Heart breaking, Poignant, Compelling and Bloody....

I was first introduced to the character way back in Uncanny X-men: the Cruelest Cut, she didn't seem to be that interesting a character at the time. I think it was at the peak of Wolverines popularity so yet another Wolverine type character seemed fairly dull. It wasn't until X-force (Post Messiah Complex) that she really came into her own.

X-23: Innocence Lost
written by Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, Pencilled by Billy Tan

Innocence Lost shows us X-23's beginnings. How she was created, why she was created. Who her mother is. Its a very through origin story and one that is touched with sadness. The tale opens with a flashback to when Wolverine escapes from the weapon X facility. We see a scientist madly grabbing notes and trying to flee for his life. He doesn't get very far. Years later we see that that scientists son is now running the project and they are attempting to recreate weapon X.I don't know what it is about these secret government types and creating killing machines. It just seems to be their main interest. Unfortunately they have been having zero luck in recreating weapon X. It would seem that Wolvie is one of a kind. That's when Sarah Kinney comes into the story. She has a fairly straight forward approach to recreating Weapon X. Lets just clone the bastard! Soooo that's what they do, but things go a little bit wrong (as they usually do) and the Y chromosome is damaged in the sample they have. Hence the clone being female. So that brought a bit of clarification as to how we have a female clone.Right from the word go they train X to be an unfeeling, ruthless killing machine. She is treated like a weapon and not a child. The head of the project Zander is especially cruel to X as he has some unresolved issues with Wolverine. X becomes his punching bag. This story brings up all kinds of controversial issues resolving around child abuse. You really can't help but feel truly sorry for X. She has no concept of a normal life. She is denied the chance to be a real little girl. I've never before encountered a character that is both brutal and unrelenting and at the same time completely innocent. You can't help but hurt at the injustice done to this poor little girl who does not know any different. Its in this book that we are introduced to trigger scent, something that X fears and will become the bane of her existence. Its a scent that when smelt by X sends her into a blind feral rage. Its used effectively by her handlers with visceral results. Its not until later that its used for very vindictive purposes by Zander.Billy Tans art is spot on as always and the dialogue and pacing of the book was really well put together. Christopher Yost and Craig Kyle are a great team when it comes to writing. Its amazing how a team up can have amazing results. These two guys have been kicking goals together fora while now. Their work on X-force is amazing, I'd highly recommend picking up the two hardcover collections which collects that entire run. I would have to say X-23 has a grand future ahead of her in the Marvel universe, as long as shes handled by the right person. X-23 belongs on the darker side of things. Its gritty, dark and has a strong element of emotion attached to it. Just wait till you get to the last part of the book and you'll see what I mean. I'm something of a softie and I shed a tear for poor X.Highly recommended!

Back in the Day....

X-MEN: ZERO TOLERANCE

Written by Scott Lobdell, Larry Hama, James Robinson & John Francis Moore,
Pencilled by Scott Bacchalo, Carlos Pachecho, Dop Mahn, Leinel Francis Yu & Randy Green.

X-men: Zero Tolerance TPB cover   

Now its probably a little bit tricky to get hold of this book because its out of print, and out of print generally means that you can find it but whoever is selling has jacked the price up to a phenomenal level. I've seen copies of this book going for $125+ which in all seriousness is just criminal. The fact of the matter is when you peruse amazon, eBay etc looking for an older book and see people selling it for this much it puts you off reading the book and that's a tragedy because new fans or old fans alike are missing out on a great story because someone is taking advantage of a shortage. These people get their little bowl of Karma served up to them however because if you go back months or even years later the book is still up there at a ridiculous price because no one in there right mind is going to pay that much! Anyway I'm getting sidetracked!

    

So I finished reading this little gem, well when I say little that's not entirely accurate, its like most X-men crossovers a nice big book, which will sustain you for a while. I've said it in the past but I'll say it again, that's what I love about the X-men Graphic Novels, there always a good solid read. Zero Tolerance clocks in at a good 430 pages. I love the binding and the paper stock they used. Its solid, the stock is thicker than usual. I think the older trades Marvel put out were always much hardier. This book was intended to last! My son Finn had woken up and was getting his wriggle on, So what better time to switch the light on, put him in the crook of my arm and finished reading this epic. Finn seemed fairly interested in it at first but then his attention was diverted by the very interesting heating vent on the ceiling...I'll get him eventually!

There was a lot of nostalgia attached to this tale as Zero Tolerance was about the time I started seriously collecting X-men, about 1997 I think. This story came on the tale end of the enormous company wide crossover Onslaught. A lot of people have said in the past that onslaught was the peak of X-men in the 90's and it went downhill from there. I tend to disagree, Zero Tolerance to me was even better than Onslaught. The thing I disliked about Onslaught was that there were so many tie-ins from other titles that really weren't tie-ins at all. Marvel has gotten much worse at this in recent years, the most classic example was the Siege event where Mighty Avengers was a tie-in but the only link to the actual event was one of the characters turning on the TV seeing it was happening and then going off and doing there own thing which had nothing to do with the actual event. 

Internal Art

The art throughout Zero Tolerance was spot on; Chris Bacchalo on the Generation X issues, Carlos Pachecho on X-men, Leinel Francis Yu on Wolverine, Adam Pollina on X-force and Dop Mahn on Cable. All very unique and all very talented. A great use of color throughout, I appreciated Leinel Francis Yu and Carlos Pachecho a little more as they have great colorists working with them, which adds a lot of depth to the colors. The writing is great and all the writers were collaborating quite well, an almost seamless story. The main antagonists of the X-men issues is Iceman, whom we don't usually get to see in the spotlight. He finds himself in a situation where he has to be the voice of reason and lead by example. A difficult thing for someone up until now has basically been the class clown. As a result we see a lot of character development for Bobby Drake.

The main threat that the X-men face is Bastion, a mysterious stranger who appeared a while back and has been slowly rallying government support for his paramilitary organisation Operation Zero Tolerance. The idea behind the organisation is to deal with the mutant threat once and for all. What makes Zero Tolerance so much of a threat is their introduction of the Prime Sentinels. The Sentinels have been a long standing threat when it comes to X-men, the prime sentinels are a new and much deadlier incarnation as the Prime Sentinels are basically sleeper agents. Gone are the days when sentinels were giant robots that clanked about and had all the finesse of a German tourist. These new sentinels can strike at anytime and can be anyone. They certainly inspire a lot of paranoia among the X-men.

We're also introduced to four new characters. Cecilia Reyes, a surgeon who had kept her mutation under wraps until the Zero tolerance agents had uncovered her. Cecilia is by far the most annoying character the X-men have ever had in their ranks. Sabra, a super agent for the Mossad, basically an Israeli Wonder Woman. Sabra is kind of a two dimensional character, I get the feeling that they just needed a powerhouse which was why they threw her in the mix. She does get a lot of development down the line. Marrow, a very interesting an complex character who gets a lot of development and who'd already had a lot of history with the X-men but as a villain. Here we see her lending a hand and becoming a sort of grumpy wolverine type who really has a heart of gold. Finally Maggott whom we are introduced to right at the end.... hes a bit odd and has the strangest power going. Two giant slugs come out of his stomach and can eat anything. So yeah......

My only complaint would be the order they've put the stories. I'm a real stickler for continuity and the Cable issues seemed really out of place. Mainly because Cable was interacting with Bastion (the main villain of the piece) and then the next issue Bastion would be elsewhere and the following issue of Cable he'd be back continuing his conversation. I think maybe the events of Cable preceded the rest of the book. The final issue was especially Nostalgic because that was the first issue I picked up when I started collecting, I had to actually go to a number of stores to get all the back issues that preceded it.

I only hope that Marvel will collect the events that cam after this "the Hunt for Xavier" that was a good solid story as well with many a favourite character returning, and new and interesting threats arising. All in all I'd highly reccomend reading Zero tolerance (if you can find a copy!) eBay is a great place to look or Amazon has it available. A very good addition to anyones collection.

ENTER THE HEROIC AGE!

Avengers Vol.1

Written by Brian Michael Bendis, Pencilled by John Romita jr

 

I've been a long time fan of the Avengers franchise ever since reading New Avengers: Breakout back in the day. That's about the time when Bendis had firmly claimed the Avengers as his own. He'd shaken the whole team to its core with Disassembled and remade it in a similar fashion to the Justice League by having all major heroes. We finally saw Wolverine and Spider man, two of Marvels heavy hitters and franchises in themselves.

Well after the events of Siege, where we saw Asgard destroyed, the Sentry going a little bit Russell Crowe and Norman Osborn well and truly being given the smack down. Marvel decided it was time for another reboot (sigh)

I'll admit right off the bat I was a little unsure of John Romita Jr being the artist for the main Avengers title. His art can be really hit and miss. Sometimes it can look absolutely amazing other times... well there's probably four year olds that can do better. So skeptical as i was, I decided to have a look (I couldn't not pick it up anyway, I'm too loyal to the Avengers). I have to say I liked it a lot. What we have here is a return to the Avengers of old. Bendis has finally dropped his love affair with the ridiculous villain the Hood and we've got the Avengers doing what they do best and that's saving the world!

We see the return of Kang and Ultron in this story. We've got a great team composed of Captain America (Bucky), Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye (finally rid of the ridiculous Ronin persona), Spider-man (Also on New Avengers), Wolverine (Also on New Avengers & X-men) Spider-woman and Protector (formerly Marvel Boy). Its a good dynamic and they all seem to fit together well. On top of this all Steve Rogers aka Captain America is now the new Nick Fury. Everything is shiny and new and it doesn't feel so dark anymore. Which to me is good. It was about time they bought the Avengers back into the light.

My only complaint is the foreshadowing of Wonderman being the next hero to go crazy. I don't think its necessary to always have a hero going crazy and the rest of the team to handle it. The Scarlet Witch was good, the Sentry was very good although I was a little sad with the way they mistreated that character, but Wonderman...c'mon! who gives a #@#$ about Wonderman, and a good villain he does not make.

Basically its a time travel story with Kang coming back in time to petition the Avengers for their aid in a force so powerful not even he....well Kang has always been talked up a lot, he's not really that scary but anyway I digress. Kang reveals to the Avengers that their kids have in fact completely screwed up the time stream, and the universe will implode unless the damage is undone...the usual sort of thing for the Avengers.

Personally I hate time travel, its so confusing and almost never makes sense, but Bendis somehow pulls a very credible and quite easy time travel story together. His dialogue as always is witty, and its a well put together tales. I'd give this 4 and a half stars out of 5.

Marvel releases this teaser today.... This must be the follow up to Schism, which I've yet to read. I read it in TPB format though so you get the story in one big hit, so it may be a while before I know what is going on here. I'm guessing though as Schism as the title implies is a splitting of something. The X-men must be going separate ways. So it looks like we might be heading back to the New X-men ala Grant Morrison and X-treme X-men ala Chris Claremont (God that series was awful) it was like Marvel decided to create a team of characters no one really like except of course rogue and gambit and then have them written by Chris Claremont, who really has lost his way about 10 years ago. I however digress, I  find it a bit strange to believe Sebastian Shaw leading a team of X-men? What do you guys think? Although its not too much of a stretch, Emma Frost Seemed an unlikely candidate and look at her now.

X-MEN: REGENESIS - GENERATION HOPE

Featuring the all-new creative team of rising stars James Asmus and Ibraim Roberson!

Who’s with…SEBASTIAN SHAW?! Join the conversation on Twitter with #XMenRegenesis!

GENERATION HOPE #13

Written by JAMES ASMUS

Art & Cover by IBRAIM ROBERSON

Variant Cover by DALE KEOWN

NOVEMBER 2011

Look Out World! Here Comes Miles Morales - The New ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN!

Hers a new teaser image and write up for the Ultimate line spider-man. Looks like Marvel are trying to be a bit edgy on this one.


Look Out World! Here Comes Miles Morales - The New ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN!

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at an all new variant of Ultimate Comics Spider-Man by rising star artist Sara Pichelli - featuring the all-new character that everyone’s talking about, Miles Morales!

*Retailers should look to the Marvel Mailer for special ordering instructions for this all-new variant!

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #1 (JUL110605)

ULTIMATE COMICS SPIDER-MAN #1 MILES VARIANT (JUN118248)

Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS

Art by SARA PICHELLI

Cover by KAARE ANDREWS

Variant Cover by SARA PICHELLI

FOC – 8/15/11, ON SALE – 9/7/11

MAGNETO: NOT A HERO!

Hi guys,

Well Marvel released this teaser image this morning regarding a new Magneto mini in the works. I'm pretty psyched. You have to wonder what Magneto's "attitude" shall we say is going to be in this mini. Magneto has and always will be associated with being one of the greatest villains going. What most people forget is that he's worked with the X-men on a number of occasions. In fact who can remember when he was the headmaster of the school? that's right, he was filling in for old chuck for a little while. He does seem to have a habit of reverting to type. Marvel seem to be trying to make character changes stick though. Emma Frost has been a good girl for a very long time thus far. Everyone is itching for her to jump back in the bad saddle and do what she does best. Maybe perhaps the title is referring to the fact that Magneto is more of an anti-hero than a classic hero. Can't wait to find out come November!

MAGNETO: NOT A HERO!

MAGNETO: NOT A HERO #1 (of 4)

Written by SKOTTIE YOUNG

Art & Cover by CLAY MANN

NOVEMBER 2011

Your First Look At Mark Bagley's ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #1 Variant!

Your First Look At Mark Bagley’s ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #1 Variant!

Marvel is pleased to present your first look at the Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 Bagley Variant from Marvel Architect Mark Bagley! Rising stars Nick Spencer & Paco Medina put Iceman, Kitty Pride and the Human Torch on the road to discover the true history of the x-gene! Who are the X-Men and how will they handle the fallout of this universe shattering discovery? Find out in Ultimate Comics X-Men #1 this September, as Ultimate Comics Universe Reborn continues!

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #1 (JUL110608)

ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN #1 BAGLEY VARIANT (JUN118168)

Written by NICK SPENCER

Art by PACO MEDINA

Cover by KAARE ANDREWS (POLYBAGGED)

Variant Cover by MARK BAGLEY

FOC – 08/22/11, ON SALE – 09/21/11