wktf and Sam Wilson's Comic Reviews, 7/21/05

[Sam Wilson]

Wktf’s Reviews

I’m still catching up on two weeks worth of comics from when my family was vacationing in San Antonio. Wouldn’t you know Wednesday rolls around and I’ve haven’t yet read Hercules #4 or Marvel Team-Up #10 from last week. This week’s haul was a pretty good one: the three reviewed below plus JSA Classified (with that AH! cover who could resist buying it?), Day of Vengeance #4, Ultimates 2 #7, House of M #4, Defenders #1, Astonishing X-Men #11, and the Captain America “Winter Soldier” HC. Also, I read in Comic Shop News #944 that Darwyn Cooke won the 2005 Harvey Award Best Artist for DC’s New Frontier, and that New Frontier won the Harvey for Best Continuing or Limited Series. Love to see this outstanding creator and series get this attention!

The Adventures of Superman #642
DC Comics
Written by: Greg Rucka
Drawn by: Karl Kerschl

I’ve been pretty vocal about swearing off the Superman titles after the “For Tomorrow” fiasco. Even more so than “Hush” I felt with that story arc I fell victim to a marketing scheme. All Jim Lee flash (and plenty of flash, the art was pretty sweet) with no Brain Azzarello substance. But I’m reading The OMAC Project series now and digging it, and will admit to groaning out loud when I read that I had to pick up the “Sacrifice” storyline in July’s three Superman books plus Wonder Woman before getting my next OMAC installment. I read Superman #219 and Action #829 and thought the story was pretty interesting if a bit convoluted. But this comic, courtesy of Rucka’s usual outstanding storytelling, really steps things up a notch. Dare I say it? This book is my pick of the week, even over Wolverine which has been my standard pick the weeks it’s come out.

In the last issue of OMAC we learn that Maxwell Lord is using his newly revealed mind control powers on Superman, to the point where Superman believes his dead Kryptonian father is communicating with him. Superman’s being mind controlled is nothing new (in fact it feels pretty standard after all these years of it) and the prospect of another case of this left me pretty ambivalent. In the first two chapters of “Sacrifice” our hero clearly seems to be going off the deep end. He believes Braniac has turned Lois against him and that, as a result of his busting up Braniac’s undersea lair, he’s doomed his loved ones trapped there to a watery death. In his rage over Lois, Perry and Jimmy’s supposed death, Superman goes berserk on Braniac, busting him up and choking him before his illusion fades, he discovers human blood on his hands and the Justice League appear to take him to the Watchtower. Then Superman imagines he’s in battle with Darkseid to save Lois while J’onn has appeared in a worried Lois’ apartment to protect her from her irrational husband. As the second part closes, Superman discovers the blood on his hands is Batman’s, and finds Batman beaten nearly to death in a hospital bed in JLA HQ. It looks like the beating he thought he gave Braniac really was dealt on The Batman.

What’s going on, and what’s Max’s connection to this? Well, we know in OMAC that Batman’s learning too much too quickly for Max’s comfort and Max wants him dead. With this third installment of “Sacrifice” we learn for sure that Max has planted what J’onn calls an “implanted psychotic episode” in Superman’s mind and is causing him to act out his delusions. The computer simulated depiction of Superman’s attack on Batman before an incredulous JLA is terrible and brutal. Just as Superman agrees to an exile of sorts, Max turns up the juice (causing his nose to spout blood), Superman attacks the League and takes off with Wonder Woman in fast pursuit. At the end, Wonder Woman, with kryptonite in hand, confronts a smug Max but is forced to the ground by Superman. With Rucka handling the scripting for Wonder Woman’s own book, the final installment should be a helluva ride. Kudos to this creative team for keeping the conflict and suspense fresh and turning this mediocre arc, to this point, into a nail biter.

Daredevil #75
Marvel Comics
Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by: Alex Maleev
The big question: what the hell happened to this great creative team?

This issue ends the five-part “Decalogue” story arc, and not a moment too soon. The kindest thing I can call this story is irrelevant. I’d read that Bendis wanted to use some story telling technique used by one of his favorite movie directors but, just as moving comic book panels didn’t work in the film version of “Hulk,” this was a wasted effort. And why call a five-part story “Decalogue” anyway? Why not pentalogue? I know this ties to the 10 Commandments but only five of them were used. I don’t get it.

OK, so Daredevil has been outted, has taken out Wilson Fisk and has taken over as Kingpin of Hell’s Kitchen. In this arc, a support group that has gathered to deal with what’s happened with their lives due to Daredevil’s actions has been meeting in the basement of a church. Each member of this group has been telling stories about his or her encounters with Daredevil but, as each tells his/her story, the image of some gross little creature keeps appearing and seems to be the common thread to each story. It turns out that one man in the group knows what this is about and has revealed to the group that Matt Murdock is actually sitting with them.

Well, it turns out that DD previously got his head handed to him recently by The Jester, one of Stan Lee’s lamest creations and a C-level villain at best. DD senses that something’s not right with The Jester who then begins the disgusting process of puking out this little monster who tries then to get inside a woman The Jester was holding hostage. DD stops it and then follows it to the support group where its reunited with this loser Lawrence who, apparently, was fired from the Hand but not before being able to use black magic to conjure up evil spirits which he sells off for cash. Well, okay, who really cares? When this creative team started they pumped new life into hornhead that really hadn’t been seen since the Frank Miller days. This book was always on the top of my comic pile when Bendis and Maleev started. Now I just don’t care any more which hurts as DD has been one of my favorite characters since the Gene Colan days. But, like the current Batman, he’s just become too burdensome to read. This issue, unfortunately, was no exception to this rule.

Wolverine #30
Marvel Comics
Written by: Mark Millar
Drawn by: John Romita, Jr. & Klaus Janson

Well, this was the weakest issue in the last two story arcs by this creative team. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still great. But we’ve got a pretty high standard against which to compare it.

Elektra is back with the good guys (how this is possible given her murderous history is beyond me, but kind of a neat twist for Fury to have drafted her over to SHIELD). Turns out she allowed herself to be killed and resurrected only to infiltrate the Gorgon’s new organization which combines Hydra, the Hand and The Dawn of the White Light. Pretty radical tactic, if you ask me, and one that inspires Wolverine’s admiration (“I think I’m in love”). The Gorgon’s ambition is to weaponize Reed Richards’ stolen inventions and cause the end of all things as a strike against God. With Elektra’s knowledge of Gorgon’s bases, SHIELD strikes hard against their forces and Wolverine and Elektra take the battle directly to the Gorgon. They attack him and skewer him with several killing blows. The problem is, he doesn’t die. In short order the Gorgon takes down Elektra and puts a sword through Wolverine’s throat and into a wall, thus leaving him stuck there as he infiltrates the semi-unconscious Elecktra’s mind to learn Nick Fury’s whereabouts.

This is just a rock ‘em sock ‘em kind of issue to further the plot along to next issue’s conclusion (which also marks the end of Millar and Romita, Jr’s run on the series). It feels like filler, but it’s really fun filler. Miller’s story and dialogue is fast paced and fun, and John Romita Jr’s art is just always outstanding. Interesting to see the Rhino in this issue as he’s also appearing in the Romita-drawn Black Panther series. Every issue of this creative team’s run has been so enjoyable I really wish they’d stay on. Lately, creative teams don’t stick with a book for long anymore. I miss that (as long as it’s still working…see my Daredevil review, above). Anyway, next issue should be a great one.



Sam Wilson’s Reviews


So we are now into week four of the “House of M”, more variant covers, more crossovers, well I say thee NAY!! No Spider-Man crossover issue, no variant covers for me. I spend enough money as it is, and in a couple of months the heat will be long gone from this crossover and we will all be stuck with a bunch of worthless variants we overpaid for, kinda like prism and die-cut covers from the ‘90’s. Ugh. It is still a good week though, love that Adam Hughes cover for JSA Secret Files (hey, I paid retail, and I only bought one copy, so piss off), the premiere of Ultimate Moon Knight in Ultimate Spider-Man, a new Defenders series, and my pick of the week, Ultimates #7. Well, you know what comes next, dare I say it? “On to the reviews!”


Defenders #1 (of 5)
Marvel Comics
Written By: Keith Geffen, J.M. DeMatteis
Drawn By: Kevin McGuire


“The Defenders”, Marvels first “non-team” got its start in the pages of Marvel Feature way back in 1971. This title was created to showcase Dr. Strange, the Sub-Mariner and the Hulk. All these heroes have crossed paths before in their perspective solo titles, and Sub-Mariner and the Hulk have even fought side-by-side with sometime “Defender” the Silver Surfer way back in Sub-Mariner issue #34, “Confrontation”. This is the first time these character united to fight a common foe, but the thing is they spent as much time bickering with each other as they did vanquishing their common enemy; either way it worked and books were sold and the powers that be at Marvel decided they wanted to give this “non-team” a shot at a regular book. The only problem though, Stan Lee had his own plans for the Silver Surfer, so instead of using him (at least initially), the go ahead was given to use a recently retired and little used character, Dr. Strange, and thus the Defenders was born.

Throughout the years “the Defenders” went through a lot of changes, they got themselves a pseudo-Batman financier (Nighthawk), a really hot Asgardian (Valkryrie), a housewife (Hellcat), the Son of Satan (seriously, I’m not kidding, Damien Hellstorm, look him up), the Thing (for like a minute) and even a few X-men (the Angel and the Beast). Oh yeah, and a bald, hot, sorta ******* (Moondragon, as for that sorta-******* thing, see the last issues of Peter David’s Captain Marvel series for clarification). Let me ask you this, for such a colorful cast of characters, for a fairly long running series (over 100 issues) can anyone remember anything earth shattering or significant that came from “the Defenders”? Does anyone care that a bunch of odd heroes at one point banded together, bickered, and overcame common foes? Well, yeah, that’s why we got a brand new series featuring the creative team behind Justice League International, Geffen, DeMatteis and McGuire, and I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Marvel Universe could use the levity.

Defenders opens up with Wong being possessed by Nightmare, and then warning Dr. Strange about an upcoming world destroying evil: apparently the Dread Dormammu and his sister Umar have banded together and plan on wrecking havoc. So the good Dr. has to unite his old buds in the Defenders to save the world and hopefully not strangle each other in the process. Of course, none of this is as straightforward as I’m making it sound, and along the way expect some introspection, humor, infighting and soul-searching (yes, I said soul-searching). This main strength in this series thus far is the dialogue. Geffen ad DeMatteis know their characters, and know how to pick at them and play with them to make something witty, humorous and engaging, all the while moving forward with the main plot. McGuire’s art hasn’t lost a step since the ‘80’s, and if you liked it then, you’re still gonna like it now. Yeah, this isn’t a laugh-a-minute slapstick kind of book, the humor is subtler, but if you know the characters you’ll definitely get a chuckle. I’m probably gonna stick this book out, and it wouldn’t hurt for someone looking for something different to give it a try.

Teen Titan’s issue #26
DC Comics
Written by: Geoff Johns
Drawn by: Tony Daniel

To get everyone up to speed on this incarnation of the Titans, Cyborg, Starfire and Beast Boy, all founding members of the 2nd group of “Teen Titans”, decided to form a new team of Titans, but this time they were going to be their “guides” rather than just have a bunch of kids go at it alone. The new Titan’s Tower is in San Francisco, and the new team consists of Bart Allen (formerly Impulse, now Kid Flash), Superboy (aka Conner Kent aka Kon-el, a clone of Lex Luthor and Superman’s DNA), Wonder Girl (aka Cassie Sandsmark), Robin (aka Tim Drake) and Raven (newly made young again?). Yeah, they are a super team and they deal with threats, and they are probably going to fill the shoes of the Justice League someday, but they are also friends and their weekends at the Tower gives them time to talk and “decompress” with peers and people they trust and who have lead similar lives. In the tradition of the Wolfman/Perez “Teen Titans” of the ‘80s, these new Titans are a family as well, and that is why the book works.

Presently, Teen Titans has just completed a four-part crossover with The Outsiders (a group which is coincidentally made up of several original “Teen Titans”). The whole thing kicked off a couple of issues ago in the “Titans”, Connor, at the urging of Robin, was going to tell the rest of the team that half of his DNA belonged to Lex Luthor. Before that could happen he lost it and starting wreaking all sorts of havoc on the Titans. Oh yeah, and that killer-android-turned-good from the future, Indigo, currently a member of “The Outsiders”? Well, she’s still bad, as a matter of fact, she’s really Braniac and wants to kill everyone. Yipes. Well, things don’t go so well for our heroes. Indigo/Braniac is kicking all types of a$#, Conner has crushed one of Robin’s bones, tore apart Cyborg, burned Beast Boy and even attacked his girl, Cassie (Wonder Girl). Just when things seemed their bleakest, Wonder Girl broke through to Conner and he rebelled against his evil “half” and string-puller Lex Luthor, Shift (that Metamorpho type guy from the Outsiders) dispatched Indigo/Brainiac most nastily, and things came back to normal, well, not really.

Teen Titans #26 opens 30 days after the events in The Outsiders #25. Conner has gone back to Ma and Pa Kent to sort things out. He feels beyond uncomfortable, truly a lost soul after recent events, shrinking more and more into his “just a clone” mindset. Then Raven pops up to give young Conner some perspective (and we have a really cool scene between Conner, Batman and Superman). Johns as always tells a solid story, and guest artist Tony Daniel does fine, even without any gratuitous booty shots to do. So if you have the inclination, and miss the Titans of old, check this book out. It’s definitely worth a look.


The Astonishing X-men #11
Marvel Comics
Written by: Joss Whedon
Drawn by: John Cassaday

Growing up the X-men was my favorite book. Claremont ran a tight ship, yeah, he was (and still is) the king of needless exposition, but back then it wasn’t so irritating. You also had great artists like John Byrne, Paul Smith, John Romita Jr., Arthur Adams, Jim Lee and Mark Silvesteri kicking out monthly issues of excitement and wonder. I (like a lot of other people) dug the X-men cause they were like me, different. Their roster wasn’t full of blonde hair and blue-eyed all American Ubermencher, they had diversity, emotions and made mistakes. They didn’t all get along and the world really didn’t like them, or even see them as heroes most of the time. Uncanny X-men became one of the hottest selling properties for Marvel Comics in the 1980’s, and ‘90’s, so Marvel decided to spin-off some titles to milk it. Only a couple at first, New Mutants, X-factor both of those were okay. Then you got Excalibur again, not bad. Then things went a little nutty. Wolverine got a solo series, huge crossover events became a bi-annual event, Jim Lee got his own X-men title, and so on and so on until you have the mess that is their today. Wolverine averages about 29 comic appearances a month. A$# clown and generally over hyped writer Grant Morrison gave us more mutants than we knew what to do with, gave Xavier a twin, brought back Magneto, killed him, brought him back, killed Jean Grey (again), GHAH… I don’t know, I just don’t know, I can’t keep up, and I don’t want to keep up. The X-men needs a “Crisis on Infinite Earths”, and needs it now.

Enter Joss Whedon and his Astonishing X-men. We get a small, manageable team of X-men (Kitty Pryde, Wolverine, Cyclops, Emma Frost, and Hank McCoy, aka the Beast). Colossus is brought back to life (well, he never really died, just read the first story arc already…), biting dialogue between Emma and Kitty (ohhh, catfight!), crazed aliens and rogue SHIELD agents. So far, so good. Then in issue 10 the Danger Room goes crazy, comes to life, and tries to whack all the X-men. Yeah, I’ll say it again. The Danger Room (you know, made with Shi ar technology, kinda like Star Trek’s holodecks, it’s where the X-men train to be better X-men) comes to life, assumes a human form and tries to whack everyone, and almost succeeds. Then it (or she, whatever) takes over a blackbird and hauls a$# to Genosha where it wants to kill “father”, or Professor Xavier. From there things get really weird.

This series was doing just fine until issue 10, and then WHAT THE FU$#. Seriously, the Danger Room comes to life? The motherfu$#in DANGER ROOM comes to life? That was the best thing Whedon could pull out of his a$#? Maybe I shoulda watched that “Buffy” garbage, and I coulda seen this coming, but seriously, the frikkin DANGER ROOM comes to life. Do I really need to go on? If this sh$# doesn’t turn, I’m dumping this garbage. Not even John Cassaday’s beautiful art can save this crap. Rassim-frassim Danger Room, shoulda stuck with TV, rassim-frassim overrated fanboy douche bag…

[Sam Wilson]

Trade Book Reviews

Alternate timelines, “What If”, “Elseworlds”, whatever you want to call it, it’s a departure from the norm, a break in the status quo if you will. We all know our hero’s inside and out, their origins, their stories, everything. Every once in awhile the powers that be decide to throw a curveball at us and stick our heroes in their own “Twighlight Zone”. Why? Fu$@ if I know, boredom, arrogance (if we did the character THIS way, we’d sell more books) or just for the fun of it. Sometimes we as comic readers get comic gold (The Dark Knight and Marvel’s “Ultimate Universe” come to mind) and sometimes we get some real crap (anyone remember Stan Lee’s “Just Imagine” project over at DC?). Today we are going to give you examples of what we believe to be the finest alternate timeline stories around, DC Comics Kingdom Come and Marvel’s X-Men, Days of the Future Past.


Wktf’s Review

Kingdom Come
DC Comics
Written by: Mark Waid
Art by: Alex Ross

A hero must face the terrible consequences of his own actions and, in the face of personal tragedy and pain, learns an important lesson that must also guide his future actions if he is to be true to his station. That lesson? With great power must also come great responsibility.

Spider-Man, right? Sure, obviously that’s true. But I’m not referring to Spider-Man this time. No, not in this case. In the case of this nine-year-old groundbreaking story, I’m talking about Superman. Superman, whose morals and values are grounded in a Midwestern stable family upbringing. Superman who, at his core, despite the tinkering of various writers over the years, is a leader among heroes and men, whose instinctive knowledge of right and wrong has always guided his decisions in any crisis and helped him understand the right thing to do, as so eloquently spoken by this story’s POV character, elderly minister Norman McCay, and in so doing inspired the actions of other heroes and men. Well, with this stunning book, we learn what happens when Superman loses his way and moral compass, forgets his obligations, ceases to care about the ramifications of his actions and abandons his responsibility as our greatest hero. While this story encompasses the entire DCU, its focus clearly is on Superman. To this point, its four titles are sayings we all know from the Superman canon: Strange Visitor, Truth and Justice, Up In the Sky and Never-Ending Battle.

It’s been ten years since Superman abandoned humanity, in more ways than one. In the wake of Lois’ murder and his being rejected by the public for a newer, more brutal breed of heroes Superman not only retreats to his Fortress of Solitude but abandons his human heritage. He scowls at Wonder Woman for calling him “Clark,” suffers Batman’s chiding him in this way, and dispassionately refers to his lost wife and adopted parents as “earthlings.” He is fully the “strange visitor from another planet.” And, as a result of Superman’s self-imposed exile, the other mainstay heroes have lost their way and faded from sight as well. A new more brutal breed of metahumans have emerged, are warring amongst themselves, and the world now in these ten years has nearly literally gone to hell. So much so that the Spectre arrives, a forewarning of a terrible conflagration of sins to come. Wonder Woman shames a reluctant Superman into returning to fix this mess and the other heroes of the old order join him. Order is quickly restored but through force and intimidation. Superman, consumed by uncertainty and indecision (“I don’t know what to do” actually comes out of his mouth), leads Earth’s heroes from Green Lantern’s citadel in space and imposes a police state on Earth. Really, he reminds me throughout this story of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (or Disney’s uncredited rip-off, Simba, in “The Lion King”) who can’t decide how to take action in the face of his personal trauma and, thereby, causes greater harm to himself and others. The war-like Wonder Woman, having been cast out from Paradise Island for not bringing the Amazonian ways of peace to man, is eager to regain her station by enforcing peace by any means, and bristles at Batman’s accusations of overcompensating. The physically broken Batman is distrustful of a League that lords over people from space rather than working with them here on Earth. Captain Marvel, the true god among men, has been hopelessly and savagely turned by Luthor and is, himself, a latent thunderbolt of destruction about to explode against the Man of Steel. And poor Norman McCay, the Spectre’s chosen human moral compass, at first agonizes at his visions of a coming holocaust brought about by well intentioned but morally lost superheroes and then develops a righteous anger that allows him to command the Spectre himself to thrust him into the maw of the final terrible conflict.

This is a dark and powerful story that draws on biblical references at the opening of each chapter. Many people think the title comes from the Lord’s Prayer whereas, according to Alex Ross, it actually refers to the phrase “blown to Kingdom Come.” Sure enough, there is a major holocaust that nearly brings the end of everything, but not in and of itself. The sacrifice of a broken and insane Captain Marvel is terrible to witness and drives Superman into a blind rage. It is only through McCay’s appealing to Superman’s humanity that the day is saved and peace, ultimately, is restored. Kingdom Come is operatic in its scope and is the kind of seminal work that begs revisiting by the comics industry. To wit, Jeff Loeb’s new Superman/Batman comic book series took this story’s Superman out of Elseworlds and into today’s reality and, in a wonderful example of continuity integration, also linked him with the Superman from Alan Moore’s “What Ever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?” This season’s Justice League Unlimited on Cartoon Network borrowed not only from the final battle between Superman and Captain Marvel in its “Clash” episode, as did the Superman comic book writers in this year’s three part battle with Captain Marvel and Eclipso, but carried the themes of this story through the entire season, and practically lifted Superman’s final speech to the U.N. in Kingdom Come for the last scene of their “Divided We Fall” episode. With Kingdom Come we have a terrifying story of heroes who lose their way, a world torn asunder, and the hard lessons on the importance of keeping faith in each other and in ourselves, as well as the importance of acting on that faith.

This book is readily available from Amazon or other bookstores in tpb form and retails for $14.99. The Graphitti Design slipcase HC, which has an extra book of supplemental material, retailed for $100 but now goes for as much as $200 on eBay. Written by one of the most consistently great writers of the modern comics era (Mark Waid significantly improved Captain America and the Fantastic Four, among other titles) it is also the piece that put Alex Ross on the map, even more so than his “Marvels” work which preceded Kingdom Come. Everyone who loves superheroes must read this book. It is one of the most satisfying tales ever published and, as mentioned, like Frank Miller’s Dark Knight Returns, set the standard for nearly all the DCU stories that have followed it.



Sam Wilson’s Review

X-men, Days of the Future Past
Marvel Comics
Written by: Chris Claremont
Drawn by: John Byrne
Sprite: Dumbest codename ever (next to “Elongated Man”)

1980, a banner year for the X-men. The “all new, all different” team is still working out its kinks in the face of terrible tragedy, in issue 137 Jean Grey, aka the Phoenix dies, and in the following issue the X-men’s longtime field leader Scott Summers, aka Cyclops takes a much needed leave of absence. Storm is given field command, and in issue 139 we get a brand new 13 and a half year old X-man by the name of Katherine “Kitty” Pryde (who starts out with the codename “Sprite”, but later we all get to know and love her as “Shadowcat”). Just when you think our heroes are in for some chill time BAM, Chris Claremont does the unthinkable and brings us into a world of pain, hurt, and bleakness that in my opinion overshadows the not-so-distant “Dark Phoenix” storyline.

Just by looking at the cover to Uncanny X-men issue 141 you know everything is not all right. An aged Wolverine and Kitty Pryde are caught in a spotlight, and wanted posters of the X-men are posted on a wall behind them with the word “deceased” bannered across such mainstays as Cyclops, Nightcrawler Angel and even the Beast. When I saw this for the first time I was taken aback. It was pretty bold for 1980 (nowadays covers mean jack squat and rarely reflect what’s on the inside, but once upon a time they meant something). Soon we find out it’s 2013 and there are three classes of people: “H” for baseline human (allowed to breed), “A” for anomalous human (a normal person possessing mutant genetic potential, forbidden to breed), and “M” for mutant (the bottom of the heap). Each citizen wears their designative letter on their clothes; much like Jews were forced to wear the Star of David in Nazi occupied Europe. Being a mutant was deemed “illegal” by the “Mutant Control Act of 1988”; subsequently mutants were hunted down and killed with a few rare exceptions. In the 25 years that have passed since the current X-men team has been around, government sanctioned genocide has been committed upon millions of mutants. Giant Sentinel robots rule the earth and watch over NYC with cold efficiency. Wolverine is a commander in the Canadian Resistance army and the few remaining X-men reside in one of the death camps surrounding NYC and have banded together to form a small resistance. These X-men include: Storm, Colossus, Kitty Pryde (who are now husband and wife), Rachel Summers (the daughter of Jean Grey and Scott Summers, gasp!) and Franklin Richards (you know, Reed and Sue’s son). Things are grim, Sentinels are everywhere, and dangerous street gangs roam what’s left of the city and mutantkind is on the verge of extinction.

So a dangerous plan is hatched, Rachel Summers is going to use her powers to switch the minds of the adult Kitty Pryde with the child Kitty Pryde and stop the event that doomed all mutants: the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (the new and improved brotherhood, Mystique, Avalanche, Pyro, the Blob and Destiny). In the meantime, the remaining X-men and Wolverine will storm the Baxter Building, the headquarters of the Sentinels, in hopes to strike them critically and bring some relief to the denizens of the future. Of course not everything goes as planned, and long-term effects are felt throughout the X-universe. Rachel Summers eventually traveled through time to the present and became an X-man, and later joined the group Excalibur, and the “Days of the Future Past” storyline had a few sequels running through: New Mutants #18, Uncanny X-men #188, 189, and 202, Wolverine: Days of the Future Past #’s 1-3, Excalibur #’s 22, 35, 50, 52, 66, 67, 75, and 94, and the four part crossover “Days of the Future Present” which took place in Fantastic Four Annual #23, X-Factor Annual #5, New Mutants annual #9, and Uncanny X-men annual #16.

X-men, Days of the Future Past was the first “alternate timeline” outing of the X-men, and in my opinion hasn’t been repeated in quality (but maybe in scope). Sure, there is “Age of Apocalypse” and the current “House of M”, but those have fell upon the eyes of the jaded comic fan, where Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen softened readers are used to such darkness. “Days of the Future Past” was a punch to the stomach back in its day, and at the end of it the future was still uncertain. Byrne and Claremont were at the top of their game, and I daresay everything Claremont has done since has been on a slow (but steady) downslide. Byrne did go on to his excellent run on The Fantastic Four, but currently the guy is a total a$# clown, and most of his recent work is garbage (check out that utterly painful run he did on Wonder Woman a few years back if you don’t believe me). Days of the Future Past is readily in print and available in tpb form for $19.99, and collected in the tpb are Uncanny X-men #’s 138-143 and annual #4. Only issues #’s 141 and 142 contain the “Days of the Future Past” storyline, so you get a little bonus, and to my knowledge the “sequels” to this storyline have not been reprinted, so you would have to buy those issues individually. This book is definitely worth the 20 bucks, so pick it up at your lcs if you have never experienced it before, I guarantee, if you’re an X-men fan this is one story you can’t be without.

[furie]

Dude -- nice job. Now and I can go out and buy what is good and not waste a dime on the crap. U and wk do a wonderful job. I tip my hat to u guys.

[ashley76]

thanks for giving the Defenders the props that it deserves. I hope the continue it with a regular series! (only if Maguire, Geffen, DeMatties do it)

[MiamiLoco]

Wktf, you dropped the "Adventures" in your title of "Adventures of Superman" you just put "Superman" I was really confused there for a bit, LOL!1

Sam, I don't understand why it makes you so angry that the Danger Room is alive? I mean, it's IS alien techonology. I say, if Spider-Man can wear a SUIT that is alive, why can't the danger room also be alive? :P

[Sam Wilson]

Originally Posted by MiamiLoco

Sam, I don't understand why it makes you so angry that the Danger Room is alive? I mean, it's IS alien techonology. I say, if Spider-Man can wear a SUIT that is alive, why can't the danger room also be alive? :P

I just think the X-men need to be stripped down to the basics, to what made them great all those years ago, and reaching, REALLY reaching with tripe like a "living danger room" is a step away from that, not towards it. It's like these new writers wanna make their mark, and in reality they're gonna take their dump over 30 years of history and walk away to make more teeny booper movies and get a bigger paycheck. The chance is there do do something good, and Whedon was off to a good start, I'll give him that, but this Danger Room crap is just to much for a cranky bastard such as myself.

Gonna go put up my 1988 calander now and think of better times...

[bat_collector]

Originally Posted by MiamiLoco

Wktf, you dropped the "Adventures" in your title of "Adventures of Superman" you just put "Superman" I was really confused there for a bit, LOL!1

Sam, I don't understand why it makes you so angry that the Danger Room is alive? I mean, it's IS alien techonology. I say, if Spider-Man can wear a SUIT that is alive, why can't the danger room also be alive? :P

Gotta agree with Loco. I like the arc so far. And the scene w/ kitty and peter was great!

[JDH]

Originally Posted by Sam Wilson

Maybe I shoulda watched that “Buffy” garbage,

Great stuff as ever, Sam and wktf.

But Sam, if you thought the best thing about Defenders was the dialogue, then you missed out by not watching Buffy (or indeed Angel). TV rarely comes smarter or funnier.

[Sam Wilson]

Originally Posted by jdh.goodgrief

Great stuff as ever, Sam and wktf.

But Sam, if you thought the best thing about Defenders was the dialogue, then you missed out by not watching Buffy (or indeed Angel). TV rarely comes smarter or funnier.

That Sarah Michelle Gellar puta makes me ill, so I'll pass on Buffy, but I have watched Angel a couple of times, it was okay. As far as TV I'm a Sopranos/the Shield/Oz/The Wire kind of guy (and my cartoons, Teen Titans/JLU/The Batman/Harvey Birdman/Venture Bros). I'm really strict with myself about TV, I try not to watch any extra other than CNN and my shows, especially being out of work for so long, I can feel my brain rot if I watch to much...

I miss the old Mcguire/Geffen JL series. Who can forget Batman cleaning Guy Garders clock?

[wktf]

Originally Posted by MiamiLoco

Wktf, you dropped the "Adventures" in your title of "Adventures of Superman" you just put "Superman" I was really confused there for a bit, LOL!1

Ghak! You're right! This is what comes of doing these reviews at like 11:30pm! Sam, my friend, could you please correct the title in my review to "The Adventures of Superman"?

Sheesh.