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 The Comic Book Clergyman, Infinite Speech and SpidermanGeek have to say about your favorite Marvel mutants’ adventures of the week and don’t forget to leave a comment to tell us what YOU think!
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All New X-Men #29
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Stuart Immonen
Bendis wraps up this arc in a fury of optic blasts, claws, and pschic attacks that end up leaving both teams scarred on several levels. This conclusion of the big fight sees “Baby Xavier” lose control of the Future Brotherhood and we see them come to terms with their actions as his puppet. Bendis also pushes some emotional buttons on the seasoned X-Men as Cyclops is trying to teach restraint while still dealing with Xavier’s death at his hands which is part of the reason for the attack. Through all of the emotional ups and downs and action we do get bits of humor along the way courtesy of Iceman and Deadpool of course. Bendis even has future Beast plead with the present McCoy to find a way to fix this problem and you actually want to believe the guy.
Immonen’s artwork is superb throughout the issue as he delivers quite a few heavy action sequences. There’s a large amount of characters here and it would be easy to get lost along the way. Thankfully this doesn’t happen here though some panel do look like they’re overflowing with action it’s all kept nice and tidy with the help of Grawbadger and Gracia on inks and colors.
The only negative I would have with this issue is that it seems like the bad guys found a way out which makes the ending a bit anticlimactic. Without oversimplifying things, sometimes time travel makes events a bit too easy to explain but leaves too many loose ends. -IS
Rating: 7.5/10
Amazing X-Men #9
Writers: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Artist: Carlo Barberi
Kyle and Yost do what they do best in this second part of World War Wendigo. They take a classic concept like the Wendigo curse, but take it up about a thousand notches by turning a whole town into the white, mythical beasts. We saw last issue that because of an argument between two meat-factory workers, one guy gets ground into the local meat, thus making everyone in the town susceptible to the flesh-eater curse of the Wendigo.
Kyle and Yost have also assembled a great team of X-Men here. First, you have the Canadian connection with Wolverine and Northstar. But you have the classic “new” X-Men, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Colossus, reunited. Toss in Iceman for comic effect, Rachel Grey because you have to have a telepath, and Firestar as the point-of-view newbie on the team, and you have a team that I would love to see continue in perpetuity.
The only downside to this issue is that Ed McGuinness didn’t draw it. I don’t particularly like art changes in the middle of an arc, and even though Carlo Barberi has a style reminiscent of McGuinness, it definitely feels like they got the second string here instead of the main player. I wouldn’t have complained if Barberi had started this arc, but once again, Marvel’s poor planning has made this issue suffer.
The end of the book is a cliffhanger, as Wolverine is turned into a Wendigo, which should create some excellent adventure. Hopefully the art will stabilize and this arc will be as “Amazing” as the previous ones. -JJ
Rating: 6/10
Deadpool #31
Writers: Gerry Duggan & Brian Posehn
Artist: John Lucas
To sum up, since we don’t review Deadpool too often on the X-Piles, the Merc with a Mouth brought Dazzler from her Disco era to present day where she is helping him get rid of Vampires while Agent Preston (aka, LMD Presbot) has tracked down Deadpool’s long-lost daughter, Ellie.
As far as Original Sin tie-ins go, the connection found in the Deadpool issues have been extremely weak. There is honestly no need to even slap the Original Sin logo on the cover. This is not to say that the story hasn’t been enjoyable to read, but it would probably stand better on its own rather than pretending that it’s all part of the bigger Marvel event.
I’ll give props to Posehn and Duggan for injecting the right amount of zaniness as well as a shocking amount of gore into this issue. It’s all perfectly suited for a Deadpool book, a book that I actually haven’t enjoyed all that much in the recent past, but now that Rocket Raccoon is taking the helm of oversaturating the comic book market shelves with his own title, guest appearances and one-shots it feels like it’s the right time to start picking up the adventures of Wade Wilson again. Deadpool’s supporting cast of characters compliment him very well, especially Agent Preston. She seems to bring something unique to the table and that’s saying a lot for a book that is chalked full of so much random crap. Deadpool #31 brings her bad-assery to the forefront.
What made this issue especially stand out this week is experiencing Agent Preston single-handedly taking on an U.L.T.I.M.A.T.U.M. strike team. It looks like artist John Lucas had a blast drawing these pages because they are beautiful and dynamically energetic. Remember that shocking amount of gore I mentioned earlier? Well this is where you’ll find it. Decapitations, dismemberments, broken bones and flying bathtubs. It’s all showcased here in glorious, vibrant colors. These are some truly fun, mayhem-filled pages to read.
The bottom line is that even if you haven’t been following Deadpool too closely and that this issue is kind of smack-dab in the middle of a story arc, it does showcase Agent Preston in a great fight sequence that’ll blow your socks off. If you’re a fan of hers, pick this up. The issue also has a great ending to entice you in coming back for next issue to see what Deadpool will do. -SMG
Rating: 7/10
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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
