Welcome to this week’s edition of The Comic Fanatic! We’ve got the good, the great, and then X-Men Legacy (the ugly). A very solid week, let’s start off with a new title: A+X.
A+X is a new series that features two short stories, each pairing an Avenger with an X-Man. This first issue has Captain America (and Bucky) and Cable, and Wolverine (who’s technically an X-Men and an Avenger) and Hulk. The first story has Cap and Cable versus a Nazi Sentinel, and the second has Hulk and Wolverine fighting future versions of themselves over cake. Or something like that. There’s two Wolverines and two Hulks, and there’s cake. It’s quite a bit silly and fun, which is nice. I enjoyed this issue. It was short and fun. Also, it reminded me what a badass Cable is. One of my favorites, it’s good to see him doing what he does best: saving the future with big guns. Looks to be a solid and fun new series. Future pairing include Kitty (with Lockheed) and Iron Man, and Captain America and Quentin Quire. Can’t wait to see how that last one turns out. Maybe Quire will pull out his physic shotgun. New series, so far so good.
American Vampire #32. Part five of six of the Blacklist arc. Wow. Just, wow. Amazing issue, amazing series. This is the second to last issue of the arc, so naturally things go from bad to worse, and a little bit after that. At the end of issue 31, we found out the leader of the current vampire cult is none other than Hattie, Pearl’s friend from her BV (Before Vampire) days. Then some other stuff happens, I really don’t want to give anything away. But trust me. it’s good. American Vampire is one of my most looked forward to series each month, and not to sound like a broken record, but read this series! Seriously. It’s one of the best. Next issue conclude this arc. Will be interesting to see who makes out alive. Or rather dead but still moving.
Batgirl Annual # 1. The Bat, The Cat, and The Owl. Sounds like the setup for a joke, right? But trust me. This issue is no joke. Catwoman breaks Talon (previously seen in Batgirl #9) out of jail, and hijinks ensue. As an annual, it’s a bit thicker and a dollar more, and it’s a fun issue. Selina and Barbara should work together more. They’re a fun pair. Quite different, and that’s what makes the pairing. And while you’re add it, add in a silent assassin (Cassandra?) to make things more volatile. Good issue. Next month resumes the Death of the Family story. Art is quite good.
Issue of the week. No question about it. In a week of some really great books, Wolverine and the X-Men #19 is the clear standout. Rarely has a comic made me laugh, sad, happy, excited and sad again, all in the same issue. There’s a lot going on, but it works. Kitty is interviewing for a new staff member (Deadpool desperately wants the job). Rachel and Wolverine are hunting down Broo’s attackers. Beast (and Tony Stark, Reed Richards and Peter Parker) are trying to save Broo’s life. Angel is taking back his company, Husk is leaving. And then there’s the pint-sized Hellfire club. A lot going on, but it all works so well. It’s good to know that in the midst of the Marvel NOW changes, Wolverine and the X-Men will always be a very solid X-Men book. Jason Aaron has a wonderful thing going on. Truly remarkable series.
X-Men Legacy #275 is the series’ last issue before it relaunched with Legion, and the best thing I can say is ‘eh’. Really lackluster finale. I really enjoyed Carey’s run on the series, but lately Gage just doesn’t seem to know how to write it. He seems to reset Rogue emotionally at the beginning of each arc, when the whole point of the series is Rogue’s emotional maturation. Really annoying to see Rogue be strong and in charge one issue, then weak and extremely self-doubting the next. Ups and downs are normal, but not that drastic nor that quick. Also annoying is the artist’s tendency to place eyes over (on top) of hair. Great cover, but none of the characters are in the issue. Seriously. Rogue goes off to a space jail and does stuff. You show me a cover with Lockheed, Gambit, Psylocke and Cannonball, they damn better be in the issue. NOPE! In short: read X-Men Legacy until Gage takes over.
That’s it for this week’s installment. Until next week, True Believers!
