New Comics!: The X-Edition (HERE BE SPOILERS!)

Generation Hope #17:  I was wondering how Asmus was going to bring Kenji's revolt to an end without essentially causing another schism between the X-Men on Utopia.  The answer, that he had been manipulating everyone the whole time, was clever, because it made him into a clear hypocrite (and a more clear bad guy) and it isolated him as the sole agitator.  It allowed for the revolt to die once he was eliminated, despite the fact that several people didn't really need his encouragement to revolt in the first place.  (Along those lines, I was surprised we don't see a scene between Cyclops and Emma, since I'm pretty sure Emma fell in the "there of her own accord" camp, and you'd have to imagine Cyclops wouldn't have exactly been happy about that.  But, I'm guessing we'll see that conversation, or a version of it, elsewhere during "Avengers vs. X-Men.")  Asmus does a good job of showing real contrition on the part of Hope, something that pretty effectively brings this plot (Hope controlling the Lights) to an end.  It'll be interesting to see where it all goes from here.  Even if Hope does actually abide by her commitment not to use her power over the Lights in the future, the fact that she admitted having done so shows her potential as a threat (something of which we're not so subtly reminded by the photo of the Dark Phoenix in Shaw's file).  Although the issue dragged at times under the weight of the necessary exposition, Asmus livened it up a bit with Gabriel and Pixie; I particularly liked Gabriel talking about his realization, when he became a superhero, that one of his friends would inevitably go through a super-villain phase and Pixie teleporting away Magneto.  (Though, I will say, I thought Magneto was Team Hope, so I was confused that he seemed to be Team Kenji, particularly since I doubt Kenji could've successfully manipulated him.)  Before I finish, let me rave about Miyazawa's art.  Wow.  He draws pretty stark lines that add a certain grimly realistic grativas to the scenes, something that matched the tone of this issue perfectly.  All in all, it was a pretty good ending as we segue into "Avengers vs. X-Men."

When I first wrote this review, I hadn't realized the series had been canceled.  I was actually planning on dropping it after "Avengers vs. X-Men," to be honest.  I've always enjoyed it (except for, you know, Hope), but I was having a hard time justifying the $2.99 a month.  To me, Gabriel was really the only break-out star and I hope we see him somewhere else soon.  I'm figuring Laurie will appear at the Jean Grey School soon, since she pretty much only stayed to keep Hope honest, similar to Storm staying with Cyclops.  All in all, it was a decent series that enjoyed consistently good writing and art and helped flesh out some important details about Hope while introducing some new characters into the fold.  Not bad for 17 issues!  Moreover, I hope Marvel keep Asmus and Miyazawa together; I could particularly see them doing great work on a new "Nova" series (hint, hint, Marvel).

New Mutants #39:  This issue felt like the old-school "New Mutants" to me.  Maybe it's because we've returned to Paradise Island, where the death of Doug occurred, something that scarred me as a teenager reading the old series.  Maybe it's because the way the team behaved had a similar vibe, slightly less adult than they've been depicted lately (maybe because of all those raging hormones) but still fairly serious.  Maybe because it still had elements of fun, despite the grim situation in which the team found itself, because of Warlock's fairly hilarious narration.  (I loved when he kept focusing on smiling a lot in order to encourage the team to follow his leadership.)  Maybe it's because DnA finally did something interesting with Amara and Bobby, something that made Bobby feel like Bobby and not the love-sick fool we've seen over the course of this new series.  (When I say "finally," I don't mean it as a criticism of DnA, since they really just picked up this book.  I mean it more as a criticism of the fact that we've been watching this largely one-side relationship burn up pages upon pages for the last 38 issues.  Having Dani tell Nate that Amara does love Bobby, finally making it a two-way relationship, was a major step.  It might not end with them getting together, but it at least moves forward this plot.)  Maybe it's because DnA have Dani and Nate get caught holding hands, a juvenile moment to be sure, while at the same time using it to show the larger threat.  But, at the end of the day, it felt like it used to feel reading the original "New Mutants" series, and I can't think of any higher praise than that.

Uncanny X-Men #9:  Seriously, I'm starting to believe that Kieron Gillen isn't actually writing this series any more.  Maybe he's like Tom Clancy or Clive Cussler or Robert Ludlum, and they just sort of slap his name on the book to get people to buy it, while the real work is done by an unnamed drone.  At least, I'm at the point where I'm hoping it's the case, because it's just too difficult to believe that someone that used to write such fun and interesting stories is now producing such dull and formulaic drivel.  I don't even know where to begin with this issue.  First, the obvious statement is that an Avengers/X-Men team-up issue should not be this dull.  It's hard to put my finger on the problem, exactly.  I mean, the conceit of the issue -- tracking down villains who escaped from S.W.O.R.D.'s inter-galatic prison -- is pretty solid in terms of the possibility for a rollicking good time.  But, in practice, this issue is remarkably dull.  It could be because the actual action -- the team-up episodes themselves -- happens in a series of four panels.  We're essentially told what happens; we never get to see it.  You can tell it's a rush job in advance of "Avengers vs. X-Men," since I think it's clear that these stories could've been told in a much more enjoyable (and engaging) way over the course of five or six issues, not the two, maybe three, issues that we're going to get here.  I mean, I would really like to see a Magneto/Spider-Man team-up story, not just get told that a lot of quips happened during it.  Given how dreadfully dull the Tabula Rasa story was in the last few issues, I'm surprised Marvel wasted time with it and didn't green light using those issues and the ones actually dedicated to this arc to tell a pre-"Avengers vs. X-Men" story, the "last team-up" that we were promised in the promos.  Then, we could've gotten the longer five- or six-issue arc, and I probably wouldn't have been left feeling cheated of an actual story.  Second, I found it hard to take "Unit" seriously as a threat.  I mean, he essentially looks like the Silver Surfer's board if the top half developed a body.  His power appears to be controlling people, but he doesn't seem to have much else going in his favor.  Moreover, he doesn't seem all that removed from the Savage from the Tabula Rasa story; we've got yet another alien who learned our language quickly.  Seriously, I just don't know what else to say.  I'll stay with this series through "Avengers vs. X-Men" and then I'm going to have to seriously re-assess whether I stay with it, something I never thought I'd be saying about "Uncanny X-Men."  But, at $3.99, Marvel needs to offer me something better than it has. 

X-Factor #233:  I don't have a lot to say about this issue because it's standard David strong.  I thought it was a great move getting the team off-site so that we delay the inevitable Alex/Madrox confrontation.  Similarly, I enjoyed David underscoring the change by bringing in Val.  I wonder if the team is going to break along Val and Wolverine lines, something that would definitely help David juggle ten characters on one team.   At any rate, David manages to make progress on these various sub-plots while giving us a fun one-and-done story.  Solid.