Batman #23This is the moment Bruce Wayne becomes the Batman! A pivotal chapter in Zero Year plus a back story of Bruce in a fight to the death in Russia.
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century #1 One of the greatest science fiction heroes is born again in a brand new series written and drawn by the legendary Howard Chaykin! 500 years in the future Buck and Wilma Deering fight to save America from…the Chinese? It’s a back to basics but with a twist take on the classic hero.
I love Wolverine and the X-Men #32. Jason Aaron and Nick Bradshaw always deliver action and humor packed stories. Chapter Two of The Hellfire Saga keeps the intrigue going and turns up the strange as we learn more the Hellfire Club’s endgame, the origin of the new villain, The Philistine and you may finally feel sorry for Quentin Quire. The arrogant hell-raising omega level mutant suffers at the hands of his new masters in his bid to save Idie.
One of the things I really want to declare is my love for how Jason Aaron uses the Bamfs! These little mini-Nightcrawlers have been haunting the Jean Grey School and stealing Logan’s whiskey since the premiere issue. I love how Wolverine uses to little gremlins’ vices against them in the search for his lost students and to deliver some painful payback to the Hellfire Club. I could go on and on about how much I love Aaron’s writing of the popular X-Men you love (Logan, Kitty, Bobby) but I wanted to praise him for the little moments and the background characters like Doop, Toad and the Bamfs that make Wolverine and the X-Men the strangest and most consistently enjoyable X-book.
Creating new mutants is hard. For every Gambit…there’s a Maggott.
Yes, there was (briefly) an X-Man named Maggott. Strange but true – and one of the oddest creations in mutant history may have a successor as the world’s strangest mutant with the oddest power!
Back to Maggott in case you missed his story:
Japheth was a South African mutant with abilities based in his digestive system. Maggott had two slugs (Eany and Meany) inside him that once released outside the body could “eat” any solid matter and transfer the energy back to Japheth. Maggott also possessed psychometric powers. This cover of his first appearance was Maggott at his full power – he was actually very frail looking and he had a heartbreaking origin. Japheth really didn’t last long with the X-Men and was later killed in the Weapon X program.
Since the rebirth of the mutant gene and emergence of new mutants in the aftermath of AvX – Jason Aaron and Nick Lowe have been creating some “interesting” new children of the atom – in I would call in the tradition of the deceased Maggott – RIP.
Marvel has been teasing The Hellfire Saga coming in June. This week Jason Aaron set the stage for a battle royale between the Jean Grey School and the Hellfire Academy in an action and surprise packed Wolverine and the X-Men #30.
I LOVED Broo from his first appearance in this series. The mutant alien had control over his sadistic urges and was a brilliant, eloquent nerd. I felt sick when he was shot point blank and turned into a feral savage like his alien brethren. (Do Brood even have a concept of family?)
Those mad scientists behind Wolverine and the X-Men create a smashing finale to the Frankenstein’s Murder Circus arc! Jason Aaron and Nick Bradshaw pack Wolverine and the X-Men #23 with horror, humor, action, dramatic character development and one hell of a surprise ending!
A witch’s magic mind control turned the X-Men into circus freaks. Idie became unexpected allies with a member of the new Hellfire Club. Frankenstein was obsessed with killing the sadistic little brat. The mutants were facing zombie clowns! Yes, zombie clowns! Trust me, Aaron and Bradshaw make it work!
In The Last Frankenstein we learn the young villain’s monstrous past, see a glimpse of hope that he might be redeemed and a potential rattling in the status quo in the Hellfire Club. Maximillian Von Katzenelbogen isn’t the only teen who undergoes a big change in this chapter. The blossoming attraction between Idie and Quentin Quire takes an interesting turn. Is the smitten Kid Omega possibly changing his arrogant bad boy ways as Idie sinks deeper into the dark side?
Nick Bradshaw is an artistic madman conjuring zombie clowns, teen angst and a poptastic splash page of Wolverine and the X-Men ready to to drop the big top on the murder circus! Doop fans will LOVE this issue!
I enjoyed every frame then Aaron and Bradshaw and pull a bombshell for theie final magic act! The comeback of a forgotten villain that may be tied to a running gag since the series began. This issue shows yet again this is the X-book is the most mutant fun you can have and maybe the most fun you’ll have with a Marvel title!
