mike Marts Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Synopsis: We join what seemed like a police response to a domestic violence call and turned out to be a mutant child's emerging power manifesting itself, thereby killing one of the police officers and her parents. We then fast forward to Dr. Kavita Rao's press conference promoting a cure for mutants and removing their powers, thereby normalizing them. Then the X-Men in the Blackbird are formulating a response strategy en route to the hostage situation, finding out in their computer the human criminal elements, but wondering how to put down a superbeing, shown as a large blip larger than the regular ones, that is amongst the hostage takers. We find out later the leader is a superbeing named Ord. A little later, we see Kitty Pryde coming up from the ground and phasing one of the hostages, who is behind a hostage taker, with her to go under the flooring. And another one started shooting behind him blasting the windows, thinking he was talking to someone. After a brief silent moment, all hell breaks lose as the X-Men attack through all sides, blasting through the walls and glass. All of Ord's hired human hostage takers go down, with the exception of Ord himself who is now surrounded by the five X-Men. Ord attacked and proved to be too much to the X-Men as he took out Kitty Pryde by redirecting Cyclops optic beams to hit her, slicing Wolverine with his blade weapon, and then hurtling himself to Beast and taking down both Beast and Cyclops together, with Emma Frost lifted and thrown through the ground to land at a lower deck... all in one round. As all X-Men are down and Ord about to permanently take down a fallen Wolverine, he turned around and found himself the recipient of dragon fire from LOCKHEED THE DRAGON! His head smoldering in fire, Ord jumped out the window to escape. The X-Men regrouped and gathered all hurt, except for Kitty Pryde who was happy to be rekindled with Lockheed, whom Wolverine wanted to be made as team leader after this encounter. Outside the building, the X-Men address the gathered media that reported on this hostage situation, answering questions to the best of their abilities. However, one question perplexed and piqued the interest of Henry McCoy regarding a mutant "cure." Later that evening, back at the school, the X-Men talked about the so called "cure" with Emma frost saying she'd have to kill Dr. Rao to find out about this "cure." Wolverine agreed, as Kitty Pryde responded to Emma's comment with sarcasm. They found out the alien is named Ord. Emma playing mother hen tells everyone to get a rest, including Logan, to keep his Snikt inside himself, while she and Kitty reassure the scared students within the school that night. And when the men exited, the two women had an exchange of words from two warring cats. Kitty questioned Scott's leadership not even speaking up regarding Emma's words of murdering a doctor earlier. Emma told Kitty that she's there because Emma asked her to be there. Kitty responded the first time she met the X-Men, they were ambushed and capture and caged... by Emma Frost (in the now epic run of early Chris Claremont/John Byrne Uncanny X-Men run over three decades ago). Kitty reassured Emma that she doesn't have to keep an eye on her, she can smell her as the personification of evil she sees is Emma's face, and she walked out of the room. Emma left alone just stood in the room. Later in the middle of the night, at Benetech Laboratories, the Beast snuck in the facilities while evading the security personnel. Getting through the building and easily avoiding the infrared trip lights he found Dr. Rao, who greeted Dr McCoy. Dr. Rao defended herself and her "cure" telling him the benefits and Beast cut her off. He wasn't there to argue with her, he just wanted to ask her if the "cure" worked? Comments: The best thing about this story is the ending. I've come across previous stories about so called mutant "cures" in the past, but Joss Whedon turned a rehashed old repeated idea into a brilliant form of cliffhanger ending. Cool! Kitty's confrontation with Emma Frost foreshadows more things to come between the two, and it looks to get more confrontational, as it seemed personal for Kitty. She showed us readers why we shouldn't trust Emma Frost just yet in these pages of Astonishing X-Men. The best part of this issue is Lockheed the Dragon showing up to bail out the X-Men from dire straits. In an age of dragons being a very popular character in pop culture, it's good to see one reading this back issue of an X-Universe title. |
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Post by sabongero on Oct 9, 2017 14:50:00 GMT -5
 Birds of Prey v1 #56"Of Like Minds, Chapter One: In Which I Go Fishing With Nets..." 2.50 USD @ August 2003 Writer: Gail Simone Penciler: Ed Benes Inker: Alex Lei Colorist: Hi-Fi Design Letterer: John Workman Editor: Lysa Hawkins Executive Editor: Mike Carlin Quotes: You know what I think? I think all you bat-people just like scaring the hell out of suspects. - Black Canary Synopsis: Andrew Fisher, CEO of the third larges farming conglomerate in the USA was in the rain awaiting a tow truck as his car broke down on the side of a high way road. A hooded woman in a cloak and fishnet stockings stopper her car and opened the passenger door saying he could use a lift. The man saw her fishnet stockings and boarded the car. As they were having a chitchat, his hands was on her thighs, and that's when the woman recited all his information to him including his family, history, etc. She took a CD and played in the car's CD player and it played a recording of Andrew Fisher swindling stockholders and employees, and telling Fisher that they've been watching him, an embezzler who is about to escape the country to a first class exile, but wanted to steel more liquid assets of the company from the company's retirement fund. Fear enveloped the embezzler, and the hooded woman further increased his fear by not holding the steering wheel, and then slowing down the car and kicking him out of the car. As he made a run for it, the woman caught up with him and as she went over to talk to him, he confessed that he had to do because he was afraid. And unhooding herself, the woman was revealed to be Black Canary. She radioed back to Oracle and told her that Fisher is being blackmailed. Technically he hasn't committed a crime so they decided to give him their card if he wants their help to let them know, and he has one week to become righteous as they are watching over him. Black Canary drove off with her and Oracle getting a laugh at Black Canary's "Batman" style of scaring the villain. And they chatter up some more asking Canary to pickup some food as Oracle is famished. And Canary drove off with her rear license plate spinning and changing to a different plate number a-la James Bond style. Black Canary arrived at an abandoned warehouse, parked the car and made her way in. Video cameras all over the place, and hand sensor security confirming who she is, Black Canary made her way to Oracle's office and brought in the takeout dinner. And they interact as women would. Everything from about clean women's underwear and contact lenses, and into business, like if Oracle is bothered by what they do, and she isn't (other's right to privacy vs their right to know). And they interact some more talking about whatever to something more serious and then about the food, when suddenly a blip in the computer indicated Andrew Fisher was trying to communicate with someone. And as they read his message, it is obvious to them that it is a suicide note for his family. And Black Canary immediately gets in her motorcycle to zoom to Andrew Fisher's location, and Oracle suddenly intercepting Fisher's communication trying to talk him down from the suicide. Canary made it to the hotel room, and kicking the door down to get to Fisher ASAP and prevent his suicide, she instead found herself with Fisher and two men waiting for her. A brute and a weapons expert. Black Canary immediately took down the brute and engaged the blonde weapons expert who is now carrying a billy club as a weapon. The brute regained his footing and took another billy club and whacked Canary in the back of the head and grabbed her from behind, after which the blonde man cracked her shins, disabling her. Meanwhile at Oracle's headquarters, she was shocked to received a message from someone named Savant stating that they have her partner, and will have a list of demands. Comments: The epic Gail Simone era on the Birds of Prey has begun. It's a great combination of superheroics and how actual women interact with each other, instead of forced dialogue between women which was written by a male writer. The female writer, suits this series of a team of women. I like that the women are concerned but too overly concerned they walked into a trap. I suppose, messaging via the computer doesn't tell them a trap is awaiting. From the interaction between Oracle and Black Canary we get some great character development. We know that others perceive the Bat Family as people who like to scare their enemies, and that every now and then, Black Canary would bring up her boyfriend, Oliver Queen. We also get a glimpse, subtly, of Oracle disliking Huntress. The quiet moments are a joy to read as it gives you a nice break from the typical superheroing jargon between superheroes/superheroines in other team titles. |
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Post by sabongero on Oct 11, 2017 15:59:01 GMT -5
 Birds of Prey v1 #57"Of Like Minds, Part 2" 2.50 USD @ September 2003 Writer: Gail Simone Penciler: Ed Benes Inker: Alex Lei Colorist: Hi-Fi Design Letterer: John Workman Editor: Lysa Hawkins Executive Editor: Dan DiDio Quotes: A quatrain is a four-line poem, often iambi, that... You had better not try to deceive me, you quivering cowardly swine. And if you hurt my partner, believe me... I promise I'll rip out your spine. - Oracle Synopsis: Savant was stitching himself in front of a mirror in the bathroom, when Batman's image appeared in the bathroom mirror. He was just hallucinating as Batman's image reverted to Creote, his muscle goon. Savant and Creote walked in to the kitchen where Adam Fisher was sitting by a table. Savant let Adam know that his debts are cancelled but he doesn't trust to keep his mouth shut, so he will have Adam sleep in their facility until further notice, to Adam's chagrin. Savant and Creote who was carrying a tray of food went to a room where Black Canary is handcuffed to a bed and her two broken legs are in a cast. He offered her lunch, but that one of the two dishes is pasta with clams and the other is a bird eating snake, or were there two snakes. Creote later said there were no snakes, and Savant agreed saying they are hard to clean up after. Having difficulty talking, Black Canary let out a muffled noise citing she is not hungry. Savant told her that she is having a hard time speaking because Creote hit her in the neck thus swelling her esophagus and trachea, and if she can't talk, she can't let loose a Canary Scream. Savant asked her permission to dissect her to find out how her Canary Scream worked. But first, he would like to know more about her clever partner, Oracle. Back at Birds of Prey HQ, Oracle is chatting with Savant inquiring about Black Canary's status. And Savant called her and they spoke over a secure phone. He told her it took ages to confirm her existence, and wanted to confirm her reputation by having her write a quatrain which she obliged. And a loaded and threatening one at that, which made Savant laugh out loud. Back at Dinah's incarceration room Dinah told Creote that his master, Savant, is insane, to which Creote agreed. He told her that when Savant hurts someone, he felt as a child does with elation, satisfaction, euphoria, realization, and remorse. Him, Creote, on the other hand, he doesn't feel anything and left her room. Fisher followed him out telling Black Canary he is sorry. Dinah Lance was calm, unlike when she was in a similar position a long time ago, where she panicked. Doing recon from far away, The Huntress was surveying perps inside a building with infrared binoculars. She then received a cell phone call, and it turned out to be Oracle. She just purchased the phone and was perplexed how Oracle found out her number. She told Huntress that when she purchased using her credit card she hitchhiked the number with the last digits "672253" spelled out "O-R-A-C-L-E." Anyway. She needed Huntress's help and not to hang up. She'll have to wait as Huntress is about to clear an abduction case. Oracle told her it must wait, and Batman can sub for her case, and Huntress didn't agree. Oracle surrendered and said they'll take care of Huntress's case first, and upon completion, then they'll do Oracle's case. Oracle warned Huntress there's a perp behind her, which grabbed a handful of her throat. Huntress grabbed an arrow from her crossbow and stabbed the guy in the stomach which moved him back and she manuevered a high kick nailing him in the face nd he fell from the fire escape stairs. But she saved him, and has him tied up upside down and interrogated him gaining more information about the abduction situation inside. And Oracle came crashing through the window knocking down the man with the gun and holding a crossbow pointed at the woman. She pulled a knife and Huntress just swatted it away. Huntress went to a cabinet, and inside is a baby in the abduction case. As Huntress and Oracle communicated about the baby, there is a loud thud in the background as Huntress off panel knocked out the woman while holding the baby. Oracle sent in a call to the GCPD who came in the apartment later and found the baby and the criminals. Oracle tells Huntress that Black Canary was captured by two men and is injured. This happened to her before and Canary almost didn't survive it physically and mentally. Oracle doesn't want the first man Canary sees wearing a Bat-Mask. Huntress understood. As Huntress is riding her motorcycle, Oracle told her they need to appropriate some hotel security tapes. And Oracle guides Huntress's direction. Back at Canary's room. Dinah Lance took a chance and told Creote who was standing over her, to loosen her handcuffs and they can talk about sexy astrophysics. Creote just stared at her and turned to leave the room bidding her good night and hope that her partner delivers what Savant wants. Alone, Black Canary thinks of a plan, and slowly tries to get out of the cuffs by slowly breaking her hands' bones to loosen it. Comments: It was referenced here twice that Black Canary was in this position before. They are referring to a time when Mike Grell wrote Green Arrow Longbow Hunter. She was a victim of rape in that graphic novel and this was a very dark period of time for her. But with Simone's writing, it didn't define her. In fact Canary's personality here transcends that. Although Gail Simone never mentioned that Canary was raped, dancing around that matter in the scenes. It all makes for a powerful reading. Gotta love Gail's dialogue, which drew me to this series. It is well crafted and almost flawless and very silky smooth, never coming across as forced or dull and robotic. The women sound the way women talk, not as if a woman is talking the way a man writing the story would think of how a woman would talk. Love the mannerisms as well. And Ed Benes as an illustrator he's great and clear and beautiful pictures. But some of the superheroine poses are... one word, nah make that two words. "Cheesecake Factory." As Stan Lee would say, 'NufF Said. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 15, 2018 2:49:45 GMT -5
 Birds of Prey v1 #58 "Of Like Minds, Part 3" 2.50 USD @ October 2003 Writer: Gail Simone Penciler: Ed Benes Inker: Alex Lei Colorist: Hi-Fi Design Letterer: John Workman Editor: Lysa Hawkins Executive Editor: Dan DiDio Quotes: Synopsis: A bound up Black Canary reflected on her past training with Sensei Otomo and Lady Shiva. Sensei Otomo pulled back his punches and kicks so as not to hurt her, while Shiva doubled her onslaught on her, giving her pain of the highest training order. Back in the present time she struggled to get her hands free from the handcuffed bed post, breaking her thumb and other limbs. Her captors brought her breakfast, but she refused to eat. The food was taken away by Andrew Fisher. In another part of the house, Savant told Creole the story of Gotham being the ideal place to be a hero and how he met Batman. Savant took down arsonists burning a building and upon taking them down, Batman arrived on the scene to tell him to stay away from the downed arsonist, and that he is not equipped morally to be a hero. Savant told him, he took down the arsonist that was burning the building and asked where was Batman in all this. Batman showed him that he was saving the building occupants. And this showed Savant was not morally ready to be a hero. In a basement car parking garage, Huntress is trying to obtain information from a valet regarding Savant's car. The valet offered the information she was looking for in exchange for a date with her. She offered to shoot his kneecaps with an arrow from her crossbow instead. She received the information she was looking for in exchange for a date with the valet. She hopped on her motorcycle and gave the information to Oracle, who guided pointed Huntress where she had to go after obtaining the information on Savant. The problem is they only have an hour left from agreeing to Savant's demands. We then go to a telephone conversation between Oracle and Savant spoke regarding his demands. Basically, it's a coffin for Black Canary. Because he wanted Batman's secret identity. Oracle was going to give it to him in exchange for Dinah's life. On the way to Black Canary's room Savant encountered Fisher who asked Savant that Black Canary cannot harm him. Savant took the knife he was holding to Fisher's neck and reminded him that he still needed to cooperate with them unless he forgot that Creote was holding Fisher's family hostage somewhere. And he ordered Fisher downstairs as he and Creote made their way to Black Canary's room. Black Canary was thinking what else she can do to help her get out of her situation as a captive, and knife suddenly landed next to her handcuffed arm. Savant threw it. He approached her, and wanted to know all about Oracle, and no playing around anymore or else she's done. He has dossiers on everyone except Oracle. Fisher suddenly arrived with hot tea with honey telling Savant and Creote that Black Canary's throat is still swollen and can hardly talk (from the previous issue where Savant chopped at her neck when she tried to attack with a Canary cry). Fisher held the cup to her mouth where she took a gulp. She was surprised as it was not hot and there were ice cubes, and she realized there is something in the ice cube that could help her. She thought of something to get rid of the men in the room. She then told Savant she was going to disclose the information on Oracle once she can, and since she's being held there for a long time, she needed feminine products and need it immediately. This took Savant and Creote by surprise, and Savant agreed, but it was Creote that was going to buy these femenine products. All the guys left the room and Savant told Black Canary they will continue their conversation after Creote returns with the products. Black Canary opened her mouth to see what was it that Fisher handed over to her covertly. And it was her communicator. She immediately called Oracle. And an excited Oracle immediately responded. Oracle immediately contacted Huntress who was still in her motorcyle, and sent her directions to get to Black Canary. Oracle too care of the the traffic to expedite the journey and controlled all stoplights to favor Huntress moving without any detriment in terms of speed and time being lost. And she told Dinah, Huntress would be there in ten minutes. Dinah told Oracle to be quiet as she heard footsteps outside. She didn't want Savant to find her with her communicator transmitting. You hear a crack and Savant opened the door and was about to enter Dinah's room. Canary who was unable to still walk as her legs were still broken in a plaster cast, was sitting on an office chair with wheels, and pushed against something to get to the door, and pushed hard, which caught Savant's forearm, and broke between the door and hinge. This brought down Savant who threatened to kill her. She handcuffed his broken forearm/wrist to the door knob and brought her feet up full force basically kicking Savant in the face with the plaster-casted feet and knocked Savant out. She then crawled on the floor out of her room and headed to the stairways leading downstairs. Elsewhere in the gigantic house, Creote arrived with the feminine products and was in the kitchen, when Huntress broke through the kitchen still riding the motorcycle knocking Creote down to the floor. She grabbed an iron pan and used it as a weapon hitting Creote in the face multiple times. And Creote was face down on the floor. In the above floor, Savant caught up to Black Canary telling her she forgot that he had the keys to the handcuffs. And in the kitchen, Huntress was trying to hail Black Canary on the communicator. She had her back to Creote, who regained consciousness and was getting back up. Canary cursed that she did all this for nothing as Savant caught up to her, and and Huntress cursed realizing that Creote is back up and standing right behind here. Comments: Gail Simone is a writer known for her with and humor injected into the story. But this issue is just dramatic and draws you in, especially the danger of the cliffhanger situation at the end. You appreciate the efforts by Black Canary in this issue. And Savant is showcasing his bipolar tendencies. He is charming one second, and then psychotic in the next second. Ed Benes does phenomenal artwork. Clean lines and eye candy combined into dynamic movement of the characters in action. Facial expressions are fantastic, almost lifelike. |
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Post by chaykinstevens on Apr 15, 2018 15:06:26 GMT -5
Comments: It was referenced here twice that Black Canary was in this position before. They are referring to a time when Mike Grell wrote Green Arrow Longbow Hunter. She was a victim of rape in that graphic novel and this was a very dark period of time for her. But with Simone's writing, it didn't define her. In fact Canary's personality here transcends that. Although Gail Simone never mentioned that Canary was raped, dancing around that matter in the scenes. It all makes for a powerful reading. On his website, Mike Grell denied Dinah was raped in the Longbow Hunters. link |
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Post by rberman on Apr 15, 2018 15:43:32 GMT -5
Astonishing X-Men v3 #1"Gifted (part 1)"... Comments: This is actually a good combination. I always liked the fit of having Kitty Pryde and Wolverine in the team. Emma, a former villain, and now the lover and teammate of the the recently widowed (at the time) team leader, is a good way to change-up things and upset the status quo. I'm glad Kitty Pryde was mentioned, I always liked the little fella in the pages of the Uncanny X-Men. This comic book has a throwback effect like reading yester-years X-Men of the 80's while being updated to current times. The old rivalry between Scott and Logan is getting old, I guess those two will always be antagonistic towards each other. The boy scout and the thug. Glad to have Hank around to voice his reason and intelligence. Astonishing X-Men v3 #2"Gifted (part 2)".. Comments: The best thing about this story is the ending. I've come across previous stories about so called mutant "cures" in the past, but Joss Whedon turned a rehashed old repeated idea into a brilliant form of cliffhanger ending. Cool! Kitty's confrontation with Emma Frost foreshadows more things to come between the two, and it looks to get more confrontational, as it seemed personal for Kitty. She showed us readers why we shouldn't trust Emma Frost just yet in these pages of Astonishing X-Men. The best part of this issue is Lockheed the Dragon showing up to bail out the X-Men from dire straits. In an age of dragons being a very popular character in pop culture, it's good to see one reading this back issue of an X-Universe title. Cool beans; I was thinking that after I finish reviewing Astro City in a few weeks, I would tackle the Morrison/Whedon era of X-Men. I will probably cover these two issues myself, if that's OK with the forum rules. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 16, 2018 7:45:43 GMT -5
Comments: It was referenced here twice that Black Canary was in this position before. They are referring to a time when Mike Grell wrote Green Arrow Longbow Hunter. She was a victim of rape in that graphic novel and this was a very dark period of time for her. But with Simone's writing, it didn't define her. In fact Canary's personality here transcends that. Although Gail Simone never mentioned that Canary was raped, dancing around that matter in the scenes. It all makes for a powerful reading. On his website, Mike Grell denied Dinah was raped in the Longbow Hunters. linkInteresting. Mike Grell can deny it. But at the time, decades ago, he never denied it. Dinah's brutalizer told his partner to come get some of this while she had a face. And she couldn't be intimate with Oliver for quite some time, indicating post rape trauma. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 16, 2018 7:46:55 GMT -5
Astonishing X-Men v3 #1"Gifted (part 1)"... Comments: This is actually a good combination. I always liked the fit of having Kitty Pryde and Wolverine in the team. Emma, a former villain, and now the lover and teammate of the the recently widowed (at the time) team leader, is a good way to change-up things and upset the status quo. I'm glad Kitty Pryde was mentioned, I always liked the little fella in the pages of the Uncanny X-Men. This comic book has a throwback effect like reading yester-years X-Men of the 80's while being updated to current times. The old rivalry between Scott and Logan is getting old, I guess those two will always be antagonistic towards each other. The boy scout and the thug. Glad to have Hank around to voice his reason and intelligence. Astonishing X-Men v3 #2"Gifted (part 2)".. Comments: The best thing about this story is the ending. I've come across previous stories about so called mutant "cures" in the past, but Joss Whedon turned a rehashed old repeated idea into a brilliant form of cliffhanger ending. Cool! Kitty's confrontation with Emma Frost foreshadows more things to come between the two, and it looks to get more confrontational, as it seemed personal for Kitty. She showed us readers why we shouldn't trust Emma Frost just yet in these pages of Astonishing X-Men. The best part of this issue is Lockheed the Dragon showing up to bail out the X-Men from dire straits. In an age of dragons being a very popular character in pop culture, it's good to see one reading this back issue of an X-Universe title. Cool beans; I was thinking that after I finish reviewing Astro City in a few weeks, I would tackle the Morrison/Whedon era of X-Men. I will probably cover these two issues myself, if that's OK with the forum rules. You should go ahead and do it. It's always welcome to have other reviews of the same issues. It's cool to read another same or different perspective on it. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 19, 2018 14:16:16 GMT -5
 West Coast Avengers v1 #40.75 USD @ December 1984 "Finale" Writer: Roger Stern Penciler: Bob Hall Inker: Brett Breeding & Peter Berardi Letterer: Joe Rosen Colorist: Ken Feduniewicz Editor-in-Chief: Jim Shooter Synopsis: We join Tigra saving the Shroud in the middle of the ocean, and signaled the emergency beacon signalling for help from the Avengers. She recalls what happened the previous issue where Graviton beat everyone, and also doesn't know what happened to the Blank after that. Iron Man found them, and scooped Tigra and the unconscious Shroud from the ocean and flew them back to the Avengers Compound. Mockingbird put the Shroud to rest in one of the guest rooms, and Iron Man argued with Hawkeye that they should go attack Graviton's lair, being worried about Wonder Man's disappearance. Iron Man then removed his helmet, revealing to be Jim Rhodes, Tony's replacement. This shocked Hawkeye as he thought all this time they've been dealing with an amateur Iron Man. He told Hawkeye, he may be a rooking but he's no amateur. He reminded Hawkeye to recall that in the Secret Wars, when Molecule Man dropped a mountain on top of all of the superheroes, it was him that blew the mountain away. All he needs is a big enough power source and he can stomp Graviton to the ground. Hawkeye couldn't believe it was him and not Tony that did that to the mountain back in Secret Wars. Hawkeye recalled how it was he that was the hot shot rookie back giving lip to Captain America. He told Jim Rhodes that he's going to have his chance against Graviton and apologized calling him an amateur. And he got the maps from the computer to plan their attack on Graviton. Tigra told Hawkeye that they're not leaving her behind. At Graviton's Santa Monica retreat, Madame Masque arrived with her bodyguard. She ordered Graviton's underling that she wants to talk with him. Graviton was informed the leader of the Maggia wanted to talk with him. He met her. She discussed that he better be careful as the Avengers created a west coast team and her powerful enemy, Iron Man is part of that team. This elicited laughter from Graviton, telling her he took care of the West Coast Avengers, and showed her the swimming pool where the unconsious body of Wonder Man was in the bottom of the pool. The site scared Madame Masque's bodyguard citing his fear of drowning. This drew a slap in the face from his boss, Madame Masque. And repulsor rays suddenly hit the swimming pool. Iron Man then attacked them, but Graviton put a force field around them. The goons started shooting at Iron Man with their guns but the bullets just reflected off his armor. Graviton then used his grip of gravitic energy power and controlled Iron Man's flight path and threw him to the ground. Meanwhile, Mockingbird removed her disguise as a bartender inside the house and put her costume on and radioed Hawkeye to put phase two in operation. Outside, Graviton is having trouble with Iron Man fighting back with his repulsor rays, as he started getting light-headed. Not only Graviton, but his goon squad are falling from headaches. And Mockingbird's stick flew and hit Graviton's force field having no effect. Hawkeye was incoming overhead about to attack on a sky-cycle, but Graviton saw him and disabled him, unseating Hawkeye who fell to the ground knocked out. Iron Man kept punching at Graviton's shield, allowing him to lose control over keeping Wonder Man underwater. Wonder Man regained consciousness and climbed out of the swimming pool and punched Graviton, knocking him towards the side of the mansion, as Iron Man scooped up Madame Masque to prevent her from helping Graviton. With his head numbing, Graviton goes back on the attack. But Madame Masque ran past him, as Graviton asked her where's Iron Man. And no wonder she was running away from him, phase three is underway as Iron Man's armor his hooked and connected to the entire south-western power grid to feed through him and about to fire at Graviton. He knocked down Graviton. Madame Masque was heading towards him, but instead of helping him, punched Graviton in the face. But before she could get another punch in, Graviton erected his force field once again. Wonder Man came flying in and so did Iron Man with both men pummeling at Graviton's force field, but he pushed them back with his power, hurtling them away. But Graviton is getting weaker and light-headed. And gas emitting arrows whiz by him, which were shot by Hawkeye from a sky-cycle driven by his wife, Mockingbird. Graviton collapsed unconscious. Later on, the media arrived and covered the U.S. Marshals taking away an unconscious Graviton inside a sealed truck. And at the West Coast Avengers Compound, the newly formed members were having a barbeque as they watched the news coverage of Graviton being taken away. The Vision contacted them and was on the viewscreen citing that the Avengers were gratified by the reports of the progress the team is making. And he called them Avengers, to which the entire team celebrated. Comments: Reading this limited series made me wonder. California is only about 3,000 miles from the Avengers Mansion, and those Avengers are always finding Earth-shattering foes, both in space and in other places in the world. They could have just kept all Avengers in the Mansion. But this branching out of the Avengers team is unheard of at the time. Usually if there is another team, it would have a different team name, like The Defenders, The Champions, etc. Nowadays it's commonplace to have multi-Avengers teams across the board. But it seems this team is going to be made up of Avengers who are not part of a team book or their own titles. And this title showed Hawkeye finally maturing from criminal to rookie hero, to team leader. After this limited series, West Coast Avengers becomes a regular monthly title that lasted over one hundred issues. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 20, 2018 11:19:38 GMT -5
 Astonishing X-Men v3 #3"Gifted (part 3)" 2.99 USD/4.25 CAN @ September 2004 Writer: Joss Whedon Artist: John Cassaday Inker: John Cassaday Colorist: Laura Martin Letterer: Chris Eliopolous Editor: Mike Marts Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Synopsis: Outside the Westchester School base of the X-Men, Kitty Pryde is assuring one of the students, Wing, not to worry about the mutant cure shown on television, and that the government won't force it on them. Wing is skeptical. There is a long line of mutants outside of BeneTech Laboratories to get the cure. In the kitchen, Wolverine is watching the news on television and Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost are debating about mutants being sheep and people, and Kitty not agreeing that Emma is teaching ethics at the school. Wolverine made a snyde remark about thinking he had the claws. Up all night and sleepy because he was checking out a sample of Dr. Rao's mutant cure serum that Emma gave him, Beast walked in the kitchen looking for coffee. He'll verify his findings with Dr. Kavita Rao, which elicited a concerned look from the other three mutants. Meanwhile at BeneTech Laboratories, Ord the alien is upset at Dr. Rao for giving a sample of the mutant cure serum to the X-Men. She was going to feel his wrath but she had other concerns, like curing a mutant child. Inside the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Scott Summers is in a meeting with S.H.I.E.L.D. Director, Nick Fury. He gave Nick Fury the weapon they confiscated with their battle with Ord in the previous issue. Nick confirmed it's S.H.I.E.L.D. weaponry, and used by mercenaries, but questioned Scott how is he sure Ord's an extra-terrestial? Scott got in his face, which Nick Fury warned him not to, since the only reason he's even talking to Scott is because of Charles Xavier's credibility. Nick Fury has a problem with the X-Men's Magneto who was responsible for the House of M storyline in the MCU, but Scott rebuked him telling him Magneto taught at the school a long time ago and is no longer part of the X-Men for a long time and they don't harbor any dangerous criminals like Magneto. And this time Nick Fury asked him how the White Queen Emma Frost is doing? And Scott was quiet and taken aback. Nick Fury reassured Scott Summers that they are watching the X-Men very closely and will know about their plans ahead of time. Scott told him where was S.H.I.E.L.D. when Genosha was destroyed, but Nick told him it is not American soil, and told him he'll let him know when he finds out some info on Ord, and that Scott knows the way out. A moment later, the X-Men Blackbird flew out of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. At Hank McCoy's lab, he told Wolverine that his findings are inconclusive. But the sample looks good. Wolverine told him to get rid of it, or he'll go through Beast right now in order to get rid of it. He was adamant, even with orders from Emma Frost, and Hank didn't know what he want, but he would prevent Wolverine from getting rid of the sample cure. Pissed off, Wolverine attacked Beast who parlayed him. They tangled some more with claws drawn out, and they crash through a wall and into a corridor where there were a couple of students, who thought it was cool that teachers in the place kicked each others ass. And in the middle of the fight as it was about to get bloody, they suddenly broke off fighting and bowed to each other, obeying the mental commands of Emma Frost. She summoned both X-Men, who were joined by Scott, Emma, and Kitty in a telepathic room where they discussed the pros and cons of the cure, and that Scott is with Logan on this one. Kitty suggested letting Professor X know, but was shut down by Emma who didn't want to go to Xavier at the first sign of crisis the team encountered. They were dismissed, with Scott telling to have a beer and stay clear of McCoy. After they left, Scott told Emma that Kitty thinks she's controlling everything he said, but asked her if she's not. Later that night, Hank McCoy discovered the body the Dr. Rao and BeneTech is running the tests on. He went and told Scott and Emma they have to go to BeneTech immediately because the body is Jean Grey's. Comments: Joss Whedon still has the X-Men fighting like siblings do, with Wolverine and Beast really getting into it. We can't blame Beast for getting a cure to his mutant state, as he kept mutating into a real beast, and I am sure he would like to look normal human for a change and to assimilate without drawing a crowd because of how he looked. The Scott and Emma dynamic is really not as even as it seems. It's more like Emma has a more controlling factor in the relationship. It's as if Whedon has the vagina have almost complete control over Scott Summers. Well, in most cases in the world, the vagina's power over man is almost overpowering indeed. |
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Post by rberman on Apr 20, 2018 11:55:19 GMT -5
Astonishing X-Men v3 #3"Gifted (part 3)" 2.99 USD/4.25 CAN @ September 2004 In the kitchen, Wolverine is watching the news on television and Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost are debating about mutants being sheep and people, and Kitty not agreeing that Emma is teaching ethics at the school. Wolverine made a snide remark about thinking he had the claws. Up all night and sleepy because he was checking out a sample of Dr. Rao's mutant cure serum that Emma gave him, Beast walked in the kitchen looking for coffee. He'll verify his findings with Dr. Kavita Rao, which elicited a concerned look from the other three mutants. Comments: Joss Whedon still has the X-Men fighting like siblings do, with Wolverine and Beast really getting into it. We can't blame Beast for getting a cure to his mutant state, as he kept mutating into a real beast, and I am sure he would like to look normal human for a change and to assimilate without drawing a crowd because of how he looked. The Scott and Emma dynamic is really not as even as it seems. It's more like Emma has a more controlling factor in the relationship. It's as if Whedon has the vagina have almost complete control over Scott Summers. Well, in most cases in the world, the vagina's power over man is almost overpowering indeed. I love the snarky banter between Kitty, Emma, and Logan. Whedon is great at writing quips. The tendency of Logan to settle his battles with fights is sort of silly (see also AXM #1), but the students think it's way cool. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 20, 2018 14:59:08 GMT -5
Astonishing X-Men v3 #3"Gifted (part 3)" 2.99 USD/4.25 CAN @ September 2004 In the kitchen, Wolverine is watching the news on television and Kitty Pryde and Emma Frost are debating about mutants being sheep and people, and Kitty not agreeing that Emma is teaching ethics at the school. Wolverine made a snide remark about thinking he had the claws. Up all night and sleepy because he was checking out a sample of Dr. Rao's mutant cure serum that Emma gave him, Beast walked in the kitchen looking for coffee. He'll verify his findings with Dr. Kavita Rao, which elicited a concerned look from the other three mutants. Comments: Joss Whedon still has the X-Men fighting like siblings do, with Wolverine and Beast really getting into it. We can't blame Beast for getting a cure to his mutant state, as he kept mutating into a real beast, and I am sure he would like to look normal human for a change and to assimilate without drawing a crowd because of how he looked. The Scott and Emma dynamic is really not as even as it seems. It's more like Emma has a more controlling factor in the relationship. It's as if Whedon has the vagina have almost complete control over Scott Summers. Well, in most cases in the world, the vagina's power over man is almost overpowering indeed. I love the snarky banter between Kitty, Emma, and Logan. Whedon is great at writing quips. The tendency of Logan to settle his battles with fights is sort of silly (see also AXM #1), but the students think it's way cool. Kids will be kids. I remember back in high school that when we see two teachers argue or have the potential to have an argument or confrontation that it was "cool." |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 25, 2018 14:39:12 GMT -5
 Astonishing X-Men v3 #4"Gifted (part 4)" 2.99 USD/4.25 CAN @ October 2004 Writer: Joss Whedon Artist: John Cassaday Inker: John Cassaday Colorist: Laura Martin Letterer: Chris Eliopolous Editor: Mike Marts Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada Synopsis: Orb recalled the many battles in an arena where he killed so many warriors in gladiatorial-like battles. After decades he reached his current place undertaking and being chosen for this mission to come to Earth. And now, after being bloodless for a long time, his fists need to be bloodied again, it's time to kill The X-Men. At the X-Men HQ, the X-Men team prepared to depart on the Blackbird to do some recon on Benetech. Inside the Benetech premises, Cyclops reminded Wolverine that they are just doing recon. Kitty Pryde took point since she has phasing abilities. And the team continued doing recon in the premises. In the X-Men Mansion, two students were in the corridor, when they were surprised by the appearance of Orb in one of the corridors. Back in the Benetech premises, Emma and Scott are going through files while talking about the elephant in the room, Jean Grey. Kitty is phasing down through each floors. Logan and McCoy are going through the corridors debating the cure, when they both suddenly caught the scent of a dead female. And Kitty kept phasing downwards, descending and descending... Orb asked the two mutant kids where is the X-Men. They told him they were out on a mission but are not privy to those matters, and if he wanted to leave a message since they're just kids. Orb thanked them and did want to leave a message. And before he can attack them, the mutant girl used her powers to punch Orb, and the boy flew upwards in the sky. Orb overpowered the mutant girl and caught up to the mutant boy flying and punched him in the back with the spikes penetrating the boy, and suddenly he is depowered and falling down to the ground. Orb wanted to convey a message to the X-Men that the mutant abomination will never be a threat to The Breakworld. Inside a laboratory operating room, Cyclops joined Beast and Wolverine trying to figure out who was the dead woman on the gurney. Logan didn't care if Benetech was responsible for the dead woman, the whole place must be destroyed by a well aimed missile to the location. Beast is sickened by what he perceived as experimentation on the dead woman. And Cyclops ordered they're not destroying the place, and there must be other bodies in the facility. Emma entered the room to tell the team she can't reach Kitty, when she bent forward in extreme pain, stating that her psychic mutant students, The Stepford Cuckoos, mentally calling her so loud that she can't get a clear message. Concern gripped her, and she told them they had to go back to the X-Man Mansion. All of a sudden armed guards arrived and attacked them. They made a run for it, and Scotty was hit and went down. Emma immediately turned to diamond-form and looked to confront the armored guards. After phasing through about a hundred feet of solid steel, Kitty Pryde finally arrived on another floor. Shifting to her normal form, she saw three guards and overheard them reporting about the hostiles above being contained, and that no one is to get near the subject. Running on the other side of the corridor, she phased through a lock that sealed the contents of a secured door. As it opened, the three guards saw her and opened fire towards her direction. Immediately going into phase form, the bullets passed her and hit and bounced off an object behind her. She turned and was suddenly frozen in shock of the sight before her. It was the steel form of , Peter Rasputin, Colossus, who was long thought to be dead all these years. And he passed through her phased form and attacked the guards. As he put a beat down on the three guards, Kitty screamed for him to stop or he'll kill them. He suddenly turned calm and shifted from steel mode to human mode. He then broke down and mentioned her name and hugged her while pleading to God that he is finally dead. Comments: Surprisingly, so much happened in a short time span. There's X-Men on a recon, while unknown to them, Orb is at the Mansion "curing" mutant students. Then Kitty found a supposedly dead Colossus. This story took place in the decade of 2000 when the single issue format shifted away to a one and done story format to a multi-issue to be collected in trade paperback form format to grace the book racks of mainstream public bookstores across the country. Decompressed storytelling at its finest (sarcasm). With the death of Jean Grey, there's less animosity between Scott and Logan in these X-Men books. Instead, that conflict is now centered on Logan and McCoy. And it's a legitimate conflict concerning two opposing viewpoints to the mutant cure. And we want to find out who is Orb, and what is Breakworld? And why is Colossus alive after being dead all these years? |
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Post by rberman on Apr 25, 2018 14:54:40 GMT -5
Comments: Surprisingly, so much happened in a short time span. There's X-Men on a recon, while unknown to them, Orb is at the Mansion "curing" mutant students. Then Kitty found a supposedly dead Colossus. This story took place in the decade of 2000 when the single issue format shifted away to a one and done story format to a multi-issue to be collected in trade paperback form format to grace the book racks of mainstream public bookstores across the country. Decompressed storytelling at its finest (sarcasm). With the death of Jean Grey, there's less animosity between Scott and Logan in these X-Men books. Instead, that conflict is now centered on Logan and McCoy. And it's a legitimate conflict concerning two opposing viewpoints to the mutant cure. And we want to find out who is Orb, and what is Breakworld? And why is Colossus alive after being dead all these years? Ord. The other important point is that Kitty is very unsettled by her trip phasing through the metal of which Ord's ship is constructed. "It feels wrong," she remarks at one point. This will prove quite significant down the line. |
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Post by sabongero on Apr 25, 2018 16:36:25 GMT -5
Comments: Surprisingly, so much happened in a short time span. There's X-Men on a recon, while unknown to them, Orb is at the Mansion "curing" mutant students. Then Kitty found a supposedly dead Colossus. This story took place in the decade of 2000 when the single issue format shifted away to a one and done story format to a multi-issue to be collected in trade paperback form format to grace the book racks of mainstream public bookstores across the country. Decompressed storytelling at its finest (sarcasm). With the death of Jean Grey, there's less animosity between Scott and Logan in these X-Men books. Instead, that conflict is now centered on Logan and McCoy. And it's a legitimate conflict concerning two opposing viewpoints to the mutant cure. And we want to find out who is Orb, and what is Breakworld? And why is Colossus alive after being dead all these years? Ord. The other important point is that Kitty is very unsettled by her trip phasing through the metal of which Ord's ship is constructed. "It feels wrong," she remarks at one point. This will prove quite significant down the line. Haha that's right... Ord. I thought she thought it was weird because she was phasing through a floor that is 100 feet worth of metal and rubble between floors. |
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