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Welcome back ComicAttackers and X-fans to this week’s edition of The All-New Uncanny X-Piles where a handful of our merriest mutant loving reviewers have dropped by once again to regale you with their thoughts on that one X-Title that has impacted them the most, be it good or bad, from last week’s releases. So keep reading, true believers, to discover what InfiniteSpeech, SpidermanGeek, and The Comic Book Clergyman have to say about your favorite Marvel mutants’ adventures and don’t forget to leave a comment to tell us what YOU think!

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Amazing X-Men #5
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Ed McGuinness

Jason Aaron knows that if you are going to bring back a dead character, which is a major X-Men trope, you have to also take something away. That’s the whole crux of this final issue of the “Quest for Nightcrawler”.

The stakes are high as the X-Men take on a slew of Azazel’s pirate demons in the battle of everyone’s souls. The action is intense, and some really cool fight sequences happen. It’s great to see Wolverine be vulnerable without his healing factor, and that plays into the story here. Although I must say, for someone who doesn’t have a healing factor, he’s doing pretty well after being stabbed with a sword.

But the real twist that makes this story move in an excellent way, is that Nightcrawler devises a plan to trap Azazel in the real world, but at the cost of his own soul. So now we have Nightcrawler back, but it will be interesting to see how he will be handled without the one thing that makes him unique in the X-Men.

This team of X-Men is really fun. Having Firestar on the team is just a perfect fit. It’s a well-balanced cast and even if they tweak the members a bit, as long as Firestar and Nightcrawler are featured here, I’m on board.

McGuinness absolutely rocks. His work on this story has been the best work of his career, in my opinion, and the stuff before this was stellar. This issue is just beautiful to look at, and Dexter Vines’ inks bring a clean, distinct clarity to the X-Men.

Overall, this was the best way for Nightcrawler to return, and I applaud Aaron and McGuinness for handling it so well. –JJ

Rating: 8.5/10

Savage Wolverine #16
Writer: Richard Isanove
Artist: Richard Isanove

Wrath, Part 3. It’s 1933 in Minnesota and even 80 years ago, trouble just seems to follow Logan wherever he goes. A French gangster kills a longtime friend of Logan’s and kidnaps his daughter. Naturally, Logan rescues the girl, Sofia, and is now on the run with her and her siblings, Peter, Matt, and Vicki, the latter of which has fallen terribly ill. Peter wanders off in search of medicine which forces Logan to go find him, but what he finds instead is more trouble, with the law. Logan surrenders as long as he’s allowed to bring Sofia with him. They agree and we kick-off this issue with Wolverine in a jail cell.

Richard Isanove has crafted a unique adventure for Wolverine. As much as everyone loves to see him in yellow tights doing his superhero thing, we sometimes forget that Logan has been around since before there was even such a thing as superheroes. The setting is perfectly tailored to Isanove’s strengths. Readers might be more familiar with Richard’s collaborations on The Dark Tower series, but Savage Wolverine seems to be the artist’s first published work that has him tackling every aspect of the story. Scripts, pencils, inks and colors. That’s what the Savage Wolverine title is all about really. One creator, one story across a handful of issues.

Isanove’s script is better than his art in this instance. Reading about what Wolverine was getting himself into in the 1930’s is always a fun break from present day Earth-616. The supporting cast is compelling and diverse and there are plenty of characters in play that you can chose to love to hate or hate to love. Richard also has a good grasp on who Logan is, especially a pre-WWII/Vietnam/Weapon X Logan.

The artist’s panel layouts and colors are strong. Isanove knows how to set the tone and tell a great story, visually. The weakest links here are the pencils and inks. They’re just not as crisp as they could be, in my opinion.

The bottom line is that, so far, Wrath is an enjoyable tale that merits inclusion in the Wolverine mythos. Richard Isanove is a very capable writer as well as a tremendous storyteller. Art wise, it may not be his absolute best work, but it certainly isn’t worthy of dismissal either. – SMG

Rating: 8/10

Uncanny Avengers #18.NOW
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Daniel Acuña

Last issue, Remender let the bad guys win in a very big way which resulted in the destruction of the Earth. And I don’t mean leaving it in a post-apocalyptic state with barren wastelands and contaminated water type of ending. I’m talking about total Alderaan destruction taking place here! That’s right folks, the Earth is no more but every mutant was saved by the Apocalypse Twins and are now living the good life.

Now, some time has passed between issues but Havok is determined to set things right even if it means going against his mutant brethren. Chased by a very different version of X-Force he and Wasp are determined to destroy the Tachyon Transmitter. If they’re successful they will be able to get the help they need from a time traveling Immortus. Rememder keeps this a fast paced issue with some great action and violence along the way. As usual the dialogue is strong and we get hints as to how certain things have developed over time, effectively bringing us up to speed. Remender also left us with one hell of a cliff-hanger when we get to see who showed up to help fix everything.

As far as what you’ll get visually, this is another fine looking issue from Acuña. This style has definitely grown on me and he keeps up with the pacing of the narrative quite perfectly. Also, the new character designs were subtle and not too far from what we’re used to seeing from the well-known characters. The Wasp also does some serious damage to Magneto and it looks brutal when Acuña finally reveals the results of the attack.

Uncanny Avengers seems to be getting lost in the shuffle when it should definitely be one of the books on top. And despite its missteps here and there it’s been one of the more consistently surprising titles on the Marvel roster since the whole Marvel NOW launch. Sure, we know the characters that died will return somehow but the fact that Remender killed off some very high profile heroes and villains without making it seem forced or expected should be applauded. If this story was going to be the new status quo of the Marvel Universe then Remender just showed you how it should be done! – IS

Rating: 8/10

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What did you think about this week’s X-books? Let us know below! You can check out more X-Piles right here!

infinitespeech@comicattack.net – @InfiniteSpeech
jeff@comicattack.net – @FrJeffJackson
spidermangeek@comicattack.net – @SpidermanGeek