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Jyger’s Favourite 10?! – 10 BEST X-Men

Well, I talked smack about a vital part of the X-Men’s story in the Marvel Universe recently, so I suppose I should make up for that. lol As I said before, I actually really like the X-Men. I just feel their plight is one that doesn’t make a lot or even any sense when it exists as part of the Marvel Universe. But I STILL LIKE THE X-MEN. Don’t ever think that I don’t. As such, I’ve decided to do a Jyger’s Favourite 10 of the X-Men, but with a twist. These are not necessarily my FAVOURITE X-Men. Rather, let’s say that, in a hypothetical scenario, I was asked to put together a team of 10 X-Men for a mission. I would have no idea what the mission parameters would be, just that a situation has come up that requires an immediate response, and I have all of the X-Men to choose from for this team. I’ll do an article focusing on my favourite members later. And to further my point on this not being a team of heroes I necessarily like, let’s start off with the one I constantly complain about…

#1 - Cyclops

#1 – Cyclops

…No, seriously. Love him or hate him, the one thing you cannot deny is that Scott Summers is a born and bred leader, and for someone with a rather limited potential move pool (his optic blasts and martial arts), he uses both with his keen senses to great effect. As such, I really can’t avoid putting him on this team. And while he’s been known to clash hard with, say, one or two other individuals I’m going to be listing here, when a situation dire enough comes up, they’ve generally been shown to put their differences aside long enough to see the mission through. And just as a note, I would like to say that, while I prefer his Jim Lee designed 90’s gear, I actually really like the X shaped visor…even if I have no idea how the frak it’s operated. lol

#2 – Wolverine

He’s the best at what he does, and what he does ain’t nice. Regardless of if he has Adamantium or bone claws, regardless of if his healing factor is working or not, James ‘Logan’ Howlett has proven time and again to be a great asset to the team… … …well, when he’s not chasing down ghosts from his past, or getting hurled across the room by Magneto because he’s got a freaking metal skeleton (and yes, I HAVE seen the Pete Holmes Ex-Men videos). Still, even in the latter scenario, damned if his savage tenacity doesn’t get him back to his feet. Also, for someone who is so grumpy and an occasional loner, he’s been known to, on several occasions, be very protective of the younger X-Men, specifically Jubilee and the next person on this list…

#3 - Shadowcat

#3 – Shadowcat

There are few superhero situations I can think of off the top of my head where someone who can phase through solid mass or even energy bursts wouldn’t come in handy. As such, Kitty Pryde has to be considered an asset to any team. Even people who personally dislike her see what she brings to the table and have brought her on board for that, like Emma Frost did in Astonishing X-Men. Of course, the problem is that Kitty at times has problems putting her own dislike of others that have hurt her or her friends in the past aside, regardless of what’s happened since. Again, like Emma Frost. Still, she does at least try to keep it down to witty banter when in emergency situations. Oh, and did I mention she’s got a freaking dragon protecting her, and is currently engaged to the leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy, meaning she could call them in for help if need be?

#4 - Storm

#4 – Storm

I remember a scene from the 90’s Spider-Man animated series where Peter had to bring together a group of heroes, but could only call upon a single member of the X-Men. I forget what the actual behind-the-scenes reason for his choice was, but the one given on the show was she was so powerful that she could control the weather, meaning Spider-Man likely saw her as the most powerful member of the team. Now, some would argue that point, I’m sure, but there’s no denying that Ororo Munroe is at least in the top 5 for that position. Also, as the current headmistress of the Jean Grey School, she knows how to lead by example and keep a calm head in emergencies in order to get the job done. While she used to deal with a bad case of claustrophobia and emotional control, she’s been able to overcome both in order to ascend into arguably one of the Marvel Universe’s greatest heroes. And just for the record, she’s one of the few superheroines I can think of that can make the mohawk look work. lol

#5 - Colossus

#5 – Colossus

…I’m not doing the stupid yell. XD With that said, I don’t know why the arcade game isn’t available on Wii U, but it’s something I’d like to see rectified in the future. But anyway, Piotr Rasputin is one of the most physically dominating and durable members of the X-Men, due to his ability to encompass his body in organic steel. Not to mention, there’s a reason Logan prefers to do the Fastball Special with Colossus, because this guy can throw like a freaking boss. With that said, I certainly hope the mission doesn’t take him anywhere near Wakanda, because apparently his body reverts back to normal instinctively when he comes in contact with Vibranium. So, never toss Captain America’s shield to him, I guess.

#6 - Rogue

#6 – Rogue

I love Anna Marie. I really do. There’s something about her southern charm that just melts my heart. And before you say anything, I would just like to note that even my girlfriend loves her, too. lol Anyway, considering she can absorb and utilize the powers and abilities of anyone she comes in skin-on-skin contact with, it’s kinda hard not to see how Rogue can be useful in just about every situation that calls for superheroes. And while she used to be unable to control this power, requiring her to wear gloves in order to not suck the energy from anyone she touches, she’s since mastered it and can now freely touch… … …much, I’m sure, to the delight of most boys who grew up in the 90’s. XD

#7 - Dazzler

#7 – Dazzler

…Why do people not understand how awesome this character is? Alison Blaire can turn sound into flashing lights, holograms, and laser beams! That’s AWESOME! Honestly, I think the only reason anyone takes issue with her is the whole Disco Queen gimmick, and honestly, I’ve seen way worse and don’t mind it one bit. The only thing you’d wanna make sure of is that she isn’t put on a team where she might find herself teaming with Black Bolt, because his voice creates enough damage, I don’t need to know how much worse it could get if Dazzler turned it into a frakking Final Flash.

#8 - Iceman

#8 – Iceman

Yeah, I know, Bobby Drake doesn’t exactly have the most creative codename ever. In fact, I wonder at times how many Vanilla Ice jokes have been thrown his way over the years. Still, can’t deny what he brings to the table. He can turn water to ice and manipulate both at his will, he can sense people through their body heat, and he can even encase himself in an organic ice form, so anyone hoping to get into a fist fight might wanna rethink that. The only real problem he has is that he’s believed to be a little afraid to tap into his full potential for whatever reason, due to a concern of losing control. Still, if and when that happens and he can keep his focus, look the frak out.

#9 - Nightcrawler

#9 – Nightcrawler

Yeah, I guess I might as well include the last of the playable characters in the X-Men Arcade Game in this list. lol Anyway, as anyone who plays Mortal Kombat can tell you, teleporters are awesome and generally have the edge in a fight, and Kurt Wagner fits that build. He knows how to make full use of his teleporting in conjunction with his master acrobatics and fencing in combat, and because his tail is prehensile, he can triple wield weapons if necessary. He’s also got night vision, can scale walls, and has an incredibly flexible bone structure. Of course, if you catch him, he has the same basic weaknesses as an ordinary human, and his teleporting requires him to see where he’s going or else he could conceivably materialize in a wall. But, all things considered, not the worst weaknesses for a guy like him.

#10 - White Queen

#10 – White Queen

Well, I had to have a telepath on this team somewhere, and it was down to three: Psylocke, Jean Grey, or White Queen. I ultimately decided on Emma Frost because she seemed like the most well-rounded of the three, and while Jean ultimately has the most raw mental potential of the three, most of the times that she’s shown the ability to use it was when she was bonded to the Phoenix, and I don’t need to tell you what a problem THAT can be. The other reason I picked her, though, is because, depending on the situation, it can actually be a tad advantageous to have someone on the team that’s willing to bend a rule or two to get the job done. As a side note, I just gotta say this: If there is a more sexualized comic book character than Emma Frost in the history of ever, I don’t know that I wanna meet them. XD

Anyway, that’s it for my list of who I believe to be the 10 Best X-Men. Got your own list? Leave it in the comments, and be sure to come back when I list my 10 FAVOURITE X-Men. Ja né!

What I Bought Yesterday – Supergirl #23, X-Men #4, Batman and Robin #23 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

What I Bought Yesterday

Yeah, I know! I finally remembered to do it on time yesterday, and then I forgot to cover three of the four books I got because I got caught up in other stuff. At this point, I don’t even know why I bother calling my comic recaps What I Bought Today…well, other than because Morgan was awesome enough to make the logos for me, and it’d be a huge waste to not use them. Y’know, I just thought of the What I Bought Today Drinking Game: Every time I fail to release it on the day I bought whatever I’m talking about, take a shot. But before you do that, let’s talk Supergirl #23.

So because I just know people probably are already aware of how this issue ends, I’m gonna get right to it: No, Supergirl isn’t really dead. Well, in the sense that even if she IS dead, chances are she’s got a Get Out Of Death Free Card of some sort coming to her next issue. So why do I know that people are likely talking about this? Well, because this issue shows a female character getting axed off, and ever since DC decided to shove Kyle Rayner’s girlfriend in a fridge a long while back, every time a woman is shown to be killed or even possibly killed, DC’s female fanbase (and yes DC, whether you want to believe it or not, you do have a LARGE female fanbase) sets pitchforks on fire and hunt for the head of DC’s head. Now, don’t misunderstand, a lot of times they’re completely right to do so. All I’m saying is that if anyone thinks what happens in this book is gonna be long-lasting, please think again. She’ll be brought back to life, and that’ll lead to a three-way fight of sorts between Supergirl, Cyborg Superman, and Cyborg Superman’s creator, who is confirmed to be Brainiac when he arrives at the end of this issue because Cyborg Superman apparently screwed him over somehow. Other than that, the book is alright, except that Supergirl gets INSANELY angry at the recreations of the people in her memories, but that could just be because of the fact that she was kinda dying at the time.

X-Men #4 was…eh, alright. They got a new artist for this done-in-one story where the X-Men take the Blackbird to save a jet full of people, and the art isn’t that great. Plus, a lot more of the focus is on Rachel Grey and Storm having personal issues, while Jubilee takes Shogo to hang out with Wolverine in Jubilee’s old neighbourhood. But hey, there’re some genuinely awesome and funny moments out of Psylocke, Rogue, and Kitty as they try to save the plane, and the stuff with Jubilee and Wolverine is heartwarming enough. Plus, this is really just an interlude before Battle of the Atom begins, so it’s not like I expect this to be the quality they’ve been at or will stick with.

Batman and Robin #23, AKA Batman and Nightwing, AKA Acceptance. If you didn’t have tissues when you read this issue, you were frakked. Basic premise: Bruce has been running a simulation nonstop for four days of the night where Damian died, trying again and again to save him, because he can’t accept that there was nothing he could do to save him. Alfred brings Nightwing to help, and I can’t help but notice he’s in the costume he wore before moving to Chicago. However, Dick instead joins Batman in the simulation, and between the two of them, they actually do manage to save Damian, and Batman, Nightwing, and Robin are able to take down The Heretic, ending the simulation. Later on, we see Alfred do his own simulation where he manages to stop Robin from leaving the cave, which Bruce catches. Bruce realizes that he’s been alienating the people around him by making the grief all about him and failing to see that he wasn’t the only one to lose someone, and he and Alfred decide to turn off the simulation, finally beginning to move on. Overall, great way to end this particular arc, and a fond farewell to Damian as we see him be badass alongside his father and partner one more time.

So, that’s all for this week. Next week, hopefully on time, we take a look at how Talon’s dealing with the forces of Bane, and we check in on Batman Incorporated, quite possibly for the last time. Ja né!

What I Bought This Past Week – Talon #10, X-Men #3, Batman Annual #2, Batman Incorporated #13, Fearless Defenders #7, Watchmen on DVD, The Hexagon Artwork (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Oh hey, it’s Wednesday, and it’s time to take a look at…

What I Bought This Past Week

…Yeah, I kinda neglected to do this last week, and you’ll understand why when we get to it. Also, it ended up working out pretty well, since I bought something yesterday, and received a little something that I paid for a week ago and was expecting to receive at Harbour Con, but was ready for me a couple of days early. So, let’s start with what I bought last week, Talon #10.

The reason why I didn’t talk about this is because I wasn’t really all that inspired to talk about it. Maybe it was just kinda underwhelming, maybe it was because I had other stuff to talk about, or maybe I’m just used to doing bunches of comics all at once nowadays. Regardless, not much really happened. Calvin Rose got into a fight with one of Bane‘s goons, got cornered by a whole whack of them, but then was saved by Casey Washington’s buddies, which led into a much bigger fight on the horizon with Bane himself. The only thing of real relevance was that Casey managed to get herself free, and I was kinda expecting she would anyway. I will say that I DO feel delighted to know I correctly assumed the lead woman in this story, who is not a superhero, would be able to take care of herself just fine when kept in the Court of Owls‘ headquarters. 🙂

Adjectiveless X-Men #3 had a bit of a delightful mislead: Rather than the box with the ticking timer being a bomb, it instead is an override device that pretty much sets the X-Mansion against Kitty Pryde and the students, though they seem to be able to get out of danger just fine thanks to Bling (Hey, I’m finally learning people’s names! ^_^ ). Meanwhile, the rest of the team go with Sublime and track Arkea to a hospital. It seems she’s been busy with the patients, enslaving their minds, but Psylocke holds her at…erm, blade-point, while she’s in Karima’s body. She seems hesitant to go through with taking her down, though, but Karima manages to regain control just long enough to take Psylocke’s blade and damage herself enough to seemingly force Arkea out, though she leaves herself in critical condition. Overall, another great issue of a series that is definitely my favourite Marvel book thus far, with some awesome moments with Jubilee and her kid, and I honestly kinda hope Karima recovers well enough that she joins the team. Just seems like the logical step to make given how much time they used to establish just how much she means to the X-Men.

So when I learned that Batman Annual #2 was gonna be a tie-in to Zero Year, and then saw the preview pages showing him walking into Arkham Asylum in the costume to be locked away, I naturally was like “WTF?! They locked him up?!”. However, it seems Scott Snyder was kinda trolling us with those first few pages, as Batman’s actually there to test the new security systems. So how does this tie-in to Zero Year? Well apparently, while looking through files at the Asylum, he attracted some unwanted attention by a woman staying there who can walk through walls, referred to as the Anchoress. Essentially, she’s there because she actually WANTS treatment, but over the years, less attention was given to her as Batman started sending additional villains there. She breaks out when she finds out he’s present and nearly traps him in an inescapable prison of his own mind, but thanks to some help from a new guy working at the Asylum, he manages to stop her and return her to her cell, all the while the new guy arranges for the Anchoress’ treatment to be restored. Overall, a nice read, and much better than the last Batman Annual.

Y’know, there’s something to be said about a cover done like this for a book where major change happens. lol

Fearless Defenders #7 promised major change to the status quo, and it has. As you’ll recall, last time on Fearless Defenders, fan favourite Annabelle Riggs died to stop Valkyrie’s rampage as the Maiden of Rage. Well, good news to fans of the character, she’s alive again!…Sorta. I’ll admit, I’m a little confused, but long story short, Valkyrie goes to Valhalla where she finds Clea and asks her to resurrect Annabelle. Clea says it can only be done with a sacrifice of some sort, though it appears to work just fine, and they all return to Misty Knight‘s safe house, Valkyrie stating that Clea would be safer with the Defenders. However, upon arriving, only Clea and Annabelle are present, until Annabelle turns into Valkyrie, Clea stating that the two will need time to get used to some changes. I read that and was like “…Wait, WHA???” over and over for a good fifteen minutes. As near as I can tell, Annabelle’s spirit has been bonded to Valkyrie’s, and they essentially are now, as SongbirdDiamond on Twitter referred to them, the Superior Valkyrie…Except, y’know, not stupid. lol Either way, colour me intrigued.

The End Is Here…

And now, the big one: Batman Incorporated #13, the end of Grant Morrison‘s run on Batman, and……..I feel kinda underwhelmed. Now, before ANYONE calls me out on this, I am NOT saying this is a bad comic by ANY stretch of the imagination. However, I did see a couple of things coming from a mile away, namely that the mystery woman who kidnapped Jason Todd was Kathy Kane, the original Batwoman, and that Talia was going to die, killed by a bullet to the skull by Kathy. All of this is being shown to us as Bruce narrates the events to Commissioner Gordon at the GCPD, following his arrest that we saw in Batman Incorporated #1 of the New 52. He tries to be a bit vague, though, as to keep Jim from knowing that he and Batman are one and the same. However, some inner monologue boxes from Gordon suggests that he’s always had a hunch that they are but keeps it to himself, mainly because it doesn’t really matter to him who Batman really is. Then we learn that some woman (most likely Kathy) has bailed Bruce out and gotten the charges against him dropped. All the while Bruce was contemplating shutting Batman Inc. down, but a returning Alfred gives him reason to stick around: Damian and Talia’s graves, both dug up and their bodies missing. And as this goes on, Ra’s al Ghul has retaken control of the admittedly battered League of Assassins and is now breeding an army of Damian clones.

…The Game Is Over…

So why do I feel underwhelmed by this issue? Well, because this is the LAST issue of Grant Morrison’s run, and despite it ending where it began, with Bruce and Talia and Damian, I’m left with so many frakking questions! How did Kathy Kane bail Bruce Wayne out of all his charges and lift the ban on the Bat Symbol? What’s Jason Todd’s plans now that it’s been revealed he was actually working for Talia but betrayed her? What happened to Talia and Damian’s bodies at the end? If the Fatherless was the actual individual to become Batman 666, why are we getting a ‘What If?’ mini-series about how Damian becomes Batman 666? With so many Damian clones being created, does that make it possible for the real one to come back someday? Is the British Government really going to resurrect Knight somehow? What’s the status of Batman Incorporated as a group now that the book is cancelled? Is there any chance they’ll let Chris Burnham do a Batman of Japan series? And most important of all, WHO’S GONNA FEED BATCOW?!?!

…No More Pretending…No More…! NO MORE!

Now, of course, I expect that all these things will be answered soon enough. However, if Grant Morrison was going to create so many major changes to the status quo, you’d think he’d wanna give the resolution himself, unless of course it turns out he wanted to but for whatever reason he couldn’t. Either way, it leaves a lot unresolved for his LONG run with Batman. Still, as I said before, it ended where it began, and that’s oftentimes the best place for a massive story-line to end.

This city’s afraid of me. I’ve seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood. And when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout “Save us!”… and I’ll look down and whisper “No.”

So, I finally rectified a mistake I’d made for quite some time and bought Watchmen on DVD. And if you’re wondering what took me so long, the answer is simple: I honestly thought I already had it on DVD somewhere. lol Yeah, not sure why I thought that, but whatevs. I have it now. Of course, I’ve already seen it at least a couple of times, and it still remains a great flick. And yeah, I know they made it without the slimey squid, but I don’t really think that’s anywhere near as low as the standards of the 90’s Kid. 😛

The Hexagon by Nikki-Lee Dyckow

Six Winds Blow As One
They Will Turn The Tide
We Are Marching On
Standing Side By Side
And We’ll Carry On
Until All The Fire Has Gone
Blown Away, Away To Lands Beyond

And finally, my friend Nikki-Lee Dyckow drew this picture of The Hexagon, my superhero team (which, I promise, I will get back to eventually). I LOVE this so much, and she even made some improvements, like giving Strix boots that more resemble an owl’s talons, and The Bard a more medieval look…She also gave her slightly bigger boobs, which is a little odd, and was a little disturbing to N. Harmonik, but at least it provided a good laugh from me while explaining it to her. 😀

So that’s it for this week. Next week, we check in with The Movement and their attack on a police headquarters, and venture back to the world known as Earth 2. Ja né!

What I Bought Today – X-Men #2, Talon #9 (WARNING – SPOILERS)

Oh my goodness, my feet are killing me! XP So, while I relax and imagine my sore feet being lovingly massaged by my gf, allow me to take a sec and talk about…

What I Bought Today

Only two books today, since I’ve dropped JLA and Batman Incorporated got delayed by one week, so let’s start with Talon #9.

So yeah, the Birds of Prey cameo in this book…for all of the first four pages. lol Yeah, sorry to say this, but clearly this move was done solely to boost sales for Birds of Prey, and I will be shocked if it helps even a little. If anything, this probably got the people who hadn’t heard of Talon to go read it instead. But anyway, after tricking his superiors into thinking he killed Strix, Calvin Rose is sent after Bane and Sebastian Clark. Meanwhile, Casey continues to be awesome by not only talking smack to the Gotham Butcher, even while chained and helpless, but shows she doesn’t care what’s happened to Calvin as long as he’s alive, and then tops it off by managing to free herself and send a message to her allies to come rescue her. Seriously, Casey Washington deserves to be the new Oracle-type character in the DC Universe when the Court of Owls is finally taken down.

X-Men #2 was frigging awesome. I still have no idea who the people in the school are beyond the main six characters and Beast though…I really should check the Marvel Comics Database at http://marvel.wikia.com/Main_Page for all of my essential needs and information. (Cheap plug successfully deployed, ^_^ ) Anyway, Sublime’s even eviller sister, Arkea, has taken control of Karima Shapandar, AKA the Omega Sentinel, and is creating all kinds of chaos throughout the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning. Only Rogue and Kitty Pryde are able to get down there to deal with Arkea, Kitty threatening to phase through her body to completely destroy her should it turn out there is nothing left of Karima in her. Arkea manages to escape, all the while it seems that neither Psylocke nor Rachel Grey can sense an infant with Jubilee. Kinda weird, but Sublime explains later that when he and his sister leave bodies they’ve taken over, they leave a whole new person behind, basically resetting them completely, so I’m gonna guess that’s what happened. The baby, named Shogo, is apparently okay though, since he’s just a newborn and won’t exactly need much time to develop a new personality. Jubilee talks Storm into letting her bring Shogo with them to find Arkea, reasoning that it’s safer with Storm and the others than back at the school…which actually turns out to be true, as we see in the end that Arkea left a little surprise at the X-Mansion: A frickin’ BOMB. O_O

So that’s it for this week. Next week…Well, suffice to say, next week is gonna be an expensive one…Ja né…T_T

What I Bought Today – X-Men #1 (WARNING – SPOILERS AND MASSIVE BACK-STORY, LOL)

Say what? It’s Friday? Say what?! I bought a Marvel book?! Well, let’s just go ahead and see exactly…

What I Bought Today

Before anyone asks why I decided so quickly after my last post to go ahead and buy a Marvel book, I just wanna give the quick answer right now: When someone is willing to go to the trouble of writing a 13 paragraph essay on why I should at least be willing to give Marvel a chance, I really don’t have any other choice but to do just that, so thank you John W. Bruce for making this decision all the easier on me. Speaking of which, note to self: Apparently asking in the title of a blog entry helps to get feedback. lol With that said, let’s take a look at X-Men #1.

Okay, I gotta go over a couple of things for readers of my blog whom I know for a fact may not be all that familiar with recent happenings in the Marvel Universe, particularly involving the X-Men. So, if I may borrow one of Linkara‘s quotes, it’s now…

Back in 2005, an event comic called House of M has Scarlet Witch losing control of her magic, resulting in her de-powering most of the mutant population. The known number of mutants goes from millions to a couple hundred in an instant. Naturally, not everybody exactly handled this all that well. However, last year, Marvel put on an event known as Avengers vs. X-Men. In it, the Phoenix returned, Hope Summers was to be the one it would possess, and Cyclops decided that was a good thing, because the Phoenix’s powers of rebirth might bring back the mutants, even though anyone written with half a brain told him how idiotic a decision due to the number of people the Phoenix has killed whenever it showed up before. This led to the Avengers trying to stop this outcome, which resulted in the I-don’t-even-feel-like-keeping-track’th time Marvel set heroes against each other for the mass crossover event, as the X-Men who were loyal to Cyclops fought against the Avengers, who were merely trying to place Hope in protective custody. I should note for the record that, by the end of this book, Cyclops is very clearly a villain, becoming the Dark Phoenix himself by choice and killing a number of people, including Professor X. The ultimate outcome of Avengers vs. X-Men was that Hope Summers and the Scarlet Witch were able to wish away the Phoenix, Cyclops was arrested but later escaped prison and became a terrorist, the mutant population went back up to how it was previously due to the spell Scarlet Witch previously cast being broken, and Captain America has reformed the Avengers to include a number of X-Men as a gesture to help with mutant rights, because for some reason, the civilians in Marvel are still ignorant and racist dumbasses. This has also led to the start of Marvel NOW, which was originally believed to be a reboot to compete with DC’s New 52, but has actually proven to be more or less just a whole new series of #1 issues, basically re-establishing the events of the modern universe for newcomers while also progressing everyone’s stories.

This is TOO adorable! XD

So, with that said, let’s look at the cast. You got Storm, who in my opinion has ALWAYS been one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Universe with her ability to manipulate the weather however she sees fit. Then there’s Rachel Summers, AKA Marvel Girl, who is the daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey, and thus has the same insane levels of telekinetic and telepathic powers her mother did, and then some. Next is Rogue, who can steal powers just by touching someone’s bare skin, and is actually a member of the Uncanny Avengers nowadays, so I guess she’s pulling double duty here. Fourth member of the team is Kitty Pryde, AKA Shadowcat, who is literally untouchable with her ability to phase through solid objects. Next is Psylocke, who is also a telepath/telekinetic, but her preferred ability in combat is to form psychic weapons. And finally, well, now I’m a little confused.

The final member of the group is Jubilee, who WAS a mutant with the ability to shoot…erm, fireworks out of her hands. However, she was among those mutants who were de-powered, and some time afterwards, she was made into a vampire…Yeah, I had no idea that was a thing. I found out last night, and I was like “WHA?!” To keep from losing control of herself, she drinks bottles of Wolverine’s blood (since he has an unlimited amount to spare), which has the added bonus of giving her limited amounts of Logan’s healing powers. All this actually sounds kinda cool…except that they have established she can only handle so much sunlight before it becomes toxic to her, and yet we see her on several occasions in direct sunlight in this comic. Also, there was an image posted a while back of her using her old mutant powers. This has led to a theory that she either was cured of her vampirism, has regained her old powers, and/or has gained increased invulnerability to the sun, possibly all three due to the outcome of Avengers vs. X-Men.

So yeah, that’s the main six protagonists for this book, which brings up a point that everybody online has brought up: This is an X-Men comic with an all-female leading cast. And I gotta say, I love what the book’s writer, Brian Wood, had to say about that…

And I quote…

“I feel like as far as the X-Men go, the women are the X-Men. Cyclops and Wolverine are big names, but taken as a whole, the women kind of rule the franchise. If you look at the entire world as a whole, it’s the females that really dominate and are the most interesting and cool to look at. When you have a great artist drawing them, they look so amazing and always have.” I cannot argue those points, people. But what’s really great about this comic is that it stars a team of women, but it never feels like it’s beating that fact into you. It feels more natural that way.

Anyway, let’s actually get into the story here. It seems that when Sublime, the evil sentient bacteria who is trying to keep mutants from becoming the dominant species (he was created by Grant Morrison, don’t ask questions, lol), arrived on Earth billions of years ago, he had a twin sister named Arkea. The two had a fight over who got to come to Earth, which Sublime won, forcing Arkea to evolve elsewhere while harbouring a deep-rooted need for revenge. Cut to present day, where Jubilee is headed for the Jean Grey School For Higher Learning, along with a baby. No, we’re not in Renesmee territory here, the baby is from a town that got destroyed, supposedly in a terrorist bombing, but some people claimed to have seen a meteorite. She finds she’s being stalked by Sublime and calls the school, which by the way is jam packed with a ton of students, and I pretty much have no idea who the hell ANY of them are. Regardless, Storm, Kitty, and Rogue head out and meet Jubilee on her train, which later has an apparent electrical malfunction that kills the drivers and Rogue has to save everyone on the train.

Meanwhile, Sublime has arrived at the school ahead of Jubilee, and immediately surrenders. He’s not there to start a fight, he’s there for protection. It seems there really WAS a meteorite, and that Arkea was piggybacking on it to get to Earth. So why was he stalking Jubilee earlier? Because apparently, the baby has something of an infection, if you get my drift. Also, Arkea was the one responsible for the train accident, as she can possess machines as Sublime can with people. And it gets better, since Jubilee and the others arrive just as Sublime is explaining the details about his sister, Arkea deciding to send herself in a text message to Hank down in the lab and possess Karima, the Omega Sentinel…Definite pants-to-be-darkened ending.

So, how do I rank this comic? It’s awesome, no doubt. Would I call it the best comic I’ve read this month? No, but it’s pretty high up there. Then again, this is the month where DC gave us this…

And this…

And THIS

“Bang bang, he shot me down
Bang bang, I hit the ground
Bang bang, that awful sound
Bang bang, my baby shot me down”

…So yeah, that might be influencing me a bit, but honestly, I think I would really like this book regardless, so I will be buying the next issue at the end of June…which means now I gotta re-evaluate my planned pull list for the coming months…dammit. Oh well, at least now I know I CAN enjoy a Marvel comic a lot, and I hope anyone who’s interested will do so too. Ja né!