Hello and welcome to another week full of reviews. I had ten books from this week (one was actually being held until Hawkeye #5 came in) so lets get to it!
First up is…Guardians of the Galaxy #22.
Publisher: Marvel
Writer(s): Dan Abnettt & Andy Lanning
Artist: Brad Walker (cover by Alex Garner)
This issue was nothing short of awesome and there is no other way to put it. Moondragon, who has been invaded or impregnated by some alien beast brought aboard Nowhere by the Luminals on a trip to the fault, has been kidnapped by The Universal Church of Truth. She and Cynosure, are chained to each other and it appears that the “birth” of this new god as the Church is calling it, is only moments away from emerging. At this point Star-Lord and the rest of the Guardians show up and start a rescue mission to save MoonDragon. They succeed in doing so by having Rocket Raccoon pilot Nowhere right into the Church’s base. After Drax kills the Matriarchs right hand man, Cardinal Raker, the Guardians take off with their comrades. Moondragon does however see Phyla-Vell, who is supposed to be dead. When the team gets back to base, Peter and MoonDragon have a conversation about her “seeing” Phyla. She tells him that since the deaths of the other team members at the hands of Magus, she has had psionic flashes about them and believes they are alive. The alien is removed from Phyla and Groot throws it out into space, but then we see how Magus is still alive and it looks like the once thought dead team members are alive to. They are shown floating around behind Magus in these sort of cocoons. Great issue as usual from A & L. I as well as everyone else reading this title have come to expect nothing less from this writing tandem. Walker is also doing a good job with replacing someone I thought was irreplaceable (Pelletier). 5/5
Next we have…X-Men Legacy #232 (Necrosha)
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Clay Mann (cover by Adi Granov)
This issue focuses on the team that was sent to Muir Island to check out Blindfold’s story. We see Magneto, who has been beat down by Proteus, and Nightcrawler is presumed dead from his hands as well. The rest of the team decides to try and get to the blackbird and warn Cyclops of Proteus’ activities. Proteus seems to be not so unlike an unstoppable god who’s very thoughts can be bent to his will. He first possesses Blindfold, then Kurt, then Betsy and so on until Magneto and Rogue seem to be the only ones not under Proteus’ control or beaten unconscious. Magneto begins to try and use his intellect to slow down the assault but he gets tossed around like a rag doll too. After everything seems hopeless though, Magneto decides to rip a piece of Earth up and put himself and Proteus in orbit to fight to the end. Great issue all around. 4/5
Get ready for…X-Force #23 (Necrosha).
Publisher: Marvel
Writer(s): Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Artist: Clayton Crain
Chapter Four of Necrosha brought us more of Selene’s mad plan to ascend to godhood. In this issue we see X-Force go up against Selene’s inner circle and get their butts handed to them. My personal favorite was Archangel going after Blink and Senyaka. Warren gets his wings “blinked” right off his back and screams in agony from the pain. Very good artwork from Crain on that page. There’s also a subplot with Rahne lying near death on a table with no one to save her and the baby inside her courtesy of the Asgardian Wolf Prince. Hrimhari begs Hela, ruler of the Asgardian equivalent of Hell, to save Rahne and the baby but she tells him she can only save one person in exchange for another’s life. He tells her to revive Elixir and take him because he knows Elixirs powers can save Rahne and the baby. Hela feels cheated but revives Elixir anyway then leaves with Hrimhari as was the deal. Warpath and Eli Bard fight until Warpath realizes that they cannot kill the dead. He makes a deal with Bard to retrieve the Spirit Blade so everyone else will be spared. Needless to say Bard and his crew get the blade and take Warpath back to Genosha as a gift to Selene. Next issue should be off the hook with the X-Men taking the fight to Selene. 4/5
Next up is…Wolverine Origins #44.
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Daniel Way
Artist: Doug Braithwaite
This book, if you didn’t already know is getting cancelled after the Romulus arc finally concludes. I for one am not happy about that but there is a silver lining. Usually when a book premiers or is winding down, the writing is better than in the middle of a series. In this issue we see Logan and Cloak spring Ruby Thursday from The Raft (an island prison for superheroes). Well, it’s like Logan say’s to Ruby, “it’s easier to get in then out”. Logan has a plan though. He gets all the security to fall back and then has his back-up bust through the prison wall. Oh yeah, his back-up is Skaar. The prison gets H.A.M.M.E.R. to authorize an agent to aid in stopping the prison break. The assistance comes in the form of Ares, God of War. A huge brawl ensues with these two heavyweights but Wolverine tells Skaar to stick to the plan and get out. Cloak has since gotten Ruby out of the prison but she doesn’t want to lay low like Logan said to. We see Ruby’s stupidity cost her dearly as Romulus is seen standing over her as if he has killed her and ruined Wolverines plans. Good issue! 4/5
Lastly I bring to you…Wolverine: Wendigo #1 (one-shot)
Publisher: Marvel
Writer: Frank Tieri
Artist: Paul Gulacy
This one-shot was pretty cool. It stated out showing a movie/ t.v. show being shot about The Wendigo and other myths. The set becomes a scene of grisly deaths of all the cast and crew except a cameraman and producer. They are questioned and at first don’t tell what they saw because they know people will think they’re crazy. They eventually break down and talk though. They tell the authorities how a Wendigo killed everybody and then a short hairy guy (Wolverine) saved them by cutting off the Wendigo’s arm. All in all it was a good read and there was a Thor and Wolverine story in the back as well. That was a tale about Wolverine getting drugged by Loki into fighting with Thor. 3.5/5
That’s it for this round but check back again asap because I’ve got more on the hot-stove for you!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
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Ruby Thursday? Really? Who decided to bring her back? Last time I saw her was in the WWH Heroes for Hire books..ugh!
Anyone besides me thinking that Necrosha just isn’t as big as it was hyped up to be?
@Speech-Necrosha has yet to live up to the hype. Part of the reason for me is Blackest Night going on at the same time. 🙁 And Ruby, yeah, couldnt they have thought of someone better? lol
Even if you take away BL I’m just thinking that Marvel should have underplayed their hand with Necrosha. I miss the quiet surprise of a great story arc that shakes things up. Yeah we get to see some dead characters come back to life but thats something Marvel does on a regular only this time it’s actually a plausable reason lol
Ahem, Wolverine is more than just a “short hairy guy” but thanks for the chuckle (and great write-up). I agree, too many dead-return-to-life plots get boring pretty quickly, maybe having them at least return to life in an alternate Universe for a change… the afterlife!
@IS-Yeah, I hear ya. It just never had one of those WoW moments.
@CBS-Thanks for stopping by. I don’t mind a ressurection if it’s done properly or from the beginning it’s understood that it’s only temporary. 🙂