X-Men

Forever Is Where I Live: X Deaths of Wolverine #3 In Review

February 25, 2022 by David Bowen 6 Comments

Moira lays down the cybernetic gauntlet. Heavy spoilers follow.

X Deaths continues to excel and compel in ways that X Lives has yet to achieve, but I’m also less interested in Logan’s many pasts and all in for being at the edge of now, looking to mutantkind’s future. And it looks rockier than at any time since HOX/POX. It’s clear at this point that the current two-series-that-are-one will end in a way that shapes the course of Destiny of X, at least until the next epoch-defining event. [Read more…] about Forever Is Where I Live: X Deaths of Wolverine #3 In Review

Skynet 3022 vs. Sarah Connor 2022: X Deaths of Wolverine #2

February 22, 2022 by David Bowen Leave a Comment

[cover: Adam Kubert and Frank Martin Jr.]

With X Deaths of Wolverine #2, Ben Percy and Federico Vincentini go full James Cameron; this issue is swift and savage, a grim and tense cinematic ride that will definitely tug at the heartstrings of lifelong fans of the OG Terminator. Suddenly, we’re seeing T-O Wolvie as closely analogous to Arnie’s iconic killer cyborg and sent back in time by Skynet to stop Sarah Connor from—oops! Oh, yeah—we’re talking X-Men, but impressively, the Terminator homage really is masterfully done, not actually distracting but additive and invigorating. Where X Lives continues to revolve with comparative slowness like a poisoned spiral, almost hypnotically suspended at certain key moments in Logan’s deep past, this second installment of X Deaths promises a relentless momentum that will leave the burning collateral wreckage for others to clean up—while the devastating hunt drives on to its inevitably apocalyptic end.

And I mean apocalypse as world-shaking revelation.

So before we go haring off into Logan’s past again, with Life of Wolverine #3-4 (down below), we’ll start off alongside the traitorous Moira looking into that abyss that will not be denied. As she realizes by issue’s end: “I’ve seen the future. I just didn’t think it would get here so fast.” And his name is Death.

Now cue Brad Fiedel’s 1984 dark synth classic, The Terminator (OST).

In the Pit—for Why? The Cringe Origins of Nekra & Oya (Sabretooth #1 Pt. 3)

February 18, 2022 by David Bowen Leave a Comment

So, while this is a second follow-up on Sabretooth #1 (which I’ve already reviewed here across two pieces), what we’ll look at now is some supporting-character context for this first arc* going forward.

*Yes, I mistakenly called it a miniseries in my previous pieces; apologies for that! Frankly, this may have been just wishful thinking on my part—because it’s definitely my belief that the Krakoa era does not need Sabretooth—starring a serial-killing rapist—as an ongoing title. My coverage of the series will cease after this opening arc.

But why a whole piece on just one super obscure character and another who saw her potential forestalled almost a decade ago now? [Read more…] about In the Pit—for Why? The Cringe Origins of Nekra & Oya (Sabretooth #1 Pt. 3)

“Accept That You’re a Monster” – Sabretooth #1 Part 2.

February 17, 2022 by David Bowen Leave a Comment

[Sabretooth #1 Michael Suayan variant cover; X-Men: Schism #5; Shanna, the She-Devil #5]

This is the follow-up to my last piece, which looked at Sabretooth’s currently relevant history in relation to both certain of the Councilmembers and the stark fact of him being a remorseless sexual predator who nonetheless has a large fan base that just doesn’t care and/or is surprisingly (willfully?) unaware (Marvel is, of course, also culpable here in not wanting to address the issue, undoubtedly for commercial reasons). This time, however, we’ll address what a wonderful creative team we have on this book that will surely tackle some of Sabretooth’s problematic aspects while probably steering clear of his violent misogyny. But we’ll also look at two of the surprise characters that show up at the end of Sabretooth #1, and after researching one of them, I have begun to wonder if brilliant writer Victor LaValle does have in mind a way of at least obliquely addressing some of Creed’s hateful treatment of women*.

In fact, I plan to do a third piece, appendix style, to give Nekra and Oya a deeper look that should be relevant not just to the Sabretooth mini but their depiction in the modern era going forward. Neither has been very well developed. One has been a problematic caricature for fifty years, while the other has fared much better by comparison but has still not been handled well, a Nigerian adolescent girl schooled by fundamentalist missionaries and written almost exclusively by white men (most especially Jason Aaron, who rarely does that well with female characters period). But at the end of this article, we’ll briefly cover what each of these characters potentially bring to Victor LaValle and Leonard Kirk’s Sabretooth. [Read more…] about “Accept That You’re a Monster” – Sabretooth #1 Part 2.

OMEGA DEATH: X Lives of Wolverine #2 / X Deaths of Wolverine #1

February 13, 2022 by David Bowen 1 Comment

A picture containing text, book Description automatically generated

The violent kaleidoscope of Logan’s lives tumbles on in the second installment of X Lives of Wolverine, and true to the linear fashion of this gonzo quasi-event, we’ll start with looking at this week’s release before ratcheting back to the inaugural issue of X Deaths.

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