Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Marvel's X-verse

He already was, per Claremont's last run on UncannyXM.

I'm gonna be royally mad if the former New Mutants turn out to be bad guys...I don't understand why Marvel doesn't put them in a book and let it sell.

Of course they're not. Cannonball's on Tracer Land's UXM500 cover. In an issue or two, they'll reveal it's a fake Cyclops and yadda-yadda-yadda.

The Young X-Men still *think* the New Mutants are evil as of the last issue (which didn't have anything backing up that suggestive cover at *all*). Though they don't seem to be doing anything to merit the attacks, other than Sunspot (and isn't that supposed to be a take-over-from-within kind of deal?)

Magma, of course, goes off her not-so-deep end when provoked. But who can blame her?

One of the YXM appears to be working at cross-purposes with his teammates. Just whose purposes those are remains to be seen.

I'm kind of liking the Tattoed Man as a mutant. Not that his personality's so intriguing. But a shades-of-some-color-or-the-other character's always nice to see.

YOUNG X-MEN #3: Wolfcub takes out Magma? Uh-huh. Moonstar has dialogue like a REAL WORLD alumni? Wha?! Sam and Roberto suddenly sinister? (I know Sunspot's been involved with the Hellfire Club for awhile) Is that tattooed guy at issue's end breaking some guy out of prison supposed to be Ink?

Things are making less sense, rather than more.

ULTIMATE X-MEN 94: Colossus is a banshee-user? (banshee being one of those super-power amping drugs) And now most of the rest of the X-men are too? Don't like those developments, but I did like seeing the other mutants and the Alpha Flight appear, even if the latter group's apparently an enemy.

GIANT-SIZED ASTONISHING X-MEN 1: I'm in the minority; I just didn't love this run. I don't get the appeal of the Polaris lookalike, I'm not clear about the fate of Kitty Pryde- though there were some nice, emotional scenes featuring her. Timeliness, or lack of it, has affected this series greatly, at least for me.

X-FIRCE 4: Capably told, interesting art-- but Lord I hate the places they're taking Rahne and now Warren Worthington. Hopefully the latter, at least, is temporary, given events in other X-books. Nice to see Elixr, though.

San Francisco as the new host-city for most things X? What do you think of that?

#500's supposed to be the start of yet another new era, so #499 gets several characters into position, wrapping up a couple of less than inspired storylines along the way. What was the point of the trip to Russia? Was there one? The hippie thing was fun- but should have just lasted two issues at the *most*. I wish one of the hypnotized would keep their hippie persona. That could be fun.

YOUNG X-MEN #4 came out and sees most everyone's suspicions about Cyclops answered. An image-inducer using Donald Pierce has been masquerading as ol' Slim Summers- and is 'outed' by the new character Greymalkin (who references talking to Cypher !???!!)

Which means that the former New Mutants Cannonball, Sunspot, Magma and Dani Moonstar weren't the Evil Mutants the fledgling team was sent to fight.

Guess they'll have egg on their faces, huh?

I thought something like this had to be coming, but I was just unsure enough about Marvel to think they actually *might* force the old New Mutants the into Brotherhood of Evil Mutants role.

I saw this BOEM as a chance to have the two teams face off... then reconcile. The true Young X-Men team will likely be a combination of both versions of New Mutants.

I think you're right, CJ. I hope Sunspot, Magma and Dani are the ones that remain. It looks like Cannonball is off to main X-land again, but if he isn't, I'd choose him over Dani.

I'd like to see *her* with a nice long guest-starring turn in THOR.

Yes, Thor.

Then a stint in X-Factor.

X-Force 5: Isn't blood splatter beautiful?

A little less of it, and I'd quite like the art. That is, if I didn't have to look at Archangel- a version of Warren Worthington I don't appreciate.

I hope it's temporary, and that Elixir can restore Angel.

I know there's a segment of fans that prefer the grimmer, bloodlusting Archangel. I'm not a member.

I'm glad to see that Rahne isn't quite a *hopeless* nutcase. Just a nutcase, at the moment.

Magma & Sunspot are both on *spit* Land's UXM500 cover (at least the solicited version - the published version's apparently been cut down by a third from a wraparound/gatefold to just a wraparound)

For the longest time I hated the Archangel version of the character and liked the traditional Angel version.

Then I did something that I expected to have the opposite effect: I reread the entire run of X-Men, plus other Angel appearances in some issues of Champions, Defenders and X-Factor. In theory this would reaffirm my feelings, I believed.

It had the opposite effect. By the late 80's Warren had become so boring, with so few truly great appearances and storylines that something had to be done. And Archangel, though extreme, was just that. I think it revived the character greatly when it occurred. And years after the fact, I liked. Then again, by the time I did this reread, he was changed back again, so maybe knowing the then final outcome (he going back to his traditional self) effected this sentiment.

X-MEN LEGACY 214: I liked the Eaton/Lashley art, but found the story a bit unwieldly. I did come out of it with a new appreciation for a villain I never thought twice about- Sebastian Shaw. Maybe because he's more of an adult villain realization than an adolescent one? Anyway, I'm looking forward to his future appearances.

Unlike his new black queen. Miss Sinister. Miss Sinister? Are they kidding? With her and a new Lady Bullseye (whom I only know from solicits and ads-- don't read whatever book it is that she's debuting in) being introduced pretty much concurrently, I have to wonder just what Silver Age glue the Marvel bullpen's been sniffing.

X-MEN 500: A new setting in San Francisco. I like the idea, actually. I'll miss the mansion (I have a feeling it won't be left fallow for long...), but a new start is welcome. I liked the mayor, wonder if she'll be a recurring character?

There's a lighter feel to the characters- which is very positive. Dunno if it'll last. Angel is Angel again? While simultaneously carving things up as Archangel in X-FORCE? Skrull? Mimic? Space Phantom? Poor editorship?

Magneto's back in these pages and acting differently than the last time I read him. Per usual. His attack is part of a larger plan, with this issue's fracas a diversion from what he's really got cooking with the High Evolutionary. Now that can't lead to trouble, can it?

ULTIMATE X-MEN 96: The mutants as druggies storyline continues, this time with a protracted focus on Jean Grey battling ramifications of the Phoenix Force. Or something. The only part worth mentioning is the end, where a berserker Colossus has Logan pinned against the wall and is about to kill him, when Logan does a little slicing and dicing, removing a section of Piotr's metallic skin. "What have you done?" questions Colossus, with a bereft lost little boy look on his face. I'm curious about that myself.

You are now my hero. Dani is possibly one of the most ill-used of an ill-used batch of heroes, and sending her over to Thor would quite likely improve both her characterization and provide a nice point-of-view change to the currently slow-as-molasses and all-too-familiar plotline dragging out there. [Here's a hint. Loki's up to no good. Shocking, no?]

Ah Dani Moonstar. Mutant with the power to make illusions of your fears. Oh, and she can talk to animals. And now she can make solid objects out of fear energy. And now she can make a bow that shoots energy arrows. And now she's a Valkyrie with a psychic link to a flying horse, the power to tell when someone is going to die and the power to try and fight death to save them, and, presumably, the matching power to 'choose' someone to die and make them keel over dead.

Right now I'm actually preferring the writers don't touch her until they have a damn good reason to do so, lest she get a alien symbiotic limb that talks to her from one writer, a big honkin' gun-from-the-future from the next one and become a sorceress at the hands of a third, just so that her origin can be a complete train-wreck.

I love me some classic New Mutants, but that girl makes Psylocke look uncomplicated.

I didn't care for the 'new dark Angel' riff, but I did think that it was *sorely* past time for Warren to actually have a power other than 'big fluffy targets twice the size of a man, which allow me to fly half as fast as most of my teammates.' The Blue skin didn't appeal to me, although the metal wings were neat.

I wouldn't mind if they had found a way to enhance his avian traits (limited super-speed from a hummingbird like metabolism, perhaps a piercing disorienting sonic cry?), without turning him into Bird-Brain or making him appear even more inhuman (since his poster-boy looks has always been part of his characterization, and I'd rather he not be uglied up to better fit on a 'dark' team).

Alternately, the metal-winged Angel could be an alternate universe character who looks like Warren, but comes from Russia and grows metal wings as his entire body becomes metallic. Colossus + Angel = Iron Angel or something.

I think I'm enjoying THOR more than it sounds like you are, but a nice jolt to the pace would be welcome. Whether it's provided by Dani Moonstar or someone else.

I'd like to see the Valkyrie connection explored-- just not Dani being called THE Valkyrie.

Even if they gave her Asgardian-level strength and dyed her hair blonde. ESPECIALLY if they did that.

I guess this is one area in which I'm pretty much a traditionalist. For me, THE Valkyrie has to be blond and Scandinavian looking.

Which is neither here nor there as it pertains to Dani, though. She's currently appearing in YOUNG X-MEN, unless it's revealed that the person using her name is a Skrull or Mystique or something. You never know with X-men. Or comics, in general. She certainly didn't 'sound' like herself there.

I think she'd be a great guest star for X-FACTOR. Much better than She-Hulk. Maybe she could hire them for some case or other, and then stick around for awhile?

THEN, she could move on to THOR or somewhere. She could reconnect with Brightwind and those Valkyrior powers, which she should still have, shoudn't she? I vaguely remember a 'fading' speech- but she's had so many of those.

I'm almost tempted to think a brand new set of powers would be in order, but after reading your list, I guess that'd be redundant. Really, her character has always been stronger than any power attached to her.

True. One of the things I like about her is that she was portrayed as leaderly, confident, decisive, etc. *without* being portrayed as a raving power-freak. (Unlike, unfortunately, Storm, who went from serene and soft-spoken nature goddess with a stainless steel backbone to dismissive, hot-tempered, callous and condescending Ms. BossyBoots as leader.)

Come to think of it, *all* of the former New Mutants could benefit from a return to Asgard. Xian could get a reminder of her destiny, which even the Norns saw as significant. Sam could reunite with his dwarven friends. Bobby could enjoy the company of people who regard him as a champion. Rahne could meet up with her wolf-prince. Doug could, uh, *not be dead!*

YOUNG X-MEN #5 is out-- concluding the introductory arc. I thoroughly enjoyed all the scenes in the issue that had Magma in them. I think this writer has a good handle on her character- hopefully, she'll be one of the New Mutants who stay on the Young X-Men team.

Sunspot should, too- though he doesn't quite ring as true as Magma, for me.

The rest of the issue? Well, I'm not crazy about the 'early member has to die to bring team together' thing that's used so often with new groupings of superheroes. And I kind of liked the character who apparently died.

The last page of the issue was a 'coming soon in these pages' deal. Pictured, among others, were Magik (Illyana Rasputin), a gang of 'Inks', and, apparently, Doug Ramsey (Cypher).

Hmmmm...

X-MEN #501 is on the stands... in which Pixie gets beat up on the mean streets of San Fran, Beast cracks wise, Cyclops gets loopy, and a redhead in black leather calling herself the Red Queen debuts. Or something.

Well, I'm still buying a lot of them and I'm feeling they're all a bit...'okay'.

Uncanny - its still 'pretty good', but nothing spectaular. The new set-up in San Fransisco is cool, but there isn't any 'wow' factor yet. Magneto felt wrong here.

Astonishing - Ellis's dialogue for Emma and Storm made me cringe. Beast is interesting by Ellis, but he might be the only one. It just doesn't feel right. As if the X-Men are incidental to the story thus far and could be replaced by any other Ellis character. Then again, I've never been a huge fan of Ellis.

Legacy - surprisingly enough, this might be my favorite of the main X-books right now. Its been kind of good, though I suspect someone who is not mired in X-history like I am might not enjoy it as much. Professor X is a tough character to capture, so often bordering on being uninteresting, but Carey does a good job here. Gambit is good thus far, and I always enjoy Sebastion Shaw or Mr. Sinister.

X-FACTOR #35- The art is seriously hampering my enjoyment of this title. The real Longshot shows up- to my disappointment. There is some fun to be had as Strong Guy and Rictor react as if it were the Skrull from the She-Hulk cross-over. The typical Longshot flirting scenes occur. And Jamie Madrox creates and reabsorbs another murderous dupe. Hmmm.

UNCANNY X-MEN #502- Karma might as well be a new character. Dazzler appears, with a nice nod to her friendship with Beast.

Emma and Nightcrawler share a moment (not that kind). The highlight of the issue was Empath's flashback to his Hellion days (how I wish Catseye would come back...) as he plays(?) the submissive for the Red Queen. We're told his power is greatly amped up, without really being shown how or in what way. Seeing Manuel grovel at RQ's boots is in some ways fitting, as he's definitely earned a comeuppance over the years.

However, he's also been one of those characters that has crossed over into shades of gray more than once. I fear his debasement will push him fully into the irredeemable villain camp, a grouping in which some readers would already place him, I'm sure. I prefer him murkier.

YOUNG X-MEN #6- If the series had started out with this issue, it'd be routinely praised. In a strange coincidence, DC's TITANS #5 gets the exact same reaction from me. Weird.

Blindfold leaves (for a time), Rockslide emotes all over the place (actually, he has a nice scene with Cyclops that does a lot to make me like Scott Summers again), a bit of Graymalkin's past is revealed (he's a couple of hundred years old and is related in some familial way to Charles Xavier...), Dust has a nicely written scene in which she confronts the captured Donald Pierce, the Young X-Men will be training and living in an old cathedral(!)

Roberto and Dani are tapped to be the new team's teachers... which I'm both happy about and disappointed in. Happy, because I'm glad to see *any* of the original NEW MUTANTS, a grouping of characters I love, receive a 'home'. Disappointed, because Dani, in particular, seemed to be Guggenheim's least successful character 'voice'. I liked his Sunspot fine- but really seemed to get Magma and Cannonball. I wish *they'd* be the ones sticking around. Maybe they will, as well- we aren't told what that pair is doing, after their initial scene in this issue (which featured a nice nod to the New Mutants' origin...).

Last, but not least- by a long shot, Anole gets recruited by Dani, who stops juuuust short of playing the 'gay card' via the destination of the Young X-Men's new HQ.

X-FORCE #7: This is a weird issue with a quite jarring shift. The majority of the book is dealing with the various characters' psycho-drama as a result of the first six issues.

Leaving me pitying Wolfsbane, admiring Elixir, and scratching my head over Angel/Archangel. I really don't get what's going on with him. Is it as simple as he can shift between the identities? Has he always been able to do this, but suppressed the ability? Or is it a tertiary mutation? Sign of the Apocalypse? What?

Anyway- the interaction between Cyclops, Wolverine and or about Elixir made the issue for me.

The jarring part shows an apparently all-together team readying for a mission involving the Vanisher, a villain I guiltily like. We're shown glimpses of all the back-from-the-dead villains that are hatching various schemes.

HOUSE OF M: CIVIL WAR #1 and 2: All I really have to say about this is that it's a shame that a sort-of-fleshed out past is provided for pre-Magneto/Mesmero Lorna Dane here instead of in a 'real' X-book.

Nevertheless, her mother and her mother's interaction with Magneto is depicted in this mini. Who knows if it'll reflect the normal MU?

Also, there's a panel or two with the Soviet Super Soldiers and a living Darkstar-- I know she's got a few fans on this board, too.

X-FORCE #8-- not liking the direction Warren's headed. I do like that he can be used as Archangel in certain situations, but don't much like the darker characterization taking over the Warren Worthington personality.

I always grudgingly liked Vanisher, so it's fun to see him here- even with those weird tattoos.

For me, the star of the series is turning out to be Elixir. I find his use of his power fascinating, ditto for his ethical questions. I hope he stays around- otherwise the slice and dice nature of this title is likely to lose me once a lesser artist takes over (nothing in the works, I don't believe- but we all know what'll happen eventually.)

Demon Bear? Well, that'd keep me around regardless of who draws it. But no Dani Moonstar or any former classic New Mutant? That's regrettable.

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