Uncanny X-Men # 181, New Mutants # 15-20, Uncanny X-Men # 182-183, New Mutants 21, Uncanny X-Men # 184-191
I'm a little conflicted here. You'll see why.
The X-Men return for Battleworld, only they end up in Japan. It's there they battle a dragon that has fallen in love with good ol' Lockheed. Awww. Sunfire and Val Cooper guest-star.
Meanwhile, the New Mutants face off with their rivals, Emma Frost and the Hellions. The X-Men then return to the spotlight and we see the government begin to take steps in fighting Mutants. In an effort to do step up, the US contracts Forge to build a weapon that takes away Mutant powers. While Henry Gyrich wishes to use this weapon on Rogue, Storm gets caught in the way and has her powers stripped away. Forge takes her in and after a beautiful love story, Forge is attacked by magical alien (!?) called the Dire Wraiths. Luckily, the X-Men show up and help save the day.
For the New Mutants, the fight a menacing mystical figure called the Demon Bear, and the X-Men are introduced to Rachel Summers, from the "Days of Future Past" timeline. Also, Selene shows up, as does Juggernaut, and we conclude with a fantastic story in where the New York is transformed into a fantasy realm by Kulan Garth. ALSO - Warlock shows up and Magneto's Asteroid M base is destroyed, and injured, he's rescued by Lee Forrester (you remember her).
Whew!
Here's the break-down. There's some good and some bad.
First, the good. When it comes to the Mutant Control Act, Claremont does a spectacular job. From the hunting of Rogue, to Storm's sacriface and her brief love affair with Forge, the idea of a weapon that can take away powers is intriguing. The characters involved are either old faces like Senator Kelly, Mystique, and Henry Gyrich -- or new ones, like Val Cooper (though she's appeared before) and Forge. Each of these characters are interesting as they each bring something to the table as far as conflict and interaction. Add in Rachel Summers, who has seen the ultimate fate of the Mutant Control Act in her own timeline, and you've got a story that is both character driving and intriguing.
The Mutant Control Act strikes right into the heart of the X-Men, as does Rachel's presence. Nightcrawler, esspecially, gets a great moment where he doubts both his place with the X-Men and the very idea of the X-Men. Luckily, the matter is straightened out, but Nightcrawler does such a great job of shaking up the ideals of the X-Men in just a few panels.
Colossus and Kitty both get some great development, as they find themselves ending whatever kind of relationship they had. Kitty heads home for a bit while Logan gets Peter totally trashed and has him face down the Juggernaut mono-e-mono. The beautifully rendered Storm/Forge story (186) is fantastic. Rogue continues to come to terms with her position on the team and her past with Ms. Marvel is explored.
On the New Mutants front, I have to say that I really like the idea of the Hellions. They are to the Hellfire Club as the New Mutants are to the X-Men. It's a great concept.
That being said, there's some stuff here that I'm not a big fan of, namely, the mystic story. Ugh. I'm sorry, but to me, magic and Mutants don't mix. The Dire Wraiths dumb down the Mutant Control Act subplot, and as cool as the Kulan Garth story is, it comes out of nowhere and ends up in just the same place.
John Romita Jr. does a fairly good job artwise, though I'm glad he gets better. At times, it's just plan blah. Brian Windsor Smith comes in and does the 186, doing probably among the greatest artjobs on the X-Men yet.
~W~
No comments:
Post a Comment