2.70 (435) X-Factor vol 1 #31 ... Marvel ...

The last time we did an X-Factor was in the 200++ review so it's high time we jump back into this particular corner of the Marvel Mutant-verse and this issue is part of an ongoing chapter in the crossover of that era - Inferno

And that is one heck of an awesome crossover where the various individual titles have threads and characters from over the years slowly being pulled back together into one major storyline. It felt natural not forced upon. Example: We have Magik from the New Mutants who powers have come to fruition as the Dark Childe and of course Magik originally encountered demons like N'astirh from Uncanny X-Men and here in this side for X-Factor is Cyclops' wife

She was missing and suspected in deep depression etc after Scott left her for the returning Jean Grey. However, she is unfortunate as we soon found out that she may be a clone of Jean and hence the physical resemblance

What is not clearly explained (or at least not to this reviewer) is how an ordinary human woman didn't do much but can suddenly be transformed into a magical being who is so powerful. Here in this particular issue is where she finally accepted her darker side entirely willing to sacrifice all in order to open the gate for all the demons to pour onto our plane of existence

How awesome is that?!?!?!

Ratings: 7/10

2.69 (434) X-Force vol 2 #2 ... Marvel ...

Thanks to those who pvt msg us, we return with the second review on this run of the X-Force characters and this time, we are not going to bitch about the artwork because Clayton continued in this vein for the rest of his tenure

In chapter 2, there are three main things of note. They follow hot on the heels of issue 1 but 3 and here are the three:

1. Wolfsbane - Rahne - is captured by the Purifiers. Why? Because even though she looks feral in her werewolf stage, she is supposedly the nice one owing to her upbringing and thus is the damsel in distress. Unfortunately while rescuing her, the X-Force team had no idea what was done to her while she was in captivity

2. X 23 - we see Laura as how she is meant to be. Focused. Obsessed with the objective and thus makes her more effective than Logan and Warpath and she proved it here in buckets as she let nothing turned her aside and boy is she nasty! Awesome fight scenes!

3. Magus - yaaaay we see the return of Warlock's daddy. Warlock of the New Mutants not of the Thanos and Silver Surfer and here is one mean daddy who the Purifiers decided to retrieve from where he was last seen for their future uses (ominous bells are a tolling)

So as you can see, you get a lot of story for your dollars!

Ratings: 7/10 (again would be higher if not for the artwork)

2.68 (433) Thor vol 2 #19 ... Marvel ...

Firstly, our apologies for hopping back on the Thor bandwagon but be patient, readers as this is a one-issue blip. Why are we doing this? Because as we are reorganizing our comics box, this is the first issue that came up

Anyway, during the hot run by Jurgens and Romita, apparently all those chunky simple linework actually takes more time for Romita than can be expected. So every now and then, like this issue, there is a filler artist which is just DAMN annoying

Michael Ryan ... is ... umm ... he isn't bad and in his own work, way in Image or Wildstorm as I cannot really recall ... he is acceptable but here ... even though it is a monthly comic it is jarring1

This issue is a continuation from waaaaaaay back in issue 1 with many subplots continuing to be developed and the primary thrust is as per the cover. So in short, you may find it confusing but it may also be interesting enough for you to go pull out the old discount bins

For here, we see Loki's plan continuing afoot as he dares to travel and bargain with all sorts of denizen from netherworld to release one ... ex human host or ties to Thor. But why? Well, that last page? Wow so unexpected and while we do not know if said human host is under Loki's influence, if you are a regular reader you will know that there is already suspicion on his character

And on the main cards, we see Thor and Odin, finally swallow some male pride as they accepted a helping hand from a human who is a lady to boot in the form of Scarlet Witch. She helps them burst free from their trap and then together confront the three Kirby-inspired looking baddies one of whom has been lately manipulating Thor's hammer by inhabiting within ala the Destroyer - yes, yes, yes - very confusing like we said but o so much fun!

Ratings: 7/10 (would have been higher if it was full JR Jr)

2.67 (432) Supreme Power Nighthawk #2 ... Marvel ...

Steve Dillon is one of the few artists whose sparse linework actually appeals to me. If you do not know his work, check out Punisher or Preacher and you can see it. He doesn't do too many fancy camera angles and in fact keeps it almost eye level and yet ... or perhaps it is because he is always paired with awesome writers who goes way over the top with violence when Dillon is onboard?

Whatever the reason, this issue rocks

For those not in the know, apparently this version of Nighthawk is from a parallel universe where a minor Marvel team called Supreme whatever has been reimagined ... as I am not a fan or have much knowledge of that first team, this was fine with me and apparently this is a spin off

In this issue, 2 of 6, we see psycho mild-mannered chap finally breaking out of prison where he has been apparently locked away and mentally zoned into coma like state .... where it was all pretence and he has decided to up the ante with immediate effect. You see, in his normal un-psycho part of life, he is a chemist. So ... he begins

And at this stage, Nighthawk is a rich angry young man who goes about trying to right the wrongs in his owl-like suit, kicking ass and hurling irons (I know, I know - it's comics)

Naturally when we see drug users starting to OD and blood gushing out everywhere we know who to suspect but hey they are drug pushers and users ... but is that the true extent, the scope of our madman's plan or is there something even more sinister at work?

And for that, you need the next issue - simply entertaining!

Ratings: 7/10

2.66 (431) X-Force vol 1 #19 ... Marvel ...

Okay we were going to stop on X-Force after that last review but what the heck? When we saw this, we just had to do it because X-Force from day 1 has been about grim and gritty, teeth bared and posing in impossible poses while supposedly jumping into the thick of battle. So this issue is a HUGE switch of pace

Here we see the epilogue after a 3-issues mutant crossover of that era called Executioner's Song wherein the mysterious new bad guy named Stryfe finally goes all out against the entire world only to finally be stopped by the entire X-teams combined along with some other villains. Now in the aftermath of all that nonsense, we see that misunderstanding and mistrust runs rampant between X-Force and the rest of the mutant teams

And in de facto field leader, Cannonball who was always the insecure one in New Mutants and later on, the lame one in X-Men ... well here not only did he fight for the philosophy of the X-force team and his mates ... but he ultimately became a man and a hero here when he dared challenge the Professor's dream and philosophy ... between the open hand (prof x) and the closed fist (cannonball) ...

You have to read this to understand what I meant by the last sentence. Worth your time

Ratings: 7/10

2.65 (430) X-Force vol 1 #15 ... Marvel ...

For those who are not following the first version of X-Force, you may not know of Tolliver. He is a shadowy guy in the background supposedly rich and powerful and trying to do mysterious things of which we are never shown and thus never understand him until his demise

His demise SPOILER ALERT begins and ends here and after this, it continues as a scavenger hunt in a Deadpool limited series. Even that while interesting ... is like the saying where the journey is more interesting than the ending itself

Ah well ...

But what made this great is the cover! We have huge fight scene between Cable and Deadpool with everyone not knowing whether Cable made it out alive at the end or not (come on!)

So basically finally using his brains, Cable figured that all his shit stems from Deadpool who is working for Tolliver. Tolliver has captured Cable's ex-team member the real Domino and Cable decides that it is time for him to bring the beatdown and here he comes, clunky armor and guns and what-not!

Ratings: 7/10

2.64 (429) X-force vol 2 #1 ... Marvel ...

Just when you thought comics couldn't get any darker, here comes a relaunched X-Force but I have to admit, this version is just awesome because here we get to see, no holds barred, the darker side of what the mutants especially Wolverine titles have been promising for years. In short, you get blood and gore and every issue is filled with such "fun"

About the only challenge here is actually the artwork. I like Crain and his digital works just fine but dude it is still artwork regardless of medium or tools used. Here everything is too dark and muddy. It feels like a cheap copy of a B-grade horror movie if you know what I mean

However, the storyline is just plain awesome

We open up with Cyclops telling Wolverine he has finally decided that there is a need for the kind of shitstorm that Wolverine always talked about and this took Wolvie by surprise (love the banter). However, Wolverine is not too keen on who has been assembled. So why the change in style for Cyclops?

Because the so-called humans have upped their game plan with something larger in mind and is now busy even killing other humans to get at some sort of ultimate weapon. So NO SPOILER ALERT here because it is that awesome a storyline but who are the bad guys?

Well we have all the various factions of humans against mutants including Bastion, Magus, Donald Pierce, Graydon Creed, Cameron Hodge, William Stryker and Matthew Risman ... is that enough for you?

When you reached the final page, all I can say is that this issue sure isn't padded!

Ratings: 8/10 (would have rate higher if not for the artwork inside)