Uncanny Avengers # 14 Spoilers - Two Deaths

Ugh. Marvel had to stick with the classic make great characters dead and while this definitely proves that the rumors are true, it leaves a bad taste especially for fans of these two characters.

OK time for the ever classic SPOILER ALERT

So what happens here is the team is split into different parts of the Apocalypse Twin's ship. Wolverine was taken out by the his son Daken who was revived as a Horseman. Thor is in another area battling the resurrected Sentry (whom he killed at the end of SIEGE). Wanda (Scarlet Witch) is together with Wonder Man hatching a plan under the watchful eye of Simon's brother the Grim Reaper. 

Captain America and Havok are fighting Banshee with The Wasp. It's really only Rogue and Sunfire that's walking freely and they plan on murdering their teammate Scarlet Witch to save mutantkind and the rest of the world.

That's a lot to take and we're not even in the actual issue. Issue 14 climaxes with the scene where Rogue stabs Wanda. 

Shiro and Simon are fighting when Wanda drops...

Rogue versus Grim Reaper round 2

She gets impaled by Reaper's scythe, something that should not have happened if Rogue still retained a bit of Miss Marvel's invincibility, well to some extent anyway... 

I feel sad for Wolverine at this point because not only does he have to hurt/kill/maim his son again (which he killed during 'Final Execution', he also has to witness the eventual death of Rogue. And try as he may to get her off the Reaper's scythe, it's really no use. 

Wanda completes the spell and with that Wonder Man also disappears into thin air, since he effectively has been unmade by the Scarlet Witch. 

Dammit Rick Remender. Too much feels. 

Steve McNiven Joins UNCANNY AVENGERS when Things Look Bad

Amidst all the buzz in San Diego, a cute little teaser appeared for Marvel's UNCANNY AVENGERS. Looks like Guardians of the Galaxy artist Steve McNiven is moving over to Rick Remender's book.

This teaser presents something that's been brewing with the team ever since it was founded, the unstable relationship between Rogue and Scarlet Witch.

Steve McNiven's art is the shiznit so I'm definitely putting this issue on the pull list as long as Steve McNiven is working on the book. Oh and is it just me or did Logan slash Wanda's face off? 

This comes out November 2013 folks.

X-Men # 2 Review

X-Men # 2 review written by Brian Wood with art by Olivier Coipel. Available now in Comicx Hub and Castle Geek.

This latest issue of the adjectiveless X-Men proves to us that this team of female X-characters weren't just done to sell books but rather to show that these are strong, empowered women who all have something to show and nothing to prove. Quite contradictory but you'll get it once you do a thorough reading of this issue which is available now at Castle Geek and Comicx Hub.

In this issue, Omega Sentinel is brought back to life by John Sublime's sister (yes, more Grant Morrison days confusion) who wreaks havoc inside Beast's laboratory. The X-Men led by Storm tries to gain access into the lab but so far only Kitty Pryde and Rogue manage to reach it as the security measures for the school have been compromised. Omega Sentinel gets beaten but manages to escape, the X-Men give chase with Sublime and Jubilee and her son along for the ride. Back at the school, things are about to go boom.

Now on it's second issue, Wood's X-Men still delivers a good mix of drama, adventure, action and oodles of character development. There's still a knockout brawl here between the woman formerly known as Karima Shapandar against her compatriots Rogue and Shadowcat, With Beast throwing in his weight in a couple of panels. Coipel still shows us why he's the perfect artist for this book. The colors were a match, the pacing were matched. If anything, I can only say that I had a problem with the lack of dynamism here in the art, which is really, really minor.

On Wood's writing: lots of great moments but to me the most touching, and most powerful scene doesn't have anything to do with the fight with Omega Sentinel. Rather it's that quiet moment in the plane where Jubilee gets to hear the words "my/your son" for the first time. Sure we still haven't warmed up to the idea of a former mutant turned vampire suddenly becoming a mother but you have to see how poignant it is especially if you're familiar with Jubes' backstory and how she was an orphan. So now with the baby firmly (i hope that's the right word to use), it's going to be an interesting scenario for Jubilee. 

Closing Remarks: X-Men might have started with a huge bang but it's slowly careening away from the right track. Just a tad skewed that's all. Nothing to worry too much about. It's still interesting. Plus that ending sure packs a huge blast. Nice cliffhanger, cool art. Must pick up. 

Verdict: 9/10

Special thanks to Castle Geek (visit their branches in The Collective and Glorietta and one coming soon in V-Mall, Greenhills). If you want to order X-Men  # 2 online, go check out this link HERE

Excerpts from Marvel and Hyperion Books Prose Novels Rogue Touch

Here are excerpts for the upcoming prose novels from Marvel Comics and Hyperion Books featuring the X-Men's Rogue entitled "Rogue Touch" which is written by Christine Woodward. Pretty cover to boot if I may add.

Read the excerpts after the break:

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.

Uncanny Avengers # 8AU Spoilers

Some spoilers for Uncanny Avengers # 8AU which ties up neatly to the ongoing Age of Ultron event. 

You'll see the spoilers after the cut...

Who's Helping Captain America in Uncanny Avengers # 8 (Spoilers)

What's going on in the pages of Uncanny Avengers # 8 by Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña from Marvel Comics.

Spoilers after the cut...

Uncanny Avengers # 7 Spoiler Review

What just happened in Uncanny Avengers # 7 and how big could it's ramifications be? Check out the spoilers for Uncanny Avengers # 7 by Rick Remender and Daniel Acuña.

Spoiler alert on this post.

There's a couple of subplots here such as the brewing tension inside the team, the worsening cat fight between Rogue and Scarlet Witch and this...

The Wasp flirting with Havok

It's these kinds of moments in an Avengers book that makes me realize two things, that team romances are nice to enrich the book but it also heralds all the kinky and downright ***tty stuff that's appearing in books like 'The Boys' where all the heroes sleep around and do nasty stuff with each other. 

Anyway, the main point of this issue is that the Apocalypse Twins have officially made their appearance in the present time after being whisked away by Kang the Conqueror a few issues ago. Not only are they all grown up and resemble their pappy Archangel, they also have Thor's old enchanted weapon Jarnbjorn, the same mystical axe that Kang raided from Baron Mordo's tomb in Uncanny Avengers # 6. 

Not only do they make their presence felt, Uriel Worthington even slices the Celestial Gardener in half in this ish.

This of course transpires moments after Genocide gets his hands on a new Death Seed which will power him up and assume the mantle of Apocalypse.

Genocide powered up with the Celestial Death Seed

And then, the former heir of Apocalypse gets cut down by Uriel...

I feel sorry for Genocide as this guy never catches a break. Between being promised to become the new Apocalypse and ultimately falling through the cracks at the end of Remender's Dark Angel Saga to this usurping his position, the guy never gets to enjoy, oh well, at least he was partly responsible for the creation of Tabula Rasa. 

Meanwhile the other twin, Eimin Worthington rescues their mother, the Final Horseman Pestilence and kills off the other ones such as Famine and War.

Eimin using Untime Acid on the horsemen

Has Remender been watching too much Naruto? as this is the specialty of the Uchiha especially in the advanced Mangekyou form. Tsukiyomi!

Some other things worth mentioning:

- Captain America and Sunfire are in space (in S.W.O.R.D's THE PEAK specifically) when the remnants of Apocalypse's ship appear. Shiro goes heroic mode by pushing Captain America into an escape pod and tries to make sense out of the madness. 

- Thor disappears from the mansion and flies off to Rio de Janiero where he readies himself for the coming space debris. We also get a flashback of sorts with the words Odin left him back in issue 6. 

Y'know I'm really running out of superlatives to describe Acuña's work here in UA. Now all I can say is that the art for this issue justifies why I try to buy all the back issues and present stuff the artist does whether. It's that good. Now if only I can find the Wolverine trade where he did the art. 

Verdict: 4.5/5

It would have been better if the flirting scenes were done differently. Otherwise, excellent stuff. Even the things that are implied or happens off-panel were interesting enough.

G. Toengi Dreams up of Blonde Ambition for Rogue Magazine April 2013

Was watching ETC yesterday with my brother and we both commented how hot Giselle Toengi looked when she dyed her hair blonde.

This cover is definitely 'smoking'. Know what, since she's wearing blonde hair color, why not go all 'L.A. Confidential' on the cover. This still worked anyhoo. 

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

Toyfair 2013: Marvel Legends with Phoenix Five Cyclops

Here's a look at some of the Marvel Legends figures that came out again during Toyfair 2013. It's a wave that's built around Wolverine (or more appropriately the X-Men). Images appear courtesy of Toyark as watermarked.

I'm not an expert in ROML (or Hasbro's Marvel Legends) but I do know that this is basically the repainted Uncanny X-Force Wolverine slapped around with some new details and colors. Still, since I do have the UXF Wolverine, it's still a nice figure. 

More Art for Brian Wood's All Female X-Men

Here's another artwork for April's X-Men book done by Terry Dodson for the all female "X-Men" book written by Brian Wood and art by Olivier Coipel.

If this were to be a poster, I'd totally buy this. If its a variant cover, consider me ordering two and if this is an exclusive, I'd fly to the convention just to get this.

Wood and Coipel Reel in the Beauties in X-Men # 1

The adjectiveless X-Men book pretty much became Brian Wood's baby once he took over the writing duties from former writer Victor Gischler and come April, he'll be weaving this same magic for X-Men together with artist Olivier Coipel.

This actually spells awesome as they've got a 'crossover' team for it's roster. We have Storm and Psylocke from "Uncanny X-Force" together with "Wolverine and the X-Men" cast Kitty Pryde, Rachel Grey aka Marvel Girl and Rogue (who also happens to be part of Uncanny Avengers). And then there's Jubilee who's been visibly absent for awhile (ever since she decided to run for a bit with the Forgiven). 

There's also the story...

Some Minimates Hauls for December - Rachel Grey, 80s Rogue and Sentinel

On a whim, I took some photos of the new Marvel Minimates that I acquired in the past few weeks.

Thanks to Kevin for the two figures (Rachel Grey aka Marvel Girl and Sentinel army builder.) And another big shout out to Minimates master Oneng who sold me the 80s Rogue. I'm still looking forward to finding the 80s Colossus minimate. It's a rather cool thing to look at these "flying" minis with a sky blue background. I'm scratching my head why I didn't do this before.

Another image after the cut...

Phasing Brood and Secret Affairs in A+X # 2

A lot of fun stuff and appealing concepts appeared in A+X # 2 by Chris Bachalo, Peter David and Mike Del Mundo.

In the first story, Chris Bachalo writes and pencils the tale of the two femme fatales for the X-Men and the Avengers: Black Widow and Rogue. 

Spoilers from Uncanny Avengers # 1

Uncanny Avengers # 1 spoilers from Marvel Comics written by Rick Remender and John Cassaday

Picking up shortly after the conclusion of AVX (Avengers vs X-Men) this new series aims to be flagship title for both the Avengers books and the X-Men books. It's like a PR save for both teams after suffering huge losses during the war between the two teams and later on with the Phoenix Five.

AVX # 11 Spoilers - The Customary Event Book Death Happens

Spoilers for AVX (Avengers vs X-Men) # 11 by Brian Michael Bendis and Olivier Coipel.

Rick Remender Talks About Uncanny Avengers, Reveals New Art Too

The Marvel Now initiative is gearing up with new details for Rick Remender's "Uncanny Avengers".

Remender also spoke about the roles and motivations of each character that would be part of the new team.

Top Five Mutant Substitutes for AVX's Phoenix Five

AVX # 5 ended with a whooper with the Phoenix Force selecting five mutants rather than just it's supposed host Hope Summers; thus giving birth to the so-called Phoenix Five.

That got me thinking, who are some of the other mutants that could have been awesome if they were present during the whole transformation? Here are some potential substitutes for Marvel's Phoenix Five.

5. Rogue

While Rogue never had any real connection to the Phoenix force, she does have a "connection" with Hope. They have an affinity for each other and while the current writers might have forgotten about this, there are hints all over old issues of Uncanny that there's an unresolved plot that involves the two.

As for the Phoenix five sub list, I vote for Rogue because she can really live up to her potential. Imagine Rogue wearing a phoenix emblem uniform and then absorbing the powers of mutants she encounters. Not only that, she actually boosts those powers and keep it to herself or she could even share it with the four other Phoenix Force hosts.

4. Magneto