It was a light week this time around for The Uncanny X-Piles, with only two mutant themed books coming out on the shelves in X-Men Forever 2 #13 and What If?: Wolverine: Father #1!
What If? Wolverine: Father #1
Writer: Rob Williams
Artist: Greg Tocchini
At first glance, I totally thought this story would blow. Boy was I pleasantly surprised! It begins with a familiar scene: 1946. Japan. The Winter Soldier is about to assassinate Wolverine’s pregnant wife, and mother to Daken, Itsu. Only here, Wolverine is home, and he DECAPITATES Bucky! Awesome! Then, Wolvie, sensing his child is still alive inside a dead Itsu, forces himself to cut her open with his claws (nasty!), thus birthing Daken…whom he names John. In order to prevent John from turning into a killer like his father, Wolvie raises him, alone and isolated, on a farm in Tibet. 12 years later, a young John is longing for something more. Logan, a man of peace now, living the example for his son to follow, can sense this primal urge in his boy and continues to shelter him. But a man’s true nature cannot be caged forever, and at the age of 14, John does something that cannot be forgiven by the surrounding village, and when his (sort of) girlfriend comes to warn him to flee, Sabretooth shows up! ‘Tooth has one reason for going after John: to hurt Wolverine. So he throws John’s (sort of) girlfriend off a cliff, and then John after her. Wolvie shows up too late, but still kills for the first time in 14 years, DECAPITATING Sabretooth! Awesome! John is now on the run, and flees to Tokyo where he changes his name to Daken, and as the years go by, he becomes the playboy badass we all know now. At 22, he becomes head of the Tokyo crime scene. Wolverine, realizing he has failed in preventing his child from becoming a monster like him, seeks him out and eventually kills Daken with the Muramasa Blade. Then, Wolvie commits Seppuku with the blade, next to his fallen son, and the two die together. Awesome! Really though, how kick ass does that story summary sound? Bravo Rob Williams. The art threw me on this issue. At first I hated it, then I really liked it, and then as the story went on, I kept flip-flopping on it. It works for this story, but I don’t know if I’d want to see it all the time in a regular series. Oh, and the What If? Deadpool had the Venom symbiote back-up was a lot of fun too. Talk about ’90s nostalgia! If you see this issue still on the shelf this week, pick it up. I think you’ll like it. -AL
X-Men Forever 2 #13
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Robert Atkins
So when we left off last issue, we learned there are now 3 Storms running around: The crazy evil Storm, Little ‘Ro, and pure energy Storm who is directly connected to Little ‘Ro. Apparently when pure energy Storm was abducted on Genosha some time ago, along with Boom Boom, Wolfsbane, and who I can only assume is Rictor, they were transported and converted into beings of pure energy by the Genoshan Pipeline…oooookay. The only good thing about this plot device was that everyone was naked for a couple of panels. Even the furry Wolfsbane. Boing! Anyway, this issue is basically an origin story of Storm(s), and how there came to be three of her, and how “Ghost Panther” (a.k.a energy Storm) came to get her armor. I’ll give you a hint: The first name starts with a “T” and the last name starts with an “S.” Claremont also spins this origin story with some well timed retconning from his early Uncanny run that seasoned X-fans can’t miss. I’m not going to even begin to try and re-tell how all the Storm’s are connected. To be honest, the whole thing with the Storms is kind of confusing, but, surprisingly, Claremont makes some sense out of it, and after reading the book the whole way through, it actually doesn’t come off as too contrived. You can clearly see how he’s been turning the gears for this plot line since X-Men Forever #1, and that’s highly respectable. It’s just that I’m not sold on the idea of there being three Storms. Also, I’m not sold on the idea of there needing to be a Forever line, period. -AL
Most X-Cellent Pick of the Week
Andy: What If? Wolverine: Father #1 easily takes this one.
Click the link for previous editions of The Uncanny X-Piles!
Andy Liegl
andy@comicattack.net
Basically the X-Men Forever titles are merely “What If’s” and that’s it.
Wow, does that Wolvie book sound awesome! I’ll have to pick that one up eventually.