Age of X-Man Alpha #1: This issue is pretty solid, particularly given how much I didn't enjoy the "X-Men Disassembled" storyline in "Uncanny X-Men." Thompson and Nadler do an excellent job of not only laying out this reality's status quo, but also introducing the forthcoming mini-series that will comprise the storyline itself. They manage to do so without sacrificing characterization and somehow also injecting the issue with its own tension. In other words, it's an impressive debut.
-- People are no longer born, they’re hatched. This fact is unexpectedly at the core of this series, as all the events in this issue radiate in some way from that axiom. After hatching, children are raised in “Cerebros” until their ninth "hatchday" when they’re moved to the Summers Institute for further study. Warren runs the Institute.
-- Bishop is uncomfortable with his sexual relationship with Jean, not only because it’s forbidden but because he has the nagging sense he’s done it before. After Bishop returns to his room, the X-Tremists (Iceman, Psylocke, and a mutant named Moneta) appear to arrest him because he’s had sex with Jean three times, in violation of the “Guiding Principles.” Moneta uses her powers — appendages that go through the nose and ears and attach to the brain — to read his mind. She determines that he’s irredeemable, and he’s “excommunicated,” meaning all memories of him are erased. Even Jean doesn’t remember him even though, as Storm says, she remembers everything. Moreover, he's seamlessly replaced (even in a portrait) by Honey Badger. It definitely shows X-Man's (I think?) ability to alter reality on a moment-to-moment basis.
-- At some point in the past, Hope and her team of X-Men sacrificed themselves for a reason not yet made clear. Afterward, something called the “Resolution” happened. It’s unclear if she’s responsible for the day every person on Earth became a mutant, but she’s so revered people say things like, “Hope knows I’ve earned that drink.
-- Nightcrawler is a prominent actor, but he’s cagey about his past, including an incident involving Mastermind.
-- Colossus is missing an arm, and he hints that the day when every person on Earth became a mutant wasn’t as happy as X-Man makes it seem in a conversation with Nature Girl. Bishop also talks about how everyone doesn’t want to focus on the past because it was so ugly. Given all the hatchlings, if you will, live in what seems like only two Cerebros, it feels like a lot of people died.
-- The issue ends with the X-Men discovering that Apocalypse is running a cult that preaches free love, a revolutionary concept in this world.
In other words, it's all pretty trippy. I use that term specifically because the themes and the art make it clear the 1960s inspired the creative team, which makes sense given Nate's peacenik talk in "Uncanny X-Men." I've subscribed to "Marvelous X-Men," "Prisoner X," and "X-Tremists," and, I'll be honest, I'm more excited than I expected to be about them.
Amazing Spider-Man #14: I’ve mentioned a few times that I’ve enjoyed Spencer’s run on the title, but that it’s been missing something. From a technical standpoint, it's been fine in terms of characterization and plot, but it lacked...heart. Spencer finds that "heart" in the form of a sassy Aunt May. She’s on fire here. When JJJ, Sr.'s lawyer tells her she's broke and then makes a pass at her, she dumps his soup on his head. She scolds him for thinking she'd jump into bed with him just because she needed money and leaves in a well deserved huff. Outside, she notices some kids trying to fight a reluctant bum for money, and she uses a hologram inducer Peter gave her to scare them. But, she goes one better, returning to the restaurant with the homeless guy and telling the waiter to put their dinner on the lawyer's tab. Is it old-school May? No. Is it more like “Marvel’s Spider-Man’s” Aunt May? Yes. But, I’m all for it. It continues on Spencer’s theme of bringing us back to basics. Along those lines, Peter and MJ have a bizarrely awesome dinner with the fully Lizardized Connors family in the sewers. He then has a team-up with a now-legit Rhino who crashes through the restaurant where May is eating as he flees Taskmaster and Black Ant. With a better sense of tone and heart, Spencer is starting to hit his stride here.
Captain America #7: Coates turns this issue into an extended meditation on what democracy means. I mean, it isn’t actually about democracy. But, Steve decides to surrender to the authorities because, as he tells Sharon, he’s living in the world people want. Coates doesn’t name John McCain specifically here, but reading this issue the week CPAC jeered his name drove home the comparison. Steve is living in a world where a nutjob like Thunderbolt Ross gets to be a martyr, where the Kingpin is the mayor of New York, where Roxxon and Hammer Industries are sponsoring academies in New York, where Baron Strucker is running a private prison. HYDRA doesn’t need to take over America, because America gave itself away. But, Sharon isn’t going down without a fight, and Coates brilliantly introduces the Daughters of Liberty here. You don’t usually see Jessica Drew and Sue Richards in a “Captain America” comic, but Coates makes you ask why we haven't. I am excited to see where we go from here.
West Coast Avengers #7: Seriously, this series is the best one on the stands. I have no idea how long it takes Thompson to write each issue, but she clearly spends a lot of time making sure everything each character says or does is the perfect distillation of their persona. Gwen adopting one of MODOK's shark-dogs? Check. America wisely noting the camera crew miraculously wasn't on hand when they got kidnapped? Check. Clint expressing some world-weary optimism that maybe, just maybe, the team isn't a complete disaster? Check. Fuse worrying about how hot Noh-Varr is? Check. Noh-Varr...looking really fucking hot in Quentin's too small t-shirt? Check. Kate just wanting some peas and a nap? Check. But, Thompson even goes one step further in this issue, as she applies the same studious eye to the new "Masters of Evil" of Los Angeles. She isn't just giving us cookie-cutter villains who spout long speeches about their evil-doing. Each villain has a motive and a personality and it's just as unclear how they'll work together as it is how the West Coast Avengers will. I can't remember any comic treating a super-villain team as basically the "through the mirror, darkly" version of the superhero team in such a characterization-based way. As I said, it's the best book on the stands.
Also Read: Detective Comics #997; X-Force #2
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