After fighting with the god-awful wireless connection on my Dad's new router, I am back and ready for reviews! I really enjoyed all of the comics I read this week, so let us get started with the reviews.Spoilers abound. Read at your own risk.
Uncanny X-Men 517 (****)
This issue is basically how the X-Men deal with the 5 Predator X's that were sent in the plane by... I'm not entirely sure who (they showed it, but I was never clear who those people were). Namor wastes no time illustrating why I hate him as a character when he dashes off completely ignoring Scott's orders and then, for good measure, shouting his LAME battle cry. I do not get why he is on the X-Men if he has no intention of actually being on a team. The next Predator was handled by the X-Men, with Magneto's help, and I just thought this was awesome. I'm very interested to see why Magneto was spent so quickly, I wonder if his powers are not what they appear to be. Storm shows up with the best line of the book. Then Rogue does exactly what I've always wanted her to do, and single-handedly kicks the SHIT out of a Preadtor by absorbing all of the students powers. So freaking cool and it makes me like Rogue much more than I do in that stupid Emplate storyline. And then, in what was my favorite scene, the Phoenix force leaves the Cuckoos (which forced me to go back and read Phoenix Warsong). Just one more piece of the puzzle for Jean's return. I don't think much happened plot wise, but I so loved the action scenes I have to say I don't care. Also, I love the art of this book; I can never remember artists, but I LOVE the way it looks.
Green Lantern 48 (****)
First, let me point out for people confused that this comes before Blackest Night 5. Chronology is a big deal for me, so this was important. This and Blackest Night 5 are the same story, basically, but some big stuff happens in BN5 that I will discuss later. I'm really glad all of the Lanterns are together now, mainly because all of the colors are pretty. I also like the whole "Enemy of my Enemy is my friend" storyline. It is really easy for that to turn cliche, but the writers made me feel kinda bad for Atrocitus, and kinda annoyed at Saint Walker for acting all important. Ten bucks says Indigo connecting with the black ring is going to be a bad thing, and that Larfleeze getting a Guardian is going to be a worse one.
Blackest Night 5 (****)
So, uhm, Wow. Not to work backwards, but can we talk about the giant "Oh fuck" moment at the end of this issue? They referenced all the heroes that had been resurrected back in the Blackest Night Prologue, but I didn't really expect them to become Lanterns. How the hell is the Rainbow Rodeo supposed to fight the entire friggin' Justice League? I was reading through thinking "Well, they've got everyone together, and it's only issue 5 of 8, so what's going to happen?" And BOOM. Some of my other favorite parts of this issue:
- Hal calling the Lantern team-up the "Rainbow Rodeo" and the "Color-coded Calvary". You'll notice I like it so much I changed our Contributors section. I want to be a Lantern.
- All the pretty colors when the 7 corps work together.
- Hearing the Pledge of each of the different Corps. They were probably all a little cheesy, but it's the type of cheese I enjoy. Like Brie.
- Carol: "I think I saw this on a Saturday Morning Cartoon." Hal: "Me too." Was that a Captain Planet reference?
Greg Land. Penciler and Inker. The coloring is done by Justin Ponsor. I loved Rogue in this one. Not only did she kick ass, but she looked great doing it. Emma, I found to be forgettable. And I certainly didn't appreciate her backhanded remarks about Scott. Love the Phoenix leaving the Cuckoos. I like them enough, just not enough for them to retain any part of the Phoenix. Although, this does leave us with the question. Are their hearts still diamond? Because the whole reason they made their hearts diamond was to keep the Phoenix trapped. Obviously they weren't powerful enough for that, but I was under the assumption that once done it couldn't be reversed, so...
ReplyDeleteI thought they couldn't reverse it because reversing it would release the Phoenix. Now that the Phoenix has been recalled, I don't think it matters anymore. Although since the Cuckoos don't spend any time shifting to Diamond form, maybe they really don't have that kind of power.
ReplyDeleteThe way I thought it, was that the Cuckoos were perfection. Meaning when they turned into diamonds, unlike Emma, they were perfect forms (whereas Emma could be shattered because of her imperfection) and because of that could turn parts of their body into diamond (where Emma can only go full on). And that when they trapped the Phoenix they permanently made their hearts diamond, which made them the cold people they are. I also assume that they don't go diamond, because unlike Emma they don't really have the physical training and are much more powerful when they are in their human form.
ReplyDeleteAdmittedly the only things I've read as regards this are Endsong and Warsong. What I got from Warsong was that they decided to change their hearts to Diamond. It's the same way Emma stays in Diamond with the Void stuck in her head. They were "permanent" so long as the Phoenix was contained. The last part makes sense though.
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