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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 30, 2018 15:05:58 GMT -5
Sorry, that was my mistake more than the issue itself: nothing that happens inside Limbo is adressed in the issue. Illyana just appears at a teenager, stepping out of the portal just a few seconds after the X-Men, but as a grown teenager with the comment "What took you guys so long? I could have used your help in there against those demons." So the X-Men did not actually save her in this issue, we just don't see what actually happened out there.
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 29, 2018 12:54:14 GMT -5
Issue #4: or rather Second Genesis, issue #2. This issue spans the time from Rogue stealing Ms Marvel's powers to Storm losing her own powers.
Credits: Ed Piskor on wrting, art, inks and colours. The Cover: Our center figure is Wolverine, on the left side his blue/yellow costume on the right his brown/orange costume. Behind him on the left side, Storm, Cyclops, Beast (in his blue, furry form) and Kitty (in the standard X-Men costume). On the right Angel (in his blue/white costume), Rogue, Magik and Kitty Pryde in her self-made costume.
Title/credits page: The same one as last issue.
Page 1-2: This series usually skips over events not happening in the X-Men books, but this is the big exception so far: in 1 page we get the history of Carol Danvers: her work at the Air Force, at the C.I.A., joining S.H.I.E.L.D, becoming Ms. Marvel and then the moment she meets Rogue, while guarding a room where several US senators have a meeting. Rogue touches her and takes her powers and mind. While Rogue notes this time it feels weird, Mystique takes Carol's form and enters the room. She escorts Senators Kelly and Stern to have their speech about the mutant registration act. During the act, Mystique reveals herself while Avalanche and Pyro create distractions. Kelly survives, but Stern is killed. The attack backfires though as now Kelly has the support to push the mutant registration act. Observations: A very shortened version of Carol's backstory and the events around Avengers Annual #10, without the actual story in Avengers Annual #10.
Page 3: The Watcher appears again: Storm has taken over as leader of the X-Men. Colossus is visited by his sister Illyana. Wolverine has killed Mariko Yashida and proposed to her, he tells her that he has to leave for the US to deal with the mutant registration act. Kitty Pryde has her first danger room session and is the first X_Men to complete her first Danger Room excercise. Kitty learns of Senator Stern's death during a dance class at Stevie Hunter's studio. In Florida Cyclops takes a job at a fisherman's boat, the Captain turning out to be Madelyne Pryor, who looks exactly like Jean Grey. Observations: The biggest change here is Madelyne Pryor receiving the background of Lee Forrester. Lee Forrester is not seen during this series.
Page 4: Rogue has a hard dealing with Carol's memories, no longer knowing if she is Rogue or Carol. As a result of the death of Stern, anti-mutant sentiment sweeps the world, including the nation of Latveria. Its leader, Dr. Doom, plans how he can use these developments. Wolverine returns to Alpha Flight, willing to assist them with taking down the Wendigo, in return all information the Canadian government has on him will be deleted. Professor Xavier is brought in to help the catatonic Carol Danvers and she is brought to the X-Men. Observations: Again no big changes, some of the details are a bit different, but the main stories remain the same.
Page 5: During an evening along in the X-Mansion, Kitty is attacked by a weird creature, but manages to defeat it. Observations: The biggest change here is that the creature is alien, brought to Earth by the X-Men during their recent space missions and unrelated to the demonic N'Garai the creature in the original story came from.
Page 6-7: Many of the X-Men's closest allies are kidnapped and Storm receives an invitation from Dr. Doom. She arrives at his castle and he turns her into a statue. Being imprisoned in the statue does not block her powers though and her fear and powers cause worldwide storms. She is freed and takes down Dr. Doom. The storm causes Scott and Madelyne to crash on an uncharted island. A man on the island welcomes them, identifying them as Scott and Jean (understandably confusing Madelyne). Rogue is losing her mind more and more. Observations: With Madelyne in place of Lee, it makes sense that Magneto would misidentify the woman. Page 8: Worried that Magneto has been quiet for so long, Xavier sends the X-Men to investigate Magneto's volcano base. Kitty Pryde is not invited, but she sneaks aboard the Blackbird and is discovered by Wolverine mid-flight. The volcano base holds no information about Magneto, but a creature called Garokk has moved in and attacks the X-Men. The creature throws Storm down a hole, causing an enraged Wolverine to attack him. On the island, Magneto has revealed his identity to Cyclops and Madelyne. Observations: By skipping over Garokk's earlier fight with the X-Men, his appearance here is a bit weird. The X-Men fights with him also is slightly changed: in the original comics, Garokk himself falls down the crevice he threw Storm down when he tries to push Kitty, but phases through her. Here, he is injured by Wolverine.
Page 9: Magneto reveals his latest plot, turning Earth's nuclear arsenal against itself. This new burst of energy allows Cerebro to penetrate Magneto's cloaking and the X-Men race towards the island, this time with Kitty as official member. Due to her knowledge of computers, Kitty disables Magneto's power-dampening devices. The X-Men find Cyclops and Madelyne (and also think she is Jean). Magneto attacks the X-Men in anger, but when he sees he's injured Kitty who is just a child, he gives up.
Page 10: Back in New York, Kitty, Storm, Stevie Hunter and Spider-Woman are having dinner, when Kitty is approached by a mutant named Caliban. Caliban's appearance scares the other costumers and Spider-Woman reacts violently. Caliban flees back onderground and tells his fellow Morlocks that he met his future wife. The leader, Callisto, agrees to get her for him. Observations: Usually when a guest character appears Piskor leaves them out of the story (we don't see the Human Torch when the Juggernaut appears or Spider-Man when the team goes up against Factor Three) or he takes the time to introduce them (see Carol Danvers at the beginning of this issue), but he keeps Spider-Woman in this story without actually introducing her. Caliban's appearance is a bit different, his skin is yellow rather than white.
Page 11: Forge shows Nick Fury a weapon he has created that will disable a mutant's powers permanently, but he can't find a way to test this device in a humane way. Forge is already established to also work for Xavier. In another location Mystique has discovered Forge's invention and starts to plot. She looks in on Rogue, who tell her that she has not been sleeping for days now. Back at the X-Mansion, Ororo looks how Carol Danvers is doing. Carol has been living for most of her life without superpowers, but she still swears to kill Rogue if she ever meets her again. Observations: In the original comics Forge shows his invention to Val Cooper and Raven Darkholme of the US government, not knowing that Raven is actually Mystique. Here it remains unknown for now how Mystique nows about the device (was she disguised as Nick Fury or did she find it out through other contacts that she has?).
Page 12-13: The X-Men stay on Magneto's island base (here called an Atlantean island), while Storm and Cyclops stay in Westchester to help oversee the rebuilding of the mansion (apparently Kitty's fight with the Non-Garai alien destroyed a lot of the mansion). The Starjammers appear and Corsair tells Cyclops about his true identity, but they (and the other X-Men) are teleported to a Shi'ar spaceship. The Shi'ar demand the return of Lilandra, keeping Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde as hostages. On Earth the X-Men look for Lilandra but are attacked by the alien Brood, led by the alien Deathbird who kidnaps Charles Xavier. Observations: In the original comics, I don't think the island was ever identified as Atlantean in origin, but that the statues and architecture hinted at a non-human origin. The damage done to the X-Mansion during the fight between Kitty and the N'Garai demon was also far less. Also, in the original comic, Storm already knew about Corsair's true identity at this point.
Page 14-15: Deathbird has injured Colossus, but the Starjammers doctor Sikorsky can save him. The Starjammer is then attacked by a giant space-whale, the home of the Brood. Xavier contacts the X-Men and helps them to rescue him and Lilandra. It turns out that the Shi'ar nobility had a deal with Deathbird, allowing her to kidnap Lilandra, so that they could blame it on Earth and destroy the planet. Xavier discovers the plot and contacts Kitty and Nightcrawler on the Shi'ar vessel. Kitty uses the Shi'ar's costume creating machine to disguise herself as Dark Phoenix and together with Nightcrawler they sow panic in the ranks, buying the X-Men and Lilandra enough time to return. Lilandra finds that the two traitors behind the plot have committed suicide to escape their punishment. Contacting Nightcrawler and Kitty across lightyears has put a heavy strain on Xavier's brain though and not even Sikorsky can help him. Observations: No big changes I believe. I don't have the original comics here for this story, but I think it's mostly the same.
Page 16: The fight with the Brood has done a lot of damage to New York City and sentator Kelly uses this damage to condemn the X-Men, calling back to the attack by Namor on the city decades earlier. The X-Men, assisted by Carol Danvers, who may have lost her power, but still has her security clearance, infiltrate the Pentagon to erase all information the US has on the X-Men. On site they run into Nick Fury. Carol notices something odd about him, but they have their mission. Fury turns out to be Mystique who performed a similar mission on behalf of her Brotherhood. Observations: In the original the mission does not go quite as smoothly for both involved teams and Carol runs into Rogue, but Rogue in this version is by this point too confused to be of any use to Mystique.
Page 17: Xavier stays in sickbay on the Starjammer. Back on Magneto's island, Illyana is kidnapped by an unseen force. The X-Men follow her into Limbo, but the Watcher's vision does not reach into this dimension. The X-Men return seconds later, but for Illyana it has been years. The teenage Illyana is not pleased that it took the X-Men so long to save her. Observations: I like that the adventure in Limbo happens outside the Watcher's vision.
Page 18-20: Xavier is still on the Starjammer in a coma, but inside his mind he is constantly under attack till a vision of Jean Grey saves him. He wakes up to find himself alone in the sickbay, surrounded by Brood corpses. The X-Men who were visiting their mentor are gone. Xavier transports to Earth, while the X-Men (and Carol Danvers) are captured by the Brood. The Brood infect the X-Men, but Wolverine's healing factor rejects the alien egg. His teammates are not so lucky. The Brood are especially interested in Carol, whose body is already a mixture of 2 different species: human and Kree. Wolverine frees the other X-Men, but Storm's body is taken over by the Brood Egg, she flies up, but Storm still has control over her powers. She uses the solar radiation to boil the Brood egg inside her, restoring her back to normal. Observations: The big question mark in this version of the story is: where is the crew of the Starjammer? They are not with the captured X-Men, but Xavier wakes up alone on the ship. Storm's cure was a lot more complex in the original comics, involving alien space whales for instance.
To be continued next post.
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 28, 2018 10:54:46 GMT -5
Page 21: Magneto tells Mesmero to lock up the X-Men, but both are unfamiliar with the new X-Men and didn't know that Storm is skilled at picking locks. She quickly disables the power-dampening shackles on everybody and the X-Men quickly take out Mesmero. Magneto then triggers the self-dustrction of his base, build within an volcano. The X-Men are seperated: Jean manages to save Beast, but they think the other X-Men have died. Observations: As said last time, Mesmero is with Magneto here and without Magneto's time as a baby, no time for torture by Nanny.
Page 22: The Hellfire Club notices Jean and Beast returning and Jean delivers the bad news. Xavier decides to leave Earth with Lilandra to retake her throne. Jean is hurt that Xavier does not think of her when he leaves Earth. Mastermind starts his plans to control Jean once again. The other X-Men have survived and travel home through the Savage Land, Japan and Canada. Lilandra is crowned Majestrix of the Shi'ar, Xavier spends most of his time in the Shi'ar libraries. Observations We speed through a lot of issues here within one page, so some important events are not happening (or not happening on page); in the original comics, Scott realises in the Savage Land that Corsair of the Starjammers is his father. Colossus fathers a child in the Savage Land (even though he is unaware of the results of his meeting with the young girl). In Japan Logan meets Mariko Yashida (this event is depicted), but the fight with Moses Magnum is not. At this point in the original comics Banshee loses his powers for a long time. In this version the events are not depicted, but Banshee won't show up for the rest of the issue. The X-Men run into Alpha Flight in Canada: a minor difference here in Alpha Flight's line-up: Marrina is part of Alpha Flight in the Grand Design comic, but in the original comics she won't appear till Alpha Flight #1.
Page 23-24: Moira MacTaggert investigates Jean's new powers. Her full power unleashes a burst of energy that disables the security system, allowing Mutant X to escape and kill one of Jamie Madrox's duplicates. Meanwhile Xavier finds the testimony of the Watcher in the Shi'ar library including the recreation of the universe by Jean. The X-Men and Beast speed to Muir Island to stop Mutant X, but Phoenix has killed him already by the time they arrive. Phoenix is now under the influence of Mastermind seeing herself and the people around her in 18th century garb. Observations: The Watcher is pretty fast with publishing his knowledge to third parties. How his files end up in the Shi'ar library are unknown and why there are no scientists studying those files 24/7, because there is a lot of valuable information in there. In the original comics, the disturbance that freed Mutant X was caused by Magneto, but this is another change caused by the Mutant Alpha story not existing in this world. In the original comics, Mutant X manages to escape the island and take over his father's body, before finally being killed by Colossus. Here, poor Kevin barely stands a chance against the Phoenix.
Page 25: Jean meets Jason Wyngarde, Mastermind in disguise. Scott is not happy with this man being interested in his girlfriend. The X-Men discover two new mutants, using their taps on the X-Men, so does the Hellfire Club.
Page 26-28: Emma Frost, on behalf of the Hellfire Club, investigates one of the two mutants, Katherine Pryde to join her school. As she leaves the X-Men arrive with a similar offer. Kitty likes the X-Men a lot, but the Hellfire Club use the opportunity to attack and kidnap the X-Men. Kitty is not taken along with them, so sneaks aboard the truck the X-Men are transported in. At the same time Cyclops, Phoenix and Nightcrawler investigate the other mutant, singer Alison Blaire alias Dazzler. Alison is not interested in joining the X-men. Scott sees Phoenix kissing with Jason Wyngarde, but can not interfere as Nightcrawler appears with Kitty's warning that the other X-Men have been captured. The three arrive at Frost Industries and Kitty runs into them, telling them that she managed to free Wolverine before having to flee: the results are predictable, Wolverine has killed or seriously injured the Hellfire Club guards. Phoenix reads the mind of one guard and discovers that the Mansion has been bugged for months. Emma Frost escapes unseen. Observations: In the original comics Dazzler's concert was interrupted by Hellfire Club goons, but nothing special happens here. Dazzler is wearing the blue costume with a yellow star on it instead of her original silver costume and her style is more punk rock than disco here. Wolverine would not be this agressive in his time as an X-Men until a few issues later, also in a mission against the Hellfire Club.
Page 29: While the Beast scrubs the X-Mansion of bugs, the X-Men move in with Angel in one of his house. Phoenix starts to use her powers more and more freely, worrying the X-Men around her. Observations: Having the X-Men move into Warren's place while the mansion is being cleared works as a way to bring Angel back onto the team.
Page 30-32: The X-Men visit the Hellfire Club to find out more about them: Storm, Colossus, Phoenix and Cyclops pretend to be visitors during an open party, Nightcrawler and Wolverine infiltrate through the sewers. While Phoenix is asked to dance by Jason Wyngarde, she once again has hallucinations of living centuries ago. Emma Frost invites Cyclops to dance. Jason Wyngarde reveals himself to Scott as Mastermind, but his control over Phoenix is complete by now and she defends him against Cyclops. Nightcrawler and Wolverine make it inside the mansion but face Leland and Pierce. Colossus and Storm face Sebastian Shaw, but have little success against him. Observations: Mostly what happened in the actual comic again. Scott dancing with Emma may hint to their relationship in the far future, but we have had little to no mentions of anything done in Grant Morrison's run so far, so I chalk it op to coincidence.
Page 33: The Hellfire Club celebrate their victory, only Wolverine is missing, crashing down the floor as Leland increased his mass. Pierce sends 3 men to bring him in (Cole, Macon and Reese), but they are seriously injured during their fight with Wolverine. A Japanese partygoer who has been tracking Wolverine walks in to find the three men. Observations: The mystery woman is of course our future Lady Deathstrike, Yuriko Oyama. I think at this point in Marvel comics back in the day, Yuriko was not focused on Wolverine, but more concerned with her insane father. It's only after the death of her father and fiancee that Yuriko loses her mind and becomes obsessed with the death of Wolverine. She would team up later with Cole, Macon and Reese, all of them focused on revenge against Wolverine and the four would join Pierce's Reavers even later.
Page 34-36: In order to severe Jean's final link with the X-men he has a mental duel with Cyclops and defeats him. His actions do not have the desired outcome though; seeing Scott injured triggers Phoenix to turn against the Hellfire Club. Inside the Hellfire Club, senator Kelly is flirting with a woman, but their conversation is interrupted as Leland is blasted through the wall by Cyclops. Shaw falls down a pit and Pierce follows him. They manage to escape. Phoenix destroys Mastermind's mind and then turns into the Dark Phoenix. Observations: Pretty much the same way things went in the original comics. For a moment I thought that this was how Kelly's wife dies in this version, crushed beneath Leland's body, but the way she talks to Kelly makes it clear that the woman and Kelly have just met. It's also not explicit that Leland's body actually falls on anybody. Kelly's later wife was well a former hostess at the Hellfire Club where he met her, so she can turn out to be his future wife in later issues.
Page 37: Phoenix flies into outer space, Earth's sun too small to satiate her hunger. She feeds on a star, wiping out life on the planets orbiting it. The Shi'ar notice this and report to Lilandra. With heavy heart, Lilandra orders an intergalactic conference to decide the fate of Phoenix. Observations: The aliens inhabiting the planet in the original comics where the D'Bari, nicknamed Broccoli aliens due to their distinct headshapes. The aliens here are different (even though we see them only in silhouette, with horns, large ears and hands and tentacles instead of legs.)
Page 38: The Dark Phoenix returns to Earth to the house of Jean Grey's parents. Xavier attempts the impossible: to separate the minds of the Phoenix and its host. He succeeds and Phoenix acts like Jean Grey again, but too late: the X-Men are teleported away. Observations: No changes here that are worth mentioning.
Page 39-41: Lilandra tells the X-Men of the Phoenix's crimes and that she will be executed. Xavier uses his knowledge of Shi'ar to ask for a honor duel to save the Phoenix life. The Kree and the Skrull present agree to the duel, trusting the Shi'ar Imperial Guard to defeat the X-men. The Guard easily defeats most of the X-Men and Jean feels herself losing control. Before this can happen she paralyses Cyclops so he can't interfere and kills herself with one of the weapons around. The intergalactic leaders make sure that the Phoenix is indeed destroyed and disappear. Scott tells Professor X that he will need some time off. Lilandra leaves a crystal with Jean's parents that hold her essence. Unknown to all, a cocoon is gestating at the bottom of the Jamaica Bay and a new student, Kitty Pryde, is waiting for the X-Men to return to the X-Mansion. Observations: Of course when the original comics were published, it was never intended for Jean to be replaced by the Phoenix. The two were one and the same. Apart from the cocoon in the bay, pretty much everything is as it happened in the comics. The Imperial Guard member that defeats Storm and Nightcrawler in this looks to be an original creation by Piskor: a pink alien with horns, no hair, but a long tail from the back of his head with a mace-like extrusion at the end.
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 28, 2018 9:17:26 GMT -5
Just finished the latest Tomb Raider, not quite as good as the 2013 version, but better than Rise of the Tomb Raider in my opinion.
I've also been playing the Council, an episodic adventure game in the style of Telltale or Life is Strange, but with more RPG elements. Set in the late 18th century, French investigator Louis de Richet travels to a small island for the British coast, home to the eccentric Lord Mortimer to investigate the disappearance of his mother, Sarah, a famous investigator herself. On the island, some of the most powerful and influential people (or their agents) are gathered to determine the future of the world. Louis has to find his mother, figure out what she came here to do, while navigating the web of lies and intrigues spun by the visitors to the island. The game has a limited cast (only 13 characters in total including Louis himself, not including the nameless servants of Mortimer that are all around to help their guests), a mixture of newly created characters like Louis and his mother and historical figures like George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte. The limited cast allows you to learn more about each character and find out their various strengths and weaknesses. Louis can be 1 of 3 classes to start with: a diplomat, skilled in languages and politics, an occultist, skilled in manipulation and occult knowledge or a detective, skilled in logic and questioning (picking a class gives you points in 5 starting skills, but all classes can learn all skills, it just takes more effort to learn other skills). Using a skill usually requires effort and Louis has limited energy each day so you have to pick wisely whether you want to use your skills or not. There are items you can use to restore your energy or get other advantages during conversation. Basically you want to use your skills against characters that are weak against that particular skill and avoid using the skills they are strong against. Overall I'm really enjoying this series, more than the Telltale games I've played (excluding Tales of the Borderlands which remains my favourite), the RPG elements add a lot to it. The art-style will take a lot of getting used to, I guess: some of the characters look normal, others less so.
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 28, 2018 9:05:22 GMT -5
Issue #3: or rather Second Genesis, issue #1. This issue spans the time from the introduction of the all new X-Men team to the death of Phoenix on the Moon.
Credits: Ed Piskor doing it all. The Cover: Our center figure is Jean Grey, the left half of the picture in the green Phoenix costume, the right in the red Dark Phoenix. Havok, Thunderbird, Polaris and Nightcrawler on the left, Colossus, Wolverine, Banshee, Lilandra and Kitty Pryde on the right.
Title/credits page: A new title page: the new X-Men are all around the credit box, with the Hellfire Club at the bottom left and Mystique and Rogue in the bottom right corner.
Page 1: During the absence of the X-Men, the Hellfire Club infiltrates Xavier's mansion and places bugs and cameras all over the place. When they receive their first images, Emma Frost is angry with Mastermind, saying his information is wrong: these are not the X-Men. Mastermind, their new probationary member is confused, but Leland quickly points out that he sees Cyclops and Xavier among the unknown figures.
Page 2-4: A few months earlier, Xavier sends the original X-Men to investigate Krakoa, an island that has given off strong readings of a mutant presence. Only Cyclops returns, wounded and unable to recall what happened. Xavier contacts Moira MacTaggert and quickly gathers a new team. Things go mostly as they went in the original story, only Piskor did not include the original Sunfire appearance in the previous 2 issues, so Sunfire here is a new, unknown ally who joins because he wants to meet Marvel Girl. The new team, after training finds Krakoa and the original X-men and free them. Krakoa reveals itself as a giant, living mutant and fights the X-Men, but is defeated by the X-Men (specifically Polaris). The original X-Men leave the team to recover from their time on Krakoa. Sunfire also leaves, but without any comment. Xavier still dreams of the mysterious figure. Observations"Only the presence of Beast is a real difference with the original comics, as far as I can see: Beast is still a member and still in human form, in the originals he had left the team by then and became the furry Beast. Another small change: Angel has found the time to switch to his white/blue costume that he received from Magneto in the original comics. The costume change does not receive a comment.
Page 5: The X-Men face the Ani-men and their leader Count Nefaria as they infiltrate the Valhalla Missile base. During the fight, John Proudstar aka Thunderbird, dies. Observations: No big changes here, Piskor linked this fight with the fight the original X-Men had with Count Nefaria and he includes a small bit of information: John served with several soldiers during the war, soldiers that were stationed on the missile base and killed by the Ani-Men, explaining why Thunderbird was so driven to take down Nefaria.
Page 6: The X-Men deal with their grief, each in their own way: Cyclops focuses on his training, Storm takes care of her plants, Wolverine goes out into nature and Nightcrawler prays. The Hellfire Club decides that the X-Men are now vulnerable and member Donald Pierce gives Stephen Lang of the Right, the go-ahead to start the new Sentinel program. An unrelated event: Alex Summers and Lorna Dane are kidnapped by Erik the Red.
Page 7: The Shi'ar still believe that the Phoenix will chose Xavier as his host and sent brainwashed Alex and Lorna to kill him, while emperor D'Ken contemplates destroying the M'Kraan in case the Phoenix choses a human host. The X-Men stop Havok and Polaris from killing Xavier, but the two are taken away by Erik the Red. Cyclops decides to contact Jean. Observations: As Erik the Red only exists in this version as a mental image conjured by Jean's mind, this raises a lot of question: where did the Shi'ar get the image from? They are monitoring Earth and especially the X-Men, so they could have seen it there. But where did Jean get the image from? No answers yet to that question at this point. D'Ken's obsession with and fear of the Phoenix gives some background why the Emperor was so focused on unlocking the power of the M'Kraan crystal in the original comics.
Page 8-10: Scott visits Jean and talks about Erik the Red. Their conversation is interrupted by Stephen Lang's Sentinels who kidnap Wolverine, Jean Grey and Banshee. Cyclops uses Cerebro to track them, but without Xavier's power Cerebro is not as effective. An unknown man approaches the X-Mansion and turns out to be Peter Corbeau, an astronaut and friend of Xavier's. He tells the X-Men that another Sentinel has kidnapped Xavier and more importantly that the Sentinel had the kind of protection needed for space travel. The X-Men infiltrate Lang's space station and free their teammates, but the Right who monitor Lang's progress, use this opportunity to activate the self-destruct of the space station. Observations: Piskor compromises here between pre-Claremont Cerebro (a mutant tracking device that works via a computer) and Claremont's Cerebro (a machine that amplifies a telepath's ability to track mutants): Piskor's Cerebro can work without a mutant telepath, but is far less effective. Apart from the Right's involvement, no big changes to the story so far.
Page 11-13: The X-Men make it to the shuttle, but the shuttle is damaged. Jean volunteers to fly the shuttle while the rest of the X-Men and professor Corbeau stay in the better protected parts of the shuttle. Jean lies to her teammates that her telekinetic powers will protect her, but within minutes her body is almost destroyed by radiation. The Phoenix appears and offers her life in exchange for her. The shuttle crashed in the Jamaica Bay and Jean appears as the Phoenix. D'Ken is desperate to stop the Phoenix; so desperate that he is willing to force Galactus into helping: if Galactus does not stop the Phoenix, D'Ken will use the M'Kraan crystal to destroy the planets that feed his hunger. Observations: By now the X-Men know about the Phoenix, unlike the original comics, so Xavier is immediately worried about what this means for Jean. D'Ken's bargain with Galactus will be addressed in a few pages, I will get more into it at that point.
Page 14: With Jean still unconscious, Xavier and Cyclops stay with her. The other X-Men visit Banshee's keep in Ireland. They are attacked by Banshee's cousin Black Tom and his partner, the Juggernaut Observations: Mostly what happened in the actual comic, Juggernaut and Black Tom are thrown from the castle in this version by Storm having a panic attack as she is buried beneath rubble of the castle, but it makes little difference.
Page 15: Jean has awoken, but is still weakened. The mysterious figure that Xavier has been having dreams about for months now, finally appears in the flesh. She unmasks and turns out to be Lilandra, sister of Emperor D'Ken. Firelord appears to distract the X-Men while Erik the Red kidnaps Lilandra. Jean manages to keep the portal open that Erik the Red used and the X-Men arrive at the heart of the Shi'ar Empire. Observations:[/i] In the original comics, Firelord had already left Galactus, here he is still Galactus herald and Galactus has responded to D'Ken's plot. I'm not sure about this change; it makes Firelord les gullible (in the original he's tricked by Erik the Red into helping), but Galactus is powerful enough and proud enough that he won't accept a mortal trying to force him into cooperating.
Page 16: The X-Men face the Shi'ar Imperial Guard in an attempt to stop D'Ken from destroying the universe. The Imperial Guard themselves are unaware of D'Ken's plot, but the Starjammes have an idea and come to assist the X-Men. In the end the two groups are not fast enough to stop D'Ken. Observations: Keeping the Imperial Guard unaware of their Emperor's madness keeps them a more neutral party as they will later be intead of knowing accomplices in the destruction of the universe.
Page 17: An empty white page, with just the word "Blink!" writing on it: The M'Kraan crystal has erased existence. Observations: Jokes can be made how easy on the artist these kind of pages are, but it's very effective to me in this case.
Page 18: Jean meets Annie, the girl that died and triggered her telepathic powers, but Annie's spirit sees straight through the Phoenix faced: "You're not Jeannie! You faker!" The Phoenix links with the X-Men and Starjammers and uses her power to recreate the universe, a work that takes her seven billion years, but time does not exist yet. The X-Men wake up back on Earth, just after they left. Jean's parents are there and now aware of the powers their daughter has. Observations: The fate of D'Ken and the Imperial Guard is unknown at this point. Lilandra is on Earth with the X-Men, but the universe seems to be safe for now.
Page 19-20: The Phoenix needs time to recover, so the X-Men play a little baseball. Mesmero infiltrates the X-mansion and takes control of Phoenix and kidnaps the X-Men. Xavier contacts the Avengers and asks Beast, now in his blue, furry form, to help him track down the X-Men. Beast agrees, but hopes the X-Men will attack him as they won't recognize his new face. He finds Mesmero and the X-Men and Mesmero's boss, Magneto. Observations: See general observations below: Beast's transformation has happened off-panel. In the original comics, Mesmero never worked for Magneto, but for a mechanical duplicate (which was a retcon in itself: his costume is stylized after Magneto's, so it shows that Mesmero himself respected the leader of the Brotherhood). When Magneto shows up at this point in the original comics, he casually nearly kills Mesmero as the man means nothing to him. As Piskor made Mesmero an original member of the Brotherhood, Magneto threats Mesmero as a regular underling.
General Observations: This series does not address the adventures of the various original X-Men outside of the X-Men title, so we don't see Beast's adventures in Amazing Adventures where he turns into his furry form, nor his adventures with the Avengers, Iceman and Angel's time with the Champions or their time with the New Defenders. So also, Magneto's time as a baby: Magneto was changed into a baby by Alpha the Ultimate Mutant in the Defenders comics and stayed on Muir Island for quite some time before being aged by Erik the Red to the prime of his life. In the original comics he feels humiliated by this experience and takes his revenge on the X-Men (who were completely uninvolved with Magneto's fiasco with Alpha).
To be continued next post.
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 21, 2018 5:32:30 GMT -5
Apparently they have renamed the series Une Aventure de Spirou et Fantasio par.. (An adventure of Spirou and Fantasio by) to Le Spirou de (The Spirou of...). The recently translated issue over here is Fondation Z (Foundation Z, obviously). A sci-fi take on Spirou and Fantasio: in the far future, special agent Spirou and his rebellious sister Seccotine, investigate the disappearance of their grandfather, the famous scientist Pancratius who has been working for the all-powerful Foundation Z that controls several galaxies. I'm going to spoil the twist here, cause it is essential to reviewing this issue: {Spoiler: Click to show}In the end it turns out that Foundation Z has created a fake Earth set around the mid 20th century which functions as a prison for its enemies. People are reprogrammed and placed into their new environment, including Spirou, Fantasio, Spip and all the other characters we have seen so often. Minor issue: Spirou and Seccotine are brother and sister, both are reprogrammed and inserted into the fake Earth where they live out the lives that we know from earlier comics... But in some of those, Spirou and Seccotine are a couple...
Overall I love sci-fi, but this one didn't do a lot for me. We never get a clear explanation or overview how life is in the Foundation Z controlled world and what the various factions are, so things are rather incoherent from time to time. Characters apart from Spirou and Seccotine are not really well established. Artwise I did like it a lot though; lots of little callbacks. The robotic guards Foundation Z uses are modelled after Radar Le Robot, one of the earliest Spirou stories by Franquin. So artwise it's fine, but plot/writing-wise it is rather mediocre (it could be a bad translation, but I've heard similar complaints about the french version.) Rhonda #3: Final issue of the adventures of acrobat Rhonda Kaplan who stole a suitcase with money from the mob and became the stand-in for a famous actress who was killed. Another title that has better art than writing, though I still liked the writing here far more than Fondation Z. To wrap up the story the writer/artist Hans van Oudenaarden takes some shortcuts that I dislike (one thing for instance: apparently Rhonda has been wearing a wig for 2 days without noticing... I don't think that works like that). Amnesia is a big part of this issue, a plotdevice I always hate (exceptions XIII and Longshot, because they both do different things with it.) Not bad, but the series had such a promising start. 7 Detectives: I already spoke of the spin-off series, which I reviewed the first 2 issues of (issue 3 coming up next month). 7 is a bit of a weird series. Every issue is a standalone story dealing with 7 noun. We have 7 Psychopaths, 7 Thieves, 7 Missionaries, 7 Dragons, 7 Dwarves, 7 Clones etc. 21 issues in total with a different creative team every issue. This is the first issue I read from the series, because I got into the series through the spin-off, but taking a quick look, I notice that writers and artists are from all over the world. So it is in this issue: writing is by Herik Hanna (a french writer) and Eric Canete (who, as most people here probably know, is an American artist). I know nothing of the other titles, but I believe this is the only one in the series that received a spin-off series. The plot starts out simple: 7 of the world's best detectives are gathered together to solve a series of murders. The issue opens with a full page image of each of the 7 detectives as they introduce themselves and it's immediately clear why a spin-off series was possible as they are each interesting individuals (all based on classic detectives as far as I can tell, even if I can't identify them all.) The main draw of the issue is the different personalities clashing while trying to catch the killer. The resolution makes sense, the art is good. I do wonder if this issue will spoil any of the spin-off issues or vice versa, but so far all issues have been standalone.
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 21, 2018 2:54:18 GMT -5
Page 21-22: Xavier tries to help Cain, but the Juggernaut wakes up and leaves the house, feeling a link with the Ruby Crystal of Cyttorak. He meets up with Black Tom Cassidy who managed to obtain the ruby. Meanwhile during the chaos Xavier disappears. Observations: Black Tom is introduced a lot earlier than he was in the original comics. Xavier’s disappearance is kinda weird as it seems to come out of nowhere.
Page 23-24: The X-Men ask the Fantastic Four, S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers to find Xavier. Captain America has some rumors from Scotland. Jean uses Cerebro and contacts Banshee to help them, but he’s captured by the Mutant Master. The Mutant Master believes that Xavier will be the host for the Phoenix and wants to test his more advanced mindcontrol devices on Banshee first. Observations: Still no Ogre with Mutant Master’s men, but the Changeling appears. He looks different though: his face looks like a less cartoony version of Morph (the Age of Apocalypse version of Changeling). Pale white only small, round eyes. A few pages further and we get the information that this Changeling is not a mutant, but an android. Like before, Nick Fury seems to care not for mutants and is not concerned with Xavier’s disappearance. The Avengers are willing to assist the X-Men, even though they announced earlier that they would arrest the X-Men on sight.
Page 25: Another early introduction, Forge is a mutant who designed this version of the Blackbird. The X-Men are shot down by the Mutant Master’s alien technology though and the X-Men are captured. Observations: Forge seems to have two regular hands here, regular Forge has a bionic hand, having lost a hand and a leg during the war. (We can’t see if his leg is prosthetic or not in this picture). In the early issues the X-Men didn’t have the Blackbird either, but used a plane not modelled after an existing plane.
Page 26: Jean uses her telepathy to wake Xavier and Banshee. Banshee attacks the Mutant Master and his attack reveals his true alien nature. The rest of the Mutant Master’s troops turn against him. The Mutant Master detonates a bomb to kill himself. Observations: As said before in his natural state the Mutant Master is of the exact same species as Lucifer in this version. His men no longer wear the mind-control devices they wore earlier in the issue and therefore are free to turn on him once he is exposed.
Page 27: Xavier has felt that the Mutant Master has sent an alien armada to Earth to capture him (and by extension the Phoenix). He turns the Changeling android into a duplicate of himself, while he works undercover to stop the armada. The android is killed then by the subterrean Grotesk during their next mission. Observations: Some major changes (as far as I am concerned): Changeling no longer is a dying mutant trying to atone, he is an android acting like a decoy. Also the X-Men are now in on Xavier’s deception, while in the original only Jean knew. Jean and Xavier willingly misleading the others always annoyed me, so I’m happy with this change.
Page 28: Xavier’s funeral is visited by Magnus in disguise. A short flashback shows Magnus escaping from the Strange’s planet with the help of Machine Man and landing in the Savage Land. Observations: Machine Man was not involved with Magneto’s escape in the original stories (the character was not even created back then). Also Machine Man, controlled by Magneto, manages to overpower the Stranger, who usually is far more powerful.
Page 29: Nick Fury surprises the X-Men: he knows that Xavier faked his death. He disbands the X-Men. The X-Men continues to work as individual heroes though, now adopting their graduation costumes. Observations: Once again, Fury is not coming off well here. In the original comics, the X-Men had been wearing their graduation costumes for quite some time by this point.
Page 30: A quick summation of several comics happening after the X-Men split up: Angel faces the Red Raven, a young mutant named John (who looks like he’s on fire) is walking towards a destination in a trance. In San Francisco Iceman and the Beast fight Quicksilver. A young mutant named Anna Marie is also under the influence of the trance. Jean and Cyclops are fighting a group of masked men with the Toad present. Many mutants are now gathering in Florida on way to the Savage Land under the influence of the unknown mind control, including one Lorna Dane. Iceman saves Lorna from an uncoming car. Observations: Quite a lot of changes here: Angel facing Red Raven was a backdrop to a fight between the X-Men and Magneto, but seems an individual event here. I don’t know if John is a new creation or a minor character seen before. Beast and Iceman never faced Quicksilver at this time. Cyclops is the one that fought Quicksilver, while Beast and Iceman faced the Maha Yogi/Merlin/the Warlock. With the Warlock here being a construct of Mastermind, it makes sense to change these things a little. Anna Marie is of course an early appearance by future X-Men Rogue. She looks to be quite young compared to the other X-Men and I know that Rogue was one of the younger X-Men so it can fit. Cyclops and Marvel Girl are facing faceless goons and Toad, probably the Demi-Men. In the original comics their opponents were creations of Computo/Quasimodo, but here Piskor tries to streamline the story into the Demi-Men vs. X-Men. Another big change is that Lorna already has her powers here. In the original comics she only had the green hair and her magnetic powers were given to her/activated by Mesmero’s device.
Page 31-32: Iceman brings Lorna to the apartment he and Beast share and they contact the other X-Men. Before they can arrive though, they are attacked by the Demi-Men (not named as such in this comic) who take Lorna with them. Lorna is exposed to Magneto’s machine to enhance her latent powers and Mesmero tells her that she’s Magneto’s daughter. Jean creates a mental image from a character of Lorna’s fantasy to help her resist Mesmero’s manipulations. Observations: A bit of weird continuity here for this issue, Mesmero enhances Lorna’s latent powers, but in the previous pages we already saw that Lorna’s powers are already quite strong and Iceman says that her powers could rival those of Magneto. (Bobby also seems to know her name by now, while Lorna was either in a trance or unconscious for the time they met. Maybe he went through her pockets and found some ID?). The figure Jean creates from Lorna’s mind is Erik the Red. In the original Erik the Red was Cyclops in disguise.
Page 33-34: Cyclops tells his teammates about his brother Alex. Alex is captured by the Living Pharaoh, who has knowledge of the Phoenix force. In an attempt to sacrifice Alex, the Living Pharoah absorbs his power and transforms into the Living Monolith. Observations: Somewhat the same as the original, only adding the Phoenix force to the backstory is new. The link between Alex and the Living Pharaoh’s powers were never explained in the original comics (though a writer later linked it to experiments by Mr. Sinister with Summers DNA).
Page 35-36: Lorna is the newest student at the X-Mansion, but she is kidnapped by the Sentinels while the X-Men are still searching for Alex in Egypt. Scott sends Iceman and Beast back to rescue Lorna, while they continue to search for Alex. The Right, who sent the Sentinels, plan to use the mutant’s powers for their own good, mentioning Genosha. The Sentinels capture many mutants including Alex, the Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, the Vanisher and the Blob. Jean manages to sneak into the Right’s facility and plants an idea in Larry Trask’s head that he himself is a mutant. Trask, shocked by the idea, commits suicide, a reaction Jean did not expect. Beast and Cyclops manage to find the Mastermold that controls all the Sentinels and reprograms it to send all the Sentinels into the sun. Observations: The biggest change here is to Larry Trask. In the original comics Larry was unbeknownst to himself a mutant, whose powers were blocked by a medallion his father made for him. Here him being a mutant is an illusion created by Jean. In the original Larry went into a catatonic state once he finds out he’s a mutant. Here his reaction is even more extreme.
Page 37-38: All those mutants on their way to the Savage Land, guided by Mesmero and the Demi-Men, show up again: the X-Men go to the Savage Land to investigate the spike in mutant activity. On their way, Angel is attacked by pterano-man Sauron and taken to the Creator, Magneto. Magneto’s creation Lorelei controls the X-Men, but Jean is unaffected and uses her power to control Cyclops into destroying Magneto’s base. Ka-Zar asks the X-Men to leave after seeing the destruction they have caused. Observations: Originally Sauron was unrelated to Magneto’s efforts in the Savage Land, but seeing his appearance, it makes only sense to merge those two stories together. It’s unclear whether the Savage Land Mutates here are created by Magneto from the indigenous population or from the mutants that were taken there before. Combining the Demi-Men plot, Sauron and the Savage Land Mutates into one story is pretty much what I expect of this work and works well for me.
Page 39: The Mutant Master’s armada shows up, but Xavier reveals himself again to lead the X-Men against them. Using Havok’s new costume (created by Forge) in combination with Cyclops as a focus and Iceman to control the heat produced by the process, Xavier and Jean guide the combined mental power of the human population against the alien invasion and destroy the fleet. Observations: Forge is credited with Alex’s new costume, a change from the original comics. As said before several alien species are combined into a single race here: the alien invasion used to be the Z’Nox. Here the Z’Nox, the Mutant Master (a member of the alien Sirians) and Lucifer (a member of the Quist) are combined into a single race, that resembles the Sirians the most (though still looks quite different from the Sirians in the original comics).
Page 40: The strain of fighting the alien armada puts Xavier into a coma. During the coma he sees an alien apparition and also the existence of a thing called Krakoa. Waking up he warns the X-Men that Krakoa is a danger. Observations: In the original comics this is where the original X-Men series went into reruns, so Krakoa would only show up years later. The X-Men themselves would show up in various titles in the time between this issue and the return of the X-Men against Krakoa. In this, more focused and streamlined version, it makes sense to immediately lead into the Krakoa story. The alien apparition Xavier sees is Lilandra, the Shi’ar princess in her spacesuit. She would only appear many years later in the original comics.
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 20, 2018 6:16:06 GMT -5
Issue #2: where the first issue deals with events leading up to Uncanny X-Men #1, this issue deals with events from Uncanny X-Men #1 to #66, basically everything leading up to the All New, All-Different X-Men team. A lot of the issues in this were standalone issues, but Piskor manages to link some unrelated issues, so that the villains plots are less “evil plot of this month” and seem to have bigger plans.
Credits: Still Ed Piskor doing all the work. The Cover: The covers all connect to each other for the whole series. Issue #2 has Iceman front and center. His original snowman-form on the left, his more refined form on the right. In the background we have Beast and Angel in their original costumes and Angel, Marvel Girl, Cyclops and Beast on the right in their graduation costumes.
Title/credits page: Same page as last time.
Page 1: The Watcher and the Recorder are still on the floating rock in space as the Watcher continues his story. We see Magneto plotting on Asteroid M to take over Santo Marco. Differences this time: Mesmero is part of Magneto’s original Brotherhood in this version. Magneto being established as a Holocaust-survivor, Piskor changed the costumes on his soldiers when taking over Santo Marco (the original costumes are basically WWII German Nazi uniforms). Also the sequence of events is changing around a bit, because Magneto took over Santo Marco later in the original stories than this.
Page 2: Magneto attacks Cape Citadel Missile Base. Basically the battle from Uncanny X-Men #1 with no real changes. Only the motivation is explained this time: Magneto is gathering a nuclear arsenal and taking out a threat to his powerbase of Santo Marco which is close to Florida.
Page 3: The X-Men fight the Blob and the Vanisher (though in reverse order of the original series). Both are freed by the Mutant Master who is after the Phoenix. Bolivar Trask is working on his Sentinels. Observations: Both Blob and the Vanisher would take some time in the original comics before they signed up with the Mutant Master. Having the Mutant Master also interested in the Phoenix is a new retcon, but it works to streamline the whole story.
Page 4: Magneto is using the radioactive material he stole at Cape Citadel to power a device that will turn the human population of Santo Marco into mutants. The device is not really working though and the test subject becomes a shapeless mass of flesh. The experiments do register on Cerebro though, so Xavier sends the X-Men to investigate. Observations: Something not from the original comics, but it’s basically Magneto’s plan in the first X-Men movie.
Page 5: The X-Men fight the Brotherhood for the first time. No Quicksilver saving the population from a nuclear device this time. Another change is Jean and Mastermind mentally connecting, allowing Mastermind to see Jean’s hidden desires. Observations: By linking Mastermind and Jean here, it makes more sense how Mastermind knows how to manipulate Jean once she becomes host to the Phoenix.
Page 6: Namor lives as a homeless drifter till some criminals throw him in the water, restoring his memory. He returns to a demolished Atlantis and teams up with Magneto. Colonel Fury tells the president that they should use Trask’s Sentinels. A Shi’ar vessel is monitoring from orbit and wonders if Namor is the Phoenix-host, but one staff member concludes that Phoenix would never bond with an aquatic creature. Observations: There is an image of Namor lifting a car on this page, which I think is an homage to Superman’s first cover? The positioning of him and the figures around him is a bit off though, so I might be wrong. Nick Fury is not coming off well this issue, promoting the Sentinels here and some actions we will get to later. The Shi’ar claim that the Phoenix would never bond with the aquatic Namor. This is exactly what happens in Marvel’s more recent AvsX event.
Page 7: Magneto gives Unus a test before he joins the Brotherhood. He beats the X-Men, but is then teleported away by the Mutant Master. Observations: In the original story the X-Men beat Unus with a device that turns his powers against him, here they don’t get the chance. As Mutant Master interrogates Unus, we see Blob and the Vanisher behind him, wearing the same mind-control devices that Banshee would later wear. They have far less control over themselves though, just mindlessly repeating the word Phoenix.
Page 8: The X-Men face Lucifer and defeat him, but he manages to escape. Lucifer has been stealing radioactive material, but it isn’t used in the bomb he set, so Xavier wonders what he wanted with the nuclear energy. Observations: With Lucifer not connected to Xavier’s injuries in this version (as seen last issue, Xavier ends up in a wheelchair due to Cain Marko’s actions), it leaves him a little disconnected from other events. Piskor solves this by making Lucifer a member of the same race as Mutant Master (both of them different from the alien species they were in the original comics. They are alien squids in this version).
Page 9: On another mission, the X-Men discover the Savage Land and meet up with Ka-Zar. Observations: Not much to say here, in this version the X-Men never meet the mutants in the Savage Land.
Page 10: The Stranger, also on the lookout for the Phoenix arrives on Earth. He takes Magneto with him and turns Mastermind into a stone statue. Observations: Again, not much to say. The main difference is that the Stranger didn’t take the Toad as well this time.
Page 11: While trying to cure Mastermind, the X-Men are attacked by the Juggernaut. Observations: The Juggernaut’s attack is basically identical to the way things happened in the original comics. No Human Torch though.
Page 12: Bolivar Trask presents the Sentinels and is interviewed with Xavier. The X-Men manage to stop them, but during the attack the Sentinels turned on Trask and he dies during the battle. His son Larry Trask takes over the production of Sentinels, working together with the Right. Observations: As said before, the Right’s involvement is new. In the original comic Bolivar turns on the Sentinels as he realizes that the mutants are not evil, but just human.
Page 13: The Blob and Unus rob a bank disguised as X-Men, the Avengers swear to stop the X-Men. On the trail of Blob and Unus, the X-Men find the super computer Dominus and figure out its link with Lucifer. Observations: More minor changes that are caused by linking Lucifer to the Mutant Master but nothing major.
Page 14: Count Nefaria uses holographic images to continue to discredit the X-Men. The X-Men face him and his goons, but he manages to escape. Jean Grey leaves the X-Men. Observations: No big changes here, but Piskor links this attack by Count Nefaria to the plot Nefaria later uses to infiltrate Norad with the Ani-Men.
Page 15: Jean at college, she becomes romantically involved with Ted Roberts. Observations: A cameo appearance by Galactus and the Silver Surfer, who visits Earth for the first time. Jean sees these events happening from far away. Another change is Jean having a fellow student, Mordecai, who tries to get her attention, but loses out to Ted Roberts. It turns out that Mordecai is Mastermind, working for the Mutant Master to capture Jean. It’s unclear at this point if Mutant Master knows that Jean will become the Phoenix or if he just sees her as a likely candidate.
Page 16: Jean’s classmate Calvin Rankin has the ability to mimic mutant powers. He fights the X-Men, but ends up joining them. Observations: Calvin conflict with the X-Men is less planned here than in the original, where he specifically seeks out the X-Men to copy their powers. Also he seems to be a regular mutant here, unlike the original where his powers are caused by a device his father built.
Page 17: The X-Men fight Banshee, but he’s too strong. The Mimic takes him on and manages to destroy the mind control device, but keeps on beating the already defeated Banshee. Banshee reveals the Mutant Master’s plan to find and control the Phoenix. Observations: In the original Banshee was able to defeat the Mimic despite his power. Also the Mutant Master’s ally the Ogre is missing from these events.
Page 18: The Mutant Master creates the Super-Adaptoid to counter the Mimic. Xavier banned Calvin from the X-Men due to his savage beating of Banshee. During the fight with the Adaptoid, Calvin returns to fight him, but their powers interfere, leaving Mimic powerless and the Adaptoid destroyed. Observations: In the original the Adaptoid was made by A.I.M. to fight the Avengers. In this version, the Avenger-fight is just a trial run. It does make a random encounter between the X-Men and the Adaptoid into part of Mutant Master’s greater plot, so this works well for me.
Page 19: Quite a departure here, Jean is in her dreams kidnapped by the magician Merlin to a fantasy land where he tries to turn her against Xavier. She manages to break Merlin’s hold and wakes up again. Observations: The most interesting page to me: the art in the panels and numbering of the panels remind me of Little Nemo in Slumberland, which works well. The original issue (X-Men #30 for those interested) always fit ill into the X-Men’s ongoing story at the time and Merlin/The Warlock was an odd villain for them. By turning the issue into a dream sequence and part of Mastermind’s long-running plot to turn Jean against the X-Men, it makes far more sense.
Page 20: Jean’s stay at college does not keep her from superhero battles: she fights the Locust, she joins the X-Men against Kukulkan and the Cobalt Man. This all leads to Jean to return to the X-Men. Observations: No big changes here, as far as I know. Piskor quickly goes through some of the lesser issues so that he can focus on the bigger plots for the rest of this issue.
To be continued next post.
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Post by Dizzy D on Sept 5, 2018 6:47:04 GMT -5
Crossposting from another board I visit:
So I make no secret of the fact that I love Sunstone, Stjepan Sejic's romance/comedy/erotica/drama series he does for Top Cow (and for free online on his deviantart page) and I'm not the only one: in the afterword of Top Cow's "Swing" (one of two series this post will be about), Matt Hawkins (Top Cow president and COO) says "Sunstone has sold more copies of the collected editions than any other comic book in Top Cow history... and that includes the heydey of the early 90s." Noting the success of Top Cow and how many female fans came to the Top Cow stand with the question if they had anything else like it, Hawkins decided to publish more titles of a similar tone.
Linda Sejic's webseries Blood Stain was the first one*. Now joined by Swing and Sugar. All four series are published as collections/OGNs instead of in singles like other American comics, avoiding the direct market mostly and aiming for bookstores and so far it seems to be working. (At least for Sunstone and Blood Stain, Swing and Sugar are too new to have any numbers published.) I really wanted to talk about both series/graphic novels (as I've just read the both of them) and the two comic threads on SE are not exactly the right place for it. This board itself has been pretty dead the last few years, but this thread fits the best (not confident enough to actually make a new thread for it and not sure it will receive any replies), so:
From the Ashes You Shall Rise, dear GV general comics thread
I'll start with Sugar first, even though it came out later. Because I actually like it the least of the four series and I want to end on a positive note. The only one of the four series that doesn't have the Sejics involved, even though it's unofficially named the Sejic-verse. Sugar is written by Hawkins and Jenni Cheung (husband and wife.) and has art by Yishan Li. It deals with student Julia Capello, a poor student who has several jobs to pay for her tuition and to support her recently unemployed mother and younger sister. Understandably, she has trouble making ends meet. Too busy with jobs and her study, Julia has had no time for any relationships recently. The other protagonist is John Markham, a middle-aged divorcee, who still has trouble getting over his wife. Halfway through the book, the two meet up and begin a relationship. John has heard from his business partner/friend Richard about sugaring, where a wealthy man will get companionship from a young woman (usually a student) in exchange for support with their tuition, rent and other needs. John wants to help Julia, but Julia is uncomfortable with the idea, feeling it too close to prostitution. She does really need to money though, so she agrees to the proposition with the understanding that all the money will be a loan, not a gift. Hawkins, usually a writer of sci-fi titles for Top Cow, admits how hard it is to write romance, even with the help from Jenni and it's most noticeable in this title. Both Julia and John don't really feel like characters, they are parts of the plot. Compare this to any of the main characters in the other three titles where we get to know them as people, their passions and hobbies. Both John and Julia are portrayed sympathetically (a bit too much so even, it's John's ex-wife who is portrayed as basically everything that was wrong with the relationship. So much that you would have trouble understanding what John ever saw in her. Then again, this is true of many relationships I have seen in real life. The series also sidesteps some of the more problematic aspects of the relationship between John and Julia, though they may be explored more in the next two installments. The art is also a big factor in why I'm liking this less than the other series, Yishan Li is not a bad artist, but her faces are not as expressive as those of the Sejics, whose mix of cartoony and realistic art somehow works at making the characters feel more like real persons. Also a super minor complaint, the story is divided into 5 chapters, but each chapter seems to end at a random point. It was written as a single story, so the need to divide it into chapters feels weird and if it needed to be divided you expect the endpoints to be the major moments in the story. You even have 5 major moments in the story: the moment the two meet, the moment the relationship starts, the moment Julia decides to accept the proposal, the moment the ex-wife shows up, the end. Those would easily have been the major breaks in the story to start a new chapter each time.
So on to Swing and it's quite a difference. Still Hawkins and Cheung writing, but Linda Sejic is drawing (interesting to note Linda Sejic is the first creator credited on the cover. In American comics it's usually the writer first/artist second, while in Europe, it usually is artist first/writer second (though there are many exceptions to that rule). Cathy Chang goes to college and is finally out under her strict mothers supervision. Time to meet some boys. But the boys are mostly disappointing, until she meets teaching assistant Dan Lincoln. The two hit it off and Cathy even convinces her mother that Dan is a good catch. And then she ends up pregnant. Jump several years, Cathy and Dan are married and have two children. Both are happy with their life, their partner and their children, but the spark has gone out of the relationship. Cathy finds out about swinging and wants to spice up the relationship by trying it out. The writing in this just is so much better, both Cathy and Dan are established as characters with interests and passions outside of the relationship (for instance, Dan loves poetry and we see a short crossover with Blood Stain and Sunstone as he is in the same MMORPG guild as characters from those two titles). Both characters are sympathetic, but not flawless. They acknowledge that there are problems with their relationship, problems which they are both responsible for. Their first visit to the club is awkward. Sejic's more cartoony art works wonders with making the characters feel like actual human beings, but I think that Hawkins/Cheung feel more engaged with the content in this than in Sugar (the afterword has Hawkins talk about the research they did and the clubs they visited and some scenes from the comic are taken from their own experiences). I think Sunstone is still the best of the four titles, but I enjoyed Swing and will be getting the next parts.
* = Blood Stain itself is a bit of the odd duck of the four. The other three are all focused on romance and non-conventional relationships. Blood Stain is more slice-of-life/comedy. Unless Vlad and Elliott will be getting it on in later volumes... but that's just... no... Vlad is so not ready for any type of sexual relationship.
Note: All four series are intended for adult audiences. In case of Blood Stain it's just the slice-of-life story would hold little interest to younger readers IMHO, but there is no adult content in it: no sex, nudity or violence. Sunstone has some nudity in it (which I guess by American standards immediately turns it into an Adults Only title, though the BDSM aspects may be more of a factor in getting the Adult Only tag. I've seen some reviewers describe it as pornographic, but I guess we have very different definitions of porn.) Sugar is a bit more explicit than Sunstone, but has no BDSM, just naked people and R-rated sex. Swing is significantly more explicit than the other titles, so beware if that bothers you.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 28, 2018 9:24:17 GMT -5
Some solid creative teams there. Saw some sketches by Jason Latour for Silver Surfer that looked very interesting (very Moebius inspired).
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 28, 2018 9:12:57 GMT -5
Kill or Be Killed vol 4: The final trade of the latest Brubaker/Phillips series. Overall I lost interest in this series as it progressed, but I still am interesting in their upcoming work. I saw that their next work will be a OGN and I think that format works better for their work.
Sex Criminals Vol 5: No1 on the list of comics you won't be reading on the bus. This trade could work as a series finale for me (even if the matter of the main "villain" has not been adressed at all, the two protagonists do complete their respective arcs IMHO). Then again, ending the series now, would not give them the opportunity to call the last volume (volume 6) "Six Criminals" and that would be a shame.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 23, 2018 10:18:01 GMT -5
Still working on issue 2, just things been crazy at work, so it will take some time.
Also my father's birthday this weekend, so no comics for me.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 18, 2018 14:05:03 GMT -5
A relatively straightforward issue for a change with only 3 scenes, but a few important events are happening: The Wildstorm #16 by Warren Ellis (writer) and Jon Davis-Hunt (artist), Steve Buccellato (Colourists) and Simon Bowland (letterer). The Cover: John Lynch, gun drawn is in a dark room, he looks up in surprise or fear, above him, hidden in shadows is Gloria Spaulding, standing upside down on the ceiling. Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation is displayed as well as the comment "Gravitational Field Negation", her power. Page 1-8: Angela has incorporated the Hightower system which was described as "machine telepathy", her control over her suit has increased and she can see the computations working. She has access to internet and wonders what it looks like and we get a page I love: a drawing of the world wide web through Angela's new senses. Angela's actions don't go unnoticed though: Jenny Sparks, also connected to "the system" senses her mind. Jenny and Angela talk, Angela keeps the conversation hidden in case Jacob is monitoring her. Jenny tells her that she doesn't trust I.O. and Skywatch and she wants to do something about it. She offers Angela a place on her team, she just has to call whenever she needs help. So, Jenny was the leader of the Authority in the old Wildstorm Universe. A team not bound to any of the governments of the world that acted as they saw fit. The Authority was Jenny, the Engineer (Angela Spica), Jack Hawksmoor, Swift (Shen Li-Min), the Doctor (Jeroen Thornedike) and Midnighter & Apollo. Swift and the Doctor are the same person in this version, so all Jenny is missing right now are Midnighter&Apollo, both of whom haven't appeared yet (but have appeared in current DC comics, so they might be off-limits for Ellis. An early interview said that they would be available in both universes, but waiting to see). Page 9-20: Lynch arrives at a home in the middle of nowhere, the area is abandoned and rocky. The house has a weird, hexagonal pillar sticking out of it, but looks pretty nice. Lynch draws his gun and goes inside. The building is dark and empty, but Gloria Spaulding, hanging upside down in the air inside the pillar, surprises Lynch. She tells him that the cameras she has, already detected him and advises him to put away his gun. John warns her like he has the others. Gloria is at least more friendly than Chang and Slayton. During their conversation, Gloria confirms that she has a child (driven by compulsion like the other Thunderbook subjects), but that she left it with her mother. Gloria steals things and she tells Lynch that she has a whole network of "interesting friends". Lynch asks if her implant ever talked to her and Gloria replied that it used to sing (implying that it no longer does so), the song took away her anxiety, but also her cares, leaving her like she is now. She asked about the other Thunderbook subjects, referring to them as the Thunderbook 12th Genetic Stage. Gloria informs Lynch that she knows about Slayton, his killings and that his implant "remembers where it came from". She tells Lynch to leave as the house around him start to fall apart, Lynch makes it outside and Gloria is flying up in the air, the pieces of her house following her up into the sky. In the original universe, Gloria never was a member of Team 7 (Team 7 didn't even have any female members apart from Christie Blaze (who may have been Zealot's daughter, but I don't think that was ever confirmed. Still Lucy Blaze/Christy Blaze? Both members of Team1/Team7? Quite a coincidence if not related.), who almost became a member but was blocked by Craven (70s/80s sexism at work). Christie later did become a member though when the team reunited. Anyway, back to Gloria. Gloria Spaulding was the daughter of a general and while on base, she had an affair with Team 7 member Alex Fairchild. Alex was married though and left her. 9 months later, Gloria gave birth to a daughter, Roxy. Roxy Spaulding became a member of Gen13, together with her half-sister Caitlin Fairchild. With Alex Fairchild being female in this version, that obviously is not going to happen (though... alien DNA, supertech... comics.. you never know.) Roxy had the power to control gravity, much like Gloria is displaying in this version. For that matter only Philip Chang has been displaying different powers from his Gen13 kid in the original universe. Thunderbook's full name "Thunderbook 12th Genetic Stage" obviously is a reference to Gen12, the original name for the experiment Team7 went through and their children became Gen13. (Out of universe, the title was supposed to be called GenX, but Marvel came out with Generation X at the same time, so it became Gen13, referring to Generation X being the 13th generation of Americans. Setting the new series in the present, that is not going to work as we're 2 generations further by now.) So Thunderbook as we have met them so far: Slayton and Chang are killers. Slayton obviously is insane, influenced by his implant. Chang was an assassin before Thunderbook, so the implanet may not be the cause of his murderous behaviour. Alexandra had violent moods, but realised this and kept herself isolated so she didn't hurt innocents. Gloria has no conscience, but she seems no longer under the influence of the implant, though she admits that she has killed before. Leaving Cole Cash (of the people we have met) and Cole... seems pretty normal, really. He is a killer, but only kills people when in combat. Outside combat he acts as a normal human being, is social and has shown to care about people. Maybe we'll get to see more of the side-effects Thunderbook had on him, or maybe the actual Kherans (Zealot in particular) counteracted the side-effects of the implants. In the original universe, Cash was going insane from his power, losing control of them till he met Zealot, who taught him how to lock his powers up, restoring his sanity. Something similar may have happened here. edit: Another thing I wanted to talk about: Cash doesn't seem to have the drive to procreate like the other members. In the original universe, Cash was (AFAIK) the only Team 7 member (at least of those who survived the experiment obviously) who didn't have any kids: Lynch had a son (Robert of Gen13), Cray had a daughter (Rachel of DV8), Alex as said had two daugters, Stephen Callahan had 3 kids (Nicole and Matthew with his wife, Sarah Rainmaker outside his marriage), Chang had two sons (I only know Grunge of Gen13, but as said before the internet keeps telling me Absolom, a character I can't even remember, is also his child) and Slayton had twins (Aries and Jodi). There was a difference though between Cash and the other members: Cash was significantly younger than the rest of Team7, forced to join the army as a teenager to avoid jail and his romantic partner through most of his adulthood was Zealot (though Kherans and humans could procreate in the original universe: the basis the whole Wildcats team was based upon.)
Page 21-22: Angela asks Cole to teach her about guns. Cole explains how bullets work to her and Angela creates a bullet from her hand. Cole is impressed, he didn't know she could that. Angela admits that she couldn't until two days ago. She then asks him to take a gun apart so that she can scan it, forming a gun in her hand.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 18, 2018 13:05:28 GMT -5
I haven't been doing much with Michael Cray in this thread, because most of it hasn't really tied into the greater Wildstorm Universe (and it hasn't been very good so far), but the latest issue (Michael Cray #10), does have one important development: Michael goes into his head and talks to the source of his powers. Those manifest in front of him and take the shape of a Kheran alien.
So is Cray another Project Thunderbook subject? I'll have to reread the series but from talks with other characters, I got the impression that Cray joined IO after Lynch already left. Craven doesn't seem to know anything about Thunderbook, Lynch kept all that information close to himself and neither Cray nor Craven seemed to know that Marlowe was not human. So did he get infected when at Halo? There are multiple Kherans walking around there, but Marlowe seemed as suprised at Cray's powers as Cray himself was (and wouldn't Halo be able to detect Kheran DNA better than any type of alien DNA?) A lot of questions which hopefully will be answered next issue.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 15, 2018 12:26:57 GMT -5
40 pages plus credit page, title page (not cover) and 2 pages of annotations. The price is high though ($5.99 an issue, but worth it to me).
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