Death Orb #4-#5: After reading issue #4, I re-read the first three issues of the series, then re-read issue #4, and finally proceeded onto issue #5. Needless to say, this mini-series was obviously written for the trade. But, even then, it's a little hard to keep all the characters straight. Ferrier doesn't really instill anyone with much of a personality; even Rider, our protagonist, really exists more as a sketch than a character. For example, our villain, Father, is aware of him in a way that implies they have a long history, but Ferrier doesn't explore that history at all. In fact, Ferrier doesn't really explore the plot of the mini-series all that much. If I'm following the breadcrumbs Ferrier leaves via Father's conversations with his minions, Father plans to wipe out the human race with a man-made comet and then raise a new race from the children born to the pregnant women he's kidnapped. But, we're not really given any insight into why he's taking these drastic steps in the first place. Moreover, Ferrier ends the mini-series with Rider's quest unfulfilled: Father apparently moved Rider's pregnant wife to another "hive" as punishment for his assault, and Rider is heading there next as we end. But, you have to wonder why Father didn't just kill her. After all, Ferrier spent the first few issues cultivating the sense that he was playing for keeps here; main characters would die, etc. Instead, Father leaves open the door for a happy ending for Rider, even though he had plenty of other potential pregnant women to provide him with babies. It doesn't read like a carefully thought-out denouement, but more like Ferrier hit his page limit and had to wrap up the story quickly. I can't say I recommend this one, to be honest.
Detective Comics #996: Tomasi really scrapes the bottom of the barrel here when it comes to Bruce’s mysterious opponent attacking people in his life. Bruce decides to check on his various mentors, but doesn't put two and two together to realize he could be leading his opponent straight to them. For example, Bruce finds the man who taught him to fight and hunt, Henri Ducard. Bruce thinks he might be the opponent, because apparently Damian killed his son at some point. It turns out Ducard isn't the opponent, but it doesn't matter, because the creature that attacked Leslie suddenly appears to kill Ducard. It's now a (pretty fucking cool) gestalt of all of Batman’s worst enemies, and Ducard sacrifices himself (by jumping in its body while exploding two grenades) to destroy it (at least temporarily). Not learning his lesson, Bruce then scales a mountain in North Korea where his fears are confirmed: the opponent has attacked the school of his former sensei, Kirigi, and killed everyone save one loyal student (who Bruce inexplicably fights). We end the issue with Bruce tracking down Thaddeus Brown, the escape artist who taught him and Mister Miracle how to escape binds. I get that Tomasi is trying to show us what a deep cut of Bruce's past he’s delivering. But, wouldn’t it make more sense for the opponent to be going after Jim Gordon, “Ric” Grayson, Barbara Gordon, Lucius Fox, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, or Damian Wayne? Instead, it seems like Ace the Bat-hound is next on the opponent's list.
Uncanny X-Men #10: I don’t really get what happened here.
Although I haven't been a huge fan of this series, I generally understand the story the authors had been telling, about X-Man using his suddenly reactivated powers to create a Utopia on Earth. The authors even actually explain how he got those powers by revealing the Life Seed appeared to Nate, though we're not told why it did so. Nate thinks it did for a reason, namely to create his Utopia. That part, I got.
In this issue, Jean and the telepaths manage to separate Nate from Legion, but in the process Jean winds up trapped in X-Man’s mind with him. She tries to reason with him, acknowledging that she and Scott should’ve done more to help him. I have to say, I don't totally buy her contrition here. I get Jean and Scott are theoretically his parents, but it reads more like Jean’s conversation with Nate Summers in “Extermination” #5. She and Scott did actually raise Cable, their biological (sort-of, in Jean's case) son. But, they didn’t raise Nate Grey; in fact, even their “Age of Apocalypse” analogues didn’t raise him. As such, Jean’s guilt here falls a little flat. But, I get Jean is just trying to calm down Nate, so I can live with it.
It's where the story goes next where it goes off the rails. Frustrated with Jean’s inability to understand his position, Nate uses the Life Seed’s powers to eliminate the X-Men. This "decision" makes no sense. It’s one thing to destroy the X-Men to achieve his goal of Utopia — I get that part. To his mind, the X-Men were preventing him from achieving his goal, so he destroyed them. But, he doesn't do that here. Instead, he destroys them as an end unto itself. He uses all that power not to improve the world, but simply to remove the X-Men. He didn't even believe the X-Men were the cause of all the evil in the world, which could explain his decision. Instead, he suddenly seems to revert to a child-like persona and lashes out that way.
Moreover, I have to roll my eyes at the idea that Nate creates the “Age of X-Man” in deciding to "destroy" the X-Men. If he really wanted to destroy the X-Men, it seems it wouldn’t take all his omnipotent powers to kill them. He obviously creates some sort of pocket Universe for them, but we have no idea why he would do that. Why not just kill them? Or, did someone else create that dimension? If so, who? The authors never even remotely address that issue, and it’s just one more odd decisions to add to the list of this events' odd decisions.
In other words, I'm not a fan. This series had pretensions of mimicking the incredibly successful "Avengers Disassembled" storyline, but it was mostly just a series of dei ex machina -- from Nate to Jamie to Legion -- fighting with each other. Our reward is yet another take on the "Age of Apocalypse." Oh, joy.
Also Read: Amazing Spider-Man #13; Conan the Barbarian #2; Return of Wolverine #4
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