The Realm #9: This issue moves along pretty quickly and it's not a good thing for our crew. Zach makes his way down the dark, narrow tunnel we saw open at the end of last issue and seems to fall to his death, igniting his resurrection powers. That said, he seems to remember his previous life here, as he recognizes Molly, so I'm not sure if that's exactly what happened, since it all occurred off-screen. Elsewhere, Johnny Eldritch hires someone named MacInnis and his band to track down Will and the team. Meanwhile, the master of the fire-mouthed goblins -- who appears to be a different race from the goblins -- reveals they captured Will because they can see the creature inside him "like a candle in the dark." The Cr+eee-like creature on the master's shoulder asks how it's possible for Will to contain the creature, leading him to wonder if Will is "el'odai" and is merely wearing a man's shape. The master assumes Will isn't el'odai, but they threaten to torture Will to learn the truth. Will truly seems not to be able to control his powers, as the master himself notes, since he likely would've used them previously. (It's also not entirely clear he knows he has them.) But, the torture appears to awaken the creature, and the issue ends with Molly and the team opening a door, possibly just as the creature emerges from Will. Good times!
X-Men: Blue #36: This series was always superior to Guggenheim's run on "X-Men Gold." Bunn was probably at his best when he left the kids in space and focused on telling Havok's story. Despite Guggenheim's intentions, it was these stories where the X-Men seemed the closest to their Claremont origins. Bunn spends this issue wrapping up loose ends, going so far as having Jean say they're doing so. The oddest part, though, is that this issue came out the same week as "Extermination" #3, as the events of this issue lead directly into the start of "Extermination" #1. But, I guess I'm beyond having faith in Marvel's editors telling a coherent story. Bunn was a capable steward of the X-Men's name, and I hope he feels like it was time well spent. That said, it definitely seems time for the original X-Men to go. Combined with Guggenheim randomly recycling Claremont stories, it feels like it's been a long time since we had an honest-to-goodness X-Men series. Needless to say, I'm excited about the relaunch of "Uncanny X-Men."
X-Men: Red #8: One of the most interesting constants of the X-Men is Jean Grey's fluctuating abilities. It doesn't matter what author writes her, Jean is near omnipotent when she needs to be and useless when it suits the plot. Here, she's unable to link Honey Badger and Trinary's minds while also fending off an attack from Cassandra Nova. That being said, I mostly liked the conclusion of this issue, as Trinary uses her powers to turn the power of hate against itself. (It was like reading "Dragonlance Chronicles" again.) The only curious part is the X-Men's decision to let Cassandra Nova stay free. It seems unrealistic, with all their experience, that they would believe Storm really wiped her off the map in Genosha. You'd think they'd at least go check. As a result, they also leave Forge under her control, and it also seems weird they never put two and two together to realize Nova herself would unlikely have the technological power to do what Forge (almost) accomplishes here. But, like all Marvel series lately, this series is ending soon, so it hardly matters.
Also Read: Detective Comics #989; Extermination #3; Marvel 2-in-One #10; Old Man Hawkeye #9; Star Wars: Doctor Aphra #24
No comments:
Post a Comment