This week, I'm trying something new.
It's been a little difficult to keep up my weekly pull lists, if I'm being honest, due to their repetitive nature. It isn't that I don't like some of these comics, it's just that explaining where we're at with them week after week can be a little derivative, which kills my creativity. So here we are, continuing my weekly lists under a new, uh, theme? That's not quite right, it's been a long week, already. Click any of the links below to be taken to a specific section of my write-up, or just hit Continue Reading for the whole shebang! X of Swords Finale Reaction Reign of X Green Lantern by Meghan Hetrick Instagram Updates POC Spotlight Comics Women in Comics Comic Pulls for the Week!
X of Swords is Over!
There's a fair amount left to think about, after the finale of X of Swords last week. Johnathon Hickman had us all fooled, I think, in the big reveal of the question everyone was asking, but no one in the series was addressing: who is the tenth sword? When the moment struck, and we saw the reveal, I had to sit back, and take a moment to feel like an idiot. The tenth sword? It was S.W.O.R.D. Or, more specifically, the S.W.O.R.D space station, recently discovered by young Cable and his technical parents. It came barging through to the battle on Otherworld, with the help of Magik--dear Illyana had such a glorious arc through X of Swords! In combination with how well Hickman handled her in the Empyre: X-Men series, I'm more excited than ever to see what happens with her in the future. The event ended with Apocalypse returning to Arrako with his wife and children, cutting themselves off from the rest. While I'm sure it will be some time before we see Apocalypse again, it will for sure be a big deal when we do--and probably bad news for the rest of mutant-kind, to be honest. Resurrection is on thin ice, with the revelations of X of Swords. We'll see them talking about it in X-Factor this week, but things will certainly have to change in terms of the resurrection protocols, going forward. Of course, one of the most exciting reveals involving X-Men this week came not from comics, but from social media, when artists and writers on the X-Team all posted an image to jazz fans up about the world of X-Men from here on out. Since the first set of books by Hickman, House and Powers of X, we've been calling this era Dawn of X. Now that X of Swords is over, and the Krakoan mutants will have to face their first major changes since establishing their new island society and government. With this new image, we now know that the next phase of Hickman's X-Men universe will be called Reign of X.
Reign of X
Last week marked the ending of X of Swords, the first self-contained X-Men even in Johnathon Hickman's new era for mutant-kind. The announcement of Reign of X came with some beautiful art by Mahmud Asrar, one of the premier X-Men artists in Hickman's bullpen. Check it out:
From Left-ish to Right-ish, let's see what's here :
Very top corner, we have Jim Jaspers from the Crooked Market. During X of Swords, he made it clear his intentions are highly questionable, as well as his allegiances, so he will no doubt be a problem gong forward. We all know Emma Frost, and that's Sebastian Shaw peeping out behind her. These two have BIG bad blood between them, and things certainly aren't over, yet. Below them are Maverick and Patch--the former I don't know anything about, the latter is Logan, the original Wolverine. I say "original" because we have Laura Kinney, formerly X-23, a bit to the right. This image is from the cover of X-Men #18, drawn by Leinil Francis Yu and colored by Sunny Gho. She appears to be coming through a Krakoan portal alongside Darwin, which makes sense, as the two of them went off on some loosely defined adventure towards the beginning of Dawn of X. With her apparent return, I presume she will be taking up the name of Wolverine officially, hence Logan dressing as Patch. He's an old guy, I'm sure he has a number of loose ends to deal with, still. Storm is in the center, of course. She's already had a deeply important role in Dawn of X, so I can only image where we'll see her taken in Reign of X. To the upper left of Storm are Angel and Penance, AKA Warren and Monet. They're drawn split in both their forms, and have been shown hanging out during the Empyre: X-Men event, but this image definitely gives me vibes of something less-than-heroic going on. Above that pair is one of the members of the Locus Vile: a new group of villains the Hellions battled in their last issue, and who almost wiped all of them out. I'm glad to see they'll be making a reappearance, no matter how unsettling their character designs were. Take it as a compliment, they're villains! Moving right, we hit Kid Omega, no doubt dying for the umpteenth time since we saw him in Hickman's new era. He's right there in a cluster with Gambit's cards, the villainous Arcade, and Nimrod! Part of me still can't blieve that's his real name, but he was one of the most unstoppable villains the X-Men have seen, as showcased in Hickman's setting up of his universe. His return no doubt means bad things are afoot. That goes for the appearance of Shadow King, as well. The notorious X-Men villain is going to be a major problem when he pops up in Reign ox X. I don't need to introduce Scott or Jean, flanked by what I assume are their new X-Men team members. Technically, they won't be called the X-Men anymore, so I'm curious what they'll refer to themselves as in the future. Next to them is my new favorite couple: Doug and Bei! The giant Arrakan and her new husband have moved to Krakoa, and I can't wait to see what happens with them! They already seem to have a great bond, which no doubt will get in the way as much as it helps them out. But, with Doug married, what happens with Warlock? That leaves us with S.W.O.R.D and Nightcrawler! As I mentioned before, S.W.O.R.D was a reveal from the end of the event, a big enough deal to make me interested in an otherwise sleeper series coming later this month. Nightcrawler is the unofficial Priest of Krakoa, more and ore official as things change, I think. He's had some amazing lines and moments in Dawn of X, I can't wait to see what's in store going forward!
Green Lantern Jo by Meghan Hetrick
Back in, I want to say, August, I became a Patreon for comic artist Meghan Hetrick, after discovering her drool-worthy rendition of Madelyne Pryor, the Goblin Queen. One of the first batches of prints I ordered from her Patron shop was a gorgeous piece of Green Lantern Jo, from Far Sector. I've been an outspoken proponent for Far Sector since I picked it up after the third issue. Creators N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell outdo themselves on every issue, bringing their all in their world-building, character design, motives, and every other facet of story-telling possible. When the print arrived, I got excited and posted it all over twitter, not realizing it was an unannounced variant cover for a future issue. Since that issue of Far Sector is finally coming out this week, I get to share my fabulous print again! This one is a perfect example of why I'm so taken by Hetrick's art, and continue to collect what I can.
What's up on Instagram?
I've been posting what I'll call the Saga of Carol on my Instagram page: @annawiththecomics. It's stored under my highlights right now as "AVG200+," alluding to one of the comics I'm addressing, Avengers #200. The whole arc I'm going over includes Avengers #197-200, Avengers Annual #10, and then Uncanny X-Men #164 and #171. This covers her trauma as an Avenger, her de-powering at the hands of Rogue and subsequent confrontation with her former fellow Avengers, her turning into Binary with the X-Men, and then leaving the X-Men when Rogue joins the team. I'm utterly fascinated by a lot of this era of comics, and the sideline characters and sub-monikers many heroes went through at the time. The relationship between Carol and Rogue is unique and long-winded, so I'm working on reading it all--bit by bit. If my going through and explaining various Marvel stories gets any interest, I might make that a regular thing! Let me know.
Spotlight on POC in Comics:
Atlantis Attacks by Greg Pak: final issue of the first all-Asian super-hero team's third series! Far Sector #9 N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell: Green Lantern sci-fi comic with touches of Afro-Futurism.
Spotlight on Women in Comics:
Black Widow #4 Kelly Thompson, Elena Casagrande, and Jordie Bellaire, with Carlos Gomez Female team, Female lead! Far Sector #6 N.K. Jemisin, starring Jo Mullhein, a black-American lantern Female writer, female lead! Overwatch: Tracer - London Calling #1 Mariko Tamaki and Babs Tarr. Female team, female lead! Spy Island #4 by Chelsea Cain, Rachelle Rosenberg, Elise McCall, Lia Miternique. Last issue, female team, female lead! From the creators of Man-Eaters! X-Factor #5 by Leah Williams, one of the strongest writers of X of Swords.
COMIC PULLS:
Batman / Catwoman #1 Tom King romance. Clay Mann interiors. Batman and Catwoman. Selina and Bruce. Clay Mann. Return of the Phantasm. A load of variant covers. Clay Mann/Tom King. What more could you want? Fantastic Four: Road Trip #1 This is an oversized one-shot by Doctor Doom's Christopher Cantwell, featuring artist Filipe Andrade. An AU where a vacation for the Richards/Storm/Grimm families turns particularly sour, this issue is gong to be a fun mind-melting horror adventure. Overwatch: Tracer - London Calling #1 I will be the first to admit this comic is getting picked up by me this week to support the creative team, and not much else. I don't play Overwatch, and to be completely clear, Babs Tarr still has a shaky reputation after June's reveal that her long-time friend and creative partner, Cameron Stewart, is a pedo who grooms underage fans. But I support the hell out of Mariko Tamaki, and female creator projects. So, it is what it is. I'm curious is Tarr's art levels with early Motor Crush (intense effort) or later in the series (minimal effort). Tales From The Dark Multiverse: War of the Gods #1 Another multiversal story rewrite, this time by Vita Ayala (with Ariel Olivetti)! Ayala is a proven excellent writer, putting out some of my favorite single issues from the Death Metal, as well as Dawn of X and X of Swords. Just that alone makes this a must-read for me, as it's getting rarer and rarer to find DC books of quality writing, these days. King in Black #1 Here it is, the over-marketed new Marvel event, where the 616 will have to face the god of the symbiotes, and his countless minions. Quote me on this here: King in Black ends with Thanos whooping Knull's ass and making him into a new gauntlet. Black Widow #4 I've written reviews for each issue of this series, so far. Here is #1, #2 ishere, thenthis is #3. Based on those, my thoughts on this series are pretty clear. Read Black Widow. Also this week: guest artist Carlos Gomez! Spy Island #4 I'm equally excited and sad that this is the final issue of Spy Island! I've been far more than overjoyed with this mini-series, which I talk about in depth in my ongoing review. The book is exactly what I want to see coming from indie comics, with the creative effort I hope to see in all comics. Truly superb, unparalleled work. Read the shit out of Spy Island, and tell your friends! Atlantis Attacks #5 The final issue of Greg Pak's third series starring the second Agents of Atlas team. This has been an incredible journey I'm proud to have followed along on, and I hope the team and its members get the proper spotlight they deserve again some time in the future. X-Factor #5 After the revelations from X of Swords, things will no doubt have to change for the resurrection protocols, and therefore the X-Factor team who works on their behalf. I'm pleased as hell to see Leah Williams and David Baldeon continuing their team-up on X-Factor into Reign of X and 2021! DCeased: Dead Planet #6 Issue #6 of 7 is going to be wild, especially after #5s revelation: Darkseid Isn't (and by that I mean, he's now Anti-Life Darkseid.) And there's still two major enemy players on the board, untouched: infected Superman of the sun, and infected Green Arrow, unlawfully brought into Poison Ivy's safe camp for survivors. WHOOPS. Hellions #7 In the fallout of X of Swords, what's happening with the Hellions team? We last saw them being slaughtered by their leader, Mister Sinister, but things are never what they appear with him. Hellions continues into Reign of X! Strange Adventures #7 It's far enough in to Strange Adventures that to explain what's going on would take all day. In short, Mister Terrific is investigating Adam Strange and his wife, Alanna. The more and more we learn in the story, the more it looks like Adam did something unsavory involving his daughter to win the war on Raan. Double Tom King week, come and get it! Far Sector #9 I can't sing enough praise for N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell's Far Sector. Recent DC Future State news shows that Far Sector's starring Green Lantern Jo is the Green Lantern of the Justice League of the 5-15 years distant future! Even aside from that, if you haven't been reading this series, you've been missing out. Seriously. Get with it. Thor #10 After the reveals of last month's Thor, I'm actually excited to see what happens next! Donald Blake has been released from his no-time realm, after mentally snapping and causing immense bloody horrors. Now, Thor is in the realm, and Blake is wandering the Earth. Chaos ensues! Daredevil #25 Chip Zdarsky has blown away all expectations with this series, and then some. His rotation of artists stands as THE exception to my rule of hating rotating artists, a testament to his strong writing. Following last week's #24, we'll see DD prosecuted, plead guilty, and maybe be replaced by his twin brother? See what I mean about expectations?
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