Things are revving up to a thrilling conclusion in the AvX story. In the past several issues the Phoenix-powered X-men have become unstable do to their tremendous power and have turned on each other. Now only two remain, Emma & Cyclops, and they split the power of the Phoenix between them. In the last issue, the Phoenix's first-pick host, Hope, channeled some weird, mystical kung-fu power (yeah, I know...it's the weak point of the story) and actually hurt Cyclops, sending him to the moon where he took hours regaining his strength before heading back to Earth. Now the Avengers are marshaling all their forces and have teamed up with the rest of the X-Men in an attempt to curb the ever-erratic Phoenix Two.
The issue starts off with scenes of the non-Phoenix-powered X-Men joining forces with the Avengers and admitting that this has all gone terribly wrong. At the same time we see the only two inhabitants of the mutant island Utopia, Emma Frost & Cyclops, having a creepy discussion about how they'd like to burn the world and start it all from scratch. Suddenly Cyclops feels something in his head and flies away. He meets with Professor X on a beach somewhere and they go back and forth about the Phoenix. Professor X tells Scott that he's disappointed in him and that he is going to stop him now. At that point Scott realizes that the professor has been in his head and he has been blinded to the fact that he's been under attack throughout the entire conversation. Dr. Strange has been holding him in place while the Avengers battle Emma Frost. Massive action sequences follow with most of the Avengers attacking Scott directly now. The Scarlet Witch hits him with her hex bolts, which have hurt the Phoenix multiple times throughout this story, but then Emma explodes covers her with fire. Then Hulk smashes Emma into the ground. Then Scott sets Magneto on fire. Then Scarlet Witch attacks Scott again. Then Thor attacks Scott but is swatted away. Then Hawkeye shoots Scott. Then Iceman freezes Scott. Then Scott says, "I'm sorry, Emma." as he attacks his lover from behind. She hits the ground and has just enough time to say, "I can't believe you." before he's all over her, holding her down and choking her and attacking her with his Phoenix powers...or something vague. As she passes out (i guess?) there's an explosion of power and Cyclops has absorbed all of the Phoenix force. <<SPOILER ALERT>> Professor X steps up to stop him and Cyclops seemingly makes the professor's heart explode in his chest and he collapses. Wolverine orders Hulk to throw him, Fastball Special-style, but Wolverine is burnt to a crisp before he even gets close. Scott then falls to his knees and is engulfed in flame. The last scene is an awesome double-page spread of Cyclops pulsating with power as the Dark Phoenix (see below). And the issue ends.
Olivier Coipel was back on art duty this issue, which was a very good thing. He's one of my favorites and in my opinion has done the best job of the rotating artists on this series. A can't-miss issue for those following the story. I try to reserve my 5-star ratings for really exceptional books, so this one only scores a 4. That being said, 4 stars is pretty high praise from me.
For being an AvX-related issue, it has very little to do with the AvX story, or Wolverine's team. This issue focuses on the villains from the first Wolverine & the X-Men storyline, the all-new, all-pre-teen Hellfire Club.
In this issue we learn all about the backstory of the new Black King of the Hellfire Club, Kade Kilgore. We learn how the brilliant boy learned to kill at an early age. How he manipulated his rich father's influence to get inducted into the Hellfire Club as a kid before killing his dear old dad. We see how he has used the world's new fear of the Phoenix Five and mutants in general to explode his already massive fortune into limitless resources by selling state-of-the-art new sentinels. By the end of the issue we see him and his 3 best friends, all Hellfire Club elite now, standing outside of Salem Center, NY, the town where Wolverine's school resides. I don't know what Kade has in store for Wolverine's team, but it won't be good.
Despite being a character-building issue about a character I know and care little about, it was a fun read, well-written with great art by Chris Bachalo. I have not read a bad issue of this title yet. As long as Jason Aaron handles the writing, and the same artist team handles the art, this will be a book worth buying.
Oh...and the BEST part of the WHOLE BOOK comes at the very bottom of the last page where it reads, "NEXT ISSU: DOOP!" YES!!! I love Doop! His occasional appearance in this book is what convinced me to start buying it in the first place! He has been serving as an adjunct professor at the school, but has been little more than a funny background element. This little weirdo faced off against Thor once! It's about time he saw sees some action! I'm hoping the Hellfire kids attack the school and Doop is all that stands between them and the students. Unfortunately, we have to wait 30 days to find out...GO DOOP!
What a letdown.
This story continues Conan's quest to stop the rampaging of a man who is destroying Cimmerian villages in his name. With his lover, Belit, a fearsome pirate captain from the South beside him, he tracks the villain across his frozen, mountainous homeland. Belit is out of her element and realizes that she is slowing Conan down, so she convinces him to go without him and she will try to keep up on her own. By the end of the issue, it seems that Conan has found the place where his impostor hides, but it's unclear if that is the case or not.
It's cool to finally see Conan's homeland, Cimmeria, that I have heard about for years, but the story is really nothing special. The downfall with this issue is the art. In the last issue, Becky Cloonan handled the pencilling and it was VERY unusual art for Conan, but it was very well done and a welcome change. This issue is drawn by Vasilis Lolos, and it is NOT good. I don't want to be too harsh here, but it doesn't fit this genre or this character. If he handles the art in issue 3, I won't buy it. Not a good choice, Dark Horse Comics. Get Cloonan back, or find that Cary Nord fella. He knows how to draw Conan!
It's been a while since issue 1 came out, but the adventures of an amnesiac Prince Adam continues.
In the last issue we were shown a very different version of Eternia than the cartoon we all knew and loved. Skeletor has won and taken over the land. He made He-Man forget who he was and sentenced him to the life of a lowly woodsman in the forest outside of Castle Grayskull. Apparently the rest of the Masters have forget themselves as well. Feeling the pull to find out more about his vague past, Adam leaves his cabin and is attacked by Beast Man, who he barely defeats, to his surprise. He never remembers fighting anyone before, but he has the reflexes of a seasoned warrior. He continues his journey, not sure what he's looking for.
This issue sees Beastman being tortured by Skeletor for his failure. In the meantime, Adam has made it to a desert and is in the process of crossing it when he is captured by a trio of nomads and taken to their desert lord, who turns out to be the villain Trapjaw. Trapjaw sentences Adam to trial by combat the following day. As Adam fights for his life (again surprising himself with the combat skills he didn't know he possessed) he evades attacks from mulitple nomadic warriors before Trapjaw himself joins the fight. Without the Power of Grayskull, Adam is no match for him and is about to be cut down when the villain is bowled over by a stampede of desert dragons. The stampede is the work of one of the nomadic women, who turns out to be Teela and has no idea who Adam is or why she felt like she should risk her life to save him. They escape into the desert. Afterwards Skeletor comes to the camp and questions how Adam escaped capture and death.
Okay, the obvious question is, why would Skeletor go through the trouble of making Adam forget who he is and make him live in the woods if he just wants him dead? He should have killed him back when he won, but didn't for some reason. He's angry at both of his henchman for not killing him. I don't get that plot hole. Other than that, this is a fun, unique take on the He-man mythos and I'm enjoying it. I feel like they're not taking full advantage of this fun storyline, but as a big He-man fan, i'll take what i can get.
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