Category Archives: X-Men
The 6 Characters on My Random X-Force Team
Why is Marvel putting out two separate but incredibly similar X-Force comics these days? Alright, stupid question. The answer is to make more money, obviously. That’s why there are so many different X-Men titles. But from a creative standpoint, what the heck is Marvel thinking? I have read both Cable and X-Force and Uncanny X-Force, as well as various creator interviews, and it looks to me like the two books might as well be mirror images of one another. Both are about a random assortment of X-characters randomly banding together to fight a random threat. What happened to the days of yore, when the name ‘X-Force’ actually stood for something? When the title was used to tell new, off-kilter stories that were different from the normal X-Men?
Cable and X-Force is about Cable, Domino, Forge, Hope, Colossus and Dr. Nemesis battling the techno-organic virus. Uncanny X-Force is about Storm, Psylocke, Puck, Spiral and Fantomex battling a new designer drug, and possibly Bishop. If you don’t read comics regularly, then it’s possible that those two sentences don’t make a lick of sense. But even if you do read comics, it’s like the Marvel writers just threw darts at a wall of character names to decide who was going to appear in their version of X-Force.
And that sounds like an awesome game! So being the creative guy that I am, I’ve decided to play it as well. If Marvel suddenly decides to give me the reigns to create my own random X-Force team – let’s call it ‘X-Treme X-Force’ – then these are the 6 characters I would use.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/26/13
What a week, what a week, what a week. Good thing there’s always comics to keep us entertained and excited. And another busy week brings us several different Avengers and X-Men comics – including the second X-Force title – as well as the penultimate chapters of the Third Army story in Green Lantern. Is it living up to all the previous Green Lantern sagas? No…not yet. But it’s still fun! As is the new Young Avengers series, and the latest issue of FF, but then we always knew that series was going to be fun.
Seriously, people, there are a ton of new comics this week. But the coveted Comic Book of the Week has to go to Wolverine and the X-Men #24. It’s cute, it’s fun and it reminds me why I loved this series so much in the beginning.
Iceman knows how to show a girl a good time
Comic Reviews: Avengers #3, Batwoman #16, FF #3, Green Lantern #16, Green Lantern: New Guardians #16, Justice League #16, Nightwing #16, Red Hood and the Outlaws #16, Uncanny Avengers #3, Uncanny X-Force #1, Wolverine and the X-Men #24, Wonder Woman #16, Young Avengers #1.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 1/19/13
This is a great week for loving comic books. So many good and diverse books were released, from the horrific evil in Batman to the giddy happiness of Captain Marvel. Not to mention the return of Stilt-Man. That alone makes this a week to be remembered. This is one of the best and busiest weeks in comics I’ve seen in awhile. Mark Waid has two knockout successes with Indestructible Hulk and Daredevil. Batman’s Death of the Family story continues to rumble along, both for good and for ill, and DC tries to shove Threshold down our throats. It’s just as bad as I thought it might be. Ugh. But at least books like All-New X-Men remain top notch.
The winner of Comic Book of the Week is going to be Batman and Robin #16, giving us one of the best Death of the Family chapters yet. Though that’s not to say Daredevil #22 doesn’t give us one of the greatest lines ever spoken by man.
Oh how sweet it is
Comic Reviews: All-New X-Men #6, Batman #16, Batman and Robin #16, Captain Marvel #9, Daredevil #22, Indestructible Hulk #3, New Avengers #2, Savage Wolverine #1 and Threshold #1.
Review: X-Factor #250
As many of you may have heard, X-Factor writer Peter David suffered a stroke while on vacation with his family in the end of December. From what I understand, he’s been recovering, but I don’t think there has been any word yet on what will happen to X-Factor. I’m sure he’s already got several scripts in the can ready to publish. Peter David is a fantastic guy. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the New York Comic-Con a few years ago, where he politely entertained by stumbling declarations that I loved his work on X-Factor. I’m glad I brought my brother along because he had far more substantial questions to ask. To help support PAD’s hospital bills, everyone is being encouraged to buy some of his ebooks and comics online, which you can do at his website. His wife Kathleen also gave an update on his condition this week.
X-Factor #250
Considering Peter David is almost single-handedly responsible for turning Multiple Man into my favorite comic book character, you better believe we here at Henchman-4-Hire wish him a speedy recovery.
Especially since he’s kicking total ass with the Hell on Earth War so far!
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
The second issue in and this story is pretty awesome. PAD is hitting the heroes hard and fast with the action, trying up a lot of his ongoing stories as he launches this brand new one. There are a lot of questions still about what has caused all of his hellfire and brimstone, but PAD is definitely keeping the story exciting. X-Factor is thrust right into the heart of the conflict with this issue, and all of it seems to be focused around Tier, the son of Wolfsbane. I’ve never been all that interested in this certain story, but really it’s just a reason for X-Factor to be awesome and face off against villains from Earth and Hell alike. Leonard Kirk’s art remains just as strong as it’s always been, making this story a definite winner so far.
If I had one complaint it would be that none of the action really seems to affect the characters on any sort of personal level. They’re all just kind of there, reacting as the adventure unfolds. Even when a certain character makes his dramatic return, nobody seems all that affected. Hopefully PAD can add to the oomph level in coming issues.
Join me after the jump for a full synopsis and more review.
My 6 Favorite X-Women
A new, all-girl cast of X-Men was announced earlier this week, but for some odd reason, Marvel has decided to focus on their most famous and popular X-Women. What’s up with that? Storm, Rogue, Psylocke, Shadowcat? Big names, sure, but do people really like those characters? You know what, they probably do. A lot. I guess that just makes me the odd man out, because almost none of those characters are among my favorite X-Women.
The best reason to read X-Men
Longtime readers of my blog will know that I have pretty obscure tastes when it comes to comic book heroes. I think Batman and Spider-Man are awesome, sure, as much as the next person, but my real favorite superheroes are guys like Multiple Man and Mimic, so obscure that they barely appear in the movies and cartoons. This comes from reading a random assortment of comics during my formative years, picking up a few issues or a few series here and there and really narrowing in on the characters in those books. So while characters like Storm and Rogue may get top billing, I am far more interested in these 6 X-heroines.
Henchman-4-Hire 