All-New X-Men #1 The original five X-Men are yanked from the past into the Marvel Now – and they don’t like what they see! How will the young Scott, Jean, Bobby, Hank and Warren react to seeing how their lives and Professor X’s dream went so horribly wrong?
Batman #14The Joker is back with the vengeance! Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo managed to make the ultimate villain even creepier and horrifying! What has the Joker done to Batman’s oldest ally?
Fantastic Four #1 Marvel’s First Family relaunches into the Marvel Now. Matt Fraction and Mark Bagley send Reed, Susan, Johnny, Ben and the kids on the ultimate vacation through time and space.
Saga #7 The beautiful and disturbing sci-fi hit begins a new storyline. Two lovers from warring alien races fell in love, had a baby and became targets of a the most sinister hunters in the galaxy. What will the family find in the darkest corners of uncharted space?
Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2 #7 Which is the greater evil: Borg or Cybermen? Doctor Who and Captain Picard’s new friendship is tested as they try to stop the threat to the Federation. In this chapter the Time Lord travels back to Starfleet’s greatest defeat in order to save the future!
Hugh Jackman as The Wolverine courtesy Marvel and 20th Century Fox
The success of Iron Man paved the way for other Avengers solo films (Thor, Captain America) and the shared universe that became the box-office smash Marvel’s The Avengers for Marvel/Disney.
Fox controls the cinematic rights to Marvel’s X-Men and Fantastic Four. Fox Creative Consultant calls Hugh Jackman’s next Wolverine the beginning of a shared universe among the Fox franchises.
“I felt like Iron Man was really the beginning of something for the Marvel Studios movies, and ‘The Wolverine’ will be a similar starting point to build a lot off of for the Fox movies,” Millar told Comic Book Resources.
That idea will roll into X-Men: Days of Future Past when it starts production in April. There was a recent change in roles behind the scenes for the upcoming film. Original X-Men director Bryan Singer will now direct and X-Men: First Class director/Millar friend Matthew Vaughn will produce.
“Bryan’s worked as a producer even on the X-Men movies that he didn’t direct — he was a producer on ‘First Class.’ So when Matthew decided he wasn’t going to do the sequel, they just switched places with Matthew producing and Bryan coming on to direct. That’s got nothing to do with me, but I’m delighted that Bryan and I will get to work together over the next few years. I’ve been working with Josh Trank on ‘Fantastic Four,’ and I have a lot of ideas of other places we can go with the characters Fox has the rights to.”
A big question for me: Will Hugh Jackman appear in Days of Future Past? The story is partly set in a dark future in which an older Logan leads the surviving X-Men (Storm, Kate Pryde, Colossus, Magneto, the daughter of Scott and Jean, the son of Fantastic Four’s Reed and Sue against the Sentinels.)
In the category of “….and now for something completely different…” here comes X-Men #38! It did not feel like an X-book but rather a Marvel Team-Up or A+X. New creative team Seth Peck and Paul Azaceta deliver an X-Woman’s detour into a gritty crime caper with an unlikely guest star.
After the intense missions of Brian Wood’s arc involving the Proto-Mutants, Domino takes a break from Storm’s team and heads for New York City. What are the odds The Man Without Fear would run into mutant mercenary? Domino and Daredevil find themselves in an underground casino populated by a who’s who of Marvel’s criminal underworld.
Brian Wood and David Lopez’s amazing arc was a huge act to follow. This creative team has made a smart move by going in a completely new direction. Of course Domino’s idea of a vacation is going undercover in a super villain casino! Peck nails Neena’s personality and the Matt Murdock of Mark Waid’s acclaimed run. The action and wit keep building and set the stage for big mystery. I’m in.
Azaceta and Rico Renzi create a perfect palette of gritty realism for this crime time story. The art reminds me of Frank Miller’s Batman Year One and Sean Phillips but with more eye-popping color. David Lopez crafts an iconic pop art cover. This a visual feast from cover to final panel.
I admit I considered dropping this book but I’m happy I took a shot. It’s definitely a very different book now but I’m betting you’ll enjoy it. Peck, Azaceta and Renzi are an impressive team to watch!
This review/post reveals key elements of AvX: Consequences #4 and #5.
Seriously.
Here is comes.
AvX: Consequences #5 courtesy Marvel
Kieron Gillen wrapped the second volume of Uncanny X-Men but he has more mutant stories to tell that propelling fan favorites into the Marvel Now. Gillen’s Extinction Team have been the stars of AvX: Consequences. This 5-part epilogue to Avengers vs. X-Men reveals how the Phoenix Five are facing the consequences of their actions while possessed by the cosmic entity.
In Chapter 4 Cyclops submits himself to Tony Stark as a cosmic lab rat. Scott has been playing the martyr but is he really playing possum to outwit the genius?
Abigail Brand of S.W.O.R.D. has been keeping secrets. She’s hiding fugitive members of the Phoenix Five and she reveals that she’s more than a green haired alien. I really hope Brand might pop up in Gillen’s upcoming Iron Man run.
If you’re wondering about Hope and Namor’s roles in the Marvel Now this is the issue! Hope and the King of Atlantis share an exchange in the underwater ruins of Utopia. In one line Gillen captures the personality of Namor and why I love him so much.
Storm and Colossus fought it out in Brian Wood’s final issue of X-Men but here Peter and Ororo share a bitter reunion. Colossus may be free of his demons but his former little snowflake left him filled with hate. I know that Peter will be part of Cable and X-Force and I can’t help but think of when Nathan recruited a rage filled Warpath to join his first incarnation of the team.
Wolverine comes back to prison to deliver sad news to Cyclops. I really enjoyed this encounter. After the bitter fallout of Schism and AvX I think Gillen is setting the stage for a reconcilation between Scott and Logan. (I wrote this part of the post before I read issue #5)
I think the most exciting plot springboard is when the fugitive Magneto finally makes his appearance. Erik is back playing the role we all know he can do best: the villain.
This week’s final chapter picks right up with a new mutant unholy trinity: Magneto, Magik and Danger. The clues have been there the entire series but I wanted to believe Scott Summers was accepting his role as the martyr and on the road to redemption.
Logan said it best when he tells the Avengers, “Scott is gone.”
Magneto, Magik and Danger stage a daring jailbreak and execute Cyclops’s severe punishment on his prison tormentors. Scott leaves a note for Logan. The letter sums up what Kieron Gillen has pulled off: the role reversal of Wolverine and Cyclops. The bad boy who did the dirty work to keep mutants safe is now the heir to Professor Xavier’s legacy of teaching young mutants. The former golden boy is now the self-appointed and ruthless defender, protector and avenger for the mutant race.
All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
From the preview art for All-New X-Men #1 we know Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto and Magik will be part of Brian Michael Bendis’s Marvel Now X-Men era. Marvel has teased another Bendis book (with Chris Bachalo on art) with the simple word: Uncanny.
From the finale of AvX: Consequences #5 it looks like my theory of an Avenging X-Men may not be that far off! You may have read my earlier op/ed about how AvX should have been called Operation Hate Cyclops. This week’s finale may cement the hate for some of you.
All-New X-Men #1 courtesy Marvel
All-New X-Men #1 is out November 14th. Maybe we’ll find out then?
The Cast of X-Men: First Class courtesy Marvel.com
Why did X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn decide not to direct the sequel? Mark Millar explains that the Kick-Ass director will take on a movie based on The Secret Service.
“We thought Matthew was going to do X-Men first, but we found out there were actually a few imitators of ‘Secret Service’ in the works. People think you’re lying when you say you’re not trying to get your comics made into movies so quickly, but the two reasons it happens like that is first because it’s the best ad for the comic you’ll ever have. And for me, selling the book is the most important thing. The second reason is because people are always trying to rip you off. Somebody will start to work on a spec screenplay about your idea. There are three other projects I know of now about a James Bond kind of guy taking a street kid and turning him into a spy. Three screenplays were already going through Hollywood about this! So Matthew and I said, ‘Fuck this. We’re not letting anyone steal our ideas,'” Millar tells Comic Book Resources.
Bryan Singer is the front-runner to direct X-Men: Days of Future Past. Kick-Ass and The Secret Service are Millar’s creator owned titles. Millar was recently hired by Fox as Creative Consultant for their Marvel properties (X-Men, Wolverine, Fantastic Four.)
Marvel tease machine rolls on with a new one! This will mean 3 Marvel Now books with “UNCANNY” in the title. Rick Remender and John Cassaday have launched Uncanny Avengers. Sam Humphries and Ron Garney will relaunch a brand new Uncanny X-Force.
Brian Michael Bendis (All-New X-Men) and Chris Bachalo will launch a new Uncanny ? book in February 2013. What will it be? Kieron Gillen just wrote the finale of a second volume of Uncanny X-Men. Maybe Marvel just can’t do without that classic title? The second volume was about Cyclops’s Extinction Team. All-New X-Men is being called THE flagship mutant book starring the original five students of Professor X. Perhaps this new Uncanny X-Men will be Bendis’s version of New Avengers or maybe even a mutant Illuminati?
What I hope it will be? The redemption of Scott Summers. Cyclops and Emma were affected by events in the Bendis Avengers run (House of M: Decimation, The Void, Dark Reign) so he owes them?
I will always hold a special place in my geeky heart for the New Mutants. This extended family of mutants is reaching a milestone again. The latest volume ends with this week’s New Mutants #50. Dani Moonstar, Magma, Sunspot, Warlock and Cypher welcomed X-Man in this latest version of the team based on San Francisco. They sided with Cyclops in the Schism event, chose to live in a San Francisco neighborhood in an effort to integrate better with normal humans.
I consider the New Mutants and the Teen Titans the comic book kids who never get to grow up. In some ways I would love to see Sam, Dani, Roberto and Shan become the X-Men. In the real world these young heroes would already taken the leadership role. But this is comics and I’m also a guy who would cry if Wolverine, Storm and Cyke really did retire to a mutant retirement center.
What will happen to the New Mutants in the Marvel Now?
Sunspot and Cannonball are becoming part of Jonathan Hickman’s huge roster for The Avengers.
Dani Moonstar may have lost her mutant ability to cast illusions but she always has been in touch with her Asgardian connection as a former Valkyrie. Dani made a deal with Hela that turned the tide of Siege. Even without powers, Dani has proved herself to be a born leader and teacher. Dani has even infiltrated the Mutant Liberation Front. Dani would make an excellent S.H.I.E.L.D. agent or Secret Avenger at some point.
Warlock and Cypher would be perfect as rookie agents for S.W.O.R.D. Doug’s abilities and Warlock’s background could make them good resources for Abigail Brand’s mission to protect earth from alien invaders.
Magma – the fiery female may need to consult with Doctor Strange after her recent romantic encounters with Mephisto. Dating the Devil can be hazardous to more than your heart!
In the aftermath of AvX new mutants are being born so we could expect a new volume of the New Mutants starring brand new mutants.
X-Men Legacy #275 is the final issue of the series. X-Men became Legacy with issue #208 and picked up after Messiah Complex with Professor X’s road to recovery after being shot. Rogue, Gambit, Magneto and Danger were key supporting characters.
In X-Men Legacy #226 Rogue became the lead character of the series. Cyclops made Rogue mentor to a team of young mutants. Mike Carey was the writer during the transition and he continued to expertly write Rogue picking up from the storylines (Supernovas, Blinded By The Light) he established when the book was just X-Men.
Carey’s Rogue is one of the best runs on the character. Rogue learned to control her mutant power, quit crying over Gambit and became a strong team leader. Carey took the book into the Age of X, explored the inner demons of Legion and outer space to rescue Havok and Polaris. Carey left after a stellar run. Christos Gage took over as they team became part of the Jean Grey School and involved with Avengers vs. X-Men war.
This week Rogue moves on after Magneto’s offer (I was never a fan of the Rogue/Magneto romance) in the previous issue. X-Men Legacy will relaunch with a new number one, new creative team and Legion as the lead character. Rogue will be part of Rick Remender’s Uncanny Avengers. I have to salute Carey and Gage for building Rogue into the strong character she is in the Marvel Now. I loved Rogue as the star of her own book but I look forward to seeing as part of his dynamic new team concept. She’s free of Magneto and Gambit, more in control of her powers and ready to kick ass in the Marvel Now as an Avenger.
