Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost and Magik star in the upcoming Uncanny X-Men. Scott’s team is recruiting new mutants for the revolution. Marvel is making it very clear in this new teaser image by Chris Bachalo – there’s a TRAITOR in the new team/book!
This image shows the heavy hitters plus two brand new characters. The question is not just “who is the traitor?” but who is the traitor working for?
Let’s the TRAITOR theories begin:
It’s possible Wolverine allowed Cyke to “recruit” one of the new kids to his side to get the inside track on the rival X-Men.
Could the traitor be working for the Avengers? Just because Captain America formed the Uncanny Avengers to bridge the gap between mutants doesn’t mean someone like Tony Stark wouldn’t want a spy in Cyke’s camp.
Emma Frost? Scott and Emma are over. Emma has been in the Hellfire Club, lead the Dark X-Men during Dark Reign and has slipped into the role of traitor, seductress and villain to suit her needs. Emma could be secretly working for Tony Stark or Wolverine. Plus, you know the return of Jean Grey is really getting to her!
Who do you think the traitor is and why?
Brian Michael Bendis knows! Can’t wait to see how he plays this out! The book is out February 13th.
A final story for an X-Men book this week following the announcement of a brand new X-Menby Brian Wood and Olivier Coipel coming in April. There were some great arc during the latest volume of the (adjectiveless) X-Men.
This week’s X-Men #40 by Seth Peck is the beginning of the final arc as the current “security team” collapses. The David Lopez cover is beautiful and haunting and a perfect tribute to the end of his volume.
My favorite arc was Blank Generation by Brian Wood and David Lopez that featured Storm, Psylocke, Domino, Colossus and Pixie and introduced the concept of Proto-Mutants. This is must read for fans of Storm. The storytelling was in the spirit of the Chris Claremont/Paul Smith era. You didn’t need to read every other X-book. It was a small team solving a big mystery.
An all X-women X-Men book! Brian Wood told USA Today he’s writing a new X-Men book with artist Olivier Coipel. Jubilee will be the headling character with Storm, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Psylocke and Rachel Grey.
“I feel like as far as the X-Men go, the women are the X-Men,” Wood told USA Today. “Cyclops and Wolverine are big names, but taken as a whole, the women kind of rule the franchise. If you look at the entire world as a whole, it’s the females that really dominate and are the most interesting and cool to look at. When you have a great artist drawing them, they look so amazing and always have.”
Wood says the title begins with Jubilee bringing home an orphaned baby that may be key to the survival of humanity. Wood is bringing back Sublime but this time the villain is asking the X-Men for help. Sublime is an evolved bacteria that can take human form that was created during Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run.
Brian Wood also talked with Marvel.com about the team including his plans to build upon the history of Storm and Kitty but don’t expect a certain dragon.
“No plans for Lockheed. And if that’s the sort of stuff Jason Aaron’s getting out of the character, I’m not going to get in his way.
As far as Storm and Kitty goes, yeah, they have that bond but it’s not something I’m going to single out as a point of focus. I think there’s going to be a lot of great moments with Storm and everyone else, since she’s definitely in a leadership role and has history with everyone. Look for some Jubilee/Storm moments, actually. Storm was there when Jubilee was [first] rescued—so was Rogue, come to think of it—and there’s something very similar that’s happening in this first arc that will make for a then-and-now contrast.”
Psylocke was a member of Wood’s previous X-Men team. Elizabeth is getting a new look (as you can see from this cover and from the Uncanny X-Force cover) and new powers.
“I’m tweaking some aspects of their powers—not in a way that changes what they are, but more of an elaboration. Psylocke, for example, will have a larger arsenal of psychic weapons than just her katana. Jubilee, while still a vampire, is going to be handling those supernatural traits as if they were superpowers and not just hindrances. That’s as far as we’ve gotten, but I’m sure they’ll be other tweaks along the way. Nothing too major; this book is designed to be a sort of classic X-Men with core characterization that hits the sweet spot.”
Wood was asked about Psylocke’s role on this team given her promotion to leader of Uncanny X-Force.
“In this case, she’s the military wing of the team, as well as Storm’s informal second in command and confidant. Because of what she went through in UNCANNY X-FORCE, she sort of has an emotionally distant/emotionally overwrought thing going on; she’s dealing with a lot just under the surface despite her seeming cool and calm on the outside. That’s really meaty stuff for a writer to get into. I don’t want to say that’s the “proper” way of writing her, but I think that’s the way she should be written here.”
Brian Wood wrote an acclaimed X-Men run last year. I called Wood’s portrayal of Storm as the best since Chris Claremont in the 1980’s. The current volume of X-Men ends with issue 40 this week.
This teaser by Irving shows Cyclops, Magneto, Emma Frost, and Magik leading the mutant revolution. Bendis established that Scott’s team will be based on the old Weapon X facility and continue their recruitment of new mutants in the first arc of All-New X-Men.
My favorite previous Irving art was on Batman and Robin with Grant Morrison and Silent War starring the Inhumans for Marvel.
David Haller is one weird cat! Simon Spurrier takes into the strange, quirky, snarky mindworld that is Legion in X-Men Legacy. David is the son of the late Professor X. David has multiple personalities with multiple mutant powers. The mentally disturbed David has disturbed the Marvel Universe in the past. He caused the Age of Apocalypse and Age of X so that gives you an idea of how powerful this guy is!
David was mourning his father’s death and trying to control his personalities in his own virtual mind prison when a pair of floating eyeballs pointed him in the direction of frightened mutant twins in Japan. The shattered David decided to follow his father’s legacy and save them.
This week Professor Xavier’s son has a showdown with his father’s prize students X-Men Legacy #4. Wolverine, Storm, Frenzy, Chamber and Beast confront David demanding they turn the children over to them. Spurrier unleashes some hilarious one-liners, psychic mindgames and serious bluffing in this confrontation. When the mutant Blindfold confronts David that’s when things really get strange. The X-Men may have a brand new enemy hiding right in front of their eyes and only David may be able to save them.
This is not your usual X-book. Offbeat is an understatement. Imagine Salvador Dali’s artistic mind channelled through cerebro with a slight touch of Nightmare on Elm Street dreamworld horror. As disturbed as David is he makes a strong case that maybe his father and the X-Men have had it wrong all these years. X-Men Legacy continues to be the weirdest Marvel book out there. I’m not ashamed to admit I don’t get everything that’s going on but I’m intrigued and rooting to David.
This post reveals the ending of Wolverine and the X-Men #23
Do NOT keep reading unless you read that issue!
Seriously!
OK
Here it is:
Wolverine and the X-Men #23 courtesy Marvel
The finale of the Frankenstein Murder Circus arc ended with comeback of a villain I wasn’t expecting! Jason Aaron dropped a supernatural bombshell but has he been warning us of this old enemy’s return since the first issue?
Frankenstein’s Monster and a witch named Calcabring made an unholy alliance to enchant the X-Men into becoming circus freaks and helping the monster track his prey – the young Bishop of the new Hellfire Club aka the last Frankenstien!
The X-Men ultimately defeated Frankenstein, the witch and their circus of zombie clowns! On the final page we learned the witch has been serving Azazel! The demon looking mutant daddy of Nightcrawler appeared to have magically transported into our world!
courtesy Marvel Comics
Who is Azazel?
In a storyline called The Draco (Uncanny X-Men #426 – #434) writer Chuck Austen revealed that Nightcrawler’s father was Azazel. This mutant from Biblical times was banished by Angels to a dark brimstone dimension. He was able to escape the dimension for brief periods of time and visited Earth to father several demon-looking mutant children. Azazel fathered Kurt Wagner with Mystique. The X-Men stopped Azazel’s plot to claim the Earth via his teleporting demon children and the villain went into character no man’s land.
Azazel (played by Jason Flemying) was part of Sebastian Shaw’s Hellfire Club in X-Men: First Class. Director Matthew Vaughn didn’t reference the Nightcrawler connection and turned the reviled character into a sinister on- screen smash.
Uncanny X-Men #434 courtesy Marvel
It appears Azazel’s popularity from the last film has inspired a comic book comeback. One of the many running storylines since Wolverine and the X-Men launched is the bamfs running wild at The Jean Grey School. The tiny Nightcrawler looking creatures escaped to the school when Beast opened a portal to their dimension. The little gremlins have been making mischief as the school (like stealing Wolverine’s whisky) but have they been agents of Azazel all this time? Could this lead to the resurrection of the real Kurt Wagner aka Nightcrawler?
Ok you had me with Brian Wood but then Olivier Coipel! I’m giddy!
Marvel shared a teaser in USA Today of what is sure to be a huge new series. Given the XX and DNA strand of the image – all evidence points to a new X-Men book.
Brian Wood (Ultimate Comics X-Men, The Massive, Star Wars, Mara) wrote a phenomenal X-Men arc in 2012 featuring Storm, Psylocke, Domino, Colossus and Pixie that introduced the concept of Proto-Mutants. I called it the Torchwood of X-Men team. One of those Proto-Mutants turned out to be alive and so maybe this potential new X-book could star the oldest living mutant on Earth?
Everything old is All-New after the first X-Men arc of Brian Michael Bendis. In this week’s All-New X-Men #5 an original X-Man gets a makeover and two X-Women take charge.
Professor X was murdered by Cyclops. Scott, Magneto, Emma and Magik are recruiting new mutants for a revolution. A dying Beast went into the past to bring the original Scott, Jean, Warren, Bobby and Hank into the Marvel Now. Hank’s dream of inspiring Cyclops takes a dramatic twist in this chapter. In the finale of the first arc Beast is reborn, Jean Grey learns entire truth about her future history and Kitty Pryde takes on a new role with Xavier’s original teenage dream.
Bendis delivers drama, action, intrigue and humor but the most important element is heart. A psychic exchange between newly telepathic Jean and the older Beast shows the sense of love and loss these characters are feeling. The storytelling has inspired great moments of nostalgia while still moving the Children of the Atom forward. There’s just a sense of the writer’s love and awe of these classic characters, their history and their relationships. I think I was in a psychic rapport with Bendis and Stuart Immomen as I read this arc!
In these first five chapters Bendis has established the new mutant order with new leaders, new agendas, new mutants, new powers and the potential for exciting new directions. X-Men really is All-New.
