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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 15, 2018 11:20:01 GMT -5
Issue 1, 2nd half
Page 21: Christopher and Katherine Summers are teleported on board the Shi'ar ship. Katherine is almost immediately killed for resisting, Christopher is beaten down and taken to a mine. A large lizard creature named Ch'od is hanging from the ceiling, tied up. Christopher takes the opportunity to kill his guard and release Ch'od. Observations: Again mostly what we already knew. Katherine in the comics was killed after Christopher's first escape attempt. Christopher is doing really well unarmed against several Shi'ar soldiers, who I thought were stronger than regular humans. No Raza Longknife or Mam'selle Hepzibah in the mines, it's just Christopher and Ch'od. No Emperor D'Ken either so far (at least not named), but the Shi'ar on the ship that kills Katherine looks like D'Ken (then again why would the Emperor be on a small scouting vessel?). The guard Christopher kills is a purple alien of the same species as Hobgobling of the Imperial Guard, the counterpart to Chameleon Boy of the Legion of Superheroes.
Page 22: Alex and Scott have survived the crash, but Scott is in a coma. Alex is adopted by a loving family, but Scott remains I hospital. As he wakes a year later, ruby-red beams come from his eyes and demolish the hospital. Through Cerebro, Xavier sees this and looks worried. Observations: Again no big differences to note here.
Page 23: Xavier appears to Jean Grey in the astral plane and convinces her to come back to the physical world with him and that Annie won't be returning. In the real world, Jean wakes up to her grateful parents. Observations: Also nothing new as far as I know.
Page 24-25: The destruction of the hospital has also wiped Scott's memory of the event, he returns to high school, wearing the ruby-red glasses we all know. His classmate Trevor thinks the glasses look dumb and take them from him. Scott's tried to get them back when another beam shoots from his eyes. His classmates run away in panic and Scott flees the school. On the news bulletin though, Scott is listed as missing and a very much alive Trevor tells a reporter that Scott just freaked out and ran away. Xavier wonders who planted the false memories in Scott's mind (as we see a silhouette of Mister Sinister). In the wilderness, Scott is found by two criminals, both mutants. Jack O'Diamonds and his unnamed mutant partner. They want to get rid of Scott as an unwanted witness till Scott shoots a beam at them. Jack decides Scott is useful and uses him to break into a laboratory. Observations: The first page here was surprising as far as I knew, Scott never killed anybody when his powers first went haywire, but Sinister's involvement explains a lot. Sinister's presence here was a retcon introduced in X-Factor (and in Classic X-Men backup stories). Jack O'Diamonds was a part of classic comics' Scott origin, but his unnamed mutant partner is not. The unnamed mutant is looking more like a demon or beast than a regular human with long arms and legs, red skin, antenna and an inhuman face. Jack's powers in the 60s were a result of exposure to radiation, so he may have been not a true mutant. He also had some minor powers like teleportation and telepathy that he does not portray here.
Page 26: Using the technology in the lab, Jack wants to increase his powers, turning his whole body into diamond instead of just his hands. This scene is more like a horror story though as he can tell that the procedure is going wrong, but something is preventing him from calling out to Scott to stop the machine. Xavier appears and convinces Scott to go with him. A scan of Scott's memory reveals Sinister's appearance, but that's all. Observations: Some differences here: Xavier preventing Jack from crying out for help is one of the things I do not like. It's basically murder and Xavier has worked hard at being better than that. In the originals, the procedure worked and Xavier and Scott had to work together to defeat the more powerful Jack. Also Xavier's wheelchair here, strongly resembles the yellow hoverchair he would get years later when he returned from Shi'ar space. It's not a hover-chair though, it seems to have hidden caterpillar tracks. As said Sinister's appearance here was a retcon introduced during the 80s.
Page 27: My favourite page of the first issue. In Argentina, a large vault is guarded by Nazi supersoldier Master Man. He's approached by somebody, but we can't see who as the panel is presented from the point of view of the visitor. We can tell who it is though, as his vision has a specific shape formed by the eye-holes in his helmet. In the vault the Nazi's who have fled to Argentina have hidden all their riches and loot. Magneto tears the cybernetic Master Man apart with his powers and takes the Nazi gold for himself to fund his own crusade. Observations: In the original comics, Magnus managed to steal the Nazi gold from HYDRA and Baron von Strucker in Israel. As that subplot for Gaby Haller was taken out of this story, this scene was put in to explain where Magneto's wealth came from and it works really well for me. The setup (the whole scene is seen through Magneto's helmet) kinda reminds me of both Magneto's actions as a Nazi-hunter in the X-Men: First Class movie and his actions against the cybernetic Nazi Geist in Wolverine's solo-series.
Page 28-29: Robert Drake is bullied at school, but for the first time he fights back. His bully loses an arm due to frostbite and happens to be the son of the local sheriff. The sheriff leaves him alone in his cell and urges Robert to hang himself. When the sheriff leaves, a whole is blasted in the wall of the cell and Cyclops, in X-Men costume, enters. Bobby attacks him and instinctively covers himself with ice. Xavier appears with Robert's parents to calm him down. As they leave, everybody in the police station is frozen in place by Xavier's powers. Observations: Another origin with little changes. The injury to Robert's bully is more serious, but the rest goes pretty much as I remembered it.
Page 30: In a Carpathian village, the villagers try to burn Wanda Maximoff alive as a witch. She is saved by her brother Pietro, but it's a trap and all escapes are blocked. The twins are saved by Magneto, in full costume, who lifts them to safety and kills their attackers. Observations: Again no real changes.
Page 31: Warren Worthington III arrives home and goes to his room to take off the leather straps that keep his wings hidden. When at boarding school a fire breaks out and Warren saves a boy from his room. The boy turns out to be Cameron Hodge who develops an obsession with the winged mutant. Unbeknownst to Warren, Hodge is part of the anti-mutant group the Right. Other members include Boliver Trask, his son Larry, Stephen Lang, Donald Pierce and Robert Kelly (a mayor at this point, not a senator). Observations: Tying all anti-mutant villains together (well most of them, William Stryker is the one I'm missing the most here) is a big change. I'd like it, but not for all the characters shown here. I like the original Bolivar Trask as a man who is just misguided in the end and realises this as he actually meets the mutants he so feared. I also like Robert Kelly as a man on the fence, not a friend to mutants, but not yet involved with an extremist organisation as the Right.
Page 32: Superheroes are slowly returning to the world after being absent since basically WWII. We see Spider-Man swinging above the Flatiron Building. Warren joins the ranks of superheroes as the Avenging Angel. He is assisted by Hodge who raids his father's R&D facility for the gas-gun that the Avenging Angel uses against his foes. The gas is untested though and people exposed to it, develop damage to their lungs. Shamed, Warren quits and is convinced by Xavier to join his school. Hodge reports to the Right that he lost contact with “the mutant” he was monitoring. Observations: Hodge's involvement with the Avenging Angel's career is new. In the original comics, Warren developed the knockout-gas himself and it had no ill side-effects. Probably because Warren is never portrayed again as a very gifted chemical engineer, this part was changed.
Page 33: Scott, Robert and Warren are bonding. Robert Kelly, by now a senator, does not have the votes to introduce a mutant registration bill, but does sneak through a bill that gives funding to the Right to develop anti-mutant weapons to “defend humanity”. Bolivar Trak starts to develop the Sentinels, using mutant DNA on ice to devise a way to detect mutants. Xavier is training Jean in secret in the use of her telekinetic and telepathic powers. Observations: The Kelly bill is new, but it explains where Trask got his funding to develop the Sentinels in this version.
Page 34: Hank McCoy is very succesful at school, high marks in the classrooms and a star on the football field. This ends when Hank uses his powers to stop two masked robbers from escaping during a televised football game. When Xavier goes to the McCoy house, he and his students find out that somebody already recruited young Hank. Observations: Nothing to note here except the two masked robbers. One wears a Captain America mask, the other a Spider-Man mask.
Page 35-37: Hank is taken by the Conquistador and his sidekick the Toad. Threatening his parents, the Conquistador sends Hank to steal a device, which turns out to be part of an atomic bomb. He wants to kill Hank and his parents, leaving no witnesses, but the X-Men arrive. The Conquistador has some human henchmen as well, but the X-Men quickly defeat them. The Conquistador himself and the Toad turn out to be a greater threat, but Xavier sends support: Jean Grey enters the building as Marvel Girl and uses her telepathy to wipe the minds of the X-Men's opponents. Observations: I can't really recall the Conquistador's story with Beast, but his henchman was named Chico, a different character from the Toad. In the original comics Beast nearly took out the Conquistador and all his men by himself and the X-Men were the cavalry instead of Jean. Jean's first meeting with the X-Men in the classic comics was during a training session and she didn't show her telepathic abilities to them for a long time (her having any telepathic powers at all was in fact a retcon), using only her telekinesis.
Page 38: Toad escaped Jean's attack and is recruited by Magneto. Xavier tells his students about threats like Amahl Farouk and the X-Men start training in the Danger Room. Observations: Like said, Toad meeting the X-Men before him being part of the Brotherhood is new. For the rest no big changes.
Page 39: The X-Men spend time creating good will: helping both mutants and humans. Xavier tells Moira that he will be limiting Jean's powers as she had brainwiped the Conquistador and all his men. Moira is not happy with this. On Muir Island, young David Haller and Jamie Madrox are playing together. David felt the presence of his father, but Moira denies this. Observations: Moira and Charles getting in touch again is not addressed. Xavier willingly limiting Jean's powers is not from the original comics, but it has appeared in both the movies and in the Ultimate X-Men version. Madrox and Legion staying at Muir Island is nothing new. The mutants the X-Men bring food to with Thanksgiving are two Morlocks. Callisto is recognisable, the other one could be Caliban or Sunder if either were blue-skinned in this version.
Page 40: The X-Men can hide their abilities from the public, others are not so lucky: we see the Blob working at a circus freak show and Unus the Untouchable as a wrestler (but basically also a freak show exhibit). A photo of Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is taken and published. Xavier knows that a confrontation with Magneto is inevitable, but his X-Men need more training first. Meanwhile in outer space, the Phoenix Force is slowly approaching Earth. Observations: The photo of the Brotherhood is taken by a young photographer named Parker. He hopes his boss, mr. Jameson, will reimburse him for the camera Magneto destroyed during the attempt. Magneto's Brotherhood has an extra member not in the original comics. (No, it's not Astra. It's Mesmero as seen on the title page of this issue.)
Overall thoughts about issue 1: As said I like most changes to this issue, linking Namor's attack on New York more closely to mutant hatred is a change that makes a lot of sense. Linking all the various alien races interested in Earth and mutants to their search for the new Phoenix host also works so far. Linking all anti-mutant villains to the Right works a little less; the ties with Robert Kelly and Bolivar Trask I don't have a problem with, but I wanted those two to not directly be members of the Right, but more useful allies to them.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 14, 2018 13:51:24 GMT -5
Note the issues themselves also have annotations in the back, listed as "Additional Reading" so I'll refer to those as well.
Issue #1
Credits: Unlike the Wildstorm thread, credits will be a lot easier here: Art, text, colouring, inking; it's all Ed Piskor. Editors and management are credited as well as a credit to Lee&Kirby. In the back of the issue, credits are given to a lot more writers, artists, editors, inkers and so on. Though I think more artists and writers deserve a nod here. Bill Everett should have received a nod for his creations for instance even if he was not on the X-Men title itself. This issue uses both Namor and the Fin.
The Cover: Every cover will be following the same pattern: a main character focused in the center shown half in one time period/half in another period with team shots in the background fitting with each time period. The first issue has Cyclops, half in his pre-superhero days, half in his costume in X-Men #1. The teenage school-going Cyclops has Hank McCoy, Warren Worthington, Jean Grey and Bobby Drake in the background, all dressed in regular clothes . Noticeable is that Bobby wears a T-shirt with Spider-man's mask on it. Don't ask me how that timeline is supposed to go. Early X-Men Cyclops has Jean Grey (in original X-Men costume) and Charles Xavier in the background (and we see a wing of Angel). Noticeable is here, that Xavier is not in a regular wheelchair like in those days, but is in what appears to be the yellow hoverchair he would have much later, after he met the Shi'ar.
Title/credits page: Around the title, we see images of various X-Men characters. Xavier's head with the 5 original X-Men of course, Magneto with his brotherhood (including Mesmero, who wasn't a member in the original comics), The Mutant Master, a Sentinel, Banshee, the Blob, Juggernaut and the Vanisher.
Page 1: Observing the Earth from a rocky plateau floating in space, the Watcher tells the Recorder that he finally has had enough time to reflect on all matters to tell him this story. (The annotation in the back lists the Watcher and the Recorder's first appearances, so I won't). Observations: The Recorder comments that Eternity has been worried about the Watcher's productivity (as far as I know Eternity has had little contact or interest in the Watcher's observations or with Recorder). Another detail: the Watcher is standing on a small rocky plateau floating in space, not on the Moon, his usual habitat. A sign that the moon itself has been destroyed by now?
Page 2: Some short scenes detailing the history of mutants pre-WWII: treated as freaks on stage, burned as witches or just shunned by humans. Some work hard to please humans to gain acceptance but receive little to no gratitude in return. Mutant prejudice is greatly increase by Namor the Sub-Mariner flooding New York City in his battle with the original Human Torch. Observations: We quickly go through mutant's early history to basically point to Namor as the first major cause of mutant/human prejudice, though tensions have been high before. The Watcher does not mention any of the other early mutants like Selene or Apocalypse. The catastrophe caused by Namor is also treated as far greater than it had been in the comics before, but a giant flood of a major city probably would cause that much destruction. Even though Namor was established as a mutant in the early Lee/Kirby comics, his actions usually were never linked to mutantkind as a whole. The blame mostly went to the Atlanteans as a group and Namor in particular, but in this he's the match that lit the fire.
Page 3: A group of Golden Age Heroes, led by the original Angel, ask amphibic superhero The Fin to find Namor for him, but he only finds random stray Atlanteans. The water left behind by Namor's attack has kept New York submerged for over 50 days. A situation only solved by two scientists: Brian and Sharon Xavier. Their brilliance is rewarded by Stark Industries who buy their invention and employ the couple. The two are quickly put to work on the atom-bomb project, not realising the effect it will have on their child. A child that speaks to his mother from within the womb in her dreams. Observations: The Golden Age heroes are identified in the anotations within the book itself. As is Brian Xavier's involvement with atomic testing and Charles already possessing his powers pre-birth. The last one is only mentioned in Morrison's X-Men though, a title which falls outside of the issues usually referenced within this title. No mention of Cassandra Nova though. I don't think Xavier's fortune was ever truly explained before, it usually was just referred to as the family fortune, but it was always unclear why a nuclear scientist would have a house the size of the Xavier mansion and all that money. Later X-Men runs have established that Xavier had sponsors that agreed with his ideals, but as far as I know, those all started to fund him once the X-Men were already established. Having their invention be the key part to cleaning up New York from a major disaster and then funded by Howard Stark, is a solution I like. I also like having Sharon Xavier be more than just a wife and a mother, but involved with Brian's work herself (especially as in this story Charles was conceived before Brian started working on the nuclear program). Also the Atlantean the Fin bring to the surface is neither Namor nor a regular blue-skinned Atlantean. Instead it's a half fish/half human, possible not even an Atlantean, but a poor mutant that survived Namor's attack due to his own powers.
Page 4: Logan and Captain America are on a secret mission in Germany. Logan sees a group of Nazi soldiers beating up a young man and wants to interfere, but Captain America stops him, not wanting to blow their cover. Before they can do anything though, Cap's shield flies through the air and knocks all the soldiers out. Logan wonders why Cap changed his mind, but he is as confused as Logan is. The white-haired man has disappeared. Observations: It has been established before that Logan and Cap met before during WWII, both were active on secret missions. I don't have to explain who the white-haired man is, I assume. (If I do, you are probably on the wrong boards). The scene does introduce some minor timeline .. well, not errors, but it makes things complicated: Magnus obviously evades capture here, but a bit later in the story he is captured and starts to practice his powers so he can escape. With Cap and Logan on the ground in Germany and Magnus still free would place this part of the story around 1941, years before the Normandy invasion. Still, those things can be easily explained. Cap does see Logan pop his bone claws here, another bit of information that is outside the issues used as a reference for this mini-series and something I don't think Cap knew in the regular comics. The annotations in the back note that Captain America and Logan meeting Magnus during WWII is not from the comics, but taken from the X-Men animated series.
Page 5: Back to young Charles: a nuclear accident costs Brian Xavier his life. Young Charles misses his father, but is a quiet boy, he does not protest as his mother invites Brian's colleague Kurt Marko to move in with them. During his first meeting with his new stepbrother, Cain Marko, young Charles reads his mind and discovers that Cain is a very violent young boy with all his thoughts are of killing young Charles. Observations: Some small changes to established comics here: young Charles is bald; Charles Xavier did go bald at a young age, but not until he hit puberty. Kurt Marko in the comics was involved in the accident that killed Brian Xavier (he claims it was an accident, Cain thinks it was deliberate) and was an abusive father to Cain and an abusive husband to Sharon. Charles reads his mind here and Kurt is a hard man, but honest who believes that a mother's influence can change Cain for the better. Cain seems to be naturally violent, while other comics hinted that Cain's enmity for Charles came from his father abusing him, but never young Charles. Small changes, I can understand leaving out the Brian Xavier death/potential murder subplot, it would not add much to this story, but I think Kurt Marko being an abusive father and husband worked better in motivating both Charles and Cain on the future paths.
Page 6: Magnus has fled from the soldiers that tried to kill him, but is captured as he's hit with the wooden stock of a rifle. He starts to practice using his powers, stealing small screws and bolts from the factory he's forced to work. Using his powers, he uses them to kill one of the guards and escapes with another prisoner, a young woman named Magda. (Unrelated note: I wrote Martha here the first time. I blame DC movies.) Observations: Nothing really, this is pretty much what was established before. I didn't note notable changes here.
Page 7: Charles, by now a young man, is becoming overwhelmed by his powers and stays home to educate himself. Cain and his criminal friends try to break into a safe in the X-mansion. Unable to crack the lock, Cain goes into the nearby laboratory to create “liquid adamantium” that will break the lock. He fails and causes a fire. Charles escapes the mansion through the smoke, trying to wake his mother telepathically, but his mother does not make it. Observations: Again pretty much what was established before. I don't think Sharon's cause of death was ever established before, but tying it into the fire at the mansion works. The most interesting changed detail here to me, is Cain knowing about adamantium and thinking he can recreate it. Cain never came across as somebody with any type of schooling and creating adamantium probably would be quite a feat. Obviously he failed here (in a disastrous way), but still... Minor detail: No mention of Kurt Marko's fate here. In the original story it is he, who dies in the fire/explosion at the X-mansion, protecting Charles from Cain's wrath.
Page 8-9: Charles feels the urge to kill Cain for the death of his mother and immediately starts to travel the world, to rid himself of these dark feelings and to control his powers. In Egypt he hears tales of another like him. A young Storm steals his wallet and he follows her to find out that she is being controlled by the man he was looking for; Amahl Farouk (both his and Storm's name are not mentioned in the issue by the way). Xavier and Farouk have a mind duel. Farouk is confident and toys around with Xavier, but as Xavier fights back, we see fear on his face, the moment before he dies. Observations: Again not many great changes. Xavier wanting to improve himself because he feels hatred for Cain is new, but works for me. Young Storm has a mohawk like she would later have (edit: rberman suggests that this may be a nod to young Storm as played by Alexandra Shipp in the X-Men movies, who also has the mohawk.) A minor detail. In the original stories Farouk and Xavier had their meeting within a bar, here the meeting is out in the open with Farouk standing on a balcony and Xavier on the street below.
Page 10-11: Magnus and Magda have built a life and have a young daughter, Anya. He works on nearby farms, but is used and cheated by the farmers. Having had enough, he threatens a farmer who refuses to pay his full wages, Magnus uses his powers to threaten the man. He is seen by others and they beat him up, thinking he's a warlock. When he manages to get up, he runs to his house, finding it on fire. The farmers grab him, trying to kill him, but something inside him snaps and his full power is revealed. Magneto is born and kills the farmers by controlling the iron (and therefore oxygen) in their blood. Observations: Again not much to say, in many ways Magneto's origins are so well established that there is little need for alteration (yes, I'm talking to you, X-Men: Apocalypse movie.) Magnus does not know here that Magda survived, a plotpoint that kinda changes quite a bit over the years. Some have it Magneto being unaware of his wife's survival, others have it Magda fleeing in fear of his powers.
Page 12: After Egypt, Xavier returns to the US and is immediately drafted into the Army. He ends up in the same unit as his stepbrother. They end up in cave, looking for enemy caches of weapons and find a demonic statue with a large red stone. Cain grabs the stone against Charles' advice. This unleashes a wave of energy and the cave collapses. Observations: At first sight no great changes here: the exact war they are fighting in is not named (it's obviously after WWII, but long after it, so the Korean War would make the most sense). A big change though is that in this version, Xavier is injured in the collapse, ending up in the wheelchair. Another change I actually like (for this story), it takes out the story with Lucifer, but Lucifer has never been that important to the ongoing X-Men story (he actually will show up in a later issue. More on the changes when we get to him). (Oh and a small change I forgot: in the original story, Cain's presence in the cave was actually Cain deserting after hearing stories about the fabled Ruby of Cyttorak. Here the cave is just a spot they find and check out as part of their mission).
Page 13: Permanently injured, Xavier is dismissed from the army. He returns to the states and starts to research mutants and goes to pro-mutant rallies (though hiding his own mutant powers). On one such rally, Charles meets Moira MacTaggert. The two become a couple and together they build Cerebro. Observations: Small changes in the timeline, but nothing major I think. Moira met Charles when they both went to college in the originals. I don't think Moira was around when he build Cerebro in most other versions.
Page 14:Xavier throws himself into his research. Moira tells him that he is using Cerebro too much and fears it has side-effects. Ignoring her, Charles finds his most powerful mutant so far: Magneto. When he takes of Cerebro's helmet, Moira is gone back to Scotland, leaving a letter behind. Observations: If I remember correctly, Moira left Xavier during his tour of duty in Korea/Vietnam/Afghanistan/sliding timescale war of the period. A lot of the notes hit here, merge Moira with another of Xavier's lovers, Amelia Voght. Amelia is a much later creation though, she ws a nurse who took care of Xavier after his injury during the fight with Lucifer. A mutant herself, she disagreed with Xavier's plans to lead a group of mutants and establish peaceful relations with humanity, instead thinking it wiser to stay hidden. She left Xavier after he recruited Cyclops and in a moment of weakness tried to use his telepathy to change her mind (he stopped himself in time, but she still felt betrayed that he even tried). Another minor point I noticed: Xavier's vision is of Magneto in full costume, but as far as I know, Magneto did not have his costume yet. Perhaps he already envisioned himself as Magneto.
Page 15: In search of Magnus, Xavier travels to Israel. Magnus is working as an orderly in a mental hospital, Xavier introduces himself as a psychiatrist. He helps a young concentration camp survivor named Gabriella Haller by banishing her mental demons. He then telepathically contacts Magnus. Observations: Gabriella Haller looks a little different, but no major changes here. In the original comics Xavier finds out that Baron von Strucker and HYDRA are interested in Gabriella and her memories, this subplot is left here. Magneto will get his cache of Nazi Gold somewhere else.
Page 16: Xavier and Magnus discuss their philosophical differences over a game of chess. Observations: Made famous in the movie, this is a scene we've seen before time and time again. Xavier and Magnus discussing while playing chess. This page is actually the page that made me want to write these synopsis, because pedantic as I am, I noticed a difference between text and art. The page is set so that we have 4 rows of 3 panels each. Each row has a panel with Xavier, a close-up of the chessboard and a panel of Magnus. Xavier pleads for coexistence, Magnus pleads for domination. In the end they have a stalemate. The thing I noticed is that on the board: it's not a stalemate. Xavier's move in the second row cost him his Queen, in the final panel Xavier checks Magnus, but it's an empty attack, Magnus can easily take Xavier's last Rook, leaving Magnus with a Knight, Rook, Queen and 4 Pawns. Xavier just has 4 Pawns left, all of which are locked in place. (If Xavier had made a different movie in panel 2 (moving his Queen diagonally), his Queen would not have been taken and we would have had a more even final. This was your pedantic moment of the day.
Page 17: Xavier breaks up with Gaby Haller, he fears that he may have influenced her while he was inside her mind. Gaby is angry and feels that she is her own person who makes her own decisions, but Xavier is not convinced and leaves her. A short time later, Gaby finds out that she is pregnant. Observations: In the original, Xavier would land in the wheelchair later in his life, his injuries here apparently are not complete lower body paralysis like in the original comics. Gaby and Xavier's relationship has always been problematic; a doctor dating his own patient and in the original comics Xavier himself has expressed guilt and doubts over it (though his doubt had taken the form of Magnus in his mind in that story). Legion Quest, another later story, had Gaby breaking up the relationship, triggered by visions caused by Legion, their son. Another story that falls outside the scope of Piskor's project.
Page 18: While playing outside, Jean Grey's friend, Annie, is hit by a car. Jean telepathically connects to the dying girl, trying to keep her from dying, but fails. Through Cerebro Charles notes the young mutant's emergence. Observations: No differences here; Jean's origin story is pretty straightforward and there is no real reason to change things or streamline them.
Page 19: The Watcher appears again as our narrator: noting that Xavier is not the only one who notices Jean Grey's power. In deep space, the Phoenix Force feels the young mutant and changes course for Earth. The Phoenix is tracked by various aliens who note her new course: we see Skrulls, the Stranger, a Kree soldier (possibly Mar-Vell, but it can be any pink-skinned Kree in a Captain's uniform), the Mutant Master and the Shi'ar. The Shi'ar are the first to map the new traject and set course for Earth. Observations: The timeline is once again going a bit iffy here: how fast is the Phoenix, cause most if not all of these aliens are going to arrive on Earth before their target is. This is also a major change in continuity: we finally have reasons why the Stranger and Mutant Master are so interested in humanity and mutants or why the Shi'ar had a scout ship near Earth. It's a change that overall works for me though, as the point of this series is to tell the story of the X-Men in a streamlined way.
Page 20: Christopher Summers, his wife Katherine and their sons Scott and Alex are in a small plane when they are attacked by the Shi'ar vessel. Katherine pushes her sons out of the plane with a single parachute that catches fire during the explosion of the plane. Observations: No changes here, a tiny continuity thing though: the boys are playing a game where they try to see shapes in clouds. One of the boys says that a cloud is looking like Galactus, but unless the timeline has significantly changed, Galactus would not have appeared on Earth yet.
Halfway through issue 1: this is a lot more work than I was hoping it would be, but I am enjoying myself. Do not take my comments as disliking this issue, I'm really enjoying this series including all its minor changes and references. I'll continue issue 1 next time (probably this weekend, but maybe I'll have time before then). Less boring chess comments next time, but my favourite page of the issue instead.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 13, 2018 12:24:40 GMT -5
So basically the same thing I've been doing for the Wildstorm thread, but as a reference heavy piece of work, this one can go a bit more in-depth.
For those who haven't been reading it, X-Men Grand Design is a six-issue mini-series where Hip Hop Family Tree's Ed Piskor has the Watcher tell the story of the mutant heroes to the Recorder in chronological order, following the X-Men from the earliest days through the Lee/Kirby years, the Thomas/Friedrich/Drake run and all the way through Claremont's first run, it's planned ending is around the Claremont/Lee X-Men #1 with another issue wrapping up the story of mutant-kind with Days of Future Past. It heavily references the original comics, but it also incorporates some of the retcons introduced by Claremont and it changes some details and events as well in order to get a more streamlined story.
We're 3 issues in (or 1 trade and 1 issue depending on your preferred medium) and rereading the first two issues, there were some things I noticed and wanted to talk about. Feel free to leave comments/corrections and everything else once I get started.
Basically what I will try to address is: "Where did this scene come from. What has changed/what is still the same. How do I feel about this change." with occasional observations which will range from the blindingly obvious to the less blindingly obvious.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 11, 2018 1:40:19 GMT -5
- DC: Wildstorm and Deathstroke are my main series over here. Exit... Stage left was good. I'm still getting Michael Cray to support more Wildstorm titles, but honestly, I think it's terrible. Was enjoying Doom Patrol, but didn't like Milk Wars. I wanted to like Wildstorm, but it's really generic and soulless feeling. Had to believe the same Warren Ellis behind Transmetropolitan and Moon Knight wrote this Cave Carson started out fairly interestingly, but I kind of stopped reading it a while ago. Young Animal really just wasn't living up to my expectations, Bug! was good though. More invested in the "New Age Of Heroes" line, but seems like it's slowly turning into "quantity over quality" - Image: Mage: The Hero Denied is finally being published. Inking has been weird the last few issues though. Descender's wrapped up, but it's definitely not an end, just the middle of the story, eagerly awaiting Ascender. Gave Prism Stalker a chance, but lost interest pretty quick. Paradiso is a title I did like. Maestros is another one. Same here on Prism Stalker. It seems like every Image title that I actually have a passing interest in either doesn't do well or is only a mini-series. Kind of leaves a sour taste in your mouth with the only titles that do catch on are cookie cutters of other Image books. It's funny for me to think of Image as the least diverse publisher in the industry as far as genre goes, but it's sadly true Top Cow does have a few interesting things going for it like Bone Head and the recent Cyberforce reboot, but that's about it
I completely realize that Wildstorm is a comic book made for me and me alone. It just checks all the boxes I like.
There is still a lot of Image titles I like right now and they are still far removed from least diverse (compared to Marvel and DC who are both basically SUPERHEROES and some other stuff). A lot of it is sci-fi or fantasy or horror, but there are still other titles around. For instance, I find it really funny that Top Cow seems to be going hard into Romance/Slice of Life comics (Swing, Sugar, Sunstone, Bloodstain) right now (well that and hard sci-fi). Seeing how they started out superhero/urban fantasy.
I still have to check out new Cyberforce, I remember actually quite liking the previous Cyberforce they released (got it through Humble Bundle), even with never reading Cyberforce ever before.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 10, 2018 12:30:31 GMT -5
Bit late to this party, but my opinions:
- Marvel: I'm enjoying X-Men Red and some of the smaller X-series (Multiple Man and New Mutants for instance.). Like half the cast in Exiles, but the pacing is off. Enjoyed Cates Dr. Strange, but strongly dislike Waid's version. Kinda disappointed with Black Panther's new direction, because I was really enjoying Coates world-building before. Loving X-Men: Grand Design (really hoping that Scioli Fantastic Four thing will pan out.)
- DC: Wildstorm and Deathstroke are my main series over here. Exit... Stage left was good. I'm still getting Michael Cray to support more Wildstorm titles, but honestly, I think it's terrible. Was enjoying Doom Patrol, but didn't like Milk Wars.
- Image: Mage: The Hero Denied is finally being published. Inking has been weird the last few issues though. Descender's wrapped up, but it's definitely not an end, just the middle of the story, eagerly awaiting Ascender. Gave Prism Stalker a chance, but lost interest pretty quick. Paradiso is a title I did like. Maestros is another one.
- Dark Horse: Waiting for a collection of Blackwood, the new Evan Dorkin thing. Empowered was fun as usual.
Overall my American pull list is getting pretty short.
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 10, 2018 11:20:22 GMT -5
So I have recently and very pleasantly unexpectedly come into a PS4 Pro for free, so I have taken a huge interest in this game. It looks amazing, and I am intrigued by the premise and the tech. That said... The first PS4 game I got is God of War, and let me just say...I had read that it was good. I heard it was good. I saw the hype. Oh, man. It is. SO. GOOD. It's immersive, the acting is great, the graphics are beautiful, and the story is very good. It's just top-notch. I wish I had a 4K HDR TV so I could really take advantage of it as I hear that is absolutely stunning. I highly recommend it to anyone with a PS4. I never played any of the previous entries in the series. Will I be lost? This is all you need to know about the previous 3 games:
{Spoiler: Click to show} - Kratos is a spartan who gave himself to Ares in return for power. - While under the influence of that power, he killed his wife and daughter. - Kratos then swears revenge against Ares, overthrows him and becomes the new God of War. - Kratos turns out to be a son of Zeus, who betrays him and after a long battle, Kratos kills his own father. - Athena, Kratos ally for a long time, finally betrays him and Kratos commits suicide to prevent her from gaining his power. (A post-credit seen shows that he survived and disappears).
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Post by Dizzy D on Aug 3, 2018 2:24:25 GMT -5
*Looks at Legion*
Maybe some of them, but not all.
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Post by Dizzy D on Jul 22, 2018 10:35:35 GMT -5
So, DC not sending mixed messages here with two Titans-related media that couldn't be more different? I kinda thought they were figuring things out after seeing the Captain Marvel trailer.
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Post by Dizzy D on Jul 22, 2018 8:59:19 GMT -5
A couple of books this time: another issue of Detectives, the third and final part of Cognac and Lemuria: Citadel.
Detectives #2: Apparently this is a spin-off of a series I haven't read, "7 Detectives". Issue 2 is called "Richard Monroe - Who Killed the Fantastic Mister Leeds?". Issue 1 was a reminiscent of an Agatha Christie mystery, this is more a crime noir a la Raymond Chandler. Richard Monroe is a detective, hired as a bodyguard to a movie starlet. The story is told mostly in flashbacks as Monroe is interrogated by the police about the events leading to him falling through the window of the 37rd floor of an hotel. The story is set shortly before WWII and Nazi spies and German refugees are a big part of it. I like the art style a little less than part 1, but it's still decent. It's not the kind of detective where you will be working out the mystery for yourself, as Monroe keeps some information to himself during the interrogation. Overall a decent title if you are interested in reading a standalone detective story in comics form.
Cognac #3: I liked the first issue a lot, but three issues were too much for this short series in my opinion. By the third part, protagonist has figured out who the killlers are and most of it is the villains bungling around in a desperate attempt to save something. The sidestory about the protagonist doing interviews with famous Cognac Brands about the history of Cognac is nearly forgotten. Disappointing after a decent start.
Lemuria: Citadel #1; Lemuria is/was a love letter to Don Lawrence, combining elements of his Storm and Trigan Empire series to create a series about a highly advanced prehistoric society on Earth in an art style that is almost directly copied of Lawrence. Like the Trigan Empire had the story framework of all the books being history books discovered by 20th century human scientists in a crashed spaceship, in Lemuria the backstory is 21st century human explorers finding an underground base of ancient Lemuria. In Trigan Empire this story framework is only used for a small intro, Lemuria they decided to turn it into a spin-off series (a spin-off series after 3 issues of the main series came out... and as far as I know, the main series isn't a great success). All current political powers are immediately trying to get control over the Lemurian caches of technology, turning it into a game of spies and assassins. Frankly, I thought this issue was terrible; the artwork is lifeless, none of the characters are memorabble and the story is by the numbers. A spin-off of a series that was doing nothing new itself and doesn't have the art the original had. Go read Storm if you want something good, go read Trigan Empire if you like to look at pretty pictures. Go read Lemuria proper if you are feeling nostalgic for the first 2 series and really want something more in that artstyle.
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Post by Dizzy D on Jul 22, 2018 4:37:27 GMT -5
Another month, another issue and a few callbacks this time as well. The Wildstorm #15 by Warren Ellis (writer) and Jon Davis-Hunt (artist), Steve Buccellato and John Kalisz (Colourists) and Simon Bowland (letterer). The Cover: Marc Slayton opening his mouth with a Kheran alien with tentacles coming out of it. None of this happens in the comic, so it's more symbolic of Slayton being controlled by the alien genes implanted in him. Page 1: Bendix wants revenge on Craven, due to their surveillance Skywatch now know where I.O.s Hightower facility is, so Bendix wants to drop a "Little Stick" on it as a warning. (The Little Stick is a simple diamond rod, about a foot long, that is dropped from orbit and builds up energy as it drops, hitting with the force of a nuke without the radiation.) Bendix tells Lauren to talk to Sideways Bob. Sideways Bob is one of Ellis' creations for the series DV8, a sort of janitor/mercenary for I.O., who is insane, but loyal. In the old universe, Bob had a mannequin head he talked to, according to Lauren, he put lipstick on an empty spacesuit in the version. We don't get to see him, but he seems to be pretty much the same person, only Skywatch attached instead of I.O. Page 2-5: Jack Hawksmoor has a flashback on the operations that turned him into a superhuman, the Doctor sees his memories. Her pill did work to clean up Jack's mind and he is far more lucid. He tells Jenny and Shen that he is the result of Skywatch experiments to create human slaves who can survive on Earth after it has been turned into a wasteland of ruins and that he's not the only one. In the original Jack was transformed by aliens (though a mini-series later claimed that he was changed by humans from the far future in preparation for an event). Page 6-7: A Little Stick is dropped on Hightower. Aiming such a weapon would be nearly impossible, I think, but we can chalk that up to Skywatch crazy tech. Page 8-9: Slayton talks to the alien he sees in the mirror. We know get why Slayton calls the alien "Carer", it's actually "Khera". Slayton has killed several people at a gas station. Last issue he seemed to be targetting enhanced humans and half-aliens, but here he seems to have been killing indiscriminately. Page 10-18: Another town, another bar/diner John Lynch walks into. This time he is looking for Andrew Kwok. The man at the table tells him that he's Philip Chang, but Lynch knows that it's Kwok. Kwok is another Thunderbook agent, but he has created the fake identity of Chang for himself outside of Lynch's knowledge, fearing that Lynch might be compromised one day. Philip tells John that he has 2 kids, Hector and Percival. John can feel Chang trying to dig inside his mind and Chang admits that he's trying to kill Lynch, but he notices something weird inside Lynch's head. John shoots Chang, but Chang stops the bullet in mid-air and smirks. John then shoots multiple bullets at him, noting that Chang has always had trouble focusing on more than 1 thing at a time. One of the barman walks up to them to see what's going on and Lynch shoots him, then the other customer. Lynch returns to Chang who is still trying to stop the bullets with his telekinesis, but it's taking all of his power. Lynch wants to know what happened to the subjects of Thunderbook; they were loyal soldiers and now they all just want to murder and reproduce. Chang reveals that the alien material inside them has changed them and it wants to reproduce. Lynch promises to take care of his children and then kills Chang and blows up the bar. A lot of things to unpack here: - Philip Chang was another of the Team 7 members in the original Wildstorm Universe and an interesting case back there: outside of the original mini-series, he himself never appeared again, though all the other members did (even some pretty obscure ones). The Andrew Kwok identity is new to this version. Chang was the tech-guy of Team 7, but his importance to the old Wildstorm universe, was mostly as father of one of the Gen13 kids. Poor Philip/Andrew also didn't even get a cover appearance like the other Thunderbook members appearing so far. - The powers Chang/Kwok displays here (telekinesis and telepathy) were the main powers all the Team 7 members had in the orignal universe. In this universe they seem more random. - Chang tells Lynch that he has two kids: Hector and Percival. In the original version Edward Percival Chang, nicknamed Grunge, was one of the main members of Gen13. He had powers similar to the Absorbing Man, it remains to be seen what his powers are in this version. He appearantly had a brother named Absolom according to the internet, though I always thought that Eddie was a single kid (though I can't remember Absolom and Eddie being brothers, probably a minor detail I had forgotten. I just rechecked the 1 issue of Gen13 Absolom appears in, and it says nothing about his relationship with Eddie... probably because it's a single page). Maybe the relationship was revealed in the Wildstorm revival issue that was published recently but I never got around to buying. - The name Hector does ring a bell: Hector Morales, the DV8 member named Powerhaus, but I doubt it's him, because Hector Morales is already appearing in Michael Cray's solo-title. I assume Hector Chang will be Absolom as mentioned above (though why Ellis didn't go for another Knights of the Round table name like Percival, after having Philip say that his wife is obsessed with the Knights and wanted to name their kids after them is a mystery to me.
Edit: Penny Arcade forums' member Fencingsax pointed out to to me that Sir Hector (or Sir Ector) is Arthur's foster father and one of his first knights. So it does make sense.
- I think this is the first hint we get that John Lynch himself is not a regular human either. Chang/Kwok notices that there is something weird with Lynch's brain. Back to the issue itself: Page 19: Bendix shows Craven the crater his Little Stick left and warns him that he will do worse if Craven ever threatens them again. Craven is not impressed: he tells Bendix that Skywatch can have the office back, but Lucy Blaze is banned from New York, if they ever see her, they'll kill her on sight. Page 20/21: Jackie tells Craven that they managed to find the location of Skywatch as a side-effect of the recent electronic warfare against it. She tells Craven to make them pay for the murder of Mitch. Page 22: Lauren informs Lucy that she is banned from New York, but that it's not punishment. Her duties are now to roam the US. Lucy feels that they are giving in to I.O., but Lauren tells her that New York is not a safe place to be in the future: Bendix still has a lot of Little Sticks... and some big ones.
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Post by Dizzy D on Jun 29, 2018 2:05:33 GMT -5
Happy to see Sunstone on there.
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Post by Dizzy D on Jun 23, 2018 4:24:38 GMT -5
Last month I was making a mental list about which properties we were missing from the revival. We were missing some individual Stormwatch members (Midnighter, Apollo, Winter etc. that I am still expecting to turn up) and I'm not expecting the smaller properties like Sleeper, Planetary, Automatic Kafka etc. to show up except in maybe some cameo. But Gen13/DV8 was the main property I was missing so far (Wetworks is also missing, but nobody cares about Wetworks. Not even Whilce Portacio cares about Wetworks). Cue the cover of issue #14:
The Wildstorm #14 by Warren Ellis (writer) and Jon Davis-Hunt (artist), Steve Buccellato (Colourist) and Simon Bowland (letterer).
The Cover: Fairchild, carrying a truck one-handed. An analysis reticule is on her (why does it have French lilies?) and informs us that the trucks weighs 5000 lbs and calculates Fairchild's strength and energy use while she walks forward.
Page 1-6: Zealot reports in when Skywatch is attacked by IO CATS. She manages to save some personnel and during the fight we see some of her superhuman abilities (she notices a shot fired and is fast enough to move somebody out of the way while the bullet is in flight. She also flips over and throws a desk one-handed with enough force to knock over 2 men. She contacts Skywatch that IO has breached their facility and wants a connection with Bendix. During this scene it's actually unclear how the IO teams entered the facility at all: they didn't come in through the front entrance that Zealot used and security at the entrance didn't notice the attack, but we also don't see them bursting in through windows.
Page 7-16: Lynch arrives at a remote gas station to meet another member of Thunderbook, Alexandra Fairchild. From the cover I expected her to be Caitlin Fairchild, but this makes more sense. Alex Fairchild in the original Wildstorm universe was male and had psychic powers like all of Team 7. Here, the Thunderbook (Thunderbook is basically Team 7: we have confirmation in the last few issues that Fairchild, Slayton, Lynch and Cole were all involved and they are also some of the main Team 7 member in the original Wildstorm Universe). Fairchild himself was never that important as a character, but his daughters Caitlin Fairchild and Roxy Spaulding were two of the main members of long-running Wildstorm title Gen13. Alexandra looks a lot like Caitlin (tall, muscular female with long red hair and green eyes) and has the same powers (superhuman strength and durability.), so Thunderbook seems to give each subject unique powers. Lynch is more cautious this time (keeping a gun ready at his back, but she seems to be far more rational than Slayton was last issue.
One of Fairchild's mugs during the conversation says "A Local Shop for Local People". Doesn't seem to be a Wildstorm reference to me, but a League of Gentlemen reference (BBC comedy/horror parody), but why an American woman in the middle of nowhere has a mug for that series? The reference does kinda work with Fairchild trying to keep herself isolated from outsiders and she describes the nearby town as people keeping to themselves. The other mug is a DC reference "Challengers of the Unknown", which is a TV-series in this universe as we saw last issue.
Alex informs John that she has a daughter, Caitlin (no mention of Roxy here and with Alex being female the chance of Caitlin and Roxy being half-sisters is rather unlikely in this universe.), which she gave up for adoption; she was afraid of what she could do to the child with her own superhuman strength in a careless moment. Alex has superhuman strength, but the implant that gives her her powers also makes her agressive. During this talk she bends the wrench in her hand without even noticing it. She tells John that she has started a war with a local crime family that have been terrorizing the town and she leaves, carrying a truck which she has rigged with explosives. While she prepares to leave, she knows that John is going to find her daughter and asks him to be kind to her. In the original Wildstorm Universe, John Lynch first and most of his appearances were in Gen13, where he gathers and protects the children of Team7 members who have inherited their father's genetic alteration and are superpowered. This story might go the same way.
John drives off, but stops to look back. We only see an explosion and no idea whether Alex survived.
Page 17: Bendix and Craven talk through video to each other. Both sides accusing each other of crimes, neither realizing that some of these actions were done by a third group.
Page 18-19: The Mayor is talking to Jenny and the Doctor. He feels ill and tells them that he needs the pollution of a city to survive (which is the way Jack Hawksmoor. Jenny thinks he is just crazy, but the Doctor believes him and that she gives him a pill to cure him. He confirms to be Jack Hawksmoor (don't think we got his name before).
Page 20-22 Marc Slayton is hitchiking. A car stops in front of him, but Marc immediately asks the driver if he's IO or Skywatch. The driver pretends innocence, but Marc can feel that he's an altered human. The driver changes and confirms that he is Skywatch (he turns into a rocky creature with red eyes. Looking a bit like Darkseid). We don't see his powers though as Marc immediately attacks with his tentacles, singing a song while he removes the spine of the driver. I didn't recognize the driver as a pre-existing character. Maybe he was Jacob Greene, the Thing-analogue in Planetary, but it was a throwaway character so I guess it's just somebody Ellis and Hunt made up for this scene.
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Post by Dizzy D on Jun 5, 2018 6:04:01 GMT -5
Zorglub #1: Munuera returns to Spirou. I was not a fan of his previous run on the main title, though I've liked some of his other work. This time it's a spin-off starring Spirou's megalomanic,but still sympathetic adversary, the great Zorglub. This title works for me though: we see Zorglub in a new role: the overprotective father who has to deal with his teenage daughter discovering boys. There are some hints of Despicable Me here with a super-villain having to deal with a family, but it's different enough for me to enjoy. The twist I saw coming, but overall it's a nice enough comic and I will be buying #2. I always like your post Dizzy, as I don't always have time to read news on new releases. Thanks! I read Zorglub #1 today and really didn't like it. I took it from the library and won't even read #2 when it comes out : ) The art was fine, but the story dragged one for waaaay too long for me. Basically nothing happened. I understand that. I enjoy seeing self-important characters like Zorglub being forced into mundane situations, so this scratches that itch for me, but it's definitely not anything special. I liked it enough, but it's one of the lesser titles that I listed this time, with only Dark Souls not being worse and Sangre and Hell being on a similar level.
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Post by Dizzy D on Jun 3, 2018 9:58:56 GMT -5
And we're up to date again. The last issue didn't have as many references, but this one more than makes up for that:
The Wildstorm #13 by Warren Ellis (writer) and Jon Davis-Hunt (artist), Steve Buccellato (Colourist) and Simon Bowland (letterer).
The Cover: A closeup of John Lynch.
Page 1-2: Mitchell's body is found and Craven orders three teams to attack Skywatch Ground Division in New York.
Page 3: Bendix meanwhile is planning to attack the IO Science Cities.
Page 4-5: John Lynch is having coffee and lunch at a diner in the middle of nowhere. I'm not 100% (don't have the relevant issues here), but it looks to be the same diner Elijah Snow was in in the first epiode of Planetary. A weird-looking guy is telling Lynch that "they" can feel him "Them from your basement" and "Us from Heaven's Box". Heaven's Box does not immediately ring any bells, but in Team 7 the failures of Craven's experiments to create superhumans were kept in the basement, but reached out telepathically to the other superhumans above.
Page 6-15: Lynch reaches his destination, a lone farm house. Inside he meets Colonel Marc Slayton. (More DC references: Slayton is watching "The Challengers of the Unknown", a movie produced by "Quinn Harleen". The Challengers of the Unknown are of course Kirby's classic DC team. Quinn Harleen is a reference to Harley Quinn, Joker's sometimes girlfriend and probably the most popular DC character created after 1990. Linking Harley Quinn with the Challengers is a bit odd to me, I don't think those have any history, but then again Quinn has been all over the place.) Back to Wildstorm: Marc Slayton was another character I've been missing so far: known as Backlash, a Kheran like the WildC.A.T.s, but also a Gen-Active like Gen13. He was a member of Stormwatch and Team 7 and also one of the few Wildstorm characters that had a relatively longrunning solo-series (most Wildstorm titles were team titles). Ellis has done a bit of homework here; the surname Slayton has its roots in the old english for farm. Confirmation that the device in the last issue should have incinerated the files as well as sent a warning, so it was just a misfire, not misdirection. We get some more information on what Project Thunderbook was: it involved inserting alien DNA into human test subjects. Thunderbook is a new version of Team7/Gen12 of the old Wildstorm Universe. This also neatly merges Backlash two different origins into one: instead of being injected with the gen-factor, he's injected with Kheran DNA. The Kheran DNA seems to be intelligent, instructing Slayton to act and bulding two tentacles in his forearms. These tentacles were energy whips for the old Slayton, but this version they seem to be more organic. This version of Slayton also is completely insane and murderous, while the previous one was usually a hero (with some darker actions from his past as a soldier). Lynch and Slayton fight briefly, but Lynch mostly just tries to escape.
During this whole seen the name "Amble" is very clearly written on several cans of beer. The way this series has worked so far that those type of things are DC references, but I know of no DC character or group named Amble. Anybody any idea?
Page 16: The Mayor is found and recruited by the Doctor and Jenny Sparks.
Page 17: Slayton is talking to an alien in the mirror. The alien, named Carer, tells Slayton to send more souls their way. This could be just Slayton being insane, but as we see at the end of this issue, the alien is a Kheran and there is no reason for Slayton to know what they would look like.
Page 18: Finally something gets confirmed I was waiting for: Priscilla Kitaen's visions are fed to her by the Daemonites. Also the sleeping pills on her nightstand are branded "Sleeper", the Wildstorm series by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.
Page 19-20Skywatch launches a spacecraft towards Mars. It will take a week to get there, which Bendix finds very primitive, but Lauren points out that regular humanity would still need about 9 months to send anything to Mars. Lauren has some far more extreme ideas than her previous counterpart: she has investigated Bendix order to kill some IO personnel, but also created a scenario where they just radically destabilize life on Earth on the whole.
Page 21-22: John Colt is standing naked in front of a mirror, recording a message to Marlowe. He notes that he does this every year and this is his (arbitrarily chosen) birthday. John thanks Emp for destroying their spacecraft and stranding them on Earth, because Colt's life on Earth has been far better than it would have been on Khera. Apparently this is not something Marlowe likes to be reminded off.
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Post by Dizzy D on Jun 3, 2018 4:48:48 GMT -5
The Wildstorm #12 by Warren Ellis (writer) and Jon Davis-Hunt (artist), Steve Buccellato (Colourist) and Simon Bowland (letterer).
The Cover: Angie, suited up, standing in the rain.
Page 1: Jackie King is in the archives, looking for the file on Thunderbook. When she opens the file, she notices a device is set off, she presumes that John Lynch put it there.
Page 2-3: The wild CAT carries out their plan to attack IO's Hightower site. Adrianna teleports in and releases the bug Kenesha made. A false biohazard alert is triggered to evacuate the site before they enter and detonate the bomb.
Page 4-6: IO Analysis attacks Skywatch. Miles Craven is disappointed that there is not much fanfare to informational warfare, just many people typing on computers. Jackie tells Craven about the device in the Thunderbook file, it was an incendiary device but so old it was no longer functional.
Page 7-14: With Hightower presumably evacuated the CAT makes their move, but Adrianna notices that the teleport shielding inside is still up and the team runs into an armed group in biohazard suits. The CAT quickly dispatches them and find out that at the center of the site there are a lot of brains in jars connected to computers. Kenesha disables the shielding and hacks the database. The team briefly discusses if they can download the information, but Kenesha didn't bring the storage required. They decide to destroy the base instead. Grifter is still annoyed by Kenesha's obsession with explosions and the team bicker will they teleport out, leaving the bomb behind.
Page 15: Zealot calls Bendix, making him realize that the North Korean attack on the satellites is a ruse. He orders Zealot to kill an IO operative.
Page 16-18: Ivana Baiul notifies Craven of the situation at Hightower. Mitchell notices that there is data from Hightower coming their way, even though it's evacuated and that it's an attack. They have to wait till the Skywatch attack is done before they can shut down their system and prevent the attack from Hightower. Craven wants to use the data from the attack to find something to convince Bendix not to start an open war. Jackie thinks it's already too late.
Page 19-20: Mitch thinks he's taking an Overshare ride home, but the driver is Zealot. She drives into an alley and shoots Mitch. So Warren Ellis is now 2 for 2 for killing Mitch Saunders.
Page 21-22: We see this universe of John Lynch for the first time. He's living in a cabin and the dead wolf on his table, the snow and the hunting rifle makes me believe it's somewhere in Montana or so. He's looking mostly the same, except he's more grey hair and a mustache. it turns out that incendiary device was actually a warning system (the incendiary part may have been a ruse or a backup that failed). An alert was sent to John anyway and he decides to take a road trip.
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