And finally...
ASTONISHING X-MEN #27
What the hell, Bianchi?!
Simone Bianchi said that he was getting a head start on his art back during the Spring so delays like this wouldn't happen. Not only do we still have delays, but his facial expressions, female facial structures, and bodily poses get progressively worse with each issue. And do you know what really burns my toast? Only about 2/3 of his panels have backgrounds drawn into them. He literally leaves every few panels completely blank. There's a panel where Cyclops and Beast are talking, and not only is the background of the X-Center a completely white blank nothing, but Bianchi doesn't even bother drawing an arm to connect Beast's gesturing hand to his torso. He doesn't even bother throwing a gradient color into the backgrounds. Bianchi just looks at Ellis' scripts and thinks to himself "Hm. This panel is supposed to have Beast sitting on a chair while the ghost box is sitting on a table, so I'm going to only draw Beast, the chair, the ghost box, and the table. A floor? Nope. Walls in the back? Nope. Just those four items."
My disdain for Simone Bianchi aside, I found Warren Ellis' science fiction writing as good as usual. He seems to be crafting a pretty good and intriguing story, although it's moving at a very slow pace. He's clearly shooting for a 6-part arc, which I suppose would be fine is the artist got his work in on time.
There is a problem with Ellis' inability to capture the characters' voices, though. Rather than a hardass soldier, Abigail Brand came off more like a teenaged girl with a kinky streak who could only think about bumping serious uglies with Beast. I know the references to their relationship were supposed to be played for laughs in this issue, but it's called The Comedy Rule of Three. That means Ellis should've stopped somewhere around "Xenophiliac Experimentation Partner."
Oh, and Cyclops is still saying "Henry" instead of "Hank." That ain't right.
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BOOSTER GOLD #13
[insert opening statement here]
So the new creative team has taken over. Truth be told, you'd hardly notice. The book retains a similar art style and writing tone. The only real difference I can see is that Booster is a lot more serious and angrier than usual, but I guess that's related to all the horrible crap he's been through since this series began. The sad thing about Booster is that, up until recently, he really was the inept idiot everyone thought he was. Without a straightman to his stooge, Booster just kinda screws up royally all the time. And yet, here's Booster as the straightman while his wacky ancestor is screwing up.
Anyway, the main plot of this story is that, thanks to Booster's wacky ancestor, Rip Hunter has been taken over by a Starro fish. With access to all of Rip's time traveling stuff, Starro goes back in time and attempts to take over the Earth centuries ago. Booster and Goldstar chase him back, only for him to run to the future to take over that. Things get really bad when an army of Starro-people toss Booster into a pit full of Starro fish, threatening to kill Booster's son soon after. For anyone who's been paying attention, Rip Hunter is secretly Booster Gold's son of an undetermined mother.
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CAPTAIN BRITAIN AND MI-13
Who the hell is Captain Midlands?
I had to check both Wikipedia and the Marveldatabase-- a rare double-dip for information. Turns out he's a recently made British knockoff of Captain America who professes in appearing in the background of this title. If I've seen him before now, this is honestly the first time I've noticed him.
Anyway, when we last left MI-13, Blade had stabbed Spitfire through the chest for being a vampire. Because there's nothing more unforgivable than being a dirty, filthy half-vampire with no blood lust. Personally, I'm awaiting the day Blade stakes himself. Anyway, Faiza used her amazing bio-powers to heal Spitfire up, causing Blade to abandon MI-13. Meanwhile, Captain Britain (with his new feeling-based powers) ventures into a magically burning building on his own, where he encounters a powerful demon-god thingy named Plokta, who is putting people in a wish-fulfilling dreamstate to consume their souls. Spitefire and Blade end up in an all-out brawl, which I'm sure will conclude next issue with Spitfire proving she's not a blood-hungry beastie. MI-13 daringly rescues Captain Midlands. In the end, Cap Britain faces off against Plokta by himself, until Plokta tempts Cap with something he can't deny: his late wife Meggan.
I still love this book.
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X-MEN: WORLDS APART #1 OF 4
Someone in this African nation... is a murderer! *shock, gasp*
This miniseries starts off with Cyclops and Storm heading to the Morlock tunnels, prepared to offer the Morlocks a place in the San Franciscan sunlight. Scott strikes up a conversation with 'Ro about whether she's the Queen of Wakanda or an X-man. Before Ro can answer, she's summoned by her people to investigate a murder, and must head back to Wakanda.
It turns out Nezhno has been recorded on a surveillance camera, murdering a Wakandan mystic. Right away, as a reader, I know Nehzno is innocent, because (a) it's freaking Nezhno and (b) who the f*** stares directly into a CCTV camera for 16 straight seconds before committing a murder? Storm's not an idiot and knows Nezhno has been set up, so she orders his release, and tries to take him away. That is, until the Wakandan military is ordered to apprehend Storm and Nezhno by no other than Black Panther himself. What the hell is going on, here?
It's Shadowking. He's screwing with T'Challa's mind, and likely took over Nezhno's during the murder. What ever will Storm do? And more importantly, will we finally get to see Nezhno rejoin the X-Men in San Francisco?
Kyle rayner is not not even a regular character in green lantern books anymore, hell he's off somewehre in another dimension LOL. Wally doesn't seem to remember he even exists, and John stewart is now more important then Kyle is. JOHNS likes wally alot, so maybe he won't completely phase out him like he did with Kyle......one can hope.
