Uncategorized « 2008 Comic Debuts

Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Zombie (comics)

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

The Zombie (Simon William Garth) is a fictional supernatural character in the Marvel Comics universe, who starred in the black-and-white, horror-comic magazine series Tales of the Zombie (1973-1975) in stories mostly by Steve Gerber and Pablo Marcos. The character had originated 20 years earlier in the standalone story “Zombie” by Stan Lee and Bill Everett, published in the horror-anthology comic book Menace #5 (July 1953) from Marvel forerunner Atlas Comics.

Publication history

As Lee had done years before in reviving Henry Pym from a standalone science fiction story to become the superhero Ant-Man, then-editor-in-chief Roy Thomas likewise plucked a character from, in this case, a pre-Comics Code horror tale. The initial modern story, co-scripted by Thomas and Steve Gerber and drawn by John Buscema and Tom Palmer, was a 12-page tale that led into a seven-page reprint of the 1950s story (with the art slightly altered to give the Zombie shoulder-length rather than short hair). That original story was also reprinted in 1975’s Tales of the Zombie Annual #1, and again two decades later in Curse of the Weird #4 (March 1994), the final issue of a short-lived Marvel horror reprint series.

Following the premiere, all the Zombie stories were by Gerber and artist Pablo Marcos (one of these in collaboration with writer Doug Moench and artist Alfredo Alcala. The original series’ finale, set at Garth’s daughter’s wedding in issue #9, was a three-chapter story written by Tony Isabella (chapter 2 with co-scripter Chris Claremont), and drawn by pencilers Virgilio Redondo, Yong Montano, and Ron Wilson, respectively, and inker by Alcala (chapters 1-2) and Marcos (chapter 3).

Tales of the Zombie published the last work of Golden Age great Syd Shores, Captain America’s first penciler following Jack Kirby’s departure from the character in 1941. Shores had finished penciling two-thirds of the eight-page story “Voodoo War” for issue #5 (May 1974) before dying of a heart seizure. Dick Ayers penciled the remainder of writer Tony Isabella’s anthological horror tale.

Although laid to peaceful rest in Tales of the Zombie # 9 (he did not appear in the following, final issue, which contained a Brother Voodoo story and three anthological tales), Simon Garth was reanimated in the horror-comics magazine Bizarre Adventures #33 (Dec. 1982), in an out-of-chronology story hard to reconcile with the remainder of the character’s continuity. The Zombie returned to color comic books in a backup story in Daredevil Annual # 9 (July 1993). At the time of that appearance, the Zombie remained unearthed, and controlled by Donna, who pledged to have him eliminate other such enthralled undead.

Menace #5 (July 1953), cover art by Bill Everett.

The Zombie thereafter appeared in Peter Parker: Spider-Man Annual ‘97 (1997); in a behind-the-scenes references in Blade: Crescent City Blues #1 (March 1998) leading into a guest appearance in Spider-Man Unlimited #20 (May 1998); and in a solo story in the anthology series Strange Tales vol. 3, #1 (Sept. 1998). A decade later, he starred in a solo story in the one-shot omnibus Legion of Monsters: Man-Thing #1 (May 2007). He is also one of the main characters in Marvel Zombies 4.

Fictional character biography

Simon William Garth was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and became a work-obsessed executive of Garth Manor coffee, based in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. Ambushed and kidnapped by his former gardener, whom he had fired, Garth is to be a voodoo cult’s human sacrifice. However, the cult’s priestess, Layla, recognizes Garth as her own everyday-life employer, with whom she is in love. Though her attempt to let him escape is thwarted, and though she is forced to mystically transform his corpse into a zombie with a clouded mind whom holders of the matching amulet could control, Layla, with her grandfather, Papa Doc Kabel, continue to try to help the uncomprehending Zombie reach his final rest.

Despite his zombie state, he retains some vestige of his soul. Layla and Papa Doc, for instance, allow Garth 24 hours in his restored human self in order that he might attend the wedding of his daughter, Donna.

Laid to rest once again, he was resurrected by the voodoo witch Calypso who discovered that, through acts of selflessness, this particular zombie possessed free-will, i.e. the ability to act of his own accord and not always at the request of whoever was wearing the Amulet of Damballah — an unusual feature for a member of the walking dead. In this case he ignored her orders and pushed Calypso aside in order to release the captive soul of his friend Papa Doc Kabel, whom Calypso had murdered as part of the process of reviving Garth.

Marvel Zombies 4

Main article: Marvel Zombies 4

Simon Garth had been a test subject of A.R.M.O.R. when the zombie plague killed everyone on the base. He retrieved the head of zombie Deadpool, and used the base’s teleporters to escape to the bottom of the sea, where Deadpool’s head infected all of the Men-Fish and their leader Piranha. Garth was compelled to travel to the island nation of Taino in the Caribbean Sea, where he told Black Talon about the zombie plague. Black Talon assumed control of Garth, and captured Deadpool’s head.

Powers and abilities

As the Zombie, Garth is supernaturally strong and able to heal mystically from injuries. However, he is also virtually mindless. Also, due to the Amulet of Damballah, which he wears around his neck, he must obey anyone who holds that item’s duplicate. Still, he has on occasion showed the ability to act of his own free will when friends or people he loved when alive come under threat.

Other versions

MAX

A revamped version of the Zombie appeared in a new continuity in Marvel’s mature-readers MAX imprint, in the four-issue mini-series Zombie (Nov. 2006 – Feb. 2007), written by Mike Raicht and illustrated by Kyle Hotz. Here, Simon Garth is a bank teller who, with his co-worker Layla, becomes tangled in the affairs of two robbers and an infectious zombifying gas. Simon plants paint bombs in the money bags that only he can defuse, so he and Layla are kidnapped and accidentally brought into the zombie quarantine zone, thinking that the barriers were to stop the robbers from escaping rather than to keep the undead in check. The series concludes with a bitten and bullet-riddled Simon, the only survivor of the outbreak, being taken into the custody of the military and extracted from the scene via helicopter.

Zombie was followed by a second four-issue mini-series, The Zombie: Simon Garth with Eric Powell replacing Reicht (with the cover of the first issue paying homage to the cover art of the first issue of Tales of the Zombie), which chronicles the events following the extraction, and Simon’s escapades as a “heroic” zombie.

Other Zombies

Other characters known as Zombie in the Marvel Universe include:

Otherdimensional counterparts of Marvel’s superheroes, supervillains and others in the Marvel Zombies series.
In Tales of the Zombie #4, a Zombie of Ancient Egypt appeared. The person died violently under unknown circumstances and was reanimated as a zombie by an unidentified man by calling upon Anubis & Ereshkigal. The man had him forced a woman to marry him, but the woman eventually learned how to control the zombie and she had it slay the man.
A new Zombie, whose true identity is never revealed and is known only as John Doe, is a member of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Paranormal Containment Unit. His only appearances occurred in the 2005-2006 series Nick Fury’s Howling Commandos.
A giant of unknown origin was known as the Zombie Master; he used a machine to transform others into a zombie-like state. His machine instead empowered Dr. Jack Castle, who defeated him and became the Fiery Mask. He was also known as the Master and appeared in Daring Mystery Comics #1.
In Black Panther vol. 4, #5, Zombie soldiers were sent to invade Wakanda, which forced the nation to be evacuated by Black Panther.

Collected editions

Some of the stories have been collected into trade paperbacks:

Essential Tales of the Zombie: Volume 1 (collects , Tales of the Zombie #1-10 and Dracula Lives #1-2, 592 pages, October 2006, ISBN 0785119167)

Marvel MAX:
- Zombie (96 pages, April 2007, ISBN 0785119132)
- The Zombie: Simon Garth (96 pages, July 2008, ISBN 0785127518)

Tags: Bill Everett, Marvel Comics, Menace #5 (Jul 1953), Simon William Garth, Stan Lee, Super strength; magical healing
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Zombie Broadway

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Zombie Broadway, or Dave Stewart’s Zombie Broadway, is a graphic novel created by David A. Stewart, David Harris, Christine Schenley, and illustrated by Daveki Neogi. Zombie Broadway is published by Virgin Comics.

It tells the story of a zombie outbreak in New York City that can only be quelled by the song and dance of the Broadway stage. Stewart plans to turn the concept into a musical.

Plot

In Zombie Broadway, the human population of Manhattan has been decimated to the point where the only survivors are a few unlucky civilians and a bunch of stuck-up Broadway effites. The acting mayor (the others have been eaten or killed) of New York has convinced the President to try taming the zombies through theater before the ultimate resolution of dropping a nuclear bomb on the city. The story of Zombie Broadway takes the form of an ensemble black comedy, full of violence and humor.

Publication

Zombie Broadway was published in March 2008 by Virgin Comics. Recently, Virgin and Stewart began a Zombie Broadway karaoke contest via Youtube where contestants send videos of themselves singing the title song from the planned Broadway adaptation.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction is a six-issue comic book limited series published by Red 5 Comics and created by American comic book writer/creator Kevin Grevioux who wrote the original screenplay for the movie Underworld, and co-created the Underworld franchise.

Plot

The story revolves around a government weapons program that drops photosensitive zombies into war zones at night to destroy the enemy population. When one of these zombies somehow escapes in the Middle East, a team of elite soldiers must enter hostile territory to stop a growing zombie army.

Film

As of July 2008, the property has been optioned for a film by the management/production company Benderspink. In early 2009 it was announced that Dirk Blackman and Howard McCai had been hired to work on the script.

Tags: 6, Andrew Dalhouse, Bi-monthly, David Rivera, Geraldo Borges, Jimmy Reyes, July 2008, Kevin Grevioux, limited series, Michael Babinkski, Nick Schley, Red 5 Comics, Tony Kordos, Troy Peteri, Vincent S Moore, Zombie
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Yōkaiden

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

Yōkaiden is an on-going American manga-inspired comic written and illustrated by Nina Matsumoto and published by Del Rey Manga. The story features Hamachi, a boy fascinated by the Japanese monsters called yokai. When one of these monsters steals his grandmother’s soul, he travels into their world to retrieve it. The first volume was published on November 18, 2008.

Plot

Although yokai, Japanese monsters, are feared and hunted, Hamachi believes that humans can peacefully coexist with the spirits. When Hamachi releases a kappa from one of his grandmother’s traps, it steals his grandmother’s soul. Hamachi then travels into the yokai’s world to retrieve her soul. However, he could end up trapped in the realm as well.

Production

Nina Matsumoto has already received attention for various artworks in her DeviantArt gallery. After a deal with Bongo Comics and an interview with The Toronto Star, she caught the attention of Dallas Middaugh, the associate publisher of Del Rey Manga. After learning about her web comic on her web site, he began talking to Matsumoto. Soon after, she created the initial Yōkaiden concept. Middaugh comments that the concept “was pretty much ready to go” without much change. Middaugh mentions that the protagonist Hamachi reminds him of Son Goku as he was portrayed in the original Dragon Ball series.

Matsumoto cites Shigeri Mizuki’s Ge Ge Ge no Kitaro as an inspiration.

Reception

Yōkaiden has been well received by critics. About.com’s Deb Aoki considered it to be the best “original English language manga” of 2008, commending the series for having “well-developed characters that have interesting personalities and fun chemistry with each other”. Comic Book Bin’s Leroy Douresseaux commends the artist for her artwork saying that it is “has a lively, fluid feel similar to animation, while her character and creature design is quirky.” Carlos Santos of Anime News Network felt the series has “a bold sense of line, striking visual designs and clearly defined layouts” and says that Matsumoto’s strength is in her dialogue. However, Santos believes that the series “falls short of a truly haunting atmosphere” due to the humor, which sometimes unnecessarily breaks the fourth wall. Erin Finnegan of PopCultureShock says that she “can’t stop talking about how hilarious” Yōkaiden is; she also believes it is the best OEL/World manga of 2008. Peter Gutiérrez of Firefox News says that Matsumoto’s fictional world can “delight readers of various ages without breaking a sweat” and compares it to Jeff Smith’s Bone comic series. He also comments that the supporting cast is witty, self-assured, carefully developed and memorable. However, the stoytelling seems to become less inventive when Kyumon Zaigo appears. Gutiérrez comments it is “as if Yokaiden’s becoming as humorless and conventional as he is”. He believes that Matsumoto is “so adept at banter that occasionally the pace lags as the story gets bogged down in dialogue”, but the dialogue is so effective the problem is a “nice problem to have”. Brigid Alverson from GraphicNovelReporter.com comments that Matsumoto draws the characters with an exaggerated style, bringing out the characters’ personalities and she depicts the odd creatures with imagination and flair. Alverson also says that a great deal of information is delivered “rather painlessly”. She belives that those who enjoy Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away or Pokémon will enjoy Yōkaiden.

Tags: 1, 2008, Del Rey Manga, Fantasy, Nina Matsumoto, Teens
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Young X-Men

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Young X-Men is a comic book series published by Marvel Comics. The series, which began in April 2008, is written by Marc Guggenheim and penciled by artist Rafa Sandovol. It was confirmed in Marvel Previews #65 that issue #12 will be the final issue.

Plot summary

Final Genesis (Issues 1–5)

Blindfold has a vision of a team of X-Men facing off against a deadly old foe of the X-Men, Donald Pierce, former member of the Hellfire Club. After one of the members is murdered in the ensuing battle, she wakes up violently from the nightmarish dream. Elsewhere, Cyclops is seen across the world, recruiting, several teenaged mutants such as Eric Gitter, and former students like Sooraya Qadir (Dust), Nicholas Gleason (Wolf Cub); and Santo Vaccarro (Rockslide). Santo, however, refuses to join unless Scott accepts Ruth Aldine (Blindfold) who Scott had originally planned not to recruit, to be on the team as well.

After assembling the Young X-Men in the Danger Cave, he gives them their costumes, which have the appearance of the standard yellow and black training uniforms. He lectures them that he is reforming the X-Men, beginning with perhaps the last generation of mutants. Their first mission is to take down what he claims is the new incarnation of the Brotherhood of Mutants, under the control of Sunspot (who is now Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club) and is accompanied by his friends and former teammates, Cannonball, Magma, and Danielle Moonstar.

After they fail in training sessions against Brotherhood simulacra, Cyclops decides to send them after Moonstar and Magma in small teams, each with a specific target. When surprise-attacked by Dust, Rockslide and Wolf Cub in Los Angeles, Magma responds violently by destroying their Blackbird. In the Colorado Rockies, Moonstar proves herself superior to the young mutants Blindfold and Ink despite her lack of powers. However, she is taken down by an unseen force that Blindfold seems to know. Carrying the unconscious Moonstar back to their Blackbird, Ink asks Blindfold how her powers work. After she is done explaining, Ink immediately knocks her unconscious. Ink then delivers the unconscious Blindfold to a mysterious man in the shadows who happens to be Donald Pierce. When questioned about why they aren’t dead, Ink explains that he is a mercenary not a killer.

Rockslide, Wolf Cub, and Dust recover from their crash and attack Magma. Magma, though unprepared, is much more experienced. She turns Dust into glass, sends Wolf Cub packing, and turns Rockslide into a pile of rocks. Distracted by Rockslide, who reforms, she is eviscerated by Wolf Cub, knocking her out but leaving Wolf Cub with a nasty burn.

Sooraya’s sickness.

Cannonball and Sunspot are watching the battle in LA. After hearing nothing from Danielle, they are convinced that the Young X-Men are coming after them. Graymalkin watches Ink talk to Cyclops in the shadows, Ink having lied about what happened to Blindfold and Moonstar. Graymalkin appears to be talking to himself, knowing something nobody knows. He says “Very well. I’ll kill the Cyclops.” Danielle Moonstar confronts an awakening Blindfold and is very confused. Blindfold apologizes and points out that Donald Pierce is behind her. The other Young X-Men discuss Blindfold’s vision and Dust’s critical condition. Ink is surprised he is included in it as part of the team. Elsewhere, Donald Pierce ambushes Moonstar and Blindfold, and disappears.

Ink shaves his head and has a lightning bolt tattoo on it, assuming he will gain telepathy. Ink, Rockslide, and Wolf Cub lead an attack on the Hellfire Club to fight Cannonball and Sunspot. Graymalkin attacks Cyclops back at the Danger Cave, leaving the Young X-Men on their own. Wolf Cub wounds Sunspot, angering Cannonball. Graymalkin takes out the lights to the Danger Cave, saying it gives him more power. He then exposes Cyclops for who he really has been this whole time, Donald Pierce. Once both teams learn the truth, they go after Pierce, but arrive too late to save Wolf Cub, who was the then-unknown teammate that was killed in Blindfold’s vision.

It is notable that the first story arc of Young X-Men echoes a narrative pattern first established with the inception of the New Mutants in their eponymous graphic novel, which was also echoed in the first story arc of New Mutants volume 2, which gave rise to the New X-Men series that is the immediate antecedent for Young X-Men. All three of these storylines deal with the assembly of a new team of mutants, feature the cyborg Donald Pierce as the villain, and have one member of the team (Cannonball, Elixir, and Ink, in the respective stories) that initially works for Pierce before switching sides and joining the new team. This story pattern was also followed, to some extent, in the New X-Men arc that appeared within the House of M timeline. Further underscoring this continuity is the appearance of many of the original New Mutants in all three stories: as the protagonists in the New Mutants graphic novel, as teachers and mentors to the “new” New Mutants volume 2, and as the antagonists, the ersatz Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, in the arc in Young X-Men.

Graymalkin mentions a “Cypher” twice. The first is when he is alone the air ducts inside of the Danger Cave. He mentions that he is “not the only one that can help them. There is Cypher.” The second time is when he tells Donald Pierce (who was disguised as Cyclops) that “Cypher told [him] everything.

Membership changes

After the adventure where Wolf Cub died, Cyclops asked Sunspot and Moonstar to teach the Young X-Men, they both accepted. Blindfold decided to leave the team, since she is no great contribution on the field of battle. Meanwhile Moonstar asked Anole, also a former member of New X-Men, to join the new team.

Ink finds out he is not a mutant at all. The artist who made his tattoos is in fact the one who gave Ink his powers, this tattoo artist is a mutant. Ink decides, since he is not a mutant, there is no place for him with the Young X-Men and leaves.

The new Cypher, an African-American girl, reveals herself at the end of Young X-Men #8, however her codename is spelled “Cipher,” rather than “Cypher” (as it is spelled in earlier mentions). She had come to warn Ink that his teammates were in trouble and he is needed to come with her to save them. Although Ink is very skeptical about this young girl’s motivations or intentions, she is shown wearing the standard uniform of the Young X-Men, and has a jet from the X-Men’s headquarters to transport him to his team as well, to show that her information is legitimate, even though she refuses to give any more information, about herself or the team, other than that. However, she also gives into his demand to take him to his tattooist to give him some new abilities, even though she voices that she feels he is wasting his time while his friends are “dead or dying.” She is still able to get him to the battle with the Y-Men in time, though, where Ink is able to turn the tide and save his teammates. Later that evening, Ink begins to ask Graymalkin about his connection to Cipher and just who she is, while Cipher, in a transparent form, spies on the two from the ceiling above.

Cancellation

In the March 2009 solicitations of Marvel.com, it was revealed Young X-Men #12, which will be released in March 2009, will be the final issue of the series. It will be replaced by a new New Mutants series.

Cast

Issues	Characters
#1–4	Blindfold, Dust, Ink, Rockslide, Wolf Cub
#5	Blindfold¹, Dust, Graymalkin, Ink, Rockslide, Wolf Cub²
#6–8	Anole, Mirage³, Dust, Graymalkin, Ink, Rockslide, Sunspot³
#9–12	Anole, Cipher, Moonstar, Dust, Graymalkin, Ink, Rockslide, Sunspot

_{1. Left the team in the next issue; not in the line-up for those issues}

_{2. Died; therefore no longer a member}

_{3. Chosen as the “coaches” of the Young X-Men and are also members of the team}

Creators

Writers

Marc Guggenheim – Young X-Men #1–12

Art

Yanick Paquette – Young X-Men #1–5
Ben Oliver – Young X-Men #6–7, #10
Rafa Sandoval – Young X-Men #8–9, #11–12

Cover art

Terry Dodson and Rachel Dodson – Young X-Men #1–7
Michael Ryan – Young X-Men #8
Chris Bachalo – Young X-Men #9
Billy Tan – Young X-Men #10
Pasqual Ferry – Young X-Men #11–12

Collections

Title	Material collected	Date Released	ISBN
Volume 1: Final Genesis	Young X-Men #1–5	December 2008	ISBN 0-7851-3154-X
Volume 2: Book Of Revelations	Young X-Men #6–12, X-Men: Manifest Destiny #3	June 2009	ISBN 0-7851-3165-5

Tags: Anole, April 2008, Cipher, Dust, Graymalkin, Ink, Marc Guggenheim, Marvel Comics, Mirage, Monthly, Ongoing, Rafa Sandovol, Rockslide, Sunspot, Yanick Paquette
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Young Liars (comics)

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Young Liars is a comic book series created by David Lapham. It is published by DC Comics as a part of that company’s Vertigo imprint. The first issue was released in March 2008.

The book centers around a group of 20-somethings in modern day New York City, though the story quickly expands to other parts of America and the world. All of them have disturbing secrets about themselves that they keep from the others, and even the readers are left to decide what is true and what are lies.

Publication history

In April 2009, Lapham announced that the title had been cancelled, with the last issue being #18.

Characters

Danny: The protagonist of the book. He is an aspiring musician who moved to New York along with Sadie. He is obsessively in love with Sadie, and often falls into extremely self-destructive behaviour. He has tried to kill himself multiple times in the series, including trying to set himself on fire, leaving horrific burns on his torso (Though he claims to the others that he got them elsewhere).

Sadie: The other central character in the story. Sadie is the daughter of the owner of the Brown Bag Superstore (A Wal-Mart style store), and has run away from her family. As a result, her family have sent the Pinkertons out to find her. She has a bullet lodged in her brain, which causes her to act erratically. Namely, she only wants to dance, fight, and sleep with Danny. She repeatedly brings up warnings about “The Spiders from Mars” and their plans to enslave Humanity, though at this point it is not certain if this is a result of her injury, if she’s lying, or if what she says is in fact true. As the story progresses, it becomes evident that Danny has a manipulative hold on her.

Big C: CeeCee is a Groupie for rock bands. Danny hates her and insultingly calls her Big C. She was in college at one point, but dropped out to “have a rock star’s babies” instead. Instead, she got Syphilis and is now unable to have children, though it does not stop her from sleeping with Musicians. While she and Danny dislike each other, they have bonded in later issues.

Donnie: Donnie is a male cross-dresser. All the other characters seem to like him, despite their own conflicts amongst themselves. He is also a Heroin addict, and has overdosed at least once.

Annie X: A former fashion model, Annie begins in the story by bussing tables at a club. Ironically, despite the nickname, she is not anorexic but actually bulemic. She generally dislikes both Sadie and Danny, particularly for the troubles with the Pinkertons that they brought upon the group.

Runco: Although rich, Runco is obsessed with Get-Rich-Quick schemes. He is the one who suggests that the group to go to Spain in order to “recover” a painting. He has repeatedly informed the Pinkertons of Sadie’s whereabouts in hopes of profit, though this has backfired on him.

Puss Bag: An English Punk Rock fan that the group meets in Spain. It’s unclear at this point if Puss Bag is actually his name or not. According to him, his mother was kicked in the stomach by Johhny Rotten of the Sex Pistols while he was still in the womb. Though he’s friendly to all of the characters and even saves them on a couple occasions, Danny takes an immediate disliking to him, largely because he thinks Puss Bag slept with Sadie.

The Pinkertons: A group of elite killers who are in pursuit of the Young Liars. Sadie describes them as “Nazis injected with special powers by the Spiders from Mars”. They tend to be somewhat questionable masters of disguise, but make up for this with their Sadism, including castrations and beheadings. It is not likely that they have any connection with the real life Pinkerton Agency.

Plot

The story opens up outside of a nightclub, where Sadie beats up a Bouncer and later a Gang member. The main characters are all introduced inside, where Runco tries to convince them to go to Spain. When they refuse, he calls the Pinkertons, who quickly advance on the nightclub. Meanwhile, Donnie shoots Heroin in the bathroom, and Danny tries to tell Sadie he loves her, with no success.

Issue 2 sheds some light on Danny’s background and how he met Sadie. He worked in a Brown Bag Superstore (In the firearms department), and was trying to put a band together with some friends. Even at this point, he was obsessed with Sadie, and was upset when his best friend ditched him to go to a concert with her.

In a near suicidal state, Danny crashes the concert, and with gun in hand, takes a drugged Sadie away just before a group of Pinkertons looking for her advance on his friend. After he escorts her home, Danny returns to his own home only to find his friend’s severed head in the fridge, and his mom and brother dead. (As with many aspects of the story, whether this is actually what happened is up to debate).

Back to the Nightclub, the Young Liars flee just as the Police raid the building, while Donnie is having an Overdose. Outside, they encounter the gang member from before, as well as some of his friends. The Pinkertons arrive and kill the gang members, but Sadie steals a Garbage Truck and they make their escape. They take Donnie to a hospital, where yet another Pinkerton (disguised as a doctor) takes Sadie at gunpoint. Sadie and Danny kill him, which freaks out the others. They all eventually decide to flee the country, and go to Spain on Runco’s get-rich-quick scheme.

On the cruise to Spain, Danny and Sadie have sex. They eventually have to hijack the ship and go the rest of the way by Lifeboat, as Runco lied to the others about paying for the tickets. Once they get there, Sadie goes missing. This causes extreme anguish for Danny, as he thinks that she will now start having sex with other people. She is in actuality at a Bar fighting Puss Bag and keeping score.

Danny drinks with and confides in Big C, and reveals that it was actually him who shot Sadie in the head. The two drunkenly have sex, but are interrupted by Maxim, the midget head of the Pinkertons. He proceeds to castrate Danny and rape Big C, but then is attacked by Donnie and Puss Bag, stabbed in the eye, and jumps out a window.

Danny leaves the hospital shortly after, determined to save Sadie. Puss Bag tells him that she went with Runco and Annie X to steal the painting. In flashbacks, we see what led up to Sadie getting shot in the head. Where she killed a man (though she claimed he was one of the Spiders from Mars) and Danny helped her cover it up. Sadie constantly belittled Danny and seems to have different memories of meeting him than what was in issue #2. In a rage, he chases her down and shoots her.

Meanwhile, both Runco and Annie contact the Pinkertons in hopes that they will be rewarded, but instead get captured. When the others arrive, Runco gets decapitated, and the Pinkertons demand to know where Sadie is. Sadie drives through the window on a motorcycle and kills all the Pinkertons. Immediately after, she has a stroke resulting from the bullet in her brain and collapses. Danny attempts to kill himself, but Puss Bag knocks him out.

In an odd flashback, Sadie is on Mars, where the Spider race is planning to use her to lay thousands of eggs and amass an army to conquer the earth. She listens to the Earth DJ Danny Duoshade, and wins a contest to go to a concert. She stows away on a flying saucer heading to Earth, and causes it to crash land. She takes Spider form and possesses a young girl.

She goes back to the child’s dysfunctional home (the mother and father being Danny and Big C). However, other Spiders have also survived, including Sadie’s father, who impregnates her with eggs. The DJ Danny Duoshade (Who also looks like Danny) arrives, and Sadie is able to acquire a gun from him. She kills all but five of the Hatchlings, and vows to get the others. Back in “the real world”, Danny reveals (to the reader) that he created the Duoshade identity to try to manipulate Sadie. Danny, Puss Bag, and Sadie visit her mother, as Sadie wants to destroy all of the space spiders. Her brother comes in, and Sadie shoots him, killing him as the mother’s lover comes in with a militant group. The group manage to get away, and in the process, Sadie’s mother is killed along with the entire group, but not before two flashbacks reveal that Cee was once pregnant and miscarried. Finding solace with Danny, he had sex with her when Sadie is away. When C miscarries again, she saves the fetus and puts it in a box. Danny finds out, and throws it in a garbage disposal. In the other, Danny had set himself on fire to cover up something important.

Returning to the present, Sadie and her friends stage a showdown against the Pinkertons at her father’s home. In the midst of the ensuing carnage, Danny commands the Pinkertons to release Sadie, shedding his shirt to show his burn scars and a spider tatoo underneath it, declaring himself the King of all Spiders.

Collected editions

The series is being collected into trade paperbacks:

#	Title	Release date	Collected material	Pages	ISBN
1	Daydream Believer	December, 2008	Issues #1-6	144	ISBN 1-40121-978-0
2	Maestro	June 10, 2009	Issues #7-12	144	ISBN 1-40122-272-2

Tags: 18, 2008, Angela Rufino, Crime, David Lapham, ISBN 1401219780, ISBN 1401222722, Jared K. Fletcher, Lee Loughridge, May, Monthly, Ongoing series, Shelly Bond, Vertigo
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

X-Men: Manifest Destiny

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Collected editions Uncanny X-Men: Manifest Destiny ISBN 0785138188 X-Men: Manifest Destiny ISBN 0785138188

“Manifest Destiny” is an American comic book storyline published by Marvel Comics through the X-Men related titles and a number of limited series, including a self titled one. The arc was a follow-up to the storyline entitled “Divided We Stand” which started in the issues cover dated September 2008.

Storyline overview

“Manifest Destiny” deals with the change in the X-Men when they shift their headquarters from Westchester to San Francisco. This is the first time the X-Men have changed their headquarters since their brief relocation to Australia in the 1980s comics. This will be followed by “X-Infernus”, the sequel to “Inferno”.

Publication history

The X-Men: Manifest Destiny mini-series itself, is an anthology. The lead story is focused on Iceman and his journey to San Francisco. It is written by Mike Carey, with pencils by Michael Ryan. There are two back-up stories in every issue, focusing on different characters (Karma, Boom-Boom, Nuwa, Juggernaut, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Mercury and many others) and their live in San Francisco.

Plot summary

Uncanny X-Men

The X-Men open their new base in San Francisco and send a telepathic invitation to every remaining mutant on Earth. Their first fights were against Magneto, Sentinels and the newly formed Hellfire Club. This is also the introduction to the Sisterhood of Evil Mutants and Madelyne Pryor is seen alive.

Astonishing X-Men

The Astonishing X-Men shows up with a new line-up (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Beast, Storm, Armor, Wolverine). Their first mission was to investigate the murder of an undiscovered mutant.

Cable

X-Force captures Bishop and brings him to the X-Men Headquarters in San Francisco, while Cable is seen fighting in the future.

X-Men: Legacy

Cyclops secretly meets with Xavier as one last favor to his former teacher and friend. Elsewhere, the Hellfire Club is discussing Sunspot leaving their ranks and the void that leaves. As Sebastian Shaw tries to create some order, Castlemere and his new found cybernetic “upgrades” lay waste to another member of the Hellfire Club.

Rogue makes her way to the X-Men’s former base in Australia and ends up having a heart to heart talk with Mystique, whose persona is still in her head after the events in Messiah Complex.

Young X-Men

Cyclops takes Sunspot and Danielle as mentors of the Young X-Men. After establishing an abandoned cathedral in San Francisco as their new base, the Young X-Men (along with mentors Danielle Moonstar and Sunspot) form their team which includes Ink, Anole, Rockslide, and Dust, but without Blindfold.

Manifest Destiny

Iceman lands at an hospital after taking a flight with Opal Tanaka, who reveals herself to be Mystique. Disguised as a doctor, Mystique injects Iceman with a neural inhibitor but he manages to escape and flee on a truck. Mystique finds him yet again and destroys the truck, much to the truck driver’s dismay. Iceman saves him and asks him to contact the X-Men, while he faces off with Mystique and tells her to shoot him while looking him in the eyes.

Eternals/X-Men Manifest Destiny

The last three issues of the short Eternals run sees the relocation of the X-Men to San Francisco collide with Ikaris, his war with Druig, and the sentinel in Golden Gate Park. The final issue sees the X-Men assist with repelling the horde which has been foreshadowed as coming since issue one of the Eternals series.

Wolverine: Manifest Destiny

Main article: Wolverine: Manifest Destiny

Issues

The following issues are related to the storyline:

Astonishing X-Men #25-30
Cable #6
Eternals (vol. 4) #7-9
Manifest Destiny: Nightcrawler (previously announced as X-Men: Quitting Time)
Secret Invasion: X-Men #1-4
Uncanny X-Men #500-507
Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #1-4
X-Men: Legacy #215-216
X-Men: Manifest Destiny #1-5
Young X-Men #6-9
Runaways (Vol. 3) # 10

Collected editions

The storyline will be collected into a number of volumes:

Uncanny X-Men: Manifest Destiny (collects Uncanny X-Men #500-503, “X-Men Free Comic Book Day”, and Manifest Destiny, 208 pages, April 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3817-X)
X-Men: Manifest Destiny (collects Wolverine: Manifest Destiny #1-4, “X-Men Manifest Destiny: Nightcrawler” and X-Men: Manifest Destiny #1-5, 200 pages, hardcover, June 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3818-8, softcover, September 2009, ISBN 0-7851-3518-9)
Eternals Volume 2 (includes Eternals (vol. 4) #7-9, softcover, 104 pages, September 2009, ISBN 0-7851-2979-0)

Tags: 2008 — June, 2009, Crossover, Marvel Comics, September, Superhero
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

X-Men: Divided We Stand

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Collected editions Cable: Messiah War ISBN 0785129723 Uncanny X-Men: Divided We Stand ISBN 0785119833 X-Factor: The Only Game In Town ISBN 0785128638 X-Force: Angels and Demons ISBN 0785129766 X-Men: Divided We Stand ISBN 0785132651 X-Men Legacy: Divided He Stands ISBN 0785130004 X-Men Legacy: Sins of the Father ISBN 0785130020 Young X-Men: Final Genesis ISBN 078513154X

“X-Men: Divided We Stand” is the follow-up storyline to the crossover entitled “Messiah Complex”. The arc started with the issues of the X-Men related titles cover dated April 2008. This included: The Uncanny X-Men; Wolverine vol. 3; X-Factor vol. 3; and X-Men vol. 2, which was retitled X-Men: Legacy. It also launched three ongoing titles – Cable vol. 2, X-Force vol. 3, and Young X-Men – and a self titled, two issue limited series. Each ongoing series ran a separate story are with “Divided We Stand” providing an over all theme.

The arc was followed by “Manifest Destiny”.

Storyline overview

There is no main story, as the crossover deals with several characters trying to adapt to the X-Men’s disbandment. Here are the events that have happened in the titles so far:

In Uncanny X-Men, with the team disbanded, Cyclops and Emma Frost have taken a holiday to the Savage Land, but are called to San Francisco by Archangel because a hippie ‘goddess’ (actually Martinique Jason) has placed the city, as well as Hepzibah, Warpath, Iceman and Archangel, under her control and in a 60s style illusion. Also in the title, Nightcrawler, Wolverine and Colossus are traveling through Europe, when they are captured in Russia by the Red Room and interrogated by someone who wants to know why M-Day has left America with the most mutants and Russia with none. They soon escape and confront Omega Red while in San Francisco Scott and Emma confront Mastermind. They defeat her, freeing their friends and the city, including the mayor, who offers the X-Men a new home in San Francisco. Martinique escapes however, rescued by an anonymous woman, while a headline shows that San Francisco has rejected the Fifty State Initiative in favour of the X-Men.

In X-Factor, the team is struggling to deal with their own losses, as Wolfsbane leaves to join X-Force. Layla Miller is trapped in the future and Jamie Madrox now bears an M tattoo over his eye. They soon run up against Arcade, who holds Mutant Town hostage while most of the populace contemplates either changing the district’s name or leaving altogether. However, an ex-Purifier named Taylor has sabotaged the district and dies, causing bombs to explode throughout Mutant Town. Valerie Cooper is also pursuing Madrox and X-Factor in order to recruit them, an offer which Jamie violently rejects. Siryn has also discovered that she is pregnant after sleeping with Jamie, and intends to give birth to the child. Rictor leaves the team over guilt due to his dealings with Taylor in Messiah Complex. 5 months later, in Detroit, a former mutant comes to the renamed XF Investigations for help, meeting with a heavily pregnant Siryn, while Jamie is found by Cooper, who says that she won’t stop until they agree.

In new series Young X-Men, Cyclops gathers Rockslide, Wolf Cub, Dust, Blindfold and a new character called Ink to fight the new Brotherhood of Mutants, who are apparently now consisting of former New Mutants Sunspot, Cannonball, Magma, and Danielle Moonstar. However, Cyclops may not be who he seems. Blindfold has also had a vision of the team being betrayed and killed while fighting Donald Pierce and Rockslide demands she be added to the team or he won’t join, a condition which Cyclops grudgingly accepts. After they fail in training sessions against Brotherhood simulacra, Cyclops sends them after Moonstar and Magma in small teams, each with a specific target. Magma is attacked in Los Angeles and fights back violently, while Moonstar proves superior to the young mutants despite her lack of powers. However, she is taken down by an unseen force. Ink asks Blindfold after the fight how her abilities work before knocking her unconscious. A flashback sequence shows the origin of how Ink got the tattoo that allows him to use telepathic powers. Another flashback shows Cyclops setting up the team of Wolf Cub, Ink and Rockslide to attack the Brotherhood of Mutant members Cannonball and Sunspot. As the attack commences, Cyclops is blindsided by Greymalkin who realizes that Cyclops isn’t who he says he is. Back to the members of the Young X-men, Wolf Cub deals a rather lethal blow to Sunspot who is trying to convince the team that they shouldn’t be fighting. This attack causes Cannonball to consider all three Young X-Men a threat. Back at the base, Greymalkin reveals that Cyclops is really the newly reemerged Donald Pierce.

In the renamed X-Men: Legacy, the Acolytes have retrieved Professor X’s body, which is being kept alive by Omega Sentinel. Exodus heals Professor Xavier’s damaged mind while Magneto arrives and clashes with his former disciples. Meanwhile Sunspot and Sebastian Shaw are clashing within the Hellfire Club over an item in Shaw’s possession. Exodus loses a battle to Xavier on the Astral Plane, who then goes his own way to repair his mind. Gambit later comes to defend him from members of the Assassin’s Guild. Together they learn the Guild’s other targets, including Juggernaut, Hazard and Shaw. Rogue is also wandering the world. It soon becomes apparent that the targets are linked by their connections to Nathan Milbury and the Black Womb Project. Sinister’s psychic essence strikes out at them and apparently takes control of Xavier’s body while Gambit and Shaw battle the assassins.

In a relaunch of X-Force, the new group (consisting of Wolverine, X-23, Warpath and Wolfsbane) are sent after the Purifiers by Cyclops. They soon discover that Wolfsbane’s father Reverend Craig is helping them. They have also rebuilt Bastion, who is using Magus to create a ‘Choir’ of anti-mutant leaders including Donald Pierce, Leper Queen, Cameron Hodge and the reanimated forms of William Stryker, Stephen Lang, Bolivar Trask, and Graydon Creed. Wolfsbane is wounded after being captured by the Purifiers and injected with a large dose of heroin. The team take her to Archangel and Elixir, who help her but she then savagely attacks Archangel, ripping off his wings and taking them to Craig. Using Apocalypse’s T-O virus in them, Bastion creates several metal-winged Purifiers. Archangel also grows back his metal wings and regains his blue skin. However, he proceeds to attack his teammates.

Meanwhile in his own title, Wolverine has also been sent after Mystique by Cyclops to punish her for her role in Messiah Complex. As he tracks her, Wolverine remembers his own history with her, ever since they met in 1921. He eventually catches her and manages to fatally wound her after a brutal battle. However, he refuses to kill her and instead leaves her a gun. She manages to survive, and return in Manifest Destiny.

Cable has a new title, where he is in the future trying to protect the mutant baby while he is being pursued by Bishop, who desires to kill the child to prevent his dark future from occurring. Cable has recently encountered a much older Cannonball in the future, who says that the four of them are the last remaining mutants. Cannonball defends Cable and the baby as the time-travel equipment is damaged but is killed by Bishop. However, his sacrifice has bought Cable some time to escape.

The Free Comic Book Day issue focuses on Pixie as she returns to her old life in Wales. However, her investigation into several missing people leads her into conflict with the N’Garai. Cyclops, Emma Frost, Beast, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Wolverine come to her aid and she is offered a place among the new X-Men team forming in San Francisco after they defeat the N’Garai demons.

In the X-Men: Divided We Stand limited series, several characters are explored, mostly those who left the X-Men:

Gentle returns to Wakanda but is shunned by his people, even his own mother, due to his Russian father. He finds he prefers the New X-Men’s company, even though they annoyed him and using his powers has put his life at further risk.
Anole, even though he’s accepted in his home town, rejects his “normal” life when he realizes that his experiences with the X-Men have left him too violent. Northstar comes to help him adjust but Anole leaves his family, punches Northstar and claims the X-Men ruined their lives by not letting them do normal teenage things.
Scalphunter is making a living at a diner in the desert when he is confronted by Nightcrawler, who had appeared to kill him, but decided not to as Scalphunter is merely a clone. He instead tells him to redeem himself and ask for forgiveness before God, as faith is what will stop him being soulless. Scalphunter is later seen wearing a cross, taking the advice to heart.
Husk is taking Cannonball back home when they stop for lunch. Cannonball deliberately gets into a bar fight with several members of the Cabot family. Questioned by his sister he replied that he needed a Danger Room. He flies off, leaving Husk behind to worry about his mental state.
Hellion awakens in a civilian hospital, where he was transferred. Emma Frost tells him that the X-Men are no more and so he seeks another figure to follow: Magneto. Magneto rejects his service, but tells him to be ready, as mutancy’s next war might come sooner than he thinks.
Beast returns to the ruined mansion, where he destroys all of the X-Men’s files on mutants around the world. He also removes all of their advanced technology. He finally takes No-Girl with him and they leave the ruins behind.
Magik is in her castle in Limbo and recounts that she was an impatient child and plots to get her soul back. At first she plans to use her Bloodstone Medallion but changes her mind after remembering the lives it ruined. Instead by remembering her relationships with Shadowcat and Colossus she tries to reclaim her soul through love. She teleports to the Mansion but sees it in ruins. Sad and angry, she resolves to find the missing pieces of her soul through the suffering of those that have wronged her instead.
Forge returns to the Eagle’s Nest, ruined after the battle between Cable and Bishop. He starts to repair the damage when Bishop returns and takes him out. When he reawakens he finds that Bishop has stolen a robotic arm and all the notes on Cable’s time travel device. He tries to rewrite the notes, but fails due to a time paradox. He instead starts to secure the Eagle’s Nest against further attack, to prevent himself from being vulnerable again.
Havok is on a prison planet in Shi’ar space, listening to the tortured screams of Polaris, Ch’od and Raza Longknife. Vulcan appears on a monitor and taunts him by telling him the events of Messiah Complex. He says the baby, and all of mutantkind’s hope, is lost. Havok destroys the monitor and says that if one baby can be born so can another, meaning that there is always hope.
Danielle Moonstar is relaxing at her home in the mountains when Surge arrives, having run all the way there. Surge tells Danielle what has happened and how she believes her actions led to Hellion’s injuries. Danielle shares her experiences as a New Mutant with Surge and reveals that things will always get better, like the dawning of a new day. Surge replies that every day has a sunset.

Issues

The following issues have been confirmed to be related to the storyline:

February 2008

Uncanny X-Men #495
X-Men: Legacy #208
X-Force #1
X-Factor #28
Wolverine #62

March 2008

Uncanny X-Men #496
X-Men: Legacy #209
Cable #1
X-Factor #29
X-Force #2
Wolverine #63

April 2008

X-Men: Divided We Stand: Book 1 (of 2)
Uncanny X-Men #497
X-Men: Legacy #210
X-Factor #30
Young X-Men #1
X-Force #3
Cable #2
Wolverine #64

May 2008

X-Men: Divided We Stand: Book 2 (of 2)
Uncanny X-Men #498
X-Men: Legacy #211, 212
X-Factor #31
Young X-Men #2
X-Force #4
Cable #3
Wolverine #65

June 2008

Uncanny X-Men #499
X-Men: Legacy #213
X-Factor #32
Young X-Men #3
Cable #4

July 2008

X-Men: Legacy #214
Young X-Men #4
X-Force #5
Cable #5

August 2008

Young X-Men #5
X-Force #6

Tags: 2008, April — October, Crossover, Marvel Comics, Superhero
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Wolverine: Manifest Destiny

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Wolverine: Manifest Destiny is a four-issue comic book limited series starring Wolverine and published by Marvel Comics. The series was written by Jason Aaron with art by Stephen Segovia and colored by John Rauch. It is a part of X-Men: Manifest Destiny

Plot synopsis

After the return of his memory, Logan returns to San Francisco’s Chinatown to settle a fifty-year-old score.

Reception

IGN gave the first issue a 7.2 out of ten and the final issue a 7.8.

Tags: 4, Bimonthly, Jason Aaron, John Rauch, limited series, Marvel Comics, October 2008 - April 2009, Stephen Segovia, Wolverine
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Wildstorm: Revelations

Monday, June 8th, 2009

Wildstorm: Revelations comic book limited series, written by Scott Beatty and Christos Gage with art by Wes Craig.

After “Wildcats: Armageddon”, Nemesis recruits Savant and Backlash to help her try and stop the end of the world.

Revelations was the start of a number bi-weekly series, and was followed by Number of the Beast, which resulted in the relaunch of a number of Wildstorm titles.

Collected editions

The series was brought together into a trade paperback:

Wildstorm: Revelations (144 pages, July 2008, Titan Books, ISBN 1845769333, Wildstorm, ISBN 1401218679)

Tags: 2008, 2008 - March 26, Bi-weekly, Christos Gage, ISBN 1401218679, January 2, limited series, Scott Beatty, Wes Craig, Wildstorm
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »