The Return of Kitty Pryde - Awesome Yet Dull

It's official. Kitty Pryde has returned to the world of X-men. Uncanny 522 was released this past week and as was previously revealed, it centered around the return of Kitty Pryde. Magento, who has been in a meditative state for the past two issues, has been focusing his powers on retrieving the giant metal bullet that Kitty is currently stuck in from deep space. Now how he was able to reach across trillions of miles of space to retrieve this bullet is not explained, but it's a comic! It doesn't have to be explained. It just had to work and the issue centered around the excitement that lead to the big return.

That return, however, was somewhat underhanded. Whenever a beloved character returns, it's cause for celebration. However, when that character's return is nothing short of yawn inducing, something's gone wrong or something hasn't been thought out. Both seemed to happen in Uncanny 522. There wasn't really much conflict in this issue. There was just concern about the damage the bullet could do if it hit Earth and how the X-men were going to cover it up to avoid a panic. They were able to get the Stepford Cuckoos and Danger to do some creative hacking and mind wiping to get the job done, but it felt patched together and was done basically in the span of two pages.

In addition, the reactions by the characters weren't all that enthusiastic. If anything they were bland. Only Colossus, Angel, and Cyclops had discernible reactions. Colossus was probably the most appropriate, but that's to be expected given that Kitty his lover and he assumed her to be lost. Other than that, nobody did much else other than gather near the hilltop with Magneto and wait for the bullet to arrive. It's as about as exciting as it sounds.

The biggest problem with this issue happened at the end when Kitty Pryde finally stepped out. Just as she was about to embrace Piotr, she phased right through him. It revealed the grim truth that she was stuck in phase mode and couldn't get out of it, requiring that she be contained in a special container (yet again). This essentially puts her back on the sideline and takes her out of the story again. Yes, she has returned. But she can't do too much because she's stuck in phase mode. She didn't have any impact and she's been set up to not have one, even as Second Coming is just about to begin. This is quite possibly the worst way to bring a character back into the fold. It's not so much a return as it is a gimmick, bringing a character back but making sure they don't have ANY effect on the ongoing stories. Maybe I'm just a little slow on the uptake, but isn't the point of bringing in characters to shake things up a bit and make it more interesting? Don't interesting stories sell better?

That is the biggest disappointment of this issue. Kitty Pryde comes back, but you're left wondering why. She's back, but she's stuck phasing and she can't do anything to effect the team. She can't help out during Second Coming. She can't meet Hope. She can't have any moments with Colossus. She can't even have any snarky comments with Emma Frost, which contributed a good 40 percent to Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-men awesomeness. There's no story there. There's just a gimmick for Kitty Pryde fans who wanted to see her back.

However, the comic does have a fair share of redeeming values that put it many levels above the toxic bullshit that is Ultimatum or Ultimate X. For one, the art is fantastic. Not that Greg Land wasn't good, but Dodson here really swung for the fences and the visuals of the issue were like a shot of ecstasy to the eyes. There is also some great dialogue by Matt Fraction. A funny 20-questions joke involving Fantomex, Logan, and beer was good for a laugh. There was also a nice exchange between Emma Frost and a deadpanned Magneto where she laid out the differences between him and Cyclops and how what he's doing comes so naturally and how Cyclops is still struggling like he always has. It hints at a possible divide that may very well grow during Second Coming.

These redeeming values make the issue worth at least a buy. It's not one of those comics that you would want to get multiple copies of, frame, and tell your grandkids about. It's also not something you're going to feel compelled to read again and again, just to indulge in the vast awesomeness. It's just a decent comic and there's nothing wrong with that. But Matt Fraction kept ranting and raving about this issue as if it could eclipse the sun by sheer awesome. Every time he gave an interview, he made a plug for Uncanny 522. It's going to be HUGE he says. Well when someone hypes a book up that much and it just turns into a gimmick, it's hard NOT to be disappointed. Fraction is a good writer, but the man overestimates worse than real estate investors. Uncanny 522 had too little be anywhere near as awesome as he claimed. While it's nice to see Kitty Pryde back, I would have more preferred she be BACK IN ACTION.

But so long as Kitty is back, she'll have her moment. It's just a matter of time before the writers get to her. If they didn't want to write her, they would keep her dead. You just can't do that with tough-nosed Jewish girls in comics. They're too awesome to keep down. The biggest tragedy, it seems, is that Kitty Pryde won't be able to partake in the awesome of Second Coming (provided it doesn't crash and burn). So to all those Uncanny fans, go ahead and get issue 522. Just don't expect it to be anywhere near as awesome as you wanted it to be.

X-men Second Coming: Prepare

The countdown has begun and Second Coming is merely a month away! To bill the event as the can't-miss X-men tale of the decade Marvel released a short teaser comic called Prepare this past Wednesday. It starts off by showing the teasers that have been released over the past few weeks that include

One will rise
One will fall
One will lead
One will sacrifice
All will unite

Then it breaks right into the event, showing a scene that occurs two days after Hope and Cable return to Utopia. Someone has died and various reactions are shown from the likes of Bobby, Cannonball, Cyclops, Magneto, Cable, and Wolverine. At one point the body is shown, albeit covered by a white sheet. It's impossible to see who it is, but it seems to be a major character. It has been listed in the solicits that someone will perish and Matt Fraction said himself in a recent interview it's someone he cherishes. So who could it be?

I'm tempted to be reasonable in determining who this may be, but as history has shown being reasonable doesn't always pan when you're trying to decide what Marvel is going to do. The prevailing sentiment is that Nightcrawler will die. He's not someone Fraction has written about that much so it may be a bit of a long shot. However, Wolverine did state that the victim was his "Friend" and he and Nightcrawler have always been good friends. I'm not sure about this. I give it about a 30 percent chance of happening.

Some go so far as to say that Emma will be the one that dies. This is just plain stupid. Marvel and Matt Fraction LOVE Emma Frost. Fraction would have quit months ago if he learned they were going to kill off his favorite X-woman and the other half of his favorite X-men couple with Scott and Emma. Plus, Quesada has said before he loves Scott and Emma as a couple too much. There's no way in hell he'll do anything to break them up. There were some hints. The outline of the body did show some female characteristics and Cannonball did say at one point he worried about how this was hurting Scott, but it's still doubtful. This is Emma Frost and Marvel seems determined to make her and Scott the new Jean and Scott, turning Emma into what is essentially a Jean Grey replacement. I've never liked this and always thought Joss Whedon did a better job of showing Emma as she should be shown. But the Marvel writers seem determined to undo history and turn Emma Frost into the golden girl Jean Grey once was. It's sad and maybe killing her would help put a stop to that, but for that very reason I give this a ZERO percent chance of happening.

I'm led to conclude that the one who dies will be Pixie. Here is a character that Fraction clearly loves and who has become more prominent as of late. Her dying would cause quite an impact and it wouldn't destroy too much of the core team. It would show just enough impact to really bring about the necessary shock value, but so much that it takes away from the story (unlike bullshit shock comics like Ultimatum). Of all the possible deaths, Pixie is the one that seems most likely and for that I give her a solid 50-50 shot.

Now aside from the death, there was also a part at the end that went over the history of the Phoenix Force. It asked What is the Phoenix Force? as if many X-fans don't already know. It gave a brief history of the Phoenix and spent time highlighting recent events where traces of the Phoenix force left both Rachel Grey and the Stepford Cuckoos. Then the focus turned to Hope Summers, offering yet another clue that she's going to be a new bearer of the Phoenix. They left it vague, stating only the Phoenix knows. But it also offers yet more proof that Marvel is trying to separate the Phoenix from Jean Grey. This is something that cannot and will not end well.

As I blogged earlier, Marvel has been trying since Phoenix Warsong to take Jean Grey out of the equation so they can have the star power of the Phoenix without bringing her back. Because bringing her back may mean that they can't have this bulldog version of Cyclops and cannot continue the Scott/Emma relationship, it's just unthinkable that they would use her again. Yet because she has so many passionate fans they can't just ignore her. So just using the Phoenix gives them a way to have their cake and eat it too. Even after they overtly said in Phoenix Endsong (which by the way sold WAY more than the Jean-less Warsong) that Jean is always Phoenix, they're treating the Phoenix like a separate entity. With no explanation, that's just poor storytelling. Jean and Phoenix are forever linked and to use one without the other is to completely disrespect the characters.

Now this could all be made right if Hope turns out to be Jean in human form, but again that would make too much sense. Marvel seems intent on keeping Jean out of the picture so they can keep Scott and Emma. This is something that only hurts stories, having to force something so that a bias version of a character must remain. This is what led to One More Day and the Clone Saga. It seems it can only be remedied if someone other than Matt Fraction or Joe Quesada aren't present anymore. Since that doesn't appear to be happening, the chances of a clean resolution are slim at best.

As always, however, I hold out because I have been wrong before. Marvel has surprised me with uncanny awesomeness like Messiah Complex, Messiah War, X-Force, and Nation X. So I go into second coming with an equal amount of excitement and trepidation. I'm not expecting everything to be cleanly handled. I'm expecting awesomeness that will blow my face clean off my skull. This is the third and final chapter to the Messiah Trilogy. The first two set the stage in a big way and I'm just aching to see how it all comes together. Despite my cynicism for how Marvel handles characters like Scott, Emma, and Jean Grey there is far more awesome than non-awesome. March cannot come quickly enough and my appetite for Second Coming has officially been stoked!

Pretty Kitty Variant for Uncanny 522

I usually don't care much for variant covers, but ever so often one comes along that just puts a smile on my face. It's not every day you find awesome in your favorite comics. Most of the time your underwhelmed. Sometimes you're even disappointed. But there will always be those special moments when you see something that just makes you glad to be a fanboy. This is one of them! Uncanny 522 is set to bring Kitty Pryde back into the fold and she's already looking good for her return. Riding a bullet in a skin-tight outfit is awesome on so many levels. Thank you Marvel! I don't always give you enough credit, but you know how to give the fans something to be excited about!