SPOILERS: Who's Back from the Dead in All New X-Men # 23

Somebody yet again returns from the dead in ALL NEW X-MEN # 23 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen. Part 3 of Trial of Jean Grey! 

In this issue, more of Jean Grey in the custody of the Shiar empire, more witty banter between the All New X-Men and the Guardians of the Galaxy and a special surprise appearance by...

Yes, Corsair is back from the dead. Oh and the original cast of the Starjammers are back too including Hepzibah who dropped out of the X-Books post Messiah CompleX

Amazing Moments from Amazing X-Men # 2

I'm definitely good with Jason Aaron's current "Amazing X-Men" book and with issue # 2 shipping out last week, I just had to focus on this in a blog post. So here folks, are some of the best moments (IMHO) from Amazing X-Men # 2 by Jason Aaron and Ed McGuiness.

1. Storm goes Ballistic on the demons

Left with no powers in hell, a very fierce Storm goes ballistic on the demons they are facing. You have to remember that Storm is no pushover. She once defeated Cyclops in a very serious fight without her powers.

2. A Peter Pan Reference

Resident semi-speedster Northstar also joins the fight somewhere in issue # 2 and he actually goes and give off this "Peter Pan" ish feel in his panel. Heck he's even asking if the demon pirates have a captain with a hook for his hand.

3. The Demon Pirate captains...

... are pretty cool. Hey was that Billy the Kid now having six arms manhandling Storm? Check out the knives on the other captain...

4. Iceman Freezes Hell

With nothing to loss, Bobby Drake cuts lose with his powers freezing the demonic horde and, he'll definitely make the Eagles proud what with "Hell freezes over" and stuff.

5. Professor X is in Heaven



One of the really weird things about AXM is the fact that the X-Men are totally oblivious to where they were teleported. Sure you can say that they were not expecting it but doesn't it seem to be a bit off-character to not be able to determine whatsoever where the blue imp-like bamfs have teleported them to. Firestar, Storm and Iceman even took a couple of pages to realize that they were in hell and all that. A bit of a suck that's all.

Oh and yeah, Professor X is making a cameo here in heaven as he's the voice of reason and logic Wolverine is hearing while clinging to dear life on a plank. (Yeah... don't ask)

Overall, I liked Amazing X-Men # 2 and I'm still at the edge of my seat waiting for how they'll overcome this new challege.

And eventually figure out a way to bring back Nightcrawler from the dead.

All New X-Men # 17 Spoilers

Check out the major spoilers for All New X-Men # 17; still part of the X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM

Oh by the way this was written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Stuart Immonen.

1. Alison Blaire aka Dazzler becomes the President of the United States in the future

2. She was even backed by the future X-Men

Which is very cool and very un-X-Men like especially since they're NOT into that kind of politics.

3. Meet the Future X-Men

So who do we have:

• a Nick Fury-esque Daisy Johnson (or Maria Hill)
• Vision
• a wheelchaired Captain America
• a woman who looks like Storm
• moustachio Colossus
• Kate Pryde
• Charles Xavier's grandson
• IceMan (or is it IceMage)
• Xorn Jean
• Beast
• A guy who looks like Daimon Helstrom
• Molly Hayes
• Quintin Quire as the Phoenix
• someone who looks like Peter Wisdom
• A new Sorcerer Supreme who also looks like Cloak
• an old Tempus
• Iron Man/ Iron lad
• Jubilee who now goes by Wolverine
• Kubark aka Kid Gladiator

4. President Dazzler dies



I can't help but remember "X-Men: The End" where Kitty Pryde wins the elections and becomes the POTUS or was that a U.S. Senator??? Anyway at least Kitty didn't bite the bullet in that story. Still there was a massive bodycount in the first act. And there was no hellfire involved.

5. after the assassination, there's also a demonic invasion in front of the White House...

That does not look pretty

6. Then we meet the surviving X-Men

Or rather Magik, O5 Beast and O5 Iceman meet the future X-Men.

7. Why is Moustachio Colossus carrying Magik's soulsword?

Apparently before Magik "disappeared" she gave her older brother that badass soulsword. Oh and it's pretty nice to see the brother and sister actually look happy to see each other. They haven't been friendly with each other ever since AVX and AVX Consequences.

8. Hank McCoy 'snaps'



After years of death and hatred, future Hank McCoy finally calls it quits with Xavier's dream and decides that it's time to take matters into his own hands (again). There's also a poignant and quiet moment in this part of the issue where Colossus and Iceman just look at a very depressed Beast at ground zero...



9. I love the new Jean Grey School in the future



Can I enroll? Because I really want to enroll in a school with a building that looks like a Shiar battleship docked in the school grounds.

10. The future X-Men vote either to stay in the future or fight McCoy's wayward X-Men?

Guess it looks like 'Wolverine' got outvoted.

Remarks:

I love that they managed to squeeze in this much backstory in a single issue. I keep saying that X-Men: Battle of the Atom is a very underrated story and this issue proves my point. The pacing is still good and though people might be confused, the loyal X-Fan would just appreciate everything that's been poured into this issue.

Even better is the fact that it whet's our appetite for all things coming from this future. What confuses me however is how far in the future this is. And where is Marvel's mutant poster boy Wolverine in all this. In fact, where the hell is baby Shogo, you know, Jubilee's 'son'.

Argh. So many questions, too little pages. Please churn out more stuff for BotA. Oh and I know it's too late Marvel but could you exclude Brian Wood's X-Men from all this? Thanks.

Get your copies of ALL NEW X-MEN # 17 from your leading LCS (Comic Quest, Comic Odyssey, Druid's Keep, Filbars)

Wolverine and the X-Men # 36 Spoilers

Following up on the events of Marvel's "Battle of the Atom" with the help of Jason Aaron and Guiseppi Camuncoli which transpire in WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN # 36.

1. Cyclops Teams up with Old Cyclops

Really cool moment when O5 Cyclops finds himself with his back against his older Phoenix Force corrupted self while fighting the X-Men from the future.

2. Jean Grey vs Emma Frost, O5 Jean Grey and the Stepford Cuckoos

Another cool yet poorly executed moment. The Cuckoos team up with the younger Jean and Emma to fight off the psychic attacks of the Xorn-ized future Jean Grey.

3. O5 Jean is stronger than Xorn Jean

In a surprising turn of events the younger Jean Grey beats her "older" self and makes the ultimate mistake of peering into Xorn Jean's mind. These two panels might just be the ultimate turning point for X-Men: Battle of the Atom. In fact this panel's effect might be carried over to the upcoming All New X-Men/ Guardians of the Galaxy crossover.

4. What Jean saw

Whatever the hell Jean Grey saw in Xorn Jean's head screwed her up badly as she immediately reliquinshes her first decision to stay in the present Marvel Universe.Again whatever she chose to do or not to do automatically leads to some interesting storyline in the near future.

5. Deadpool is hiding something

Prior to this Deadpool threatened the whole team with suicide if they did not stop fighting. He goes on a verbal tirade about how they mean well for the team and how it is important that the Original Five "do the right thing". We later find out that things are not what they seem. In fact, it looks like Wade Wilson lied about everything.

6. O5 Beast and Iceman team up with Magik and visit the Future

Magik takes Iceman and Beast to the future where we see that things are very, very different; particularly in the Jean Grey School where it looks so beautiful. And then they also have Sentinels patrolling the area.

7. A Second team of future X-Men

Sure we got spoiled with the cover for the next chapter of X-Men: Battle of the Atom but it's still a shock to see the actual team that will join the fight in the next few chapters. Whp are these guys? Since when did the X-Men have an Iron Man/ Sentinel member on their roster? Who's the new Cloak and why is Colossus rocking a metallic moustache.

ALL NEW X-MEN # 15 Review

It's been a while since we got a 'one and done' issue of ALL NEW X-MEN and this week's issue (ALL NEW X-MEN # 15) fills that particular void! Special thanks to COMICX HUB and CASTLE GEEK!

Stuart Immonen is out for this issue but taking over for the meantime is David LaFuente who did extraordinarily well in Ultimate Comics Spider-Man. Getting him for this issue was a stellar idea as the outcome rocked.

GOOD

- The art was pretty solid and fit like a glove. Teen angst? LaFuente nails it. Teen romance? Check. A surprise hookup? Check, check, check. While cartoony in nature, it still looks good. Case in point, Scott's sheepish grin and Bobby's awkward reaction when they see older Iceman making out with Kitty.

- The issue did not mack on Wolverine. In fact, writer Bendis turns Logan into a comedic device. Something I haven't seen for quite some time since Marvel loves the feral Canadian so much.

- I'm taking a limb in saying that we haven't had a decent ICEMAN/CYCLOPS issue in years; let alone their teenage counterparts. So seeing these two go to town, meet fine young women and save the day all in one sitting is a nice nod to old-school and nu-school X-Men fans.

- I'm interested in seeing more interaction between Marvel Girl (Rachel Summers) and the teenage version of JEAN GREY (Rachel's mom). Those pages were funny and curiosity raising; mostly because we never get to know what they 'thought' about.

BAD

- Depending on your level of involvement you'll be pleasantly surprised or downright dismayed with the way things panned out in this issue. Here's a hint, the cover is only half lying.

- This issue was so good that it just felt bad that it had to end.

- Dazzler making an appearance here is really unnecessary. Sure it could be a plot point for September's X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM but it feels really contrived and forced even if she just makes a one-panel appearance.

- I find it idiotic that the teen X-Men are still unaware of how dangerous it is to waltz out of the school. I'm surprised that both Bobby and Scott wasn't picked up by SHIELD the moment they 'hung out' and talked to normal kids or when they foiled that crime. Weird.

- No action all talk. Sure it's a Bendis book so it's a given but still. A little bit of action couldn't kill him right?

VERDICT

9.5/10

Despite all those minor and one major BAD POINTs I'm recommending ALL NEW X-MEN # 15. It'll be worth your money (well if you're willing to spend 200 bucks on a character driven book anyway). The book is available at all CASTLE GEEK branches (Glorietta, The Collective and soon in Greenhills) or online thru COMICX HUB (Order HERE).

Wolverine and the X-Men # 29 Spoilers - So Many Future Story Arc Teasers

This week's WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN # 29 just gave X-Fans hints of what's to come while at the same time nullifying (or cementing) certain events shown in the series. Onwards with the spoilers then.

Oh and spoiler alert.

Bryan Singer Teases Another X-Men: Days of Future Past Set Photo with Iceman

Bryan Singer once again shared a new photo featuring a very grizzled looking Iceman aka Bobby Drake (Shawn Ashmore) from the set of the ongoing 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'. 

It doesn't look like the standard X-Jacket he was seen wearing at the end of the X-Men: The Last Stand so it could be a more futuristic uniform. Another interesting thing about this photo is that there are facial motion capture parts present which leads me to think that he'll be doing this again:

Which was pretty much the shining moment of awesome for Ashmore's character back in Brett Ratner's X3.

Steampunk X-Men by Arturo Aguirre

What if the X-Men were given new life in a steampunk era. Here's what they'd look like as rendered by Arturo Aguirre.

Am I the only one who thinks Steampunk Gambit looks fucking awesome for the X-Dudes. Its like the guy stepped out of the photo session for The Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" and never returned.

As for the X-Ladies, I'm giving my vote to Psylocke (although Rogue comes in at close second)...

Aguirre's Cable, for all thoughts, definitely fits the mold of what STEAMPUNK really is...

Major props for the Blunderbuss.





And now it's time for the bad guys:

Steampunk Magneto



Steampunk Mystique



Steampunk Sabretooth



Steampunk Pyro




Check out the artists' other works on his deviantart account HERE