Best of Marvel: Week of September 4th, 2019

Best of this Week: House of X #4 – Jonathan Hickman, Pepe Larraz, Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles

No More.

Mutants have been made to suffer time after time after time because humans fear change and their inevitable obsolescence. Two of the greatest mutant extinction events have been the result of either human fear or absolute ignorance. In New X-Men (2001) we saw the utter destruction of Genosha by Bolivar Trask’s Sentinels, a massacre that resulted in the deaths of sixteen million mutants over the course of a single day. This left only a little under one million mutants left until House of M (2005) after which Wanda Maximoff decimated the mutant population, leaving only one hundred and ninety-eight left.

Thanks to the work of Moira MacTaggert and Charles Xavier with Krakoa, the mutant population is returning to normal levels and is looking to absolutely eclipse humanity in a short time span. Of course, humanity doesn’t take this too well, causing the Orchis Organization to activate itself, so it’s up to Cyclops and his band of Mutants to cast the enormous Mother Mold (a sentient machine that would create Master Molds to create Sentinels) into the blasted sun.

This issue was nothing short of heartbreaking.

Jonathan Hickman is doing something amazing with this book by showing just how strong the need for preservation is between both sides. In the last issue, one of the security team members for the Orchis station blew himself up in an effort to preserve a future where humans would be the dominant species. He wasn’t thinking about himself or his future with his wife, Dr. Gregor, the head of the station. He only wanted to ensure that The X-Men couldn’t stop the Mother Mold from being activated.

Scott’s team, now only consisting of Marvel Girl, Monet, Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Mystique soldier on after Husk and Archangel are killed in the explosion. Nothing was going to stop them from completing the mission and they absolutely did, but not without each of them being killed in the process. I don’t feel the need to place a spoiler tag here because I have no doubt that either, some of the first issue of House of X takes place in the future and that they will all be reborn or that somehow they will be brought back to life as they will appear in other upcoming X-Series.

Pepe Larraz absolutely killed this issue with his art alongside Marte Gracia and Clayton Cowles. Every single page has the feeling of large scale epicness to them from the vast emptiness of Krakoa’s Observation room to the different locales of the Mother Mold Base. When Mother mold itself floats into the Sun, quoting it’s own version of the Prometheus myth, it looks enormous at first and slowly descends into the much larger and grander sun. Gracia’s colors are absolutely beautiful as almost everything is bathed in the beautiful glow of the sun. Monet’s red skin shines even brighter as the cuts her way through Orchis security, Nightcrawler and Wolverine’s burning bodies create the perfect ash contrasted by the glowing blue eyes of Mother Mold as Wolverine cuts away the last anchor keeping it on the station and Karimas shining silver arms stand above Cyclops, coated in purple nanobot defeat, as the last thing we see from his visor’s reflection is Dr. Gregor aiming her gun in his face.

Gracia’s colors are vibrant and help to make Larraz’s lines even more beautiful. They make excellent use of cool blue tones for the few scenes that take place in Krakoa, establishing the still peaceful nature of that location. The space station, however, is awash in heavy yellows and oranges that only set the tone for the book and its high tension, but also works to show us just how dire everything is for either side. It’s high pressure and high stakes. Gracia did a great job of giving things the proper amount of emotional weight through color where Larraz did through excellent facial expression and action.

Normally the brightness of the sun is supposed to represent a better future, but it’s hard to tell who this brighter future is for. The X-Men, ultimately, do win in this war for survival, but it’s a Pyrrhic victory. Karima, who we’ve seen standing beside Nimrod in the future, and Dr. Gregor stand in victory for this battle. Granted, we now that the future where Nimrod reigns has been nullified after Moira’s 10th death, it’s hard not to be afraid by Mother Mold’s ending proclamation and Gregor’s newfound bitter resolve.

Charles and the rest of Mutantkind can rest easy, but can they also live with the cost of what they’ve done if our predictions just so happen to be false? The purpose of Krakoa was to ensure that there would be no more needless mutant death, but in the wake of human fear, more have died. This isn’t like any other time where mutants have been killed and brought back to life years later. For some reason – it just feels heavier. Charles’ tear at the end, with Cowles amazing placement of a “No more” caption feels like a resolution. Charles Xavier is having no more death, not for any of his people and it is powerful.

House of X continues to be one of my most anticipated releases as the weeks go by. This story of death and rebirth keeps achieving new heights of amazing storytelling and even better art. Jonathan Hickman was the perfect choice to breathe new life into the X-Franchise as I don’t have any semblance of a clue what will be in store for the future of the X-Men. What do the end pages of this issue mean? What will be the big fallout from the revelation of Powers of X #3? Will Pepe Larraz continue to be godlike in his presentation? We’ll find out next week in Powers of X #4.

Best of Marvel: Week of July 17th, 2019

Best of this Week: Uncanny X-Men #22 (Legacy #644) – Matthew Rosenberg, Salvador Larroca, David Messina, GURU-eFX and Joe Caramagna

It’s the end of an era and for once, I’m terrified.

I’ve been a fan of the X-Men for a long time. I’d even go so far as to say that they’re my favorite team in all of comics ever because of the range that their stories can go, from tales of marginalization to various stories of abuse and moral relativism, the X-Men have been amazing so why has it taken them so long to feel relevant again? At some point even the best books run out of good stories to tell or end up retreading old waters for a drink of nostalgia and that’s been the X-Men for the last five to six years.

Cyclops had become what Magneto was, young versions of the original five were brought to the future, villains like Mojo and Exodus were brought back, Sentinel threats reemerged X-Men died and were brought back. In the grand scheme of things, it was all a mess with no cohesive direction and Marvel noticed. In comes Matthew Rosenberg who, I admittedly, was very wary of because I hated both his time on Astonishing X-Men and the Multiple Man mini-series. I don’t know if it was all his idea, but he decided to wipe the slate clean with a new Uncanny X-Men series and… it was stupendous from start to finish.

In the aftermath of Emma Frost’s actions from the last issue, the X-Men that are still on our Earth have found a peace that Mutants have never known. With humanities knowledge of mutants erased, Scott Summers is at a loss and questioning what his role in life is now that no one needs protecting. He and Dani Moonstar, aka Mirage, wax poetic on the nature of mutations and what their next course of action is. Scott is morose, seeing as his mutation made him function primarily as a weapon to fight back against humanity as it tried to destroy him, but now that they don’t know he exists, what is he good for?

The dynamic between them is interesting. Scott has been fighting since he was a teenager and he’s only ever seen this life as one big war. Dani is still young, but has the experience of several lifetimes and all that she can think of is helping people. Both of them have experienced loss but process it differently. Scott sees all of his friends as soldiers in the fight where Dani sees them as family. Of course this is because Scott has been leading everyone for so long and Dani has gone through thick and thin with the New Mutants, the Fearless Defenders and the X-Men themselves.

This causes a disagreement between the two and she simply walks away from him as Alex Summers, aka Havok, speaks with his brother about the freedom of being ignored over being targeted. On their way back to the Hellfire Mansion, Alex explains that every bit of leadership he’s ever had to exhibit was learned from Scott. Even with all of his brooding, Scott has been a great leader and it definitely helped when Alex was an Avenger, and he lets his brother know that he’s thankful for it before they’re attacked by some kind of golden Sentinel.

Scott’s unable to damage it and Alex surmises that they’ll never make it back to the mansion before the Sentinel kills them both, so in an act of self sacrifice, knowing that his powers won’t affect Scott, he self destructs and destroys the evil machine. Soon after, more arrive under the control of the General that originally help Emma Frost captive and target the remaining mutants. The battle is hard fought with heavy casualties before the rest of the X-Men return from Nate Grey’s utopian world, winning the battle for mutantkind.

This is the final issue of Uncanny X-Men and it ends on a bittersweet note.

*Slight SPOILERS BELOW*

Havok, a man who was on top of the world, brought low and tried to climb his way back up made the ultimate sacrifice just so that his brother could continue being the leader he is. Madrox, who was just brought back to life has met yet another grisly end, but the status quo has reset though very similarly to the Astonishing X-Men or Mutopia eras in a way. Jean Grey has returned to Scott, Emma and Magneto appear to be on the side of angels again and the X-Men are choosing not to hide anymore.

Shifting focus from this amazingly written and fantastically drawn book, I want to look towards the future and the threads left untied. House of X begins next week and I don’t know how to make heads or tails of things. Who is the man with the giant globe on his head? Is it professor X who had recently taken over the body of Fantomex and is now known as X? Will Magneto ever make use of the Brotherhood he established late last year? What will happen to Illyana now that she’s a demon again? I don’t know, but I am very excited.

This run was great. Rosenberg wrote everything in the most dire way possible given the situation and it fit each and every month. Scott remained hopeful in the face of ever present adversity, flanked by Logan who back up almost all of his actions. Characterizations were great from Dani acting as a voice of reason and Hope being a militaristic badass and the surprisingly black humored Jamie. Larroca’s art never faltered in being action packed but also still and dark.

Whatever comes next from this team, I have high hopes for.

Best of Marvel: Week of July 10th, 2019

Best of this Week: Wolverine Vs. Blade – Marc Guggenheim, Dave Wilkins and Travis Lanham

It is quite possible to just have TOO MUCH AWESOME in one book.

Wolverine Vs. Blade had been advertised for a while, but that didn’t stop it from hitting me like a train from out of nowhere. Hile the story is very one note, it still fits both of these characters and the art elevates it to a level that I haven’t been excited about from Marvel since Clayton Crain was doing Carnage USA and X-Force. It blended the line between almost 3D and photorealistic and the writing turned this into an awesome buddy-hero story with hilarity and badass banter.

Taking place in Wolverine’s X-Force days, prior to Avengers vs. X-Men and before Blade became a full time member of the Avengers, we open to Blade and Wolverine in the middle of taking down a Cult of vampires known as “The Creed.” The book wastes no time on the banter or the action as Wolverine makes a nod to one of their previous interactions where blade stuck him full of Vampire blood while slicing a vampire head into pieces.

Wolverine shines in these opening pages in the always badass black and grey. His face is alive with burning vampire hating rage, showcasing his sharp canines and HEAVILY muscled body as he slashes and slices through vampires with the reckless abandon that he’s known for. The vampire LOOK scary, but Wolverine IS SCARY, especially covered in their blood and surrounded by the still burning remains of their bodies.

After thinking they’ve completely torn through the cult, Blade offers Wolverine a marshmallow from the fire that he’s about to set. Wolverine thinks he’s joking, but then, in a moment that I regret laughing heartily at, Blade shows off a single white marshmallow and gives us ONE of the best shit eating grin in this entire book.

Cutting to six months later, Wolverine is being attacked by very minor villain, Dragoness, who has been turned into a vampire. For no other reason, I think, than to flex his art skills and give me something to fawn over, Wilkins draws Wolverine standing with his back to a window and arms flexed so hard that I almost thought his veins were going to EXPLODE. He was Huge Jackedman levels of vascular and needed to rehydrate like hell, but I couldn’t look away from how ridiculous and magnificent he looked. However, he cuts through one of Dragoness’ wings and sends her spiraling into a conveniently placed piece of sharpened wood. Soon after, he finds the item that she was fighting him for; a mysterious box radiating with magic.

Elsewhere in Germany, Blade is taking down a Vampire Count who fires at him with eye beams that curiously look like Cyclops’. Blade allows the vampire to think he has him on the ropes before setting off explosive charges that trap the vampire under rubble. Blade is the undisputed king of banter in this issue as he offers to pick up a rock or two before the sun rises and kills the vampire for a little bit of information. When the vampire says he’d rather die, Blade gives another grin as the sun rises and burns the vamp to ash.

Both men are given information from their sources, Wolverine in Doctor Strange and Blade in some fellow he dangles off the side of a building. They learn about the prophecy of a Vampire Messiah named Varkis. Logan sees a pictogram that looks like him fighting Blade and Blade learns that Varkis may be a mutant. Armed with their information, the two make their ways separately to South America for a final confrontation.

The fight is epic.

Both men ripple with brutal and blood energy and their musculature is a sight to behold. Blade impales Wolverine with his sword, but Wolverine, being the badass that he is, rips it out and slashes blade across the face, destroying his glasses. Wolverine pounces at him again, but Blade hits him with an anti-vampire glave and Wolverine stands confused. The two work out their equal confusion until Varkis appears, looking like Wolverine, but still with bone claws.

He tells the pair that he was created from a portion of Wolverine that was sliced off and grown using magic as Wolverine has left many parts all over the world, but none have spawned a whole person. Wolverine tries to take on Varkis while Blade cuts through more lesser vampires until Wolverine remembers the picture and suggests he and blade recreate the battle ON VARKIS. Wolvie aims low while Blade aims high and Varkis is thoroughly killed.

Blade gives his last shit eating grin as he says he forgot the marshmallows this time after they blow up another temple. It’s a nice call back to earlier and the perfect cherry to top this wonderful book.

This book was a treasure. Wilkins art was amazingly dynamic, making every fight scene feel like it was brutal, bloody and horrifically violent. His colors straddle the line between very dark and amazingly bright when they need to be. The red from Wolverine’s eyes in the X-Force costume stand out alongside the red of Blade’s sunglasses as they glean with their movements and create little motion lines as they go. Most of the book takes place during the night and Wilkins makes great use of lighting to set the mood, giving a real goth or Castlevania-esque feel to things.

Guggenheim is in top form for the characterization of Blade of Wolverine. Logan is no-nonsense and violent to a terrifying degree as he always should be. Blade is snarky and effortlessly cool like Wesley Snipes before him. If there were to be a mini-series between these two, I would love it if this team came together again, but for a One-Shot, this was absolutely fantastic.

If you want to see amazing art and basic story that still is a riot to enjoy, this book is definitely made for you. Dave Wilkins wows on every page and Guggenheim brings his skills back to the best of the mid-2000s Marvel style. If it did have any pitfalls, it would have to be that it should have been even longer. High recommend!

Best of Marvel: Week of July 3rd, 2019

Runner Up: Savage Avengers #3 – Gerry Duggan, Mike Deodato Jr., Frank Martin and Travis Lanham

Well, this was wild, wacky and amazingly violent.

Gerry Duggan and Mike Deodato Jr. have come up with an absolutely fantastic story that’s full of brutal action, some cheeky comedy and remains true to every character involved up to a point. It pulls no punches and with Deodato’s amazing art, not only does it read well, but it looks damn good at the same time.

Starting off with a bang, we see Frank Castle tearing his way through Kulan Gath’s stronghold in the Savage Land looking for the bodies of his family. Of course Frank knows that it’s a trap, but never in his life has he let that stop him. With rage as his eyes, he tears through the Hand Ninjas, using a sniper rifle at close range and taking their own katanas to use against them. Suddenly, one of the ninjas puts a sai into the barrel of his weapon and he immediately recognizes them. Elektra has joined the fight.

Elektra seems to know of Kulan Gath’s plan to use the blood of warriors to summon something and she’s there to put a stop to it. She looks absolutely fierce back in her old gear, especially as she roundhouses and slices through Hand Ninjas while telling Castle to be careful as they make their way through the castle.

Meanwhile, Wolverine is captured by Gath and is suspended over his blood pit. Unfortunately for Logan, his healing ability only helps the evil Wizard as his blood only makes the plot come closer to fruition and Logan has an ever flowing amount of it. Soon after, Jericho, in the disguise of one of Gath’s students, tries to fool him. The Wizard sees through the ruse and gets stabbed in the chest, but given his sheer power, says that the insult hurts a lot more than the blade does and Jericho insults him by saying that’s not even worth Doctor Strange’s time.

Just as Gath is about to stab Jericho again, remarking that in his time he is the Sorcerer Supreme, he is shot right in the head by Castle. Gath makes Castle an offer to return his family to him alive in exchange for finding the thief who stole his amulet. Logan smirks and muses that the thief is long gone by now… only for him to return and threaten the Wizard. Conan is portrayed is a comedic man out of time and element in contrast to his own books where he is as serious as death and twice as deadly. Elektra frees Logan who collapses as he tries to stand and fight and Gath commands his forces to attack.

Conan picks up Logan and uses his still unsheathed claws as weapons as he swings the diminutive mutant around. Gath uses his magic to toss Logan into Elektra and runs his hand through the heart of Conan for the Amulet of Power and just as things are getting bleak, a certain symbiote attaches itself to the warrior as Gath summons his creature, Jhoatun Lau, The Marrow God.

Savage Avengers is shaping up to be the same kind of sleeper hit that Secret Avengers was back in 2012, especially while building Conan up to be a possible major player in future stories and hopefully in the upcoming Absolute Carnage event now that he’s had the Symbiote become part of him. The rest of this team itself is pretty good, fusing Castle and Logan’s rage with Jericho’s magic, Elektra’s skill and Conan’s cunning, this is definitely a book to keep watch of.

Best of Marvel: Week of May 22nd, 2019

Best of this Week: War of the Realms – Land of Giants #1 – Tom Taylor, Jorge Molina, Adriano di Benedetto, David Curiel and Joe Sabino

Leave it to Tom Taylor and Spider-Man to make me almost tear up about horses.

An upside and downside to these one-shot team up books is that they put on very unexpected teams together. The Darkforce Avengers are okay, but the War Avengers are just awful. The team sent out to rescue Thor, consisting of Captain America, Wolverine, Spider-Man, Luke Cage and Iron Fist, however, are perfect. These guys know each other and play off of each other very well, making them an impressively cohesive unit.

Spider-Man sits at the heart of this team, acting as the narrator and the only one that chooses not to kill the Frost Giants. Everyone else does of course, and this even affects their weapon choices later in the book. Cap takes Thor’s axe, Iron Fist takes twin swords, Luke takes a hammer, Wolverine is his weapon and Spider-Man takes a shield and Wolverine gives him a helmet.

Each man mounts a flying horse and with Daredevil’s help, enter Jotunheim, the land of the Frost Giants. Immediately they’re attacked by archers who kill every horse aside from Spider-Man’s, who he has affectionately named Buttercup and protects with fury. After the fight, Spider-Man finds that the helmet allows him to communicate with Buttercup, revealing herself to be named Queen Arctorious, leader of the horses. She sends the group away to find Thor and says a prayer for her fallen comrades.

What Tom Taylor does especially well is weaving these somber moments into this action packed and sometimes jokey story. Spider-Man is written like a goof here, but when he needs to be serious, he’s treated as the most honorable and bravest of the team. The others are also written well enough with Luke and Danny being their monk and hard selves, Logan being the morbidly hilarious one and Cap taking the lead as always.

Coming upon Thor in a Berserker Rage, all of the team, sans Spider-Man, remark of times when they’ve gone into similar states of blind fury. They then help Thor tear through the armies of Frost Giants. Throughout the book, Jorge Molina struts his stuff as an artist alongside Curiel and Benedetto. While hits and falls don’t feel like they have the serious weight that they should, everything is beautiful to look at. Colors are bright and stand out greatly against the mostly white backgrounds and of course every hero is distinct by body type and fighting style. Even the art depicting the deaths of the horses is amazing.

The very end of the book is extremely heartbreaking and really makes this particular one-shot worth reading. While War of the Realms is very expansive and has to give a little bit of focus to everything going on at once, it is nice to have these stories being smaller scale. High recommend!