Comics

All-New X-Men #32

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All-New X-Men #32After their encounter with a new mutant Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel, and X-23 are scattered across the Marvel Ultimate Earth with no way of getting home. Jean Grey is lucky enough to run into Spider-Man, albeit not the Spider-Man she knows, but other members of the team aren’t so lucky.

Angel finds himself in the middle of the Savage Land, Beast is trapped in the middle of Latveria, after accidentally breaking up a football game X-23 is on the run from the law, and Bobby wakes in the middle of the Mole-Man‘s lair.

The Jean Grey/Miles Morales team-up sells the issue (while also providing a pretty cool splash panel of Miles’ time as Spidey), but the other storylines don’t put the original X-Men in situations which they couldn’t have found on their own Earth (in either timeline, really). As someone who has largely ignored the Ultimate Universe since its creation the comic is is only mildly interesting to me but longtime fans may get more out of it. For fans.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Morning Glories #40

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Morning Glories #40While spending much of the issue highlighting the underground student newspaper crew, Morning Glories #40 offers a philosophical discussion about he nature of reality with the arrival of Oliver Simon and Ellen Richmond who show up to help the class get back on track for the upcoming science fair. Although Vanessa is overjoyed at the unexpected visit from her mother, Ian is less than thrilled with his father’s arrival and lecture on the nature of observable reality. However, the debate does stir something in the young man and force him to take the first step on a dark path in attempting to rewrite history for his own ends.

Given the lecture hall set-up the issue is even more verbose than usual in throwing out ideas from ancient philosophy to modern science fiction to explain the nature of the universe as we know it. The real reveal isn’t the discussion itself (which I’m sure has clues to larger themes buried in Dr. Simon’s ramblings) but the dark nature of Ian who not only tortures the blinded Fortunato but also prepares to use the power of the Cylinder for his own dark purposes. For fans.

[Image, $3.50]

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten #7

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Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Ten #7After taking a month off, Nicholas Brendon returns to co-write the latest issue of Buffy Season Ten which continues the fresh start for the comic’s core characters and new living accommodations for roomies Spike and Xander. Continuing the theme of temptation, the latest issue sets Spike and Xander at the mercy of Sirens who nearly devour the pair if not for the timely intervention of ghost Anya screaming some sense into her ex-fiance.

With new digs the Scoobies are back together. Across from hall from Spike and Xander there’s Buffy, Willow, and Dawn leading to a Friends-style set-up so obvious one character even comments on it. The Siren escapade is a mix of bizarre and humorous (pillow fights? do Sirens really enjoy seeing half-naked men having pillow fights?) tempered by the loneliness of both Spike and Xander.

Xander’s situation with Dawn is far from settled and the ongoing temptation to use the new Vampyr tome continues to affect all those who hold onto it foreshadowing an error in judgement looming just beyond the horizon. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.50]

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Uncanny X-Men #26

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Uncanny X-Men #26In an attempt to fulfill the final wish of Charles Xavier, the unlikely force of Rachel, Cyclops, and Wolverine go after an Omega-Level Mutant whose knowledge of his immense powers Professor X wiped from his mind. With the professor gone, those memories are returning making the man a potential danger to every living being on the planet.

Without getting specific about just what powers the man controls, Uncanny X-Men #26 sets up the mutant as a major threat who S.H.I.E.L.D. will gladly take all the help it can get to neutralize before things spiral out of control.

The issue brings up two subplots worth keeping an eye on in Iceman‘s boiling rage against Scott Summers for Xavier’s death and in the conflict of Cyclops’ young mutants when discussing the reasons for the existence of a training program pitting them against the Avengers. Both foreshadow potentially messy situations for Cyclops and possibly his entire team. Worth a look.

[Marvel, $3.99]

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures #15

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures #15Leonardo‘s planned competition for the rest of the team gets out-of-hand when the Turtles’ leader is captured by Fishface who alters the various challenges and traps in Leo’s obstacle course to lethal levels in hopes of finishing Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael once and for all. The comic’s main story forces the competition into a team-building exercise (which Leo had in mind all along – although be it far more dangerous than he planned).

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: New Animated Adventures #15 also offers a pair of goofy and enjoyable back-up stories. The first is presented from the perspective of Ice Cream Kitty who fancies herself a legendary hero with the freezer door is mistakenly left open allowing the slowly-melting warrior to dispense justice on the streets of New York. The second storyline involves Splinter‘s attempt to master Mikey’s favorite video game, which offers only frustration for the Turtles’ master. All three stories work well and are certainly worth a look.

[IDW, $3.99]

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