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X-Men Battle of the Atom #2 Review

04 Monday Nov 2013

Posted by Paul Bowler in All, Marvel Comics

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Battle of the Atom, Battle of the Atom #2, Brian Michael Bendis, Brian Wood, Cyclops, Esad Ribic, Future X-Men, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jason Aaron, Kitty Pryde, Marvel Comics, Original X-Men, Stuart Immonen, Uncanny X-Men, Wolverine, X-Men

Battle of the Atom #2

Review by Paul Bowler

XMen Battle of the Atom #2 Cover

The Brotherhood from the future arrived in the present-day and convinced everyone they were the X-Men of the future. They conspired to get the modern-day X-Men to force the original X-Men to return to the past. Although the young X-Men disagreed, Wolverine and most of the X-Men at the Jean Grey School agreed. However, the scheme was foiled when the real future X-Men appeared, and the Brotherhood’s attempt to use the Time Cube to send the original X-Men home hit a snag, when they found it was impossible to send them back. Now the X-Men of the past, present, and future stand united against the Brotherhood, but when a fleet of S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarriers suddenly arrive Xorn and Xavier take control of their weapon systems and launches their missiles at the X-Men…

Faced with an onslaught of missiles launched by the S.H.I.E.L.D helleicarriers, all of the X-Men teams’ work together to fend off the attack, using every ounce of their combined powers to fight back as the Brotherhood version of the Beast urges them to all to join forces with them. But when he is suddenly cut down by blaster fire from some new arrivals – a group of Sentinels that have secretly been constructed by S.H.I.E.L.D – all hell breaks loose and the present day X-Men and future X-Men find themselves fighting a battle on two fronts. The battle is furious, casualties are high, and as the Brotherhood face defeat Jean “Xorn” Grey confronts Cyclops and Wolverine, blaming the Schism they caused that divided the X-Men for subverting the natural order of time, before fighting the original X-Men until her powers finally overload and she explodes!

By the time Mira Hill arrives at the battlefield the Brotherhood has escaped and the X-Men have teleported back to the Jean Grey School. As they mourn their dead the X-Men must also form a response to S.H.I.E.L.D deploying Sentinels against them. Despite everything that has happened, Wolverine and Cyclops are still unable to settle their differences, and their teams remain divided as the future X-Men prepare to return to their own time – though not everyone is going back to the future as Kymera opts to stay and hunt down the Brotherhood.

Heartfelt goodbyes are said before the future X-Men uses the Time Cube to leave, with the future Iceman imparting some words of wisdom to his present day self as they depart. Afterwards the X-Men gather outside the School where Kitty Pryde announces that she is leaving. Kitty explains she can no longer trust them after the way they acted during Battle of the Atom, saying they let her and the original X-Men down when they needed them most. The original X-Men have also decided to leave with Kitty, not wishing to stay where they are not really wanted. Wolverine and  the X-Men are shocked when Cyclops and Magik teleport in to collect Professor Kitty and her students as they set off to join the Uncanny X-Men at the new Xavier School…

Battle of the Atom #2 Preview 1

Battle of the Atom #2 brings this 50th anniversary crossover event for the X-Men to a close, with Jason Aaron tasked with wrapping everything up, with Brian Michael Bendis writing one of the issues four epilogues. After last issues terrific cliff-hanger Battle of the Atom #2 picks up the pace with a huge battle as the various teams of X-Men square off against the Brotherhood. The arrival of S.H.I.E.L.D’s secret supply of Sentinels is not an altogether unexpected twist; however, this is sure to have a significant impact on human-mutant relations in the future.

The climatic battle includes some brilliant action sequences, there are casualties, and I especially liked the part where the original X-Men took on Xorn. There was also a great showdown between Xorn and Phoenix Quentin Quire, where Jean taunts him about how the Phoenix force still whispers her name. While the battle does reach an explosive end, it all seems a little abrupt; giving way to a series of epilogues that shifts the emphasis towards setting up a plethora of future storylines – especially with the Brotherhood still at large.

This somewhat uneven approach to Battle of the Atom #2 is also reflected in the artwork as well, as the main storyline has art by Esad Ribic and Giuseppe Camuncoli, with Andrew Currie and Tom Palmer on finishes. The four epilogues bring more by Camuncoli and Currie, along with Kris Anka, Chris Bachalo, and Stuart Immonen. Sadly the end result is not all that good; it all feels a little cobbled together, and not a patch on previous instalments.

While Kitty’s decision to leave, followed by the original X-Men, in the final Epilogue by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen was a big surprise, I was a little uncomfortable about how smug Cyclops seemed when he arrived with Magik to collect them – it seemed a little out of character. Epilogue two by Brian Wood, on the other hand, contains one of my favourite scenes of this entire crossover, as the adult Shogo prepares to say goodbye to Jubilee. It’s a brilliant moment for the characters, and I thought it was the real highlight of the issue.

On the whole I have thoroughly enjoyed Battle of the Atom. I like how the story developed through each of the X-Titles involved in the crossover, there were some issues with constant recaps, but for the most part the story held together quiet well. Its just a shame that more time and care wasn’t put into making Battle of the Atom #2 more of an epic finale, rather than the last minute dash to the finish line that it turned out to be.

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Wolverine & The XMen #36 Review

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by Paul Bowler in All, Marvel Comics

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Battle of the Atom, Battle of the Atom Part #5, Cyclops, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Jason Aaron, Jean Grey, Marvel Comics, Oringial X-Men, Wolverine, Wolverine and the X-Men, Wolverine and the X-Men #36, Xorn

Wolverine and the X-Men #36

Review by Paul Bowler

Wolv & Xmen #36 (cover)

Dr Henry McCoy brought the original X-Men to the present to try and reunite mutantkind. When young Scott Summers was almost killed, temporarily erasing his older self from reality, the X-Men argued whether or not they should send the young mutants home. Matters were complicated further by the arrival of a team of X-Men form the future, who insist the original X-Men must return to their own time. Jean Grey refuses and goes on the run with Scott; they evade the pursuing X-Men and seek help from the adult Cyclops and his Uncanny X-Men. Cyclops agrees to help but Emma Frost has contacted the X-Men who quickly arrive on Utopia. Confronted by the future version of Jean Grey, who wears a Xorn mask to control her abilities, the X-Men of the present and the future stand ready to fight to protect the past and save the future.

With Xorn, the young Jean Grey, Emma Frost and the Cuckoos standing motionless as they battle psychically, the adult Scott Summers and his younger self begin to realise that Xorn is actually an older version of the young Jean Grey – the one who never returned to her own time and consequently grew up in the future.

Faced with the X-Men from the future, Wolverine, and the present day-day X-Men, the Uncanny X-Men watch on as Logan offers the “slim and slimmer” incarnations of Cyclops a chance to be reasonable and stand down. Wolverine is quick to criticise the adult Cyclops for brining his young team into the field of battle, however Cyclops is having none of it, stating that he believes the responsibility for their conflict rests entirely with Logan and Hank McCoy.

The teenage Cyclops brings their argument to a head by attacking Wolverine. After ordering Magneto to gets their students to safety, Cyclops remains to help young Scott fight the present-day X-Men and their future counterparts. Meanwhile, Emma’s psychic battle with Xorn begins to falter as first the Cuckoos, and then Emma herself, succumbs to Xorn’s telepathic assault, leaving Jean alone against her future self. As Jean gets an unexpected glimpse into Xorn’s mind, back at the school the young Beast and Iceman travel into the future with Magik to try and discover what the X-Men from the future have been hiding from them…

Wolv & Xmen #36 (preview 1)

Wolverine and the X-Men #36 sees tensions between X-Men strained to breaking point as Battle of the Atom explodes into all-out-action. Jason Aaron keeps the action moving at a break-neck pace as standoff between Cyclops and Wolverine inevitably leads to conflict, with the future X-Men also becoming more aggressive, Storm tries to calm the situation and Beast admits he regrets bringing the original X-Men to the present. We also get a great scene where Kitty and Rachel discuss the situation with Kitty’s future self, with Rachel noting that she is no longer the leader she once knew.

With some great art by Giuseppe Camuncoli and finisher Andrew Currie, along with colorists Matt Milla and Edgar Delgado, Wolverine and the X-Men #36 has some excellent fight scenes, with everyone getting a good slice of the action. However, it is the psychic combat with Xorn that is the real highlight this issue, and I really like the way Camuncoli portrays the raw power of this psychic battleground. We also get to see the toll this fight takes on the combatant’s physical bodies, as blood pours from their noses, and in Xorn’s case, from the corner of one eye of her mask as she fights Jean on the psychic plane. This issue features another eye-catching cover by Arthur Adams, with the X-Men attacking en masse as Cyclops and his younger self, together with Rachel and Kitty, stand their ground to protect Jean.

Jason Aaron maintains the tone and style already established for this crossover event by Brian Michael Bendis, while adding just the right amount of humour to Wolverine and the X-Men #36 as each twist and turn of the plot unfolds. It’s good to see some of the other X-Men from the future taking a more active role in proceedings, with Deadpool giving a heartfelt – if not entirely honest – speech and the hulking Iceman going on the rampage.

Wolverine and the X-Men #36 introduces some significant plot developments, decisions are made that will no doubt have a big impact as Battle of the Atom progresses, and the startling ending will leave you  eager to find out what happens next.

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