Second Coming (chapter 11)
Written by: Zeb Wells
Art by: Ibraim Roberson, Lan Medina and Nathan Fox
Colored by: Brian Reber, Matt Milla and Jose Villarubia
Lettered by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover by: Adi Granov
Associate Editor: Daniel Ketchum
Editor: Nick Lowe
Published by: Marvel Comics
Xavier enters the mind of his son, David (Legion) Haller, to prepare him to help the X-Men. In the real world, Cyclops deputizes every mutant present as X-Men…the dome trapping them and the nimrods arriving every few minutes means that every individual must come together, to “Fight or die.” Meanwhile, Rogue and Hope share a moment, as Colossus and Namor have their hands full holding the Golden Gate Bridge against Nimrods. In the future, the X-Force contingent has their hands full with their own problems…including multiple Master Molds. Back in the present, Hank McCoy–Beast–says his goodbyes as he prepares to enter the fray, and another player joins the battle.
The multiple artists / multiple colorists team is quite noticeable, and while in some ways it’s distracting, it’s also fitting to the story, as we’re dealing with several very different locales: David Haller’s mindscape, the X-Men in present day, and X-Force in a dark future. I’m not particularly a fan of any of the art–the only issues of this series I’ve bought have been whatever issues were earlier chapters of Second Coming–and offhand I don’t even recognize the artists’ names from any of their previous work that I might have seen. Of the differing visuals, the most off-putting is David Haller’s mind…but that seems intentional, and works well. The future scenes with X-Force are fairly slick, and I do like the distinctiveness. The present-day scenes are probably my favorites.
The story seems fairly simple and generic in that this is “just” another chapter in the ongoing crossover Second Coming. This continues from the previous chapter, and leads into the next chapter; we get forward movement in the crossover, but as a shared story, there’s not a whole lot moving whatever the New Mutants story is along, that I can tell. Again, as with the art…this isn’t a bad thing…perhaps because I have no real interest in this title standing alone, don’t know the newer characters, and picked this up as Second Coming Chapter 11 rather than New Mutants #14. Despite that, I really don’t feel lost–and the unfamiliarity is something I expected for this story, since I barely touched the X-books after Messiah Complex. I enjoyed the interaction with Rogue and Hope–the characters seem well suited for each other, and could make for an interesting friendship in future issues.
All in all, another solid chapter of Second Coming. I’m not yet sold on whatever the story is that’ll immediately follow this arc’s conclusion, nor the next big story with the vampires. Still, this keeps me interested in Second Coming, and I’m very, very interested to see what unfolds next week. This issue’s cliffhanger also reminds me somewhat thematically of the season finale to the first season of the 1990s X-Men animated series.
If you’ve already been following New Mutants, or are following the Second Coming main story, this is not an issue to be missed. If you’re not following this, you’ll probably be better off waiting for the next arc.
Story: 8/10
Art: 8/10
Overall: 8/10
Filed under: Comic Reviews 2010, MARVEL, Marvel Universe, New Mutants, X-Men: Second Coming (Event) | Tagged: Adi Granov, Brian Reber, cable, Comic Reviews, Daniel Ketchum, Hope, Ibraim Roberson, Joe Caramagna, Jose Villarubia, Lan Medina, MARVEL, Marvel Comics, Matt Milla, Nathan Fox, New Mutants, Nick Lowe, Second Coming, x-force, x-men, x-men: second coming, Zeb Wells | Leave a comment »
Writer: Victor Gischler
Writer: Daniel Way
Writer: Christopher Long
Killer Queen
X-Men – Second Coming: Prepare #1 – I got back into the X-Men comics for a short time a couple years back for the Messiah Complex story. I don’t think I even really meant to, but I wound up picking up the one-shot that kicked the story off, and found myself interested enough to follow it through the various books. I even followed some of the books for a short time after, taking in the new direction of the X-Men stuff (and the milestone issues of X-men and Uncanny X-Men). I passed on Messiah War, though I still hold some small hope at eventually acquiring the hardback to get to read that story. This preview is very underwhelming in and of itself, but the preview art, the slight bit of characterization given of Wolverine, Cyclops, Magneto, and Cable pricked something within me that now has me on the fence about picking up this arc. The “reference materials” in the back of this issue seem to be reprinted from various other works–though as those had been freebies as well, I’m not bothered by it, and they are pertinent to this current stuff. This was a free issue, and there’s a chance it might have done its hoped-for job with me. Time will tell.
Superman #697 – I’m tired of the current Mon-El stuff. I don’t care for the costume–at all, not just the recent changes–and the way the character’s been handled…I just don’t care for the character. There’s not a huge case of dislike, just a case of disinterest. I feel like I SHOULD like the character, but I don’t. This is yet antoher issue of Superman in which Mon-El is the stand-in, though we do see a bit of personality and authenticity here when he admits that he wasn’t ready to take Superman’s place. Though the story and art are not to my liking in general–they just don’t appeal to me–possibly my largest complaint is the gratuitous near-nudity, and general explicitness of a sexual relationship Mon-El’s involved in, which seems to be something that wouldn’t be shown in such detail between Superman and Lois, and does not strike me as something that needs to be anything more than alluded to in general. It looks like Adventure Comics (#8 continues the story from this issue) is becoming little more than an extension of this book…but if that speeds getting this story over with and Superman back into his own title, I’ll be more than happy for that.
Deadpool #20 – After what has seemed at points to be longer than 4 weeks but less than 8 weeks between issues, this title now has reached a 3-parter being told in 3 weeks of 3 consecutive issues. Though I enjoy Deadpool, and am leaning toward a consideration of choosing a single Deadpool title to follow (and this one’s in the lead should such a decision be made), I’m still not a fan of Hit-Monkey or Hitman-Monkey or whatever the character is. I do like that this issue saw the return of Deadpool’s hallucinations–to great effect, I might add. I also like the fact that Spider-Man clues in on and confronts Deadpool about his apparent fear early in this issue, as it addresses a question I had…and was wondering if Spidey was gonna just get screwed over (er…that is, if the character hasn’t already been that way for a couple years now). This is the best (and MOST) of Spidey I’ve read in awhile, and I appreciate the opportunity to read the character as himself, without having to face the changes wrought in that infamous story. Definitely a worthwhile issue for Deadpool fans; not sure it’s a selling point in and of itself for new readers, though. Probably’d also be enjoyable for Spider-Man fans as well…especially those avoiding the Amazing Spider-Man for one reason or another.
Writer: Daniel Way
Comic Reviews by Walt 