** (two of five stars)
Summary
- Strange awakens to discover that Garrok has captured her and wants the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. He exposits that he had been a mighty sorcerer, but his powers drove him mad and he wound up getting resurrected as the spirit of the Savage Land. Strange fights Garrok with Umi's help, but Garrok compensates for his lack of power (compared to Strange) with skill, defeating Strange. He then turns her into stone and claims the role of Sorcerer Supreme.
- The little kid from Reed's lab finds Metalhead and leads him to the unconscious Cerebra. He runs to find Xi'an and pleads with him to help her. Xi'an isn't in a great rush to help but eventually agrees to do so, though they have to wait to see if his intervention helps. Victor asks if Xi'an is willing to take up Cerebra's dream of bridging the schism between humans and mutants, but an angry mob of humans arrives before he can answer. The leader says that his daughter told him that the "muties" were plotting against him (as seen last issue) and that the only mutant "worth spit" (Cerebra) is almost dead. Victor offers himself as the first sacrifice in the war between humans and mutants because he'd rather die than watch another civilization self-destruct. The humans are shamed into leaving and Victor tells Xi'an that he should try reasoning with them in the future.
- On Mars, December, Dr. Isaac, and Smith are taken hostage by the Takers. At their lair, the trio discovers that the Takers stole Ares' equipment with the same goal in mind: terra-forming Mars. (We also get confirmation that the Takers were the ones who initially invaded the team's spaceship in issue #1.) However, they're startled by a girl screaming for her mother and follow her to find a cavern full of corpses. December and Smith attack, thinking that they've killed Twilight, but one of the Takers takes (heh) Dr. Isaac hostage. However, Twilight arrives, telling them that they're attacking their newfound friends.
- Magus attacks Doom and Spidey, telling them that the Scout has arisen and the "rebirth is at hand." He exposits that the Scout's awakening will activate the legion of Phalanx embryos brought to Earth from the planetoid and that they'll feast on humans. Spidey attacks, thinking that Doom will help, but Doom instead escapes with Xina. She accuses him of cowardice, but Doom reveals that the Phalanx will soon be able to infiltrate his armor, since he's now bonded to it. Since he lost his leverage over Magus (who discovered the Scout's location), he tells Xina to infect him with the techno-organic virus so that he can fight it and purge his system of it, possibly eliminating the Phalanx for good. Spidey manages to fight his way to the lab where they're located and he and Xina watch as Doom emerges from the test.
- Underground, La Lunatica surfaces from the lagoon, announcing that Nostromo is in a cocoon. Jade decides to investigate, using her technological expertise to make sure that he's OK. Hodge says something derogatory about Jade and, as a result, Bloodhawk (who loves her) attacks him. La Lunatica stops him from killing Hodge just as Jade and Nostro emerge from the lagoon. Nostro is revealed to have become part of the Phalanx. Doom's men spring from the shadows to claim him, but Winn gets there first, revealing that he's always been a member of the Phalanx.
- Wulff murders a number of guards on the way to the Big Boss, to Uproar's shock. However, Fiona tells him that Wulff was originally the Boss' assassin. Uproar is appalled, since Wulff is just a kid. Uproar worries about whether he can save Wulff as they burst into the Big Boss' sanctuary. He's revealed to be the Vulture and he announces that he's ready for them since Fiona told him that they were coming. Uproar (who had started to have feelings for her) expresses shock as she cries and the Vulture prepares to attack.
The Review
OK, I've been hard on Kelly and Raab, but they're slowly starting to pull it together. This issue is still a mess, but, the further into this series you get, the more you begin forgetting about the world that came before it. The problem is that I remain invested only in two stories: Miguel's (though not because the story itself is all that interesting) and Uproar and Wulff's. We're got four other stories that just seriously drag. Even as Kelly and Raab start to tie some of these stories together (as I mention later in this review), I'm still hard pressed to say that I actually care about the characters involved. I'm sure that other readers of this series had the same problem, the fact that you're really only here for the one or two stories that relate to the characters that you followed in the ongoing series, but you're saddled with the extra four or five stories along the way.
The Good
1) We begin to see some of the various sub-plots start to relate to one another, as it becomes clear that the alien that Bloodhawk and his team encountered underground is from the same race as the Takers that the X-Nation kids encounter on Mars. (However, I'm still not sure what the connection between the Takers and the Phalanx is, though one clearly exists.) Moreover, it seems like Nostro is actually the Scout, since both Doom's men and Winn (a Phalanx agent) were on him immediately when he transformed into a Phalanx.
2) OK, I didn't expect the Vulture to be the Big Boss, but it totally fits. In fact, it sort of raises him up a level and I'm all for that.
The Bad
1) I totally don't get what happens with Xi'an. He's decided to become some detached Zen master because he's frustrated with the difficult of achieving Xavier's dream. OK, sure. But, when Metalhead tries to enlist him to help Cerebra, he burns him "because he can." What? What does being a Zen master have to do with inflicting harm on a friend seeking help for another friend? He then seems disappointed when his attempt to heal Cerebra isn't "excruciating," as he thought that it would be. What the what?
2) I'm also not entirely sure why the Takers are keeping the colonialists' children as hostages. I think that Kelly and Raab will get there, but, at this point, I'm rapidly losing interest.
3) Speaking of losing interest, I still have no idea how the Strange story relates to anything. At this stage, she's really the outlier and the pages and pages dedicated to her story seems better spent on the stories that further the plot. (We might even be able to get in some characterization!)
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