New Comics!: The "Regenesis" Edition #5

I decided to take a little break from making my way through two months' worth of Spidey books to spend some time with the X-Men.  I've left their stack for last in my "Let's read and review three weeks' worth of issues as fast as we can" exercise because my pusher (comic shop) accidentally left out "Wolverine and the X-Men" #4 in my last shipment.  I initially thought I'd get it sooner, so I delayed reading the X-books.  But, it's probably going to be a few weeks, and I've got at least seven books to read before I hit its sequential absence, so I figured no time like the present to start the show.

Generation Hope #14:  First, I loved the pool on how Scott is going to die.  "X-Men:  Regenesis," almost by necessity, has been a fairly grim endeavor, so any sort of diversion from gloom is a welcome one.  (I love that the Cuckoos lost $40 when Scott returned from the Negative Zone.  I was going to give Asmus major props for cross-referencing something that happened in an annual, until I remembered that he wrote it!  But, he still gets minor props, because it was a great way to open the issue.)  Moving onto the rest of the issue, Asmus does a good job telling the main story -- an Asian gunrunner using Sebastian Shaw's unique power-set to cause strife and drum up some business -- while at the same time changing the status quo by giving Martha a body (at least temporarily) and bringing Shaw to Utopia.  I wonder what Emma's game is.  She insists that she didn't lie to Scott about Shaw -- instead, she merely has yet to tell him the truth -- but it seems like her hand is going to be forced next issue.  Why would she let Hope return with Shaw?  It seems like a bad idea.  But, then again, it's Emma, so I guess we'll see.  (The one negative about this issue is the presence of pet peeve #1, because, at no point, does Shaw attack Hope and Kenji.  Sigh...)

New Mutants #35:  It took me a while to realize what DnA were doing here.  By sending Blink and the New Mutants into a concert, it's a subtle reminder that "normal" young adults their age go to concerts all the time.  The New Mutants, however, go to Limbo all the time, so you can sort of see why Dani notes that they'll "try" moshing.  So, rather than this arc being just about some demonic rock band, DnA use said demonic rock band to remind us just how far the New Mutants have to go in terms of the "blending" Dani wants them to do with the rest of the world.  Damn, they're good.  In addition, DnA continue to soften the New Mutants' personalities and interactions.  We got pretty grim during "Fall/Rise of the New Mutants," and DnA are taking us back a step, making everyone like one another again.  I am really just so excited about their tenure on this series!  

Uncanny X-Men #3:  [Sigh.]  When I read issues like this one, I'm left to wonder just how much control the marketing department at Marvel has over authors.  This issue devolves into an advertisement for "Avengers vs. X-Men," with Sinister essentially having staged this entire fight merely to tell Hope that she'll become the Phoenix and Scott that he'll be more hated than even Sinister, outcomes, I'm left to assume, of this summer's event.  To drive home the point, Gillen is left to have the characters make all sorts of thinly-veiled comments about the Avengers being "obsolete" and the X-Men becoming the "world's premiere superteam."  It's all terribly boring.  I'm honestly left with no real clear idea of why Sinister did what he did, how exactly Emma defeated him, why Sinister stopped doing what he was doing, and why the Dreaming Celestial was involved.  "Disappointing" is probably too weak of a word.  I like Kieron Gillen a lot.  But, this issue just seemed to underline how "X-Men:  Schism" and its successor, "X-Men:  Regenesis," are too overtly a marketing exercise to promote the brand rather than an honest attempt to refresh the titles.  Marvel needs to let the authors spend more time telling a coherent story and less time pitching an impending event.  

Wolverine and the X-Men #3:  Honestly, I'm good with just this exchange between Bobby and Logan:  "There has to be a way to kill this thing!"  "We're all ears, Professor Snikt."  "Rachel, get Hank on the Iine."  Heh.  (Srsly, Professor Snikt.  Heh.)  But, Aaron goes beyond those quips to give us a pretty good story.  I liked Kid Omega saving the day in the end while at the same time not compromising his street cred.  Aaron moves him past the one-note prick he's been for most of his printed history.  I also thought the idea of Krakoa becoming an X-Man was sharp.  In fact, it makes you wonder just how different from Scott and his team Logan and his team are if their first response was to resort to violence when Krakoa attacked.  (Aaron doesn't necessarily draw that line here, but I think it's an interesting point.)  In truth, the kids so far are the most promising part of this story.  I totally dig Kid Gladiator.  I mean, sure, he's kind of a caricature at this point, but he's fun.  Like I said in the "New Mutants" review above, we're leaving behind some pretty dark times in the X-books, so any sort of levity is a good thing.  I'm equally fond of Brod, and I think Aaron will have plenty of opportunities to tell some great stories of Quentin trying to make friends.  The only negative I have to mention is that I thought the deus ex machina of having the inspectors from the Department of Education lose their memories was a little much.  Sure, Hank was charming, but, even if they didn't remember how it got that way, didn't they notice the school was in ruins?  I mean, why bother including this sub-plot if it's just going to be resolved in, like, two panels by a mindwipe?  But, it's early days, so I'm willing to cut Aaron some slack.