Back To Brutal Basics: X-23 #1

The following is my review of X-23 #1, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

On paper, the arc of a superhero is supposed to move forward with progress and growth occurring along the way. In practice, however, there are a lot of setbacks, regression, and pitfalls, but not all of them involve dying and coming back to life every once in a while. Certain characters have an iconic status built on decades of evolution, eventually settling into a particular status quo that best reflects who they are and the breadth of their appeal. To that extent, Laura "X-23" Kinney is still evolving.

Her story can't be considered new anymore, having played a part in a major X-men movie and held down multiple solo runs from the likes of Marjorie Liu and Tom Taylor. She also can't be classified as old, either. Her growth has been rapid since her debut in the X-men: Evolution cartoon, but her story tends to undergo more shifts than most.

There are times when Laura seeks to avoid the violent conditioning she endured under her creators, seeking to build a normal life, to the extent that anyone related to Wolverine can have one. She also goes through periods where she attempts to channel those violent skills for heroic purposes, just like Wolverine has. After taking the mantle of Wolverine for a time under Tom Taylor, Laura is at a point where she no longer hides from her bloody past or her violent skills. However, she still has some growing to do and not just because she has a little sister and a pet wolverine.

This is the situation that Mariko Tamaki and Juan Cabal inherit in X-23 #1. Laura's past is still chasing her and her future is still in flux. She has more to lose now than she did before with Gabby in her life. Even though she's still a teenager, she can't afford to be as irresponsible as most teenagers, as the Peter Parkers and Kamala Khans of the world can attest. Between having the baggage of Logan's legacy and dealing with an overly-energetic sister with a pet wolverine, Laura has her work cut out for her.

Tamaki and Cabal still have her pushing forward. The stakes are pretty standard for any clone/daughter of Wolverine. There are still people in the Marvel universe who think it's a good idea to clone Logan and make living weapons. How anyone can still believe that will lead to anything other than a brutal death is laughable, if not absurd at this point. Nobody even tries to make excuses. They're just willing fodder for Laura's continued evolution.

While the setup is basic, involving a generic threat with ties to Alchemax, Tamaki doesn't focus too much on the slashing and stabbing that's standard for any X-23 series. Those moments are there. There's even a hulking lizard man thrown into the mix, which helps mix things up from the standard hired goons that Laura is known for decimating. However, the real meat of the story is in Laura's personal journey.

As she's navigating the standard Wolverine-styled action sequences with Gabby, she reflects on her upcoming birthday. Being a clone, that brings complications that have little to do with cake frosting. Laura starts out with mixed, but ambivalent feelings on the matter. She initially gives the impression that it's not a big deal. Gabby, as she's been doing since she showed up in All-New Wolverine, gets her to reconsider and is lovably adorable every step of the way.

It also helps that Laura and Gabby aren't the only clones dealing with identity issues and birthday drama. After meeting up with Beast at the Xavier Institute, they cross paths with the Stepford Cuckoos. As it just so happens, they're celebrating their birthday. That helps make birthdays, in general, a bigger issue and one that acts as a catalyst for the story, albeit indirectly.

As is often the case with plots involving clones and living weapons, there's a larger agenda unfolding behind the scenes, even before the stabbing starts. It involves Alchemax, but it also involves the Stepford Cuckoos as well. Tamaki even digs a bit into the Cuckoos' history, some of which hasn't been referenced since the latter end of Grant Morrison's run on New X-men. It helps raise the stakes and complicates Laura's new mission. Unlike lizard men throwing trucks, this isn't an issue she can resolve with her claws.

While the connection between Laura's mission and the Cuckoos is established, things don't get violent that quickly. Things even diverge somewhat as Laura debates the merits of birthdays while the Cuckoos reveal some affiliations that would probably not sit well with any former living weapon. There's a distinct sense of inevitability that emerges once the agenda of the Cuckoos emerge. Even though part of it still involves celebrating a birthday, it seems unavoidable that they're going to clash with Laura and Gabby.

That conflict doesn't manifest initially and that's not necessarily a bad thing. X-23 #1 spends more time exploring how Laura sees herself as she continues to navigate a world where she's technically an escaped lab experiment. Her reservations about making a big deal about her birthday reveal that she still struggles with an identity crisis on some levels. She keeps trying to forge her own path, but can't escape the fact that she's a clone. The Stepford Cuckoos are in the same boat, although their efforts don't come off nearly as healthy.

It's a struggle that has been plaguing Laura since her creation, but the fact that she's at a point where she's uncertain about the merits of birthdays still counts as progress on some levels. While the details surrounding the plot are still fairly standard, X-23 #1 still succeeds in sending the message that Laura is still evolving and she's even making progress. Having a quirky little sister with a pet wolverine actually helps more than it complicates things.

Some of that progress still comes off as only partial, though. While X-23 #1 does plenty to create new conflicts, it leaves a lot of unanswered questions. There's no explanation as to why Laura is going by X-23 instead of Wolverine. There's also little in terms of connections to the larger X-men continuity. Even though Laura and Gabby are current members of X-men Red, this affiliation has no real impact.

The story still succeeds enough in terms of putting Laura on a new path, one that will likely affect how she approaches future birthdays. Her growth, as a character, is beyond dispute at this point. She is every bit as entrenched in the X-men comics as Logan, Deadpool, and Doop. She still has plenty of room to grow and if she can just start seeing the world the same way Gabby sees snack food, then she'll be just fine.

Final Score: 7 out of 10

Heart, Rebirth, and Vision: X-men: Red #1

The following is my review of X-men: Red #1, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

When a hero dies and comes back to life, it tends to cause varying degrees of upheaval. For some characters, namely villains like the Joker or icons like Thor, the extent of that upheaval is limited because it's assumed rather than expected that they'll return. The only real upheaval involves how team lineups get reshuffled and how much it'll frustrate heroes like Batman. Heroes returning from the dead is so routine, at this point, that the dramatic impact is almost muted.

Routine or not, the return of Jean Grey after a 14-year death sentence warrants an exception. Few characters affect the entire X-men narrative with their presence or lack thereof. It's impossible to make sense of the major events surrounding the X-men over the past decade-and-a-half without understanding the influence of Jean Grey. Her death and subsequent absence affected the X-men in ways that went beyond any death, resurrection, clone, shape-shifting alien, or time traveler.

As such, her return carries with it the kind of upheaval that's rare in an era where everyone not named Uncle Ben is a candidate for resurrection. That upheaval is still unfolding. With the conclusion of Phoenix Resurrection, there are no more teases or jokes. Jean Grey is back and she's returning to a world that is so different from the one she left that it's difficult to imagine her finding a place in it. After 14 years of functioning without her, a couple superhero civil wars notwithstanding, Jean faces the prospect of finding a new place in this world.

X-men: Red #1 marks Jean's first steps into re-entering a world that has left her behind, but has still struggled in her absence. The state of the X-men is mixed at best and messy at worst, a common byproduct of having too many time travelers and clones. In a sense, the time is right for someone like Jean to come along and get the X-men back on track.

Tom Taylor and Mahmud Asrar set the stage for that effort, establishing a new narrative for her with a new team. The core mission of that narrative is pretty familiar for an X-men comic. It's very much a back-to-basics approach, focusing on the true underpinnings of Charles Xavier's dream of peaceful coexistence. That dream may seem even more remote these days with mutants fighting Inhumans and X-men fighting Avengers. However, that's exactly why Jean's approach is so refreshing.

She doesn't try to reinvent what it means to be an X-man. From the very beginning, she does what the X-men have been doing for 50 years, helping innocent mutants who victims of hate or injustice. Like Charles Xavier before her, she doesn't just stop at saving the day and humiliating anti-mutant lynch mobs. She actually goes out of her way to show compassion and understanding to both scared young mutants and their parents. It's the kind of love and heart that even Charles Xavier couldn't always convey, even when portrayed by Patrick Stewart's uncanny charm.

That personal touch, going out of her way to show an extra bit of compassion, is an element of Xavier's dream that has been notably lacking during Jean's 14-year absence. That's not to say it was completely gone, but there's only so much heart and compassion the X-men can manage when Emma Frost is the lead telepath. X-men Red #1 effectively reaffirms Jean's place as the heart and soul of the X-men. She plays that part well, but that's still only part of the underlying narrative.

In returning from the dead after such a long absence, Jean Grey is in a unique position to assess the X-men and their efforts at human/mutant peace. By not being around during M-Day, Avengers vs. X-men, or the conflict with the Inhumans, she can be more objective than most in judging the effectiveness of their efforts or lack thereof.

Beyond just saving a couple innocent mutants, Jean acknowledges the no-win situation that mutants often find themselves in when attempting to better their situation. When they ban together and create mutant havens like Utopia, they become bigger targets. When they try to live their lives as individuals, they just become easier targets for hate-fueled lynch mobs. In either situation, they're targets and there seems to be no way around it.

When she's not saving innocent mutants, Jean attempts to forge a new path that's somewhere in the middle. It's not enough to just help mutants one at a time. Like Cyclops and Charles Xavier before her, she attempts to give mutants a larger voice on the international stage. While that makes her a target too, it can't be any less nerve racking than being dead for 14 years so there's little doubt that Jean can handle it.

It's her ability to forge a new team of X-men who can help her pursue this vision that brings out the true strength of the narrative. In the same way she injects a little heart into saving innocent mutants, she does the same in recruiting other mutants like Nightcrawler and Namor to her cause. She doesn't approach it like a diplomat or the leader of a mutant army. She just presents her hopes and dreams for a better future for mutants, never talking down to them or acting as though she's right by default. That ends up being more effective, much to the chagrin of every Magneto fan.

That element of heart is a big part of what gives X-men Red #1 so much appeal. It's not just about Jean Grey being alive again and having a chance to contribute to the X-men. It's about infusing elements into the greater X-men narrative that have been missing during her long absence. Even though these are familiar elements to anyone who saw an X-men movie other than X-Men Origins: Wolverine, they still resonate on a personal level that gives the story dramatic weight.

That weight ends up being important, especially at the end when Jean's approach gets tested in a big, brutal way. Heart or no heart, X-men Red #1 still exists in a world of killer robots, evil clones, and potential Skrull agents. There will always be powerful forces looking to strain, wound, or even break the hearts of someone like Jean Grey. The end reveals a threat that is in a position to strain her more than most, but that only makes her efforts more critical.

X-men Red #1 presents a flawed world in which Jean Grey is in a unique position to help. More than anything else, it shows that she has plenty to contribute, despite her long absence. In fact, that same absence puts her in a better position than most. If there's a shortcoming to that concept, it's that the scope of the story too limited.

It feels like it skips some critical elements, like showing Jean adjusting to a world she hasn't been part of for over a decade. Her place in the over-arching narrative of X-men isn't really established and, with the exception of a couple characters, she doesn't get a chance to deepen her personal connections to her new team. Some just end up going along with her because she's Jean Grey. Granted, that's not a bad reason to follow her, given her history, but it can't be the only reason.

This doesn't detract from the core of the story, though. If the goal of X-men Red #1 is to re-establish Jean Grey's place in the X-men, then it succeeds. If part of that goal involves reminding everyone what the X-men stand for and why a little compassion goes a long way, even in the face of hate, then it succeeds in that effort too. Taylor and Asrar do plenty to forge a narrative that remind everybody why Jean Grey was so sorely missed. Hopefully, she gets a chance to explore to pursue that narrative without cosmic forces trying to kill her.

Final Score: 8 out of 10

Shaping A Sibling Rivalry: All-New Wolverine #25

The following is my review of All-New Wolverine #25, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

In many superhero comics, sibling rivalries are right up there with love triangles in terms of shallow plots that bring out the worst in certain characters. It's one thing for families to bicker. That's the premise of almost every sitcom, Simpsons rip-off, and Fantastic Four comic. Rivalries, however, often act like open scars that never truly scab over. They come to define certain characters, so much so that it that it undermines their ability to evolve on their own.

X-23 and Daken have a major advantage, in some respects, because much of their development occurs independently of one another. The story of Laura Kinney and Daken Akihiro unfolds in vastly different circumstances and go in very different directions. Whereas Laura eventually ascends to take on her father's mantel, Daken falls to the wayside for a while. Even after the Death of Wolverine, his story essentially stagnates while Laura's accelerates.

That's what makes the premise behind All-New Wolverine #25 so risky, yet so intriguing. Tom Taylor is taking a chance on tying Daken's story with Laura's once more. While they had clashed in the past during Marjorie Liu's run on X-23, these two characters don't ever establish a functional relationship. They don't forge a bitter rivalry either, but the tension is there. It has the potential to either expose their worst traits or forge new ones. The difference between the two is as thin as a simple swipe of the claws.

Taylor puts both characters on a collision course, of sorts, and it's one that doesn't just involve more slashing and stabbing. It builds on the events of the previous arc, which first see Laura and Daken reunite under dire, yet amicable circumstances. They never get a chance to catch up, fight each other, or address any of the past instances where they try to kill each other. A lot is left up in the air, but All-New Wolverine #25 offers new opportunities for Laura and Daken to connect. Doing it in a series that also includes a pet wolverine named Jonathan is just a nice bonus.

Taylor keeps the continuity of the series tight, having the events in this issue play off those of previous issues. Recent events don't play too big a part in the chaos that unfolds, though. After those connections are made, the fighting begins and it's not a fair fight, even for Daken. While he's a long way from deserving the same sympathy as Laura, the battle he faces sets a specific tone, one that feels unique to Wolverine's overly burdened offspring.

Part of being tied to Wolverine in any capacity involves attracting the kinds of enemies that require more than an adamantium claw to the face. His violent, illustrious life is full of super-powered samurai, killer robots, undead ninjas, and married women he can't stop attracting. With the exception of married women, Laura and Daken attract those same dangers. However, the specifics of that danger are only teased in All-New Wolverine #25, but not in the same overtly ominous ways that just promise more stabbing.

This is where the Orphans of X come in, which is both the title of the arc and the name of the danger. They establish early on that they know how to hurt both Daken and Laura. Daken is somewhat easy to hurt, given his crass attitude and utter apathy for regular heroics. It's Laura who requires a more elaborate approach. Having recently fought Brood armies and spent time in the stomach of Fing Fang Foom, her threshold for pain is much higher.

They still find a way to test it by taking Laura back to her roots. That means returning to the pages of X-23: Innocence Lost, the tragic origins that have come to define Laura since her arrival to the X-men comics. Despite all her abilities, including those that allow her to survive the stomach of Fing Fang Foom without permanent physiological scarring, the details of her tortured origins still haunt her.

More than any other threat she faces throughout her relatively brief history, it's one of the few things that really hurt her. The fact that the Orphans of X use that against her shows that they've done their homework on her. The use of a few flashbacks, which evoke just the right impact thanks to Juann Cabal's art, help belabor just how much these memories hurt Laura. They're so troubling that she risks upsetting both Gabby and her pet wolverine by striking out on her own. Given Gabby's capacity for frustrating Laura and looking adorable while doing it, that's a not a trivial risk.

It's not initially clear how much that risk pays off because, even though Laura's recourse is directly tied to what happens with Daken, the narrative stalls somewhat once it ventures into that the bloodier parts of her past. While belaboring a painful past is an important ingredient in any Wolverine story, it can be overdone. Instead of learning why the Orphans of X think it's wise to torment two characters with a history of poor anger management, much of the story unfolds as a mystery with too few clues to follow.

There's still plenty of melodrama, which is true to the spirit that Taylor has established with All-New Wolverine. There's never a sense that either Laura or Daken are just angry, vengeful brutes who are just eager to stab something. All-New Wolverine #25 establishes deep, personal stakes. However, it doesn't do much to establish who is making such risky bets against them.

The ending sets the stage for a lot more melodrama and heartache. The connections that will eventually require Laura and Daken to team up again are there. Given the high standards that Taylor has set with All-New Wolverine, though, the impact of the conflict isn't felt yet. Too much of it relies on old scars that Laura has been carrying with her since her days as an extra in the X-men Evolution cartoon. While those scars are sure to deepen, the Orphans of X will need to hit much harder to leave a lasting impact on Laura and Daken.

Final Score: 6 out of 10

The Red Queen Chronicles: The Prodigy Part 2 is LIVE!

It’s been another long, eventful week, especially if you’ve been following the recent announcements from Marvel. I feel like I’m adding an extra layer of frosting by capping off another one of my sexy side-projects. It may not be a major part of Marvel’s legacy, but it involves Mary Jane Watson getting naked so that gives it inherent awesome.

This marks the second and final part of “The Red Queen Chronicles: The Prodigy.” The first chapter explored the past of Laura “X-23” Kinney within the context of this sexy AU I’ve created. Those who followed X-23’s story in NYX years ago should be familiar with the seamy details and understand completely why I incorporated them into this story. In a world where Mary Jane Watson is a former prostitute and queen of the Hellfire Club, how can I not?

This final part will bring X-23’s story to the present and set her on a better, sexier path within this world I’ve created. While I can’t say for certain whether I’ll revisit that path at some point, I’ll still try to make it as sexy as it deserves to be. If I end up getting as much, if not more, feedback as I’ve gotten with other stories, I’ll certainly be tempted. For a series like this, I think that’s quite fitting.

The Red Queen Chronicles: The Prodigy

Chapter 2: The Favor

As always, I urge everyone who reads these sexy side-projects to comment and provide feedback. If you have sexy suggestions, I’m always open to discuss them. It’s that kind of feedback that has helped me keep my Red Queen series going for as long as it has. As I type this, I have plans for a couple more stories, one of which is already in the works. I won’t reveal what it is, but it involves a couple of characters hooking up that you’ll likely never see hook up in the comics. I’ll leave your dirty imaginations to ponder that for the next few weeks.

The Red Queen Chronicles: The Prodigy Part 1 is LIVE!

Summer is over, but I'm not done heating panties or triggering awkward boners in public places. That's right. I have another sexy side-project and even if you've put your bikini away, this should still make you feel hot all over for all the right reasons. You're welcome.

Once again, I've been amazed with the feedback I've gotten for my "Red Queen" series. It's hard to believe that this all started with just some twisted little story I did about Mary Jane being a prostitute in an AU that involved no deals with Mephisto. I never intended to expand that story as much as I have, but between the feedback I've gotten and all the new ideas it has inspired, I just keep building on it.

I like to think I've set a sexy foundation on which many sexy stories can be told. I've already told quite a few, some more elaborate than others. I've tried, for the most part, to give them some semblance of plot. I understand that's not the primary reason people read these sexy side-projects, but I think a little plot goes a long way towards adding to the sex appeal. This latest project is no exception.

With it, I'll actually be exploring some other aspects to this sexy AU I've created. Specifically, it digs a little deeper into Mary Jane's history as a prostitute. That history will lead her to meet up with a character whose prostitution history is actually canon in Laura "X-23" Kinney. She's always been a favorite of mine. As soon as I began expanding this series, I knew I would get to her sooner or later. It turned out to be sooner.

This story will be a two-part story. It'll explore the past and expand on the present in ways I hope will moisten panties and stain boxers. The first one is officially up. Given how quickly X-23's star has risen in recent years, I think the time is right for her to gain a little sex appeal.

The Red Queen Chronicles: The Prodigy

Chapter 1: The Plan

As always, I strongly encourage everyone to provide feedback for this story. I've already gotten far more than I ever expected with this series. The more I get, the more incentive I have to keep growing this series. I hope this one continues that sexy tradition. Mary Jane may not need more sex appeal at this point, but a little more could never hurt. Nuff said!

Legacy, Family, and Ninjas: Generations: Wolverine & All-New Wolverine #1

The following is my review of Generations: Wolverine and All-New Wolverine #1, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

The concept of family and legacy tends to get obscure in the Marvel universe. That's to be expected when there are so many clones, time travelers, and shape-shifting aliens running around. On paper, the idea of a child carrying on the legacy of a parent seems like the most logical and appropriate thing in the world. In the pages Marvel comics, however, that's just not enough. There has to be some sort of elaborate, convoluted story behind it that only ends up getting retconned in the end.

While this hinders and dissuades most children from carrying on their parents' legacy, Laura Kinney finds a way navigate these excessive convolutions. She actually manages to don her father's title after his death in Death of Wolverine and, by nearly every measure, she honors that title as well as anyone could expect her to. It doesn't feel forced. It doesn't feel like a gimmick. It actually comes off as a young woman wanting to honor her father.

Batman may have a monopoly of sorts in drawing inspiration from dead parents, but Laura sets herself apart by being her own character long before she put on yellow spandex. She actually spends time learning from Logan and being his daughter so that when the time eventually comes, her acceptance of the role carries the right weight.

With the conclusion of Secret War, Tom Taylor establishes Laura as having graduated from her journey as X-23. Now, she is Wolverine. She proudly wears the uniform and bears the title of her father. She even manages to pick up a little sister and a pet wolverine along the way. How can any father not be proud of that?

With Generations: Wolverine and All-New Wolverine #1, Laura gets a chance to find out just how well she's honoring her father's legacy and from the best possible source. As with previous iterations of Marvel Generations, Laura finds herself dropped right in the middle of a major moment in Logan's history. Also like previous iterations, there's little explanation or context given to that moment. However, there doesn't really have to be. She's suddenly fighting alongside her father against an army of undead ninjas. There's no need for context. She just does her father proud and starts stabbing.

It's a familiar, but still immensely satisfying setup. Wolverine from two different eras come together and fight undead ninjas. Like the Hulk smashing or Deadpool breaking the fourth wall, it's one of those classic Marvel elements that never gets old. Laura's presence, however, adds a new dimension to the mix and this is where Taylor uses the setup of Marvel Generations to do something special for both Wolverines beyond undead ninja stabbing.

The situation already has some dramatic underpinnings in that its ripped right from the pages of Chris Claremont's run on Wolverine. Fittingly enough for Laura, the situation involves family, namely the adopted daughter, Akiko, that he and Mariko took in. As often happens with Wolverine and anyone he's involved with, ninjas attack and he has to rescue her. It's as familiar to him as a bar fight, but Laura's presence adds something unique to it.

The events of that story are already set in that they establish that Logan can be part of a family and fight for it. What Laura does, though, goes beyond simply giving the ninjas another target. She comes into the conflict already knowing how it plays out to some extent. She doesn't just stand by and watch, though. That's not her style. That's certainly not Wolverine's style. When there are ninjas to be stabbed, Wolverine gets to stabbing. No amount of time paradoxes can stop that.

It's in between the stabbing, though, where Generations: Wolverine and All-New Wolverine #1 really expands on the drama. Taylor takes a somewhat different approach compared to other aspects of Marvel Generations in that much of the narrative unfolds from Logan's perspective. It's his thoughts and feelings that guide the story. While he doesn't radically alter the story that Claremont told decades ago, Laura's presence adds a unique dynamic to the mix.

By offering insight into Logan's thoughts and feelings, Taylor reveals a man who has as conflicted understanding of family. While he will go out of his way to save loved ones, he still sees himself as a loner who can't be part of a family. That's somewhat understandable. Being in his family means an exponential increase in the likelihood of ninja attacks. Unlike Akiko, though, Laura can handle it and handle it well. Even Logan acknowledges that early on.

By fighting alongside her, he sees first-hand that it is possible to be part of a family. It is possible to have someone in his life who can handle the occasional ninja attack. Laura doesn't just prove it. She goes out of her way to belabor that point, encouraging Logan to be part of a family. Her just being there does plenty to prove her case. She knows that he goes onto welcome her into his family and guide her into eventually taking on the title of Wolverine.

It sets up for a powerful moment between the two Wolverines. It's a moment heavy on family drama, the kind that is often a precursor to tragedy in Logan's life. However, with Generations: Wolverine and All-New Wolverine #1, that legacy of tragedy is secondary. For once, he and Laura can just appreciate the fact that they're part of a family and that family now has a legacy. It's the kind of moment that really adds a powerful, emotional link between two eras of Wolverine.

That moment is what makes Generations: Wolverine and All-New Wolverine #1 worth its weight in dead undead ninjas. It's a moment that takes time to develop. For much of the story, though, the ninja fighting subverts the drama. It's still wildly entertaining and Ramon Rosanas' art makes it as visually appealing as it needs to be. When the drama finally does come, it has just the right impact. It's brief, but powerful.

More than anything else, Generations: Wolverine and All-New Wolverine #1 establishes that the legacy of Wolverine isn't just measured by mountains of dead ninjas. It's part of a legacy. Logan establishes that legacy. Laura carries it on. Being Wolverine is basically a family affair, albeit with a lot more stabbing and ninja attacks, and it's a family that Wolverine fans of every generation can root for.

Final Score: 9 out of 10

A Familiar and Weaponized Narrative: Weapons of Mutant Destruction #1

The following is my review of Weapons of Mutant Destruction #1, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

There are some ideas that are just so wrought with failure that the mere act of entertaining them again is akin to giving Deadpool an unlimited supply of napalm. It's one thing to revamp and reconsider a failed idea. Sometimes, ideas are just too ahead of their time or not properly managed. Others, however, are akin to fixing a cracked windshield with a sledgehammer.

When it comes to ideas that fail in the most spectacularly destructive ways possible, the Weapon X program and the gamma experiments that made the Incredible Hulk are basically co-champions. These are experiments with simple, albeit devious goals. One seeks to create the ultimate living weapon. The other seeks to create an unstoppable monster that can be controlled and directed like a bomb that never stops going off.

They are weapons that anyone, be they the Avengers or Hydra, wouldn't mind having in their arsenal. When it comes to developing them, however, there sheer breadth of the failures are so staggering that even the most deranged James Bond villain wouldn't dare attempt them again. Even with the combined efforts of the Scarlet Witch and every good luck charm that ever existed, the odds just aren't in anyone's favor.

That's why the premise for Weapons of Mutant Destruction is akin to waiting for a demolition derby where every car is armed with a machine gun and a rocket launcher. Weapon X and all things gamma related have done enough damage to the Marvel universe to buy Hulkbuster armor for every man, woman, and child. Greg Pak and Mahmud Asrar believe there's still plenty of entertainment value in that level of destruction. Weapons of Mutant Destruction #1 shows that even if that value is there, making it compelling is a challenge that even heavy doses of gamma can't help.

The foundation of the story is built on ongoing stories unfolding in two of Pak's other books, Weapon X and Totally Awesome Hulk. From a structural standpoint, the transition is seamless. A narrative that begins in Weapon X #1 starts to culminate in Weapons of Mutant Destruction #1. The key, with respect to the actual substance of the story, is that the culmination only starts. It just doesn't go very far. It's akin to a drag racer that makes a lot of noise, but stalls just as the race commences.

That's not to say the ingredients are there. Pak makes it a point to give the conflict in Weapons of Mutant Destruction #1 larger implications that go beyond his own books. Mutant-killing living weapons, as overdone as they may be, still pose an existential threat to the rest of the X-men. The use of gamma power poses a similar threat to anyone still affiliated with the Hulk. Every character involved has a purpose and a clear motivation in the story. Nobody ever gets involved in a living weapons program for fun. Even Deadpool isn't that deranged.

As the story unfolds, though, there's a sense that it's trying to avoid the familiar tropes associated with conflicts built around living weapons. There's a lot of exposition, not all of which is necessary. There are some mystery elements, which are organic extensions of the events unfolding in Weapon X. However, the very fact they involve living weapons somewhat limits the mystery.

The obscenely poor and exceedingly violent track record of living weapons programs in Marvel Comics doesn't hint at any major twist. In an era where Skrull agents and Hydra agents are overused, twists like that are limited in terms of impact. There's never a sense that Weapons of Mutant Destruction is going to break new ground. It has mutant-killing cyborgs and gamma-powered monsters. For both the X-men and the Hulk, these kinds of stories are aren't exactly as rare as adamantium.

Even though the story has many familiar elements, Pak does manage to mix in some unique details along the way. Teaming Amadeus Cho up with the likes of Old Man Logan, Sabretooth, and Lady Deathstrike adds some much-needed novelty to the story. Unlike Bruce Banner, Cho is less experienced with smashing mutant-killing machines. At the very least, though, Pak gives him plenty of incentive to learn quickly and not hesitate.

At one point, Cho is a little disturbed at the brutality of living weapons programs. Considering how Lady Deathstrike and Old Man Logan barely bat an eye, that's pretty revealing in terms of how common these stories are and how inexperienced Cho still is as the Hulk. From his perspective, fighting mutant killing machines isn't something he does every other Monday like the X-men. His role creates some new dynamics that help make the story feel fresh to a limited extent.

That extent still isn't enough to make Weapons of Mutant Destruction more than the latest in a long line of living weapons programs that need to be smashed and/or stabbed with adamantium claws. The story's reliance on exposition, as well as its slow pace, isn't going to make anyone hulk out. With the way the events plays out, the story acts more as a teaser rather than a culmination. That kind of structure works when a story is breaking new ground. It doesn't work quite as well when it's relying on the kind of living weapons tropes that have played out any number of ways since the disco era.

The concept of Weapons of Mutant Destruction is still sound. The story is, by no means, bereft of value. By most measures, Pak's handling of the story is competent and concise. The characters are spot on and the plot never gets too convoluted. Asrar's artwork complements these efforts as well, creating the kinds of dark, sinister undertones that are to be expected with any story involving living weapons or anyone who has ever had to deal with Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth.

There's something to be said about a story that's so familiar that nothing short of clowns and Cosmic Cubes can make it feel novel. The concept of living weapons in the Marvel Universe is still one that will make anyone who has ever had to clean up blood stains roll their eyes. It can still make for a fun story though. Like a cold beer for Wolverine, it's a familiar and comforting experience. There will always be a place for stories like that in Marvel.

Final Score: 5 out of 10

The Enemy Within (And Beyond): All-New Wolverine #18

The following is my review of All-New Wolverine #18, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

There are some stories that just can't be remade in a convincing, compelling fashion. The producers of the now-infamous Ghostbusters remake found this out the hard way. However, it is possible to retell a story in a way that doesn't feel like a new layer of paint on an old car that shouldn't be on the road anymore. Those stories are rare and even then, a retelling of those stories involves a lot of moving parts that need to work together without collapsing into a chaotic mess

The classic Wolverine story, Enemy of the State, may not be nearly as iconic as Ghostbusters, but it captures so much of what makes Wolverine a great character. It effectively jams rusty nails into Wolverine's deepest scars, let's them fester, and builds a story around it. It's a key conflict for Wolverine that gives him much of his depth. He struggles with being a man and a former meat puppet of Weapon X. It's a powerful struggle that his daughter and inheritor of his title, Laura Kinney, has inherited.

As X-23, Laura knows just as much about being a tormented meat puppet as Logan. On top of that, she deals with this on top of being a teenage girl. This makes her uniquely qualified to handle the narrative surrounding Enemy of the State II. Tom Taylor gives her that chance, putting her in a situation where Laura has to confront the meat puppet within her that once made her a living weapon.

He sets high stakes. After apparently killing nearly three dozen innocent people, she finds herself at the top of SHIELD's most wanted list, right up there with cloned Spider-Man villains. She also has to confront old enemies like Kimura, who are intent on reminding her that she's a failed science experiment and not a person. In her mind, she's several layers below a trained pitbull.

These are the moving parts that forge the narrative for Enemy of the State II and All-New Wolverine #18 caps off that narrative with a potent mix of drama, action, plot twists, and exploding bean cans. It's every bit as entertaining as it sounds. Beyond the entertainment value, though, Taylor goes out of his way to capture the most important element of Enemy of the State, which is heart. Those who've seen the Logan movie and wiped away their tears will appreciate what Taylor accomplishes here.

To get to this point, X-23 must overcome some personal demons that have plagued her since her early origin stories in X-23: Innocence Lost. This is perfectly appropriate for the context and grand scheme of the story. Overcoming personal demons for Wolverine is right up there with drinking beer, stabbing Sabretooth, and chasing married women. For X-23, a teenage girl who isn't old enough to drink, it's a much higher priority and one that ensures All-New Wolverine #18 hits with just the right amount of drama.

The biggest demon for X-23 has both a face and a potent weapon. Kimura is to her what Sabretooth is to Logan. She embodies the anchor that keeps her tied to her bloody past. She represents the pain, burdens, and rage that fills her with such dread and anger. Fighting her means much more than just fighting a run-of-the-mill Sentinel. Taylor has this fight involve more than just stabbing though.

The stakes of the battle are already high because Kimura is armed with the trigger scent, the weapon that turns X-23 into the heartless killer who murdered her own mother. It is a burden and a fear that has plagued X-23 since her earliest days in the X-men comics. It's a big part of what drives the narrative throughout Enemy of the State II, having X-23 go on the run and do everything she can to avoid becoming what Kimura wants her to be. This convergence of past fears and present conflicts helps craft a perfectly balanced, deeply satisfying conclusion.

It's also a conclusion that requires X-23 to do things Logan wasn't very good at. He may have been the best at what he did, but coordinating with others was never one of those things and not just because of his propensity to flirt with married women. X-23 shows a greater willingness to work with others, let them in, and share her burdens. It gives a supporting cast like Gabby, Jean Grey, Gambit, Angel, and Tyger Tiger a chance to shine. She's still not the greatest teammate, but compared to Logan, she's a pro.

X-23's supporting cast gives her the resources she needs to overcome the trigger scent and attack Kimura. However, she's still the one who delivers the final blow. Like her predecessor, she makes it very personal and very brutal. Unlike previous battles, though, Kimura can't use the trigger scent as her trump card. She has to face X-23 head on. They have to fight as equals. It makes for a battle that feels organic, brutal, and dramatic.

The added drama also helps ensure the plot twist that emerge in the final conclusion work. As a result, it doesn't feel forced. It doesn't feel like a cop-out. It feels like a genuine, realistic recourse for the narrative. For a story that involves so much running around, stabbing, and snarling, that's a critical ingredient that separates decent stories from savory deserts.

The original Enemy of the State may not be as iconic as other major Wolverine stories like Old Man Logan, if only because it hasn't been the basis for a major movie yet. However, it is an important story that embodies what it means to be Wolverine. All-New X-men #18 and Enemy of the State II embodies that same spirit.

X-23 even goes out of her way to make that clear. She loudly proclaims that she's not just a weapon. She's Laura Kinny. She has a mother, a father, and the title. She is, by every meaningful criteria, Wolverine. Taylor does everything necessary to make this abundantly clear. If anyone has any doubts at this point that Laura is worthy of that title, then they're just being petty.

Final Score: 9 out of 10

The Truth Hurts (and Astonishes): All-New X-men #18

The following is my review of All-New X-men #18, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

The truth is supposed to hurt. The truth is supposed to set us free. Lies are supposed to be cockroaches that run into the cracks of the wall the second a light is exposed. That's the narrative the real world tries to convey, if only to convince children not to lie when they've taken one too many cookies from the cookie jar. It's not an entirely false narrative, but it is incomplete.

Lies can be every bit as harsh as the truth and the X-men comics have been demonstrating this since the conclusion of Secret Wars. So much of the narrative surrounding the X-men and their struggles against the Terrigen Mists is built around certain assumptions that helped give the story weight. Those assumptions included the understanding that Cyclops committed this horrible, heinous atrocity that made mutants more hated than whoever came up with Deadpool's mouthless design in Wolverine Origins.

Both the X-men and the readers share in these assumptions for most of the X-men's narrative after Secret Wars. Then, Death of X comes along and reveals the truth that these assumptions are inaccurate. The so-called crimes committed by Cyclops aren't his crimes. They aren't even his idea. They are an elaborate ruse, one only known to a select few individuals. It's not a conspiracy theory on the same level as Captain America being a Hydra agent, but it still has major implications.

Now, as Inhumans vs. X-men unfolds, this effects of this ruse are getting harder to conceal. All-New X-men #18, which directly ties into the events of Inhumans vs. X-men, sets the stage for undoing this ruse. Dennis Hopeless has a chance to explore the breadth of teen Cyclops' torment, being reviled for what his older self did and stuck in a future where every horrible thing anybody does exists forever on social media. Hopeless doesn't squander that chance and crafts one of the most dramatic issues of All-New X-men since Secret Wars.

It's not just that the truth finally comes out. Teen Cyclops does learn about the elaborate ruse surrounding the events of Death of X. That's actually the simplest part of the story. It's how Hopeless sets it up that gives it so much dramatic weight. The fact that this drama has nothing to do with Jean Grey, clones of Jean Grey, or a Shi'ar sneak attack makes this all the more remarkable.

Most of the story takes place in between the panels of the main Inhumans vs. X-men series. Teen Cyclops is part of the main attack on New Attilan. However, he doesn't contribute too much to this attack. The fact that he's an inexperienced teenager who has yet to become the man who will one day hook up with both Jean Grey and Emma Frost certainly shows. This is actually important to the structure of the story.

Hopeless makes it a point to show just how unpolished this version of Cyclops is. He's not the master tactician who fights Sentinels for breakfast and takes down Apocalypse before brunch. He's still a kid who's struggling with the legacy his older self left behind. That legacy, however skewed it may be, torments him in ways that have guided his story since the conclusion of Secret Wars. To this point, it's a burden he carries and one he thinks he can never escape. This helps make the Death of X spoilers all the more powerful.

It's not one of those reveals that's akin to Morpheus offering a teenage Cyclops the red pill. If anything, the reveal is a byproduct of another plot unfolding between the panels of Inhumans vs. X-men. Specifically, this plot involves Mosaic, the Inhuman who can possess other bodies. This ability is key to balancing the scales of the conflict, which to this point has played out in the X-men's favor. Part of this process involves him possessing teen Cyclops. While it's not entirely clear why this needs to be part of Mosaic's plan, it does have an important impact, even if it's unintended.

Mosaic's actions may very well be critical to advancing the main plot of Inhumans vs. X-men, even if the particulars are unclear, but what he does in All-New X-men #18 may end up having much bigger implications for Cyclops and the rest of the time-displaced X-men. Unintended or not, he helps teen Cyclops uncover the truth about what happened to his older self. More importantly, he finds out who is really behind the burdens, the self-loathing, and the angry flame wars on message boards.

This knowledge threatens the X-men's plans and motivations in Inhumans vs. X-men. Emma Frost is a major driving force in these plans and only a select few know of her role in Death of X. Now teenage Cyclops knows and is in a position to react with a level of extreme melodrama that only a teenager can appreciate. It doesn't just create a major turning point in teen Cyclops' overall narrative. It may very well change the entire outlook that he and his fellow time-displaced X-men have on navigating the future.

This dramatic shift is the biggest selling point of All-New X-men #18. Hopeless doesn't get too bogged down in the various nuances of the Inhumans vs. X-men conflict and, given the various flaws surrounding this conflict, this helps keep the story concise. However, some of those flaws do manifest at times. The whole concept of Cyclops being a war criminal for attacking a cloud still feels exceedingly contrived. It makes some of teen Cyclops' various musings seem forced, even by the lofty standards of teenage melodrama.

It leads to some parts being choppy and chaotic, but it doesn't take away from the impact of the main plot in All-New X-men #18. Mark Bagley's colorful renderings of the various moments helps to move things along as well. Whatever flaws there may be in the over-arching narrative of Inhumans vs. X-men, it doesn't undermine the big reveal that gives this issue so much weight.

It's not just another tie-in where a teenage character mopes and whines at being so overwhelmed. This story digs deeper, achieving an impact that goes beyond an ongoing crossover. For a tie-in that focuses on an anxious teenager, that's quite an accomplishment.

Final Score: 7 out of 10

All-New Wolverine #12: Nuff Said!

I don't get emotionally worked up easy, at least not while in a sober state of mind. Get a few beers and joints in me and I'll hug you like you're my long-lost sibling. So when a comic comes along that kicks me right in the feels, I'm pretty damn impressed. Tom Taylor managed to do that with All-New Wolverine and not just because it has a pet wolverine, an adorable clone girl named Gabby, and X-23 flying a jet pack naked. He just delivered an emotional gut-punch at the end of All-New Wolverine #11 with Old Man Logan stabbing gabby. Now, my gut is ripe as fuck in anticipation for All-New Wolverine #12. I'm bracing myself, but for all the right reasons.

A quick flash to Old Man Logan's dystopian shit storm of a future makes my asshole clench that much harder. He establishes very clearly that he hates Gabby. He hates her the same way I hate parking tickets and non-alcoholic beer. He hates her so much that he kicks over her grave, spits on it, and encourages the world to do the same. Even by Wolverine standards, that's cold.

At the very least, it provides some context to the emotional gut punch we got at the end of the previous issue. Old Man Logan hates Gabby and for reasons that are only partially clear, he's eager to take her out of the equation, so much so that he'll do it with a goddamn smile if he could. It adds the kind of dramatic weight to the story that has helped make this series so awesome. The fact Tom Taylor does it without a pet wolverine makes it all the more astonishing.

Back in the present, the feels from that emotional gut punch still sting like a bitch. Unless you're overdosing on anti-depressants or have a severe personality disorder, seeing X-23 hold Gabby's body will create a lump in anyone's throat for all the right reasons. All the while, Captain America worries more about the hapless SHIELD agents who Old Man Logan roughed up. That's right. He's more concerned with the well-being of SHIELD agents than that of a young mutant girl who just got stabbed. That, my friends, tells you everything you need to know about how Marvel sees mutants these days.

Naturally, X-23 is several different kinds of pissed off. It's not enough a couple of dip-shit burglars shot Jonathan the Wolverine a few issues back. Now, her adorable clone sister got stabbed by a grumpy alternate version of her father. There are bad days, shitty days, and then there's this. When we have days like this, we're perfectly entitled to stab anything within a 50 foot radius.

At least X-23 knows how to channel her anger appropriately, which sets her apart from 95 percent of every teenage girl I've ever known. If she's going to stab anyone, it's going to be Old Man Logan. There's a few more heartfelt moments with X-23 and Gabby, which should make that lump in your throat feel like a fucking coconut at this point, and then X-23 runs off after Old Man Logan. He stabs her clone sister. She makes his present way more dystopian than any shitty future he comes from. That's just how it works.

With help from Maria Hill, a phrase that rarely ends without someone getting shot or stabbed, X-23 tracks Old Man Logan into the nearby sewer system. He's a grumpy old fuck who has been shot with enough tranquilizers to give Ozzy Osborn a mild buzz so he doesn't get far. This means less searching and more X-23 beating the living shit out of him.

This is where David Lopez gives us one of the most satisfying scenes of this series to date, at least the one that doesn't involve Jonathan the Wolverine or X-23 flying around on a jet pack naked. It's X-23 vs. Old Man Logan. Any chance they had at a meaningful relationship is pretty much shot to shit and pissed on for good measure. It's angry. It's brutal. It's visceral. It's dramatic. In other words, it's everything that makes a Wolverine battle awesome, minus sexy redheads and Japanese hookers.

As this epic stab-fest is unfolding, things are more solemn on the surface. Captain America is prepared to fit Gabby with a toe tag and send her off to wherever SHIELD stacks the mounting pile of mutant bodies. Then, just when that lump in your throat is about to take a baseball bat to your tear ducts, Gabby wakes up. Just like that, we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

That's right. She's the clone of X-23, someone who gets blown up and walks it off. On paper, that sounds so obvious and predictable. What Tom Taylor did though was give it a major dramatic impact, something that is hard to do with X-23. Keep in mind, this is someone who was tricked into killing her own mother. The bar for drama is pretty fucking high and he matched it. That's a hell of an accomplishment.

Back in the sewers, shit is still pretty brutal and stabby. Old Man Logan, still doped up on SHIELD tranquilizers, is in a total berserker rage. Given how badly that shit has screwed him over in his future, you'd think he'd be a bit more careful about it. Then again, maybe SHIELD tranquilizers are just that shitty.

They have to be because when they wear off, Old Man Logan gets a little less brutal. He must have forgotten that he's fighting a pissed off teenage girl now. That's never a good tactic, no matter how tough you are or how fast you heal. He tries to apologize. He tries to make excuses. X-23 isn't having that shit. He may as well try to justify giving the Jersey Shore more than one season. It can't be done.

Lucky for him, Gabby catches up and stops X-23 from turning Old Man Logan into glorified rat shit. This immediately calms X-23 down. There aren't many forces in the Marvel universe that can do that. A hug from an adorable clone sister is one of them. There's something wonderfully fitting about that.

However, Old Man Logan has to double down on being an ass this time, saying he didn't know she was going to heal. That means he really wanted to kill her. He does try to explain himself to some extent. He claims that Gabby ends up killing X-23 in his world. The problem is, that's his world. His world is already fucked. This world is only semi-fucked, but it's because of Racist Xenophobic Slave-Owners and not because someone mind-fucked Wolverine.

X-23 makes it clear that he's now permanently etched on her shit list. She even twists the knife a little more, pointing out that pretty much everyone in Old Man Logan's future got fucked over just by knowing him. Is it harsh? Fuck yes. Is it appropriate for a guy who just stabbed a young girl? Definitely.

As harsh as it is, it does feel lacking in one important area. We really don't get many other details as to how and why X-23 and Gabby kill each other in Old Man Logan's timeline. It's a pretty important detail and one that feels incomplete. We know that this is the excuse Old Man Logan uses to attack Gabby, but is that really all there is to it? We basically just have to take his word for it and this is a guy who just stabbed a child. How trustworthy can his word be?

It makes for some less-than-dramatic threats at the end, but still leaves more than a few blanks. Gabby and Old Man Logan make clear that they will not be friends in this timeline. X-23 also makes clear that he's not the same Logan she knew and loved. It's a tense way to end their first encounter. Given all the stabbing though, it's still disturbingly fitting.

This leads to one last conversation between X-23 and Captain America. Again, it's less-than-dramatic. X-23 basically just lectures him on why heroes fighting heroes is a shitty idea. It's a lecture that feels several years too late. If only someone had pointed this out before Avengers vs. X-men. Maybe we wouldn't be in a world where Marvel feels like its heroes have to try to kill each other at least once a year. It's late and effectively moot at this point. If nothing else, it makes clear to Cap and SHIELD that X-23 is not going to stand for their shit. Honestly, who can blame her?

So...is it awesome?

Well, I didn't end up having to brace myself too much, but I'm glad I did anyhow. All-New Wolverine #12 makes good use of X-23's personal drama and Gabby's cuteness. The only one who doesn't seem to benefit here is Old Man Logan. The fact that Gabby survives is probably the most important reason why this comic is awesome. She, along with Jonathan the Wolverine, is a major reason why this series is so great. Beyond that though, there's not much worth bracing for.

We never find out the particulars of why Old Man Logan hates Gabby so much in his world. That lack of painfully dramatic details keeps All-New Wolverine #12 from having the same emotional gut punch as the last issue. However, it does establish clearly that X-23 does not see Old Man Logan as the same Logan who died. That's an important element to establish, if for no other reason than to make clear that she accepts no substitutes. Being a clone herself, that's a bit hypocritical, but entirely understandable.

Final Score: 7 out of 10

All-New X-men #13: Nuff Said!

Let's face it. We love redemption stories almost as much as we love underdog stories. Why else would Disney be inclined to give is three Mighty Ducks movies? That same part of us that roots for the psycho killer in a slasher movie also wants to see the bad guys redeem themselves. It worked for Return of the Jedi and everything since then has been trying to match it.

Sadly, Kid Apocalypse is no Darth Vader and O5 Iceman is no Neil Patrick Harris. There are no shitty prequels that hint that either of them may be more than just unlucky and under-developed. Kid Apocalypse had a chance to change his fate during Apocalypse Wars. He fucked that up, courtesy of O5 Beast. Now, he's back in the future and still doomed to become the genocidal asshat whose movie failed to out-gross Deadpool. It's a sad state of affairs to say the least, but just because he's screwed doesn't mean O5 Iceman has to share the same fate.

In All-New X-men #13, Kid Apocalypse attempts to cope with his shitty state by doing something awesome. He's going to try and get O5 Iceman laid. What kind of future genocidal madman do such a thing? The awesome kind, that's who.

With help from Idie, Kid Apocalypse sets out on a new mission that probably won't change his future, but it will help his friend get laid so it's not a total loss. They take O5 Iceman to Miami, a very gay-friendly city. I would know. I've yet to find a city that as many gay clubs as they have ass bleaching services. It's like one never-ending Lady Gaga concert. It's basically perfect for O5 Iceman to channel his inner Clay Akin and not have to worry about the Todd Akins of the world.

It's a chance O5 Iceman should be positively giddy over. Hell, he's giddy about most other shit. His entire history with the X-men involves him being an immature little shit. This time, however, he's more nervous than I am when I have to take a sobriety test the day after St. Patrick's Day. It's actually pretty revealing in that it brings out a different side of Bobby Drake. It's one who doesn't come off as a poor man's Spider-Man for once. He even reveals his bad history with dating women. It's probably the most personal he's ever gotten in a comic without being psychically manipulated by Emma Frost.

As nice as it is to see O5 Iceman show a little depth beyond being a half-rate class clown, he doesn't really put much energy into his first gay outing. Despite Idie going out of her way to introduce him to a few open-minded studs, he chickens out faster than vegan at a butcher shop. They manage to make him at least talk to these guys, which is usually not too hard for O5 Iceman. He ends up talking about cheese and McNuggts. It's not nearly as gay as it sounds.

If anything, it's downright forced. For someone who claims to finally be out and proud, he shows the same awkwardness around men as he does with women. I want to have sympathy for him, but as a man who finds Brad Pitt attractive, I can only offer so much.

So if O5 Iceman isn't going to cooperate, Kid Apocalypse is still going to find a way to be awesome. That means he's going to forget about how O5 Beast fucked him over and dance his troubles away in a gay club in Miami. By the horribly skewed standards of the Marvel universe, this is probably the healthiest way I've ever seen a future tyrant deal with his issues.

O5 Iceman can learn a thing or two from Kid Apocalypse. That's right. The future tyrant of the mutant race has valuable lessons for O5 Iceman at this point. That's the state he's in right now. How sad is that? He continues to ignore these lessons and tries to ditch the two awesome friends who are trying desperately to get him laid. Some people are just ungrateful fucks I guess.

He does manage to finally talk to someone in ways that don't involve what kind of fast food he enjoys. He lets Idie and Kid Apocalypse dance their problems away while he brags about his exploits with the X-men to a guy at a bar. I imagine the exploits of a superhero are intriguing to people of every major orientation. It beats listening to someone talk about that time their ex threw lit firecrackers in your car.

Then, just as it seems O5 Iceman is going to have his first Glee moment, he freaks out again. He goes all icy and makes a total fool of himself. I know O5 Iceman has a knack for being foolish, but at least he generally avoids being pathetic while he's at it. He doesn't avoid it this time. I may not be gay, but even I know freaking the fuck out is a dick move.

He ends up running out of the club as quickly as he can and into the back ally, which is stupid because that's how half of all horror movies and 85 percent of all porn, gay or straight, starts out. Lucky for him, he doesn't run into a guy in a hockey mask with a chainsaw. He just runs into a cute guy his age named Romeo. With a name like that, you get the feeling this can only end in tragedy.

It doesn't start out too tragic though. Again, O5 Iceman manages to have a meaningful conversation with a fellow gay guy. This time, he doesn't create a big fucking blizzard to kill everyone else's boners. I guess that counts as progress. They share some awkward man-love stories, none of which involve Ted Haggard or Catholic priests, so they seem to have some healthy similarities. Could this be O5 Iceman's chance to finally get a real taste of quality man love?

Sadly, the mood is ruined when a demon moth creature attacks. No, that's not a metaphor for an impromptu Trump rally. A demon moth creature actually attacks for no reason, out of nowhere, and completely without context. It's as contrived as it sounds.

This is where the story about O5 Iceman's first night out as an open gay guy basically goes to shit. Instead of seeing him go through some actual personal growth, we see him, Idie, and Kid Apocalypse fight a demon moth creature. At a time when the X-men are based in a fucking demon realm, this is like ninjas attacking Jack and Rose on the Titanic. It makes no fucking sense.

It's a bad night for O5 Iceman. It's a bad night for the X-men in general, having to fight another demon moth. There can't be too many ways to make it worse, right? Well, there is one way. How about an appearance by the fucking Racist Xenophobic Slave Owners whose other name I refuse to acknowledge on this blog? Yeah, those fuckers who Marvel keeps trying to push show up because apparently, the first gay guy O5 Iceman connects with happens to be one of them.

While this blog may give other impression, I'm actually a pretty calm and forgiving guy. I try not to get too petty and pissed off over certain people who aren't Fox News anchors. I can only try so much with the Racist Xenophobic Slave-Owners. I'm sorry, but I just can't be reasonable with the Racist Xenophobic Slave-Owners.

Romeo ends up putting down the demon moth in the least entertaining way possible. Turns out he's an empath of sorts and he uses that to calm the damn thing down whereas Wolverine would've just stabbed it. The difference is one is boring as fuck and the other is totally badass, yet Marvel still wonders why nobody likes the Racist Xenophobic Slave-Owners as much as the X-men?

On top of that, Romeo actually busts O5 Iceman's balls and not in a sexy way for attacking the demon moth. Well it's not like the fucking thing tried to hug them when it showed up. What the fuck was he supposed to do? I wish O5 Iceman had pointed that out, but it's too late. Romeo still tries to argue that his kind don't hate mutants. They just can't be bothered to do jack shit about the big fucking cloud that's poisoning them. Really? If that's not hate on some levels, then I'll quit drinking tonight.

So thanks to the Racist Xenophobic Slave-Owners, everything that was interesting about this comic and all the boners it may have inspired are gone. O5 Iceman still gets Roemo's number, but I imagine it's going to be hard building a relationship around someone who rubs elbows with Racist Xenophobic Slave-Owners. Dude, their giant fart cloud is killing his friends and his entire fucking race. I know love is supposed to conquer all, but love has its limits when genocide and legal issues over movie rights come into play.

So...is it awesome?

This comic is bound to piss off every anti-gay, family values, religious asshole from here to Mississippi. I can already here them crying like school girls in a room of spiders saying, "How dare a superhero comic not conform to my bullshit religious values! Now I have to have unpleasant conversations with my children! Why? WHY must I be inconvenienced like this?" It makes Glenn Beck cry. It makes Rick Santorum sick. It makes Mike Huckabee angry. In that sense, this book is a gift to the human race.

As an actual comic, however, it falls somewhat flat and the presence of the Racist Xenophobic Slave-Owners doesn't help. I get that there's some Shakespearean appeal to falling in love with someone from a forbidden society. Hell, the guy's name is Romeo for crying out loud. That appeal ends when one of the families belongs to the Racist Xenophobic Slave-Owners whose fart cloud is poisoning all of Iceman's friends and fellow X-men and they're not doing jack shit about it. But I digress.

Other than fighting a demon creature, O5 Iceman and Romeo don't really don't accomplish much other than being able to form coherent sentences with one another. That's good for a one night stand, gay or straight. It's shitty for pretty much everything beyond that. I like that O5 Iceman gets a chance to play the field, but the fact that the only like-minded stud he could find in Miami was a Racist Xenophobic Slave-Owner is pretty fucked.

Final Score: 4 out of 10

Old Man Logan #11: Nuff Said!

I'm convinced that at least half of the villains in comics are more suicidal than crazy. Seriously, who picks a fight with the Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain America without having a death wish of some sorts? For those who pick a fight with Wolverine, I'd say they've taken several steps beyond suicidal. I think they've entered in this twisted death fetish territory that even the most depraved forms of German porn would never entertain.

One might think that picking a fight with an older, grayer, crankier version of Wolverine would be safer. I'd argue that's even more fucked up because it means they're just fighting a version of Wolverine who gives far fewer fucks. That's the only way I can make sense of Sohei and the Silent Order, who are the latest deranged ninjas with a death wish. They spent the last issue giving Old Man Logan a lot of reasons to honor their death wish. Old Man Logan #11 gives him a chance to make use of those reasons. I don't usually encourage these kinds of death wishes, but let's face it. These motherfuckers are asking for it.

They spent last issue kicking Old Man Logan down a well because they seem to think pissing him off is a good strategy for some reason. Yeah, these fuckers have that big a death wish. There's none of that throw-a-man-in-a-well-and-see-what-happens shit here. Old Man Logan is good and pissed now. That means everyone in the Silent Order is about to have their death wish granted, which I guess makes Old Man Logan their new favorite genie not voiced by Robin Williams.

I know I say this with every review, but some shit is worth repeating beyond the point of annoyance. Andrea Sorrentino's art is perfect for this kind of reckless, bloody brutality. Granted, this fight isn't nearly as brutal as some of the other insanely violent shit this series has shown, but that's like saying a Playboy centerfold's breasts aren't as big as Pam Anderson's. It's a matter of scope and context is what I'm saying.

The brutality is there. The blood is there. It's still not enough for Old Man Logan's taste though. Sure, beating the shit out of ninjas is like masturbation. It never gets old. At his age, though, he sometimes needs help and there aren't any pills that can help him at this point, although I'm sure Pfizer is working on something as I write this. So Old Man Logan does the next best thing. He frees Lady Deathstrike, who the Silent Order used as bait.

Understandably, Lady Deathstrike hates being bait. She hates it more than she hates Logan so she willingly teams up with him to beat the shit out of a bunch of ninjas. That, or she's just really horny. I really can't tell with her. It's actually a bigger deal than simply lending a hand because just a few issues back, Lady Deathstrike tried to hunt down Old Man Logan and kill him, as she tends to do with any version of Wolverine. Now, she's helping him kick the shit out of ninjas. Not saying this counts as an olive branch or anything, but there's just something wonderfully fitting about that.

As this series has done so effectively before, it mixes the brutality of the present with the dystopian shit storm of the past, primarily in Old Man Logan's world. We got another glimpse into that past in the previous issue when Old Man Logan tried to get his new wife, Maureen, away from supervillain shit storm he inadvertently helped create. So they try to hide out in Japan and then ninjas attack. That's basically how every one of Logan's trips to Japan have gone since the Frank Miller/Chris Claremont era. You really expected it to be different?

On this latest ill-advised trip, he clashes with his world's version of the Silent Order. It's not much different than the mainline Marvel universe's version. They still have a fucked up death wish. To his credit, Old Man Logan restrains the natural urge to maim ninjas so the Silent Order captures him. He then meets their creepy bald leader, who reminds me too much of Leslie Chow from the Hangover movies. He's about as intimidating shaved squirrel, but he seems to have a fondness for collecting artifacts from dead heroes so you know he's got to get his ass kicked.

The Mr. Chow wannabe also happens to have superpowers because I guess that's a prerequisite for a secret order of ninjas. Those powers involve reading minds and since he doesn't have red hair, I guess that means Old Man Logan won't be inclined to fuck him. The feeling ends up being mutual because when the guy reads Old Man Logan's mind, he sees just how much he fucked himself over.

It makes for a nice little montage of how shit played out for Old Man Logan in his world. It really isn't all that different from anyone who followed Wolverine up to 2005, that special time when nobody took Donald Trump seriously and nobody had seen Anthony Weiner's penis. The only difference is he ended up slaughtering every hero in the Marvel universe.

That's right. He killed every one of Earth's mightiest heroes. Does this guy really think a bunch of ninjas will protect him? Now he knows just how fucked he is. It's just a matter of Old Man Logan making sure Maureen isn't scarred for life by the brutality that follows.

That brutality of the past perfectly mirrors the brutality we get in the present. The same secret order of ninjas still think they can take down a guy who butchered every hero in the Marvel universe. Maybe they really think they can, but can they do that and deal with a pissed off Lady Deathstrike? Again, there are death wishes and then there's just plain fucking stupid.

The brutality and blood is still as entertaining as ever. This time, Lady Deathstrike gets a chance to be obscenely brutal and for once, I can't help but cheer her on. It's usually hard to cheer for a murdering female cyborg who isn't a character in anime porn. Lady Deathstrike makes it easier here, once again reminding the Silent Order that she doesn't like being bait and she likes stabbing those who don't respect her preferences. She's almost a feminist icon in this context when you think about it.

Feminists should probably keep their panties on though. While Lady Deathstrike does get her chance to maim a bunch of men who don't respect her, Sohei still ends up kicking her ass so I guess those same feminists can go back to protesting the evils of the patriarchy. While this is probably going to get my balls busted by some radical types, this is kind of necessary for the story. Sohei only used Deathstrike to get to Old Man Logan. That's who he wants to fight. That's who he wants to have deliver his death wish. The man has his preferences too. Do they not deserve respect as well?

I think both genders can respect the added brutality that follows. Whereas the earlier brutality was all about quantity, thanks to hordes of ninjas, this round is all about quality. It's Sohei versus Old Man Logan, a creepy masked ninja type versus a guy who stabs those types to death. It's not quite as lopsided as it sounds. Sohei is fighting a somewhat dated version of Logan here so he gets in a few shots. That still doesn't do much other than piss Old Man Logan off even more. I guess if he really does have a death wish, this is just a better way of ensuring it. You can say a lot about creepy ninja types like him, but you can't say he does shit half-assed.

As fun and as brutal as this fight is, Jeff Lemire actually goes the extra distance as well to make clear he isn't half-assing this either. During the gloriously brutal battle, Sohei reveals something that's been overlooked to this point, namely why the fuck the Silent Order went out of their way to lure in Old Man Logan in the first place. It's not just because they have a fucked up death wish. These guys have other reasons it seems, although at this point, they're probably secondary.

Sohei claims that the Silent Order has monks who can see the future of their organization. It's like having spoilers before going into a Star Wars movie. It ensures they won't be too shocked or disappointed by what they encounter, even if it does make shit more bland. However, in addition to all sorts of movie spoilers, these same monks foresee the glorious rise of their organization being interrupted by Old Man Logan. Then again, does it really take much foresight to sense that Old Man Logan will instinctively maim any ninja organization that grows too powerful?

While it's not exactly an Akira Kurasowa film, it does provide some context for the Silent Order. They're not just a band of generic ninjas that can't help but put themselves in front of Wolverine's claws. They do actually have an agenda, which is more than 85 percent of most stories involving ninjas can claim. It's a nice bonus that really shouldn't be a bonus in the first place, but it works in that it makes Old Man Logan's desire to stab ninjas a bit more reasonable.

With this knowledge in mind, Sohei does his best to take down Old Man Logan. We also see in a few quick flashbacks that he fails miserably in Old Man Logan's world and he didn't even have Lady Deathstrike's help in that world. So what hope does he have here? The battle starts getting a bit more lopsided until that creepy Mr. Chow guy shows up again. Apparently, he exists in this world too. Except at this point, he's younger, shorter, and a lot more creepier. It's really the only way to make creepy bald men more creepier. Turn them into equally creepy children. Why else would they have made multiple sequels to Children of the Corn?

So...is it awesome?

It has Old Man Logan fighting ninjas in both the present and the past in the bloodiest, most brutal way possible. How can that NOT be awesome? Seriously, you'd have to exercise Cleveland Brown level incompetence to fuck that up. Jeff Lemire doesn't make that effort in Old Man Logan #11. He just has Old Man Logan beat the shit out of a bunch of ninjas, granting them their bullshit death wish in the process. It's both badass and polite when you think about it.

It's not all mindless brutality either, although that certainly doesn't hurt. Lemire actually goes out of his way to give some depth to the Silent Order. He stops short of crafting a story on par with a Final Fantasy game, but it at least gives a valid reason for Sohei wanting to kill Old Man Logan, even if that reason doesn't make it any less a death wish. Valid reasons are rare in a story full of rampant bloody brutality. They're not always necessary, but then again icing isn't always necessary on a brownie. It just makes something that's already awesome even better. For a series like Old Man Logan, that's saying something.

Final Score: 8 out of 10

Body-Swapping Superhero Slap-Stick: All-New Wolverine Annual #1

The following is my review of All-New Wolverine Annual #1, which was posted on PopMatters.com.

When it comes to teenage superheroes, there's a certain set of assumptions that tend to limit their story. They have to be awkward. They have to be inept. They have to be whiny, goofy, and immature to the point where they'll fight guidance counselors as hard as any super-villain. In some respects, Peter Parker is responsible for creating this template and it seems every character is trying to copy him. The problem is such efforts leads to one too many Clone Sagas and time travelers.

It's because of these flawed assumptions surrounding teenage superheroes that X-23 is such a remarkable success story. She spits in the face of those assumptions that doom many teenage superheroes trying too hard to be another Peter Parker. Yes, she is a teenage girl. No, she is not inept, immature, or whiny. In many respects, she's more mature than some adults. Then again, in a world with Deadpool and Tony Stark, that may not be saying much.

X-23's ability to function as a well-rounded character is just part of what makes her story so compelling. Since taking the mantle of Wolverine, she keeps proving in every possible way that she's worthy of this title. Tom Taylor even spent the first few issues of All-New Wolverine having her fight another secret organization trying to make living weapons. It may as well have been X-23's graduation ceremony. Now, All-New Wolverine Annual #1 acts as X-23's graduation party of sorts.

Like any aspiring hero, there are certain types of conflicts that X-23 must face before she can belong in the same conversations as her predecessor. These conflicts are like initiation rituals at a club. She already passed the ritual that involves getting cloned. All-New Wolverine Annual #1 throws another at her in the form of a classic body-swapping story.

It's not a new idea. Body-swapping stories are the subject of countless superhero stories, sitcoms, and Saturday morning cartoons. Logan, during his illustriously violent life, endured this situation in a few memorable stories, most notably in the pages of Ultimate Spider-Man. These stories aren't as common as clones or time travels, but these days that may actually work to their advantage.

In this case, X-23 swaps bodies with Spider-Gwen, another teenage superhero looking to graduate into higher ranks as well. Taylor's approach to the story is very similar to the one told in Ultimate Spider-Man. There's no elaborate setup. Both characters wake up in different bodies with no clue how it happened. This leads to some confusing, but funny moments.

Cars are damaged. Drum sets are broken. Rock concerts are cut short. It's laughably chaotic. That's to be expected of teenage characters who aren't body-swapped, let alone swapped with someone in an alternate universe. Once the hilarity wears off though, there are a lot of questions that need answering. This is where the slap-stick humor of body-swapping undermines the actual story.

Naturally, X-23 and Spider-Gwen have to find each other and team up to fix this. Even when alternate universes are involved, that's surprisingly easy. It leads to some more standard body-swapping antics. They have to explain to one another how their powers work. They have to adjust their tactics in a fight. It makes for some clumsy action and David Lopez's artwork here does a nice job of depicting that. The problem comes when the source of these body-swapping antics is revealed.

These answers to the burning questions that kick-started the story end up being overly bland. The forces behind this mind-swapping, multi-verse hopping conflict aren't exactly rubbing elbows with Dr. Doom, Thanos, and Mephisto. In fact, the main culprit in this case ends up having such a weak stomach that X-23 and Spider-Gwen don't really have to defeat her. What happens is basically an elaborate misunderstanding combined with misplaced emotions.

While this keeps the tone of the story light-hearted, it makes the impact of the overall story feel somewhat inane. Throughout All-New Wolverine, X-23 regularly deals with forces trying to shoot, stab, eat, or clone her. Along the way, there are various elements, such as the addition of her clone-sister Gabby, to balance the tone with a sense of heart and melodrama. In this case, however, there's nothing to really balance.

Gabby and her pet wolverine don't get to play a role. Spider-Gwen doesn't get to do much other than get caught in the crossfire. X-23 doesn't even get overly mad at being body-swapped. That is somewhat appropriate, given how often she gets shot and attacked in this series. Being body-swapped may actually be a reprieve of sorts, but the story behind it just falls too flat to have an impact.

There is still value in the story overall. All-New Wolverine Annual #1 is a fun, light-hearted narrative that gives X-23 a chance to interact with another aspiring teenage superhero who lives in the shadow of another. Given how Logan crossed over with pretty much every team in the Marvel universe at some point, along with more than his share of alternate versions, it's safe to say that X-23 continues that tradition here.

The story still lacks in some key components, but it still has all the overplayed features we would expect of a body-swapping story. Two characters swap bodies, they fumble around hilariously, and they come together to fix this mess. It's a simple formula and All-New Wolverine Annual #1 sticks to it for the most part. It doesn't try to overachieve beyond its worth. It doesn't lower the bar either. Overall, this issue acts as another step in X-23's evolution as the new Wolverine. So long as she can avoid Clone Sagas and avoid falling in love with redheads, it's safe to say she's on the right track.

Final Score: 6 out of 10