2.2 (367) Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #199 ... Marvel ...

And after inspecting the issue that came after 200, we go backwards to one issue before 200 to see if this issue is equally as good as ... naturally for me it IS a huge RESOUNDING YES. I have read this several times including enjoying that awesome, awesome cover of Rachel as Phoenix arising!

Yes, in this issue, Rachel, not Jean or her clones, is Phoenix

What's really important here is that of the quieter moments. Sure we see Magneto and the rest of the regular X-team helter-skelter running around and preparing to be in Europe for the trial and having challenges from bitch Mystique and Freedom Force

But what's important here is when we see Rachel coming to finally finding peace within her as she goes to Jean's parents house ... and finding the sphere that contains the remembrances (and perhaps a little essence?) of Jean ... and finally ... finally accepting the fact that she may be from a divergent timeline or universe but without doubt, she has the powers and the force that is the Phoenix!

Awesome!

Ratings: 8/10

365 ONE YEAR OF REVIEWS Uncanny X-Men vol 1 #200 ... Marvel ...

Woooooowiiieee this is our 365th review and this means we have a year's worth of issues ... well the actual time period is slightly more than a year ... as in the past, we were not regular but now we would post a bunch of review in batch format ... and merely set it forward on a daily basis kind of like how real magazines are done and the dates are usually in the future! Hehehe!

And for this 365th we have to choose a comic that is not only special for its time but for us. X-Men 200th was great on several reasons and here are the reasons:

1. It's a celebration issue with double sized story telling. I remembered the ads and reviews saying that to get the location and all that correct, some of the Marvel crew even travelled to Paris!

2. It's a celebration issue that the young me managed to snag from the newsagent instead of via back issue bins similar to Hulk 300. So it's a big deal

3. At that time, X-Men had been consistently on top of the comic charts beating out current champs the Avengers and perennial competitors DC

And with all that, penciller JR JR is coming into his own with his stylized lines although I have to admit that it didn't work that well here because the scenes are usually in bright broad daylight. So nothing much for JR to lay his lines on

Anyway, as the story indicates, by this time, Magneto was on his first big reform as a good guy (current readers will think this is no big deal) ... because at that time, Magneto had never been a good guy until after the Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars where he returned and stayed with the X-Men helping out with the NMutants though not many will agree to his presence

Here, finally, the good guys in the form of Freedom Force (ex-Brotherhood of Mutants) caught up with him (and he surrendered) ... and he decided he wanted to be shown another side of him ... he wanted to be able to have a good platform for his voice and reasoning to be heard. So the court case will be moved to Paris with an international panel of jury to hear him out. Naturally being such a high profile case, the court room and outside are full of tension ...

And in the midst of all these, as Magneto and those within make their grand speeches to which we as readers are privy too ... outside to ensure we have a chance for some action we get to see new villains Fenris, pair of twins, coming making their plans to attack the court case

SPOILER ALERT

Though we are given the motives of the twins' attack, it never sounded convincing. Their subsequent appearance in the mutant world is much better and showed us just how callous and nasty these 2 can be but here ... feels flat

SPOILER ALERT

The ending is touching when all came tumbling down and that final speech between Xavier and Magnus? Solid!

Ratings: 8/10 (could be higher with different artist)

321. X-Men vol 1 #226 ... Marvel ...

When I wrote or rather typed X-Men at the top of the title, I am referring to the adjectiveless X-Men that was launched because of Jim Lee's star turn at Marvel. However, after issue 200+, thanks to all the mess that was going on, this title even morphed further to become X-Men Legacy although the numbering continued kind of like when Morrison was onboard in the 100+ and it became New X-Men!

Sigh!

Anyway, by the time Legacy rolled around, you had best be an active follower of all main X titles because if not, holy shit, will you have no idea what the F is going on. I am a 30-year reader of the X-titles and have hundreds well thousands of X comics and still got lost because I didn't follow much from around 200 and I do not read the rest of the X titles much too at that time

So let's do the WTF twists shall we? The cover has Danger? WTF? Danger is a sentient intelligence of the X team's training room called Danger Room. Apparently no one knew she became sentient and she gave the Astonishing X-Men team murder. So WTF when did she join them?

Anyway this issue is right smacked in after Civil War when Osborn became the ruler of everything while even Assembling a Dark Avengers team ... yes they Darked most relevant titles ... and at this juncture, a team from Osborn is sent out to take down or take in anyone who is not registered and has powers

So naturally Cyclops and team come to the aid of their younger charges who were caught in the crossfire and boy life is not going to be easy as this is a tougher than expected fire fight! And basically that's it. The remainder or 3/4 of the issue is one long fight

Ratings: 5/10

302. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars vol 1 #1 ... Marvel (naturally) ...

Well, with the impending arrival of this year's main Marvel event where Marvel will ape DC by having a company wide event that will obliterate all their existing titles (more or less) and restart everything else, including using the title and concept of a limited series from their past (imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, eh?) ... so it is only timely that we review the first volume (of which there are 3)

And basically, in this first issue, we are shown that all those heroes who encountered that huge alien device on Earth only to disappear upon walking through its entrance have reappeared in a planet far, far, far away from home

And they are not alone

We have the FF, Avengers, XMen and a ton of villains and to top it all off, even Galactus is brought forth. And while everyone is puzzled and fearful, a voice boomed forth from out of nowhere ... asking them to defeat their foes ... and this said voice will grant them whatever their wish is

Naturally, immediately sides are drawn as parties try to see who will compromise and work with whom best ... will Magneto join the villains or the X-Men? Will the X-Men join the Avengers? Will Spider who at this point in time is still a loner join anyone? And what about Galactus?

With that to lead us off, Marvel knows that we are going to look forward to the future issues as the potential for huge slam-bang action scenes are outlined even though the premise is kind of weak ...

Ratings: 7/10