Tag: Jean Grey

The Marvel Now Pageant

courtesy Marvel
courtesy Marvel

As we say goodbye to 2012 and mark 3 months into the Marvel Now relaunch – I thought it was a good time to celebrate the new creative teams, characters and titles. Some creative gambles have paid off. Cue the music. Time for the Marvel Now pageant!

Indestructible Hulk Best Personality! Bruce Banner laughs, smiles, makes Tony Stark jealous? Mark Waid gives Bruce a new attitude and new job with SHIELD. Maria Hill gets the Hulk as a weapon.

X-Men Legacy Most WTF? I don’t know what freaky level of reality Simon Spurrier goes to when he’s writing this book. Imagine X-Man with acid hits of Jim Morrison, Paul Muad’Dib and even a little Joker. Making Legion the lead character was an ambitious move. Spurrier has taken an unlikable character and given him personality and humor. David still has the worst hairstyle in comics. As I’ve said before you’d think one of Legion’s multiple personalities could be a stylish gay man taking over long enough to give David a makeover!

Uncanny Avengers Most Potential! The book the made me scream. Rick Remender is redefining the super team concept and transforming Red Skull into an even bigger badass.

Captain America Biggest Change! How do you follow-up a beloved era of espionage? Rick Remender goes in a radically different sci-fi direction taking Steve Rogers into Dimension Z – a strange new world Jack Kirby would have enjoyed.

All New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
All New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

All-New X-Men Best Twist! Brian Michael Bendis evolves the Children of the Atom with a blast from the past. Professor Xavier’s five original students are thrust into their future. Seeing Jean again – is it any wonder every guy falls for her?

Thor: God of Thunder Most Badass! Thor tracks a serial killer of Gods! That could be ’nuff said but I have to say how much I love seeing Viking Thor and King Thor in Jason Aaron’s epic.

Avengers Arena Most ambitious! 16 young heroes fighting to the death? This is not just a Marvel version of Battle Royale or The Hunger Games. I was hooked with the first issue. Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker made me care me care for these newer characters I barely knew and they’re transforming a classic X-Men villain from joke to a serious and seriously sadistic threat.

Fantastic Four/FF Most Fun I’m having a blast with Matt Fraction relaunch of Marvel’s First Family and their “replacements.” Reed is taking Sue, Johnny, Ben and the kids on new adventures through space. The sudden family vacation is just a cover for something dire. While She-Hulk, Medusa, Ant-Man and Johnny’s girlfriend have been recruited to hold the fort. Action, humor, heart,

Avengers Most Inspiring! Jonathan Hickman and Jerome Opena’s relaunch of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes is awe-inspiring! A trio of new villains, a frantic fight on Mars for the fate of Earth and Captain America assembling a diverse and huge roster of heroes. Hickman is going BIG with the Avengers – big cast, big concept, big stakes.

By Editor

Best of 2012 Marvel

X-Men #39 by David Lopez courtesy Marvel
X-Men #39 by David Lopez courtesy Marvel

Best New Series: Captain Marvel This fan review sums up why!

Best Continuing Series: Wolverine and the X-Men Humor, action, heart and the unexpected. Jason Aaron pack big moments, hilarious exchanges and moments that went for the heart and the gut!

Best Artist: David Lopez (X-Men) This was a tough call with the always mighty Jim Cheung (AvX covers) in the lead. Nick Bradshaw made an outstanding debut. This cover and Lopez’s portrayal of Storm just stayed with me.

Best Writer: Jason Aaron (Wolverine and the X-Men, Thor: God of Thunder)  Everything I’ve said about Wolverine and the X-Men plus a serial killer of Gods in Thor – nuff said!

Best Mini-Series: Avengers vs. X-Men

Best Single Issue: Wolverine and the X-Men #18 I picked this issue because of how it made me feel with the most shocking ending of the year. The last panel just hurt in my gut and heart! Jason Aaron made me love a strange little student at Logan’s school and then blasted him.

Wolverine and the X-Men #17 courtesy Marvel

Funniest Issue of the Year: Wolverine and the X-Men #17 (the All Doop epic with Mike and Laura Allred art!)

Comeback of the Year: Scott, Jean, Bobby, Hank and Warren in All-New X-Men

Best New Talent: Seth Peck & Paul Azaceta (X-Men #38 & #39 aka Domino & Daredevil)

Best Art Influenced By Life: The wedding of Northstar and Kyle Jinadu in Astonishing X-Men.

By Editor

 

Cyclops vs. Cyclops in All-New X-Men!

All-New X-Men #4 courtesy Marvel
All-New X-Men #4 courtesy Marvel

It’s the confrontation we’ve been waiting for! Scott, Jean, Bobby, Warren and Hank confront Scott, Emma, Magneto and Magik in this week’s All-New X-Men #4. The modern Beast brought the original five X-Men from the past into the Marvel Now hoping the idealistic young originals could be the key to preventing what could be the end of the mutant race.

If you think the modern Cyclops is a match for his younger self think again!After last issue I developed a theory about the mutant race post AvX. Tell me what you think.

In case you missed it here’s my op/ed on the transformation of Scott from hero to zealot to hopes for his redemption.

By Editor

All-New X-Men Time Warping & Heartbreaking!

 

All-New X-Men #2 courtesy Marvel

  All-New X-Men is perfect for an X-virgin but even better for a veteran! Brian Michael Bendis set the stage for the future of the Children of the Atom: New mutants are emerging around the world. Cyclops is racing to recruit them for his revolution. Wolverine, Storm, Kitty, Iceman and Beast are trying to teach young mutants and keep the peace. If Scott could only see young man he used to be. The only hope for the future of mutantkind is in the past.

Beast has been the heart and moral compass of the X-Men for years. Bendis made the perfect choice of having Henry as the balance between hope and destruction, past and present. Beast brings the original X-Men into the present. A desperate act of a dying X-Man.

I absolutely loved this week’s All-New X-Men #2. Bendis just nails the wonder and innocence of the “little X-Men” as Logan calls them. The writing captures the relationships between the original five X-Men. You really get a sense of their youth, hope and inexperience as they grapple with what Beast is telling them. When they arrive in the present you understand the team’s fear and disbelief over how their lives are radically different and how Xavier’s dream could have gone so wrong.

Bendis and Stuart Immonen create an incredible issue packed with drama, humor and excitement. There’s a heartbreaking moment between the young Jean Grey and modern Beast that just signals the powerful stories that will be told. Past meets present and future of All-New X-Men will be a thrilling ride.

By Editor

Top Comic Book Picks for 11/28/12

All-New X-Men #2 courtesy Marvel

All-New X-Men #2 New mutants are popping up across the world. Cyclops has gone full-blown revolutionary. An X-Man travels back to a key point in the team’s history in hopes of saving the mutant race. How will the original five students of Xavier (including Jean Grey!) react upon seeing their future?

Arrow #1 Brand new adventures of DC’s crusader from the creators of the hit CW series and legendary Green Arrow comic creator Mike Grell.

Batman Incorporated #5  Bruce Wayne’s son is now the Batman? Bruce is in Arkham Asylum? Grant Morrison takes you back to the dark future he created in the modern classic Batman #666.

FF #1 Meet the new Fantastic Four? Medusa, Ant-Man, She-Hulk,  and She-Thing take the place of Marvel’s First Family in a brand new adventure by Matt Fraction and Mike Allred.

Uncanny Avengers #2 The Red Skull committed one of the most shocking and heinous acts I’ve seen in comics – and now he’s more powerful than ever with a freakish new army and bizarre new weapon. Can Captain America, Thor, Havok, Wolverine, Scarlet Witch and Rogue stop more mutant acts of terror?

By Editor

 

Jean Grey Is Back In All-New X-Men!

All New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

She’s the girl we all love. Jean Grey is the beautiful and tragic one that got away…until now.

Jean and the other original X-Men are brought into the Marvel Now in this week’s All-New X-Men #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen. Imagine Jean’s reaction when she learns now her life and death and life and death has turned out.

Jean’s return has been teased for years but the idea of the original pre-Phoenix Jean was a surprise (to this geek anyway.)

Bendis talked with Marvel.com about how he sees this Jean Grey of the past.

  “I think she’s the quintessential X-Man. I think that’s why everyone gravitates to her so much. Her powers are unique; her powers are something she has to work on, something she has to control. Every time her powers build, it sets a new set of problems for her, and at the same time, a new set of goals and challenges that make her a better hero, And we know, as fans, that she has met with tragedy a couple of times, because of the rocky road of the mutants and the X-Men. In this story that I’m telling, we’re going to meet a Jean that is fully aware of everything that has happened to her, more than any of the other X-Men, and now we get to see how that information will inform her choices as a human, and as a mutant, and as a person, and as a girl going forward.

  It’s a very interesting challenge as a writer. I literally cannot stop writing her. It is absolutely fascinating. We know that Jean is a sweetheart, and we also know that Jean has an incredible edge to her. How will that edge manifest itself, knowing everything that she knows about the destiny of her life?”

All-New X-Men #5 courtesy Marvel

This is perhaps the biggest reveal – this Jean is not just pre-Phoenix but this is Jean before her mutant power manifested.

  “I don’t want to spoil too much, but when we meet Jean in this story, she is specifically brought here when she’s not telepathic, so it would make it more palpable for her to understand what’s happening. But the event of bringing her here unlocks her telepathy earlier than it had prior. She gets a shock to the system discovering that Scott Summers killed Professor Charles Xavier, and that she had died. She is witness to everything at once, so it’s not just elements of her life that is shocking her, it’s the accumulation of all of it.

  It’s literally like reading a Wikipedia page as fast as you can. It’s not just the facts of her life, but it is experiencing all of the emotions at once. Love from someone like Wolverine that she cannot reciprocate, to discover the rise and fall and rise and fall of Scott Summers, all of this happens to her in a flash. That I think is going to be the most shocking thing. It’s literally just her seeing Scott Summers standing next to Magneto. Remember, when they were 16, Magneto was Hitler. That’s what we’re gunning for.”

All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

I loved this next question and response because I remember the relationship between Jean and Ororo during the Chris Claremont era. How will young Jean react to the modern-day X-women like Storm who was adult Jean’s closest friend.

  “And that’s not a best friendship that teenage Jean can reciprocate right now. But what you do get is her gravitating very strongly to Kitty Pryde because they are very much of the same cloth. And that’s what I’m saying: Jean Grey is now Jewish because I’m writing her [Laughs]. No, I’m joking. But it’s not just the other females. It’s a smorgasbord of species and mutations. Remember the original five X-Men, they’re all still pretty human looking, but walk into the Wolverine and the X-Men book, and half those kids are alien looking, if not full on alien. So it certainly is an eye opener.”

Bendis talks about how knowing Jean’s future history is part of the challenge of writing this young Jean in the Marvel Now.

  “She is the one that everyone wants back the most, and what’s great about this situation. She is the most interesting of the group. They’re all interesting, but because she will have the knowledge. Even if she tells them, “here’s what happens to us,” they’re not going to feel it like she feels it. She is just so interesting to write, Most of us that have read a Jean Grey story know that her dark side is a real thing, and seeing her pushed to limits like this will be interesting for people to see. Will she hold it together? Does she want to hold it together?”

All-New X-Men #1 arrives this week! For more of his interview here’s the Marvel.com link.

By Editor

Past Meets Present in All-New X-MEN #1

All New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

Will a blast from the past reshape the future of Marvel’s mutants? In All-New X-Men #1 Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen bring the original five teen mutants from the past in the Marvel Now. Bendis and X-Men Editor Nick Lowe talk about the time twist and how it will affect the mutants on Marvel.com.

In many ways All-New X-Men is a twist on Chris Claremont’s Day of Future Past. Scott, Jean, Hank, Bobby and Warren of the past have arrived in what to them is a horrific future. Their mentor is dead. Cyclops is in prison for the murder. Anti-mutant hate is raging. The X-Men are without a leader. How will the meeting of past and present X-Men affect the mutant and Marvel universe?

“I am fascinated by the power and responsibility of abusing time travel for your own selfish purposes. I do believe it will create a butterfly effect,” Bendis said, “something that happens in All New X-Men will create a cosmic stir.”

After Schism – Logan rebuilt the a school for mutants. I’m a huge fan of Wolverine and the X-Men by Jason Aaron. The staff and students of the Jean School will be front and center in the new book.

“The time traveling X-Men will be trained in the Wolverine school is different and unique ways,” Bendis said, “Hate is very interesting to write but someone appreciating you for your differences will be explored.”

All-New X-Men #2 courtesy Marvel

Bendis revealed that the core of the new book is not just old X-Men.

“There’s a lot more going on in the book than just the five coming here,” he said. “A lot of it has to do with modern day Cyclops and who his alliances are with. That will take shape very quickly in the first issue — a very new X-Men idea. What he’s going to do is a completely different shape akin to when the Avengers moved from Avengers Mansion to Avengers Tower.” “There’s new X-Men. We’re not calling it ‘All-New X-Men’ for nothing. There are all new X-Men debuting in our first issue. Brand new characters, you’re welcome Fox. They’re going to be representing a new look at mutants … a very modern take. All this is going on in every issue going forward.”

During his Avengers run Bendis’s stories (“No More Mutants” in House of M, The Dark X-Men and formation of Utopia in Dark Reign) had a huge impact on the mutants. Expect Bendis’s X-Men stories to affect the entire Universe. The

“I want to make the X-Men a part of the Marvel Universe proper,”he said. “you’ll see the X-Men interacting with The Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy.”

This is exciting news. The mutants have a stellar (pardon the pun) tradition of conflicts with alien races (The Shi’ar, The Brood, The Skrulls) and there’s a rich history of family connections (The Starjammers, Vulcan, Phoenix – Jean and Rachel, Deathbird) with those alien empires. Bendis is writing a brand new Guardians of the Galaxy series. Maybe we’ll revisit the infamous M’Krann Crystal?

Bendis said to watch out for a certain shapeshifter!

“A very big, positioned antagonist is going to be Mystique,” Bendis said. “She’s going to be very interested in the past X-Men coming here.”

All-New X-Men #1 arrives this week.

By Editor

Thanks in part to Comic Book Resources.

The Stunning Jean Grey! All-New X-Men by Quesada

All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel

  Marvel Now relaunches the Marvel Universe with new books and new creative teams. Joe Quesada delivers stunning variant covers for All-New X-Men, Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Thor: God of Thunder via the Marvel Facebook page.

  My personal favorite is the X-Men because of that famous redhead! The original Jean Grey (along with Scott, Bobby, Hank and Warren) from the past arrives in the Marvel Now in All-New X-Men #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen. Looking at this cover by Joe Quesada, is it any wonder why everyone falls in love with Jean and wants her back?

By Editor