Uncanny X-Men 333: The Good, the Bad, and the ?
Ron Koomas
G'day and Happy Easter/Passover week-end to all. I am just
settling into an afternoon of Bruin's hockey (courtesy of
Fox who, much to my delight has televised quite a few Bruin
games this year - go B's!!).
I will attempt to devote enough attention to type out my
thoughts on Uncanny X-Men 333. So without further ado
(and while the game hasn't started yet) lets take a look
at the three hundred and thirty-third issue of Uncanny X-Men...
Title: Uncanny X-Men 333
Writer: Scott Lobdell
Penciller: Perry "Clone King" Ferry
Inker: Team X
Other people: Team Bucce, R. Starkings & Comicraft & BOB
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
My rating system:
XXXXX - five Xs; Instant Classic; eg. Uncanny X-Men 137
XXXX - four Xs; Very Good; eg. X-Men (vol. 2) 25
XXX - three Xs; Good; eg. Wolverine 87
XX - two Xs; Not so good; eg. X-Factor "Judgement War" 43-50
X - one X; Pathetic; eg. X-Men Unlimited 4
S
P
A
C
E
That ought to do it.
The Rating: XXX
The Story:
The story starts with a very unhealthy and rather jumpy Senator
Kelly meeting with Cyclops, whom he had asked to speak with
urgently. Cut to the Blackbird, hovering over the Pentagon.
Storm (with her old look), Cannonball, Beast, Iceman, Wolverine,
Bishop and Prof. X are acting as backup while Jean and Remy go
undercover to find out what is 'Operation: Zero Tolerance'. It
is our first look at Bastion, who is apparently in charge of
an international operation to rid the world of mutants.
Meanwhile, Archangel, still hurting physically and
psychologically from his battle with Sabes, is play fighting
with a recuperating Betsy, who appears to be going through yet
another (at least partial) metamorphosis. A very large humanoid
suddenly shunts into reality, stunning both Psylocke and
Archangel. Cut back to the Kelly residence, where Graydon Creed
is eavesdropping on Kelly's conversation with Cyclops. Deciding
that he is saying too much about Operation: Zero Tolerance, he
blows up the Kelly home. Somehow, seconds before the bomb is
set off, Cyclops detects that something is amiss, grabs Kelly
and leaps to (apparent?) safety. Not so lucky is Remy and Jean,
who are discovered by Bastion. Plowing through tons o' security,
they flee the building only to find dozens of guards waiting
outside - but fast asleep! The glowing head last seen in X-Men 50
appears, states that this was his doing and that it was a gift to
Jean and her team-mates and disappears. Elsewhere, Psylocke and
Warren come to, only to be staring into the eyes of this rather
threatening, enormous looking individual who had so suddenly
appeared before them (Juggs, I think).
The Good:
Well, this turned out to be an average issue, despite its
problems, due to Mr. Lobdell's solid, well paced story. The
story benefited from some key plot advancements, a nice mix of
action and intrigue and attention to detail (something we don't
see nearly enough of in most X-books these days).
What I liked:
1)The Lee Weeks cover. Although far from his best work, I enjoy
his pencils a great deal, and would love for him (or Ron Garney,
who possess a similar style) to get an X-assignment.
2)Mr. Lobdell's take on Senator Kelly. He is clearly (and the
role fits) a lamb among wolves when it comes to handling the
Mutant Situation, and his appeal to Cyclops was handled well.
(I especially enjoyed his rationalisation of all his anti-mutant
actions, as 'tools' designed to stop the madness -which in the end
only worsened it)
3) The introduction of Bastion: Finally, we are introduced to a
cool-looking villain with mystery, a clear goal, and no apparent
connection to Sinister, AoA or Apocalypse.
4)The details: - having almost the whole team on a mission.
(when was the last time THAT happened?)
- Storm making reference to X-Force's exploits
while talking to Sammy
- Dark Beast getting 'caught' in a situation where
he could not play the part; his recovery thanks
to Iceman, and Wolvie's suspicious look
- reference to Forge's handiwork in equipping the
federal government with mutant-related technology
- the Warren and Betsy interlude (it is good to
see that despite their being off the team, they
are being ignored)
- Graydon Creed's shadowy involvement in this whole
affair. Let him stick to politics and acts of
terrorism, because he makes a lame confrontational
type villain.
The Bad:
Unfortunately, and as is all to common lately in Uncanny, there
are a handful of problems that prevent this ish from being an
excellent book. Consider:
1) A major problem for me was the art. Inconsistent at best, it
was weak thanks to the team inking and a penciller who I find
repulsive simply because of his style: that is to say he has
none, and earns his money by copying others (Bachalo in the last
issue of GenX, and Madureira this ish). There were some
particularly bad pages of work, mostly inked by the same person
who inked his GenX stuff. These were the last two pages, the
panels with Senator Kelly (who at times looked more like a mad
scientist) and the close up of Sammy. Eeeeshhhhh!
2)The first page narration contained a major bobo. Mr. Lobdell
states that Senator Kelly's wife died as a result of a 'mutant
terrorist attack'. Ummm, Scott, Kelly's wife died as a result
of the X-Men's battle with the Master Mold, and even if the
narration was presented as Kelly's personal thoughts, even he
would have known and accepted that by now.
3)Where did the X-Men get their hands on military uniforms and
I.D.s that would allow them access to this super-secret meeting
anyway? And don't tell me Shi'ar technology!
4) It is nice and everything to give Archangel more to angst
about, but why doesn't he at least attempt to get his wings
mended (and howcum that ointment treatment from his B&W special
hasn't done the trick!)
5)Storm supposedly has a new look. So where is it?
6)Senator Kelly said he had no security on the grounds. Not only
is this plain silly given the man's notoriety, but back during
the Reignfire days in X-Force, we saw that he did.
...and my bet on who this Bastion really is:
Well, visually, with the triangle chest emblem, and pink
metallic look (with a little Planet of the Apes for uniqueness),
coupled with a lack of psionic presence and desire to eliminate
mutants and you have Nimrod, fresh from a trip through the
Siege Perilous (with Master Mold). Whaddya think?
eXtra: commentary:
Not three weeks ago, the 'wurd' spread across the net:
Marvel Comics, not exactly known for their generosity and
client-sensitivity, was going to reduce prices on some
titles (granted while reducing the paper quality),while
increasing the number of pages in others without raising
the price. Our beloved X-books would have the page count
increased from the current 32 (with ads) to 40 pages with
no extra charge. Most (myself included) assumed that there
would at least be an increase in story pages back to the
previous level of 21. Most assumed, as it was not mentioned
specifically, that the X-books would keep the same
higher-quality glossy paper.
Well, in this month's X-Facts, it would appear that the
age-old expression remains true: to assume is to make an
ASS out of U and ME! Written in Marvel-zombie doublespeak,
in a sickly sweet-syrupy 'Golly gee, we're doing this for you'
tone, those nice people at Marvel gave us the 'oh-so good news'.
Yes, they are increasing the number of pages to 40, but there
will be NO additional story pages; instead, it looks like we
will be treated to a heavy dose of Marvel propaganda, and other
such filler-type nonsense. Essentially, it will be More Marvel
Marketing. Oh, and the dark cloud that accompanies this
'silver lining' is that the kind folks at Marvel will be forced
to reduce the quality of the paper the comic is printed on.
But, don't forget, there is no extra charge.
No added story pages, more space devoted to self-promotion, and
all on cheaper quality paper (but hey, no price increase).
Gee, thanks Marvel.
So Long and Thanks
For All the Fish.
Ron.
Keeper of the Tangerine Flame.
P.S.
Just got caught up on the Easter-weekend posts. <phew>
I think if I hear the words Onslaught, evolution or
Naveed Gulzar :) at work tomorrow, I am gonna scream!
(But what are the chances...)
Now I gotta get cracking on responding to my mail and
writing up a review for Cable and polishing my X-employment
project. (Teach me to do nothing for four days!)
The Man with the Golden Gun
>6)Senator Kelly said he had no security on the grounds. Not only
>is this plain silly given the man's notoriety, but back during
>the Reignfire days in X-Force, we saw that he did.
Actually, I believe that concerned Henry Gyrich, not Robert Kelly.
-Scaramanga, MLF fan
--
The Man with the Golden Gun, Craig Lovelace, founder of MAVWWDBN
Bond: If you're late . . . surely you say, well, Freddie Uncle Charlie
Katie, If I may put it so as not to offend.
Tanaka: No, I would say 'shimatta' which means 'I have made a mistake.'
Bond: Well, I'm . . . astonished! A violent people without a violent
language! I must write a learned paper on this.
-from Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice
Keldroc
>Well, visually, with the triangle chest emblem, and pink
>metallic look (with a little Planet of the Apes for uniqueness),
>coupled with a lack of psionic presence and desire to eliminate
>mutants and you have Nimrod, fresh from a trip through the
>Siege Perilous (with Master Mold). Whaddya think?
I think you could be right. Unfortunately, I don't share your optimism
regarding the B-Man. I really don't wish to start reading about (yet)
another attempt by humans to wipe out mutants. Of course, this Operation:
Zero Tolerance will probably turn out to be the main threat after
Onslaught leaves and all that Unfinished Business stuff starts happening.
If he is Nimrod/MM, we could be looking at the beginning of a Days Of
Future Past kinda thing warming up here. At the very least, his being
N/MM would explain Jean's claim that he's "not there" when she tries to
psi-scan him.
Oh, but I DO agree with you on the 40 page extension thing. ATTN.: MARVEL
-- I LIKE the glossy paper!!!!! I DON'T like HYPE BLOCKS! I nearly
ripped those @^%($ing Siege of Darkness things out of the middle of the
books those few years back when the middle of the book had about a 16 page
insert on that pathetic little attempt to revitalize Ghostie's world. And
you have the nerve to tell us that you're HELPING us! Giving us something
GOOD!! You probably are fooling a lot of the readers. I'm not one of
'em. Marvel has been milking the same hype and the same tightwad attitude
for the last eight years, and the comics industry continues to
inexplicably kiss the Big M's collective ass while ripping them to pieces
verbally at the same time somehow. I think this latest travesty is most
likely due to some slight increase in the paper production costs that
Marvel's budget crew or whatever balked at, and it is the biggest load of
shite I have seen since the first polybagged X-Comic came out.
Of course, loving the characters and stories, I will continue to buy the
books, so Marvel has no incentive to change the format back. They hold
all the cards, and there's not much we can do about it. It's beginning to
severely cheez me off.
ATTN.: RACMXers -- Rant over. Sorry about that :}
Keldroc, Master of the Elements of Water and Air
Official Ninja Wrangler of the Church of X-Books
_________
"The skeleton in the closet is coming home to roost."
-- Tom Stoppard
MarcusJN
>...and my bet on who this Bastion really is:
>Well, visually, with the triangle chest emblem, and pink
>metallic look (with a little Planet of the Apes for uniqueness),
>coupled with a lack of psionic presence and desire to eliminate
>mutants and you have Nimrod, fresh from a trip through the
>Siege Perilous (with Master Mold). Whaddya think?
This makes complete sense. But what about the story in X-Force where
they brought Nimrod back?
Ron Koomas
wrote:
:>6)Senator Kelly said he had no security on the grounds. Not only
:>is this plain silly given the man's notoriety, but back during
:>the Reignfire days in X-Force, we saw that he did.
:
:Actually, I believe that concerned Henry Gyrich, not Robert Kelly.
:
:-Scaramanga, MLF fan
:--
:The Man with the Golden Gun, Craig Lovelace, founder of MAVWWDBN
:Bond: If you're late . . . surely you say, well, Freddie Uncle Charlie
: Katie, If I may put it so as not to offend.
:Tanaka: No, I would say 'shimatta' which means 'I have made a mistake.'
:Bond: Well, I'm . . . astonished! A violent people without a violent
: language! I must write a learned paper on this.
: -from Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice
You are correct sir. That was indeed Henry Gyrinch. I can't seem to keep
my anti-mutant U.S. government types straight. Must have something to
do with that awesome Bruins game I was watching. Thanks for the catch.
BTW, are you a Stryfe-led MLF fan, a Reignfire-led MLF fan, a plain
old MLF fan, or are you tugging my chain?
(Somehow, I don't think you would care at all for that organization
if it didn't at one point have Dani Moonstar as a member. Am I right?)
So Long and Thanks
For All the Fish.
Ron.
Keeper of the Tangerine Flame.
P.S. I am writing this message while listening to my 30th Anniversary
Collection of James Bond songs, which I practically stole ($9.98) last
week-end. Gotta love it.
Katharine Martin
cf...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Ron Koomas) wrote:
>>G'day and Happy Easter/Passover week-end to all. I am just
>>settling into an afternoon of Bruin's hockey (courtesy of
>>Fox who, much to my delight has televised quite a few Bruin
>>games this year - go B's!!).
Pity they've rather bitten the big one this season. But hey, they're not
out of the hunt yet!
>>I will attempt to devote enough attention to type out my
>>thoughts on Uncanny X-Men 333. So without further ado
>>(and while the game hasn't started yet) lets take a look
>>at the three hundred and thirty-third issue of Uncanny X-Men...
>>
>
>>Title: Uncanny X-Men 333
>>Writer: Scott Lobdell
>>Penciller: Perry "Clone King" Ferry
>>Inker: Team X
>>Other people: Team Bucce, R. Starkings & Comicraft & BOB
>My rating system:
>
>XXXXX - five Xs; Instant Classic; eg. Uncanny X-Men 137
>XXXX - four Xs; Very Good; eg. X-Men (vol. 2) 25
>XXX - three Xs; Good; eg. Wolverine 87
>XX - two Xs; Not so good; eg. X-Factor "Judgement War" 43-50
>X - one X; Pathetic; eg. X-Men Unlimited 4
>
>S
>P
>A
>C
>E
>
>>That ought to do it.
>>The Rating: XXX
>>6)Senator Kelly said he had no security on the grounds. Not only
>>is this plain silly given the man's notoriety, but back during
>>the Reignfire days in X-Force, we saw that he did.
>Actually, I believe that concerned Henry Gyrich, not Robert Kelly.
Methinks so.
my question was, and please note I read the book in a hurry, did they _say_
why Kelly is looking so ill? My immediate thought was, he has the Legacy
Virus, that's why he's trying to help 'em out.
But then I scoffed at myself.
But did they say why?
--
Kate Martin jul...@haven.boston.ma.us k...@gnu.ai.mit.edu
"If one cannot catch the bird of paradise, better take a wet hen." -- Kruschev
"When I dare to be powerful -to use my strength in the service of my vision,
then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." -- Audre Lorde
Ron Koomas
:>...and my bet on who this Bastion really is:
Well, even though I have just been corrected on my X-Force knowledge,
I will take a stab at this and say that the Nimrod you are refering to
was a completely original construct based on advanced technology whose
origins had remained a mystery (but was probably suggested as being
left-overs from the original Nimrod). I may be wrong, though.
So Long and Thanks
For All the Fish.
Ron.
Keeper of the Tangerine Flame.
(I should really be working on my review of Cable; my X-employment
project; on responding to my e-mail from the long-week-end, etc...)
Brett A Riley
: >...and my bet on who this Bastion really is:
: >Well, visually, with the triangle chest emblem, and pink
: >metallic look (with a little Planet of the Apes for uniqueness),
: >coupled with a lack of psionic presence and desire to eliminate
: >mutants and you have Nimrod, fresh from a trip through the
: >Siege Perilous (with Master Mold). Whaddya think?
: This makes complete sense. But what about the story in X-Force where
: they brought Nimrod back?
It wasn't "Nimrod", per se, Nimrod left behind a copy of itself
within the government computer network so it could infect the next level
of Sentinels. Where the original Nimrod is, no one knows...
--
--reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away-----
--science is not everything but science is very beautiful-------------------
--it wasn't so very dry i can still feel the warm blood on my hands---------
----------vote cthulhu in '96------------------------------black myron------
The Man with the Golden Gun
>On Tue Apr 9, 1996, The Man with the Golden Gun <CLOV...@indiana.edu>
>wrote:
>
>:>is this plain silly given the man's notoriety, but back during
>:>the Reignfire days in X-Force, we saw that he did.
>:
>:Actually, I believe that concerned Henry Gyrich, not Robert Kelly.
>:-Scaramanga, MLF fan
>
>You are correct sir. That was indeed Henry Gyrinch. I can't seem to keep
>my anti-mutant U.S. government types straight. Must have something to
>do with that awesome Bruins game I was watching. Thanks for the catch.
Not a problem at all. I understand how sports can interfere, as
basketball season really screws me up.
>
>BTW, are you a Stryfe-led MLF fan, a Reignfire-led MLF fan, a plain
>old MLF fan, or are you tugging my chain?
Nah, I like the Reignfire one, just because they had more of a point.
But you know the real reason. :)
>
>(Somehow, I don't think you would care at all for that organization
>if it didn't at one point have Dani Moonstar as a member. Am I right?)
Pretty much.
>
>P.S. I am writing this message while listening to my 30th Anniversary
>Collection of James Bond songs, which I practically stole ($9.98) last
>week-end. Gotta love it.
Yeah. The tape version is excellent, but I prefer the double CD. It has
some cool demos on it too.
-Scaramanga, listening to his at the moment actually.
The Man with the Golden Gun
> Scaramanga wrote:
> cf...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Ron Koomas) wrote:
>
> >>settling into an afternoon of Bruin's hockey (courtesy of
> >>Fox who, much to my delight has televised quite a few Bruin
> >>games this year - go B's!!).
>
> out of the hunt yet!
>
> >>thoughts on Uncanny X-Men 333. So without further ado
> >>(and while the game hasn't started yet) lets take a look
> >>at the three hundred and thirty-third issue of Uncanny X-Men...
> >>
> >
> >>Title: Uncanny X-Men 333
> >>Writer: Scott Lobdell
> >>Penciller: Perry "Clone King" Ferry
> >>Inker: Team X
> >>Other people: Team Bucce, R. Starkings & Comicraft & BOB
>
> >
> >XXXXX - five Xs; Instant Classic; eg. Uncanny X-Men 137
> >XXXX - four Xs; Very Good; eg. X-Men (vol. 2) 25
> >XXX - three Xs; Good; eg. Wolverine 87
> >XX - two Xs; Not so good; eg. X-Factor "Judgement War" 43-50
> >X - one X; Pathetic; eg. X-Men Unlimited 4
> >
> >S
> >P
> >A
> >C
> >E
> >
> >>That ought to do it.
>
> >>The Rating: XXX
>
> why Kelly is looking so ill? My immediate thought was, he has the Legacy
> Virus, that's why he's trying to help 'em out.
Hmm, doubtful, as I think we would definitely know if anyone but Moira
(human, that is) contracted it.
>
> But then I scoffed at myself.
Scoff, Scoff.
>
> But did they say why?
Not that I remember. I think he's just having a nervous breakdown. Or
maybe he's turning into Howard Hughes.
-Scaramanga, reclusive bastard
Ron Koomas
:cf...@FreeNet.Carleton.CA (Ron Koomas) wrote:
< review intro snipped >
:>
:>...and my bet on who this Bastion really is:
:>Well, visually, with the triangle chest emblem, and pink
:>metallic look (with a little Planet of the Apes for uniqueness),
:>coupled with a lack of psionic presence and desire to eliminate
:>mutants and you have Nimrod, fresh from a trip through the
:>Siege Perilous (with Master Mold). Whaddya think?
:
:I think you could be right. Unfortunately, I don't share your optimism
:regarding the B-Man. I really don't wish to start reading about (yet)
:another attempt by humans to wipe out mutants. Of course, this Operation:
:Zero Tolerance will probably turn out to be the main threat after
:Onslaught leaves and all that Unfinished Business stuff starts happening.
:If he is Nimrod/MM, we could be looking at the beginning of a Days Of
:Future Past kinda thing warming up here. At the very least, his being
:N/MM would explain Jean's claim that he's "not there" when she tries to
:psi-scan him.
Well, I, like most other X-fans these days, approach any new
storyline with a certain amount of trepidation, but I think
that this character, if handled right, has considerable
potential (at least more than Ozymandias!).
:Oh, but I DO agree with you on the 40 page extension thing. ATTN.: MARVEL
:-- I LIKE the glossy paper!!!!! I DON'T like HYPE BLOCKS! I nearly
:ripped those @^%($ing Siege of Darkness things out of the middle of the
:books those few years back when the middle of the book had about a 16 page
:insert on that pathetic little attempt to revitalize Ghostie's world. And
:you have the nerve to tell us that you're HELPING us! Giving us something
:GOOD!! You probably are fooling a lot of the readers. I'm not one of
:'em. Marvel has been milking the same hype and the same tightwad attitude
:for the last eight years, and the comics industry continues to
:inexplicably kiss the Big M's collective ass while ripping them to pieces
:verbally at the same time somehow. I think this latest travesty is most
:likely due to some slight increase in the paper production costs that
:Marvel's budget crew or whatever balked at, and it is the biggest load of
:shite I have seen since the first polybagged X-Comic came out.
I agree COM-PLETE-LY. I remember resenting the 'Deluxe' issues
at first (and accompanying price increase) but with the vast
improvements in the colouring (seperation) process, I can't
imagine the X-books (well, except maybe X-Factor) without it.
:Of course, loving the characters and stories, I will continue to buy the
:books, so Marvel has no incentive to change the format back. They hold
:ll the cards, and there's not much we can do about it. It's beginning to
:everely cheez me off.
Ditto.
:TTN.: RACMXers -- Rant over. Sorry about that :}
:eldroc, Master of the Elements of Water and Air
:fficial Ninja Wrangler of the Church of X-Books
:________
:The skeleton in the closet is coming home to roost."
: -- Tom Stoppard
So Long and Thanks
Kristina Sennvik
(intro snipped)
My own intro: Alright, so I'm Grumpy (TM:Duncan Hay). In fact, I've
been waiting for this issue very eagerly for a looong time and now I
feel let down. It doesn't help that my SO came home three hours later
than he promised or that we're out of food (yes, it's in the store,
but I've got to *fetch* it and I don't want to. Sulk ). Maybe I ought
to crosspost this to the suggested racmxc, racmx.complaints or why not
racmx.whining?
For clarity, the review was excellent and if I take out any grumpiness
on it, it's unintentional and I apologise.
>My rating system:
>The Rating: XXX
I didn't figure he looked that unhealthy. Did he? He was unshaved and
had very unfashionable glasses. And an art complaint: Senator Kelly's
ears are significantly below his eyes. That is not usually the case
for Caucasian ears.
>Cut to the Blackbird, hovering over the Pentagon.
>Storm (with her old look), Cannonball, Beast, Iceman, Wolverine,
>Bishop and Prof. X are acting as backup while Jean and Remy go
>undercover to find out what is 'Operation: Zero Tolerance'.
So Sam is growing a beard. I hope earnestly it won't be a goatee. I
like Storm's old look and I see she has no eyeballs, back to normal
(sigh). Her saucer looks like an ashtray, but she has a thing for
modern/post-modern architechture and what's-it-called-in-English,
well, in Sweden we call it "inredning". Anyone else Swedish-speaking,
help me out on this one, it's late...
>is our first look at Bastion, who is apparently in charge of
>an international operation to rid the world of mutants.
>Meanwhile, Archangel, still hurting physically and
>psychologically from his battle with Sabes, is play fighting
>with a recuperating Betsy, who appears to be going through yet
>another (at least partial) metamorphosis.
I wondered about why they were play fighting, but I can understand
that she needs a little self-confidence back. Still, if Warren cares
so much about Betsy, why doesn't she care a bit about him? If he's
hurting he shouldn't be fighting, play or not. Art complaint: Asians
*don't* have visible eye-lashes, I know this, I am Asian. I'm not
going to complain about impossibly thin waists...but anyone who has
seen an Asian up close...well, maybe not. For anyone who's confused;
yes, Sweden is still in Europe, I'm adopted, ok?
>A very large humanoid
>suddenly shunts into reality, stunning both Psylocke and
>Archangel.
Aa looks a little like Death before he's stunned.
I wasn't aware that there was anything wrong with Psylocke's *psyche*.
I thought she had been gutted. Suddenly her *psyche* is healing. Good
for her, 'cause mine isn't.
<snip for brevity>
>. Elsewhere, Psylocke and
>Warren come to, only to be staring into the eyes of this rather
>threatening, enormous looking individual who had so suddenly
>appeared before them (Juggs, I think).
Me too.
>The Good:
>Well, this turned out to be an average issue, despite its
>problems, due to Mr. Lobdell's solid, well paced story. The
>story benefited from some key plot advancements, a nice mix of
>action and intrigue and attention to detail (something we don't
>see nearly enough of in most X-books these days).
>What I liked:
<snip>
>2)Mr. Lobdell's take on Senator Kelly. He is clearly (and the
>role fits) a lamb among wolves when it comes to handling the
>Mutant Situation, and his appeal to Cyclops was handled well.
>(I especially enjoyed his rationalisation of all his anti-mutant
>actions, as 'tools' designed to stop the madness -which in the end
>only worsened it)
It's the lamb among the wolves everyone ought to fear. The meek shall
inherit the earth, you know, and they seem to be going strong.
>3) The introduction of Bastion: Finally, we are introduced to a
>cool-looking villain with mystery, a clear goal, and no apparent
>connection to Sinister, AoA or Apocalypse.
Yes! Can it be true? Or will he be someone's sister, brother, mother
or a Summers or a St. Croix?
>
>4)The details: - having almost the whole team on a mission.
> (when was the last time THAT happened?)
The numerous back-up seems a bit too numerous to me.
> - Storm making reference to X-Force's exploits
> while talking to Sammy
That's nice.
> - Dark Beast getting 'caught' in a situation where
> he could not play the part; his recovery thanks
> to Iceman, and Wolvie's suspicious look
> - reference to Forge's handiwork in equipping the
> federal government with mutant-related technology
All references are good.
> - the Warren and Betsy interlude (it is good to
> see that despite their being off the team, they
> are being ignored)
I'll reserve judgment until I see how this story turns out. Maybe I'll
wish they had been ignored later.
> - Graydon Creed's shadowy involvement in this whole
> affair. Let him stick to politics and acts of
> terrorism, because he makes a lame confrontational
> type villain.
He does indeed.
>
>The Bad:
<snip>
>2)The first page narration contained a major bobo. Mr. Lobdell
>states that Senator Kelly's wife died as a result of a 'mutant
>terrorist attack'. Ummm, Scott, Kelly's wife died as a result
>of the X-Men's battle with the Master Mold, and even if the
>narration was presented as Kelly's personal thoughts, even he
>would have known and accepted that by now.
Maybe not. He constructed it as the X-Men's fault back then. No wonder
if he's been moving around his memories to fit what he believed to
have happened.
>3)Where did the X-Men get their hands on military uniforms and
>I.D.s that would allow them access to this super-secret meeting
>anyway? And don't tell me Shi'ar technology!
Sorry, it's the answer to every question involving technicalities,
when you can't say "mutant power" (Forge).
>4) It is nice and everything to give Archangel more to angst
>about, but why doesn't he at least attempt to get his wings
>mended (and howcum that ointment treatment from his B&W special
>hasn't done the trick!)
His B&W may not have happened yet...
Hope it does soon, bc his angst is starting to grate on my nerves!
I think he should go back to easy-going play-boy for a while, he has
filled up his angst quota for years to come. Relax, Wings. You're
young, rich, handsome (?) and you've got a girlfriend thousands of
fan-boys envy you. Even if her newly acquired tattoo looks silly,
remember, it could be worse.
>5)Storm supposedly has a new look. So where is it?
We seek it here, we seek it there...
>6)Senator Kelly said he had no security on the grounds. Not only
>is this plain silly given the man's notoriety, but back during
>the Reignfire days in X-Force, we saw that he did.
It's clearly a conspiration. Strip the man of support, money and
stylists.
>...and my bet on who this Bastion really is:
>Well, visually, with the triangle chest emblem, and pink
>metallic look (with a little Planet of the Apes for uniqueness),
>coupled with a lack of psionic presence and desire to eliminate
>mutants and you have Nimrod, fresh from a trip through the
>Siege Perilous (with Master Mold). Whaddya think?
Noooo!
I mean, yes, I could think that, but I don't like to think it!
Thanks for lettting me vent.
(As if you had a choice)
Tina
Katharine Martin
jul...@flash-gordon.haven.boston.ma.us (Katharine Martin) wrote:
> Scaramanga wrote:
Spoiler space removed because, um, er, nevermind, it's going back in.
>>my question was, and please note I read the book in a hurry, did they
>>_say_ why Kelly is looking so ill? My immediate thought was, he has the
>>Legacy Virus, that's why he's trying to help 'em out.
>Hmm, doubtful, as I think we would definitely know if anyone but Moira
>(human, that is) contracted it.
How? He could be sick and not have told anyone, because he might assume
people'd think he was a mutant and all that. Given as this IS analagous to
AIDS when it first came up, it'd make sense if people hid it.
>> But then I scoffed at myself.
>Scoff, Scoff.
Thanks, but I cand o it myself.
>> But did they say why?
>Not that I remember. I think he's just having a nervous breakdown. Or
>maybe he's turning into Howard Hughes.
He'd have to be WAY more reclusive than THAT to turn into Hughes. And have
OCD he didn't even _try_ to control.
-kate, who rather feels sorry for Hughes
--
Kate Martin jul...@haven.boston.ma.us k...@gnu.ai.mit.edu
"The right chaos, and the right vagueness, are jointly required
for any effective harmony." --A.N. Whitehead.
"Nothing has yet been said that's not been said before." -- Terence, 190-159 BC
The Man with the Golden Gun
> C. Loelace wrote:
> jul...@flash-gordon.haven.boston.ma.us (Katharine Martin) wrote:
> > Scaramanga wrote:
>
> Spoiler space removed because, um, er, nevermind, it's going back in.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >>my question was, and please note I read the book in a hurry, did they
> >>_say_ why Kelly is looking so ill? My immediate thought was, he has the
> >>Legacy Virus, that's why he's trying to help 'em out.
>
> >Hmm, doubtful, as I think we would definitely know if anyone but Moira
> >(human, that is) contracted it.
>
> How? He could be sick and not have told anyone, because he might assume
> people'd think he was a mutant and all that. Given as this IS analagous to
> AIDS when it first came up, it'd make sense if people hid it.
Well, I bet we'd have at least heard something through 'tabloidish' news
about it. You know, seeing Hank relaxing, laughing at Hard Copy, and
suddenly we hear that . . .
>
> >> But then I scoffed at myself.
>
> >Scoff, Scoff.
>
> Thanks, but I cand o it myself.
Spoilsport. :)
>
> >> But did they say why?
>
> >Not that I remember. I think he's just having a nervous breakdown. Or
> >maybe he's turning into Howard Hughes.
>
> He'd have to be WAY more reclusive than THAT to turn into Hughes. And have
> OCD he didn't even _try_ to control.
Well, yeah, but I kept waiting for him to mention the germs . . .
>
>
> -kate, who rather feels sorry for Hughes
-Scaramanga, reminded of that cartoon with the 'great admirer of Hughes'
--
The Man with the Golden Gun, Craig Lovelace, founder of MAVWWDBN
Priest: Excuse me, sir, it's your office. They said it's an
emergency . . .
Bond: Yes. It usually is.
-from Ian Fleming's For Your Eyes Only
Rest In Peace, John. You will be missed.
Jason Burton
jul...@flash-gordon.haven.boston.ma.us says...
> Spoiler space removed because, um, er, nevermind, it's going back in.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> >>my question was, and please note I read the book in a hurry, did they
> >>_say_ why Kelly is looking so ill? My immediate thought was, he has >
>>the Legacy Virus, that's why he's trying to help 'em out.
>
> >Hmm, doubtful, as I think we would definitely know if anyone but Moira
> >(human, that is) contracted it.
>
> How? He could be sick and not have told anyone, because he might assume
> people'd think he was a mutant and all that. Given as this IS analagous
You know, when I'm extremely anxious, from fear for example, I
begin to get a little sick. Irregular, violent bowel movements, irregular
breathing and heart beat, and pale clammy skin for example. I'm not sick
from a virus or anything, just showing those symptoms as a physical
manifestation of the anxiety. I think that's what's happening here to
Kelly. To put it bluntly he's scared s**tless.
Jason Burton
Keeper of the Jaime Munoz flame
Kevin White
might be a post-Siege Master Mold/Nimrod. A reasonable assumption, but
here's another. What if he's...
...a Mark II Sentinel? I may have the marque number wrong, but in
short they are/were physically much smaller than the classic sentinel and
able to pass as humans, while retaining some combat capabilities. Sort of
the precursors to the Nimrod Project. Unfortunately, I don't have any
issues that involve them, so I would appreciate anyone's input on the
topic.
--
Kevin White - Smith Revivalist - whit...@uidaho.edu
"Hey Gamera, I'll see you soon!" - Kenny
"Kenny; get bent!" - Gamera(voice by Crow T. Robot)
Eivind Gladheim Oestreng
>>My rating system:
>>The Rating: XXX
>>Cut to the Blackbird, hovering over the Pentagon.
>>Storm (with her old look), Cannonball, Beast, Iceman, Wolverine,
>>Bishop and Prof. X are acting as backup while Jean and Remy go
>>undercover to find out what is 'Operation: Zero Tolerance'.
>So Sam is growing a beard. I hope earnestly it won't be a goatee. I
>like Storm's old look and I see she has no eyeballs, back to normal
>(sigh). Her saucer looks like an ashtray, but she has a thing for
>modern/post-modern architechture and what's-it-called-in-English,
>well, in Sweden we call it "inredning". Anyone else Swedish-speaking,
>help me out on this one, it's late...
I'm speaking Norwegian, so this probably will not help, but...
What does Ororo's sence of architecture/decorating have to do with
anything? Most likely it was Charles that desided that the desition
on which cups and side-plates to use was best left to someone else
entierly. Someone named Pascaul Ferry and Team Bucce perhaps?
>>is our first look at Bastion, who is apparently in charge of
>>an international operation to rid the world of mutants.
>>Meanwhile, Archangel, still hurting physically and
>>psychologically from his battle with Sabes, is play fighting
>>with a recuperating Betsy, who appears to be going through yet
>>another (at least partial) metamorphosis.
>I wondered about why they were play fighting, but I can understand
>that she needs a little self-confidence back. Still, if Warren cares
>so much about Betsy, why doesn't she care a bit about him? If he's
>hurting he shouldn't be fighting, play or not. Art complaint: Asians
>*don't* have visible eye-lashes, I know this, I am Asian. I'm not
>going to complain about impossibly thin waists...but anyone who has
>seen an Asian up close...well, maybe not. For anyone who's confused;
>yes, Sweden is still in Europe, I'm adopted, ok?
The only thing is, Betsy isn't 100% asian, now is she?
>>A very large humanoid
>>suddenly shunts into reality, stunning both Psylocke and
>>Archangel.
>Aa looks a little like Death before he's stunned.
>I wasn't aware that there was anything wrong with Psylocke's *psyche*.
>I thought she had been gutted. Suddenly her *psyche* is healing. Good
>for her, 'cause mine isn't.
Now I'm completly confused. Will someone clue me in on
what exactly happened to Elizabeth.
- So speakesth the Warped One, Ghost of the Church of Xbooks,
wielder of the multi-colored Captain Ultra flame.
****************************************************************************
* Eivind Gladheim Oestreng * eivi...@sn.no * provider of the lutefisk *
Duncan Hay
>
>My own intro: Alright, so I'm Grumpy (TM:Duncan Hay).
>Tina
>
Thank you for respecting my grumpiness.
I'm still grumpy, but it's a little more mellow.
Speaking of Psylocke "Ninja's were very cool once!" and
her love of action, 1st time she took on Sabertooth UXM #213
she got seven kinds of shit kicked out of her, next time
they met she fried his tiny mind in one panel UXM #24?.
With that experience she still tried going hand to hand with him?
They have to keep showing her, or else another of the X-girls will
suddenly develop a love of action and skimpy outfits.
Duncan Hay
'You know what'