X-Men

For the most part, Hickman and Ribic keep Secret Wars #1 from being too bloated with timely reaction close-ups of characters, and little jokes or insights into them, like Thanos being disgusted with humanity’s fear of death or the aforementioned Rocket joke. Esad Ribic’s storytelling makes this comic work as a pure work of superhero action with cutting panels for his sharp fight scenes. He also uses well-placed montages as the stakes continue to get higher as the comic progresses. Secret Wars #1 is a true superhero epic with wide-screen action, the occasional character insight, and real consequences even if it may be a little too expansive at times.

Quicksilver Real Name Pietro Django Maximoff First Appearance X-Men #4, March 1964 Nicknames & Aliases Pietro Frank, Matheo Maximoff, Powers & Abilities Quicksilver possess the mutant ability to move and think exceedingly fast. He can run at speeds up to Mach 5, and his body is designed to survive the rigors of moving at such …

Astonishing X-Men “Gifted” is one of those storylines that will make long term X-Men fans purr with delight beginning the Claremont era flashbacks in issue one. (Cassaday mimics Byrne’s art quite well.) It also can turn fans (like me five years ago) of the films and cartoons into mutie and comics junkies. Whedon pays homage to older X-Men stories without getting mired in continuity and quickly places his own stamp on the franchise by creating a new alien foe for them (Ord of the Breakworld), exploring the mutant as outsider metaphor with the cure of the X-gene, giving SHIELD a new branch (SWORD), and also bringing a beloved character back from the dead (Colossus) in a touching, visceral way that serves the long term storyline. However, the best part of Astonishing X-Men “Gifted” other than John Cassaday’s detailed, cinematically composed art and Whedon’s insanely quotable dialogue is the character arcs for each X-Man nestled in the bigger plot.

At East Coast Comicon, comics historian and researcher of the Official Handbook to the Marvel Universe Peter Sanderson, former Uncanny X-Men editor and Daredevil writer Ann Nocenti, and former Amazing Spider-Man editor Jim Salicrup chatted and swapped stories about what Marvel was really like in the 1980s.

After taking time last issue to decide what to do with the mysterious Black Vortex, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the X-Men finally come to blows with their cosmically transformed teammates. But while Star-Lord and the other heroes debate their next course of action, another hero may just lead the charge in his place…

Storm, easily Marvel’s most high-profile female African-American character (and of the first such characters in superhero comics), is a character whose most prominent and well-executed storyline occurred nearly two decades ago. In the mid-80s, longtime X-Men scribe Chris Claremont crafted a long story arc for Storm, which found her shedding her ethereal, goddess-esque image in the face of the burden of leadership and a desire to experience life more fully in favor of a more striking punk look and sensibility. Then, she lost her mutant powers and was forced to prove her worth as leader of the X-Men on her non-superpowered skills alone, a feat she accomplished with aplomb, continuing to lead the X-Men through some of their darkest hours (including the massacre of the Morlocks) before ultimately finding a way to restore her superpowers.

After an extended introductory issue, Marvel’s “Black Vortex” event dives right into the cosmic fray with Guardians of the Galaxy. After securing the Vortex, the Guardians and the X-Men get a moment to decide what to do with the artifact. But with a rift forming between them, can the heroes get their act together before their enemies catch up with them?

X-Men #23 Written by G. Willow Wilson Pencilled by Roland Boschi Inked by Jay Leisten Colors by Lee Loughridge Published by Marvel Comics After recently signing an exclusive contract with Marvel, award-winning Ms. Marvel writer G. Willow Wilson begins her “Burning World” arc on X-Men, a comic that was launched a couple years to focus on an all female X-Men squad. The lineup for X-Men #23 is …

Wolverine is dead to begin with. How permanent is his death remains to be seen. For the time being though, Wolverine’s possessions have been collected and his last wishes read. The Jean Grey School for Higher Learning will never be the same. As his replacement, Wolverine has chosen Spider-Man to fill the position of Guidance Counselor for a rather erhm, Special Class of mutants.

2014 marked the end of many traditions that pop culture fans hold dear. One of the most surprising announcements was the official heralding of the death of Saturday morning cartoons. In September, the CW network’s parent company, Warner Bros., officially ended their run of morning long schedules of animated series, and reverted to cheaper educational …

Because the characters exist in the public domain, there have been countless comic book iterations of classic horror icons Dracula and Frankenstein, including “official” versions of both characters which exist within the respective Marvel and DC Universes, versions which interact with each company’s superheroes. But through the years, those heroes have also encountered and battled one-off iterations of the horror monsters, independent of the “main” characterization.

In Death of Wolverine, Charles Soule, Steve McNiven, Jay Leisten, and Justin Ponsor had the tough job of killing off one Marvel’s most popular characters in a way consistent with his legacy of his character. Death of Wolverine #4 contains the actual “death”, and Soule, McNiven, and company stick the landing. Except for Doctor Cornelius’ supervillainous monologues, Soule’s script is terse and minimalist. Wolverine doesn’t say much, but he does a lot in keeping with his early characterization in Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s Uncanny X-Men where he would be the one still scrapping and fighting even after the Hellfire Club had taken out the other X-Men. In this last story, Soule examines all the different sides of Wolverine from lab experiment and animal to soldier, superhero, and samurai. And Steve McNiven’s art continues to be a treat from his landscape portraits of the Nevada desert to Wolverine’s last, visceral hand to hand battles. Inker Jay Leisten tightens his lines and elucidates the details of Cornelius’ lab as well as the lines on Wolverine’s determined faces. Colorist Justin Ponsor continues to be one of my personal favorites as he sets a different mood for each scene from a washed out brown for one final flashback of Weapon X to the sterile environment of Cornelius’ lab and one last walk in the sunlight.

After years of rumors, 20th Century Fox has officially confirmed that they will be producing a film based on the popular Marvel character, Deadpool. The Hollywood Reporter and Fox’s Twitter account confirm the news and that Ryan Reynolds will be reprising his role as the “Merc With a Mouth”. Reynolds was one of the few …

All-New X-Men #31 Written by Brian Michael Bendis Art by Mahmud Asrar Colored by Marte Gracia and Jason Keith Published by Marvel One of Brian Michael Bendis’ unique gifts as a writer is crafting believable teenage dialogue. This can mostly be seen in his 14 year run on Ultimate Spider-Man, but he also uses it to great effect in All-New X-Men. …

Youtuber Mr. Sunday Movies gives us an in-depth exploration of all the comic book easter eggs in the latest X-Men movie, including Quicksilver as Magneto’s son and his sister not being Scarlet Witch.

First Appearance X-Men #1, September 1963 Roll Call Founding Members: Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman and Angel Members: Mimic, Changeling, Polaris, Havok, Petra, Sway, Darwin, Vulcan, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Banshee, Storm, Sunfire, Colossus, Thunderbird, Phoenix, Kitty Pryde, Rogue, Phoenix II, Magneto, Psylocke, Longshot, Dazzler, Forge, Jubilee, Gambit, Bishop, Revanche, Cannonball, Joseph, Cecilia Reyes, Maggot, …

With X-Men: Days of Future Past opening this week, it’s time to look back at the films that kicked off the first big superhero franchise. There are countless top ten lists that could be made from the myriad of X-Men images, characters, and set pieces that have come to define the superhero genre and reshape …

X-Men: Days of Future Past Written by Simon Kinberg Directed by Bryan Singer USA, 2014 It may be a slightly ominous sign that the best scene in X-Men: Days of Future Past features a totally new character to the infinite universe of mutants, who then all but vanishes from the rest of the film. Still, …

X-Men: Days of Future Past Written by Simon Kinberg Directed by Bryan Singer USA, 2014 The key virtue of the X-Men films has been their mutant-like ability to seamlessly blend with other genres. The Wolverine worked as samurai cinema. First Class played well as a Cold War-era Bond thriller. Since the comic’s inception, X-Men has been the “…in bed” fortune …

Real Name Max Eisenhardt First Appearance X-Men #1, Sept. 1963 Nicknames and Alias Erik Magnus Lensherr, Master of Magnetism, Erik the Red, Michael Xavier, Creator, Grey King, Buckethead Powers and Abilities Magneto has the ability to manipulate electromagnetic energy, principally magnetism, allowing him to move and control magnetic metals from small (the iron in blood) …

The upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past motion picture directed by Bryan Singer bridges the time line between X-Men: First Class starring James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender and the earlier X-Men films starring Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan. If its trailers are any indication, it promises to be an epic event and the “biggest” X-Men film to date. Its story is lifted from the seminal story arc “Days of Future Past”, created by Chris Claremont and John Byrne and published in January-February 1981.

Real Name Charles Francis Xavier First Appearance X-Men #1 (September 1963) Nicknames and Aliases Chuck, Baldy, the Entity, Onslaught Powers and Abilities Xavier possess the foremost mutant mind on Earth, and is a telepathy of vast power and skill, including the ability to read minds and projects thoughts, even at great distances, take control of …

Despite being created in 1963 and having been a stalwart member of the X-Men for most of the intervening fifty plus years, this is the first time Cyclops (aka Scott Summers) has ever received his own ongoing series. Much of what defines the character – his taciturn nature, his strong leadership abilities, his devotion to Professor Xavier’s dream of peaceful co-existence between man and mutant – works best (or at all) when placed in a group setting, able to be compared and contrasted with the other X-Men. This series aims to sidestep that issue by taking advantage of the character’s current unique status quo: there are actually two Cyclops running around the Marvel Universe, the “real”, present day one, and a teenaged version, plucked from the past and deposited in his future as part of Brian Michael Bendis’ All New X-Men.