Uncanny X-Men #1: A Roundabout Review

          I'mgoing to pretend this is not another first issue. In my eyes the “Uncanny X-Men”are on their way towards six hundred and not nine issues away from issue ten.Does anyone remember that Uncanny X-Men started with issue #142?

          BrianMichael Bendis wrote some amazing twists and turns through his run with the “Avengers”.He brought me back to a comic book I haven't collected in years. As Marvelinitiated their Marvel Now program I already decided which titles I wanted totry and of course the X-Men were to be part of my collection. The creative lineup for “All New X-Men” had me salivating while wondering how they would portraythe original X-Men as teens.

Spoilers Ahead

          “AllStar X-Men” was at #7 by the time “Uncanny X-Men” #1 reached my LCS. The teamof Cyclops, The White Queen, Magneto, and one of my favorite characters, Magikwere on the rise to start a revolution. This does not include the newest teenmembers Tempus and a character to be names later.  They pick up a third mutant in this issue who’sbubble powers are still a mystery but reminds me a bit of the effect Speedballhad when he bounced around. Unlike the first issue of the X-Men back in 1963when the now deceased (again) Professor Xavier had his young students battleMagneto, they battle Sentinels alongside the self proclaimed Master of Magnetism.A weakened Magneto uses projectiles against the metal monstrosities rather thanshredding them apart.  He blames ScottSummers for his current predicament.

          My favorite scene leaves me in a quandary; Magik with her Soul Sword rips a Sentinel in half. This same sword time and time again through many different writers could not affect anything other than the unworldly, which makes me question what BMB is trying to do. Yes, the easy answer does have to do with the Phoenix Force she had once permeated.  Then there is the White Queen herself, who never should have been an X-Man to begin with. Why is she with the team? Cyclops her former (?) lover decimated her and even though they both were tainted by the same force that gave them power, he did betray her, rather ruthlessly.

          Theteam still follows Cyclops and BMB links them together very well. I lookforward to seeing the team expand, explode out into the world and implode in onitself. Not to mention the amazing talents of Chris Bachalo. Ever since I firstsaw his art I was pulled in. The colors and intricate detail draw my eye topanel after panel. This book would be great by his art alone, it's only icingon the cake that Brian Michael Bendis is leading the way.

          I was excited about the “Avengers”because of Cannonball joining the ranks, the short return of the InfinityGauntlet in the “New Avengers”, I went back and started the “IndestructibleHulk” from the original perception of the Hulk now smashes with a purpose, AllStar X-Men making something old new again, and Superior Spider-Man swingingthrough the city with no one the wiser it’s Doc Ock. It's this book, UncannyX-Men #1 out if all the others that reminds me why I like comic books. Ichallenge them to keep it up.

Thanks for Reading

Superior Spider-Man #1: A Roundabout Review

Superior Spider-Man #1: A Roundabout Review

Wednesday arrived and I left work to go home and change for my weekly ritual. This consists of coffee with my Dad and a trip to my Comic Book store. My Comixology.com e-mail was checked through my iPhone and my weekly pulllist had the comics I am waiting for, primarily Superior Spider-Man #1.

I picked up Star Wars #1, Shadow-Man #3 and decided to stick with a digital download only for Non-Humans #2. With only three books to read on the way home from Fat Jack’s Comic Crypt in Center City Philadelphia, it was the twice a month Superior Spider-Man #1 by Dan Slott and Ryan Stegman that I waited until I got on the twenty bus to start reading. When I got home, I read it again.

Previously in Amazing Spider-man, and if you are reading Superior #1 before ASM #700, then shame on you, Peter Parker dies. Yes, Marvel allowed the one of the main bread winners to receive a dirt nap. Otto Octavius reigns supreme in the body of Aunt May’s favorite nephew and for anyone who remembers, this has some gross overtones because Otto almost married Peter’s Aunt May. I truly hope this is a story thread they never follow up on. So how does one of the greatest villains on the planet become a 100 percent rehabilitated super hero in the body of his greatest adversary? The answer is he doesn't.

Spoilers Abound

The sinister six arrives on the scene which includes The Shocker, Speed Demon, Boomerang, Living Brain, Beetle, and Overdrive which brought to mind the cover of issue #183. I don’t understand what it is about a big wheel. For a change of pace it was actually pretty enjoyable to watch Boomerang call the shots. Of course who else but Dr. Octopus would be so insulted about a new Sinister Six, and I find it quite ironically pleasing that this is the Superior Spider-Man’s first battle. Otto/Pete seems so enraged he rips into them but seriously realizes how hard Peter had it when Speed Demon pummels him repetitively to the point Otto decides to flee. By the way, Dan pulls off all this action in the first six pages and that includes Peter paying his respects at Otto’s gravesite.

          So Otto being Otto, he runs, but Spider-man being who he is, returns as he sees an innocent cop about to get in the way of a deadly boomerang. Without even fully understanding why Otto/Pete is saving someone who "states the obvious" he also would make Wolverine proud by slicing Boomerang with claws? Later Peter is being talked to by Max Modell and on these two pages I almost feel like I should be listening to Dr. Horrible’s singalong.

               Another two pages and Peter hits the Jackpot. Mary Jane interacts with Peter in a way she never did before, she wasn't passed off for him to go run and be Spider-Man even though Otto/Pete is listening into the Sinister Six’s next conspiracy through “eighty nano-spider tracers”. Otto/Pete is much more interested in the dinner,drink, and the view.

Dan Slott keeps the comic rollingalong in a smooth flow of story worthy of being a #1 issue.

               The action speeds up again as Otto prepared for the Sinister Six, and instead of a six Issue story, he wraps them up in one measly issue, which makes me wonder, is the Otto Spider-Man really that superior. He’s vicious, calculating,and arrogant, many things Peter never was, so as he pummels Boomerang with the intent of ending his life we have none other than his subconscious staying his hand from the killing blow, or is it something more. I’m not going to spoil everything, read the book and figure out for yourself if Dan Slott is the story weaver you think he is.

Thanks for Reading

Amazing Spider-Man #700: A Roundabout Review

I have been collecting Amazing Spider-Man since issue #251,titled “Endings”. I do have a few other books before that one, but it was thegloved hand coming through the water holding up Hobgoblin’s mask that enticedme.  I followed Peter Parker when he wastransported with hero and villain alike to participate in the Beyonder’sexperiment throughout the 12 issue Maxi-Series, Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars.His own series with issue #252 was sold out before I got out of school topurchase it. I didn't even realize I missed its release. Remembering back, itall started with a very well read copy of Issue #181, the origin of Spider-Man.I have an idea how I got that issue, but that's a story for another time.

Over the years I collected the adventures of Peter Parker. Ifollowed as he asked Mary Jane to marry him. I watched as he took on newvillains and old ones alike, each time reciting what he believed in "WithGreat Power Comes Great Responsibility". At times he was beaten, but hefought back. He never gave up, he never quit, a real life lesson.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I am a huge Star Wars fan and ever since Vector Prime by R.A.Salvatore killed offa vital character to “its” universe, I was shocked. I understood the reasoning,how could you fear for the characters you love if they would always survive in the end. A line from The Never EndingStory rings truer than anything else at the moment when the old man in thebook store told Sebastian "You're books are safe". Spider-Man issue#700 was not safe.

The comic book is packed, but after reading the first portionof the book, the important portion consisting of the first fifty pages wasenough to destroy any thought of being safe again. The Ultimate Universe wasfun to be part of and when they started to kill off major characters likeSpider-Man, I’m considering if it was just a test run. I mean seriously, howwould the media and the fans actually accept the death of Peter Parker, theAmazing Spider-Man?

Dan Slott has kept fans riveted with his story telling prose.As other artists joined Peter on his journey none I felt were as strong asDitko and Romita Sr and Jr. Many characters were slain, most by villains, andmaybe none as well known as Gwen Stacey by either the hands of the Green Goblinor Spider-Man himself in an effort to save her, by the superior skill of GerryConway, nothing against the legend and creator himself, Stan “The Man” Lee. 

Marvel is trying to capture the magic that DC initiated withthe New 52. Their attempt of rebooting their universe reminds me of a band aidbeing pulled of wounded skin. The only Marvel Now book that I thought wasworthy was Indestructible Hulk, a book I was hesitant to collect. Both Avengers#1 and Cable and X-Force #1 I found lacking. Thor I have heard good thingsabout but I think it's going to be The Superior Spider-Man that is goingto be pivotal in my monthly rotation of comic books. Mark Waid, you have beenwarned, please keep Daredevil my favorite title.

R.I.P. Peter Parker, you deserve it.

Thanks for Reading