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Age of Apocalypse Revisited: Weapon X #3

Posted on March 17, 2015 by Walt

aoa_revisited_logo

weaponx003The Common Right of Toads and Men

Writer: Larry Hama
Penciler: Adam Kubert
Inks: Dan Green and Mike Sellers
Letterer: Pat Brosseau
Colorist: Joe Rosas
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Cover: Adam Kubert
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: May 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

Having "lost" Jean in the previous issue (she can be followed into Factor X #3), Logan heads to Wundagore Mountain seeing Gateway on behalf of the Human High Council. He runs into a couple of cyborgs–humans who voluntarily allowed themselves to be "enhanced" to serve Apocalypse–guarding the place. After dealing with them, he finds Carol Danvers and the two ascend to find Gateway. Meanwhile, the High Council’s resolve deepens. Carol, Logan, and Gateway are attacked by the Cyborgs (who melded for survival) as well as Pierce and Vultura…and after the fight, Logan faces the quasi-success of his mission.

This issue really felt like a whole new one for me–I’d completely forgotten the entirety of this chapter as well as the characters involved. The story isn’t all that thrilling to me despite the action…but then, I’m not a fan of the antagonists–I vaguely recognize Pierce as having a 616-counterpart though I don’t recall the context, and the cyborgs are relatively generic, providing something for Weapon X to fight and dispatch to show how tough and rough he is. Carol Danvers being here seems arbitrary, like her inclusion is simply to have a woman fighting at Logan’s side. Throwing my mind back to 1995, I think Carol was "off the table" at the time with Marvel so this appearance would have been her being "brought back for the story." As such I’m ok with it overall.

Kubert‘s art doesn’t work for me quite as well in this outing (thanks to my disinterest in the antagonists) though I wouldn’t call it bad. It simply doesn’t blow me away in any positive manner.

Passive as it sounds–I didn’t NOT enjoy the issue, but I didn’t find myself particularly enjoying it. It felt like this issue was treading water a bit, moving us from bad-ass Logan & Jean and then the pair splitting, to a "key reveal" I recall happening in the 4th issue right before going on to X-Men: Omega. Still, for me this is a much more satisfying issue than many contemporary comics.

Filed under: 2015 posts, The '90s Revisited, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Age of Apocalypse Revisited: X-Man #3

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Walt

aoa_revisited_logo

xman003Turning Point

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Steve Skroce
Inks: Bud LaRosa and Mike Sellers
Colors: Mike Thomas
Separations: Digital Chameleon
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover: Steve Skroce
Editors: Lisa Patrick, Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: May 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

I miss the single-issue titles and creative presentations of credits…maybe it’s reading so many of these 20-year-old comics lately and barely touching contemporary Marvel books, but it really seems that these aren’t done like this anymore. I appreciate the "Previously…" Pages that catch you up, and avoid disrupting the story or filling it with exposition that (in the inevitable collected volumes) can seem rather silly at points. But that’s part of the fun of revisiting the Age of Apocalypse and pointedly doing so on an issue-by-issue basis rather than via any of the collected editions or digitally.

This issue’s cover is relatively generic…yet, I like it. There’s no real background to it (though the title’s logo takes up most of the space where there otherwise WOULD be background, so there’s not much point to it), and we see Forge with Nate, both men standing together, eyes gleaming, ready for battle. Not terribly dynamic or iconic or stand-out, but works for the issue…and as said, I like it.

The art for the issue continues–as with previous issues–to work well for me, getting things across and not distracting me from the story.

The story itself is solid, and does well as a third issue of a four-part story, building on the previous chapters and leaving things at a tipping point for the fourth issue to wrap up.

Forge and the group find themselves facing Domino, Grizzly ,and Caliban–agents of Apocalypse–and fight. The trio is dealt with, Nate "tasting blood" (so to speak) as he dispatches Domino rather harshly. As the group deals with what they just went through, Forge discovers Brute’s fate as well as the truth behind his suspicions of Essex. Forge’s fate, in turn, is felt by Nate due to their psychic link…and despite Forge’s dying words, Nate faces the killer and discovers the cold truth of Essex himself.

Knowing what comes next honestly "taints" my enjoyment of this issue. It’s a good issue, with plenty of forward movement and development for the characters. But important as the issue’s events are for Nate, I get a different feel from this third issue than I have others–and I’m reminded that just as these minis "spun out" from X-Men: Alpha…so, too, do they dovetail back into it, and thus while there may be endings to the 4th issues, the characters’ stories all go on to an overall conclusion apart from the individual minis.

All that aside…I enjoyed the issue and do look forward to the continuation of this story and the Age of Apocalypse in general.

Filed under: 2015 posts, The '90s Revisited, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Age of Apocalypse Revisited: X-Man #2

Posted on February 5, 2015 by Walt

aoa_revisited_logo

xman002Choosing Sides

Writer: Jeph Loeb
Pencils: Steve Skroce
Inkers: Mike Sellers, LaRosa, Conrad, Hanna
Colors: Mike Thomas, Digital Chameleon
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover: Steve Skroce
Edits: Lisa Patrick, Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: April 1995
Cover Price: $1.95

We pick up a bit after the last issue–Forge’s group has continued their usual, but there’s a growing rift where Nate is gravitating toward the newcomer–Essex. Essex is pushing Nate to use his powers to their fullest, while Forge wants him to keep restrained and not draw attention. Theresa with her newfound powers has adopted the name Sonique and is closer to Nate than the others. Essex leads the group to a factory–if they take it out, they’ll be hitting Apocalypse where it hurts. On seeing the facility, Nate leaps into action, seeing too much of his own past here and refusing to allow it to happen to anyone else. Though the group emerges intact, things seem to be getting out of hand. Meanwhile, Nate takes Sonique with him on a psychic journey to investigate the mansion he’d seen, and she recognizes the figure as Magneto…just before their presence is detected and she breaks their psi-link. Brute pieces things together and finally recognizes Essex, and things kick into gear for the back half of this 4-part arc.

Story-wise, this is a fairly "compressed" issue without being dense. I like that there’s been some passage of time since the first issue–that’s allowed for more development and we get to skip nuanced details and such (like Nate actually meeting Essex and whatever awkwardness may have been there). It allows us to get further into the story and what’s going on, bypassing that and seeing contextually that much has transpired. Yet we still get reference back to the previous issue, tying things together and keeping this from being adrift in a limbo of continuity.

The art’s not bad, though doesn’t really do much for me positive or negative here: it just "is," and keeps the look/feel I associate with the characters here FOR this title. It may not be my favorite, but it definitely does its job, and a good one at that, overall. And though there are multiple inkers…I only notice that specifically from looking at the credits; I don’t think I even picked up on that otherwise.

I find myself considering that this title carried over beyond the Age of Apocalypse, which in a "meta" sense affects my (re)reading of this chapter of what is essentially just an opening arc for the character, introducing him and setting up motivation/context that would be fleshed out later.

While this is paced well for a 4-issue arc, it’s still "interesting" to consider that "only" two chapters in, this series is already HALF done…given the contemporary state of things where a 6-issue arc is the norm/expectation.

Despite the cliffhanger, I don’t feel all that "eager" to get to the next issue…though I’m not dissuaded, either. As a second issue, this lacks the newness of a first issue, the anticipation brought by a third/penultimate issue, as well as being far from a finale. That’s sort of a tough spot for all second issues of four-issue arcs/series.

But for all it may not be structurally, it’s a strong issue in and of itself and an enjoyable read within the ongoing whole of the Age of Apocalypse.

Filed under: The '90s Revisited, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »