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Welcome once again, X-ophiles, to another x-citing x-cursion into the x-uberant world of the Uncanny X-Piles! It was a lighter week for Andy & Jeff this week, thanks be to Xavier! This edition of the X-Piles also features our first inclusion of our “Most X-Cellent Pick of the Week!” So get on your feet and x-hibit some x-citement before I come up with another x-word!

Daken: Dark Wolverine #1
Writers: Daniel Way & Marjorie Liu
Artist: Giuseppe Camuncoli

This issue was…ok. It felt like a direct continuation of Dark Wolverine #90 where all Daken did was walk around messing with people, evoking his prowess upon them while acting like the king of the world. He’s a voyeur, we get it already- now actually have him DO something. The themes here are much the same: he hates Wolverine and wants to kill him, he likes sexualizing women, and he gets pleasure out of killing. Besides issuing Daken a new costume (which was created by a fashion designer mind you!), this issue didn’t really do much for me. Which sucks because I really want to like Daken, but his character’s lack of doing anything significant is hindering his actual character development. How long has he wanted to kill Wolverine? How long has he been talking about making his life his own, stepping out of Logan’s shadow, and taking the reins himself? A long time! So lets see him do it already! -AL

X-Force: Sex & Violence #3 (of 3)
Writer: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Artist: Gabriele Dell’Otto

I got to the end of this issue when it hit me…this is the last issue of the Kyle/Yost run on X-Force. I’m pretty down about this fact, as Kyle & Yost have been consistently awesome on their X-Men runs including New X-Men and X-Force. I still think they should be writing the flagship title, as they have proven they know continuity, they know the voices of the X-Men, and they know how to tell an epic tale over a long run. Sigh. Lest I fall into deep depression over all of this, I will say that they once again knocked it out of the park with Sex & Violence. This issue had everything that was fantastic about their run. Lots of action, lots of gratuitous violence, some laugh-out-loud moments, and the entirety of X-Force kicking major ass. Logan and Domino find themselves in one heck of a mess in between the Assassin’s Guild and the Hand. There are baddies all around, they are close to death, and then with simple “VT,” the whole of X-Force–X-23, Archangel, Elixir, Vanisher, and Warpath–comes crashing in to do some major damage and save the day. This story is quick and tight, with an incredibly satisfying ending. Dell’Otto’s art is violent and beautiful, which fits perfectly. Overall, this is such a great ending to a great creative team on a great bunch of characters. Remender and Opena have some big shoes to fill, as do Psylocke, Deadpool, and Fantomex on the team. -JJ

X-Men #3
Writer: Victor Gischler
Artist: Paco Medina

I’ve been pretty vocal about my dislike of the current situation with the X-Men. It all seems just so mediocre and lacking in the elements I think the franchise needs, especially with Matt Fraction at the helm of Uncanny. I’m not one of those folks who typically wants everything to go back to the way it was. I like the progressing of the story of these characters, but there has been an element to the storytelling that I’ve missed. Along came Victor Gischler whom I had never heard of and who was talking about vampires. I rolled my eyes. Even though one of my favorite artists, Paco Medina, was announced on it, I was still skeptical. But I have to say that the Curse of the Mutants arc has been incredibly fun thus far. And it all has to do with the way that Gischler and Medina are telling this story. The villains’ plans are excellent. If you want to take down the X-Men, why not get their biggest hitter on your team? And using Jubilee as the bait is brilliant! However, it’s apparent that the X-Men have plans of their own. Before they get the jump on Wolverine, he was injected with something by Dr. Nemesis. To top it all off, the X-Men have brought back the big-bad Vlad himself–Dracula! I just feel like the X-Men have the upper hand here, even though it appears that they might not. I feel a cohesiveness with the team that I feel hasn’t been present in a while, even during Second Coming.  And to top it all off, Medina is just nailing the art. Perhaps his style reminds me of the Byrne-days, and that is also helping make this feel like a classic story. Either way, this creative team has gotten me excited for the X-Men again, and I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen next. -JJ

X-Men Forever 2 #7
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Ron Lim

What can you expect from an issue when the opening line is, “Little boys play with toys?” It’s referring to the most powerful toy Nathan Summers (whom I assume is Stryfe, not Cable) has ever built: a robot Mr. Sinister. Yep, in X-Men Forever, Nathan Summers built a robot Mr. Sinister. WTF indeed. What’s worse, is that Sinister looks like that character Ruby Thursday from Wolverine Origins with a stupid red fish bowl for a head. Another godawful line in this issue was when Shadowcat defeated a clone of Sabretooth and said, “You just got beat- by a GIRL!” Ugh. Despite the atrocious dialogue, the action was pretty good in this issue, and that’s partially due to Lim’s art and Will Quintana’a colors.  It’s a battle royal with the X-Men and Starjammers vs. The Marauders; Cyclops blasts away lots of dudes, Ch’od and Kitty pull of a fastball special which results in her shattering Prism with her lone adamantium claw she acquired from a dead Wolverine (who may not actually be dead anymore). There are also two side stories brewing in this one: The first features Mariko Yashida who sets out to kill Jean for stealing Wolvie from her, and the other spotlights evil Storm, who is Queen of Wakanda and married to T’Challa, and her desire to annex Genosha. It’s a whole lot of poppycock. The coolest part about this issue? Seeing Corsair wear Cyclops’ outfit designed by Jim Lee. -AL

Most X-Cellent Pick of the Week:

Andy: I’m loving the X-Men/Vampires story as its been beautifully executed so far. X-Men #3 gets my most X-Cellent pick this week!
Jeff: It was really hard to pick between my two this week, but I’m going to give it to X-Force: Sex & Violence #3, as it’s the end of an era.

Click here for past editions of The Uncanny X-Piles and visit this link for all things X-Men!

Andy Liegl
andy@comicattack.net

Jeff Jackson
jeff@comicattack.net