Category Archives: X-Men
Review: X-Factor #229
The story of the ‘dead’ Jamie Madrox picks back up this issue, and it’s a doozy! We’re into a full-on science fiction story, as Madrox seems to be on some strange, interdimensional adventure. A far cry from the noir roots of this series, but I’ll gladly read any tale starring my favorite superhero. He’s not quite dead just yet, and learning his final fate as this story progresses has got me on the edge of my seat. Writer Peter David is promising new revelations about the nature of Madrox’s duplication powers. And while I’m lukewarm to that idea, I’m excited for a good story.
X-Factor #229
And this one is pretty damn good one so far.
Comic rating: 4/5: Good!
What we have here is an alternate reality tale to introduce us to the idea of Madrox’s interdimensional adventure. Familiar characters appear, but everything is just so slightly different because it’s an alternate reality. Madrox is lost and confused, but he’s adapting and figuring it out. One great thing about this issue is that writer Peter David is able to focus on just one character, and the narrative really benefits. There are a lot of questions raised, and a lot of strangeness. Somehow Layla might even be involved. Nothing is spelled out clearly quite yet. But I’m confident we’re going to get answers in this story. It’s just going to be a nail-biter going from issue to issue until the end.
I hope Madrox is still alive by the end, and that he hasn’t been changed into an unrecognizable character. Is it so wrong for me to want to keep my favorite comic book character around?
Spoilers after the jump.
The 6 Greatest Comic Book Santas
Let’s get this out of the way first: Santa Claus is real. Totally real. He’s big, he’s jolly, his white beard is legend and he lives on the North Pole making toys for all the good little girls and boys of the world. He uses time zones to his advantage when flying around the world in one night, and his reindeer fly using magick. Boom, mystery solved! If he wasn’t real, why would I, a 28-year-old man, still be getting presents marked ‘From: Santa’ under the Christmas tree? Can’t explain that!
Also not every kid in the world celebrates Christmas, so that cuts down on his time considerably.
It also helps that he's sometimes a vampire
Santa Claus is such a popular guy that he’s one of the biggest celebrities on the planet, and is always appearing in movies, TV shows and more. Whether he’s selling Coca Cola, being put on trial on 34th Street or getting his testicles electrocuted by terrorists in Iraq on South Park, Santa Claus spends a lot of his free time in show business. He’s even made more than a few appearances in comic books. Back in the 40s and 50s, Santa had his own funny books. And Silver Age superheroes like old-timey Batman and Superman were always willing to lend the jolly old elf a hand. But he’s not always portrayed as quite so jolly. Or quite so non-homicidal.
And we’re not talking about stories starring a mall Santa or just a guy in a Santa costume – like the time vampire-slayer Blade had to kill a mall Santa who was possessed by a murderous demon – we’re talking the real deal Kris Kringle himself!
Read on to see the 6 best comic book appearances of Santa Claus!
Sad Multiple Man News
Marvel.com is featuring a sneak peek at their X-Franchise comics coming out in March. As some of you know, I’m closely following the events in X-Factor as they involve the death of my favorite character, Multiple Man. It’s my theory, and my hope, that Multiple Man will come out unscathed and still be in the book. But the March solicitations offer only bad news.
No sign of Multiple Man whatsoever!
You can all go to Hell!
The solicitation for the issue goes as follows:
X-FACTOR #233
WRITER: Peter David
ARTIST: Leonard Kirk
Cover By David Yardin
• Havok And Polaris Take The Reins Of X-Factor Investigations!
• Featuring The Return Of X-Factor Foe The Isolationist
Nothing about that sounds good to me at all. This is sad, sad news. Multiple Man is worth a dozen Havoks and Polarises!
But perhaps when the world of comics closes one door, it opens another. March is also the month that the Mimic, another favorite character of mine, will be appearing in X-Men: Legacy. That in no way makes up for the loss of Multiple Man, but I guess at this point I have to take what I can get.
Review: X-Factor #228
The fallout from Multiple Man’s shocking murder hits the X-Factor family hard in this follow-up issue. Unfortunately, this is a shining example of how too many characters is hurting the book. What should be an emotional issue as X-Factor deals with both the death of their friend and the still-rampaging villain is instead a juggling of a dozen or so characters. Nobody gets more than a few panels to express themselves, and they have to choose between Madrox or Bloodbath, or sometimes squeezing feelings on both into one moment.
X-Factor #228
This robs Madrox’s death from any true emotional fallout. For a book based on character and team interaction, I was hoping for more of both.
Comic review: 3/5: Alright.
I suppose this could be considered a good issue. It’s solidly written and well-paced, providing a suitable climax for the Bloodbath arc. The new villain continues to be both fun and menacing, while the team has some good moments. But like I said earlier, it’s missing any true character-based reaction to Madrox’s death. X-Factor has always been more about its characters than overall stories. They’re something of a family, or at least a group of friends hanging out. And while the various members are clearly upset that Madrox is dead, none of it rings on any deeper emotional level.
The massive cast of characters leaves little room for any character depth. And that’s a damn shame. At least the cover kicks all kind of ass.
How X-Men: First Class Should Have Ended
If you’re like me, then you know all about the ‘How It Should Have Ended’ cartoon series on Youtube. The name is self-explanatory, and these guys have done it for a ton of movies, mostly superhero movies. X-Men: First Class is the latest cartoon, and it’s fantastic and funny! So consider this your introduction to the awesome world of these cartoons!
Henchman-4-Hire 