X-Men Schism #5 of 5I haven't been keeping up with the X-men lately, but here's the gyst of what's going on. Mutant kind was wiped out almost to extinction. Cyclops took up leadership of the species and with Magneto's help raised his old meteor base from the depths of the ocean and created an island safe-haven for mutants off the California cost, and named it Utopia. Utopia has had it's share of troubles, but in this series the X-Men go up against a new Hellfire Club. During the story, apparently some new Sentinels were created that are created by forming out of whatever metal is around when it is activated. Basically a big magnetic junk robot. There's a big junk Sentinel heading for Utopia, intent on wiping out the residents while at the same time Wolverine and Cyclops come to blows over differing philosophies. Cyclops believes that all mutants are needed in the fight to defend the species, including children. Wolverine believes that children deserve the right to be children and not be made to put their lives on the line as well as take lives. Apparently their shared/deceased love interest, Jean Grey, got brought up in the last issue and they tore into each other.
In this issue: The giant sentinel is literally attaching them while they fight each other. Cyclops blows wolverine's face off his skull. Wolverine stabs Cyclops through the arm and hand. Just when it looks like they'll both be crushed by a giant fist, the X-men kids (who are the only other mutants on the island at the time) jump into the fray and defeat the robot. In the aftermath, Wolverine comes to Cyclops and says that he wants no part of what he has going on at Utopia, that he's leaving, and anyone who wants to come with him is welcome. Cyke tries to talk him out of it, but it's too late. The blackbird gets loaded up with a bunch of mutants I don't know and they fly off. Going by the promo art for the upcoming issues, it looks like Iceman, Kitty Pryde, Beast, and Nightcrawler go with Wolverine, but that's not conclusive. As the issue ends you see Wolverine's team of X-men arriving at their new/old home, the now-destroyed Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
My take: While i haven't been following this series for a while, I was interested in how this split would come about, and it was pretty interesting to read the reasoning behind each side's beliefs and to see who fell where when it was all over. The art was fantastic. Like I mentioned, I mostly bought this issue for it's amazing cover.
Superior #5 of 6Superior is a book that I have been following since issue #1. I like reading different takes on Superman-type characters (see Sentry). In this case, a boy named Simon is dealing with a rapid onset of multiple sclerosis that has quickly taken him from being healthy and athletic to being practically wheelchair bound. One night he is visited by a well-spoken space monkey. It says it can give him his whatever his heart desires. When he wakes up, he's Superior, his favorite superhero. He immediately wigs out and runs away from home, trusting only his best-friend Chris to help him. Think of it like the movie "Big", but instead of turning into Tom Hanks, he turned into the most powerful being on the planet.
In this issue: After he and Chris discover and master each of his powers, he meets with the President and gets ready to help mankind. In one day he single-handedly creates peace in the Middle East without any casualties. Then he feeds Africa, stops an earthquake in China, averts a tidal wave in Australia, and falls in love with intrepid reporter, Maddie Knox. Just when she's about to use her womanly whiles to discover his secret origin the space monkey returns!
Whisked away with the monkey to an undisclosed location, the monkey congratulates our hero on becoming the most beloved man on earth and asks him if he enjoys his new life. Superior answers that of course he loves his new life. He replies, "I used to dread waking up in the mornings, but now everything's perfect. I love my life like this. I wouldn't give it up for the world!" The monkey replies, "good" and turns him back in to a crippled little boy. When Simon (the boy) asks why he's doing this, the monkey mocks him and says, "haven't you guessed what I am? Sell me your soul and I'll make you Superior again. Turn me down and it's back in the wheelchair!" YIKES!!!
My take: This book is tons of fun coupled with fantastic art by Lenil Yu. It's been a blast to see a superman-level character interacting with real current hot spots like, Afganistan, Iraq, & China as well as speaking with President Obama, playing basketball with LeBron and Batting for the Mets (these are the rewards he accepted from Obama for all his help :). Mark Millar has really crafted what would be a young boy's dream life. The crazy twist of having it all be a devious plot to take his soul was a nice touch as well. I didn't trust that monkey from the get-go. Cool story. Great art. This one would be a good buy when it comes out in collected paperback.
- Book of the Week!
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