Back with some more reviews to chat about, and I’m trying to get back up to speed. I’m two weeks behind so lets get right to it. All X-titles in this batch, so here we go.
First up is…X-Men Origins: Cyclops #1 (one-shot).
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Stuart Moore
Artist: Jesse Delperdang (cover by Adi Granov)
OK, so this was a one-shot just like all the previous origin books, but it was very different in one aspect in particular…it was really good! Don’t get me wrong, there were a couple others that were OK, but this one was really good. It showed the story of Scott and Alex having to jump out of their parents’ burning airplane with just one parachute. After that harrowing experience, the boys hid when they heard a helicopter, but when Scott saw it was help he came out of hiding. One thing I didn’t quite understand though was why didn’t Alex come out of hiding when Scott said it was OK? We then flash forward to Scott at 17 years old, having trouble with his powers getting out of control. He then meets Charles Xavier and the training begins. The best part of the book though by far was when the X-Men were battling Magneto, and Scott gets cut off from the rest of the team and has a one-on-one conversation/confrontation with the master of magnetism. Very good stuff in that sequence. 4/5
Next up is…Psylocke #3 of 4.
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Chris Yost
Artist: Harvey Tolibao (cover by David Finch)
This issue was a lot better than the last one because it showed us more of who this mystery guy is that also wants to kill Matsu’o. The man’s name is Jinn, and according to Psylocke he isn’t human or mutant. He seems to be able to create and control fire psionically. She tries to reason with him instead of fighting, but he isn’t having it. The two combatants go back and forth at each other viciously, and we see flashbacks from Psylocke’s past with Matsu’o, and also some of Jinn’s dealings with him as well. Jinn gets away to find Matsu’o, and Psylocke is left to once again KO Yukio, who has woken up from being unconscious from last issue. The fight is about to continue on a cliff where Matsu’o is talking with a nurse. He reveals to Psylocke that he has been cut apart by someone and just wants to die. The last page does reveal who the person is who did this to him, but I’m not telling! 3.5/5
Lastly I have…Nation X #2 of 4.
Publisher: Marvel
Writer (s):CB Cebulski, Jim McCann, John Barber, Tim Fish, and Becky Cloonan
Artist (s): Mike Choi, David Lopez, Tim Fish, Becky Cloonan (cover by Dustin Weaver)
This issue was a little disappointing for me personally compared to the first. Three out of the four stories had sub-par artwork in my opinion, and only one had a good story too. The first story was about Jubilee meeting up with the Young X-Men, and them catching up on what’s going on in Utopia. They talk about who’s there and what they’re doing, but the best part was Rockslide making a comment every time someone mentioned a hot chick. All goes well until Surge shows up and starts to give Jubilee grief because she lost her powers. After some back and forth, Surge and Jubilee seem to stop arguing and make peace. The second story shows Quentin Quire (Kid Omega) telling Martha Johansson (a brain inside a jar) that he is going to kill everyone on Utopia in eight minutes. She first tries to use Iceman to tell someone, but Quire is ready for that and stops her. She tries again to use another mutant to stop him, but he’s one step ahead of her. She then contacts the Stepford Cuckoos and they stop him with relative ease. The third was a story about Northstar being uber-gay. Yeah, seriously, a really stupid, over-the-top, “I’m gay” story. If I was for gay rights (which I’m not, and no I don’t want to get into a philosophical debate about it either) this would have made me annoyed. It was so intentionally written to point out a gay superhero, it was terrible. Lastly, there was a Gambit story. It showed the Cajun hi-jack a boat and go to the mainland. While he’s there, he stumbles upon some thugs beating up a dude that they say is running supplies to the island of freaks. Of course Gambit steps in and stops them. Yay for Gambit. He does have a nice conversation with the gentleman about how his daughter was a mutant but died on M-day when she lost her powers. Overall I wasn’t impressed at all with this book from any angle. 2.5/5
OK, well that’s it for now, but hopefully I’ll post more reviews later tonight or tomorrow. Make Mine Marvel!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
That X-Men Origins: Cyclops #1 looks interesting. Especially the special time that Scott and Magneto steal for some girl talk.
That Nation X story just plain sucked! The Jubilee story was the only part of the book worth reading and i totally agree about the Northstar story. He was just written horribly and over the top. I skipped the Cyclops story because it just didnt feel necessary to me. I’m not seeing the point of these origin stories when the only new thing introduced is a page or two of new info but then again they probably aren’t aimed at longtime readers like myself.
I also liked the Cyclops book but thought Psylocke lost a little steam when compared to the previous two. I’m a Jubilee fan so I liked her story in Nation X (kinda wished she re-joined the team though). Sorry to hear you aren’t for gay rights.
@Eli-Hey now, don’t talk about your hero Magneto that way. lol
@Speech-Yeah, that Nation X did suck with exception to the Jubilee story. The origin stories are just Marvel trying to make extra coin. tough economy ya know.
@Andy-I thought there was a drop-off in PSylocke from 1 to 2 but this one was good. Especially the writing. My only question is, If that Jinn guy isn’t human or mutant, what is he?
Glad to hear XMO: Cyclops is good. I was considering picking it up earlier, but wanted to wait to see how it was. Maybe I’ll pick it up soon.