The Pop Culture of Gus Lequerica

At least this one was a good week for Marvel since it fused with Disney; a few of the highlights of this weeks are the debut of Necrosha, the 20th issue of X-Force Vol 3 and X-Factor #50 Vol 2 (which was interesting even if don’t negate some previous time-lines regarding Trevor Fitzroy but rather gives more questions about the Summer’s Rebellion and Layla herself).

The last issue of the “filler” arc of Not Forgotten; nothing really happened in this arc and it was only a filler story before Necrosha began. The story itself don’t give too much to the myths of the X-Force but it’s rather an interesting exploration about Laura Kinney (X-23) and that she is more than the perfect soldier.

Beside that explanation there is not much to give to the concluded story about the Not Forgotten but if you want to wait for something good wait until Necrosha’s X-Force comes up.

This is probably one of the best issues of X-Factor ever but at the same time is one of those issues that leave more questions than answers but at least many of those questions regarding the continuity of the title and Marvel in General.

There are so many points to speak about this issue and maybe the first one is about Layla Miller; this issue contradicts with the previous ones regarding her clairvoyance powers, explicitly saying that those weren’t her power at all but rather healing and resurrection at the cost of giving back life but without the soul of the resurrected individual and that her knowledge of knowing stuff comes from a meeting with herself after returning from the future thus by creating a time loop/ predestination paradox about how Layla knew about a lot of things and from time to time giving doubts to everyone when she didn’t knew the exact information about what was going to happen.

The second interrogation about this issue comes in the bonus content where Franklin and Valeria Richards appear in what supposedly to be a cross over with the Fantastic Four but that is not the issue, the issue is about Valeria displaying from what it seems to be some kind of flying ability or some kind of telekinesis but according to the comic book itself we have to wait until December to see what happens.

On the meantime I will continue this entry tomorrow.

Uncanny X-Men #516 in my opinion was another filler for introduction of what is going to be about the return of Magneto and what is going to be in the arc of Necrosha that is going to be released next November.

So far Nation X hasn’t showed anything interesting to the exception of the evolution of some characters and the apparition of a new Predator X but beside that nothing had happened and probably nothing will happen until the Necrosha arc. So far Magneto returned to Earth and explained that after his alliance with the High Evolutionary, the effects produced by the M-Day can’t be undone (so far this is the biggest revelation of all) but there was a machine that could restore or replicate the abilities to the mutants who lost them to the effects of the M-Day; much like the M’Kran Cristal did to professor X by restoring his telepathy.

Sometimes in the Marvel universe after playing a lot with the status quo, the writers tend to return to the basics because playing with a few characters mean the creation of fewer arcs but one piece of information that is true it’s that after the M-Day the Marvel Universe won’t be restored to his previous status at all, a world filled with mutants.

I don’t what is going to happen with Nation X and maybe some of the issues will be explained in Necrosha which looks more cooler than nation X but as many previous stories we have to wait to see if it develops well and if it has a good ending much like Secret Invasion.

Utopia X Chapter Five: No doubt Matt Fraction is truly an amazing writer but he should better explain the gaps between the story such as The Beast kidnapping and the so called reunion of Emma Frost, Scott Summers and Namor to bring down Norman Osbourne but maybe those interrogations are going to be answered in the next issue.

The story so far has been developing ok, there has been many twists and spins that probably it’s way much better than last year Secret Invasion because there’s tension and the surprise factor behind every page but like it was said it’s good that Matt Fraction explains several gaps of the storyline so he can end it with a gold medal as this arc has been one of his best works so far.

The art of Luke Ross is quite charming but is not the best asset of the Dark Avengers comic, I don’t mean he has to draw like Alex Ross but to try something more defined and less cartonish because there has been an evolution in the comics and we are far away from the pin up girls of the 1950’s.

Overall this issue is a 4 over 5 stars and let’s hope that next issue there are some improvements in the art as well in the story because the fans we are eager to read the conclusion of Utopia X.

Dark X-Men: The Beginning: Another anthology comic book brought by Marvel; in this limited series we are given an exploration of the formation of the Dark X-Men or as they should be called “Norman’s X-Men”. In the first of three issues we are given a quick background to Mimic’s back story, Namor’s loyalty to Norman and how Dark Beast was recruited into the team (probably is the most graphic story in the series, because Dark Beast plays with a dead girl, a young girl and the corpse is well detailed).

The art varies according to the story, as well the writing because there were 3 creatives teams in issue one to give the first three stories, maybe in the next two issues will be another set of teams to the exploration of Norman’s X-Men, maybe the only one that will have the same team is the story of Namor because it was the only one that ended in a cliffhanger and maybe I can say this in an a priori way that Namor is going to be written off the team sooner than we thought about it. I highly recommend this mini series, and it will be one of the few titles of the Dark series because I don’t see too much future to them as Marvel as company don’t like to play too much with their more established titles.

Utopia X - Uncanny X-Me #513 Vol 1: The beginning of Utopia X and Dark X-Men was awesome, truly Matt Fraction did an excellent storytelling work by exposing the schism between Scott Summers and Emma Frost; maybe this could be a hint of Jean Grey resurrection or maybe Fraction tried to add some spice to their relation by creation this abyss in their ideals, but let’s hope Jean doesn’t come back because she is turning into a joke by her frequent resurrections.

There are a few gaps in the story, like why the hell Beast was abducted as Professor X, it almost contradicts X-Men Legacy but maybe those gaps are going to be explained later. Another good point in the story it’s the upgrade of Cloak and Dagger to a more prominent role in the Marvel Universe, it’s kind of cool to see some minor characters taking a more prominent spot (also Mimic).

I highly recommend collecting the Prologue of Dark X-Men because the concussion sounds more promising than the Messiah War who Cable and Hope ended more into the future.

Exiles #4 Volume 2: I know I said I wasn’t going to collect this title on a regular basis anymore but I couldn’t resist to know that the Blink introduced in this relaunch it’s the original Blink and I guess that is a good reason to read this title. Other good thing that it seems to appeared again it’s the reintroduction of killing a number of supporting characters in certain numbers of issues, the first one of the relaunch to go was the alternative Lorna Dane who was vivisected by an alternative Jocasta. I can’t wait to read the next issue.

Dark X-Men Crossover Dark Avengers - Utopia: Amazing intro to what is going to become the new group of X-Men, Matt Fraction did an amazing work with the narrative  as well Marc Silvestri did an awesome job with the art. Chapter One goes with the fall of the X-Men as they can’t handle a group of human rights protesters and slowly they go into a downfall that Norman Osborn aka the Iron Patriot takes advance to form a new personal hit squadron with the X-Men mantle. According to Wikipedia the new team will be composed of Daken, Emma Frost, Professor X, Cloak and Dagger, Mimic and Namor but there is a mystery surrounding the team, *spoiler* in this issue it was shown Professor X endorsing Norman’s actions about conforming a new X-Men team under his tutelage but at the end of the issue, Beast is shown in some kind of jail and Professor X is there almost in a catatonic state saying to Henry that they are taken their powers. I guess we have to wait what is going to happen in the six part crossover of Dark X-Men, but one thing that I can bet is that the X-Men after a brief stint in San Francisco they are going to leave the city for a new one.

Uncanny X-Men #512 Vol. 1: In my opinion this issue was only a filler of what is going to happen next month but still was cool to see the work of Yanick Paquette and Karl Story in the art; this as Utopia was written by Matt Fraction but even if it was writen by Fraction it was a little bit boring because it didn’t give anything to the story, maybe the only new thing it gave was the exploration of Dr Nemesis background as he fulfilled a grandfather paradox by helping his mother to deliver himself when he was born. There was a side story that explains that the first Sentinel wasn’t invented by Bolivar Trask but rather by the Hellfire Club in the 1900’s by using a power cell made by Dr. Nemesis father.

Messiah War - Epilogue: One word, terrible ending and in someway it was predictable that it was going to happen; I was hoping that Hope was going to return to the present and not everything was going to reboot, completly disappointing.

Ultimate Spider-Man #133 Vol #1: I’ve never been a fan of any title of the Ultimate line but I have to admit that a few numbers of the last issues are quite interesting, specially this one because after Silent War this is another issue that tells a story without a word. This issue deals with the aftermath of the Ultimatum Wave where much of the heroes and population of the Ultimate universe are killed by Magneto’s attack, except that this issue it’s focused on Ultimate Spider Man fate. It’s not known what happened to him and only clue regarding his fate follows on the Spider mask Kitty Pride found. I highly recommend this issue, even if you are not a fan of the Ultimates because the narrative of Bendis its superb.

Ultimatum Spider-Man Requiem #1 of 2: The last part of the conclusion of Ultimate Spider Man #133, is not as good as the last Ultimate Spidey number because it’s more focused on a flashback rather than the present. The only thing I can say about this number is that according to Ben Reilly almost near at the end, the Ultimate Spider-Man is dead, but we have to wait until the conclusion because maybe there can be a plot twist (but I hope Spidey is really dead because that could be really interesting to the title).

X-Factor #44: There is something good regarding about X-Factor right now and that is, there is almost no melodrama like it was when Syrin was pregnant with the Dupe child and Layla Miller is back to the title now as an adult, which is something really cool as there is some more chaos to the live of the characters; also, we continue to know more about the Summers Rebellion and Bishop’s future. Also there is other cool thing about X-Factor Investigations, it is that Monet St. Croix took the role of de-facto leader of the team as well we can see more about Darwyn dynamics with the team and more about himself, like he is attracted to Monet and that he cannot get drunk because of his mutant abilities. So far issue #44 as well issue #42 and #43 have been really interesting because for sometime a little bit after Manifest Destiny and between Secret Invasion the title was a little out of touch and was some kind of random. I highly recommend reading this arc for another reason, it shows the femme fatale that is Monet is and it takes the character to a new level that separates her from her teenage persona in Generation X.

The Initiative #24 Vol #1: I simply love the Art of Humberto Ramos and maybe is my main reason to collect this title that it seems is going to end really soon because there are no more ideas to keep the title fresh, except for the one at the end that (spoiler) Norman Osborn gives the Initiative to Taskmaster, so he can continue strengthening his own personal of super power individuals. This situation regarding Norman Osborn gives me the idea that maybe he is going to get killed at the end of Dark Reign saga because of the weight of his own acts… maybe Marvel is recycling certain ideas only with different settings, I’m watching another rise to the power by Harry only under the guise of American Son. I don’t recommend The Initiative anymore, in someway the title has jumped the shark and there are better titles right now besides this one and a few much better titles that are about to come.

Exiles # 3 Volume 2: Simple as this, this reboot is not as as well written as the first volume of Exiles, probably the only good thing about this reboot is the art, but beside that the script is really disappointing and there is no reason to read the title if you are fan of Blink because this is not the mainstream Blink that readers were used to and admire. So far the first Arc, Long Live The King was some kind of disappointing because it lacked of any kind of action and the interaction of the characters seemed to be weak as the Arc progressed, and in a twist that in someway it was expected, the new team failed on their first mission and instead of being returned to the Phanoptrichon they went directly to their second mission on a world called Machineworld, from what it seems the Marvel cyborgs rule, I hope the series takes a stronger direction and some of the characters get killed to see if the proposed action boost the readers interest. In a personal opinion: if you liked New Exiles and Exiles Vol1, stick with those titles because this one is not worth it.

New Mutants #2 Volume 3: One of the titles that shouldn’t be canceled in the first place was this one; is really good no matter the incarnation we seen of the New Mutants and now that the title has been taken over some of the original characters of the franchise we can have an alternative title to the X-Men franchise and the readers can get a glimpse of the characters have developed into their adulthood or at least early adulthood because of the Marvel floating time line. The writing of Zeb Wells is quite superb and by giving few clues about the return of Legion he has know how to keep the interest of the readers so far (remember that some titles are dead by the second number) and the art it isn’t bad either is really retro like the art in the 90’s. Is not much what I can say about New Mutants right now, but at least the thing I can say is really positive about the revamp of this title.

Miss Marvel #39 Vol#2:Brian Reed and Sana Takeda where the answers to improve this comic book title a little better; because it was getting boring with Carol Danvers on the lead and there wasn’t any improvements to make the character grow beyond the super heroine persona and now with Miss Marvel being taken on a more antihero approach the title was revitalized as Moonstone makes a cool leading lady

The story for number 39 wasn’t interesting, it was a mere follow up of #38 who A.I.M. is developing Moddocks to win control over the monopoly Norman Osborne is creating and a new character which presumably was Carol Danvers in her Binary persona (because both exhibited similar powers) where introduced between issue 38 and 39. Right now the title is aiming at a new levels as the writing is more complex and is being aimed to adults instead of children and maybe we can expect more about this new approach on Miss Marvel.

PS: Long Live Miss Marvel, Carol Danvers is Dead.

X-Force #15 Vol#3 (Messiah War Chapter Five): Chapter Five of the Messiah War Arc was another filler episode where the only interesting thing came at the end when Apocalypse regained his strengths, hinting that we will make a full return as a villain or maybe it will end as many other time events in the limbo because it will lack of canon. Maybe the action will be on issue six and seven where we can see a little more how the future is going to be with the new Mutant Messiah.

There is comic book death where no character remains completly death except for Gwen Stacy, Uncle Ben and Zor-El, the rest of characters can come back to lie anytime they want and there is Jean Grey a comic book character who refuses to stay death and has died many times that are impossible to track them. With the Jean Grey complex we can speak about comic book characters that are as near omnipotent as God, because they can achieve the impossible and in my opinion they lose value as characters. This issue gives the information that the Sisterhood of Mutants is more powerful than the X-Men thought and at the end they got their buttocks kicked by a bunch of the most powerful female mutants in the Marvel Universe but how things work in the Marvel Universe at the end the X-Men will win (I hope everything don’t be screwed with the launching of the Dark X-Men because Emma is in that team and it will be ridicule to see Jean back again with Scott). We have to see what is going to happen in X-Men #511.

PS: Has anybody see some subtle fetishistic elements on the cover?!

Dark Avengers #4 Vol.1: The first Arc of Dark Avengers applied the rule perfectly That popular character won’t die in the Marvel Universe, take a look to Morgana and Sentry, the both seemed to die at the end of the arc and it seems that at the end neither of them died, The Sentry mysteriously resurrected and Morgana was sent to the prehistory by Doctor Doom (hey! since when Dinosaurs and modern cavemen co-existed together?, only in the comic books). The writing and the art had proven that Deodato and Brian Bendis are a great team that can produce a great narrative in letters and art to make something really fantastic; but reading the Dark Reign titles makes me wonder how many of these titles are going to survive after the Dark Reign ends (and how many Avengers titles are going to be?; Dark Avengers, The Mighty Avengers, Dark Reign: Young Avengers (Mini-Series),  The New Avengers, Avengers: The Initiative and how knows how many more are on the way, Marvel Comics should change their name to Avengers Comics because there are five Avengers titles right now) I see potential in some of them but at the end Marvel will bring back some kind of status quo and many of these titles will disappear and the Dark Avengers we know today at the end will be comprised in one or two teams again.

Wolverine #73 Vol.3: It seems Marvel is having some kind of mess with their titles lately; a few months ago in the end of Manifest Destiny last tie in, with the Dazzler cover there was the wrong content (I know that because I got it) and now they skip Wolverine #72 Vol.3 to Wolverine #73 Vol.3 and who knows what other mistakes they have done with the comic distributions because with my budget I can only afford a few titles every week. Seems this new number of Wolverine sets a new arc told as a chronic as it focus the days of Wolverine one by one in what it seems to be an awful week for him. I think that the way is written this new arc is a little way better than Old Man Logan because we aren’t set in a hypothetical future (something that probably we are not going to know ever as the time line within Marvel seems to be eternal and the future is always changing) but rather as a side story in the realm of the Dark Reign.

Genext: United #1 Vol.1: The magic of the first part of GeNext got lost so far in the sequel GeNext:United; there isn’t the magic touch that it was on the first part of the (highly conflicting) continuation of X-Men: The End and again it seems that the continuation with this title is going more screwed as on the first part it showed Cecilia Reyes alive and now she is dead an supposedly the gap between the two parts is only a day of difference; I don’t complaint that Cyclops was brought back to life and several characters that died in X-Men: The End as well but what bothers me is that beside the loose continuity the magic of the first one is completly gone. I don’t recommend this title at all, if you collected the first one, was ok, I did it but it seems that this new mini-series is not going to be as good as the first part. On the other hand check on the Young Avengers: Dark Reign that is a cool tie in.