On the one hand, I’m glad Whedon didn’t go the easy route and make Emma Frost the traitor.

On the other… I gotta ask, is Astonishing X-Men written for ANYONE other than Joss Whedon? Seriously. Who is that book for? And don’t say Cassaday fanboys. WE KNOW THAT.

It’s like he’s turned into Geoff Johns, only without the obsessive attention to continuity yet feeling like it’s still up its own ass.

Eh, I don’t have too many problems with Lockheed as a “traitor”. He wasn’t really a traitor, since S.W.O.R.D. essentially had the X-Men’s best interests at heart.

I also thought it was giving credit to the fact that Lockheed is actually intelligent, something that a lot of writers forgot.

I don’t have a problem with Lockheed being intelligent. That’s actually cool and seeing him get the drop on some baddies during a battle is always a fun thing to watch. Having him be a spy for S.W.O.R.D. instead of the fun loving, dragon sidekick of Kitty Pryde just felt inexplicably wrong to me.

I don’t know, I just liked the character as he was and felt that we didn’t really need yet another shocking revelation..Can’t he just be a pet dragon and that be it?

I also thought it was giving credit to the fact that Lockheed is actually intelligent, something that a lot of writers forgot.

I remember in the 90s X-Men cartoon, Cyclops would use his optic blasts to put out fires. Since his beams are basically a combo of light and kinetic energy (and not heat… usually), I guess shooting them at the fire is the same as patting it down.

You’re right, though, that should have been explained. Especially since Cyclops’ force beams have sometimes been portrayed as lasers. Which just ain’t right.

Love the art-critique image, btw. Rofl-copter… hehehe

how was HoM a poor read? best thing bendis has written at marvel other than ult spidey methinks - nice, action packed story as far as i remember, and unlike WWHulk it’s alt universe so a lot/ most of what happened is null. *grrrr* alien gladiator-king babyfather hulk

I’d say Alias is the best thing Bendis has written at Marvel, but as to why HoM was a poor read, here goes.

It really wasn’t action packed. In fact, I specifically remember that it took several issues in the core mini just for the heroes to blast a hole through a wall and look menacing, and that bit of action only lasted maybe a page or two.

Secondly, it was incredibly contrived. Wanda loses her mind and reshapes the world. Why? Mostly because Bendis wanted her to lose her mind and needed to get to Decimation and New Avengers. Not only that, but the decision really damaged the character for years to come. A few mutants managed to keep their powers. Why? Not because they were under some sort of scientific protection engineered by Hank Pym or the Beast. Not because they were under some sort of mystical protection provided by Doc Strange. No, they kept their powers because Marvel still needs to publish a small mountain of X-Titles every month, HoM or no HoM.

Thirdly, it was not an alternate universe story. Wanda actually altered the way the 616 existed.

Do you really need to know what went on in Carey’s X-Men and New X-Men? Or is it enough to just know that the X-Men are in a race against the Marauders and Stryker?

Without reading Carey’s book, I didn’t know why Sinister was in the race, but I’m sure it will get rehashed in the crossover at some point. Without reading New X-Men, I didn’t personally know who the Purifiers were or that they had anything to do with Stryker. It’s just one of those weird holes in my continuity knowledge. I’m sure X-Veterans will be able to just jump right into the event, but more casual readers might get a little lost.

Haven’t looked at the rest of the issue obviously, but from eying that panel, it looks to me like Cyclops is using his optic beams to blast a path out through the burning building for Emma and child.

That makes a lot of sense actually. If there had been some sort of indication that they had ever entered a building in the first place, I might have been able to figure that one out. Trust me, the background on said panel looks just like the backgrounds when things are obviously taking place outdoors, and those outdoor panels occupy spots on each side of said panel.

Maybe Emma could have said “Get us out of here before the roof falls on top of us!” Or maybe we could have seen the pair rush into the burning building after hearing a psychic scream.

Like I said, there’s probably a good explanation, but if it needs explaining, it wasn’t done well enough.

the only x-books i read right now are first class and astonishing (which has pretty damn good characterisation…) and what with warren ellis coming onto astonishing soon (rule, britannia!) i’m pretty sure this will be a damp squib.

I love me some Fist Class, and Ellis on Astonishing is indeed exciting. Whedon’s done a lot of characterization, but I wouldn’t call it good. Prof X is a douche bag that imprisons and tortures new life forms that he creates, Cyke is dependent on a woman once again to define his identity, Kitty is a spoiled brat, Colossus is an empty shell, and Lockheed is a traitor.

Whew… that’s the end of my Randy-sized comment.

Haven’t looked at the rest of the issue obviously, but from eying that panel, it looks to me like Cyclops is using his optic beams to blast a path out through the burning building for Emma and child.

And that is indeed the most feminine Wolverine I’ve probably ever seen; he looks like one of those pretty-boy twentysomethings from The CW network. Not exactly my idea of a badass.

“Messiah Complex” sounds fun enough, and yeah, I get what you mean by a bit of old school returning to it. Of course, the strong negative part of me is thinking that once this starts crossing over with every X-book, the story will just screw itself up big time. We really need an X-Men event that’s just contained to X-Men and Uncanny.

ps. - how was HoM a poor read? best thing bendis has written at marvel other than ult spidey methinks - nice, action packed story as far as i remember, and unlike WWHulk it’s alt universe so a lot/ most of what happened is null. *grrrr* alien gladiator-king babyfather hulk