Starting with some X-Men stuff:
Cloak And Dagger - This one shot was good, but disappointing for me as well. The biggest thing that made me excited about Utopia was that Cloak and Dagger, along with Namor, were joining the X-Men. I've been disappointed in their lack of panel-time in Uncanny and I was curious why they weren't being used. It was Faction that brought them in after all.
Well, this issue answers that for me... it's because they leave. The issue begins with Dagger training alongside Anole, Rockslide, and Graymalkin and feeling like she belongs. Dr. Nemesis shows up and informs her that, according to his studies, she is in fact NOT a mutant, as she was reconned to being back in the 90's I think. This disappoints her and she starts to feel out of place.
Elsewhere, Cloak has started seeing an old friend from their old neighborhood and he's developing this life in secret from Dagger but she turns out to be someone who wants to help Tyrone lose his powers so they can be together. We later learn that she has powers herself but has sworn them off. She turns Cloak into some pro-human group (I assume to be the Purifiers based on dress but it could be Hammer... they never really say) and they try to brainwash Cloak out of using his powers.
Dagger realizes something is wrong and tries to get the X-Men to help her find Cloak, but believing it to be a lovers quirrel Cyclops refuses and Storm is too busy, so she goes it alone. She's eventually followed by Dr. Nemesis and Anole and together they save Cloak. Feeling themselves out of place Cloak and Dagger decide to leave Utopia, claiming it is for the mutants but not themselves. And so they return to the old Church that's always been their home and they're basic normal Cloak and Dagger again.
Disappointed
I love the idea of them with the X-Men and nothing came of it at all. But all in all, the issue itself was good, and I like Brooks's art.
X-23 - This came out last week but I just got it. A solo story about X-23 that ties in her past with her X-Men ties, and then her NYX ties. She is with Wolverine and Jubilee looking into a mystery but she becomes sidetracked when she picks up the scent of her old NYX buddies. She spends time with them and becomes mentally contacted by the Gamesmaster, but refuses his offers. Eventually she makes peace with her old NYX buddies for leaving and not telling them, and she and Wolverine go off into the night as always.
It was actually a pretty boring read, but I like X-23 so it was tolerable. The only part that really made me excited was when you learned the abstract art dude that looks like no one in particular was actually Gamesmaster. He was one of my favorite villains in the 90's that I'm sure was forgotten, but the fact that he's shown up here gets me excited. Maybe someone has plans for his return.
New Mutants 11 - By far my favorite SIEGE tie-in to date. Every other tie-in has always just been random character or team vs Asguardians. Thunderbolts have varied from this a bit but it's still the basic forumla, add spear and Mighty Avengers. This one, however, was TOTALLY differant.
Back during the Utopia storyline, Cyclops had Moonstar retain her Valkryie powers from Hela to challenge Ares. It is now time to repay that dept. So Hela gives Moonstone her godly powers once more, but not to aid in the battle in any way, but rather to guide the souls of the dead Asgardians to Hel where they should be. It was interesting because Moonstar heroic nature called for her to save the still living, but in doing so she condemned many of the dead for not guiding them sooner. Gillen, who also writes Thor, bounces off of his Thor tie-ins in having Tyr, who was mortally wounded in the last issue of Thor, appear with the dead as the lead character, but then revealed that Tyr was only near dead and still lives, thus, isn't taken by Moonstar and returns to the land of the living.
This was a very creative tie-in that I wish more could have been like. Though I like this book and its characters, this was the tie-in I was least looking forward to, feeling it very obligatory... but it turned out great. And I like Niko Henrichon's art a lot. I first noticed him in Vaugn's Pride of Baghdad... and then in the prelude issue to New X-Men's Limbo arc that brought back Magik. His stuff is very good.
Gillen took over writing duties for Zeb Wells on this issue and I don't know if it's perminant or just for one issue. Wells has done fine on the book, but if this is Gillen's quality on the title then I say let the man stay! And the same with Henrichon!
X-Force 25 - The final of Necrosha! Bleh. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the story... but as many have said before, it's very ill-timed. If it was one of it's kind it would have been amazing, but alongside Blackest Night it really does pale in comparison.
But looking at it fairly, it was a good issue on it's own. The biggest thing for me was two small deals. You see Cyclops blast Banshee out of the window and then suddenly the rest of the dead are taken to be consumed by Selene. And when it's all over Cyclops mentioned some of the returned dead escaped before Selene could kill them. So this tells me that they're planning a true Banshee return, or at least opening the window, and that makes me VERY excited!
Now, other things about the issue I liked was the battle between Wither and Elixer that drew on their time togehter during Academy X and New X-Men. It was well done and for a fan of them both from that time like me, it was very sad to see Elixer ultimately kill Wither... even if Wither had gone nuts and already killed fellow student Onyxx an issue or two back. Wolverine kills off Senyaka, which was expected, but no big deal because Senyaka's powers allow him to return easily enough. I'm glad to see that now evil Blink survives and escapes along with Dazzler's sister. I was really impessed with how well written and respectful the Warpath/Thunderbird fight was. And I love seeing Vanisher actually fighting alongside X-Force by choice. If nothing else, Kyle and Yost have made me love his character when I couldn't care less about him before.
The final battle with Selene was a bit of a let down, though it did pull factors from previous issues of X-Force to see it done, which was nice. I'm more interested in the fall out. In a conversation between Wolverine and Cyclops we learn that the team basically quits. It seems Wolverine, Domino, and Vanisher are still on board, but Warpath's quit having made his pease about his brother's death. Elixer's quit having a hard time with what he had to do to Wither. Wolfesbane's mentioned as being done (and I'm guessing going to New Mutants soon), and X-23 is cut by Wolverine himself just because he says so (remember, he didn't want her there to begin with).
So X-Force is currently Wolverine, Domino, and Vanisher. Cyclops says they still need an X-Force so I'm wondering what the book will be like following Second Coming.
X-Men: Second Coming Chapter 1 - This issue was good but it was entirely expected. Even with trying to dodge any previews, all I saw was Bastion's face and the Pride smiley armor guys on a cover and that's all I needed to expect this entire issue.
Cable and Hope show up in the modern day X-Mansion ruins. They're attacked by the Pride units and then by the Humanity dudes with the white masks. Bastion is the big bad of the story along with his Human Councel that he resurrected in the first arc of X-Force (Cameran Hodge, Stephen Lang, Boliver Trask, Graydon Creed, and William Stryker).
There were a few things I liked about the issue though.
The reveal of the 3 dead mutants due to Necrosha and Cyclops's stressout about them. We knew Onyxx and Diamond Lil died but now we also know that Meld died. I like that because I was always curious what became of Meld. For all of you who don't know, Meld was a mutant in the Sentinel Squad O.N.E. mini during Decimation who used to fly a Sentinel but ran after saving someone's life or something like that. I liked him there and thought him forgotten. Neat to see him have a finalized ending. And it's good to see the stress of everything finally really weighing on Cyclops.
The X-Men's attack on those followin Cyclops and Hope was awesome. The badguys were just talking in their 3 vans and you turn the page and it's a 2 page splash of Colossus, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler smashing through their windshields, along with Psylocke, Angel, and X-23 adding to the attack right in the middle of the road. Awesome scene! During this attack we see Wolverine and X-23 kill in full X-force mode and Nightcrawler flips out about it and there's a bit of an argument regarding the way things have been between Nightcrawler and Psylocke, and Wolverine.
Cyclops divides the team into 4 groups and you can see what comics are represented there. Domino and Vanisher are in San Fransisco for something I'm assuming will happen in X-Force. Rogue and Namor remain on Utopia in case of an attack, something I'm assuming will happen iN X-Men Legacy. The New Mutants are put together minus Illyana to go to the midwest and prepare for a call (that way they can be anywhere in the country in minutes). And the main X-Men along with Illyana go after Cable and Hope (as explained above)... and I assume they represent the Uncanny team.
It was a good first issue, now I'm real excited to see where it's leading. I've dodged spoilers the best I could, so now with Bastion and the Pride revealed in the first issue, I'm going in blind and I am majorly excited for the rest of the event!
Black Hand gets a fairly ironic ending, as the Indigo Tribe has apparently taken him captive and conscripted him into their ranks. Compassion of a sort, I guess, since they're giving him a purpose and stopping his self-destructive behavior, but a pretty cruel version of it given that Hand obviously doesn't want it.
