Category: Books

Beast Unleashed!

 

Wolverine and the X-Men #8 courtesy Marvel

  Logan is trying to teach young mutants at the Jean Grey School. In Wolverine and the X-Men #8 the Hellfire Club King gets a crash course in killing courtesy of Professor Sabretooth. The killer’s tutelage of Kade Kilgore is brutal, bloody and leads to a frightening kidnapping. Odd that all this guts, blood and terror still seems fun in a creepy way thanks to Jason Aaron’s script.

  It’s pretty bold of Aaron to sideline Logan and let the other cast shine. Beast vs Sabretooth was satisfying and inspires Kilgore to hatch his next scheme to destroy the Jean Grey School and get his revenge on Logan.

  Chris Bachalo returns on art and knocks us out especially when Genesis unleashes his power. The Hank/Victor action is stylized and pops out of the page.

  Wolverine and the X-Men continues to be my favorite X book because it’s the most fun even when you feel a little disturbed by this issue dark, twisted, violent manipulations and countermoves.

The Fearless Climax

Fear Itself The Fearless #2 courtesy Marvel

  Fear Itself: The Fearless comes to an exciting, emotional climax. Valkyrie defied the Avengers on a mission for Odin. The warrior’s race against Sin to find the mystical hammers left by the Serpent in Fear Itself has been gripping and fun. Valkyrie faces an emotional sacrifice in her final showdown with Sin issue 12 out now.

  Even if you loved, loathed or didn’t read Fear Itself – I highly recommend this thrilling tour of the Marvel universe packed with exciting battles, bloody fights, and shocking betrayals. We learn of Valkyrie’s haunted past and hope for love in the afterlife. She invades Atlantis, Utopia and every corner of the Marvel world with the Avengers on her trail.

  Valkyrie is definitely the star of this series but it’s packed with awesome moments: Wolverine vs. Crossbones, Doctor Strange and the Avengers vs. an army right of out Inferno plus the Valkyrie Storm fight is worth the dang series!

Fear Itself The Fearless #9 courtesy Marvel

Cullen Bunn, Matt Fraction and Chris Yost created this exciting quest for one of my favorite heroines. Mark Bagley and Paul Pelletier tag team on art with Art Adams on covers. This will likely be collected in a trade – get it!

Inside a Marvel Summit! Avengers Vs. X-Men War Journals

AVX promo art courtesy Marvel

I would LOVE to just be in the room at one of those top secret Marvel Editorial Summits! Imagine all the great writers and editors pitching, fighting, and collaborating! At Emerald City Comicon Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker and C.B. Cebulski said you will see inside the famous summits via MTV Geek’s Avengers Vs. X-Men War Journals. Here’s episode which takes you inside the creative storm and lays out everything you need to know to enjoy AvX.

AvX This Geek’s Theories

Avengers Vs. X-Men #5 courtesy Marvel

 These ideas have been running in my head and really come to the forefront after reading AvX #1 so I want to share them. These are not facts just my thoughts about the future of this series and the Marvel universe.

– The Phoenix Force created the mutant gene in humanity. They’re not Children of the Atom after all.

– Cyclops has been under the influence of The Void.

– The Sentry/Void will return to challenge the Phoenix Force.

– Professor X will take back leadership of mutantkind.

– Namor’s allegiance to the X-Men will be severed in AvX.

– Emma Frost knows in her heart Cyclops is wrong and believes Hope is a threat but she will not betray him. I think Emma will pay a terrible price as a result of AvX.

– Hope is not Jean Grey reincarnated. I think Hope may be connected to Madelyn Pryor somehow and this ties into Matt Fraction’s Sisterhood story during his Uncanny run. Which means Sinister is involved.

– Hope and the Five Lights are manifestations come to life like when Scarlet Witch created her sons.

– Jean Grey will not return in physical form but she will appear to Emma Frost from the White Hot Room.

 By Editor

Marvel’s Immonens at Fan Expo Vancouver

  Fan Expo Vancouver will unite all fans of comics, gaming, anime, horror, and sci-fi. Fan Expo Canada is coming to Vancouver, British Columbia April 21st and 22nd.

AvX: Vs. cover courtesy Marvel.com and Comics Newsarama

  I just made my plans to attend the big event just a new hours north of my home in Seattle.Great news to make you geek out: the expo added Marvel penciller Stuart (Avengers, Fear Itself) and writer Kathryn Immonen (Pixie Strikes Back, Wolverine and Jubilee, )to the guest list. The Immonens will work together on AvX Vs #1

 Visit fanexpovancouver.com for the complete guest list, details and tickets.

When Owls Attack! Detective Comics #9 Revealed

Detective Comics #9 courtesy DC

  Night of the Owls screeches into comic book shops next. The Council of Owls unleash their army of Talons on Gotham City. The event will slash across all the Batman family titles. DC revealed the cover to Detective Comics #9 by Tony Daniel as Batman battles three Talons.

Matt Fraction at AvX Launch Party Portland

Matt Fraction at AvX party @ Excalibur Comics photo by Kyle Helstien of Happy Robot Photography

  Eager fans lined up to celebrate and be the first to get Avengers Vs. X-Men #1 at more than 1,100 comic book stores worldwide. Retailers voted to stand with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes or the Children of the Atom. Customers got exclusive posters, buttons and other swag celebrating their chosen team.

  AvX writer Matt Fraction and Editor C.B. Cebulski appeared at Excalibur Comics in Portland to get the party started. Thanks to Kyle Heinstiein of Happy Robot Photography. You can see more of this great shots at this Portland Pulp gallery link.

I was the first to buy at Zanadu Comics in Seattle. I “ooooooed” and “aahhhhhed” as Perry unloaded the copies, variants, buttons and lithographs!

 

Prepping Cyclops for AvX

 

Uncanny X-Men #11 courtesy Marvel

  Cyclops believes the return of the Phoenix could save his race. He is defying Captain America and triggered war. AvX will see the mutant leader tested like never before. I wanted to share more of Kieron Gillen’s new Marvel.com interview. Gillen’s response to Jim Beard’s question about who benefits and grows from AvX was revealing.

  “I’ve said before, I’ve been building towards AvX. It’s meaningful for all my key cast. The big people to watch? Scott, Namor, Hope, Emma, Piotr, Illyana and Danger. My other three—Storm, Magneto and Psylocke—have important roles too, but perhaps not on the same level of redefining them. They’re actually more the people who are a half-step back from the chaos, and as such are about giving perspective on everything.

“Benefit” is an interesting word, though. I’m not sure it’s the word I’d use. It’s going to be very hard on all of them.”

 Gillen’s role as the main writer for Scott for past year prepping him for AvX:

  “The key arc for cementing Cyclops as a man who would go to war with the Avengers was the Fear Itself arc, just prior to the relaunch. There he works side with side with the humans of San Francisco, only to discover that they were considering—if all went wrong—to deal with the threat to them both and sell out the mutants, sinking Utopia.

  Cyclops goes and saves the day anyway, only to return to actually openly threaten the mayor with murder if she ever thinks of it ever again. It’s a “Just because we save you, don’t go thinking you get to sacrifice us”.

  It’s a hardened line—willing to be an implicit threat while still acting in an entirely morally upright fashion—which is where we find Scott. He’s pretty much said this Extinction Squad is a nuclear weapon which he’ll fire if someone crosses them. AvX is, in a real way, them calling his bluff.”

 For the entire interview here’s the Marvel.com link.

 This Geek’s Opinion: Cyclops has been the leader the mutants need in a desperate time. Scott will pay a heavy price in AvX but he’s right and I’ll back Cyclops every time.