Avengers #402

Avengers #402
Writing: Mark Waid
Art: Mike Deodato and Tom Palmer

What Went Down: The Avengers start out by rescuing a subway full of people trapped underground. Didn’t something similar already happen in Uncanny? Don’t worry about it! Once they get above ground, Captain America seems overwhelmed by the chaos around them, as buildings crumble and fires rage. The Avengers spend some time rescuing civilians and getting them to safety. They come across the Black Widow, technically the leader of the Avengers at this point, being mobbed by desperate people. Cap orders them away, and the Widow goes off to help more people.

Iron Man and Giant Man show up and tell the Avengers that they’ve completed the psionic armor. Unfortunately they’ve brought it with them, right as they are attacked by Post and Holocaust. The two villains are trying to steal the armor, and they have cloaking fields that render them invisible. While they fight the Avengers, the surrounding civilians begin to feel hopeless as the heroes are beaten. As the fight rages, Wasp asks Captain America what they should do; he replies that they can’t beat them. The Wasp is shocked to hear that Cap is giving up, but what Cap meant was that they couldn’t beat the villains head-on and needed to trick them. So Captain America throws his shield, triggers Post’s cloak, and tricks Holocaust into shooting him. While Holocaust is shocked by his actions, the Avengers beat the crap out of him. The crowd cheers, inspired by the Avengers’ victory. Onslaught appears on a giant screen to taunt the heroes. They destroy the screen and charge off, while saying “Avengers Assemble” of course.

How It Was: This is actually the last issue of the Avengers’ initial run. After the Onslaught storyline, the Avengers get shuffled off to the Heroes Reborn universe and the numbering starts over at issue one. So Mark Waid had the task of providing a closing to the Marvel Universe’s greatest heroes while making it fit within the Onslaught crossover. Oh, and he couldn’t resolve anything in the Onslaught storyline either. What we get is an issue of the Avengers doing what they do best, saving lives and inspiring people, followed by a fight with two C-list X-Men villains, which probably isn’t the conclusion Stan Lee would have envisioned 401 issues prior.

The story is okay, nothing spectacular. Mark Waid doesn’t even get a chance to wrap up any of the dangling sub plots his tenure as writer had set up (Kurt Buisek would handle them years later), and he also has the unpleasant duty of writing the issue that essentially makes his job obsolete. Black Widow gets brushed aside during the course of the story because she can’t go to Heroes Reborn; she’s needed in Daredevil and around the Marvel Universe. Vision is still lying on a bed off panel and Hawkeye is nowhere to be found, so they don’t get to be in the finale either. Come to think of it, while this Avengers roster consists solely of veterans, these are not the best versions of these characters. We have teenage Tony Stark/Iron Man, a Wasp who is an actual insect person, the poorly named Giant Man, and redesigns of classic costumes for characters like the Scarlet Witch and Thor that show how hard the Avengers Bullpen was trying to rip off the look of the X-Men.

So they’re rescuing civilians, which is fine except that the same thing is happening in every other Marvel book, and then they have to fight two villains that they have nothing to do with. The art is phenomenal and it really makes the issue. The battle is brutal as heroes are ambushed and thrown around. The mislead of the disheartened Captain America is a little contrived, but it’s not like Waid can really build drama any other way, since the plot isn’t allowed to proceed until Onslaught: Marvel Universe.

This is just a really odd issue to end the Avengers on. Waid definitely does his best, and at least the characters aren’t overshadowed in their own book as the X-Men have been in theirs’. Considering how bad the next year was for Avengers fans, this probably didn’t seem so bad, but it still feels like Earth’s Mightiest Heroes deserved better.

C+

X-Men #43

X-Men #43
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Paul Smith

What Went Down: At the mansion, Bishop and Beast are observing Xavier straining to find Jean and Cyclops after they disappeared last issue. On Avalon, the Acolytes are attacking the two X-Men while Exodus and Holocaust continue to fight and tear apart the space station. Some of the Acolytes blame the X-Men for bringing Holocaust aboard, which makes absolutely no sense at all, but there you have it. Jean discovers that Skids is outside in space, protected only by her forcefield. Jean reads her mind to figure out what is going on, as well as fill in new readers on what the story is about. They also find out Rusty Collins is dead, which angers them because they used to take care of Rusty as members of X-Factor.

Jean tries to contact Exodus, and we learn that Exodus is a very powerful telepath as well. Holocaust kills another Acolyte, Javitz, and Exodus flips out on him. In another part of the station, Colossus gets the catatonic Magneto to an escape pod, but decides to go back to help Scott and Jean. Outside the X-Mansion, Amelia Voght is trying to get in, but Bishop won’t allow her to enter. Voght just teleports in instead, but the effort weakens her. She tells Xavier that he won’t find his X-Men anywhere on the planet because they’re on Avalon.

Cyclops convinces the Acolytes to stop fighting so they can all help each other escape. Jean leaves to go help Skids while Cyclops leads the other Acolytes to safety. Xavier contacts Jean, then Colossus, telling him to make his escape. The Acolytes find that all of the escape pods are gone, so Cyclops has the Acolyte Unuscione project her exoskeleton around the chunk of station they’re all in. Jean joins Skids on some space debris and helps boost Skids’ forcefield with her telekinesis.

How It Was: For an introduction to such a forgettable villain, this story really does stand on as feeling significant, even today. The stakes work because the Acolytes have been genuine presences in the X-Men books, yet it doesn’t feel like Nicieza is wasting perfectly good characters because the Acolytes have mostly been faceless dead weight in all of their appearances. The destruction of Avalon is an awesome sight, and the addition of Scott and Jean just adds to the chaos of the story. There’s plenty of action, but all of the action serves a greater purpose, and the reactions of the characters mostly seem natural for the given situation.

Xavier’s scenes searching for his students are a little slower; it feels like it takes Voght forever to cross the X-Men’s front yard from last issue. The art is once again really nice looking, and the only nitpick I have is that the artist depicts Scott’s blast going through his glasses instead of having him lift them up. It’s also nice to see Colossus still putting himself before others. Just a really exciting issue.

B+

X-Men #42

X-Men #42
Writing: Fabian Nicieza
Art: Paul Smith

What Went Down: The Acolytes have recovered the space debris from X-Men: Prime and brought it aboard their home base Avalon. Kooky old Exodus is convinced that this is some kind of fortuitous sign from God, and many of the other Acolytes start to catch on that Exodus might not be all together sane. Many, including Colossus, question the safety of bringing an unknown life form aboard. The Acolyte Milan is tasked with analyzing the mystery mutant; he is overwhelmed with images and memories of the Age of Apocalypse before being disintegrated and absorbed by the mutant, who turns out to be Holocaust.

In the mansion, Professor X is watching a news report about the battle with the Juggernaut in New Jersey. Storm comes in to announce the club murder plot points from Uncanny #322 for the Professor’s benefit, as well as voice her fears about Wolverine’s well being. Down in the basement, the Beast is analyzing Juggernaut after their fight; he is also taking care of Gambit and Sabretooth in the medical ward.

In Florida, a trenchcoated figure who looks a lot like Gambit charges a card to break into a house to steal a helmet. The figure is stopped by Iceman, and we learn that it’s Rogue, who is reliving memories from Gambit’s life.

Up on Avalon, Rusty and Skids are talking about possibly defecting with Colossus. Scanner calls and tells them that Exodus has ordered Rusty to check in on Milan. Skids worries that Exodus is aware that they were questioning his authority, but Rusty tells her not to worry. Rusty finds that Milan is missing and that the stranger looks stronger. Rusty is then killed, but not before Scanner calls and sees him die.

Holocaust emerges and is confronted by Exodus. Holocaust mistakes him for the Exodus in the Age of Apocalypse that was an X-Man; he also reveals Exodus’ real name, Paris. Exodus gets mad for being called an X-Man, and the two begin a fight that tears a hole in the space station.

Back on Earth, Scott and Jean are returning from Jean’s parents’ house after telling them that her sister Sara was dead in Uncanny #322. Coincidentally, Amelia Voght teleports directly in front of their car, which somehow causes them to go through the portal she opened. This results in Cyclops and Jean ending up on Avalon in the middle of all of the wackiness.

How It Was: The highlight of this issue is probably the characters on Avalon. While Exodus is still a one-dimensional loony toon, it’s nice to see that a lot of the Acolytes are starting to question the overt craziness of their leader, you know, like real people would. Even more surprising is that characters like Milan, Skids, and Rusty are shown with actual personalities, relationships, and flaws for the first time in a long time. Of course then two of them die, which is a shame for the Acolytes to be dissolved right as someone thought to characterize them a little. But I actually felt a little bad when Rusty died, and he hasn’t had any character development in ages.

I also really like Holocaust’s response to the whole situation as he mistakes Magneto and Exodus for X-Men trying to battle his father. And it’s nice to see Exodus get some comeuppance as the “sign” he foresaw turns out to be a character as crazy and powerful as he is.

It’s also nice to see the X-books making a bigger effort to connect with each other. This is done really well with the scenes of Beast analyzing the Juggernaut, and not so well when Storm shows up to info-dump a bunch of information from other X-Men books that the Professor should already be aware of. Even the fact that Cyclops and Jean get hijacked while returning from events in a different title is a neat detail for fans. The Rogue/Gambit stuff is a little bit of a misfire since Nicieza has her remember all this stuff about Gambit’s past only to forget about it in a couple of issues.

Paul Smith’s art is a little softer then Kubert’s. It’s really nice and the colorist does a great job with the issue, but there are a few details to pick at. Smith uses the Age of Apocalypse design of Iceman, which is never used again. Also, Holocaust outside of his suit turns out to equal Ghost Rider with beady eyes, which is a real disappointment. Plus Xavier’s mansion is drawn much smaller than it usually is.

This book is doing slightly better than Uncanny at this point in regards to quality. The story has bigger stakes, and it’s nice to see Nicieza take some blank slates and make them actually interesting, even if he does kill them off a couple of pages later. Once again, the narrow focus is working well for the book, and it’s great to see Colossus again.

B+

X-Men: Omega

X-Men: Omega
Writing: Scott Lobdell and Mark Waid
Art: Roger Cruz

What Went Down: Holocaust is toying with his captive, Magneto, while his father Apocalypse watches. Apocalypse taunts his prisoner and explains the trap that has been set for his X-Men. The villains still have possession of the M’kraan Crystal, which the X-Men need to fix the time stream. Elsewhere, Angel takes the time to rescue Karma, but she apparently dies in his arms.

Blink teleports the X-Men to the pens, and they fight some soldiers. After the fight, Gambit pulls the Dark Beast out of some rubble to use him to get into Apocalypse’s base. In another part of the city, Cyclops and Jean Grey are leading the prisoners of the pens to freedom. Unknown to them, Cyclops’ jealous brother Havok is following them. At the same time, Angel flies into a defense tower carrying a load of explosives, freeing up the way for the X-Men, and making it possible for Nate Grey to escape.

The Shadow King tells Apocalypse that the southwest territories have been bombed; Apocalypse prepares for reprisals. He’s about to finish off Magneto when Nate Grey shows up and attacks. Magneto finds his helmet, and the two prepare to battle Apocalypse and Holocaust.

Blink teleports the X-Men to the chamber holding the M’kraan crystal, and another fight begins. Destiny glimpses the regular universe in the crystal and announces that she, Bishop, and Illyana are the only ones who can approach it. Holocaust and Nate fall through the ceiling, and Magneto approaches his X-Men. He gives a speech about the necessity of sacrifice and the fate of the universe. Colossus has issues with his sister potentially being sacrificed, but the X-Men begin fighting anyways.

Outside, Jean projects a telekinetic shield to try to protect the prisoners from the bombs that have been triggered by the Human governments. Wolverine, known as Weapon X, makes it through the shield with a parachute. Nate beats down Holocaust some more.

In the midst of the main battle, the Sugar Man escapes from Colossus’ boot to the M’kraan crystal, so he’ll show up later in our universe. Colossus freaks out and decides that he has to be with his sister. Iceman tries to stop him, but Peter shatters him. Gambit attacks him to hold him off. At the crystal, Destiny tells Illyana to use her powers to create a portal for Bishop to go through.

At the Human High Council in Europe, Apocalypse’s defense grid is attacking England. Magneto busts in on Apocalypse and creates a suit of armor out of stray pieces of metal. However, Magneto is forced to hesitate because Guido is holding his son. Outside, Havok attacks and kills Cyclops and Jean. Weapon X kills Havok, and then sits by Jean as she passes away. Logan is reminded of a legend about the Phoenix.

Bishop travels back to the moment right before Xavier jumped in front of Legion. He’s about to interfere when he is stopped by himself from the past.

Back in the AOA, Morph is injured, and Dark Beast makes his way to a teleportation device. Quicksilver quickly scrambles the coordinates, since Dark Beast’s destination is the crystal. Shadowcat decides to get in front of Colossus, hoping their love will stop Colossus’ rage. Instead, he accidentally kills her, and Gambit in turn kills him. Peter apologizes to his sister, but Quicksilver is forced to intervene and save Illyana from enemy guards.

Rogue uses her powers to remove Guido’s mass and rescue her son. Nate Grey attacks Apocalypse and steals a shard of the M’kraan crystal that the villain was holding. In the past, Bishop beats up his past self and tackles Legion out of the way. Bishop stabs himself with Legion’s energy blade, absorbing and redirecting the energy until it consumes Legion. Legion sees the Age of Apocalypse and apologizes, saying he only wanted to help. Legion dies, and the past X-Men are sent back to the present. Charles, Magneto, and Gabrielle forget all about the recent events in Legion Quest, although they all have a sense as if something important just occurred.

Magneto and Nate have Apocalypse on the ropes, but Holocaust interrupts the fight by shooting Nate. Nate has no choice but to stab Holocaust with the M’kraan shard, sending them both into the regular Marvel Universe. Apocalypse wonders why Magneto isn’t fighting back, but it is because he is concentrating. Magneto tears Apocalypse in half, then walks off to spend his final moments with his family before the nuclear weapons go off. He takes the time to thank Charles Xavier for changing his life.

How It Was: Well, it’s double-sized, shiny, and there’s not an advertisement to be seen in it. Nevertheless, it still feels really rushed as Lobdell tries to plow through the storylines of nine books in one single finale, plus the whole Age of Apocalypse story has to be resolved so that everything can revert back to normal next month. So this book goes at a pretty fast pace. A lot of inconsequential characters like Dazzler and Exodus completely disappear because there isn’t enough room for them, and poor Roger Cruz already has more than enough characters to draw. A lot of other characters are left up in the air; Morph gets injured, but we never see what happens to him. Nightcrawler and Jubilee get forced into the background as nothing but fighters.

All the same, there are some really awesome moments in this issue. Rather than discuss them all, because it is a really big book, I think I’ll list my favorites.

1. Colossus accidentally kills Kitty Pryde
2. Magneto rips Apocalypse in half.
3. Magneto and Nate Grey vs. Holocaust and Apocalypse.
4. Weapon X avenges Jean.
5. Nate Grey to Apocalypse, “This is for Forge!”

I will elaborate on my number one pick. I can see how many would see Colossus’ reactions as out of character, but I think that given his reactions to Illyana’s death in the Marvel Universe, his behavior isn’t that far-fetched. I mean Illyana’s death pushed Peter to join the evil Magneto’s Acolytes and later he sacrifices himself to help cure the Legacy Virus (much, much later, we’ll get to it). Plus you throw in the fact that his students all died under his care, and I think it’s perfectly natural for AOA Colossus to become overwhelmed by his emotions. And the speech he gives to Illyana as he’s dying is so well done down to the part where he wants her to stay with him, but she can’t.

Not every moment is solid. The fact is that the only way that this story could have any impact on the greater X-universe was to have some of the characters make it back to the normal universe; the ways in which these characters make it to the Marvel Universe are rather contrived, and none of them have had any groundbreaking moments in the last decade or so. Yes, X-Man had his own book for a while, but most X-collectors never really bothered with it, and it rarely affected the wider X-Men franchise.

I must say that the end is superb; I love how the panel is engulfed in white and you’re left to figure out if it’s a nuclear holocaust or reality fixing itself. And while the story doesn’t have very many ramifications for the characters, it is a well-constructed story with a solid direction that opened a lot of possibilities for writers to play with the characters and themes of the X-Men and present them in a new light.

B+

Astonishing X-Men #4

Astonishing X-Men #4
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Joe Madureira

What Went Down: We’re treated to a gorgeous one page spread of Blink angrily calling out Holocaust. Of course Holocaust underestimates the youth, and a fight begins that ends with Blink dropping the villain in a vat of chemicals. Meanwhile, the rest of the X-Men are still fighting Infinites.

Elsewhere, Magneto has been captured by Apocalypse (which happens in Amazing X-Men). Apocalypse taunts Magneto and threatens his loved ones. At the plant, prisoners scheduled for processing are about to be executed. Sunfire saves them all and frees them.

Holocaust survives the acid and attacks Morph and Blink, but together with the other X-Men they beat him. Holocaust tells Rogue that Apocalypse has captured Magneto and Bishop before teleporting away. Iceman shows up to stop Rogue from following Holocaust, and Sabretooth also shows up after healing from his wounds. Rogue ends the issue by swearing that they will save Magneto and Charles as well as end the Age of Apocalypse.

How It Was: Action, action, and more action. If you can’t tell by the brief description above, most of this issue is fighting. And really, isn’t that what the grand finale of a story should be. The seemingly docile Blink gets to shine with a little aggressiveness as well as some creative uses for her teleporting powers. Plus the Infinites make for excellent cannon fodder. And the fight at the end with Holocaust is awesome, except for Holocaust’s anti-climactic escape at the end.

Even with all of the action, Lobdell doesn’t let up with the cool character moments. Morph and Rogue share a great scene together when Morph thinks she’s dead, and Sunfire gets to sort of redeem himself by saving a large group of people. So many writers don’t understand that to make a good team book, every character has to shine, but Lobdell has this concept nailed.

Overall this was a fantastic series. It is a little weak how Sabretooth just pops up on the last two pages after his death was made into such a big deal. But as I’ve said before, his personality was probably the weakest (i.e. Wolverine wannabe), and his death served the purpose of placing more focus on the other characters. Still, there’s no real reason to bring him back since he doesn’t serve that big of a purpose in the finale. While this series doesn’t have a lot to do directly with Apocalypse, it is still a really well done series that does justice to all of the characters and the setting.

A

Astonishing X-Men #3

Astonishing X-Men #3
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Joe Madureira

What Went Down: We open on the Infinites chasing after the feral Wild Child and trying to stop him from bringing intel to the rest of the X-Men. Wild Child is shot, but Morph and Sunfire save him. Then Wild Child touches Rogue, allowing her to see his memories and learn where the factory is.

Sabretooth wakes up and finds that he is a prisoner of Holocaust. The villain brags about how nothing can stop Apocalypse etcetera etcetera, followed by cutting Sabretooth’s throat. We then see a flashback of Wolverine and Sabretooth rescuing a young Blink from a burning building. Morph tries to lighten the mood, but Sunfire gets mad at him.

At the Xavier Estate, Magneto is testing Bishop, asking if Bishop would kill him to save all of humanity. Nanny, Magneto’s robot nanny in charge of his son, sounds an alert and takes Charles through an emergency exit. In the processing plant, Morph turns into a whale and transports all of the X-Men inside. A lot of fighting ensues, ending with Blink discovering the dead body of Sabretooth.

How It Was: This book is great; it has some straight up awesome scenes. One of the best is Morph rescuing Wild Child disguised as Holocaust with a top hat and cane, directly followed by a grim and stoic Sunfire incinerating all of the bad guys. It’s such a great juxtaposition of emotion and tone; I love it. Morph actually has a number of great scenes; the creators have a lot of fun turning him into a door, a brick wall, and even a talking whale. His one-liners and silly forms offer a great counter to more serious scenes like the “death” of Sabretooth.

Speaking of the death, while it’s impact is limited by the end of this series I really like how Sabretooth’s death scene is immediately followed by a flashback to him rescuing Blink after the turn of the page. This does a great job of setting up Blink’s behaviors next issue as well as sheds some light on her beginnings. The art continues to be phenomenal, with Joe Mad conveying both excitement and emotion quite well. My only issue with the issue is that the plot doesn’t move very far as we go from learning about the factory to initially arriving there. But it’s a small price to pray for all of the great character goodness in this issue.

B+

Astonishing X-Men #2

Astonishing X-Men #2
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Joe Madureira

What Went Down: This issue starts out with the X-Men already in Chicago, trying to direct a mob of terrorized humans to safety; the people are terrified by the sight of Apocalypse’s probes coming to calculate the potential body count. Sunfire becomes angry and attacks the probes, causing more panic. Rogue absorbs his power to get him to calm down, but in the process she absorbs his memories of seeing Apocalypse defeating Sunfire and wiping out everyone in Japan. Sunfire is ashamed, but Rogue comforts him.

Back in Westchester County, Magneto is having a tender moment watching his son Charles sleep. Bishop comes in and insists that Charles isn’t supposed to exist, but Magneto explains that to a father it doesn’t matter. In Manhattan, Apocalypse is throwing a hissy fit because his minions haven’t detected the X-Men’s base yet. Rex gets the call with the location and Apocalypse is appeased.

In Chicago, Sabretooth tells Blink that he is going to stall Holocaust while the other X-Men evacuate the city; he also tells Blink to avenge him, since this is most likely a suicide mission. Rogue tries to stop Creed, but Blink uses her powers to knock Rogue unconscious and teleport Creed to Holocaust’s location.

Sabretooth confronts Holocaust, learns the location of his Infinite factory, and sends Wild Child to go tell the others. A fight arises with Sabretooth tearing off Holocaust’s helmet, but inevitably still failing.

How It Was: As I noted before, Astonishing X-Men’s strength is its strong personalities for its characters. Lobdell takes his cast of five and uses each issue to focus on what really drives each X-Man. Here we get an excellent flashback with Sunfire: dressed in his old uniform, surrounded by piles of corpses, and being held down by Apocalypse in a lake of the blood of innocents. In four panels, Lobdell is able to justify all of Sunfire’s erratic, impulsive, and angry attitude quirks and at the same time make us feel sympathetic for a very unlikable character.

All of the characters are equally interesting, although Sabretooth is kind of acting as a second-rate Wolverine; I say this because his relationship with Blink strongly echoes the Wolverine/Kitty or Wolverine/Jubilee dynamic. And I’m not quite sure how Blink knows where Holocaust is, and if she knows where he is, why don’t all of the X-Men just go and beat him right now? I guess we would miss out on a pretty awesome fight with Holocaust.

And while I’m on the subject, I feel like Holocaust is a wildly inappropriate name for a super villain. Yes, it’s a nitpick and I know that the word refers to any mass genocide and not a specific one, but the seriousness of the name doesn’t really fit with this basically one-dimensional villain. Marvel apparently agreed with me, because years later characters started calling him Nemesis again.

Still this is a fun book with actual overwhelming odds for the protagonists to overcome. Awesome efforts on writing and art make this really enjoyable.

A