Dueling Network with Dustin (8/27/15)

Fall of the Age of Magic Session 2 Recap

Fall of the Age of Magic Session 1 recap

Fall of the Age of Magic Part 1: Introduction

Crawljammer Introduction

GURPS: The Hive (Session 1 and 2 Recap)

X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1

X-Men: Battle of the Atom #1 by Brian Bendis

Artists include (For the whole event):

Frank Cho, Stuart Immonen, Chris Bachalo, David Lopez, Giuseppe Camuncoli

The cover is really an interesting piece with all the contrasting colors and whatnot. I don’t really get why Storm and Wolverine get blank eyes where all the new characters at the top (one of them actually reminds me of Xorn) do have them. So it’s almost three covers combined together, and it makes it look almost a bit disjointed. Overall though, it does catch the eye and show off the cast in a colorful way. 3.5/5.

We open with Illiana (Magick) jumping into the future, which is never a good idea! We see a group of heroes (?) fighting Sentinels. Lemme see how to react to this….uh….

-A blue demon with a gattling gun

-A Monstrous looking beastial Iceman who kinda looks like a solidified yeti

-The Xorn looking guy shooting energy blasts

-Deadpool, looking a lot older with black glasses, is he blind? He looks right out of Old Man Logan or something.

This second page looks really cool honestly, especially seeing these neat new characters. I have no problem with them introducing new x-men characters and whatnot, as long as they remain interesting. I’ve seen some people complain about all these teen mutants in Uncanny and Wolverine and X-men, but I think it’s just as fun to meet new characters as long as they are well written. I read the NYX miniseries about a teen with Chronokinesis and it was a really awesome book, even if it was a non-popular mutant. The writer and character development is what matters.

We then cut to a rebellious punk mutant with piercings and a star on her face riding mutant dinosaurs. Honestly, this entire book so far is screaming to me “This is why I love comics!!”

The X-men dive into action, literally from the sky. The x-men try to fight the monsters, and Jean uses her telepathy to figure out this villain’s backstory (in a series of visual panels). Just when you think things can’t get worse, the present sentinels show up! Kitty uses her power to move all of them out of the way, but the sentinels still cause massive destruction.

At this point, the Uncanny X-men show up, including the displaced Angel. They decide to work together and spend a few panels taking them out, and afterwards the woman who started this whole thing decides to give up. Younger Scott gets blasted at least twice and almost dies (I actually wouldn’t mind if he did), but the new healing mutant (Christopher Muse) from Cyke’s team saves him. There’s also this neat blur effect as the stress builds, which looks partly interesting and partly strange. Looking at the plot summary, apparently this also represents that reality is destabilizing.

Here’s something that doesn't make sense. When younger scott almost dies, the older scott ceases to exist. However, since this younger scott is from another timeline/universe, so how would killing him kill the present scott? Aren’t they supposed to be separate? Bendis seriously can’t follow how most of this time-travel stuff works, but I don’t blame him...it’s confusing.

The X-men decide that, after seeing this, that they need to send the original x-men back right away because they’ll cause a problem. Though technically this argument has already been going on for like a dozen issues...so I’d think they’d just let them stay even if it kills the current Scott (wouldn’t that solve a bunch of problems and almost be a good thing?).

Suddenly, the time machine goes off and...the Future X-men from the start step through! I like the designs for the future x-men, and I’ll probably talk about them more next time.

Overall, the art in this issue is top-notch, but I feel like the story is making very little sense to me. How is killing one version of cyclops going to screw up the whole universe and kill his 616 self? I almost want to try to find another example in marvel where the same thing has happened with no problem, I’m sure there is one. Overall I’m giving this issue a 7/10, and I want to check out the rest of the event and meet the future x-men. Next time is AN-XM #16 (which I still need to pick up), so I’ll review another book for the next review.

X-Factor #12 (1987)

X-Factor #12 [1987] by Louis Simonson and pencils by Marc Silvestri

Mutant Massacre is over! But before I start the comic, I should give some background on Boom Boom since I skipped over her appearances in X-force because they were horrible. Teenager Tabitha Smith never got along with her parents at home, being an explosive mutant and all. Tabitha ran away from home to join Xavier's School for mutants. She first appeared in Secret Wars where she befriended the cosmic Beyonder, before demanding to be returned to earth. This brings us up to speed to the X-factor encounter. Her power is the ability to create plasma “bombs”. They can also be set to explode at a certain time or be created in a larger size.

Note: I'm reading from the black and white Essential X-factor volume 1.

Cover: I really love this cover: Great text, great background, and great action, showcasing Boom Boom at the front, plus nice colors! [found the color page online]. A total 4/5 for me. Most X-factor covers are awesome!

Page 1-2: 

The comic opens with a bang! (or should I say boom, since the comic is focused on Boom Boom and even the title of the story is “Boom Boom Boom!”) Angel is seen straining on a full page shot, injured and angry “No, you won't cut off my wings!” I'm pretty sure they are going to do that though. Jean and Scott defend him, explaining how his wings are important to him and have helped him save many people [most recently the morlocks during the massacre].

Page 3:The doctor is explains how angel's wings are broken apart and that they have no idea what to do about it. There is also infection setting in, so the only option is to cut them off. In a massively bleak panel, angel says he'd rather die than have his wings removed. Dang!

Page 4: 

Meanwhile, at the X-factor complex, we see the morlocks (listed below) hanging out with the X-men who saved them. Iceman and beast man the complex while the others are at the hospital. Skids and Rusty [the trainees] are also seen.

As for the surviving morlocks, we have Caliban, the mutant detector and later super-mutant powered by apocalypse. Leech, the power-nullifying mutant kid who is still alive. Tar Baby has the power to secrete sticky stuff from his skin, and no real info is available on him. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tar_Baby_(comics)]. Ape is next, and his power doesn't really make sense to me (object morphing?), plus we already have Beast. Ape and Tar Baby were later killed in a mutant concentration camp headed by the weapon X project. Erg seems pretty awesome, he absorbs energy around him and shoots it from his eyes. He is also still alive. The last one to note is Masque from the last few issues.

Page 5-6: 

Caliban says that he's scanned the Morlock's alley and that no one remains alive, one of the others corrects him by saying that they are the survivors [it also points to X-men #213 where others are shown to be alive]. Meanwhile, Boom Boom calls X-factor from 44th and Broadway and tells them how the vanisher tried to use her for evil. (I point out the location since I actually found that it's the location of that giant toys R us in new york. In the comic she calls from Fun O Rama. That's pretty cool.). Boom Boom then explodes the phone box and takes the money inside.

Page 7-8: 

Back at the complex, the Morlocks complain that it's probably a prank call and that they might not even have any room for another mutant. Caliban offers to help them track down the mutant, but bobby and hank turn him down. Meanwhile, at the hospital jean hears about an apartment bombing that occurred in new mutants #46. Sara Grey [jean's sister] speaks out about the tragedy. Jean cries out since the last time she heard of her was around the time of the phoenix saga. Scott also points out that his wife hasn't contacted him lately either.

Page 9-10:Scott and Jean continue to lump on the family drama. Jean also points out that her telepathic powers are gone, I'm pretty sure she still has telekinesis though. Meanwhile at the arcade, vanisher tries to keep boom-boom happy in order to convince her to steal more money. This is honestly kind of creepy since the vanisher seriously comes off as a creepy old man trying to get boom boom to do what he wants...

Page 11-12:

Moving on, X-factor arrives and boom-boom tries to convince them it was all a mistake while vanisher hides away. Boom [as I’m sick of typing that twice] slips a sneaky bomb right on bobby's neck. Hank and bobby chase her through the arcade. It's harder to recognize the characters in black and white to be honest.

Page 13: 

Boom regroups with vanisher, who tells her to just blow up the chasing mutant hunters...not a bad idea. Now that I think about it, does vanisher even have his powers of teleportation at this point? According to wikipedia, vanisher never lost his powers (even after M-day), so why doesn’t he just teleport away? Well...he does pop (yes, that's the sound effect) out of hank's hands. They actually recognize him too! Boom also escapes into the crowd.

Page 14: 

Bobby and Hank change into their costumes and prepare to track her down, assuming she's an evil mutant. They hear another explosion in the distance and comment that while Boom has control over her powers, she lacks self-control.

Page 15: 

Meanwhile, in Cleveland, Ohio... [what the?] Apocalypse recruits a bratty mutant girl with the power to turn organic things to dust. She becomes the horseman Famine. She is the third horseman to be chosen, and only one remains...

Page 16-18: 

Jean and Scott find Sara's house, and quickly break inside. The house has been rigged to explode by some anti-mutant terrorists (much like the apartment bombing). They fumble out of the explosion unharmed. Angel offers to transfer all his money into X-factor so that they can continue to do good while the two other x-men continue chasing Boom.

Page 19-23:

Boom smashes her way into a restaurant and the X-factor guys chase her out the back. She fools beast and iceman with a fake bomb and shows that she wants to negotiate with them. She explains her backstory. They offer to let her join X-factor and she accepts. On the last page, Scott explains that he needs to go find his wife, who he brought up many times in the issue.

I really feel like there are way too many sub-plots going on, and even disregarding those...there are still crossovers and interesting events going on in other books. This issue gets an 8/10 from me since I still think boom-boom is pretty cool.

Year 2 Update

Current RPs
-Torchbearer, venturing into a dungeon of giants, starting on 2/7
-FATE Accelerated [working with both sets of my friends, setting up a schedule now]

Future RPs
-Gamma World
-Nova's Journal

Want to Play
-World of Darkness
-Sci-fi Game
-Numenera Sequel
-Magical Girl game

I'm also close to the halfway point with the colors on Nova's Journal #1, and currently
working on a second 4-koma, as well as putting work into the Chapter 2 cover. This is besides trying to keep up on Chapter 2 as well. I also need to find another artist for chapter 3 to wrap it up.

X-Factor #11 (1986)

X-Factor #11, By Louise and Walter Simonson

This is the last issue of X-factor to tie into the Mutant Massacre event, and the 2nd to last part of the event in all.

Remember those old-school 80's and 90's events that were still super-overblown but not insanely hard to follow and pointless? I wish Marvel would scale back on the events these days. Hopefully Secret Wars is the last one for a few years.

Marvel has a really hard time digitizing the original X-factor series (I don't know why). So the only way to get the comic is in print or via the new digital comic shop [this issue is on there]. I'm reading from the black and white X-Factor Essentials Volume 1. Some of the issues are still missing from the digital catalogue.

Cover: 

How can I not love a cover of Cyclops in mid-air spazzing out with his eye beam. Also, it's on a dock or something. The background figures just look weird here and the villain’s hair is just...bizarre.

A 4/5 for me.

Page 1: So we start off on a really cluttered title page.

I should explain that morlocks are basically underground mutants who live in the sewers. The whole purpose of this event was to have the marauders (a group of evil mutants) kill a bunch of the morlocks (Hence the "mutant massacre"). We see Iceman and Beast get ambushed from above by a group of morlocks known as the Tunnelers. Upon looking at their lineup, I can't believe there is a mutant named “Blow-Hard”. Apparently, he can suck in air and then shoot it out as a gale force wind. That's not a bad power for someone with such a cooky name. Apparently all these characters were created for this issue. They also die in this issue, bummer! Considering that, I'm not going to bother describing them all.

Page 2-3: Leech (A friendly little green morlock who has the power to negate other people's powers) stops the attacking Tunnelers in their tracks, disabling their powers. They attack X-factor thinking that they are the bad guys. Leech then runs away so that X-factor can use their own powers.

Page 4: Cyclops, Jean, and Artie walk through the same set of tunnels, still separated from the group. Since I didn't read power pack, it's nice to see that all that happened was that Iceman and Beast and the power pack saved Caliban and Leech and are carrying them back to X-factor. It also explains how Thor appeared and saved Angel from the marauders.

Page 5-6: Artie shows a psychic image (he is mute, and this is how he communicates) that angel wanted Jean to see. It communicates Warren's love for her. Obviously this makes cyclops a bit mad...plus this love triangle is dragged back out again, it's been there from the start of the X-men #1! After hearing some noises, Cyclops is able to regroup with the other team and blast the crap out of the Tunnelers.

Page 7-8: Eventually the tunnelers realize X-factor (they recognize them as the mutant freedom fighter alias, the X-terminators) is not evil. Cyclops offers to shelter the Tunnelers in their complex, but they refuse. The next page also recaps that X-factor is seen as a mutant hunting organization and that the media found out that Angel was funding X-factor.

Page 9: Some fun facts about Berzerker that should be noted here: He has electric abilities and he can also tap into radio waves [using the electromagnetic spectrum]. He is the leader of the Tunnelers. He was also chosen to be in the X-men Evolution TV show since he was a interesting “bad boy character”.

Caliban also wakes up in Beast's arms. Caliban is a white skinned mutant who has the ability to sense other nearby mutants. After X-factor contacts their complex, Berzerker realizes who they really are.

Page 10-11: Angel is lifted into an ambulance. He was badly injured by the marauders in the previous issues. Protestors are now swarming outside the X-factor building. Even though Berzerker learns that X-factor is good, he still sees them as evil mutant hunters. The tunnelers sneak out of the building, walking past the police who are trying to control the situation with the protestors.

Page 12-14: The mutants make it to the pier before they are shot at by a group of armed thugs. Berzerker runs up and shocks one guy in the face. Meanwhile, Angel is being rushed into a hospital. Jean and Scott see a news report about the Tunnelers being attacked and run into action!

Page 15: In an interlude, Apocalypse (the villain) arrives at a hospital. He recruits an injured mutant who has the ability to create explosions, teleporting him away. Abraham is recruited as the Horseman of War. (the horseman of pestilence was recruited in uncanny x-men).

Page 16-19: Jean and cyclops arrive at the pier as police start shooting at the tunnelers. Jean swoops down and deflects the bullets. Cyclops tries to calm Berzerker down, and when he refuses...Scott fires a warning shot. Scaleface [a tunneler who transforms into a dragon] tries to reason with the police, but she is shot dead. Berzerker starts going...well...berserk. He starts zapping at everything, even cyclops.

Cyclops blasts back and berzerker flies into the water. The water ends up short-circuiting his powers.

Masque [who has the ability to reshape people's faces for better or worse] is the only one who survives. He is carried back to the complex. Much to my surprise, Masque is still alive in the current comics.

Page 20: In a second interlude, a group of poor mutants are being talked to by Vanisher [as far as I know, he was a villain from X-men #2 who used teleportation to steal things, I read that issue. Not sure where else he showed up.] one of the mutants, Boom Boom [of new-mutants/x-force fame] tries to blow him up, only to fail. Vanisher wants to use these mutants to steal things, but Boom doesn’t want to be involved.

As if this wasn’t enough of a cool issue, the doctors in the hospital report that the only choice they have is to TAKE OFF ANGEL'S WINGS!!

I give this issue a really awesome 9.5 out of 10. It is almost perfect for me! I like all the tunnelers [except that stupid Blow-Hard]. The only problem is that they all DIE! (besides masque, but that's not the point.) Berzerker was a really cool character and I feel really bad that he just fell into some water and died.

A really cool issue that ends of a horrific cliffhanger, we'll see what happens next some other time in X-Factor #12.

VBC Videos

Here are the youtube links for the VBC series, with a full blog coming soon.
Part 1 (Acts 1-3): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaOXknJ6Pzo
Part 2 (Acts 4-5): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aRMNzFMt4o
Part 4 (Act 7): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6UyiF2614k

Part 3 got removed due to my lag preventing the recording.