What a week, what a week! So much is happening in the world of comics — and we’ll get to that in a minute — but lets start off with new issues of Fall of the House of X and more!

Comic Book of the Week goes to Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #1 for a delightful return to this comic, even if it is new relaunch with a new co-lead.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t seen yet, this was the first week of my return to Kickstarter for my own comic, Gamer Girl & Vixen vol. 2: Tyrant Lizard Queen! Your favorite comic book reviewer is putting his money where his mouth is and producing his own comic! And we’re less than $1,000 from hitting our goal! So head on over to the campaign and pre-order your copy today!

Comic Reviews: Fall of the House of X #2, Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #1 and Sinister Sons #1.

Fall of the House of X #2
Writer: Gerry Duggan
Artist: Lucas Werneck
Colorist: Bryan Valenza
Letterer: VC’s Travis Lanham

The end of the Krakoa Era is a big rattlesnake of different comics. I’m reading a bunch of them, but not all. I find Fall of the House of X straight forward enough to read.

The X-Men are in a full-on assault on Orchis. Polaris, the new Master of Magnetism, takes Knowhere and crashes it into the Orchis Bloom space station, then she unleashes the Brood to kill everybody. Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler show up to lend a hand, but Doctor Stasis escapes and they don’t know where to find Firestar without him. Back on Earth, Gambit and Rogue grab Manifold from where they hid him and Dr. Gregor saves Cyclops from being killed.

Comic Rating: 7/10 – Good.

On the one hand, this doesn’t feel like a finale. There’s just too much going on in too many different directions to feel fully cohesive. But on the other than, it’s all fun X-Men action, so at least there’s that. And that’s really what we’re getting here. There’s a fun couple of scenes where Polaris does some truly awesome stuff. Wolverine, Colossus and Nightcrawler get some screen time together. But all of their combined awesomeness doesn’t prevent Stasis from getting away, so that he can show up later and be more of a villain. So it’s really just cool action for cool action’s sake. The reveal of Dr. Gregor saving Cyclops is neat, though not really what was set up in the previous issue. Cyclops is also randomly in some claustrophobic panels in front of the Eiffel Tower about to be killed. Those pages could have used more room to breathe.

TL;DR: It’s a lot of big, fun, nifty X-Men action, but it’s also a whole lot of that, and it gets a bit too busy at times.

Scarlet Witch & Quicksilver #1
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Lorenzo Tammetta
Colorist: Frank William
Letterer: VC’s Ariana Maher

I loved the Scarlet Witch solo series last year, and this is just a sequel with the same writer, same art style and just adding Quicksilver, who I like. So I’m in!

A mysterious box is delivered to the Scarlet Witch’s shop, bearing the names Wanda and Pietro in Magneto’s handwriting. Inside is a letter that Wanda reads first, and then she immediately destroys it to protect her brother from having to read it. He’s so mad that she’d do that that they get into a huge screaming match right there on the street. Pietro takes off to run around the world muttering angrily to himself, while Wanda lets out her own little flash of anger, with Darcy there to calm her down.

Wanda performs some magic on the box to see where it came from and has a vision of some grand, endless abyss. Then the Wizard shows up to take her prisoner, with his men having already dispatched Quicksilver.

Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.

The first half of the Scarlet Witch series, and this first issue, are so good because they really focus in on the characters at play and their dynamics together. Orlando and Co. came up with a really fun premise for Wanda and then really worked their magic — pun intended. It was a fun series, with fun characters, doing fun things. And now we’re back, with the only real change being that Quicksilver is now a prominent co-star. And I like Quicksilver, so we’re good! The two main characters bring out some strong emotions in one another, which is a solid way to kick off a new comic. And then we lead right into the plot, which should be fun.

If I’m being entirely honestly, I was a little thrown off by this issue practically starting with the two of them getting into a huge shouting match. I think I’d rather prefer they get along for at least the first issue, to really establish a good, solid foundation. But them being at odds works as well as a starting point, because now we have somewhere good to build. The Wizard feels like a really random choice of villain, but then this series has had all sorts of random villains. At least he and his henchmen look cool as hell! Solid redesign! The artwork throughout the book is wonderful. Nicely detailed, while also being bright and colorful. Lot to love in this first issue.

Though personally, I prefer light blue Quicksilver over green Quicksilver. But maybe that’s just me.

TL;DR: Off to a full and fulfilling start, with some great character interactions and a fun plot kickoff.

Sinister Sons #1
Writer: Peter J. Tomasi
Artist: David Lafuente
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Rob Leigh

I missed out on Tomasi’s original Super Sons comic, which a lot of people love, so I didn’t want to miss out on Sinister Sons!

Sinson believes he is the abandoned son of Sinestro, and he hopes to find the villain someday and steal his blood for a paternity test. He’s currently running a little gang on the planet Xela. Lor-Zod is the son of General Zod, and he’s been exiled, so he’s flying through space in a ship, searching for his own planet to conquer. He finds Xela and uses his Kryptonian abilities to take over the local criminal underworld. The two then meet and clash when Sinson tries to steal Lor-Zod’s ship.

Comic Rating: 5/10 – Alright.

Honestly, the first issue of Sinister Sons does not live up to the hype of the cover. I am hugely disappointed with the entire character of Sinson. He looks so awesome on the cover! Like a total Sinestro Corps gangster! But in the actually issue he’s a real weenie. And that really turned me off the actual story. The comic does a fine job of setting up the two main characters and the premise. They’re both clear characters, and we have a definite meeting point. But it didn’t do anything for me, and rather actively turned me off the book. “Sinson” is such a bad name! And he just doesn’t look nearly as cool as he does on the cover. So eh. And then the story is just the two of them establishing themselves on this random planet out in the cosmos. It doesn’t grab me yet. But at least the artwork is a ton of fun. Definitely works with the characters and the story.

TL;DR: There’s just not much to grab the reader in this first issue. The characters are very strongly defined, but they just didn’t grab me.

The comics I review in my Hench-Sized reviews are just the usual comics I grab from Comixology any given week, along with a few impulse buys I might try on a whim. So if there are any comics or series you’d like me to review each week, let me know in the comments.

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