We’re back to deliver our batch of X-Title reviews for your mutant loving pleasure! Unless you’re too busy being creeped out by old Cyclops almost putting the moves on a very young Jean Grey. Then hopefully you’ll squeeze in some time to check out these reviews and maybe stay away from a horrible one. So, for those that are mutant lovin’ and proud, sit back as The Comic Book Clergyman, Spider-Man Geek & Infinite Speech return for your All-New Uncanny X-Piles!
All-New X-Men #26
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Stuart Immonen
Bendis never deprives his audience of the rational, character-driven moments we all imagine. When our favorite X-Men find themselves in the midst of tragedy or life-altering situations, you can count on Bendis to take a moment of reflection to remind us that these situations have dramatic effects on them. He does this often in this book.
After the events of “The Trial of Jean Grey,” the team is recuperating. It makes sense that Jean would be disturbed more than anyone at the most recent events, and without young Scott to comfort her, Bendis has old Scott come and spend some time with her. This scene borders on the inappropriate, as the older Scott and the young Jean have an intimate moment, but luckily, Bendis is aware of this and calls the point into question with Kitty confronting Scott about the appropriateness of him being alone with young Jean. This also serves to strengthen Kitty’s role as the one in charge of these kids.
Surprisingly, the other spotlight character in this issue who has been affected by young Cyclops’ decision to leave is X-23, who seems to be developing feelings for him. I feel like we needed a little more development of this relationship before Cyclops took off with his dad. Perhaps it would have made sense to have X-23 want to leave because of the recent events in Avengers Undercover, so leaving because of young Scott seems a bit forced. I really want to see X-23 and Cyclops develop into a good pair, as the X-Men are in need of a strong romantic pair since Scott/Emma, Kitty/Colossus, Scott/Jean, Jean/Wolverine, Gambit/Rogue, and so on aren’t happening these days.
The issue ends with a neat cliff-hanger, although it seems a bit too soon to bring back the characters that appear. Bendis leaves us with plenty to wonder about: What are those characters doing back? Who was behind X-23’s attack? Why can’t these kids go back to the past? How is Corsair alive at all? These things continue to keep me interested in this wonderful book.
Stuart Immonen is proving to be one of the great X-Men artists of all time. This is no hyperbole. He is crafting a visual tapestry that will allow X-Men fans for years to come to remember this era of the story forever, in the grand tradition of John Byrne, Paul Smith, Jim Lee, Joe Madureira, and Frank Quitely.
This book continues to be head-and-shoulders above the X-Men books and is a must-read for those who love the X-Men, new and old. –JJ
Rating: 9/10
Uncanny Avengers Annual #1
Writer: Rick Remender
Artist: Paul Renaud
It’s a pretty sure bet that a story involving a trip to Mojoworld won’t be your run of the mill superhero tale of good vs evil. So in that tradition, Remender delivers a much welcome break from the very intense and dire actions taking place in the main title and lightens the mood a bit here. Well, as much as it can be when Mojo has captured Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Satana, Doctor Strange, Blade, and Manphibian to form the Avengers of the Supernatural! This is his latest pitch to keep his job and the masses of Mojoworld entertained. Though, as par for the course, things go very wrong as the “reality” is a bit too real for one of the characters which starts to bring about the destruction of Mojoworld.
Now, Remender pretty much sticks to the Mojo formula here and that’s not a negative thing. He gives us the outlandish kind of set up that one can get away with in this type of story and the payoff is quite worth it. From the fight between the two teams to their debut in Mojo’s newest reality show the issue doesn’t stall. Mainly because we get to see the Unity Squad interact on a level that doesn’t have the impending end of the world scenario involved. We get a pretty humorous “fight” between a drunken Wolverine and Thor as well as some of the best dialogue in the issue.
The visuals are handled by Paul Renaud who gives a very strong and dynamic visual story here. Plus it was great to see Strange, Blade, Manphibian, & Satana as a group of friends playing D&D. There’s not panel here that falters either as it all comes together nicely to move Remenders story along. Plus you really can’t go wrong with a cover by Arthur Adams!
It’s off-beat, it’s humorous, and it’s a bit more fun than what we’ve seen with these characters since they came together. Remender proves that a break from the norm isn’t a bad thing especially when it looks this good as well. Now, can we just get the Avengers of the Supernatural some more exposure? – IS
Rating: 8.5/10
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
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