Second Coming: a 50th post special

So this is the 50th post at our little blog here, and rather than waste it on a Gashapon review (which I'm overdue on. For a change.), I thought we'd do a quick write-up on Second Coming, which starts today. This is actually a joint post, so you'll be hearing both of our thoughts.

To sum up, for those of you unfamiliar, Second Coming is about the return of Hope, both literally and (perhaps) figuratively, to the X-Men. It is the culmination of a story arc that started way, way back in 2005 with House of M. Wanda Maximoff aka the Scarlet Witch went coo-coo for cocoa puffs and long story short transformed the mutant population from the millions to a few hundred by uttering the phrase "No More Mutants." In the last 5 years there has only been one mutant born in the entire world: Hope. During the events of Messiah Complex, a mutant baby was born in Alaska which caused all hell to break lose. The X-Men were trying to rescue the baby, anti-mutant groups like the Purifiers were trying to kill it, and Mr. Sinister had his own motives. Cable managed to get the baby, and Cyclops sent him into the future to protect her. This took place at the end of 2007, and the last two years have been spent with Cable and Hope in the future, running away from Bishop, who is convinced the baby brings about a cataclysm for mutants everywhere (There was a brief period called Messiah War when X-Force jumped to the future to help Cable against Stryfe. This ended last summer). As of the last Cable issue, Hope and Cable are coming home, and from every piece of promotional art Marvel has put forth, all hell is about to break loose. It also begs to be mentioned that in the X-Force title, Bastion has risen once again and using his techno-organic technology has brought back to life the deadliest foes the X-Men have ever faced. He now controls an army of thousands and plans to eradicate the Mutant population from the face of the Earth. While the seeds to this plot were planted in the early issues of X-Force, it will come to a head in the pages of Second Coming.

About a month ago Marvel released a free "X-Men Second Coming: Prepare" teaser issue. It consisted of a several page "video diary" of a few of the X-men, and clearly showed that they were traumatized of what was happening. Oh, and there was a body. Which isn't so surprising given all of the tag line that they keep throwing out there:

One will rise.
One will fall.
One will lead.
One will sacrifice.
All will unite.

This event is being set-up as a sort of restart for the X-Men universe. Everything that was set in motion back in House of M by Wanda is coming to fruition here. We get to see if Cyclops putting all of his hope into this little girl to save mutant kind was actually reasonable or not. We get to see what the next step for Mutants are, since as a race they're getting kind of desperate. We get to see exactly who or what Hope is, and what she means for the future. But before we get there we've got 14 chapters, plus two 'Revelations' tie-ins (X-Factor and Hellbound).

Below are some thoughts, and then someday I'll actually post the checklist.

Matt's Take: 5-years worth of back-story moving towards one conclusion makes me nervous. But not as nervous as the fact that Hope is clearly tied to the Phoenix Force. Above beyond the fact that the Phoenix symbol flashed in Hope's eyes on more than one occasion, and that all of the shards of the Phoenix Force have been disappearing lately, the prologue issue had a whole section devoted to "What is the Phoenix Force?" Now, I am mighty particular about how anyone from the Grey family is treated (and let's be serious, Grey and Phoenix are kind of synonymous at this point). I loved Phoenix Endsong, and I don't want a new storyline to trample on the beauty of that arc. Also, after being terribly disappointed by how Nate Grey was treated in Dark X-Men, I'm wary. But wary does not mean I'm walking into this with any pre-judgment on how it will turn out. I am exceedingly excited for the storyline. To be honest, rumors of Second Coming are the whole reason I got back into comics recently. For now I'm keeping my hopes high and my expectations moderate, and hopefully this will pay off like it did for Blackest Night.

Arnab's Take: I am very excited folks and not just because we've hit 50 posts. Matt's already given you guys a recap on what's occurred, so that's great. House of M is really what grabbed me by my jewels and dragged me back into the Marvel world, and for that I am grateful. Second Coming is pretty much the biggest event in the X-Universe this side of the New Millennium, spanning across every single X-Title out there. I've got to say that I am not as nervous as Matt seems to be, mainly because I have faith in Matt Fraction and Christopher Yost/Craig Kyle (Plus the other writers have done pretty damn great leading up. Zeb Wells with New Mutants has gotten increasingly better with the story telling and Mike Carey has been fantastic with Legacy.) The artwork speaks for itself, I should think. With the occasional miss, the X-titles, at least the main titles, have had great artists. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Like Matt, I also was severely disappointed with the Dark X-Men mini-series, but then again these guys know their stuff, while those guys seemed more interested in how they could completely screw up a mini-series. I can't wait to see the way these folks handle the Phoenix Force. Jean Grey is definitely one of my favorite female comic book characters and I've been known to argue that Jean Grey is the one true host to the Phoenix entity. Granted, I have been known to be wrong. My comic book guy Andy (Comic Attack) has the suspicion that Hope will be the Rachel of Earth 616. I don't know if I agree with him, I do find the thought to be very intriguing. My own personal thought is that the Phoenix got bored of relying on hosts and decided to create itself a physical representation of itself, which would naturally look like the deceased Jean Grey, who is in fact the true host. That being said I would just like to reiterate just how excited I am for Second Coming. I should also add that unlike Matt, at this point at least, I have already read the first issue of Second Coming. I loved everything and will have a better and longer review in the days to come.

Oh and a thought that I would like to leave you all with. Believe in Cyclops as he has long believed in his son and the messiah. The X-Men as an entity has meant everything to Scott since he was a teenager and the survival of the mutant race has meant even more to him since Decimation. He has united the mutant race like none before him nor any after him ever will; Fear his power. And while there will be reason to falter in your faith of him in the days to come and the battle with Bastion and his allies, know that everything he has done has been with the knowledge that the mutant race is dying and survival is the only thing he has been fighting for.

******

Since this blog clearly has more than a passing interest in Phoenix, we'll be covering the story, and we'll try not to fan-boy gush too much. Stay tuned!