X-Men Legends #8 - Marvel Comics

X-MEN LEGENDS No. 8, December 2021

Pushing a plot which is predominantly obsessed with pulse-pounding pugilism, Larry Hama’s narrative for Issue Eight of “X-Men Legends” probably pleased the vast majority of its readers after a debatably shaky start. True, the American author should certainly have got any perusing bibliophile’s senses reeling with Wolverine’s early battle against an entire crew of thugs who were hired to secure a Shanghai pier for the mysterious Jie Jie. But once “Ol’ Canucklehead” has sliced his way through the low-tier minions, this twenty-page periodical’s tempo somewhat slumps as its panels are packed with exposition explaining such unconvincing contrivances like Yurei just happening to also be able to conveniently time travel, as well as teleport Logan to the southern estuary of the Yangtze River.

Thankfully, such manufactured moments are soon forgotten once Jubilee has impressively broken free of her bonds, and teams-up with her fellow X-Man for a serious showdown with Lady Deathstrike. This action-packed sequence is absolutely spot-on, with all the combatants attempting to best one another with plenty of insanely fast punches, a bellyful of serious physical damage and some highly enjoyable quips; “Is a frog’s butt watertight?”

Perhaps however the surprising star of this comic is the mutant adolescent Yurei, who soon demonstrates a deliciously sadistic persona when it comes to selecting a location to abandon her would-be assailants in. Ranging from a zoo’s tiger pen just as feeding time approaches to a deadly mine-laden swamp, the politely spoken schoolgirl is equally as entertaining when it also comes to a killer quip just before she leaves her latest victim stranded.

Far less impressive is probably Billy Tan’s artwork, which due to the sparsity of this book’s script, definitely needs to shoulder the lion’s share of work. Indeed, at times it appears the Malaysian illustrator is desperately attempting to pad out his layouts by monotonously pencilling numerous cargo crates, forklift trucks and empty loading bays. Such ‘filling’ genuinely starts to bog down the storytelling and proves particularly noticeable once Jie Jie arrives at Shanghai supposedly in a hurry to complete her sale only to spend an eternity walking along the disconcertingly empty pier in an effort to liaise with her buyer’s Russian agent - Omega Red.

The regular cover art of "X-MEN: LEGENDS" #8 by Billy Tan & Chris Sotomayor

X-Men Legends #7 - Marvel Comics

X-MEN LEGENDS No. 7, November 2021

Proudly proclaiming that “the ultimate team-up is back, bub!” this twenty-page periodical’s script is arguably packed full of the violent, no-nonsense close combat which helped make Wolverine “Wizard” magazine’s top Comic Book Character in 2008. In fact, Larry Hama’s writing for Issue Seven of “X-Men Legends” is arguably so good at promptly transporting its 27,254 strong audience back to the American author’s celebrated run on “Wolverine” in the Nineties that it is hard to believe the book was only the one hundred and seventh best-selling title of September 2021; “I hear there might be somebody here interested in some fresh merchandise.”

For starters, “Kidnapped!” drops the reader straight into its “all-new adventure” by having both Logan and Jubilee immediately face deadly danger on the rain-soaked streets of Osaka, Japan. Obviously, the super-powered pair’s apparent enfeeblement is all a ploy to lower the guard of their overconfident ‘captors’. But with so many blades being bandied about, and their owners' evident willingness to lethally stick them into the “Gaijin” without any remorse, it is debatably difficult to peruse the resulting fracas without at least worrying a little about Jubilation Lee’s wellbeing.

Indeed, one of this narrative’s most enthralling threads is Hama’s incarnation of Wolverine almost flat out refusing to dodge any incoming sword slice or stabbing motion, as he seemingly prefers to just rely upon his healing factor to survive the torrent of chops, hacks and cuts he receives whilst fighting his way through an almost overwhelming number of the Hand’s deadly assassins in an aquarium. This utter abandonment provides some mesmerising moments, not least of which is one of this publication’s earliest incidents when a child trafficker nonchalantly ‘befriends’ the seemingly unsuspecting Logan and sticks him with a long knife straight through the chest.

Capturing all the frantic, fast-paced flavour of this tale in the Kansai region of Honshu with his prodigious pencils is Billy Tan, whose ability to project the sheer loathing Lady Deathstrike holds for her colourfully costumed rival is genuinely palpable. Likewise, the Malaysian artist does a corking job in illustrating the sheer number of voiceless assassins who suddenly descend upon the X-Men with their furious, brutal ninjatō swords and Wolverine's evident frustration at "these ladies" blocking his path to Yuriko Oyama.

Writer: Larry Hama, Artist: Billy Tan, and Colorist: Chris Sotomayor 

X-Men Legends #6 - Marvel Comics

X-MEN LEGENDS No. 6, October 2021

Packed with plenty of courtroom drama and sense-shattering shenanigans at the Latverian Embassy, Peter David’s script for Issue Six of “X-Men Legends” certainly delivers the goods when it comes to recapturing the atmosphere of the American author’s run as the writer on “X-Factor” during the early Nineties. Indeed, the opening scene of Havoc losing his temper with the police force when they overrule his promise that the local authorities “won’t open fire” upon the renegade mutants must have immediately taken most of this comic’s audience back to the days when Alex Summers and his team were still badly mistrusted by the government, even though the roster was salaried by the Pentagon.

However, perhaps this twenty-page periodical’s greatest ‘hook’ comes with its handling of Doctor Doom, and the disconcerting question as to whether the terrorists opposing the tinpot dictator are just as cold-heartedly evil as Victor or not. This conundrum as to where the readers’ sympathies lie is raised just as soon as Beltane is shown triumphantly displaying an unconscious Rahne Sinclair upon a crucifix on top of the consulate’s roof, and the sheer horror Valerie Cooper expresses upon seeing such an appalling sight.

Perhaps understandably, Wolfsbane guts the white-haired psychic within an inch of her life once she regains both consciousness and her wolf-form. But its then later shown that the rest of the ‘holier than thou’ fanatics feel their comrade-in-arms has been greatly wronged by the former New Mutant and try to take some moral high ground over Sinclair when they find her remorsefully sat at Beltane’s bedside in hospital. This self-righteousness is more than irritating and seeing as it comes at a time when the likes of Samhain were going to quite happily murderously massacre the embassy’s entirely innocent staff simply because "we have to show the world we're serious", arguably loses the 'freedom fighters' any empathy which their opposition to the heavily armoured monarch might have initially generated.

In fact, many bibliophiles will doubtless take a great deal of satisfaction from this publication’s final few panels, in which Todd Nauck beautifully pencils Rahne knowingly stepping aside for an enraged Doom as he enters Beltane’s medical room to doubtless enact a truly terrible revenge upon the Zefiro Clan for killing his subjects, defiling his New York City-based mission and even attempting to assassinate the Supreme Leader for the Kingdom of Latveria himself; “You dare bark orders at me? Do you still not appreciate the gravity of your situation.?”

The regular cover art of "X-MEN: LEGENDS" #6 by Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg

X-Men Legends #5 - Marvel Comics

X-MEN LEGENDS No. 5, September 2021

Tightly crammed between Issue Seventy-Five and Seventy-Six of “X-Factor”, this “all-new adventure” by Peter David surely must have pleased its 32,561 ‘true believers’ in July 2021. Admittedly, the storyline is primarily set inside the United States Capitol during a dialogue-driven congressional hearing. But rather than prove a lack-lustre, sedentary reading experience, the senators' hostile interrogation of Valerie Cooper's colourful team continues to hold the audience’s attention throughout the twenty-page periodical, as well as provide plenty of intriguing background as to why the government-sponsored mutant team were called in to deal with a super-powered terrorist attack upon the Latverian Embassy, and not the heroic Avengers or Fantastic Four.

Similarly as intriguing, is the motivation behind Samhain’s assault upon his people’s diplomatic building and the dilemma his initial murderous actions cause for any bibliophile who feels sympathy for his mission. On the face of it, the radical’s desire for the United Nations to “oust Victor Von Doom from power and change our country into a democracy” is a compelling one. However, such support arguably soon falters when the ruthless killer shockingly disintegrates the hapless administrator who welcomes him into his Embassy without any warning whatsoever; “Disposing of one will serve as a lesson to the others. One fatality up front ensures far fewer down the li --” 

This savagery also establishes the violent tone of X-Factor’s subsequent attempt to liberate the hostages, with Madrox the Multiple Man and Strong Guy’s head-on assault packing every panel with pulse-pounding pandemonium. Indeed, Guido Carosella’s painful confrontation with Samhain is probably the highlight of the comic, as Chris Claremont’s formidably sized co-creation struggles to endure the extremist’s deadly mystic flame, and eventually must withdraw back outside to regroup with his bewildered team-mates.

Helping this publication’s sense-shattering shenanigans along with plenty of “FWAZAAAAAAK” and “WAM WAM WAM” are Todd Nauck’s simply sumptuous pencils and Rachelle Rosenberg's colours. The Texas-born artist does an astonishingly good job of imbuing all the characters sat talking during the senate’s hearing with plenty of emotion, with Quicksilver’s haughty disdain for the politicians coming across particularly well. Yet it is debatably the illustrator’s depiction of all the swirling spectral details of both Samhain and Imbolc’s mutant abilities which really help sell the revolutionaries as legitimate threats to Havoc’s comrades-In-Arms.

The regular cover art of "X-MEN: LEGENDS" #5 by Todd Nauck & Rachelle Rosenberg

X-Men Legends #4 - Marvel Comics

X-MEN LEGENDS No. 4, July 2022

As entire comic book length battles go, Louise Simonson’s script for “Tools!” doubtless satisfied the best part of its 39,098 strong audience in June 2021, due to some truly sense-shattering action sequences involving numerous laser bolts, writhing hydraulic tentacles and a veritable avalanche of murderously metallic rectangular plates. Indeed, it’s hard to recollect a more intense fracas appearing upon the printed page as Apocalypse’s “deadly robot attacker” initially appears to have the upper hand over a frantically back-peddling original X-Men line-up, and actually threatens the very well-being of Marvel Girl’s infant son, Christopher Summers.

But due to this “all-new tale” being set just before the events of Issue Forty-Three of “X-Factor”, when an entirely intact team venture off into hyperspace together, any sense of Scott’s colourfully-garbed comrades-in-arms actually being in jeopardy during their confrontation against a mechanically-enhanced Cameron Hodge is arguably lost – even when two thirds of the way through the publication En Sabah Nur confidently announces that the super-heroes are about to die at the hands of their former public relations agent; “Brave talk. But the fight is all but over. Cyclops, Jean, Iceman, and Beast have fallen. Death and the infant are next.”

Fortunately however, the Atlanta-born author does try to make up for this debatable lack of tension, by posing the question as to just how the badly-battered mutants will ultimately overpower so seemingly invincible a robotic body as the one Apocalypse has conjured up for Warren Worthington’s old college roommate. The “metal monster” genuinely appears unstoppable at the start of the skirmish, with legendary artist Walter Simonson even pencilling Cyke’s ruby-red eye-beams harmlessly bouncing off of the towering brute’s armoured carapace and dangerously firing off wildly about the field leader’s surroundings.

In addition, “Weezie” pens an excellent insight into the psychological workings of Hodge’s mind, as he tries to seek his revenge upon an X-Factor who are wholly ignorant as to the true identity of their opponent. Cameron’s ability to mentally direct his behemoth’s physical properties in order for him to use his adversaries’ formidable abilities against them helps turn this comic’s narrative into more of an intriguing game of chess or cat and mouse, than an uninspiring, straightforward slugfest, and as result provides some surprising depth to the character's hatred of all Homo sapiens superior.

The regular cover art of "X-MEN: LEGENDS" #4 by Walter Simonson & Edgar Delgado

X-Men Legends #3 - Marvel Comics

X-MEN LEGENDS No. 3, June 2021

Proudly proclaimed by “Marvel Worldwide” as the return of the original so-called mutant-hunters for hire, and featuring an all-new tale set before Issue Forty-Three of “X-Factor”, this particular return to the “classic era with legends” Louise and Walter Simonson probably initially pleased its fans with an atmosphere highly reminiscent of the super-team’s heyday in 1986. In fact, it’s hard to think of a more disturbingly impactive opening than the one the Atlanta-born author pens for this publication as the treacherous Cameron Hodge not only has his head severed by Archangel, but subsequently survives the encounter as little more than a conscious dismembered body part; “When Death decapitated you, it seems he destroyed your vocal cords.”

However, by the time this twenty-page periodical is half-way through, some within this book’s audience were probably wondering just where the Eagle Award-winner was going with her plot concerning the heroes’ “sentient spaceship Ship” inexplicably trying to suddenly kill its occupants, including Cyclops and Marvel Girl’s infant son, Christopher. Admittedly, the huge vessel’s autonomic response to murder the likes of Beast and Iceman inside a fast-shrinking shuttlecraft makes for a few panels of pulse-pounding action. Yet it is arguably hard to get too excited about a narrative which wholly relies upon a killer computer to inform the reader as to what is going on when the artificial intelligence’s exposition is easily lost amidst a torrent of decentralised brains, redundant functions, two thousand year old damage, encrypted languages, and various information hubs.

Perhaps therefore this comic’s biggest hook is the all-pervading presence of Apocalypse, and En Sabah Nur’s chilling agreement to provide Hodge’s head with a new invulnerable body if the duplicitous lawyer agrees to kill X-Factor before they can further investigate their craft’s bizarre malfunction. These conversations really are incredibly well-written, with the hateful relationship between Cameron and his mutant benefactor literally leaping off every panel once the Homo Superior has fitted his “silent friend” with a working voice box.

Equally as enthralling has to be Walter Simonson’s "arting", which immediately conjures up memories of the earliest X-Men’s highly-popular adventures during the late Eighties. Indeed, this monthly’s cover is so highly reminiscent of the American penciller’s first front page illustration for the colourfully-costumed protagonists that it is easily worth the magazine’s price alone.

Writing: Louise Simonson, Arting: Walter Simonson, and Coloring: Laura Martin

X-Men Legends #2 - Marvel Comics

X-MEN LEGENDS No. 2, May 2021

Starting with a seriously sensational opening splash page depicting the fallen body of a head-shot Adam Neramani, and Corsair’s matter-of-fact explanation that in committing the cold-blooded shooting he had “saved the lives of several trillion people”, writer Fabian Nicieza immediately sets a disconcertingly deadly tone to this comic’s storyline which permeates throughout every subsequent scene in Issue Two of “X-Men Legends”. True, the Buenos Aires-born author manages to inject a slight element of humour into this book, courtesy of a running gag which sees Havok finally “have a little brother that I can boss around”. But even these brief glimpses of ‘family fun’ within the Summers household are tainted by Adam-X’s perpetual gloomy mood; “Ray of #$%&% sunshine, this one is.”

Fortunately, such solemnity really does suit the Starjammers’ brutal battle against Erik the Red, and Davan Shakari’s cult-like Crystal Claws on the blue area of the Moon. As Alex admits to his brother at the very start of the fight, it “feels really great to finally cut loose” with a no-holds barred punch-up which has “the fate of the galaxy at stake”, and Deadpool’s co-creator definitely doesn’t disappoint in seizing this opportunity to show just how “terrifying” the Ascendant One’s awesome ability “to ignite the electrolytes in exposed blood” can truly be.

In addition, Nicieza does a first-rate job in depicting Christopher Summers as the ever wily opportunist, who always seems to be considering the profit potential behind each and every situation he encounters. Corsair’s revelation that as a contingency plan he had actually contacted the “super-guardians of the Shi-ar Empire” is a great example of this, and even causes the intergalactic freebooter’s own sons, along with this comics’ audience, to momentarily doubt his true motivations.

Sublimely supporting this book’s prodigious penmanship is Brett Booth’s marvellous pencilling, which genuinely helps sell the sheer speed Neramani is able to attain on the battlefield when he’s darting in between the numerous deadly blows of his assailants. Furthermore, the artist also manages to provide a few visual gags within the odd panel, such as Adam-X’s evident physical discomfort at being cuddled by his half-brothers, and Christopher’s relief that Raza was ultimately able to safely secure his elderly parents from Erik’s despicable clutches.

The regular cover art of "X-MEN LEGENDS" #2 by Brett Booth

X-Men Legends #1 - Marvel Comics

X-MEN LEGENDS No. 1, April 2021

Proudly proclaimed by “Marvel Worldwide” in their pre-publication hype as a title containing “all-new tales starring your favourite X-Men” and “spanning classic eras”, there is certainly some sort of entertainment to be found buried beneath this comic’s substantially numbered word balloons and text boxes. Yet for those readers who were looking forward to enjoying “a story decades in the making”, there is Fabian Nicieza’s opening salvo of dialogue-driven exposition to disconcertingly navigate first.

Indeed, arguably the opening half of this considerably-sized thirty-page periodical is bogged down in both an overly-long rationalisation as to just why Erik The Red would abduct Scott Summers’ grandparents from the Providence Hospital with a flock of Crystal Claws, and the history behind Adam Neramani covertly residing in Iowa on the planet Earth; “On the day my powers manifested, I learned I was not Shi-ar, or Mephitisoid, or even really Human. I was none. I was all. I was more. I was a mutant.”

Happily however, once Cable makes an appearance to convince the “Disciple of the Claw” to seek out Cyclop and Havok of the X-Men, the pacing of “Shattered Crystal, Scattered Dreams” transforms into a seriously sense-shattering thrill-ride which debatably doesn’t let go until its well-handled cliff-hanger. The arrival of Hepzibah and the cyborg Raza Longknife lead to some utterly insane dynamic action sequences, which not only mange to drum up plenty of suspense as to Adam-X’s survivability when facing the two lethally-skilled Starjammers. But also manage to progress the book’s central plot without resorting to too many of the aforementioned speech bubbles.

Without doubt though, this comic’s greatest asset has to be Brett Booth’s incredible-looking layouts, which must have lured many an unsuspecting bibliophile perusing “X-Men Legends” into placing it at the very top of their Pull List. Whether it be sheer speed with which Erik’s Crystal Claws literally tear through an instantly overwhelmed line of gun-toting Police officers, or the Forsaken One’s formidable fight against Hepzibah and Longknife in a head-tall corn field during the dead of night, the artist’s style encapsulates just the sort “certain Nineties' vibe” this book was presumably aiming for with it nostalgia-inducing “fan-favourite runs.”

The regular cover art of "X-MEN LEGENDS" #1 by Brett Booth