Marvel Preview Review for January 2010 Part 3 of 3

X-FORCE #23
Written by CHRISTOPHER YOST & CRAIG KYLE
Pencils & Cover by CLAYTON CRAIN
X-FORCE has a new mission: KILL SELENE. As Utopia burns, Wolverine and the team heads to take down the Black Queen and rescue one of their own, but they have no idea what they're in for when they arrive on the shores of Necrosha. The biggest X-Force story yet continues as Selene's Inner Circle begins to tear itself apart, and the truth about Wolfsbane is finally revealed. PART FOUR (of SIX) 32 PGS./$2.99
Lee: Well, at least the cover isn’t dripping blood. More like hanging chunks of meat. Completely different.
Jim: Marvel's version of Blackest Night continues. There is a part of me that wishes I still cared about the X-Men and the various spin offs, but I don't.

NATION X: X-FACTOR
Written by PETER DAVID
Penciled by VALENTINE DE LANDRO & Cover by CHRISTIAN MACNEVEN
Utopia. The sanctuary for mutants to escape a world that wants them extinct. So is it the ideal home for X-Factor? That's what Cyclops believes when he invites the world's only mutant detective agency to relocate to their floating island retreat and take up residence there. But will Madrox and his team believe that it's the best place for them? What old faces will pop up, and what old acquaintances will be renewed? And will there even be a Utopia left when the mysterious Crone shows up and threatens to bring the entire place crashing down into the Pacific? 40 PGS./ $3.99
Jim: And now Marvel is really ticking me off. X-Factor is the one book that I have been able to follow as they stay in their own corner of the MU. This appears to be changed once more (as they were dragged into Messiah War or whatever.) It maybe time to drop X-Factor.
Lee: I'm with you. I read this in trades and it's time to cut the losses. I can't keep up with every Marvel event, nor do I want to. I shall miss this but it's time to go.

X-MEN FOREVER #15 & 16
Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT
Penciled by PETER VALE (#15) & TBA (#16)
Cover by TOM GRUMMETT
GREAT JUMPING ON POINT the fate of PERFECT STORM! The last time we saw Storm, she was fleeing from the X-Men, having blinded Sabretooth and killed Logan. Now, we turn our focus to Wakanda to see what became of the evil clone of the woman that the X-Men loved and trusted. ALSO: new two-part story starting with Issue 16 as CHRIS CLAREMONT continues his landmark run on X-MEN FOREVER! Don’t miss a single panel! Plus, an extra feature detailing a timeline of what other Marvel Universe stories were occurring during the current X-Men Forever saga!#15 - 40 PGS./ $3.99#16 - 32 PGS./ $3.99
Lee: There is almost too much wrong with this to cover in the three sentences I'm allowed. But let me try. So, the Marvel U is soooo complicated that I now need a timeline to show how everything connects? What happened to the days when it was fairly simple? And do we really need another Dark Storm or Storm the God storyline. Claremont hasn't been one of my favorite writers for a long time but he's better than this. At least, I hope he's better than this.
Jim: Lee, you might be missing that X-Men Forever is it's own little convoluted timeline. This is the X-Men starting from when Claremont left the book years ago. We are pretending he never left and are now moving forward with what was Claremont's vision of where the X-Men were going. In order to set the story in the proper place and time the timeline makes "comic book" sense. The whole problem is this an idea that should have never been green lighted. It is playing to a very small niche market and I can't imagine the sales on this book are growing.
Lee: Oh yeah. I missed that. Maybe they need a "good jumping on point" or something like that. I can tell you, if I did buy this on a whim (which I won't) I wouldn't have been happy to learn it was basically a gaint 'What If'... I'll try not to pick this again.

X-MEN ORIGINS: CYCLOPS
Written by STUART MOORE
Art by JESSE DELPERDANG & Cover by ADI GRANOV
The X-MEN ORIGINS series continues with this month spotlighting Cyclops! Witness the origin of the X-Men’s leader from his childhood through his joining of the X-Men with both classic moments and a few scenes that you’ve never scene. Don’t miss this book!40 PGS./One-Shot/$3.99
Jim: Cyclops has one of the most convoluted personal histories of any character and re-telling his origin only gets a one-shot? Why?
Lee: The sad part is that it was one of the simplist origins for a long, long time. Marvel just keeps trying to cram details into the nooks and crannies that every heroes history has become a convoluted mess.

S.W.O.R.D. #3
Written by KIERON GILLEN
Penciled by STEVEN SANDERS & Cover by JOHN CASSADAY
Agent Brand, Beast, Sydren, Beta Ray Bill, Marvel Boy, Jazinda, Karolina and all the other aliens on Earth have been captured by Henry Gyrich and his “NO MORE ALIENS” agenda. Only one person can free them and save the world: Lockheed.32 PGS/$2.99
Lee: Let me see if I understand this cover. A dragon that flies and breathes fire needs guns. How about I declare this stupid beyond belief and we call it even.
Jim: LOL. The dragon has always been a cool side character, doing this is plain ignorant.


MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE INHUMANS VOL. 2 HC
Written by DOUG MOENCH & SCOTT EDELMAN
Penciled by GEORGE PEREZ, GIL KANE, KEITH POLLARD & AL MILGROM
Collecting THE INHUMANS #1-12, CAPTAIN MARVEL #52-53 and the rare Inhumans tales from WHAT IF? #29-30 & THOR ANNUAL #12.272 PGS./ $54.99
Jim: I'm stunned that the Inhumans got two Masterworks released so close to one another. I'm really looking forward to an Iron Fist Masterwork and hope we see a couple so we get to the early Claremont/Byrne work on that series.
Lee: The Inhumans are getting this so quickly because of the Perez art and their current inclusion in the War of Kings stuff. Interest for this particular C-list team is as high as it's gonna get so why not. On the upsite, it has great art by Gil Kane and the stories aren't that bad. Don't get me wrong, it's still Marvel 70's slugfests, but if you like non-stop action, then this is a good read.

Jim: It is sad that Marvel is what made me fall in love with comics and I could probably stop following Marvel all together if I was doing serious cutbacks.
Lee: These days, I'm basically into hc's and reprints of material through the 80's. It's a sad state of affairs.