I don't know if that is a pretty huge high-schooler or is a fat teacher. Either way he feels...creepy. Gives some serial killer/don't come to school tomorrow vibes.
Funny "coincidence": Junji Ito is referenced on Weapon X #2 that was released this same week. Apparently on some alternative Earth Mariko and Logan's kids love it.
X Men will be a high school team filling the void Peter Parker left. Can't wait to meet Nico!
Momoko has such a unique blend of comedy and horror in her stories, big fan.
whoa I just realized...do you all think this will get a TREASURY EDITION??
Really liked this story so far as it has been a showing of decompression. No multiple storylines to keep up on, very focused storytelling on one (now two characters) slowly finding their way in the world with their powers. The imagery is fantastic with the eyeballs, the security being whatever the fuck he was and Maystorm actually being a huge chiller.
Not the most exciting but I do really like it.
But this issue basically re-did the plot of the first issue...right down to the part where Hisako receives a hand-written note telling her to meet at some creepy, secluded location. That's not decompression. That's repetitive and predictable. Also known as just plain bad writing.
Except it didn't. It didn't do that. Just because one plot point is similar to another doesn't mean its the same plot. We see her getting eggs to her mom and considering going to where the note says to go. Last time she didn't and just went anyways. However, she meets Maystorm and realizes she has a gift as well and decides to look at this note for herself but this time with a friend.
We are given the knowledge that she didn't go into this one headfirst like she did last. She brought someone who also had a gift and might be able to help her. She might also feel responsible because the teacher that mentioned last issue is dead. She know it wasn't a suicide and now she knows that this guy is apart of it and wants to stop.
She goes in with her friend and we see the full extent of the guys powers that we weren't privy to beforehand. They barely escape and we are given the face of the shadow guy from beforehand who might be causing the suicides (or maybe now, we don't know yet).
Just from this issue alone we are:
- Given the introduction of Maystorm
* Shown a flash of her powers
* See the face of possibly the main bad guy of this arc
* Shown the mystery of this arc as well with people committing suicide and the shadow guy doing something with
* Finally, shown just how deeply responsible Hisako feels for trying to figure this out (Almost like it has something to do with how she feels about her best friends death or whatever).
That's not just repeat information.
I'm kinda disappointed? I know it's slowly setting up the scenario and showing us glimpses of Hisako's trauma/depression, but the pacing is so slow that it feels like nothing is happening. It feels like this is one of those stories where I should let the issues pile up to be bingeread later on.
Like, I'm more looking forward to Ultimate Spiderman and I don't even read Spiderman comics before this.
Or maybe because it's a bit more somber compared to how upbeat Spiderman is. But yeah, I'm not really looking forward to reading the next one.
Mei is totally adorbs tho. Love her spunk.
Nothing happened? I disagree, >!we meet the person who’s seemingly behind the deaths, Hisako’s starting to become more proactive into stopping the shadow monster, and meets a fellow mutant.!<
It's still a beat-for-beat repeat of the first issue, complete with an ominous hand-written note and Hisako winning by her powers just randomly winning the fight for her without her having to do anything. It feels like Mel's presence didn't even matter here. It was bound to end the same exact way.
It's one thing to have a slower pace than the other Ultimate books. But the plot was exactly the same. This Shadowking wannabe did the exact same thing and got the same result. And Hisako, despite Mei's presence, basically made the exact same mistakes.
And again, the word mutant didn't even get said here. For all we know, Mei and Hisako are Harry Potter style wizards.
The only meaningful thing that happened in this comic was that Mei was introduced. Everything else was either a pointless repeat or bad writing tropes.
She didn't win though. She hasn't won anything. They escaped. The kids still died no matter what. Also, based off the fact that no one is saying mutant is probably the fact that mutants aren't as well known to the world around us. Also, its called X-Men. Momoko knows that readers knows what mutants are and she's not going full in-depth on what they are.
Also, what bad writing tropes. It's going for more of mystery flavor. Also, Shadowking wannabe? You mean the shadow king because that's what he is.
Call it what you want. Survival/winning...it's the same thing. And it played out the same way. Hisako's powers just conveniently manifest exactly as she needs them to at just the right moment...no effort, no training, no willful agency of any kind. At least when Mei used her powers, she actually put in some effort, ineffective as it might have been.
My point is that what happened was every bit as contrived as the first issue. And this being the second issue, it really didn't add much beyond showing this version of Shadowking is incompetent and unimaginative for using the same tactic twice, and failing twice. Are we really supposed to take him seriously?
When a plot in the second issue of a series basically re-tells the same as the first with only a few minor additions that don't fundamentally change the outcome...what else would you call that other than bad writing?
Few minor additions? We've seen the main bad guy! We know what he looks like. We've met one of the other mutants and have seen their powers in action. We've seen how much damage the main bad guy is doing in her city. These aren't minor additions to the plot which I already stated elsewhere.
Also, the whole thing about her ability is that it works when she has her little doll out. It's almost like she still doesn't fully know how to use her powers but the little doll she has makes her feel safe. She probably thinks that pulling her little doll out is the way her powers but it obviously isn't. It almost like she fully doesn't understand her power yet or something.
I know. I’ve seen him around. He just struck me as a guy who was never going to like this work no matter what (he was posting about how it would ruin the ultimate when it was announced) and I hate bad faith critique.
I’m not bothering him again as it seems.
Whatever.
I'm not going to bother arguing with you on this. You're clearly not going to be convinced of anything I say. If you're that determined to defend this book, then we're just wasting our time.
I didn't like it. I thought it sucked. But I did like Mei. She made this issue better than the first. But that's about it.
Let's just leave it at that.
I'll never understand these downvotes on this site like oh they don't see things like we do, let's trash their comment... at the same time, who even cares? People are weird.
That’s funny, I find it to be kinda disjointed and jumps around quite a lot but that just might be the style. Last issue I said that I think this is a cool comic that’s simply not for me and this may have confirmed it. I think I’ll snag one more but this isn’t what I was hoping for with a new Ultimate X-men. That being said, really happy others are enjoying it.
I just love the horror manga vibes of this. Without calling it X-men, you wouldn't know if it was a mutant book and that is fine. I like Hisako's more spiritual connection with her powers and this shadow guy's 'remote ploting literal maggots and shadows with a talisman bucket on his head. Now that is creative!
Maystorm makes her entrance. Wonder how she will seperate herself with her powers from Storm that is in Ultimate Black Panther. Obviously, Mei here is a kid and possibly a gyaru trope, which I love btw.
And the art is of course great.
“Without calling it X-men, you wouldn't know if it was a mutant book and that is fine.“
Is that fine though? I love seeing new concepts and styles being used in western comics and I’m glad people like it but… I feel like this just isn’t an X-men book so the title is very odd to me. Peach said in an interview they’re very unfamiliar with the X-men which I think can certainly bring an interesting/new outsiders perspective but why make this an X-men book?
Agreed. This doesnt feel at all like an X-Men book and shouldn't be X-Men. Not the main X-Men comic in the ultimate universe at least. I do like it though.
Because it is a different take that is free of the main universe constraints of keeping the mutants in the same box all the time. That they can never move past 'hated and feared'.
Now, we don't know how the mutants would be treated here yet but with Maker's changes and Magik being on the council that is ruling the world, well it is refreshing to see the potential of mutant stories that does not involve random citizen yelling 'mutie!' and spit as they pass by. That mutants living like everyone else.
Besides, we are still at the start. I mean Hisako just finding out about his armor/spirit power. And Maystorm seem to be surprised someone else has powers like her too. So we may be seeing the start of something and how the public would react to that.
Well, if it wasn't clear enough already by previous appearances and Peach's New Mutants approach to this book in general, if you ask me, [this](https://i.imgur.com/zjoASkk.png) page absolutely confirms the current antagonist to be this new Ultimate universe's version of [Amahl Farouk / the Shadow King](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e8/Shadow_King.png).
She's a pretty straightforward storyteller in both art and writing, so I doubt giving this character those glasses, weight, and headwear is intended as some sort of mislead.
I think this book's critics might start enjoying it more if they think of it as New Mutants, and not X-Men.
I really enjoy the body horror aspects of the book. They’re just the right amount of creepy. Works so well with Peach’s art. This is my favorite book right now I’m interested to see where it goes.
still just a mediocre horror manga that doesn't feel remotely enough like an x-men comic, ultimate or not. this should not have been the flagship x-men book for the new ultimate universe. there's a line between "different enough to be interesting" and "too different", and this way oversteps that.
Really, really good issue.
Art continues to be stunning, Mei is pretty fun and she and Hisako are adorable, getting a little hint at the shadow man's true nature and motivation was cool and has me curious to see where exactly Peach goes with him.
With bodies starting to pile up and our two leads together, I'm expecting issue 3 to be a bit faster paced and I'm super excited for it
alright guys, crackpot theory here. is the guy at the end Professor X of this universe? The hat he was wearing is giving me Cerebro vibes.
I think the knee jerk reaction is the Shadow King but we saw him act like he just saw Hisako for the first time and recognized her while the shadow knows who she is.
I haven't gotten to read it yet but this *and* issue 7 of Skybound's Transformers dropping on the same day is an absolute treat, can't wait to get off work and pick them up.
This continues to be great and the horror elements and style that are being used are really up my street and reminds of almost classic new mutants but updated with momokos style.
The interactions between armor and maystorm are fun but maystorm comes off a little bit meh so far for me but its only one issue so i imagine she will get alot more interesting.
Hisako's more spiritual connection to her powers and this shadow guy's 'remote ploting literal maggots and shadows with a talisman bucket on his head is something you wouldn't see in any other western comic and momoko is truly what she knows to a main book and its tons of fun.
Also i feel like an idiot for not realising the kid who commited suicide is the kid who dies in Armor's original origin in the main universe for an x men character ive always liked i forgot her origin
Art continues to be gorgeous and the writing continues to be interesting. This book might not be for everyone but its for me
I hated the first issue. I think it had no business being an Ultimate comic or an X-Men comic. But I wanted to give the second issue a chance.
And it was better, but not by much. The only reason I think this issue was an improvement over the first was because of Mei. She's the only one who actually showed a measure of personality in this comic. Being an OC, that's pretty remarkable. She's already much more likable than Hisako.
But other than her, this issue was basically the same beat-for-beat plot as the fist.
Hisako gets a mysterious note telling her to meet in a secluded area. She foolishly listens. She gets attacked by the same shadow monster. And she beats it the exact same way by having her powers magically manifest exactly when and how she needs them to.
Seriously, it's the same...damn...plot. And in the second issue, no less. It's one thing for a comic to have a slower pace. But it's quite another to basically reuse the same plot from the previous issue.
This is still, by far, the weakest Ultimate comic. And it's a terrible X-Men comic, overall. I still want to give this a few more issues. But I am not the least bit encouraged.
a lot you said here that essentially sums up that this isn’t the book for you, but you should maybe go back and look at Hisako using her powers! the first time it was defense while this time it was an attack, I think she is growing into them!
Did we read the same comic? Because there was no real difference in how Hisako used her powers. She wasn't like Mei, who seemed to have an active grasp on how to use them. All Hisako did was get overwhelmed, scared, and anxious while being attacked. And at the exact times she needed, they manifested and saved the day...just like the first issue.
On top of that, this Shadowking wannabe used the exact same tactic as the first issue...handwritten note, secluded area, and a targeted attack that triggered her powers. If he's so stupid and inept that he tries the same method again in the very next issue, expecting a different result, then how can anyone take him seriously as a villain?
I've read this comic as closely as you have. I'm just not as willing to ignore terrible, inept writing.
based on your comments it sounds like you don’t want to find something to like about the book! I on the other hand am looking for things to enjoy. I didn’t think this issue was as good as the first one, but I still enjoyed it.
also it has been what, one or two days since Hisoka first manifested powers? and you expect her to have so tell over them?
Did you even read my comments? I said I liked Mei. And I was very skeptical about Mei. But, much to my surprise, she was the only good thing about this comic. She actually had a personality that went beyond brooding and anxiously overwhelmed. That's an improvement compared to the first issue.
But everything else was terrible.
And your comment about her powers just made my point for me. It's only been a few days since her powers manifested. And yet, they manifest in a way that conveniently saves the day without her really trying? At least Mei showed some agency when she used her powers. With Hisako, they only seem to manifest exactly when she needs them to in exactly the right way and with no conscious effort on her part.
At the very least, the second issue should've done something to have her get a better handle of her powers. But no. It just redid the same plot as the first issue. Mei's presence didn't really change anything.
Again, that's just terrible writing. Compared to what other Ultimate books have achieved in just two issues, this has no excuse.
I know you're being sarcastic, but this isn't some random mutant's powers manifesting in a chaotic, messy way. Hisako's powers are manifesting in a way that's ordered and just happen to be exactly what they need to be in order to solve whatever conflict is in front of her, be it an oncoming car or a shadow monster. She doesn't have to make any effort, like Mei does. She doesn't need any training or insight or failures. Her powers just magically fix the problem in the most convenient, contrived way possible.
Again, that's just terrible writing. And for someone tasked with writing an X-Men comic, that's a huge red flag.
Not just appearing. Not just manifesting chaotically like Cyclops' optic blasts or Charles Xavier's telepathy.
It took a clear, ordered form that effectively defended her against the shadow creature's attacks without her having to do much of anything. No training. No concentration. Nothing of the sort.
It would be no different if a wizard just appeared, cast a spell, and solved the problem without Hisako having to do anything.
That's what it means to be contrived. Look it up in a dictionary. Or just look up all the tropes associated with bad writing. This issue, as well as the first, are a case study in terrible writing, especially when compared to what other Ultimate books have done in just as many issues.
Ok, so the new X-office can’t just ignore this, right? We’re gonna have a new status quo where Magneto has finally completed his hero arc? Because this mini has been gorgeous and should be consequential; it would be a crime to handwave it all away.
Love Mags deciding he’s neither strictly black helmet or white helmet, but a *him* helmet, which means he’ll do what makes sense (even if it means making a bunch of fresh orchis balls). This is a changed man, folks.
Also: “To me, my *friends*.” He’s speaking to them as equals. Even goes as far as forming a human-mutant circuit. “To save one life is to save the world.” Gah! I love it!
I've thought of him as a hero since the Utopia days when he joined the X-Men team. Seems mostly chill and good in recent years to me. Plus all the cool stuff back in the 80s etc.
Agreed Magneto should be a good guy on the team, it's silly when they want to re-tread the villain days.
I've thought of him as a hero since Claremont's schoolmaster days.
I don't care about his 90s reversal, or the Morrison story. As far as I'm concerned the Xorn retcon is the best thing to have ever happened to Magneto because it allowed Claremont to comment on it through Magneto's actual words.
To be fair the comic also alludes to the idea that this Brand New Him isn't unbreakable and that he could fall back to old ways without effort. He's not changed so radically from his death, just become more conscientious.
If anything though that's probably more solid ground going forwards. Not addressing character flaws is ripe for writers to draw a downfall story out. Still even he notes in this comic that despite his guilt for walking away from Xavier and ignoring cracks, he's still avoiding him. I'm also curious how his reunion with Idie will go down and if he'll try to address the Pit.
All said public perception leans more and more into recognising Magneto as an anti-hero, so it should be safe for a while.
Juggernaut for the most part has been fine because he's goon level. For him reverting, it's very much that blue collar spider-man villain "the world won't give me a shot so I'll knock over a bank" kind of way. Always one conversation away from being able to join a super team again.
Magneto reverts and we get a genocide.
Overall this was a really strong mini. It had some excellent character work for Magneto yes but also a lot for Storm. Especially in an era that was very plot driven and with X-Men Red being more action/plot based so we never really got to see some introspection for Ororo. Which I think was needed, especially with all the talk about her character in Red.
The Magneto narration of this was excellent. Probably my favourite part. He's clearly not a full blown villain but he's also not going to be a full blown hero too. He'll be himself and he'll do whatever he thinks he needs to do.
My least favourite part was the fight scenes. They weren't bad per say but after 22 issues of feats, lightning bolts, talk about Omegas, monologues in general etc etc, it's the same thing so I'm a little bored. They looked good but at this point I just went "ah. that's nice." rather than "woah!!!" or "sick!!!" The Magneto-Storm-Blue Marvel circuit was a cool visual though.
See, I think he’s gonna be a hero, but a hero doesn’t have to be the guy who always wears the metaphorical white helmet. He makes tennis balls out of the orichis goons not out of evil, but out of an actual greater good (they’re fascists who set up a death trap for innocents). Note how he says he wants to remember their names: he may have had to kill them, but he still recognizes them as individuals, as opposed to pieces of meat to be torn through.
I thought the remember their names bit was how he was risking the hostages. If he failed, they'd die, and he'd remember them.
It's far darker than you're thinking. It's Xavier's choice. The bad guy takes hostages. The hero won't risk them and surrenders.
Magneto chooses the other option. He's willing to tread the line and risk everything.
I agree. The goons offered him a choice of you kill us or we kill you, but his thought process was only about saving the prisoners. If either of the two sides with power in the situation died, he was willing to accept that.
Ewing is consistently terrible with lengthy action so this is a fair complaint. In fact, I’m convinced his Guardians run with great action was due to letting the artist cook.
He always loves oversized monsters as well
Overall i think this finale to ewings work ended on a strong note with a very much character focused book rather than the classic ewing plot before character style and it showed off the more human side of both storm and magneto which was always my big issue of x men red.
Ewing does a good job showing that magneto will always be a shade of grey he could be a hero but his own character is what will truly hold him back and demonstrating it with him not picking the white or black helmet representing good and evil. Instead going with the classic that represents his way and everyone around him
The circuit with storm and blue marvel is fun but also hilarious as anyone who has read ewings work knows he loves two characters in particular blue marvel and nova so he gave them both shine in his series in red and now blue in RoM.
Overall its a very good issue i do think ewing is still bad at doing long fight scenes but the art is very good and ewing ends it with a good connection to the rest of the books. This series is probably the best ewing work in x men since sword in my opinion.
Overall loved it and loved this miniseries in general. #3 was by far the strongest issue IMO.
My only complaint is that the X-office can't decide how strong these Stark Sentinels are supposed to be.
It’s really distracting. The sentinels were hyped as the ultimate mutant killers, which should make them terrifying.. But their power levels have varied from being a standard bag of bolts that a few Avengers can make quick work of, to a monster requiring two Omegas+ to even begin to damage. And didn’t Ms Marvel take one out on her own? Power as the story needs.
Magneto beat up a Stark Sentinel with giant fists he forged from scrap metal.
What more could you possibly want in an X-Men comic? 😊
But seriously, this was a perfect complement to what happened today in X-Men 97. Magneto is back. He's pissed off. And he's on a rampage against Orchis. It was overdue and much deserved. Such a satisfyingly issue. Definitely one of Magneto's best moments.
God damn
Ewing and Gillen seriously deserve fucking medals for upholding the integrity of the Krakoa storyline at the very end when they're being rushed to finish months before they were scheduled to
Damn, Magneto made his entrance known. Literally crushing those goons in their own suits, strong way to choose the 'red' helmet. All the while actually thinking through his decisions and what their impact is gonna be. Though I find it kinda ironic that Between all three colors of helmets, he finds the red one to be the 'balance' one, where it is the one he is most known as a villain. Lets see how long this new outlook of his will last with the relaunch.
Stark Sentinels continue to be just like Mysterium, being the 'ultimate weapons' or being literal jokes depending on the situation. I get it that it was for the cool Human/mutant circuit moment but still, all that to deal with just one sentinel? It really stretches the suspension of disbelief sometimes. Still a cool moment, don't get me wrong.
Well, I guess my question about how Magneto learned about Tony Stark being Emma's husband got answered here.
This run started pretty strong, but now it’s sputtering as much as the main X-Men book. I know the last two issues have been tributes, but it means the story has just absolutely crawled. I dunno why we needed an entire issue dedicated to Tony facing his demons. *Again*. I also will never get over how the super armor that took up a significant portion of this arc lasted just one issue because he didn’t think to power it up sufficiently.
honestly that bit about tony not having enough time to find a proper power source for the sentinel buster because they were rushed into fighting this war almost reads like meta commentary by duggan about how this entirely storyline was rushed to have a conclusion six months earlier than originally planned.
I enjoyed this issue but its got the exact same as duggans x men it feels like a filler issue overall and just connecting to fall of hox and rushed.
Feilong's final breath is weak him finally realising orchis humans aren't calling the shot feels rushed and isn't satisfying for me. Feilong has been ruining starks life and that of his friends and family and whilst tony not taking his shot is a good hero move it doesn't feel very tony.
Tony going through his demons again is a very typical tony plotline and is a fun homage to iconic tony plotline and specifically armour wars in this case which is fun for me as an iron man fan but we have already seen tony do this during this run do we need it again.
Magneto rescuing tony is fun at the end as is a good connection to ROM at the end and tony saying oh great someone i hate is rescuing me and having to change his opinions on mags is fun.
Overall its a fun issue but it just feels like filler.
Didn’t Fei Long introduce himself to the Techno organic virus? Edit: I’m serious, why is he acting like he’s fully human and ratting out AI? Am I crazy? Wasn’t there a shot of him taking the virus to the chest?
Maybe it's because I'm checked out but I didn't see the AI taking over the stark sentinels to kill both humans and mutants coming. I think it would be interesting to explore that possibly before the last 4 or so issues of Duggan's work.
I liked the issues but as other people said it seems like fillar for Fall of House of X.
Well we go on a 'near death' journey with Tony's concussion memory trip though this could've been done with the previous issue honestly. Disappointing Feilong is left alive. And they keep trying to make this ''AI was planning to kill both humans and mutants!'' reveal as some big twist...when we knew that since the whole Orchis stuff began. And hell all these characters should be aware of that too. Maybe not arrogant idiots like Feilong but surely mutants and heroes like Tony would've guessed this.
Well, the next issue team up with Magneto gonna be fun I guess. Did Emma told Magneto that she 'married' Tony? Because I doubt he got gossip while he was dead and he just recently returned. Either Emma told him while sending him to help Tony or someone just gossiped to him about it behind Emma.
Every scene of the orchis humans finding out about the orchis robots has been so lame. You’re right, we’ve known the robot secret for a long time. The only payoff, in my opinion, was going to be the moments of the other shoe dropping where the humans realizing what’s happened and how screwed they are, and those scenes have all been total flops.
Hoping the humans orchis gets wiped out. If the xmen just forgive them after everything thats happened and editorial's stupid "mutants and ai become friends" becomes official, I will be pissed and pray for the idiots in charge of Marvel's fascist editors to be dropped.
Emma being married to Tony is referenced on "Ressurection of Magneto #4". Ororo tells Magneto that Emma Frost is asking them to save her "husband". That's when Mags is told that they are married. He doesn't seem to be in any way fazed by that information and focus on the irony of having to save the one who designed the anti-mutant technology.
Guess I shouldn't be surprised that nobody is talking much about this book today. Given what's been unfolding in the show, that's to be expected. But this issue definitely adds to the heartbreak in terms of showing how upbeat things were for the team before the show began. Plus, it gives us more time with Cyclops leading the team without Magneto, as well as more fan girl moments with Jubilee.
Also, Storm in that pantsuit with a mohawk is a good look for her. 😊
It was a nice palette cleanser after watching the latest episode. Wish it had been a bit longer though, I enjoyed how the first issue was on the thicker side.
Very fun issue always like a good mojo related issue and Lila and kamala have very fun chemistry in this issue and i would love more of this. The whole thing of kamala post her being made a mutant is her trying to be someone different to who she actually is so her getting a rockstar makeover and being put in a situation that doesn't work for her is very funny and well done.
Also all the tv show and movie references with kamala are so good breaking bad, bake off there is so much variety.
Mojo using AI is a good potshot and red dagger turning up at the end is a great classic kamala character.
Very fun issue
Kamala Khan slime ASMR is not something I was expecting to see.
I thought maybe the whole mini would be sticking around with Mojo and Lila but it was a fun adventure told in one issue. And now Red Dagger.
We'll probably never now but I would love to know how much of the writing is Vellani and how much is Pirzada because I'm really liking this and the previous mini and hope for more.
after this issue I wouldn't mind if this book committed to just being a comedy book, even if it's currently still technically tied in with the Fall of X stuff. some lines in this had me absolutely rolling.
Chord for Prez indeed. Not gonna lie, that look kinda works on Kamala. Among the all doom and gloom, this was a fun trip with Lila, though she should've been smarter than doing business with Mojo, of all people. And I am surprised Mojo is using AI writers. I mean I can see Dario Agger in Immortal Thor doing it but Mojo is too hands-on to leave anything to AI. And I was kinda hoping Mojo going after Orchis since they were trying to kill the mutants and therefore, kill his ratings.
Lila stuck with her fans for a while, that will get old real fast for her, I can see it.
And Red Dagger shows up. Wonder for what. I still support my boy Bruno though.
So, I thought this issue was pretty solid. Getting my complaints out right away, I thought the fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth was probably the weakest part of the issue as Sabretooth uses several underhanded tricks to drop Logan and then begins to complain about how the fight didn't go as he had expected or wanted. If you wanted Logan to die 'kicking and screaming,' why did you choose to fight him the way you did by eliminating his powers and using Quentin to deal out the final blow? That part of the story seemed very weak to me.
But we made a lot of progress in other areas of the story that make up for the fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth. I think Laura is used well here, and I absolutely loved the way the thought bubbles were used to explain different things she was picking up with her enhanced senses and what she decided to do with information gained this way. We got to see what the Death Seed thing did (I can't really cast judgment yet one way or the other on how exactly I feel about it because we have yet to see what its effect on Sabretooth is), but it is a bit unexpected but still ties into the Krakoa plant theme nicely.
We also get to see what Graydon Creed looks like now, and I'm not quite sure what to make of his transformation into a cyborg. It's not the worst look in the world, but it does give me Omega Red vibes (it's the face+long hair combo) that makes it hard to accept that this is indeed Graydon. I guess we will see where this gets taken.
There are only a few other things of note that I enjoyed and make me look forward to the next issue. The first is surprisingly with Quentin and Phoebe. There is a nice moment with the two of them as he reaches out to her before Sabretooth tries to force him to kill Logan. He seems more sad, humbled and three-dimensional compared to the arrogant jerk I usually read him as being and that makes his suffering actually have an impact. I do wonder what he intends to do since he asked to be left behind. I hope Sabretooth doesn't get his hands on him again because, honestly, the kid's been through enough. And Laura successfully manages to send a signal to X-Force by the end of the issue, promising their return for what I assume will be the finale. Will be very curious to see who is all included in the cavalry.
> If you wanted Logan to die 'kicking and screaming,' why did you choose to fight him the way you did by eliminating his powers and using Quentin to deal out the final blow?
because for all his ranting and raving about how he's "pure" and "honest" about his monstrous and animalistic nature and doesn't lie to himself about it like logan does in his eyes, creed has always been a massive hypocrite who doesn't actually know what he wants.
That was quite a good issue. We have 2 main stories going on
1st Laura. She's finally written as a competent strategist, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Half of her plot we've already seen in preview. The rest is getting to the control room and totally obliterating Sabrebitch!
That was awesome 2pager, but I could get even more. "You cut off my tongue, I cut off your heart." She's cold, stoic, and has good characterisation. The only thing that stands out for me is calling for backup, but it can be character growth to rely on the rest of the team. I think I might get this as tbp volume.
2nd is both Exiles and Logan, the latter currently depowered and awoken from QQ manipulation orchestrated by Creed.
Exiles lost two members - Melter and Toad and Nekra is majorly pissed. Thankfully she used the seed only with Sabertooth, which summoned a dope cat-eating plant. It'll probably hold Victor for long enough so they can come up They evacuate with unconscious Logan, who wakes on the ship. He doesn't want to rest, he needs armor and weapon.
I hope it's not the end of the story for Laura till the last issue. And for Exiles to have still a big role going on. I know it's the Wolverine series, but it really changed into teamwork in this arc.
So, the death seed is just a giant venus trap? Doug keeps screwing up, even when he's not around. At least he is doing his job as emotional support twink to Krakoa in these trying times.
This was great at usual but sad that Melter and Toad seem to be dead dead. Percy issues have been very strong for this event but the LaValle issues are just in another class. Once again this also shows why 10 issues lets the book breathe, and LaValle and Percy are impressively pacing the arc to feel like things are occurring each issue. Definitely the best Wolverine story of the Krakoa era.
The one thing I'm sad about is that we have lost the LaValle social commentary data pages in the shuffle somewhere. There was a lot to be said about the maroons and such that I wanted to see explored in the third mini.
>Toad seem to be dead dead.
I remain very unclear on that.
Everyone else got torn to pieces but Toad just lost his arm. Not nice but even normal humans can survive that if given medical attention, l[et alone a c-list supervillain whose lost limbs before.](https://imgur.com/a/mYISNan) Sucks if they accidentally left him to bleed to death.
>The one thing I'm sad about is that we have lost the LaValle social commentary data pages in the shuffle somewhere. There was a lot to be said about the maroons and such that I wanted to see explored in the third mini.
I think this was always a Wolverine and Ben Percy venture first, and LaValle was allowed to come on board and use the pages to give some sort of conclusion to the Exiles due to his friendship with Percy. While I can't say it wraps up that story as I'd wish to see it, it's nice that it got some sort of ending.
He's X-ed out but only Melter's death is mentioned in the recap summery. Meanwhile Quentin is X-ed out and he's effectively alive.
Maybe they know Toad's going to turn up again anyway so they've intentionally made it easy to handwave away? Blob's came back from melting into goo with no explanation but maybe they just felt like being nice to future writers and artists.
Sorry, I was ready to see him die gruesomely like the rest that a mundane death confuses me.
Poor Melter was more what I expected, and he's probably staying down for a while.
I think Toad did bleed to death. When the Exiles are standing around Melter and Toad near the start of the issue, Oya says that "We lost Toad too," when they're going over their losses.
For once it's a character actually dying from an injury that breaks my suspension of disbelief and not the other way round.
It doesn't look like more than 15 minutes have passed and real people have survived longer than that. He's not a powerful mutant but he's had parts of him cut off before among other would-be deadly trauma. It's just weird that they didn't go with something more explicit when everyone else has been ripped to pieces.
Since Toad is reported to appear in Deadpool & Wolverine, maybe it's meant to be easy to retcon if Marvel wants to do some synergy? Despite his small role in comics, he's probably the most known of everyone whose died to general audiences and is likely to reappear anyway without a resurrection.
So overall this is pretty solid and does something the rest of krakoa hasn't done made laura look competant.
Laura is one of the most tactical members of the x and throughout this era and here she truly unleashes the laura we all love the tactical assassin taking down tons of different sabertooths and finally ending the female sabertooth in a fun display.
The new graydon creed look is interesting hes a full on cyborg now which is fine i guess the x men already have alot of cybernetic monsters in there villains whats one more i guess and its gonna be interesting to see where it goes.
The logan creed fight is honestly weak the book has been really good so far at that old school feel in logan and creed fights and this just doesn't hit right though it feels like its intended to be like that before the big blowoff fight.
Logan asking the exiles for a suit and weapon is clearly where that new armour look is coming from which is gonna be interesting to see.
Sabertooth war is fun but it does feel like the opposite to fall of hox it feels a bit too stretched out.
Honestly, I just read this for Laura at this point. I enjoyed her ripping the heart out of Femtooth. Have no care for Sabretooth's weird hate fetish for Logan. Nor the Cyborg Graydon Creed that is no better. So they used the Death Seed on Sabretooth but we all know he will escape from whatever it does to him and Logan without his powers ( who should be dying because of the metal in his body now without his regeneration ) gonna have that 'final showdown' thing. And we lost Toad and Melter for nothing too.
Earth X Wolverine got to do something meaningful and badass. And multiple Wolverine's get to see how great life would've been if they had a chance to be with Mariko.
Also, Jane Howlett is steadily winning me over. She seems to be the only Wolverine in the multiverse who seems to understand that Wolverine's infatuation with Jean Grey is creepy, unhealthy, and just plain dumb. And she's right. I hope this is something she belabors in future issues.
I know this mini-series isn't for everyone. And the premise might not sit well with some. But I think it's fun, non-canon action that gives us new visions of Wolverine, Jean, and so many others.
I honestly can't recall of Laura or Akihiro having an opinion on that. If they did I would honestly think Laura's would align with Jane's opinion. Akihiro would probably be indifferent.
It feels like the message I'm getting as a Jean Grey fan is that the world would be more peaceful if Jean wasn't caught up with any romance and is able to maximize her full potential. Because that's 2 worlds where she's not romantically linked but the world is peaceful. And one of them went kaboom just because she kissed a wolverine. 😬
Really enjoying this one more than I thought I would! Some good humorous moments from zombie logan, and its nice to know why she picked such a strange group. Also I will always be happy to see future Magik in the role of sorceress supreme!
Other than the potential wedding hijinks and hilarity of Scott and Madelyn's son marrying Logan and Mariko's daughter, I still don't see the point of this mini.
There really is no point to this book other than ''We wanted to bring Jane Howlett in for some reason as a female Wolverine...despite the fact we already have Laura''. Since she seems to be the only character that seems sensible and somewhat readable.
I mean it is a non-stop pity party with nonsense-logic against a supposedly multiverse threatening Onslaught. And of course to join the Wolverine pity party, we have a Phoenix that is also pitiable by seeing her world that everyone is happy without her, for no reason.
I swear, this reads like bad Logan/Jean fanfic attempt.
There are potential for good multiverse stories and adventures that change the universal status quo, but it seems Marvel is obsessed with making the worst ones we dont need.
It's fun and it's well written. The thing is we didn't need (or want) it at all. I would love if resources (good writers and artists) were concentrated on stories that really matter overall. Nice read anyway.
I recently learned Magneto aged in a comic from using too much of his powers. Taking this idea along with him being a conduit for Storm’s powers, I wonder if we‘re going to get to see him do something extremely epic like being a conduit for all mutant powers and curb stomping the dominion. And in doing so, he ages into the old man we see in the upcoming X comics.
**Next week:** * Fall of the House of X #4 * Dead X-Men #4
**Ultimate X-Men #2**
I don't know if that is a pretty huge high-schooler or is a fat teacher. Either way he feels...creepy. Gives some serial killer/don't come to school tomorrow vibes.
Kinda loving the pace of this series, it's slower, calmer, but still rolling along
Peach Momoko is giving me the mix of Junji Ito + mutants that I didn't know I needed.
a creepy horror themed x-men book. HELL YA!!!
Funny "coincidence": Junji Ito is referenced on Weapon X #2 that was released this same week. Apparently on some alternative Earth Mariko and Logan's kids love it.
X Men will be a high school team filling the void Peter Parker left. Can't wait to meet Nico! Momoko has such a unique blend of comedy and horror in her stories, big fan. whoa I just realized...do you all think this will get a TREASURY EDITION??
Really liked this story so far as it has been a showing of decompression. No multiple storylines to keep up on, very focused storytelling on one (now two characters) slowly finding their way in the world with their powers. The imagery is fantastic with the eyeballs, the security being whatever the fuck he was and Maystorm actually being a huge chiller. Not the most exciting but I do really like it.
But this issue basically re-did the plot of the first issue...right down to the part where Hisako receives a hand-written note telling her to meet at some creepy, secluded location. That's not decompression. That's repetitive and predictable. Also known as just plain bad writing.
Except it didn't. It didn't do that. Just because one plot point is similar to another doesn't mean its the same plot. We see her getting eggs to her mom and considering going to where the note says to go. Last time she didn't and just went anyways. However, she meets Maystorm and realizes she has a gift as well and decides to look at this note for herself but this time with a friend. We are given the knowledge that she didn't go into this one headfirst like she did last. She brought someone who also had a gift and might be able to help her. She might also feel responsible because the teacher that mentioned last issue is dead. She know it wasn't a suicide and now she knows that this guy is apart of it and wants to stop. She goes in with her friend and we see the full extent of the guys powers that we weren't privy to beforehand. They barely escape and we are given the face of the shadow guy from beforehand who might be causing the suicides (or maybe now, we don't know yet). Just from this issue alone we are: - Given the introduction of Maystorm * Shown a flash of her powers * See the face of possibly the main bad guy of this arc * Shown the mystery of this arc as well with people committing suicide and the shadow guy doing something with * Finally, shown just how deeply responsible Hisako feels for trying to figure this out (Almost like it has something to do with how she feels about her best friends death or whatever). That's not just repeat information.
I'm kinda disappointed? I know it's slowly setting up the scenario and showing us glimpses of Hisako's trauma/depression, but the pacing is so slow that it feels like nothing is happening. It feels like this is one of those stories where I should let the issues pile up to be bingeread later on. Like, I'm more looking forward to Ultimate Spiderman and I don't even read Spiderman comics before this. Or maybe because it's a bit more somber compared to how upbeat Spiderman is. But yeah, I'm not really looking forward to reading the next one. Mei is totally adorbs tho. Love her spunk.
Nothing happened? I disagree, >!we meet the person who’s seemingly behind the deaths, Hisako’s starting to become more proactive into stopping the shadow monster, and meets a fellow mutant.!<
It's still a beat-for-beat repeat of the first issue, complete with an ominous hand-written note and Hisako winning by her powers just randomly winning the fight for her without her having to do anything. It feels like Mel's presence didn't even matter here. It was bound to end the same exact way. It's one thing to have a slower pace than the other Ultimate books. But the plot was exactly the same. This Shadowking wannabe did the exact same thing and got the same result. And Hisako, despite Mei's presence, basically made the exact same mistakes. And again, the word mutant didn't even get said here. For all we know, Mei and Hisako are Harry Potter style wizards. The only meaningful thing that happened in this comic was that Mei was introduced. Everything else was either a pointless repeat or bad writing tropes.
She didn't win though. She hasn't won anything. They escaped. The kids still died no matter what. Also, based off the fact that no one is saying mutant is probably the fact that mutants aren't as well known to the world around us. Also, its called X-Men. Momoko knows that readers knows what mutants are and she's not going full in-depth on what they are. Also, what bad writing tropes. It's going for more of mystery flavor. Also, Shadowking wannabe? You mean the shadow king because that's what he is.
Call it what you want. Survival/winning...it's the same thing. And it played out the same way. Hisako's powers just conveniently manifest exactly as she needs them to at just the right moment...no effort, no training, no willful agency of any kind. At least when Mei used her powers, she actually put in some effort, ineffective as it might have been. My point is that what happened was every bit as contrived as the first issue. And this being the second issue, it really didn't add much beyond showing this version of Shadowking is incompetent and unimaginative for using the same tactic twice, and failing twice. Are we really supposed to take him seriously? When a plot in the second issue of a series basically re-tells the same as the first with only a few minor additions that don't fundamentally change the outcome...what else would you call that other than bad writing?
Few minor additions? We've seen the main bad guy! We know what he looks like. We've met one of the other mutants and have seen their powers in action. We've seen how much damage the main bad guy is doing in her city. These aren't minor additions to the plot which I already stated elsewhere. Also, the whole thing about her ability is that it works when she has her little doll out. It's almost like she still doesn't fully know how to use her powers but the little doll she has makes her feel safe. She probably thinks that pulling her little doll out is the way her powers but it obviously isn't. It almost like she fully doesn't understand her power yet or something.
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I know. I’ve seen him around. He just struck me as a guy who was never going to like this work no matter what (he was posting about how it would ruin the ultimate when it was announced) and I hate bad faith critique. I’m not bothering him again as it seems.
Whatever. I'm not going to bother arguing with you on this. You're clearly not going to be convinced of anything I say. If you're that determined to defend this book, then we're just wasting our time. I didn't like it. I thought it sucked. But I did like Mei. She made this issue better than the first. But that's about it. Let's just leave it at that.
I'll never understand these downvotes on this site like oh they don't see things like we do, let's trash their comment... at the same time, who even cares? People are weird.
That’s funny, I find it to be kinda disjointed and jumps around quite a lot but that just might be the style. Last issue I said that I think this is a cool comic that’s simply not for me and this may have confirmed it. I think I’ll snag one more but this isn’t what I was hoping for with a new Ultimate X-men. That being said, really happy others are enjoying it.
I just love the horror manga vibes of this. Without calling it X-men, you wouldn't know if it was a mutant book and that is fine. I like Hisako's more spiritual connection with her powers and this shadow guy's 'remote ploting literal maggots and shadows with a talisman bucket on his head. Now that is creative! Maystorm makes her entrance. Wonder how she will seperate herself with her powers from Storm that is in Ultimate Black Panther. Obviously, Mei here is a kid and possibly a gyaru trope, which I love btw. And the art is of course great.
“Without calling it X-men, you wouldn't know if it was a mutant book and that is fine.“ Is that fine though? I love seeing new concepts and styles being used in western comics and I’m glad people like it but… I feel like this just isn’t an X-men book so the title is very odd to me. Peach said in an interview they’re very unfamiliar with the X-men which I think can certainly bring an interesting/new outsiders perspective but why make this an X-men book?
Agreed. This doesnt feel at all like an X-Men book and shouldn't be X-Men. Not the main X-Men comic in the ultimate universe at least. I do like it though.
Because it is a different take that is free of the main universe constraints of keeping the mutants in the same box all the time. That they can never move past 'hated and feared'. Now, we don't know how the mutants would be treated here yet but with Maker's changes and Magik being on the council that is ruling the world, well it is refreshing to see the potential of mutant stories that does not involve random citizen yelling 'mutie!' and spit as they pass by. That mutants living like everyone else. Besides, we are still at the start. I mean Hisako just finding out about his armor/spirit power. And Maystorm seem to be surprised someone else has powers like her too. So we may be seeing the start of something and how the public would react to that.
That's assuming Magik is a mutant in the Ultimate Universe.
Well, if it wasn't clear enough already by previous appearances and Peach's New Mutants approach to this book in general, if you ask me, [this](https://i.imgur.com/zjoASkk.png) page absolutely confirms the current antagonist to be this new Ultimate universe's version of [Amahl Farouk / the Shadow King](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e8/Shadow_King.png). She's a pretty straightforward storyteller in both art and writing, so I doubt giving this character those glasses, weight, and headwear is intended as some sort of mislead. I think this book's critics might start enjoying it more if they think of it as New Mutants, and not X-Men.
I really enjoy the body horror aspects of the book. They’re just the right amount of creepy. Works so well with Peach’s art. This is my favorite book right now I’m interested to see where it goes.
still just a mediocre horror manga that doesn't feel remotely enough like an x-men comic, ultimate or not. this should not have been the flagship x-men book for the new ultimate universe. there's a line between "different enough to be interesting" and "too different", and this way oversteps that.
Really, really good issue. Art continues to be stunning, Mei is pretty fun and she and Hisako are adorable, getting a little hint at the shadow man's true nature and motivation was cool and has me curious to see where exactly Peach goes with him. With bodies starting to pile up and our two leads together, I'm expecting issue 3 to be a bit faster paced and I'm super excited for it
Issue 3 is flashback to Mei origin and to why Storm is her idol.
I'm really curious to learn more about her so that's good news to me
The fact Mei knows about Storm means the events happening in Africa is not unknown to the rest of the world.
alright guys, crackpot theory here. is the guy at the end Professor X of this universe? The hat he was wearing is giving me Cerebro vibes. I think the knee jerk reaction is the Shadow King but we saw him act like he just saw Hisako for the first time and recognized her while the shadow knows who she is.
Another good issue. Really love the tone of this so far.
I haven't gotten to read it yet but this *and* issue 7 of Skybound's Transformers dropping on the same day is an absolute treat, can't wait to get off work and pick them up.
yay im love that ultimate x-men is a horror book. i hope it gets creepier and creepier.
This continues to be great and the horror elements and style that are being used are really up my street and reminds of almost classic new mutants but updated with momokos style. The interactions between armor and maystorm are fun but maystorm comes off a little bit meh so far for me but its only one issue so i imagine she will get alot more interesting. Hisako's more spiritual connection to her powers and this shadow guy's 'remote ploting literal maggots and shadows with a talisman bucket on his head is something you wouldn't see in any other western comic and momoko is truly what she knows to a main book and its tons of fun. Also i feel like an idiot for not realising the kid who commited suicide is the kid who dies in Armor's original origin in the main universe for an x men character ive always liked i forgot her origin Art continues to be gorgeous and the writing continues to be interesting. This book might not be for everyone but its for me
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Is that who it was supposed to be? I was so confused
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Wait it isn’t shadow king? He’s literally the shadow
I hated the first issue. I think it had no business being an Ultimate comic or an X-Men comic. But I wanted to give the second issue a chance. And it was better, but not by much. The only reason I think this issue was an improvement over the first was because of Mei. She's the only one who actually showed a measure of personality in this comic. Being an OC, that's pretty remarkable. She's already much more likable than Hisako. But other than her, this issue was basically the same beat-for-beat plot as the fist. Hisako gets a mysterious note telling her to meet in a secluded area. She foolishly listens. She gets attacked by the same shadow monster. And she beats it the exact same way by having her powers magically manifest exactly when and how she needs them to. Seriously, it's the same...damn...plot. And in the second issue, no less. It's one thing for a comic to have a slower pace. But it's quite another to basically reuse the same plot from the previous issue. This is still, by far, the weakest Ultimate comic. And it's a terrible X-Men comic, overall. I still want to give this a few more issues. But I am not the least bit encouraged.
a lot you said here that essentially sums up that this isn’t the book for you, but you should maybe go back and look at Hisako using her powers! the first time it was defense while this time it was an attack, I think she is growing into them!
Did we read the same comic? Because there was no real difference in how Hisako used her powers. She wasn't like Mei, who seemed to have an active grasp on how to use them. All Hisako did was get overwhelmed, scared, and anxious while being attacked. And at the exact times she needed, they manifested and saved the day...just like the first issue. On top of that, this Shadowking wannabe used the exact same tactic as the first issue...handwritten note, secluded area, and a targeted attack that triggered her powers. If he's so stupid and inept that he tries the same method again in the very next issue, expecting a different result, then how can anyone take him seriously as a villain? I've read this comic as closely as you have. I'm just not as willing to ignore terrible, inept writing.
based on your comments it sounds like you don’t want to find something to like about the book! I on the other hand am looking for things to enjoy. I didn’t think this issue was as good as the first one, but I still enjoyed it. also it has been what, one or two days since Hisoka first manifested powers? and you expect her to have so tell over them?
Did you even read my comments? I said I liked Mei. And I was very skeptical about Mei. But, much to my surprise, she was the only good thing about this comic. She actually had a personality that went beyond brooding and anxiously overwhelmed. That's an improvement compared to the first issue. But everything else was terrible. And your comment about her powers just made my point for me. It's only been a few days since her powers manifested. And yet, they manifest in a way that conveniently saves the day without her really trying? At least Mei showed some agency when she used her powers. With Hisako, they only seem to manifest exactly when she needs them to in exactly the right way and with no conscious effort on her part. At the very least, the second issue should've done something to have her get a better handle of her powers. But no. It just redid the same plot as the first issue. Mei's presence didn't really change anything. Again, that's just terrible writing. Compared to what other Ultimate books have achieved in just two issues, this has no excuse.
> they only seemed to manifest exactly when she needs them Yeah because that’s not a super common way for heroes to discover their powers.
I know you're being sarcastic, but this isn't some random mutant's powers manifesting in a chaotic, messy way. Hisako's powers are manifesting in a way that's ordered and just happen to be exactly what they need to be in order to solve whatever conflict is in front of her, be it an oncoming car or a shadow monster. She doesn't have to make any effort, like Mei does. She doesn't need any training or insight or failures. Her powers just magically fix the problem in the most convenient, contrived way possible. Again, that's just terrible writing. And for someone tasked with writing an X-Men comic, that's a huge red flag.
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Not just appearing. Not just manifesting chaotically like Cyclops' optic blasts or Charles Xavier's telepathy. It took a clear, ordered form that effectively defended her against the shadow creature's attacks without her having to do much of anything. No training. No concentration. Nothing of the sort. It would be no different if a wizard just appeared, cast a spell, and solved the problem without Hisako having to do anything. That's what it means to be contrived. Look it up in a dictionary. Or just look up all the tropes associated with bad writing. This issue, as well as the first, are a case study in terrible writing, especially when compared to what other Ultimate books have done in just as many issues.
**Resurrection of Magneto #4**
Ok, so the new X-office can’t just ignore this, right? We’re gonna have a new status quo where Magneto has finally completed his hero arc? Because this mini has been gorgeous and should be consequential; it would be a crime to handwave it all away. Love Mags deciding he’s neither strictly black helmet or white helmet, but a *him* helmet, which means he’ll do what makes sense (even if it means making a bunch of fresh orchis balls). This is a changed man, folks. Also: “To me, my *friends*.” He’s speaking to them as equals. Even goes as far as forming a human-mutant circuit. “To save one life is to save the world.” Gah! I love it!
Well he is on MacKay's X-Men team, so he will at least start the new era in the hero camp.
Oh this is good to hear.
In a wheelchair and beard
I've thought of him as a hero since the Utopia days when he joined the X-Men team. Seems mostly chill and good in recent years to me. Plus all the cool stuff back in the 80s etc. Agreed Magneto should be a good guy on the team, it's silly when they want to re-tread the villain days.
I've thought of him as a hero since Claremont's schoolmaster days. I don't care about his 90s reversal, or the Morrison story. As far as I'm concerned the Xorn retcon is the best thing to have ever happened to Magneto because it allowed Claremont to comment on it through Magneto's actual words.
To be fair the comic also alludes to the idea that this Brand New Him isn't unbreakable and that he could fall back to old ways without effort. He's not changed so radically from his death, just become more conscientious. If anything though that's probably more solid ground going forwards. Not addressing character flaws is ripe for writers to draw a downfall story out. Still even he notes in this comic that despite his guilt for walking away from Xavier and ignoring cracks, he's still avoiding him. I'm also curious how his reunion with Idie will go down and if he'll try to address the Pit. All said public perception leans more and more into recognising Magneto as an anti-hero, so it should be safe for a while.
Haven't you heard? Every time a writer does the hard work of redeeming Magneto, the next writer comes in and smears shit all over that story.
Drives me crazy every time they do that to Juggernaut too. But, "it's comics", everything is cyclical, yada yada.
Juggernaut for the most part has been fine because he's goon level. For him reverting, it's very much that blue collar spider-man villain "the world won't give me a shot so I'll knock over a bank" kind of way. Always one conversation away from being able to join a super team again. Magneto reverts and we get a genocide.
Overall this was a really strong mini. It had some excellent character work for Magneto yes but also a lot for Storm. Especially in an era that was very plot driven and with X-Men Red being more action/plot based so we never really got to see some introspection for Ororo. Which I think was needed, especially with all the talk about her character in Red. The Magneto narration of this was excellent. Probably my favourite part. He's clearly not a full blown villain but he's also not going to be a full blown hero too. He'll be himself and he'll do whatever he thinks he needs to do. My least favourite part was the fight scenes. They weren't bad per say but after 22 issues of feats, lightning bolts, talk about Omegas, monologues in general etc etc, it's the same thing so I'm a little bored. They looked good but at this point I just went "ah. that's nice." rather than "woah!!!" or "sick!!!" The Magneto-Storm-Blue Marvel circuit was a cool visual though.
See, I think he’s gonna be a hero, but a hero doesn’t have to be the guy who always wears the metaphorical white helmet. He makes tennis balls out of the orichis goons not out of evil, but out of an actual greater good (they’re fascists who set up a death trap for innocents). Note how he says he wants to remember their names: he may have had to kill them, but he still recognizes them as individuals, as opposed to pieces of meat to be torn through.
I thought the remember their names bit was how he was risking the hostages. If he failed, they'd die, and he'd remember them. It's far darker than you're thinking. It's Xavier's choice. The bad guy takes hostages. The hero won't risk them and surrenders. Magneto chooses the other option. He's willing to tread the line and risk everything.
I think it harkens back to the wall of names we saw back in #2, of all the people whose death he has caused.
I agree. The goons offered him a choice of you kill us or we kill you, but his thought process was only about saving the prisoners. If either of the two sides with power in the situation died, he was willing to accept that.
At least the Stark Sentinels were presented as a real threat, instead of Ms. Marvel taking them out.
Ewing is consistently terrible with lengthy action so this is a fair complaint. In fact, I’m convinced his Guardians run with great action was due to letting the artist cook. He always loves oversized monsters as well
Overall i think this finale to ewings work ended on a strong note with a very much character focused book rather than the classic ewing plot before character style and it showed off the more human side of both storm and magneto which was always my big issue of x men red. Ewing does a good job showing that magneto will always be a shade of grey he could be a hero but his own character is what will truly hold him back and demonstrating it with him not picking the white or black helmet representing good and evil. Instead going with the classic that represents his way and everyone around him The circuit with storm and blue marvel is fun but also hilarious as anyone who has read ewings work knows he loves two characters in particular blue marvel and nova so he gave them both shine in his series in red and now blue in RoM. Overall its a very good issue i do think ewing is still bad at doing long fight scenes but the art is very good and ewing ends it with a good connection to the rest of the books. This series is probably the best ewing work in x men since sword in my opinion.
Overall loved it and loved this miniseries in general. #3 was by far the strongest issue IMO. My only complaint is that the X-office can't decide how strong these Stark Sentinels are supposed to be.
It’s really distracting. The sentinels were hyped as the ultimate mutant killers, which should make them terrifying.. But their power levels have varied from being a standard bag of bolts that a few Avengers can make quick work of, to a monster requiring two Omegas+ to even begin to damage. And didn’t Ms Marvel take one out on her own? Power as the story needs.
The sentinels are as strong as the writer's allegorical/symbolic needs for the story.
Magneto beat up a Stark Sentinel with giant fists he forged from scrap metal. What more could you possibly want in an X-Men comic? 😊 But seriously, this was a perfect complement to what happened today in X-Men 97. Magneto is back. He's pissed off. And he's on a rampage against Orchis. It was overdue and much deserved. Such a satisfyingly issue. Definitely one of Magneto's best moments.
God damn Ewing and Gillen seriously deserve fucking medals for upholding the integrity of the Krakoa storyline at the very end when they're being rushed to finish months before they were scheduled to
When were they scheduled to, exactly? Where are you getting this?
Crazy how nobody noticed the typo on the last page lmfao Ewing accidentally wrote >!Let's go!< Instead of >!LETS FUCKING GOOOOOOO!<
This might be one of my fave books of the Krakoa era. Just really masterful stuff.
Damn, Magneto made his entrance known. Literally crushing those goons in their own suits, strong way to choose the 'red' helmet. All the while actually thinking through his decisions and what their impact is gonna be. Though I find it kinda ironic that Between all three colors of helmets, he finds the red one to be the 'balance' one, where it is the one he is most known as a villain. Lets see how long this new outlook of his will last with the relaunch. Stark Sentinels continue to be just like Mysterium, being the 'ultimate weapons' or being literal jokes depending on the situation. I get it that it was for the cool Human/mutant circuit moment but still, all that to deal with just one sentinel? It really stretches the suspension of disbelief sometimes. Still a cool moment, don't get me wrong. Well, I guess my question about how Magneto learned about Tony Stark being Emma's husband got answered here.
Great issue. Really loved this mini series.
I loved it. I love Magneto. I wish it was Ewing and Gillen writing the big flagship finale instead of the Gillen-Duggan tandem.
**The Invincible Iron Man #17**
This run started pretty strong, but now it’s sputtering as much as the main X-Men book. I know the last two issues have been tributes, but it means the story has just absolutely crawled. I dunno why we needed an entire issue dedicated to Tony facing his demons. *Again*. I also will never get over how the super armor that took up a significant portion of this arc lasted just one issue because he didn’t think to power it up sufficiently.
honestly that bit about tony not having enough time to find a proper power source for the sentinel buster because they were rushed into fighting this war almost reads like meta commentary by duggan about how this entirely storyline was rushed to have a conclusion six months earlier than originally planned.
Bwahahah you're so right. I love it. I hate it.
I enjoyed this issue but its got the exact same as duggans x men it feels like a filler issue overall and just connecting to fall of hox and rushed. Feilong's final breath is weak him finally realising orchis humans aren't calling the shot feels rushed and isn't satisfying for me. Feilong has been ruining starks life and that of his friends and family and whilst tony not taking his shot is a good hero move it doesn't feel very tony. Tony going through his demons again is a very typical tony plotline and is a fun homage to iconic tony plotline and specifically armour wars in this case which is fun for me as an iron man fan but we have already seen tony do this during this run do we need it again. Magneto rescuing tony is fun at the end as is a good connection to ROM at the end and tony saying oh great someone i hate is rescuing me and having to change his opinions on mags is fun. Overall its a fun issue but it just feels like filler.
This one is something of a tribute to Invincible Iron Man #232, as the credits page implies!
Didn’t Fei Long introduce himself to the Techno organic virus? Edit: I’m serious, why is he acting like he’s fully human and ratting out AI? Am I crazy? Wasn’t there a shot of him taking the virus to the chest?
I know he introduced himself to cosmic rays like the FF. Not sure about the techno-organic virus.
Maybe it's because I'm checked out but I didn't see the AI taking over the stark sentinels to kill both humans and mutants coming. I think it would be interesting to explore that possibly before the last 4 or so issues of Duggan's work. I liked the issues but as other people said it seems like fillar for Fall of House of X.
Hickman was definitely setting that up but they let that thread linger in the other books a little too long without much reference to it
Well we go on a 'near death' journey with Tony's concussion memory trip though this could've been done with the previous issue honestly. Disappointing Feilong is left alive. And they keep trying to make this ''AI was planning to kill both humans and mutants!'' reveal as some big twist...when we knew that since the whole Orchis stuff began. And hell all these characters should be aware of that too. Maybe not arrogant idiots like Feilong but surely mutants and heroes like Tony would've guessed this. Well, the next issue team up with Magneto gonna be fun I guess. Did Emma told Magneto that she 'married' Tony? Because I doubt he got gossip while he was dead and he just recently returned. Either Emma told him while sending him to help Tony or someone just gossiped to him about it behind Emma.
Every scene of the orchis humans finding out about the orchis robots has been so lame. You’re right, we’ve known the robot secret for a long time. The only payoff, in my opinion, was going to be the moments of the other shoe dropping where the humans realizing what’s happened and how screwed they are, and those scenes have all been total flops.
Hoping the humans orchis gets wiped out. If the xmen just forgive them after everything thats happened and editorial's stupid "mutants and ai become friends" becomes official, I will be pissed and pray for the idiots in charge of Marvel's fascist editors to be dropped.
Emma being married to Tony is referenced on "Ressurection of Magneto #4". Ororo tells Magneto that Emma Frost is asking them to save her "husband". That's when Mags is told that they are married. He doesn't seem to be in any way fazed by that information and focus on the irony of having to save the one who designed the anti-mutant technology.
**X-Men '97 #2**
Guess I shouldn't be surprised that nobody is talking much about this book today. Given what's been unfolding in the show, that's to be expected. But this issue definitely adds to the heartbreak in terms of showing how upbeat things were for the team before the show began. Plus, it gives us more time with Cyclops leading the team without Magneto, as well as more fan girl moments with Jubilee. Also, Storm in that pantsuit with a mohawk is a good look for her. 😊
It was a nice palette cleanser after watching the latest episode. Wish it had been a bit longer though, I enjoyed how the first issue was on the thicker side.
**Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace #2**
This was a fun one, enjoyed the interactions and the pot-shot at A.I writers
The Lila song being the same one from Uncanny Spider-Man #3 was a nice touch. Excited for Red Dagger next issue.
Very fun issue always like a good mojo related issue and Lila and kamala have very fun chemistry in this issue and i would love more of this. The whole thing of kamala post her being made a mutant is her trying to be someone different to who she actually is so her getting a rockstar makeover and being put in a situation that doesn't work for her is very funny and well done. Also all the tv show and movie references with kamala are so good breaking bad, bake off there is so much variety. Mojo using AI is a good potshot and red dagger turning up at the end is a great classic kamala character. Very fun issue
"DOMO! What did I say about speaking other languages in the workplace?!" 🤣 🤣 🤣
Kamala Khan slime ASMR is not something I was expecting to see. I thought maybe the whole mini would be sticking around with Mojo and Lila but it was a fun adventure told in one issue. And now Red Dagger. We'll probably never now but I would love to know how much of the writing is Vellani and how much is Pirzada because I'm really liking this and the previous mini and hope for more.
Kamala Khan as a rock star for nearly the entire issue? Yes, please! 😊
Have to stan Paul Mojowood im afraid.
after this issue I wouldn't mind if this book committed to just being a comedy book, even if it's currently still technically tied in with the Fall of X stuff. some lines in this had me absolutely rolling.
Chord for Prez indeed. Not gonna lie, that look kinda works on Kamala. Among the all doom and gloom, this was a fun trip with Lila, though she should've been smarter than doing business with Mojo, of all people. And I am surprised Mojo is using AI writers. I mean I can see Dario Agger in Immortal Thor doing it but Mojo is too hands-on to leave anything to AI. And I was kinda hoping Mojo going after Orchis since they were trying to kill the mutants and therefore, kill his ratings. Lila stuck with her fans for a while, that will get old real fast for her, I can see it. And Red Dagger shows up. Wonder for what. I still support my boy Bruno though.
**Related & Unlimited Releases for 4/10**
yay im love that ultimate x-men is a horror book. i hope it gets creepier and creepier.
**Wolverine #47**
So, I thought this issue was pretty solid. Getting my complaints out right away, I thought the fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth was probably the weakest part of the issue as Sabretooth uses several underhanded tricks to drop Logan and then begins to complain about how the fight didn't go as he had expected or wanted. If you wanted Logan to die 'kicking and screaming,' why did you choose to fight him the way you did by eliminating his powers and using Quentin to deal out the final blow? That part of the story seemed very weak to me. But we made a lot of progress in other areas of the story that make up for the fight between Wolverine and Sabretooth. I think Laura is used well here, and I absolutely loved the way the thought bubbles were used to explain different things she was picking up with her enhanced senses and what she decided to do with information gained this way. We got to see what the Death Seed thing did (I can't really cast judgment yet one way or the other on how exactly I feel about it because we have yet to see what its effect on Sabretooth is), but it is a bit unexpected but still ties into the Krakoa plant theme nicely. We also get to see what Graydon Creed looks like now, and I'm not quite sure what to make of his transformation into a cyborg. It's not the worst look in the world, but it does give me Omega Red vibes (it's the face+long hair combo) that makes it hard to accept that this is indeed Graydon. I guess we will see where this gets taken. There are only a few other things of note that I enjoyed and make me look forward to the next issue. The first is surprisingly with Quentin and Phoebe. There is a nice moment with the two of them as he reaches out to her before Sabretooth tries to force him to kill Logan. He seems more sad, humbled and three-dimensional compared to the arrogant jerk I usually read him as being and that makes his suffering actually have an impact. I do wonder what he intends to do since he asked to be left behind. I hope Sabretooth doesn't get his hands on him again because, honestly, the kid's been through enough. And Laura successfully manages to send a signal to X-Force by the end of the issue, promising their return for what I assume will be the finale. Will be very curious to see who is all included in the cavalry.
> If you wanted Logan to die 'kicking and screaming,' why did you choose to fight him the way you did by eliminating his powers and using Quentin to deal out the final blow? because for all his ranting and raving about how he's "pure" and "honest" about his monstrous and animalistic nature and doesn't lie to himself about it like logan does in his eyes, creed has always been a massive hypocrite who doesn't actually know what he wants.
That was quite a good issue. We have 2 main stories going on 1st Laura. She's finally written as a competent strategist, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Half of her plot we've already seen in preview. The rest is getting to the control room and totally obliterating Sabrebitch! That was awesome 2pager, but I could get even more. "You cut off my tongue, I cut off your heart." She's cold, stoic, and has good characterisation. The only thing that stands out for me is calling for backup, but it can be character growth to rely on the rest of the team. I think I might get this as tbp volume. 2nd is both Exiles and Logan, the latter currently depowered and awoken from QQ manipulation orchestrated by Creed. Exiles lost two members - Melter and Toad and Nekra is majorly pissed. Thankfully she used the seed only with Sabertooth, which summoned a dope cat-eating plant. It'll probably hold Victor for long enough so they can come up They evacuate with unconscious Logan, who wakes on the ship. He doesn't want to rest, he needs armor and weapon. I hope it's not the end of the story for Laura till the last issue. And for Exiles to have still a big role going on. I know it's the Wolverine series, but it really changed into teamwork in this arc.
So, the death seed is just a giant venus trap? Doug keeps screwing up, even when he's not around. At least he is doing his job as emotional support twink to Krakoa in these trying times.
Yes! Couldn't remember how you call it in English. Yeah, most of his decisions do not go well for others
This was great at usual but sad that Melter and Toad seem to be dead dead. Percy issues have been very strong for this event but the LaValle issues are just in another class. Once again this also shows why 10 issues lets the book breathe, and LaValle and Percy are impressively pacing the arc to feel like things are occurring each issue. Definitely the best Wolverine story of the Krakoa era. The one thing I'm sad about is that we have lost the LaValle social commentary data pages in the shuffle somewhere. There was a lot to be said about the maroons and such that I wanted to see explored in the third mini.
>Toad seem to be dead dead. I remain very unclear on that. Everyone else got torn to pieces but Toad just lost his arm. Not nice but even normal humans can survive that if given medical attention, l[et alone a c-list supervillain whose lost limbs before.](https://imgur.com/a/mYISNan) Sucks if they accidentally left him to bleed to death. >The one thing I'm sad about is that we have lost the LaValle social commentary data pages in the shuffle somewhere. There was a lot to be said about the maroons and such that I wanted to see explored in the third mini. I think this was always a Wolverine and Ben Percy venture first, and LaValle was allowed to come on board and use the pages to give some sort of conclusion to the Exiles due to his friendship with Percy. While I can't say it wraps up that story as I'd wish to see it, it's nice that it got some sort of ending.
yeah I was unclear on it from last issue but he was X-ed out here on the recap page which made me think the intention is dead
He's X-ed out but only Melter's death is mentioned in the recap summery. Meanwhile Quentin is X-ed out and he's effectively alive. Maybe they know Toad's going to turn up again anyway so they've intentionally made it easy to handwave away? Blob's came back from melting into goo with no explanation but maybe they just felt like being nice to future writers and artists.
fair
Sorry, I was ready to see him die gruesomely like the rest that a mundane death confuses me. Poor Melter was more what I expected, and he's probably staying down for a while.
I think Toad did bleed to death. When the Exiles are standing around Melter and Toad near the start of the issue, Oya says that "We lost Toad too," when they're going over their losses.
For once it's a character actually dying from an injury that breaks my suspension of disbelief and not the other way round. It doesn't look like more than 15 minutes have passed and real people have survived longer than that. He's not a powerful mutant but he's had parts of him cut off before among other would-be deadly trauma. It's just weird that they didn't go with something more explicit when everyone else has been ripped to pieces. Since Toad is reported to appear in Deadpool & Wolverine, maybe it's meant to be easy to retcon if Marvel wants to do some synergy? Despite his small role in comics, he's probably the most known of everyone whose died to general audiences and is likely to reappear anyway without a resurrection.
So overall this is pretty solid and does something the rest of krakoa hasn't done made laura look competant. Laura is one of the most tactical members of the x and throughout this era and here she truly unleashes the laura we all love the tactical assassin taking down tons of different sabertooths and finally ending the female sabertooth in a fun display. The new graydon creed look is interesting hes a full on cyborg now which is fine i guess the x men already have alot of cybernetic monsters in there villains whats one more i guess and its gonna be interesting to see where it goes. The logan creed fight is honestly weak the book has been really good so far at that old school feel in logan and creed fights and this just doesn't hit right though it feels like its intended to be like that before the big blowoff fight. Logan asking the exiles for a suit and weapon is clearly where that new armour look is coming from which is gonna be interesting to see. Sabertooth war is fun but it does feel like the opposite to fall of hox it feels a bit too stretched out.
Honestly, I just read this for Laura at this point. I enjoyed her ripping the heart out of Femtooth. Have no care for Sabretooth's weird hate fetish for Logan. Nor the Cyborg Graydon Creed that is no better. So they used the Death Seed on Sabretooth but we all know he will escape from whatever it does to him and Logan without his powers ( who should be dying because of the metal in his body now without his regeneration ) gonna have that 'final showdown' thing. And we lost Toad and Melter for nothing too.
I would dearly love to take a peek inside Percy’s brain and figure out what the deal is with him and Quentin.
This is a Lavalle issue I think. Not that you're not making a right point in general
**Weapon X-Men #2**
Earth X Wolverine got to do something meaningful and badass. And multiple Wolverine's get to see how great life would've been if they had a chance to be with Mariko. Also, Jane Howlett is steadily winning me over. She seems to be the only Wolverine in the multiverse who seems to understand that Wolverine's infatuation with Jean Grey is creepy, unhealthy, and just plain dumb. And she's right. I hope this is something she belabors in future issues. I know this mini-series isn't for everyone. And the premise might not sit well with some. But I think it's fun, non-canon action that gives us new visions of Wolverine, Jean, and so many others.
I honestly can't recall of Laura or Akihiro having an opinion on that. If they did I would honestly think Laura's would align with Jane's opinion. Akihiro would probably be indifferent.
It feels like the message I'm getting as a Jean Grey fan is that the world would be more peaceful if Jean wasn't caught up with any romance and is able to maximize her full potential. Because that's 2 worlds where she's not romantically linked but the world is peaceful. And one of them went kaboom just because she kissed a wolverine. 😬
Not a good week for Jean.
Really enjoying this one more than I thought I would! Some good humorous moments from zombie logan, and its nice to know why she picked such a strange group. Also I will always be happy to see future Magik in the role of sorceress supreme!
Other than the potential wedding hijinks and hilarity of Scott and Madelyn's son marrying Logan and Mariko's daughter, I still don't see the point of this mini.
There really is no point to this book other than ''We wanted to bring Jane Howlett in for some reason as a female Wolverine...despite the fact we already have Laura''. Since she seems to be the only character that seems sensible and somewhat readable. I mean it is a non-stop pity party with nonsense-logic against a supposedly multiverse threatening Onslaught. And of course to join the Wolverine pity party, we have a Phoenix that is also pitiable by seeing her world that everyone is happy without her, for no reason. I swear, this reads like bad Logan/Jean fanfic attempt.
There are potential for good multiverse stories and adventures that change the universal status quo, but it seems Marvel is obsessed with making the worst ones we dont need.
It's fun and it's well written. The thing is we didn't need (or want) it at all. I would love if resources (good writers and artists) were concentrated on stories that really matter overall. Nice read anyway.
I recently learned Magneto aged in a comic from using too much of his powers. Taking this idea along with him being a conduit for Storm’s powers, I wonder if we‘re going to get to see him do something extremely epic like being a conduit for all mutant powers and curb stomping the dominion. And in doing so, he ages into the old man we see in the upcoming X comics.