2.62 (427) Thor vol 1 #350 ... Marvel ...

I am ashamed of myself as a reviewer. I just did a check on my archives and realized that out of the many reviews I have posted online, I failed to include 350 and 351 when in truth, they are amongst the most awesome issues in Thor chronicles ever!

So ... here it is ... the big 350 ... what is shocking at the time of its initial publication was that while it is a landmark issue and a huge chapter in the lives of the Asgardian as Ragnarok came a calling, it was done as any other normal sized issues. No specials within, no extra remarks, no extra pages ... Walter Simonson gave his best from stories to artwork and that's it and if truth be said, there were at times too many word balloons that it made some of the panels looked bare ... especially the ones where the camera lense angle is zooming out while the words remain the same size and thus eclipse the artwork

However, that is but a minor gripe

Overall, all the DOOM DOOM DOOM sound effects and ominous hints that has been building for the past year and many panels come to a head here as Thor and his allies both in Asgard and on Earth braced themselves for war when the sons of Muspelheim attack earth. These are fire demons and they come through huge dimensional gates appearing across the globe

So it's sheer size and immense madness!

So we have Surtur of the Flame, Malekith of the Dark Elves who has successfully brought the casket of ancient winters to Earth and giving Earth a perpetual winter storm and finally ... everything is but a ruse ... the war is not on Earth merely the battle ... and by the time Thor realizes this ... could it be too late?

Ratings: 8/10

2.37 (402) New Mutants vol 1 #29 to 31 ... Marvel ...

Do you remember some of the weird lame ass seeming characters introduced in the Dazzler and Beast mini-series, Beauty and the Beast? Well, if you don't, no one blames you as it certainly wasn't significant except for a guy who claims to be the real life heir of Doctor Doom NO SPOILER ALERT

Anyway this 3-parter is so good that it rightly deserves its own individual reviews rather than smushed into one like this but ...

#29 - as the cover shows, some of the mutants are "kidnapped" and forced to fight in the Arena against the gladiators who happened to be in the BB mini-series. For those who read this when it first came out, the first reaction would naturally be WTF? Because when that ended, the Mutants had learnt to be free of Doom wannabe and supposedly gone to a better lifestyle than this. So what gives, eh? And o yes, naturally, this is the perfect excuse to introduce Alison Blaire to this title

#30 - next issue, Alison is back and fighting to be top dog of this vehicle or so it seems. Is she slipping back into style because she misses the high of being a performer after her big expose as a mutant forbid her from being an on-stage singer? Or is she merely pretending? And amidst all these, Magneto comes onboard to offer them an out. Remember that last X-Men movie where he ripped a huge stadium shaped thingie? He does that here. And that's how this issue earned its crossover to SW2 but the question on your mind is who the F is running the show since it is most definitely not baby Doom anymore

#31 - the big reveal NO SPOILER ALERT and it is shown on the arty cover as the baddie is ... the first of the Mutants, Karma except she is no longer that shy, lacking in self confidence Vietnamese girl but a hugely bloated bitch. Naturally when faced with overwhelming odds, she bolted and the Mutants are free. Except that since she was once one of them, they decided that they needed to find her and rescue her from herself in need be. O glorious heroics eh? Hahahahahah! We also bid a fond farewell to Bill S with this issue

Ratings: 8/10

2.36 (401) New Mutants vol 1 #23 to 25 ... Marvel ...

We kick off our next 100th reviews (fingers crossed and all that) by taking a plunge back to the 80s with the first spin-off mutant titles. Yes, there was a time when each title had its own identity and was told for a looooooooooong spell without relaunches and a spin off only comes around when it makes story telling sense

The New Mutants as the title indicates are young people who come into their abilities and brought in by Prof X not to be heroes like X-Men but to learn both normal lessons and how to control their abilities so that they can rejoin the greater world outside ... but as it is still people in costumes there will be the occasional foray into superheroics

What is entertaining is that from issue 17 onwards most of the stories are told in 3-issue arcs and with awesome cover art by Bill S. The interiors are also done by him but almost a different style especially with the heavier inking making everything look moody and muddled

In this 3 issue arc after issue 22's breather told in one, we see the youngest of the team, Rahne Sinclair (the werewolf girl) and Roberto DaCosta (Sunspot) ... being embroiled in something totally unexpected SPOILER ALERT ... drugs! Experimental drugs to be more precise with the ability to bring out the worse in people, super or regular

And naturally the Marvel heroes who are generally involved in anything drugs is Cloak and Dagger - she is a mistress of light who dances and shoots a light beam that can freeze her opponents amongst other things while he has a teleporting cloak that can grow and envelope many things and people and also chill his opponents

At this juncture, some may be confused about the origins of C and D and to be honest, so are we. At first, they are regular kids who got involved in drugs that transformed them. Over the years and different writers, in order to boost their popularity, there was at one time stated that they were mutants as well and the drugs merely knocked the power out of them or some such. So one has to wonder eh? But at this point in their storylines, they were NOT mutants

And so you have it!

Of course once the rest of the team realizes what is going on, they rush in to help and all sorts of mayhem ensues. As for supporting cast, we have a "preacher" who assists. All in all, a very "mature" sort of storyline involving the junior members of the X-team. And over the course of their series, basically that's the type of stories you get ... the villains are less colourful


than the X-Men and more grounded

Ratings: 8/10