Overall i like the initiative of Claremont to expand on those old stories of his that did not have a room to breathe, like he did with Gambit. Here, i don't think it was needed, it doesn't feel as inspired and as driven, because there isn't much happening. I love the og wolverine Kitty series, but honestly, it was perfectly contained and idk how it fits with what is shown here. The artwork, a lot of the times, comes off as rushed. I get that it's maybe trying to have that more skeletal feeling of Klaus Janson, but it does not translate that well here. It looks wonky and cheap, with no finer touches. The issue spends a lot of time establishing where the characters are in their journeys, but it does not provide much to look forward to. Mostly, the appeal comes from the warm, nostalgic atmosphere. more

As expected, this arc does not carry the magic that the previous arc had is still pretty good, which is a testament to how good the fundamentals of the writing of the series are. Even if the mystique of the world is already pretty much gone, and having in mind that this is a slight rehash of the first arc, just with more info in, just the storytelling is cool and good, as well as the symbiosis of art, the pacing. Some moments do not carry the same weight and excitement, sure, but the characters still feel alive, the art, the paneling feel inspired, serving the characters well. Some stand out as the Gaby, she is something I am looking forward most definitely and to see how her trauma unfolds and where that would go. Still, everything feels more standardized. If you go past that, it's a blander copy(copy in a broader sense) of what we saw before; this is perfectly serviceable art. At least IMO more

This issue is full of McKayisms, which I would have loved to see explored, but sadly, it does not do a great job at it. Like a lot of the characters used do not get a moment to shine, actually pretty much nobody does, and it looks like the dephs that i came to associate with his writing on the title is gone, and here there is nothing that valuable in its place. The issue is like an example of an issue of Mckay but done in the worst way possible.

It seems like it builds to be an underdog story about Sam vs the new masters, which is cool, but also quite flat, cos i don't really see the contrasts between Sam and the masters. As we don't see much of the madness or the personal motivations of the master for their evil deed or at least enough of it for me to feel it realistically. It seems hollow both in the execution of the structure and in the voices of the character and the thematic, even the drama, not that inspired at least, and at least for now.

Because it really goes down to an underdog story with huge stakes, that personally i did not feel. Maybe it could be pulled off if Mckay tries something different, that he hasn't with title as cool breath taking moments and more instantenuas writing, but as for now I'm really not too excited about the future of this arc and having in mind that the scope of this issue is to establish all the pawns and the reasons to be excited, it really fails to deliver. more

This is cool and in a way it's really close to what remender did with his run about the nature of the american dream, obviously here is way more contained, but it's also quite clear, it may come as overly poetic so much so that it seems surreal, but that's expected from Nocenti. Captain America is affected by some stuff happening in his book at the time(go read Street of Poison, it is worth it), but Noccenti uses his different mental state to highlight the disappointment in how far America has fallen and how other countries do what America used to do better. But what the thing, the former soviet republics are fighting for their freedom, but as Daredevil said, the countries are not the ones fighting, it's the individuals and that's what give the grain of hope to cap. Even if sistemically America is corrupt, there are people who still go there with the promise of the ameerica dream and are not ready to be consumed by the pessimism that surrods them and that's exactly the reason cap continues fighting, because even if there is one person who believes in the American dream, Cap would fight for this ideal. more

Gail continues to do this very interesting blend of low-stakes, slice-of-life and ambitious, dense, packed with stuff comics, which in a way is profoundly an X-Men way of doing comics. It may took a minute to understand how everything connects to each other, especially here, how so many subplots that seem so different could be connected, but i think that there is a connection. After all there is probably a series for all those subplots to be narrated at the same time. It's not fully delved into, after all, it's just the first issue or the second, i guess(depends of the perspective), but there are hints of the importance that being a mutant carries, of the community and the sense of belonging that it creates, we see it in gambit, in the reaction of some of kids and in the new character. idk if it's gonna continue in this direction, because as I've alluded earlier, it is vague, but it's definitely interesting. The issue very respectfully kept its secrets well, its mystique well and it's a mystique ingrained into the pages, especially because of the atmosphere and just the pacing and the new reveals, that we just don't get tons of explanation for, which wakes up my curiosity certainly. Gail does not hold your hand here, she reveals more if the characters can reveal more and are in a position to do so. There is no forcing and probably some detail would be missed be me and probably other first time around, because again things are shown, but not explained.

For sure i am mostly interested in Gambit's plot, it had one issue more to establish his state of how much he likes his life and his comfortable spot and likes the people he is around. Here we get a little bit more than that, so that is fully established that he is in a great place. Gail realized there is no more to build around that and she decided to include the threat of it being destroyed to add more drama, a sense of worry into the reader, because we know already how important is everything Gambit has to him.

That's the thing, Gail ingraines these comics with things to look forward to, because she is patient and does not show her full hand and she does it in a meaningful, profound way, with no cliffhangers and cheap tactics, the comics is packed with info and it feels meaningful and just know how much to give you and how much left unsaid and also to make an atmosphere of uncertainty through out more

This is a big downer from the last few issues, which were capsules of pure intensity.

Neither this nor the last was Stegman's strongest work; there is a lack of detail, volume and as i mentioned, intensity. Villa is worse, way worse. Like bad Stegman is a good artist, bad Villa, oh God. It's terrible, the characters look like slaps of paint, the movements look minimal, it's like older A.i. Also Villa's nonconcrete, rushed as hell style and Stegman's style of exaggeration and details(even if they are not so much here) is so badly slapped together. I can't see a thematic reason, and their renditions of the characters is so different, which even makes the issue look even more like A.I and puts me out of it. That said Stegman's still has some moments of greatness in some pages, where he has control over the action.

But this still remains the cool title, not the emotional one, sadly, this cool here comes like the cool from 20-30 years ago, which honestly is the cool of a lot of x-men comics, contribution to the more wooden dialog here mainly. This arc has so many thing that reminds me of the last decade and I mean the appeal of the last decade, which is just giving us some new type of mutants, while the characters are not written badly, but without much soul either, and there is not much to it. Especially the end is so much a battle of the atom, which I hate with a passion. And also it's the second issue that fully relies on it's end, while it feels like everything else is written for us to go there. I really do not care about what happens next here, i don't care for the new group, because I don't know why I should care, nor the current antagonist. Like the new is coming out of the blue, there is also Cassandra Nova for some reason. there is so much, that happens so out of the blue, while we still do not get any meaningful development. And also last arc with Alpha flight was so very similar in it's appeal and it was better executed. it has this sense of worry, because so many things were happening so fast and there were so many reveal, but they managed to sell it. I think a little bit of realness and gritiness would have benefited this issue, especially when Stegman does not carry it with the dynamism that his art usually carries, but sadly, there is not much of this here; there is no urgency or sense of seeing something terrific, at least for me.

This title is not like this all the time, but now it is. This issue has terrible pacing, progresses very little; very little of importance happens here. more

so, so cool in so, so unexpected way. Ackerman does in in-depth analysis of the economic powers of this world so well that the rest does not matter. Loved last run, but this is so much tamer, so much forward thinking, so much more important. It has that chess plays and tactic that made the last run so good, but here is deeper, tenser in a calmer, more profound way. Iron Man is all about compromises, making the best out of the limited situation, building a better path within the system. It does not carry the explosiveness of the last run, but if you are patient, kinda like One world under Doom itself. It's cerebral comics, a colder one. it has no ego, let's say, it goes all in on the cerebral front, as its front character, it is both very much explained and complex, without much behind the pages. all showing tony's dedication and elevation to a level to challenge doom, nothing else matters, both in the story and outside of it. more

I loved this comic instantly. I have to say, this has already completely eclipsed Lemire's current JLA run. Honestly? I'd have Lemire focus on this and this alone, DC wise of course.

Barry is depicted as a good man from the off and his fondess for Wally is compelling. He has a vested interest in Wally that Wally's father seems to find problematic. It feels like there is more to this. Is Wally himself an experiment? Created by his dad maybe!

Wally's regret over what he did to Barry is felt in every page.

I feel it. But what exactly did Barry do here?

In terms of character designs, I dig the new version of Captain Cold. Hoping to see more character development for him.

Lemire does family drama as good as anyone in comics and that West family drama is the beating heart of this story.

Absolute DC continues this renaissance era for DC comics. I look forward to every issue. I haven't felt this way about so many comics at once in years. Long may it run. more

This comic never had much promise, but it made up for it with good art and narration execution. Now that's gone. We are so far from the initial little promise from the start, even after eight issues in, that we've lost even that.admitedly this issue picks it up a little bit, but it also left not such a great taste in my mouth.

Personally, i can't take Adamantine seriously, and honestly, i dont think it's a me issue. Fundamentally the whole concept is so stupid and honestly everything that is good about this comics is ruined by Adamantine. Last issue was teribly paced because of it, this also. The little conclusion we had to this plotline for now also, it seems too abrupt, with too little of a urgency for something that was sold as so big. Honestly, it's the same issue with Daredevil. And i get that maybe it's part of the intent to make those plotlines to float one into another but here it's like they crash and it's like one is just forgotten for the next, like Ahmed did not plan how to scructure them and thats why it slammed them into one issue. Why i dont like this approach here? because this way the plotlines lose their punch, those big moments as well.

Coccolo's art also i feel it took a nosedive; it looks rushed, it is not as refined, which is a shame because he is one of the best. here it lacks it's potency, it lack the direction, i learned to associate with it, as well as i feel that here it does not work well with Ahmed's writing, which btw is so static in itself and also lack the direction for a huge part of the issue that it had in the beggining. So the panels feel hollow.

The end of the main story, i kinda liked, it actually was heartwarming, especially Logan reflecting on his mother, but considering what came after, it does come off as little cheap to me also
. Plus, this plotline was the main attraction of the book, even if it was rushed for me, and its conclusion did not feel that earned.

DWJ's story is nice btw and kinda the polar oposite to the main story. Intense with good energy more

I really liked this. I think Joe Kelly really stepped up his game here. Maybe it has to do with the freeing nature of this being an ongoing that simply won't be cancelled. Maybe when given as much space as possible, Kelly is able to slow himself down in a way he couldn't on titles like Non-Stop, Savage or even 8 Deaths just before this. I really did like Spider-Man/Deadpool when he was doing that, and I hope we get something more in line with that, pacing wise. I thought the comic was well paced, and refreshing in spite of just how much is being carried over from the Wells run. Everyone's likeable here. There's no forced drama. It felt almost comforting, even if the supporting cast isn't necessarily the classic line up. I saw someone compare it to BND/Big Time, and that's apt. It's just a very clean starting point, but not in a way that feels super disconnected from what came before. The art by Larraz is great. JRJR's art is what you'd expect. He's dynamic, he's got great panel composition, but... it's just kinda ugly sometimes. If you've seen his work on the Wells run, you won't be shocked by what you see here. The backup with Norman is exciting for me, because I do want them to continue his character growth. I really expected him to fade into the background until he inevitably showed up as a goblin again. The final backup is the one part of this issue that's a real miss for me. I just... I don't want what they're selling there. Maybe it'll work better than I expect. more

i see a lot of people saying how much this reminds them of Immortal hulk and i get it, i mean it does come close to the things we associate with Hulk, but surprisingly i feel like there is a lot of manga influence here, in the drama of it, the tension and just overall the visual language. The building up of anxiety, the fast pace, and the gradation of it, plus the suggestiveness of art and especially the colors, make those moments really really innerving and all-consuming.

It's a comic that is a lot clearer than some of the other titles of the Absolute line, a lot more tried, and it does not feel as fresh in its structure. I praised the fast pace, but at times it comes at a cost of introducing stuff more naturally, so it feels overtly simple this way, which also leads to the suggestiveness of art being too much, too, like when hal does those anime profile pic poses and those are so hard to take seriously. Like this comic is direct for better or worse, so much so that at times it is jarring, and it does not feel earned, at least to me. That being said at the same time, it feels like there is so much story here, and even if we moved fast, we did not see much of what was laid as a foundation, like the foundation was built fast, but we did not get a single answer. So many things are to be explored, and this genuinely excites me. Knowing Ewing, this could evolve in many directions.

As i said, it works really well in those more extreme situations of building up tension, where the extremeness of the situation calls for the extremeness of the art, in those other situations not soo much. more

Why the hell is this site still including reviews by Gabe Hernandez?

The guy literally gives EVERY single comic a low score. He single handidly is bringing down the averages of several great series on this site. His reviews read like rage bait in order to drive up hits on his page.

The guy is a hack, and this site loses credibility by including his reviews.

PS This issue is a 10. more

it had been a while since an issue brought tears to my eyes. Ben has been human for so many times by now, that it's amazing how North found a way to do it refreshingly, while staying true to the character.But that's honestly not the most important thing, but the important thing is how emotional, how real it feels. For a run that is so focused on the science aspect and on the wacky creativity and joy of the team, the emotional notes always hit hard and always hit close to the heart. But here is even better because this comics does not pretend to be new, it embraces that it comes like 800 plus issues into the series, that the characters are already matured and attuned with what they are, so it hurts when what they are is taken for good.

Ben has a hard time letting go of what he is specifically and that's since Lee's days, the difference is that now Ben completely lives for the others, that is what he is accustomed to, to be the rock for the team, to be the unshakable and unchanging giant, he has embraced this to be how he sees himself. How he perceives that other people see him. It's fundamentally an issue that deals with a struggle that is typically a male one. The struggle to feel worthy of love, to be the guy that never causes problems, to be helpful to your loved ones, and to control and restrain yourself because of them. The way we see Ben is refreshing, because at least i never seen his identity being taken to such an extend from him, but when his shell is taken we see the true person under it, we see that fundamentally Ben wants to be helpful, fundamentally he lives for his loved ones and this is in the core of his being.

to say some other things about the issue: the way it progress is also quite nice, it reveals more and more about how ben feels, it actually progresses, his grief progresses and i would say that every stage is explored well and is given time. We see him as being sad and depressed, just processing what happened, wanting to be outside his live, to actually trying to be normal, till the realization strikes, that he isn't and understanding his issue more, which leads to him forcing it and even putting himself at risk, being that desperate and weak, to him collapsing at the end. It's quite beautiful and impressive how such a full arc could be fit into 20 something paged issue with all the nuances and little emotions. more

i believe in the current X-Men line, but this not it. it seems like it was just moving out of how fast it was paced, of always someone coming or something exploding. it feels like those comics were not supposed to be like that, like they try to make this story fit into their larger stories, but It does not come as naturally, because so many of those titles are so far way from what this crossover was about. At its core, it is just a dumb chase, like it was only meant to take a lot of those characters to the same place, without the proper build-up.That could have worked if we hadn't seen something like this in a while or if it felt bigger, but most of those comics are on their 9 issue. Right now it felt random. There were good moments, moments that hit close to the core of what the line is right now, but they are so scrambled, so disconnected in such a big tornado of useless and non-exiting fights and just running from one place to the next. It's weak, but also it's expected; they should have let the different titles breathe more before a crossover like this.

As for the issue, some decisions are actually creative here. Like I can see the ideas or the moments it was built upon, I like how Charles left, liked how it was not paraded, and it did not feel big, symbolizing this new era we are entering. I really hope that Charles is out for longer, or even in general, but I am not that much of a dreamer. Like finally, the dream is officially over, and it's a bittersweet moment, it's not completely sad. Like everybody is free from now on, to build new foundations. Uncanny actually had some ground, that i believe would have worked if realized here, like the whole first arc was build on Charles being a cataclyst, even if he is not guilty per se for traumas, which is kinda close to Scott, if defended correctly. Plus the art humanized Charles.

i did not like a lot of the things that were building this moment, the conflict in general was weak and here the pacing was quite off, just being really slow in the start with no real reason behind. I did not like Cyke and Wolvie's moments(not to spoil it), it felt out of this issue and also did not carry any consequence, because they were cool after 2 pages, saved by the plot. So yeah, again a lot of ideas for cool singular moments, not a nice idea of how to mesh them together. more

This comic turns out really interesting. It blends well the almost satirical with the genuinely sad, while is still so fast-paced. If you stop to think about certain choices, makes i think that a lot can be extracted from what we got here. I try to stay up with what's happening in America. Still, as a non-American citizen, i also try to not talk too much about it, because my life is too far from it to understand everything in all its complexities truly. Still, here it's somewhat unavoidable, so take it with a grain of salt.

I love how this comic paints a picture,as I've said it does it fast, but in the same way there is a merit in this more direct approach. It's obvious that Eaglestar is bad from the start, it's just the way he talks, the way he presents himself and the others, it's meant to be disgustingly obvious, but in the same time, showing a little bit of fake decency, which makes it honestly even more disgusting. like he does not care or even sees the others as his equals to try to be more convincing. That's what Eaglestar is, a corporation that wants to take from the socially weak, wants to use them, but at the same time take from them. But it's also sad because people have hopes, they are so broken they have hopes that what he is selling might be true, but also these people's life is so broken because of the systemic oppression, that they are obligated to agree to the terms even if means selling themselves and being a happy slave. it's amazing how much it's packed in just 2 issues and again how full the picture of how the oligarchy's oppression over the afro-americans works. It's a lot to take, which is why Sam took a backseat for most of it and it raises the question if his dream is attainable or even if his dream is healthy for his community even? looks like this question is on his mind too. The first issue did a great job of characterizing Sam, of showing you with 3 pages what drives him, the dream to fly, for him to fly, and for the others. He is flying but is it possible for everybody? Right now the answer seems to be a no, which makes the future of the series really exciting.

One thing that really turns me off is the art obviously, it looks so so rushed, proportionally is bad, it looks like half baked as hell. the coloring and the compositions are not bad, they do their job, even tho again are not distinct and it does not carry much of range. All this made the reading experience not that stellar, which would bring down the points for me. happily, it does detract much of the story, but just does not add much to it either. more

In Superman's very first appearance, he's introduced as a champion of the oppressed. In Action Comics #3, his third appearance, Superman intentionally traps a mine owner in his own mine, with rusted safety devices from his own neglect and carelessness for his workers failing to activate. This is directly in response to bad conditions in the mine leading to one of its workers being injured. If you think this comic is hamfisted or somehow out of left field, you've got to try reading some early Superman. I was not very excited for this one as the pitch didn't really feel like something I'd want to read. Thankfully, the pitch sort of buried the lead in what this book would be about. It's taking Superman back to some of his earliest roots, and that's something I've been wanting to see more of for years now. Glad there's a space for it. more

My opinion on Annihilation is controversial, that's exactly why I chose to express it. Nobody should agree with me or anything, i am just explaining how i feel. I do not love these comics, I do not hate them either, I think they are fine.

I think it's commendable to fit so many characters into a comic and to rebuild so many characters with different mini-series. Not every mini was this awesome, sure, but in a way they all helped for the main event to not worry about building any foundation. Clearly, it is an ambitious story with a lot of moving peaces and it give a new life to the marvel cosmos and gives every one of those characters a new status quo, which can be explored. Like I admit it's an important moment for Marvel. But I feel that so much is so weirdly paced and so many things still slip through the cracks of this planning.

Firstly I really do not enjoy Giffen's writing this much here for exactly those reasons. He is good at balancing the characters, but he is not that great with every character, he did a very good Ronan, but Ronan is quite simple and that's the thing he is good with the simpler, more one-note characters(btw Ronan is great, him being simple do not take away from him at all). The conversations between Richard and Peter were painful to me, especially since they do not have much of a relationship and it all came from nowhere essentially like the relationship between Rich and Gamora. The whole skip between the minis and the main event was really weird for me, because why do we spend so much time on building a foundation and to everything to be clear then to then skip and introduce characters off-screen? Especially since Giffen spend half his silver surfer building and nothing else, just establishing where the characters are. He did not do a great job with Nova for me, which is a huge contrast with Abbnet. I do not connect emotionally to how he writes this has a lot to do with the art too and in turn it's kinda hard for me to understand how tired Richard is for example, how much it all took a toll on him for him to take the decision he did. Like i mean i get it, but i do not feel it. Again, this is huge contrast to Abbnet's mini, where it's both clear in the art and in the way he speaks where he comes from. A lot of information comes from just talking, of narating, of exposition so it seems static for the most part, everything Giffen wrote from the Thanos issues which are probably not collected here is like this for me. Still, he has good ideas, good ideas about how to progress the characters, how to weave them together, but this is really not for me and i feel a lot of threats just disappeared or were not explored this well, where more could have been done with them. This simplicity has merits don't get me wrong, it makes it all digestible, but again personal i would have liked more flavor.

Annihilius was a threat in some of the minis and has some moments here, but overall I really find him to be boring, i find his whole order and lackeys to be boring too. Once Thanos stepped in, his threat power even became smaller for me and he stepped into the maniacal villain-type early Ultron. Thanos did most of the stuff, Thanos actually was the one that was moving the needle for him. There really isn't much to him, even his main, secret motivation is pretty hollow given what we've seen in these comics.Also i did not like how the final battle was drawn ,sure it had a badass ending, (btw this comics uses the brutal quite good), but I felt it was missing panels, as honestly i did with a lot of this story.

i don't want to be overly long, but yeah, this is a fine comics, but it does not stand above every event marvel produced for me, it's of the better ones for sure, but that's the most i can say now. Hope that someday i get the hype. more

Proof that smaller scale, introspective issues can work well even back in the day. What is essentially a reset for the New X-Men with the reintroduction to Charles Xavier since his departure into space, he takes a hard line with the new members of the team, treating them as green as they used to be. Cyclops, taking responsibility for them as well as his leadership skills in Xavier's absence is showcased well.
I appreciate the levity given in the issue between Kitty and Storm. Everyone is okay finally getting to relax and spend the day with one another. It's a fantastic representation of a what we lack in today's comics. Not everything needs to be a slice of life but sometimes the mundane moments tell the most about the characters' personalities.
This is a great introduction for Kitty Pryde, hinting at an interest in Colossus and even more expansion on his feelings of isolation within the X-Men. more

A direct quote from Gabe's review, “Why on Earth does Jonathan Hickman believe Spider-Man fans are interested in the interpersonal dynamics between MJ, her sister, and her mother?“

Because people have been asking for more from the wider Spider-Man family for years and now, that family is a FAMILY. If you don't create characters with depth, interpersonal dynamics or anything to do, you're left with what the main Marvel universe has. Every character going from one event to the next, no time to talk to Aunt May, Tony running the bodega, Jonah, anyone unless they force themselves into the story. Peter wouldn't have time or make time for anyone if the current 616 editorial team had their way with it so I'm sorry Gabe that I and the wider audience of this run seem to really like these character/world building issues you seem to have such a problem with. Maybe go back to reading the Golden Age where every human interaction was two panels of dialogue and 4 pages of action. Maybe that will clean your palette from your distaste for displaying human connection in a medium so devoid of it of late.

Look at the overall user scores of USM. Take into account really just the ones where people took the time to actually review the book and you'll get a good gauge on the general consensus. Gabe is the odd man out but hey, being a contrarian gets clicks. It's a tried and true way to get foot traffic. I proved that myself in finding his quote. Getting clicks generates revenue for the site which in turn keeps the cycle going and allows reviewers access to more free issues, invites to events, exclusive interviews, etc.

I don't generally believe in pumping up a book just because someone rated it poorly. I'm not even promoting it here but just because something has great reviews also doesn't mean that one has to try and balance things out. If a book is good, it deserves the praise. I believe in rating books fairly because otherwise, what's even the point? A 7 deserves a 7, a 10 is a 10, but the thing about that is everything is subjective. Someone could genuinely not like this issue but what baffles the mind is the complaint here is that you get more out of your characters and somehow that's a problem. more

This issue certainly has some very cool stuff going for it. Ofc the bait, which is a ''spoiler'' no ''spoiler'', is super well done, i guess it could be interpreted as a jab at avx, but it's deeper than this because the whole issue is centered around it even too much.

The Avengers and the x-men do not really have a reason to be fighting, but at the same time they kinda do, but because they are rational people who have been knowing each other for so long as of right now, and a bunch of they share history they want to be in each other's good graces. On a macro scale the issue does this, it tries to convince the reader that those characters have much in common, that they can be helpful to each other, that they care for each other, and are ready to spend time with each other to be comfortable with each other. This can be seen very clearly at the end of the issue in the pages with Carol and Scott, where the biggest issues of trust arise as the final challenge, the actual important challenge to the teams, after a lot of slice-of-life issues. Then Mackey assures us that those are nonissues and that both teams would finally be in a good relationship.

As a fan I think something like this is needed. The relationship between X-Men and the Avengers is so rarely addressed when their history is actually full of small or not-so-small hostilities. Sure we have the unity squads, but those are different. Here we talk about the main teams that often just occupy different worlds. So this issue takes the needed time to clear the air and to make sure where they stand.

On a micro level, as usual with Mackay's Avengers, we get those small squares of moments with each character and some other character with big contrasts and similarities, where we get to explore a little bit of both and see those contrasts and similarities. Mackey really does have a talent of finding those openings to make an interesting connection, an interesting juxtaposition. It is on the nose, the way the conversations start is like in a video game, they start from a very high place and are just questions that one would not make out of the blue, so it's both forced and on the nose. But are insightful and are actually deep and at the end of the day, the characters are interesting because of this, because we see what they believe. Ofc if you like those characters you would likely know all this, but it's still cool to clear the air even there. It makes the characters deeper than more significant and it's obvious that there is a huge understanding of what makes them click. Maybe Mackay overdoes it, but it is effective and gives characters a feeling of having a soul and experiences, that they interpret in their own way, even if they talk like they do in Skyrim.

Overall it's not perfect, the issue would have benefited from a little bit of more natural touch, of more variable tone even, i get everything is supposed to be all fun and heartwarming, but again it feels stilted to a certain extent, it feels rehearsed, like too much of it feels preplaned again from the dialogue to how the characters act. Again some good comes out of it, but i still think with little twinks issues like this could be even better, even if now this is pretty good.

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I disliked williamson's run and this forms to be the opposite of it, so I liked it. It's a very quick read, it focuses on the nocturnal atmosphere, it takes its time, and it does not try so hard to impress you with everything that happens, but it still did impress me by letting the art immerse me into the world. It goes down to the people and overall it's a vibe, which I love i love Green Arrow belonging to the street and being an equal part of the world. The issue it does feel like it has an ending really, which in a way adds to the unpretentious, more fluid feel of the comics. Also respect to the lettering, it does help a lot too. more

I have said many times I am not a fan of annuals especially not ones written so long ago. They never have anything to do with the main ongoing plot and vary wildly in quality. Thankfully with this issue it is in the minority. The art is superb and while the story is such a massive departure from the main ongoing saga of the X-Men, it was well written and gripping. I don't know Arkon nor do I really care for a tangential story to rip me away from the X-Men finally reuniting with Jean and Xavier but at least it was an enjoyable read. more

I don't think this is particularly bad, but I feel that it goes for an intensity, roughness, and excitement I kinda can't feel. It's aesthetically pleasing for sure both from story and designs and has neat ideas and moments, but somehow when it comes to putting it all together it struggles with the balance, and from the good'' this is too much'' goes to ''this is so much, that it is nothing''.

So individually I like a lot, I like a lot of the sophisticated, tense sharky dialog, I like the talks about economics and political allies, stark being in this position of a huge underdog and I like the idea of everything happening so fast has potential, plus the dream sequence with quite strong ideas, but as for right now as I've said mixing all those stuff mixes my feelings to into a black goo of confusion. It's all about context and here a lot of the context of one part of the issue does not fit with another. The dream sequence is an example of this IMO, which comes and goes so abruptly and it's not even like an explosion, because again it's not even that intense.

It's like there is an understanding that a lot of this is so many times done, that the story tries so hard to distinguish itself and throws everything at you. If this manages to mix everything more smoothly this run has potential.
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Just spectacular!!!

The way Waid writes the father-and-son relationship is just so well done. Moments like when Batman is worried about Dick and then trying to downplay it are so heartwarming and nice to read. This book has a lot of heart in it. And then you have the story, filled with mystery and excitement with a new villain who is genuinely interesting is just the cherry on top. All of this is brought to us by the incredible Chris Samnee who nails the Noir and moody feel of the story. What can I ask for more? Waid and Samnee were at the top of my list for who I want to write a Batman run and so far they are knocking it out of the park! more

So much to love here really, but what shines through the most is the characterization(honestly I don't know when was the last time I read a kitty I enjoyed so much) and just how much this series has space to breathe and not be concerned with battles and big issues. Obviously Uncanny is way more refined, but still is something, that I can read and never be tired of, also because I feel like it takes its time in a way a lot of the comics that come from the Big 2 don't.

I like the snappy nature of the dialogue, it feels mostly genuine, and it fits the lower stakes, it may come as cliche sometimes, or like too much, but it's like when it starts tipping its toes in those water, it pulls them out and for the important moments, it works really well. This issue actually used the snappy nature of the dialogue with the plot when better both with comedic intent and also surprises to shake the pages, but again not with too much to stray away from what this book is. Again it's like it tips its toes in a more aggressive territory and it's immediately back to slice of life/ the endless afternoon.

But again it all works because the dialogue and the characters act so well together. There are small phrases, that indicate the characters in a very clear way, borderline too clear, but they are sprinkled between a lot of dialogue, that feel natural for people who have been through what those have been through, so they are never too much. This way it's not really hard to analyze what the characters think or feel, both are kinda intertwined, but again very clearly. I am a pretty young guy and because of my job I'm in a lot of contact with a lot of kids, especially teens, so I find the portrayal here to be quite accurate to a lot of those harmless, kinda random kids I meet, that kinda are this figuring out how to communicate. Those are lost kids, they are not really strong and like Kitty Pryde in the 80s, they feel vulnerable.But even now, part of the reason why Kitty is so compelling to me is because she is vulnerable. The comics let her not make her mind and even when made her mind, she is still not sure what exactly she is doing and this goes great with the chiller vibe, because the kids are also without much ideas about what they wanna do.

Definitely, the art gives a very strong helping hand, with those expressions soft but very clear expressions and specific body language and a more brownish color scheme bringing a lot of comfort.

The pacing is also something I love. It's slow, but it does not feel as such. Again because the characters are both well-defined and are interesting, they are just interesting personalities and their clashes are also like that. I also like that especially in this issue we get to see a character's identity and how this character sees themself be affected by his mutation, which again is quite claremontian or morissonian(?)(their ideas are extension of Claremont's anyway).

It's a triumph for Eve Ewing to have so many ideas about what she wants out of the characters and to infuse the comics with so much personality especially so much of Kitty's personality and the whole idea behind her existence. So even tho we've seen Kate in similar position, to me it feels like progress, or at least interesting steps more

I think the art suffers a little bit here. Also, the issue spends too much time on certain places, Ahmed really clears his vision on what the series is. Again it exemplifies what from the ashes does best, which is to present characters that feel like they have history, that constantly even when running from their trauma, they can't turn a blind eye to it.

As I have said I think we spent too much time on the fighting scenes and just moments that does not carry much weight and it felt a bit chaotic in that the characters popped left and right. Still, there is a charm to it, I like the free-flowing nature of the comics, it makes what happens way more real, unforced, and honestly, wolverine is like a glue to it all. He somehow makes it all feel less random when the monologue is so good.

Would have liked it even more if the end we did not move from the forest and Wolverine to see what the villains were doing, because it kinda broke the atmosphere and exactly this feeling of just observing Wolverine and his thoughts continually. Also the ending in general seems rushed.

Overall not as meticulously crafted as the last, but still pretty nice reading experience
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