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The X-titles...where to begin.
I'm only collecting X-Men, New Mutants, and Marauders so far. Maybe I'll pick up the other titles, maybe not (especially since they apparently decided to kill Xavier in one of those other titles).
X-men looks like it'll have a heavy focus on Cyclops and his family. I'm cool with that. I love their house on the Moon, and found it interesting that Cyclops and Wolverine are on either side of Jean. I guess that confirms Sinister Secret #5 from Powers of X. It's nice to see Rachel again. The new, younger Cable will take some getting used to. Vulcan is weird. I see Orchis is still kicking on, and seems to be set up as one of the major villains. That post-human in their facility I'm guessing will come back to bite someone on the ass.
That second issue of X-men was really weird. I like the father/kids team-up, but all the island love and Summoner stuff was like a comic acid trip. Still, it was interesting to see a kinder, gentler side to Apocalypse. I really find myself hoping this turn of him to the good side will be permanent. His comments about saving all his children, however, have me thinking we're going to soon see another big enemy rear its ugly head. Possible an...infernal...one?

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New Mutants looks to be pretty cool. I like the group mixture - some old, some new. Good to see Mondo and Chmaber again, with the latter back to his original appearance (I'd heard it had been changed). I hope they catch up with Sam soon.
I like the further look see into background stuff on Krakoa. The Akademos Habitat looks pretty cool. The coffee stuff was funny. It's also nice to see more of the background mutants. It took me a bit of time to place them, but I think I saw a panel with a bunch of Hellions
All the stuff with the Starjammers and Shi'ar was cool as well. It'll be neat if they keep going with this interstellar adventuring. Especially if it leads to a big mutant colony in the Shi'ar Empire. Maybe they can work out a strategic alliance, or some kind of treaty.
I missed issue #2 last week, but I'll pick it up in a few days.

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I wasn't going to get Marauders at first, but then I (a) saw a few pages excerpts in an article somewhere, and (b) realized Gerry Dugan was writing, and I like his stuff.
This new character arc for Kate Pryde is awesome. They've never done much with her powers over the years, other than to have them go wonky or her better learn to use them in a fight. It seems most of her character development has been in growing up and learning to be a leader. Either way, I think she's been one of the better written X-men characters for years.
Her becoming the new Red Queen (which presumably comes with that open seat on the Quiet Council) will be interesting to watch. She's had a lot of different X-folk influence her growth over the years, so she should present an interesting blend to sit on the governing board.
All in all, I can see this book as having lots of potential. Since they'll conceivably be travelling all over the globe, it presents a good opportunity to showcase lots of potential enemies of Krakoa - both major (like Orchis and various governments) and minor (like those Vladivostok goofballs in issue one). They should also be able to build some interesting stories around getting various items (booze, tech, food) and bringing them to the island.
I'm hoping they'll just keep a handful of main characters (like Kitty, Lockheed and Pyro) with the rest being a rotating crew, depending on who fits best for differnt situations. I wonder if they'll put a Krakoan gate on the ship. Even though the captain can't use it, it'd be nice to be able to call in reinforcements at will.
It was nice to see Gateway again.

Thomas Seitz |

A-zombie,
With regards to the X-men titles, this is my feeling; With the main X-men book while it will focus on Cyclops and his family; I think the threats involved that come up from X-force and more will make the team evolve more.
New Mutants ...my main gripe is the writing of the Starjammers but otherwise it's been a good couple of issues. (Also #2 has some call back to Gambit and Rogue) Still waiting to see where it goes.
Marauders is kind of the book I expected, ie high seas piracy meets intrigue with the new Hellfire trading thing involved. We'll see how it works out for Shaw later on.
X-force #1 ending was shocking but I think more so was reading about how they've developed a whole new level of Reaver for the X-men. That plus Quentin seems more confident.
Fallen Angels is hard to figure out but I'm kind of equating to lesser X-force as they try to figure out Apoth and what it might mean for mutants down the road.

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The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage is one of those DC Black Label magazine sized comics. This first issue was great. It's got a real gritty, noir feel to it at first. Towards the end it gets a bit more weird.
Lemire's writing is excellent, and I'd like to see him do something more with this character. The art by Cowan and Sienkiewicz is fantastic.

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DC's the Last God continues to be interesting. So far, there attempt to build their own little fantasy world has been pretty cool. We'll see how it goes.
Frank Miller's new Dark KNight Returns series is also kind of weird. Lara comes across as kind of an a!#$~%~. Carrie's development throughout each series has been cool though. Jon Kent is...odd. I thought Joker was dead, but maybe Darkseid brought him back. Unless this is a new one. Speaking of Darkseid - his second look in the book was cool.

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The newest issue of Valkyrie was....meh. Art is still decent, though.
I kind of like where they've been going with this new Fantastic Four storyline. This alien dude actually strengthening the cosmic storm that gave the FF their powers is a nice little twist.
Savage Avengers is still entertaining me. Doom, Strange and Conan make a really interesting trio. The dinner scene between Doom and Conan was cool.
Conan Serpent War is showing some promise right off. It's got two of my favorite REH characters - Conan and Solomon Kane. It's got one of my favorite regular Marvel heroes - Moon Knight. And it's got one of my favorite Marvel/REH villains - the evil god Set. The art is cool as well.
Speaking of Conan - the most recent Savage Sword of Conan was great. Good art. Decent story. Best of all, it was a one shot story. I love that. This Frank Tieri is impressing me with his writing.

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The recent Mr. and Mrs. Freeze storyline finally came to an conclusion in Detective Comics. And it was an interesting conclusion, with Mrs. on the loose as the super villain and Mr. trapped in stasis. Only Mrs. has no interesting in reviving Mr. Kind of a neat little reversal.
The newest issue was even more impressive. A nice little one shot. It even managed to make me hate Damian a (very) little less, as they didn't portray him like such an arrogant little douche nugget. THAT is good writing.

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I kind of like where they've been going with this new Fantastic Four storyline. This alien dude actually strengthening the cosmic storm that gave the FF their powers is a nice little twist.
Yeah, I'm kind of liking it. It's adding an interesting depth to the old origin story.
Conan Serpent War is showing some promise right off. It's got two of my favorite REH characters - Conan and Solomon Kane. It's got one of my favorite regular Marvel heroes - Moon Knight. And it's got one of my favorite Marvel/REH villains - the evil god Set. The art is cool as well.
Gah, you are upselling me on getting this, and I'm already buying too many comics... :)

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Gah, you are upselling me on getting this, and I'm already buying too many comics... :)
Tell me about it. Just when I was cutting back on my DC collecting because of piss poor story telling, along comes Marvel starting to write better stuff and making me buy even more than I was giving up.
DAMN THEM!!! DAMN THEM ALL TO HELL!!
P.S. Serpent War also has the REH character Dark Agnes, although I'm never sure how many people are familiar with her.

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Daredevil is cool, but I wonder how long MM is going to keep up this "I'm helping people and kicking ass, but I'm not Daredevil" crap.
The Stromwyn's are interesting as villains - they scream old-money, North-East blue bloods who think everyone else is beneath them and they can buy anything they want. I have a feeling they're going to regret tangling with a "thug" like Fisk. In fact, I think I'll more than likely enjoy seeing the smug smiles wiped off their faces when Fisk reverts to type and sends some super-powered assasin to end their lives.
Or, maybe he'll want to do that personally....

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Issue #2 of Conan Serpent War shed a whole new light on the title choice for me. Seems like it's Set as one villain, but this "Wyrm" is manipulating the heroes into fighting him. Maybe he's the other Marvel serpent god - Seth.
We'll see how it unfolds.
Otherwise, good writing and art. I'm loving Moon Knight.

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Book Three of The Last Knight on Earth was a good ending to a pretty decent story. The art throughout was really cool. I may have to go back and reread some stuff, though, because I'm trying to figure out if they earlier mentioned the baby that shows up at the end.
It's weird though, how Snyder can give us something like this on one hand, then turn around around and pump out crap like I'm seeing with this Year of the Villain. "Apex Lex" sounds ridiculous. So does the idea of this Perpetua character being the creator of the multiverse and mother of both the Monitor and Anti-Monitor. Lame.
In that regard, Snyder is starting to remind me more and more of Grant Morrison - putting out some really cool stories, then turning around and putting out some utter s$~$.

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I've picked up two issues of Tales from the Dark Multiverse now, and while the stories are compelling, I think they all share one major problem - this DC version of the Watcher, Tempus Fuginaut.
He looks kind of goofy. His name is goofy. And he came out of nowhere to suddenly be this powerful cosmic entity. And, unfortunately, now that they've created him, they're going to have to find more things to do with him.
It's the down side of continuity - because there are some comic book characters who should be memory-holed.

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Finally did my catching up on all things X-men related....
I'm liking the direction they're taking New Mutants in so far, splitting time between the younger mutants on Earth, and those in Shi'ar space. It threw me off that Sam was married and had a kid, but cool. The only down side is that with the mutants still on Earth, I'm going to have to do some internet searching to learn about different characters. Many of them seem to be from the era when I wouldn't touch anything X-comic with a ten foot pole.
Marauders is promising to be a really interesting series. All the political and business shenanigans between the three leaders should be really fun to watch, especially when Kate starts exerting more independance from Emma. Not too thrilled with that last page of issue #4 though. Maybe it was just the art, but whoever that old Chinese lady was dealing with at the end looked like a bunch of snot-nosed punk teenagers.
Of course, from there we go to my first really big disappointment with this new direction for the X-universe - the old hags of Hordeculture. Seriously?!? Hordeculture?!? A bunch of old ladies who ripped off the skills and goals of far better DC villains (Poison Ivy and Ra's Al Ghul?!? And managed to do something no other tech organization or government on the planet could do when they seized control of Krakoa biotech. Not to mention, they talk and act like complete douchnuggets. If they goal was to make me hate them and wish Sabretooth were released so he could devour each one starting with the entrails, then the goal was achieved.

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Also, Storm blasting that douchbag on the beach in Brazil was f&&@ing epic!
Yeah, that was fun. With everyone and their dog having some sort of power-dampening technology and making the X-Men look like chumps, issue after issue, it's kind of nice to see one of their bigger guns get to cut loose a little. "Yeah, that wasn't the actual lightning bolt. It's still building up. That was just a little leakage that slipped out..."

Phillip Gastone |

I've picked up two issues of Tales from the Dark Multiverse now, and while the stories are compelling, I think they all share one major problem - this DC version of the Watcher, Tempus Fuggetaboutit.
He looks kind of goofy. His name is goofy. And he came out of nowhere to suddenly be this powerful cosmic entity. And, unfortunately, now that they've created him, they're going to have to find more things to do with him.
It's the down side of continuity - because there are some comic book characters who should be memory-holed.
How I keep hearing his name

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I like picking up the DC and Marvel preview magazines, just to make sure I don't miss anything interesting. After today, though, I've begun to think picking up the DC preview is mostly to see how very little I find interesting.
For example, the most recent DC preview is showcasing an upcoming Adam Strange series. I love that character. Unfortunately, the series is going to be written by that overrated hack, Tom King. No wonder I contiue to buy very little from DC.
The Marvel preview had me a little concerned, because it looks like they're adding three more X-titles. I think they're overdoing it, on that front. Although one of them looks to be a new Wolverine series. I might have to pick that one up.

Thomas Seitz |

A-zombie,
Star is kind of a weird thing since she was/is a villain because she was just some random reporter that got traumatized by semi-torture at the hand of a C-list villain, got Kree DNA and also got Carol's powers for a bit. Then got a hole punched into her chest before she got better via the Reality Stone/Gem. Still has no idea how to use it though. Plus while the Reality Stone IS powerful, it's still limited by a) the user and b) the fact it can't affect large swaths of reality WITHOUT the Power Stone.
The new X titles are a little different...but I am looking forward to Hellions myself.

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Still enjoying the new X-books. Although I've got to admit I'm not a fan of some of the new villains. The old plant ladies are ridiculous. The psycho-other-Hellfire-Club-children are just annoying, and whoever created them should be ashamed of themselves. Apocaylpse in a suit was cool, though. So was the New Mutants kicking the s#%@ out of the Death Commandos.

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Immortal Hulk still kicks ass, but the story arcs are starting to drag a bit.
Conan: Serpent War is still kicking ass. I'm wondering as to the identity of this "Wyrm" character manipulating everyone. At first, I thought it might be Seth. Now, however, I think it might be the Dragon of the Moon.
Ghost Rider is also...interesting. Johnny seems to be growing more and more corrupt. Meanwhile, poor Danny finally gets rid of Ghost Rider, only to become host to something probably much worse.
Daredevil also continues to be fun. I wish Kingpin would hurry up and show these northeast blueblood a%&&+%+s just how big a mistake they made to f!%* with him.
Punisher Soviet - cool.
Savage Avengers - the team up I never knew I wanted: Conan, Doom & Strange.
The recent Valkyrie storyline was idiotic.
The new Thor has....potential. That bit with Thor standing on the Bifrost and throwing the hammer all the way to Earth was kick ass. Loved that shot of the ravens sitting on his shoulder when he caught it. Still, all the other crap that's been hitting the Asgardians, and now they drop Galactus on them? And now we have another horrible, universe-ending calamity? Geez, way to overcompensate right off the bat. Thor as a Herald of Galactus will be fun, though.

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I look forward to finding out who the new Batwoman is. And I love seeing Blight again. This amnesiac Terry story is getting old, though.
The Batman's Grave is a fun little series so far. I continue to enjoy it.
The Hawkman storyline with Sky Tyrant got old two issues ago. Sadly, with the uber-love DC seems to have for all this Dark Multiverse, lame-ass laughing bat and his equally lame "infected", evil Hawkman doesn't seem to be going anywhere anytime soon. Which is sad. This was one of the more enjoyable titles.
I'm definitely starting to feel that DC could take a page out of Marvel's book, and put someone knew in charge. These days, it's not just their films that are ranking behind Marvel.

Thomas Seitz |

My feeling with the new Thor run is that it will SOMEHOW tie into Venom/Symbiote/Knull. But I could be wrong.
I disagree that the Death arc in Jane Foster's thing was idiotic considering it's a legit question for the Sentience of the Universe to ask "Is Death meaningless when you have eternal mutants and one Immortal Hulk?"
The X books are doing okay but honestly I'm not sure I'm feeling Fallen Angels as much as I am (like you A-zombie) New Mutants and Excalibur.
Though that one issue of X-men at Davos was pretty sweet.
The Wyrm I think is kind of some HP Lovecraftian thing...at least that's my read of it. I don't think it's has any real analogous counterpart in any of the comics or such...
One further thing I DO like them bringing back the kiddie Hellfire club since I felt they represented the younger generation's ideas of what humans are. At least that's my take.

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I never collected any of DC's Event Leviathan books. As with much of what DC does these days, it just didn't appeal to me. It's a decision I'm glad I made.
Just found out that they revealed the identity of Leviathan as Mark Shaw. That's a shame. I always liked him better as a hero than a villain. I've got the entire run of his Manhunter comic. So, DC manages to disappoint yet again.
At this point, I'm really grateful they've never brought back my favorite Manhunter - Paul Kirk. Although, I do believe one of his clones is still running around (even after being decapitated by the aforementioned Mark Shaw).

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Sebastian Shaw is a complete dick. I look forward to Kate Pryde one day f**+ing him up beyond all hope of recovery.
Finally! The Conan the Barbarian story arc comes to an end after 12 issues. I still don't like such long arcs, but at least this one had a saving grace - many of the issues were separate stores of Conan's past, interwoven with the main story.
Dr. Strange versus two of the Wrecking Crew. Nice change up of villains. I'm liking the artwork as well. I've never been a fan of Doctor Druid, but this mystery of his return from death has me intrigued....
The Last God story seems to have settled into a pattern of past and present storylines. I find the world they're building to be intriguing. I've heard this is DC's attempted answer to Marvel doing Conan stories again. While I'm enjoying the story, I don't think it's much of an answer to Conan.
The Detective Comics Annual issue was pretty cool. I wonder how long they'll keep Alfred dead this time. Still, the main story was a pretty cool look into a Cold War era past of Alfred. I really liked the art. They should get this Sumit Kumar to work on some more Bat stuff. It was cool seeing an NKVDemon again. I remember when they introduced the original. The backup story was an interesting look at Batman's origins from the perspective of Alfred.

Thomas Seitz |

Shaw has always been a dick. This is a character trait he's had since the beginning.
I too was happy to see Conan wrap up the Razazel story arc and also move on into other areas.
As for Strange and the Wrecking Crew....I was more happy that Strange was able to take them down better than the first issue. As for Druid's return, I'm pretty sure he was in Weirdworld for a while...hence the map.
Last God might not be as good as Conan, but I am intrigued by the whole Cthulhu meets D&D vibe going. We'll see if that continues.
As for how long they'll keep Alfred dead...probably just long enough to undo Clark's identity outing.

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Finally caught up on all my comic book reading. I'll start with my current favorites - the various X-titles I collect.
Marauders - based on Iceman's reaction to the Verendi dudes trying to recover Kate's body, I almost feel bad for Sebastian Shaw when his crime is uncovered. Unless Lockheed gets to him first. My initial opinion of those little Verendi turds being annoying little s&*@bags has been thoroughly reinforced. Whatever asshat invented those characters should have the skin flayed from his writing hand, just because they annoy the s&+@ out of me.
X-Men+Fantastic Four was...interesting. Personally, I thought it was uncharacteristic of the FF to be so hostile, especially Sue. You would think Reed would have welcomed the help of Xavier and company in figuring out how to help his son, but at least I can understand his suspicions of what Xavier is up to. That being said, when it finally got down to a fight, I thought the writing was particularly biased in favor of the FF. There were at least four omega-level mutants in that group - they would have cleaned the FF's clocks.
I was happy to see Synch back alive with the X-Men. I was unfamiliar with these Children of the Vault, but they seem kind of lame - just another evolved-to-have-super-powers bunch of humans. I liked the Mystique story, although it looks like she's eventually going to turn against Krakoa. I used to think positively of Destiny, but the way they've been redefining her she seems more evil. And it looks like Nimrod is going to be attending the party anyway. Which I guess means everything is f%!#ed anyway.
New Mutants has been....entertaining. I'm really not sure why they keep having Rahne lick people. I really like this idea of a drug cartel being one of the big enemies of Krakoa, for essentially business reasons. It's a break from the usual hate/prejudice villains

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Immortal Hulk continues to be awesome, but it's been getting a little weird as well. Love seeing Xemnu again.
Thor is cool but he's kind of being a dick. How many universe ending calamities are there?
The Conan and Savage Avengers stuff continues to kick ass. I always like those reminders that Doctor Doom is just as much of a sorcerer as a scientific genius.
I'm still enjoying Daredevil, even if I think the storyline is taking too long. The only thing that disappoints me is how Fisk has turned into a whiny little b@@+~. I really want to see him have someone crush the Stromwyns for him. He shouldn't sully his hands with them.
The "Point of Origin" story in Fanatastic Four was interesting, but I thought the conclusion was a little bit forced, and something of a let-down. The whole Human Torch/Sky relationship seems forced as well. I don't really like the chick all that much.

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Almost forgot Wolverine in my review of all things X. Two pretty decent stories. I liked the parallel scenes of the first story, withe the X-dudes and the CIA hipster. And Wolverine playing hide & seek with the kids was cool. He's always been good with the younger mutants, though, so it didn't seem out of character to me.
The second story was even better, with way more potential for future stories. I always love X-Men vs Dracula. It's just such a weird pairing of hero/villain, but somehow it works. I honestly don't see how Omega Red can be a successful agent for Dracula, however. Seems to me, Xavier would read him too easily.

Thomas Seitz |

The X titles (other than Fallen Angels which I still don't get) have been less hit or miss than some others. I am, however, looking forward to more X-men expansion.
The thing with the X-men/Mutants and the FF is weird but at the same time that's kind of why I like Marvel. I don't think Sue is being unreasonable in terms of "This is my child even if he's a teenager." Plus it's not like Prof X and the rest aren't doing some sketchy things...even if they are justifiable.
I do hope the whole thing with the Children of the Vault gets more fleshed out. I always want to see more about them. As for Mystique and Nimrod...I think the major take ways I have is Destiny (since she can see multiple futures) has plenty of reason to doubt the future is going to be good. Mostly because I think she gets the Darkest Timelines thing. Nimrod is kind of proof of that.
The former Hellfire kids are still great in my book since I like having Victor's nth grand kid running around.
I think for me, much like you A-zombie, the second story in Wolverine #1 has MAJOR ramifications for ALL of Marvel, not just mutants. Mostly because I don't see Dracula standing idly by while other races are getting either up-ended or even just going to a better place. So...yeah.
Xemnu is clearly getting more love this time around than he has in previous Hulk history. Which is great because I always wanted to see what would happen if he got a major starring role.
As for your question about universe calamities that end universes? Plenty. I mean they already showed us Darkseid in one. Also Thor might be a dick..but he's King now. That means you kind of have to be. Ask Namor and/or T'Challa.
As for Daredevil, I dunno where it's going either, but the fact the twins called in a strike kill team of Bullseye, Rhino, Crossbones and the rest means there's some SERIOUS trouble coming to Hell's Kitchen. I don't think Wilson will take it lying down...but I do think he's trying to recuperate enough to showcase himself for re-election in such a situation. I also think the twins are TOTALLY overplaying their hands. "Oh we're rich! We own stuff!" yeah tell that to Thanos or Galactus....

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Well, McGinnis is back in his right mind in Batman Beyond. Sounds like that's just in time for him an Elainna Grayson to team up against Blight. Overall, I've been enjoying this run of Batman Beyond. And I hope they keep the new Batwoman around.
Over in Detective Comics we have Two Face getting religion. I've always liked him as a Bat villain. His pathology, and the things they've done with it over the years, is fascinating. The artwork is kick ass.
DC's The Last God continues to be entertaining. They continue world building, while advancing stories in two timelines. Very entertaining, but I can see the potential for dragging it out too long.

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Ghost Rider is still fun, but damn this plot is going in a million different directions. Still, I like what they're doing with Danny. This Spirit of Corruption idea has merit. It could open some interesting doors. The art has been really good as well. That last page, with Doc Strange, was particularly well drawn. Looking forward to next issue.
Punisher Soviet contines to be a solid story. I look forward to seeing what they're building to.

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The giant-size X-men with Jean Grey and Emma Frost was....interesting. Not much in the way of dialogue. Kind of reminded me of the old G.I. Joe "Silent Issue". So now they get to save Storm from some kind of Orchis-made technovirus. Since they've got Apocalypse on their side, that kind of virus should be less of a problem.
It was nice seeing Magma again in New Mutants. I'm not familiar with this Armor chick, as they introduced her while I wasn't collecting X-titles, but I'm growing fond of her. I kind of like her super power. Sebastian Shaw dealing with that cartel dude was cool, and it actually made him seem like slightly less of a d~&@~ead.
And, maybe I'm crazy but....was that Meggan at the end with those other creatures?!? WTF?!?
X-Men. Crucible. That was a cool f&@&ing issue. I loved it. The only thing that bummed me out was the reminder they changed Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver to not be mutants.
X-Men + FF. Well, that escalated quickly. Theoretically, the Krakoan government could now lodge a formal complaint with the U.S. Government regarding the FF conducting an illegal invasion of their country. That could be....cool, but I doubt they'll play up that angle. Doom Sentinels? Really? If Sue is this angry at mutants, I wonder how pissed off she's going to be with Doom for helping Franklin fulfill more of his mutant potential