This week, Marvel’s AvX event builds towards a climax, Wolverine and the X-Men does a proverbial “0 Issue,” and I get to talk about how awesome Chew is! More after the cut!

 

Avengers Vs X-Men #11

Avengers Vs X-Men #11

Brian Michael Bendis, Olivier Coipel, Jim Cheung

I’m going to talk about AvX #11, Uncanny X-Men #18, and The New Avengers #30 all together below. The three comics essentially take place at the same time, but from different perspectives. There are some pretty hefty spoilers that I’ll be talking about, so please beware.

 

 

Chew #28

Chew #28

John Layman, Rob Guillory

Chew! I own every single issue of Chew, I’ve been reading it since the beginning. I’m due for a re-read from the start, so I’m strongly considering picking up the trade paperbacks or collected editions. The other benefit to owning the TPBs, other than making it easier to re-read, is that I can lend them out and make other people read them, because not enough people are reading this fucking book. Protagonist Tony Chu is recovering from his abduction and heavily sedated, which they use as an excuse to draw everyone in a furry-esque animal form for most of this issue. It’s cute, fun, and doesn’t distract from the story. Well done!

 

 

Crossed Badlands #13

Crossed Badlands #13

David Lapham, Jacen Burrows

This is the end of Edmund’s story, and an important lesson: being a hero might get you killed, and being a coward might keep you alive. Fantastic ending to the chapter, I loved it.

 

 

Fantastic Four #610

Fantastic Four #610

Jonathan Hickman, Ryan Stegman

One of my favorite concepts that I feel isn’t explored enough in comics is that of a brilliant villain who realizes that crime doesn’t pay, and that it’s far more efficient to operate inside the law. As Hickman prepares to hand off Fantastic Four to Matt Fraction, he seems to be starting up a new plot line involving everyone’s favorite beekeeper suit wearing group of mad scientists, AIM (Advanced Idea Mechanics). They bought an island nation, have set up a government, and Reed Richards has been appointed their ambassador from the United States. I’m eager to read more!

 

 

New Avengers #30

New Avengers #30

Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato, Ron Garney

I’m going to talk about AvX #11, Uncanny X-Men #18, and The New Avengers #30 all together below. The three comics essentially take place at the same time, but from different perspectives. There are some pretty hefty spoilers that I’ll be talking about, so please beware.

 

 

Uncanny X-Force #31

Uncanny X-Force #31

Rick Remender, David Williams, Jerome Opena

Violent characters willing to kill acting in character and making tough decisions. What more could you possibly ask for? This issue focuses a little more on the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and the behind the scenes politics of the group, touching on the actual X-Force mostly at the beginning and end. I liked it. Evan’s expressions are fantastic, very easy to tell he’s just a kid being tortured. But is it just me, or does it look like Daken has a pot belly in a few panels?

 

 

Uncanny X-Men #18

Uncanny X-Men #18

Kieron Gillen, Daniel Acuna

I’m going to talk about AvX #11, Uncanny X-Men #18, and The New Avengers #30 all together below. The three comics essentially take place at the same time, but from different perspectives. There are some pretty hefty spoilers that I’ll be talking about, so please beware.

 

 

Wolverine And The X-Men #16

Wolverine And The X-Men #16

Jason Aaron, Jorge Molina

This issue goes back, before Wolverine and the X-Men started, and gives us the back story on the new, improved, and disturbingly young Hellfire Club, lead by Kade Kilgore. Other than the characters being a little over the top in the “I’m so evil, mwa ha ha!” department, I really liked this. The prison scenes are great, I love the perspectives used, it’s all from the point of view of (evil! Mwa ha ha) kids in prison, so a lot of detail is left out, it’s a very small window into the institution. I loved it.

 

 

X-Men #35

X-Men #35

Brian Wood, Roland Boschi, Jorge Molina

Keep in mind while reading the following, I am not an art snob about comics. Usually I focus on the layout and panel flow when appreciating the visual aspects of the medium. However, the art in this issue was distractingly bad.  How bad? Domino and Storm look like they’re alternately drawn by a drunk high school student and Patrick Nagel. Don’t believe me? Could it really be that bad? Here, take a look:

 

Oof
Colossus the skinhead with metal eczema and Storm as an 80 year-old Aunty Entity from Max Max.

 

wtf?
“…pixie[‘]s ass looks like two hills divided by a lone road.” – MFchimichanga, /r/comicbooks on reddit
Patrick Nagel
“Psylocke went from Marilyn Manson to nick cage in an instant.” – MFchimichanga, /r/comicbooks on reddit

 

Ouch
Psylock’s secondary mutation was a giraffe neck and a jaw so sharp, she can cut people with it.

I’m not even going to talk about the rest of the issue, the story, dialogue, panel counts, nothing. Garbage.

 

X-Men Legacy #273

X-Men Legacy #273

Christos N. Gage, Rafael Sandoval, Mark Brooks

Rogue solves a war between aliens on another planet that has no bearing on the rest of the Marvel Universe, and everything is the same as it was before she left. Teh enb.

 

 

AvX #11, Uncanny X-Men #18, and The New Avengers #30: SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Seriously you guys, spoilers:

U-XM #18 has some brilliant dialogue. Powerful, character defining exchanges between Illyana (Magik) and Colossus, Cyclops and Magneto, and finally, Cyclops and Emma Frost. The final conversation takes place at a fancy dinner inside Scott and Emma’s minds, discussing the state of their relationship while engaged in a fight with the Avengers and X-Men in the real world. This culminates with Scott betraying Emma, blasting her and taking the rest of the Phoenix force for himself. Brilliant conversation, excellent facial expressions. The dinner scene with Scott and Emma, amidst cuts to the physical battle they’re in, is great. I really enjoyed this issue, and feel like everyone in it will be changed as a character from this point forward. What more could you ask for, right?

AvX #11, which technically you are supposed to read before U-XM #18, but they overlap, is the big spoiler issue everyone’s been talking about, because there’s a major character death, but I ask this: how major can it be, if the character has already died and been brought back several times? Well, in interviews, Brian Michael Bendis and a few others have promised a level of permanency in this death comparable to that of Gwen Stacy. So maybe this time, Professor Charles Xavier will remain dead, a victim of patricide. No, not Legion, but Scott Summers. Professor X has united the rest of the X-Men with the Avengers to take down Scott, and the tides are turning, so Cyclops takes the rest of the power from Emma, and disowns Xavier, declaring “You are NOT my father,” before killing his mentor. In a fit of emotion, he embraces his new found power, and declares himself the [dark] phoenix.

Like I said, Prof. X has died many times, but never at the hands of his star pupil and “son.” Maybe it’s event fatigue, but I conceptually understand why this is a big fucking deal, but was emotionally unmoved. The art conveys it just fine, but I’m not really surprised. The whole series has been setting up Scott as the big villain, and Professor X has been floating about without purpose for a while now. It just makes sense that this would happen, which lessens the blow. Still, I enjoyed it all the same.

 

New Avengers #30:

De-powered Emma in custody, Powerman and Daredevil are escorting her somewhere for safe keeping. Along the way they are hijacked by mutant hating zealots. Blah blah blah, fight fight fight. But then, something that’s been coming for a while happens: Luke Cage realizes that he can’t be the family man he needs to be and an Avenger at the same time, and he quits. He calls Jessica, and tells her he’s fine, and on his way home, for good. I want to know what happens with this, and am looking forward to more. Unfortunately, the entire issue is just a vehicle for this single moment, the rest seems to fall flat.

 

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