X-men Second Coming: X-men Legacy #237 - Waning Awesome

For a series that started off so strong, X-men Second Coming has been withering slowly in act three just like Jennifer Aniston's acting career. What made the story so strong was how well it flowed. From issue to issue, the pace was steady and the action, characterization, and emotions all came together nicely. That's not an easy thing to do when four separate writers are working on this beast, but if the succeeded in the first two acts then why not the third? First there was Uncanny X-men #525 with Matt Fraction, which spoiled the momentum. Then came Zeb Wells with New Mutants #14, which failed to regain that momentum. Now if ever there was an X-men writer who could get this eagle soaring again, it's Mike Carey. If the X-men writers were the A-Team, Mike Carey would be Hannibal. So there were high hopes for X-men Legacy #237 and while it wasn't an epic fail, the series is still limping like Rickey Martin's dick at the Playboy Mansion.

The first page starts things off pretty strongly. In the previous issue, every mutant on Utopia had their backs against the wall with the Nimrod Sentinels coming down on them like Al Gore on the CEO of BP. They needed a game-changer and they got one in Magneto, who has been out of commission due to the events of Uncanny X-men #522. He took himself off the bench here and let loose on the Nimrod sentinels. For a guy so old he should be shitting in bags in a retirement home by now, he kicks some serious ass. The problem is he does it on only one page. Seriously, how does Carey and Greg Land expect us to appreciate Magneto's badassery in one page?


From there, the story makes a sloppy transition to X-Force in the future. It is the first of what will become many sloppy transitions, making this comic flow about as well as a constipated rhino. It's not the kind of storytelling you would expect from Mike Carey, but for what it's worth he does flesh out the scene pretty well. He has X-Force trying to make a dent in Mastermold and failing miserably while Cable and Cypher are trying to attack the brain of this behemoth. It's a pretty badass scene, especially for Cypher who isn't known for having balls of steel. But he manages to really step up and dive head first into Mastermold's head. Contrary to popular perceptions, the mind of a machine is pretty damn cool and Greg Land really does capture the moment with his unique style.


Another bumpy transition later, and we're back in the present with the X-men kicking ass on the Golden Gate bridge. For all intents and purposes they're still pretty screwed. Much of what was shown the last two issues holds true here. The Nimrods are beating down on the X-men like they're Mexicans in Arizona. Last issue it was Colossus who got singled out. This time it's Storm, who puts up a little more of a fight and shows why she shouldn't have been married off to Black Panther and thrust out of the X-men. But I'd rather not go off on that rant.


While Storm does get humbled, she doesn't get humiliated the way Colossus did. Before the Nimrods can turn the queen into a joker, Hope Summers shows up (you know, the so-called mutant messiah this whole crossover is about who has had a grand total of 2 pages in the past two comics? Still not ringing any bells?) and she's packing a big fucking gun from the 28th century. And with this big fucking gun she goes Rambo on the Nimrod sentinels with Rogue playing the backup John McClane type role. For a girl who's still a teenager, it's pretty badass and way overdue.


Hope's presence helps tip some of the balance on the bridge (although Cyclops looks pretty damn pissed about it). Cut to another sloppy transition and we're back on Utopia with Magneto. Somehow, it feels as though these pages should have been added to the one at the beginning because it picks up fairly closely to where that page left off. Magneto is fighting off the Nimrod sentinels. Not much is said, just that the Nimrods detect his power levels way below what they should be. So they understandably get the robot equivalent of cocky. That doesn't last though. Magneto shows once again that he's not just a badass, he's pretty damn smart too. He reminds them that he was the one that build the rock that Utopia is floating on now. And he built it out of iron. Nimrod is about to get a lesson in physics. What happens when you take a shit ton of magnetism and use it to warp iron? Well since the physics is as boring as watching flies fuck, Magneto skips the lecture and goes straight to the demonstration. It's not exactly clean, but sure is awesome.


The next few pages take a break from all the sloppy transitions and tie together the entire fight, present and future alike. It's easy to forget with all these scenes that these battles are all unfolding at the same time. Greg Land makes good use of these pages and slaps together a nice montage of the whole epic fight that's unfolding. It's by far the best part of the issue and helps tie together what has been building since Act III began. You've got the X-men, X-Force, and Hope fighting side-by-side. Without mincing words, it's pretty fucking sweet.


Through it all there's plenty of gloom and doom. The X-men are backed into a corner and have been Bastion's whipping boy for nearly three issues now. The time for a turning point is long overdue and it finally happens within the computerized mind of Cypher. He asserts himself as the real star of this issue as battles Mastermold, who appears to be trying to fuck his brain in the style of tentacle anime porn. But for Cypher, no really does mean no and he finally gets the better of the big bad erector set by being creative and witty. It's definitely the kind of style one would expect in a Mike Carey comic.


As soon as Cypher wins his battle, the war against the Nimrod sentinels is won as well. It's a classic case of buying time against a superior foe while an ace in the whole goes for the jugular. It's not terribly complicated, but it isn't the same old cliched brawl that so many event comics often resort to. The strategy here really does add a level of complexity to this fight that isn't easy to come by and is quite fitting for a crossover of this nature. For once, Bastion's brilliant plan falters and the X-men can finally stop shitting themselves.


Now you would think things would settle after a battle like this, but this is X-men. Things never settle, especially considering they're still trapped in an unbreakable red dome. As the dust is settling, Cyclops goes after Hope. Unlike the others he seems to have remembered that Hope is still the key to this whole affair. She's the one who is supposed to save the mutant race. Unfortunately, she's still pretty pissed at him for sending Cable into the future and she makes her anger known by pointing the big fucking gun she used to bitch slap the Nimrod Sentinels right at his jaw.

Now this could have been a very emotional scene, but it quickly turns into somewhat of a joke. Granted, Mike Carey does a decent job of laying out the dialogue, but Greg Land's art really disappoints here. He draws Cyclops with the expression of Chrisopher Walken on LSD while Hope looks like she's suffocating on the surface of Mars while someone is jamming an ice pick into her spine. She does have plenty of reason to be angry, but the problem here is the same problem she had back in Uncanny X-men #525. It's overly dramatic and lacking heart. It's also disturbing to look at. Hope has been drawn so well before and this is by far her worst. If I was her agent, I would send a dead horse head to Greg Land as a warning.


While Hope is directing all her frustrations on Cyclops, there's something unfolding with X-Force in the future. They beat Mastermold, so how are they going to get back home? Well as it turns out Mastermold took a page right out of the Terminator series and made the time gate only accessible to non-organic life forms. X-23 tried to pass through, but nearly got burnt to a crisp in a gruesome yet strangely awesome scene. Then Cable has an idea and not a very good one either. He lets the techno-organic virus that he's been battling for years take over his body so he can pass through. He arrives just in time to wipe that disturbing look off Hope's face set things up for another major fight. Compared to the cringe-worthy nature of the previous few pages, this one looks pretty damn good and helps get the contents of the reader's stomach back to where they should be.


Now this could have been a great place to end the comic, but Mike Carey does not like leaving loose ends as some of the other writers seem way too comfortable with. He seemed to realize that it would be stupid if for three comics they didn't show Bastion, the mastermind behind this whole attack. So he finally gives rob-douche a scene and a pretty damn good one too. Having watched the battle, Bastion is shaken but not daunted. He still has some momentum going for him. He still has the X-men trapped. He can make one final push and it looks like he's going to in the pages of X-Force. If that isn't enough to get readers high like bunnies on crack, then they need to turn in their fanboy cards immediately.


So despite the many missteps of the past few issues, Mike Carey does help move things forward and sets things up for a dramatic finish. If keeping the story going and keeping it entertaining was the goal, then mission accomplished. But if regaining the same brand of awesome that was so apparent from the beginning of the crossover was the goal, then that would be a mission failure. Mike Carey is usually so good about fleshing out what other writers have failed to do so he's so surprisingly underwhelming in this that it's disheartening. It could be because there really wasn't much room for his usual characterization and dialogue. This was an issue that was all about the action. It was pretty good action at times and it would have definitely made up for the lack of dialogue and depth if it flowed nicely. But it didn't. The scenes transitions were sloppy and abrupt. There wasn't much wit going on either, which made certain portions come off as dry and uninspired.

But these shortcomings aren't nearly as egregious as the previous two issues and if nothing else, Carey did a nice job ending a fight that was starting to drag while laying the seeds for a new one. He kept the reader's interest and he did so without being too tacky. Greg Land had some nice moments as well, but that one page with Hope and Cyclops really brought him down a few pegs. He's been one of the better artists in this crossover so it's pretty distressing to see him barf a few panels like this. It seems to be a perfect sum-up of the disheartening trend Second Coming is going through. The crossover is just waning towards the end. It only has two issues left to redeem itself. If it's going to really be great, the next two issues will have to be flawless.

When put into the context of the past few issues and the plots that led up to it, this issue barely gets a 4 out of 5. I'm inclined to give it something lower, but it does improve from the previous two issues. It just doesn't do nearly enough. Also, with only two issues left it seems increasingly unlikely that there will be any answers concerning Hope and the many Phoenix/Jean Grey teases that have been dropped since Messiah Complex. Two issues left and still no word. If this series ends without addressing this it will be an epic fail and all the awesome from earlier will be for nothing. I pray Marvel isn't that stupid, but I wouldn't put it past them. I'm still on board until the very end. I'm ready for X-Force 28! Craig Kyle and Chris Yost have been visionaries for much of this series. It's time to see if they got the stones to pick up the slack! Nuff said.

X-Force #27 - Grim, Gritty, and Awesome

Since the end of Messiah War, reading X-Force has been like a ten minute orgasm while surrounded in the scent of melted chocolate fudge. Between the art, the action, and dark character portrayals it has been a book that never fails to deliver. So naturally, it earns a special place in the scope of Second Coming. It's one of those comics you never have to worry about being anything less than awesome. X-Force #26 continues that tradition, although not without some bumps along the road.

Now for anybody who has been disappointed by the lack of action in the past few issues, you can shut up now because the first ten pages ice nothing but knock-down, dragged out, eye-gougingly intense action. There is no dialogue. There isn't even any narration directing the reader with musings from 18th century freedom fighters making a stand against an imperial power to highlight the deep philosophical and historic significance of this story. It's just the X-men kicking the shit out of dozens of Nimrod Sentinels pouring in from the future. If this does not quench your thirst for action, then you're just being an asshole.


The art of Mike Choi is absolutely brilliant here. His style and that of X-Force has always been dark and graphic. This kind of thing would never work on a happy-go-lucky type story featuring Spider-Man, the Power Pack, and Donald Duck. It works best in an environment were a certain level of blood, guts, and various other body fluids are spilled and X-Force #27 has all that in abundance. The previous issue in X-men Legacy #236 really set things up nicely. For ten pages the likes of Cyclops, Namor, Rogue, Angel, Hellion, Surge, and a whole host other X-men fight off an invasion of Nimrod Sentinels. Anyone who is familiar with the history of the X-men knows that Nimrod sentinels are like the T-X Terminators of the Marvel Universe. One alone would be a bitch to handle. But throw dozens if not hundreds into the mix and you might as well save yourself the trouble, tie a noose around your neck, and throw yourself off the nearest five story structure. The X-men still hang strong, but the Nimrods do some serious damage. Arms are burned off, skin is burned, and bones are broken. It's a fight of gritty realism mixed with the awesome of mutant powers. You couldn't get much better than that without a topless woman and a pound of blow.


It's often understated when heroes get hurt in comics. Part of the X-men's appeal is that they're very human. You punch them and they'll bleed. You hurt them and they'll get hurt. The Nimrod sentinels definitely do that. But they don't land the killing blow. They seriously wound the X-men and dampen what little pride they have left. It's basically the same as a bully walking up to a kid in the schoolyard, roughing him up a little, and then saying they'll beat the living shit out of him after school so he has something to look forward to. The Nimrods do more than just rough up. They have the audacity to call this attack a scouting mission because they do pull back even though they have the X-men on the ropes. Now if this sounds a little confusing, bear with me because there is a method behind the madness and it's not worth bitching over.


More of Bastion's tactical brilliance is showcased here because he does something that would normally give villains the kind of headaches that would make them become postal workers. He understands that there is a future (the Days of Futures Past timeline to be precise) where neither humans nor mutants win the struggle. What he does in the present really won't amount to a pile of cow shit if the future remains the same. In order to change the future, he has to work in four dimensions and not just three. It would make Doc Brown from Back to the Future proud.

The plan is simple yet terrifying elegant. He's going to open a portal to allow 170,000 Nimrod sentinels to pour in from the future and deliver the final blow to the X-men. In terms of sheer force that's like swatting a fly with an H-bomb. In this case, however, there's no such thing as overkill. Bastion went through the trouble of trapping the X-men and killing their teleporters and he's going to make good use of this opportunity damn it!


Needless to say, the X-men are deadpanned. They got a whole city that's going to hell because of them and a fight that's taking place in both the future and the present. Even for a leader as strong as Cyclops, it's a lot to take in and seems like only a matter of time before a "we're fucked" mentality sets in. Some like Prodigy have already began returning to the fetal position. He starts whining that they're all going to die like that guy in the street corner preaching that the alien supergod Assholio is going to return and anally rape them all to death. Logan has to forcibly retrieve his balls from the recesses of his ass, but he gets him an everyone else to focus.

The decision is painfully clear for Cyclops. If Bastion is going to fight them in four dimensions then they'll have to do the same. This is where that one final time jump Cable has comes into play.


If readers would recall New Mutants #13 way back when they'll remember Cable mentioning he has one last time jump to the future. He threatened to use it to take Hope away from this madness, but Hope decided against it. Now they're going to have to use that jump anyways. They're going to send X-Force into the future to take down the Nimrod sentinels before they can pour through and deliver the Mike Tyson punch out of killing blows. It goes without saying that this is a suicide mission on par with diving naked into a volcano to retrieve an ant sized diamond. But that's never stopped Cable or X-Force before. Even though Hope is dead set against it, Cable does not shy away from the mission.


This leads to a touching moment that was hinted at in one of the variant covers. Cable, who has been raising and protecting Hope since she was just an infant, has to part ways with her. He won't allow her to come with him to the future. Her place is now in the present. Naturally, Hope gets emotional, but she doesn't try to stop him. They share a tender moment. Hope doesn't call her father or anything. She still calls him Nathan, which kind of shows she's a little pissed that he's leaving her behind. But that doesn't stop Cable from telling Hope he loves her. It's not so much the "I love you" a man gives when he tucks his daughter in at night. It's more like the "I love you and I may never see you again" that a guy tells someone when he's going on a suicide mission and doesn't expect to come back in one piece. That takes a big heart as well as planet sized balls. It's probably the most emotional Cable has ever been in decades.


In between these emotional moments and suicide missions, there's still a plan in the present to worry about. Cyclops doesn't just have mutant kind on his shoulders. He has the whole city of San Francisco and all the liberals, hippies, and homos that live in it. To keep the scope of this clusterfuck in perspective, Craig Kyle and Chris Yost take some time to show the sheer chaos that has erupted throughout the city. Most of the people have no idea what the fuck is going on and look ready to shit every pair of pants in their wardrobe. Then again this is the Marvel Universe. You would think people have gotten used to this. The only ones who benefit are the pants makers of the world. They fucking love it.

In addition, Kyle and Yost spend some time going over the wounded within the team. It's a good way to reinforce the point that the X-men are running out of able-bodied people to fight Bastion with. The injuries are mounting and so is any sense of hope that they'll get out of this in one piece. If any readers suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder they would have seizures over this shit. They not only have to keep the city from falling apart, but they have to be ready for Bastion's final move. If nothing else, they'll be plenty pissed when they finally get a crack at this asshole who can't help that he was programmed to be such a douche-bag.


The final scene is a powerful moment for Cyclops. He, Emma, and Hope watch X-Force and Cable disappear into the future. It's at this point Cyclops laments. He knows he's sent a team that includes his own son on a suicide mission. He tries to maintain his stern leader-like poise that every writer seems to gush over since the Morrison run. Only here he looks a lot more vulnerable. Even with Hope in the room, he's distraught that this is what it comes to. It sets things up nicely for Matt Fraction in the next issue of Uncanny X-men because he just loves writing how kick-ass Cyclops is. It almost makes me wonder if he got on his knees and begged Kyle and Yost Anna Nichole style to end the issue like this.


So X-Force #27 had action, drama, scope, and heart from cover to cover. So what's the problem? I know I haven't mentioned any shortcomings through the review, but there's a reason for that. The biggest problem this issue has (and I say biggest in relative terms) isn't something minor on certain pages. It's an issue that stems the whole book. As great as Mike Choi was with the art, there are just some areas where it doesn't work. When Hope is hugging Cable to say goodbye and when Cyclops is lamenting that he's killed his son, their faces look like statues. You might as well be looking at monuments on Easter Island because that's how much emotion they convey. It's not a good thing when the variant cover by David Finch has the most emotion of the book. I know that's not necessarily the style of X-Force, but this is within the context of Second Coming. Since so few panels are dedicated to these moments, the artistic representation is important. It doesn't help that the dialogue falls a little flat here. It makes what should be some very powerful moments into something the reader can easily gloss over.

It's not terribly egregious. The comic still has plenty of awesome to make up for this, but this definitely holds it back from being another perfect 10. It also falters on some of the themes set up by Mike Carey in the previous issue. For Kyle and Yost, I expect better than this. Granted those standards are pretty high, but they don't get a pass. They still have an issue to make up for this and there's no reason why they can't.

One other criticism (which isn't just restricted to this book) is how nobody has commented on Hope's appearance yet. She has red hair and green eyes and a dress sense very similar to Jean Grey yet nobody says anything? It's getting to be pretty late in the game. If someone doesn't pick up on this theme soon then someone at Marvel needs to be fired. They have been dropping hints that Hope is Jean or the Phoenix since the end of Messiah Complex. If they don't even attempt to address it in the next four issues then that's enough to take this whole crossover down. There's still time, but it needs to be addressed. I don't see Fraction doing it since that would fall under the category of time not making Cyclops and Emma awesome, which is his least favorite activity. There is plenty of room for others to fill the void and hopefully they do because this has been making fans like myself bang our heads against the table for years and the doctors say I may brain my damage if it doesn't stop.

Because of these small but important shortcomings, X-Force #27 gets a 4 out of 5. It has everything you want in the awesome that is Second Coming, but some little yet profound issues keep it from being perfect. This basically marks the end of Act 2. There is only one month left to follow! Bring it on, Uncanny! Hopefully we'll be getting some answers regarding Hope, the Phoenix, Jean Grey, and the mutant messiah very soon.

Jack

X-men Legacy #236 - Continued Legacy of Awesome

As strong as X-men Second Coming has been, it hasn't been perfectly consistent. My last two reviews of Uncanny X-men #524 and New Mutants #13 both had a healthy dose of cynicism as well as praise. But that's nothing to bang your head against the wall over. Even the best titles can't be consistent. However, there are a few that regardless of the circumstances still managed to shine with a consistent level of awesome. In the scope of Second Coming, Mike Carey's X-men Legacy is one of those rare titles and this issue shows it.

There's no subtle build-up this time. The very first few pages are like a slap across the face, a splash of liquid nitrogen, and sledge hammer to the balls. Mike Carey gets right into the action, picking up with the investigation into these mysterious oil rigs that Bastion has been tweaking lately. They don't have to investigate for very long. Before the big brains of the X-men can channel their inner Einstein, the damn thing literally blows up in their face.


The result is something that will generate one big "oh fuck" among everyone in the X-men in addition to pretty much everybody in the greater San Francisco area. These devices employ some classic comic book physics and by physics I mean the kind of impossible manifestations that you can only visualize with the aid of weapons grade LSD and hallucination mushrooms. A giant red shell of unbreakable energy forms over the entire city and traps the X-men inside. Keep in mind that they lost all their teleporters like Vanisher, Nightcrawler, Pixie, and Ariel. They even lost their X-jet. So they really are trapped. Bastion has them cornered and isn't going to let them get away. Cyclops described his strategy the best. He cut off their communications and their escape routes. Now he's free to deliver the killing blow.


Their initial response is expected. Is there any way out of this thing? Most readers will naturally scoff and say "why don't you just go underneath it?" as if it were the easiest thing int he world. Well if your average fanboy can figure that out, so can Bastion and the X-men. Cyclops wasted no time in contacting Namor to see if this barrier extends underground. Guess what? It does. It's not a dome. It's a sphere. That's Bastion 1, know-it-all fanboys 0. When he's looking to trap his enemies, Bastion takes no chances.


From this point on, Bastion has the mutants right where he wants them. So naturally he's going to get a little cocky. He basically tells his friends in the Sapien League they can put their feet up, take five, and chill back home with a tub of ice cream and some movies because the mutants are doomed. They have nowhere to hide and he's got everything he needs to take them out. He's essentially telling everyone he's got the biggest dick in the city before anybody can take off their pants and start measuring. It's more a classic kind of villainy and one that shows a great deal of confidence, if not overly so. It seems cliched, but any experienced comic leader wouldn't expect anything less.


Now something this bad is going to gain a lot of attention. It's at this point that Mike Carey does something that hasn't been done yet in the crossover. He incorporates it into the greater Marvel universe by having the Avengers show up. From the looks of it, they've already gotten a head start on the Heroic Age. It almost seems as though Carey lifted them from Avengers #1 that came out this past week as well. They basically arrive on the scene and try to break through the barrier. Thor takes a whack at it with his hammer and it doesn't even make a dent. As the science geeks explained it, this barrier is part matter and part energy. It can't be broken in the same way a slab of mud can't be broken. So the Avengers are helpless to assist the mutants and the X-men are on their own.


Now some may say that this is kind of a waste. Remember, this is an X-men comic. What the hell are the Avengers doing soaking up precious ink that could otherwise be used for X-men? Well it's another one of those little things that the insufferable douche-bags of the world often overlook. For an event this big, it would be pretty stupid for it to go unnoticed by the rest of the Marvel Universe. This brief entry not only shows that the Avengers know about it, but they try to do something and are unsuccessful. Maybe Carey had another scene in mind, but this helps clear out that hole and makes Second Coming an event that is truly a Marvel event. In that sense it's more than worth the extra ink.

While the big guns are going at it, there is still room for those important character moments that make these titles so special. In the last issue of the crossover Hope Summers admitted that she lied when she said she was ready to come back to the present. This leads to a powerful scene with Cable where he discusses the importance of the mission. At the same time he never forgets her role as guardian. He says that if she wants they can make one last time jump into the future and leave this all behind. It would mean the death of the X-men, but if she wants this then he can make it happen. Hope is left with a very difficult decision because at this point it still hasn't been revealed what's so special about her and why she's supposed to save all mutants. Even so, she makes her decision. She decides to stay.


It's an important moment for her character. Hope Summers shows that she isn't some tool. She's a real character who has very human flaws. Like all messiahs, they have doubts along the way. She's seen so much destruction happen in her name and it's only natural to have that affect her. So here she is trembling for a bit, but then sucking it up and moving forward. Fate is trying to press her down and she's kicking it in the balls. It's a very admirable act. Kind of reminds me of another certain redhead, but that's another story.

It's a great mix between character development and action. However, Mike Carey doesn't make every drop of ink count. In a very rare shift this issue had very little Rogue in it and most Carey comics give at least some screen time to demonstrate her awesomeness. She does show up here, but only in a limited capacity. All she does is have a conversation with Toad and that's about it. For someone who has given Rogue some amazing moments in this crossover thus far, it seemed a little half-assed. It was like Carey had to arm wrestle the editors or something to put Rogue on at least a few pages and it feels a little out-of-place. If he's going to use Rogue, he might as well make it meaningful and it just wasn't that meaningful here.


Meaning aside, Mike Carey saves the best moments for last as Cyclops and a team of X-men fly into the city in an effort to contain this unfolding disaster. Along the way they see a glowing ball of light that appears to have been lifted right from the Terminator movies. Seeing as how the X-men don't keep up with the movies, they go to investigate it. And guess what pops out? If you've seen Terminator you won't be at all surprised. It's a fleet of Nimrod Sentinels. For those of you who don't know their X-men history, the Nimrod Sentinels are the Terminator equivalent of the T-1000 that has spawned a bastard child with the T-X from Terminator 3. It's mean, it's nasty, and it's indestructible. One alone would be a hassle. An army would require an entire new wardrobe of underwear because you would have shit every one of them.


This sets things up perfectly for Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, who take on the next chapter in X-Force. This is right up their alley, taking on a bunch of killer robots under Bastion's control. It's the kind of over-the-top battle that sprays napalm into your skull and dumps gasoline on it. For an issue that started off with a bang, it's the perfect way to cap it off.

Mike Carey has once again proven to be the most consistent X-men writer of the Second Coming crowd. His stories and handling of the characters remains the standard by which all others are measured. He is able to get deeper both into the light and dark aspects of the X-men, making for a balance that just isn't shown in other comics. It should make writers feel secure because he's staying on board after the crossover is over while Kyle and Yost are jumping ship. In addition to his writing the art by Greg Land is a perfect compliment. It isn't the best art in the series and it is a little inconsistent at times. But it definitely works and works pretty damn well.

The whole package is sound. The last two issues may have been bumps in the road, but they're officially a thing of the past. Mike Carey has brought Second Coming back to prominence. This issue gets a stellarly awesome 5 out of 5 and an A-plus. The stage has been set for X-Force and the awesome is just screaming to be let out. X-fans everywhere would be wise to listen.

Second Coming: X-Force #26 - Bloody and Awesome

The wave of awesome just keeps coming with X-men Second Coming. This past week the fifth part in the crossover was released and Marvel has been teasing that this is where a major character dies. Some will recall that someone already died in the previous issue, Ariel, but that wasn't a character that would send shockwaves through the X-men universe. The emotional loss in this story doesn't just send shockwaves. It sends a comet of awesome into the furthest depths of the ocean and kicks up a tsunami so rich with awesome that people and animals would line up as the shores just to be overtaken by it.

Like all the previous parts, X-Force #26 moved seamlessly from the previous issue of X-men Legacy. Once again, it's worth pointing out how smooth these transitions are. This is a new standard in crossovers where the move from one issue to another feels so easy it might as well be named it's own book. For all we know that's what the Marvel writers intended all along. I would be willing to bet a steak dinner that this was proposed, but thrown out for cost cutting measures (keep in mind they're on Disney's dollar now). Whatever they intended, the finished product is truly uncanny.

The action picks up just after the X-men's communication link with Utopia was shut down by Bastion. This leaves Cable and the rest of the Alpha team to fight off Bastion's forces while Nightcrawler and Rogue try to get Hope to Utopia as fast as possible. The action is very well scripted for the Alpha Team. The readers are even treated to the always popular Fastball Special, only this time it involves Psylocke launching X-23 towards a flying fighter jet. It is essentially a case study proving that anything that is well-done by men can be made infinitely hotter when performed by two hot women.

While the Alpha Team fights on, Nightcrawler and Rogue come face to face with Bastion himself in Las Vegas. It seems appropriate that a guy as evil as Bastion would launch his attack in a place nicknamed "Sin City." The fight that ensues is epic. Rogue, flushed with the powers of pretty much every X-men she could find, took on Bastion and beat on him in ways that would make Mystique herself proud. But Bastion being Bastion does like many Las Vegas hookers and not go down easily. He is able to fight off Rogue despite all her power and go for Hope. Her response? She tries to hit him over the head with a metal pipe. That's basically as effective as one would expect it to be. In other words it was stupendously stupid.

That's when it happens. Just as Bastion goes for Hope, Nightcrawler makes his move. He teleports to her and in the process Bastion picks up on it. He ends up appearing between him and Hope with Bastion's arm sticking right through his body. It essentially confirms what Marvel has done a piss poor job keeping secret. Nightcrawler is the one to die.


It's a powerful moment. The man who criticized Cyclops the most for his tactics with X-Force ends up making the ultimate sacrifice. He in this one panel shows that his balls are bigger than even Cyclops could ever dream. It's the kind of badassery that makes Emma Frost's panties wet. But Nightcrawler wasn't done. Despite having a freakin' ARM lodged in his torso, he takes a page straight from Braveheart and summons the strength he needs to teleport Hope away from Bastion and onto the shores of Utopia. Hope is understandably moved and probably turned on as much as Emma would have been (she is 17 after all).


What happens next is a tribute to the art of Mark Choi. The X-men return to Utopia and gather around the rescued Hope, only to see that they've lost one of their own. It's one of those moments in comics where no words or dialogue is needed. Everything is conveyed in the expressions of the characters. It's the ultimate "nuff said" moment. It's a fitting way to end the fight to get Hope back to Utopia and with the X-men.


RIP Nightcrawler. You are truly an X-man worthy of badass legend.

But as awesome and heartfelt as Nightcrawler's sacrifice was, this does lead to some plot holes in the issue. For one, most X-fans know that Nightcrawler's teleportation range is two miles. He can't go further than that. Yet suddenly with an arm lodged in his chest he can go from Vegas to Utopia, which is hundreds of miles away in San Francisco bay? That may be very awesome, but it's also stretching the fabric of comic reality. There were also some holes in the time that's been elapsed. How did the team link up so quickly? The time flow is messed up a bit here and it's not as smooth as previous issues.

Those criticisms, however, are completely eclipsed by the sheer awesome of the issue as a whole. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost keep the Second Coming awesomeness going full throttle and their X-Force style blends perfectly with the events in this crossover. It basically took them five issues to get Hope from Westchester to Utopia. They probably could have spent the whole crossover doing this, but they made it just as long as it needed to be. Now comes the next step. They have Hope. Now what?

I've still been disappointed thus far that nobody has commented how Hope looks like another redhead they know and love and shares her dress sense. Now that the fighting as stopped, maybe they'll finally bring it up. They better because that would be a plot hole big enough to drive a fleet of Hummers through. There is also the aftermath of Nightcrawler's death they have to deal with. How will they cope? What will this do to the team? It leaves so much to look forward to that readers may have a heart attack from the awesome that now clogs their system.

Overall, this issue gets yet another 5 out of 5, a 10 out of 10, and an A-plus. Second Coming isn't just starting out strong. It's starting out flawlessly. If it were a diamond it would be on display in a museum and Ocean's Eleven would have stolen it by now. That's how great it is. Bring on the next part! Second Coming is still awesome and is shaping up to be the best X-men story in a long time. Nuff said.