This week,
we say goodbye to the best series of a mediocre era; the X-Men
relaunch over coffee; I give the Inhumans a chance to impress me; and
(Bat)girl talk just isn't enough to sell me on an annual.
All-New
X-Men #19
And so the
undisputed jewel of this unremarkable era of the X-Men concludes. Its
a nice, quiet character piece like Extraordinary X-Men
went out on as the team (plus Inhuman boyfriend type Romeo) gather
for a barbecue outside a random gas station. What plot there is
tidies away the lingering ghost of time travel from the series
forevermore and I'm glad of it. As fun as it is to see the original
X-Men wandering around the modern Marvel Universe, this issue needed
sweeping away.
And
Jean Grey returns. I admit, I'm not as high on Jean Grey as most are.
One woman of my acquaintance described Jean as her “comicbook
waifu” and that's far from abnormal (in some senses, at least).
That said, Hopeless does do us one final great service and pretty
much confirms that she and Scott are not and do not need to get back
together.
All
in all, I'm sad to see this series go and I hope Oya and Genesis find
a home in the X-books somewhere down the line but I'm still looking
forward to where this team goes next.
X-Men
Prime one-shot
I've been
waiting a while for this Kitty Pryde to return to the X-Men. This is
the Kitty Pryde that was around when I started reading comics. Not
the teenager of Chris Claremont or the barely more than a teenager
Joss Whedon brought back into the fold but the experienced adult from
Warren Ellis' Excalibur. This
is the Kitty who grew up as a superhero and has some serious game as
a result.
This
is a Kitty that Storm is happy to turn to as a possible successor.
There's no two ways around it, this issue has a very poor opinion of
the franchise's direction in the last couple of years. That's fine, I
happen to agree, and there's a definite sense that bringing Kitty
back into the fold is an attempt at spiritual renewal for the X-Men
as a group.
There
are other teases: we see the original X-Men talking about why they're
striking out on their own again (even if only obliquely) and a short
vignette with Lady Deathstrike that sets up Weapon X. There's
also a sweet little moment with Jubilee and baby Shogo, which is an
unsatisfying tease for Generation X but a charming little
scene in and of itself.
And,
whilst I won't spoil the last page reveal, it certainly promises that
the X-Men are going to be at the centre of the Marvel Universe again
where they justly belong.
Inhumans
Prime one-shot
I pretty
much just bought this just to see what was up with the new Secret
Warriors, which is pretty much
the only Inhumans series I knew was spinning out of IvX.
As it happens, the Secret Warriors don't make much of an appearance
outside of a big group shot of Inhumans on a splash page and the
resulting fight scene.
And
now that I have read the teases for what else is coming out?
Well...
the issue starts and end with Marvel Boy pretty much as we last saw
him in Young Avengers.
I love that character and that he's going to be a fixture in Royals
absolutely sells me on the series. I admit, the Inhumans themselves,
especially the new ones, aren't characters I'm very familiar with
aside from Ms. Marvel. I find Maximus the Mad rather charming, but
not enough to sell me on Black Bolt,
which I assume from much silent brooding in this issue is where
Maximus will be appearing.
Ultimately,
though, that's two out of three series I'm at least willing to give a
try which is not a bad average for a franchise I have not much
interest in.
Batgirl
Annual #1
This
annual was mostly fluff and a tease for an upcoming Supergirl
storyline. To be honest, that's not much to base an extra long (and
extra expensive) issue on, especially as half the issue tells a story
set before the current ongoing and so has very little to do with
what's going on with Batgirl these days.
And
I'm not sure getting some quality girl time between Babs and Alysia,
a too rare pleasure since Gail Simone left the series, is enough to
compensate for all that.