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

The Entire 60 Plus Years of X-Men Continuity in One Panel

History lesson time! The X-Men has been around for 50 years or so but in their continuity it must've been like 10 to 15 years have passed (this is only a rough estimate).

Credits: Marvel Comics

So all of the things that have happened to the original five as well as the rest of the team gets propped into a chalkboard and you don't expect this fanboy to go bananas over it? And seeing how the Dark Phoenix saga was just relegated to a box and a probably sarcastic comment, it's fairly easy to see why it even fit in a board in the first place. 

Now let me just say goodbye to all the stuff I have planned for today while I go over this panel piece by piece (and neglecting all 'em mathematical formulas and equations). 

SPOILERS - Who Defects After X-Men: Battle of the Atom

Just like that X-Men: Battle of the Atom is done, we got a lot of good moments from this book but for me I still feel it's lacking. Still, the best treats are the ones at the end, the sweet payoff here for X-Men: Battle of the Atom # 2 comes in a defector.

So what happens is the two X-Men teams band together as they protect themselves from SHIELD, including SHIELD sentinels.

Old Future Xorn Jean tries to fight but goes 'boom'. The evil Xavier and the rest of the Brotherhood have scattered. Back in the Jean Grey School, we get two prologues. One written by Jason Aaron and the other done by Brian Michael Bendis. 

NOOOOOO! Don't leave us!!!



Double NOOOOOOOOO! Even the O5 X-Men!!! What's going to happen to All New X-Men now???

Let's scratch that as a big win for Team Summers. Although, this particular page gave X-Men fans a glimmer of hope.

Well, at least it really did shake the status quo...

Also, I wonder what's going to happen to the time displaced Brotherhood of Evil Mutants members like Beast and Xavier's grandson??

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)

All New X-Men Special # 1

Here's a quick review for All New X-Men Special # 1  written by Mike Costa and Kris Anka.

ALL-NEW X-MEN SPECIAL #1
MICHAEL COSTA (W) • KRIS ANKA (A)
Cover by ALEXANDER LOZANO
Interlocking Variant Cover by J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
PART ONE OF “THE ARMS OF THE OCTOPUS!”
• The All-New X-Men cross over with the Indestructible Hulk and Superior Spider-Man!
• What does Doctor Octopus want with the All-New X-Men and HOW IS HE ALIVE?!
• This gets the immediate attention of Superior Spider-Man, but what does it have to do with the Hulk?
40 PGS./One-Shot/Rated T …$4.99

It's been awhile since we were actually treated to a good Original Five story. Bendis was keen on using these time displaced mutants so we all forgot that having the Original Five X-Men in the present day can make for good stories.

ALL NEW X-MEN SPECIAL # 1 is a classic example of how fun these characters are when they are let out of the box.

What you should know about this is that it's basically a three-issue special 'team-up' book involving the aforementioned Original X-Men (sans Angel who's gone over to Cyclops' Uncanny team), the maniacal Superior Spider-Man and a very different Agent of T.I.M.E. Indestructible Hulk. We got a good thing going thanks to the premise written by Costa about the X-Men 'conveniently' being in downtown New York at the moment when a very much alive Dr. Octopus attacks ESU. You really don't have to question the timing, just know that it's much better if you just suspend your disbelief.

Mike Costa definitely weaves a very simple and fun story. The plus side to this is that the dialogues are pretty light-hearted. No emo drama. No Jean going bat-shit crazy and yet, it keeps us up to speed with whatever the hell has happened with these teenage mutants. The writing isn't "shove whatever crap I think of down your throat" nor is it "I love my fans, I'm giving them what they want". Prime example is young Beast who just so happens to be brooding over the fact that he and Jean Grey kissed; moments later we see him flirting AND impressing a pivotal character.

KRIS ANKA is a god. I love his stuff. That is all. If you're a fan of the artist, get the book. If you're not, then you'll change your mind once you're through with this issue.

SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN/ Slotto sucks. And the way the character is written sure makes it ring that way. Still we can't help but go 'wow' with everything that's happened to the wall-crawler here. Costa also made sure that he's as much confused about the situation as everything in the funny book.

VERDICT: A

New Marvel Now Teasers Point to the TRIAL OF JEAN GREY

Two new Marvel Now 2 teasers seems to point out that the rumored Guardians of the Galaxy / X-Men crossover is good to go. 

The aforementioned crossover will be entitled "Trial of Jean Grey" and will most likely rely on whatever the heck happens in "X-Men: Battle of the Atom". 

Personally I don't think that this is going to be just a two-issue thing. Knowing how Bendis wants to drag stuff around and fill issues with "talkies" this could go for around two issues of All New X-Men and two issues for GOTG with Stuart Immonen and Sara Picheli respectively.

ALL NEW X-MEN # 16 Spoilers

Part 2 for X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM by Bendis and Immonen. 

This post has a doozie of a spoiler. Thread carefully. Oh and here's the link to Part 1 (LINK) 

One of the biggest shockers here in this issue comes in the form of WHO'S UNDER THE XORN MASK.

And then BOOM!



This part of the issue made me want to go all Wolverine and shout "JEANNNNNNNN!"

So yeah, it looks like the whole weirdness happened due to that brief moment in the field where Cyclops died. In their future, with Cyclops dead, mutants did not stand a chance because they didn't have an able leader who made all the tough choices. Basically, the merry mutants world got royally screwed.

X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM # 1 Spoiler

So what's the main gist of this new X-Over "X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM"? Apparently it has something to do with Cyclops. Both of them.

Peel off the high concept battles of multiple X-Men teams, this is basically an in-continuity AGE OF APOCALYPSE but where AOA was a world without Charles Xavier, this crossover ells the story of a world without Cyclops leading the X-Men.

That would mean there's no Cyclops during stuff like Messiah Complex and Second Coming or even Schism and AVX. 

The whole thing starts with O5 Cyclops getting critically injured during a supposed recon mission with the remaining members of the team plus Kitty Pryde. That's of course after old Cyclops' Uncanny team appears out of nowhere for a well meaning assist against Sentinels.



Good thing for the fledgling teen team, their Uncanny counterparts brought along a healer...



Though no direct consequences appeared, the whole death and rebirth of Cyclops once again injured the timeline causing ripple effects plus it creeped out both versions of Scott Summers. Oh and can somebody give these guys a copy of BACK TO THE FUTURE.

Also does this mean that it's back to the Scott and Jean pairing and not that Hank-Jean pairing that was previously revealed a few weeks back.



The issue also ends with the appearance of a group of X-Men from the future:

which includes Deadpool, Beast, Molly from the Runaways, Kitty Pryde, Iceman, Xorn and Charles Xavier's grandson. 

X-Men: Battle of the Atom # 1 is already out in stores now. It's written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Frank Cho.

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).

All New X-Men # 12 Review

All New X-Men # 12 review in partnership with Comicx Hub and Castle Geek.

The book is written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Stuart Immonen.

Month in and month out, Bendis' ALL NEW X-MEN book just wows me. It's not relatable in the street level but it does great parallels about real world topics such as prejudice and coping with a huge catastrophe or disaster. Plus there's also great splash pages and seeds of a bigger event for the X-books (X-Men: Battle of the Atom).

X-Men # 1 Review

Comicx Hub and TheFanboyseo.com presents the review for X-Men # 1 by Brian Wood and Olivier Coipel.

Honestly speaking X-Men # 1 was one of the books I've been patiently waiting ever since it was announced during the initial moments of the Marvel NOW phase. And why shouldn't I be excited for this one, it's got all the variables that's interesting. Firstly they have Brian Wood as writer and Olivier Coipel as artist. Secondly its a fanboy's dream - an all-woman squad of X-Men including Rogue, Psylocke, Storm et al. Thirdly it's an ongoing. Surely you can't go wrong with that.

Marvel Reveals X-Men: Battle of the Atom Crossover

With so many X-Men teams running around these days, it's bound to happen that they clash once more and it looks like we don't have to wait too long as Marvel Comics has revealed some details about the upcoming X-book crossover entitled "X-Men: Battle of the Atom".

The new book will begin with an # 1 book entitled "X-Men: Battle of the Atom # 1 which will feature art by Frank Cho. The story then travels to the existing X-books starting with Uncanny X-Men # 12 and # 13. The story then moves to All New X-Men # 16 - 17 followed by Wolverine and the X-Men # 36 - 37 climaxes with Brian Wood's X-Men # 5 -6 before ending with Battle of the Atom # 2.

So we've basically got all bases covered and just to make things interesting (or complicated) Marvel also revealed new characters from the future including: