Book Review: The Uncanny X-Men Vol. 1 by G. Simone

The Uncanny X-Men Volume 1: Red Wave written by Gail Simone, art by David Marquez and Javier Garron

After the mutant island nation of Krakoa is wiped out, mutants are back on the run. Charles Xavier has also died, leaving no positive leadership and no group known as the X-Men. His Westchester school has fallen into the hands of a nefarious agency that turns it into a prison for mutants though the conversion is still in progress. Rogue and Gambit have married and are on a second honeymoon in Mexico when they get pulled back to the States to help out some fellow mutants in Louisiana. The call came from Jubilee who is tired of trying to hide her powers. Nightcrawler and Wolverine join up too. The informal team visits a mutant child dying in a hospital and then meets a quartet of mutants, one of whom may be the "Endling," the mutant who will see the last of the mutants die in a near future. Possibly by one of the many hunters sent by the nefarious agency that wants to put the four kids into custody.

The story shakes things up by having Rogue in charge of the team. She's okay as a leader but doesn't have presence that Professor X, Storm, or Cyclops has. She does okay but she does not do anything outstanding. Things move at a good pace but there is very little joy or excitement on display. Simone is a good writer but this is only average work. I don't think I will continue this series.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Hunt for Wolverine: The Claws of a Killer and Mystery in Madripoor by C. Soule et al.

Hunt for Wolverine: The Claws of a Killer written by Charles Soule and Mariko Tamaki, and art by David Marquez, Paulo Siqueira, Butch Guice, and Mack Chater

Wolverine died encased in adamantium (the same metal that makes his bones unbreakable). The X-Men had set up a cabin in remote Canada with his remains. A group of desperate villains, the Reavers, find the location and try to steal the encased corpse. The X-Men had set up some security and arrive to stop the desecration of Wolverine's grave. The Reavers try to get a little bit DNA so they have something to sell, only to discover the adamantium covering is only a shell--there's no body inside. The X-Men had moved his corpse to a grave not far away. When they go to visit the real burial place after the fight, the X-Men discover Wolverine's body is gone. Realizing this is a perilous situation, Kitty Pryde organizes several teams to search of the missing body.

One group after Wolverine is led by Lady Deathstrike, who is a former Reaver. She's informed by the one Reaver who escaped the X-Men that Wolverine's body is missing, so she puts together a team to hunt for Logan. Old enemy Sabretooth and Wolverine's estranged son Daken follow Deathstrike to a small desert town. An adamantium scanner shows activity there, though when they arrive, the town is overrun with zombies. They have to fight their way out as they figure out what is going on.

The story quickly morphs into a Walking-Dead style horror story with the larger story looming over the action. A lot more people than Daken wind up having family issues by the end of the story. It wasn't that interesting overall though there were a few good moments. Nothing really happens to affect the characters or the bigger story. Meh...

Only recommended if you like the rest of the Hunt for Wolverine series.

Hunt for Wolverine: Mystery in Madripoor written by Charles Soule and Jim Zub, and art by David Marquez, Paulo Siqueira, Thony Silas with Leonard Kirk

The final group after Wolverine is led by Kitty Pryde. She takes a few of the X-Women (Storm, Jubilee, Rogue, Domino, and Psylocke) to Madripoor, an island overrun with crime (Wolverine had lived there years ago). Magneto has been in charge and he seems like a likely suspect for taking Wolverine's body. They arrive to find Magneto himself has been kidnapped and a group of villainous women led by Viper have their own project that may or may not involve the fate of Wolverine. 

The tone is like a James Bond-style spy adventure. The group of heroes tries to infiltrate the seedier side of Madripoor, so they dress scantily and head into action. They wind up fighting an interesting variety of opponents, also all female and scantily clad. So the whole package comes off a little exploitative. The story is interesting but does not resolve the larger mystery and only provides hints toward who really took Wolverine and where he is now.

Not really recommended--I guess you need to read this for the whole Hunt for Wolverine narrative but it definitely does not stand up on its own.

Book Review: Hunt for Wolverine: Weapon Lost and The Adamantium Agenda by C. Soule et al.

Hunt for Wolverine: Weapon Lost written by Charles Soule, art by David Marquez, Paulo Siqueira, and Matteo Buffagni

Wolverine died encased in adamantium (the same metal that makes his bones unbreakable). The X-men had set up a cabin in remote Canada with his remains. A group of desperate villains, the Reavers, find the location and try to steal the encased corpse. The X-men had set up some security and arrive to stop the desecration of Wolverine's grave. The Reavers try to get a little bit DNA so they have something to sell, only to discover the adamantium covering is only a shell--there's no body inside. The X-men had moved his corpse to a grave not far away. When they go to visit the real burial place after the fight, the X-men discover Wolverine's body is gone. Realizing this is a perilous situation, Kitty Pryde organizes several teams to search of the missing body.

One team is headed by Daredevil, who likes a good mystery. He recruits Misty Knight, an ex-cop from New York City with a cybernetic arm, and Frank Magee, an ex-detective from NYC who became an Inhuman when the city got dosed with Terrigen Mist. They start chasing down leads with the help of Cypher, a mutant who can communicate in any language and is addicted to the internet. Cypher finds a lot of online leads about Wolverine's whereabouts, too many for the team to investigate. They start narrowing the list and following up on the most likely leads.

The overall story has an interesting set-up and is spun out over several different series following the various teams (one lead by Iron-man, one by Kitty Pryde). The Weapon Lost story is deliberately noirish in style and provides an interesting investigation. The story is not fully resolved, so I will probably read the other series.

Mildly recommended--this is the middle of a larger narrative arc. I read this before I read Death of Wolverine, so the whole "encased in adamantium" fate was new to me. But I found it intriguing enough to keep going.

Hunt for Wolverine: The Adamantium Agenda written by Charles Soule and Tom Taylor, art by David Marquez, Paulo Siqueira, and R. B. Silva

The team in this book is headed by Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. His investigative group is Spider-man, Luke Cage, and Jessica Jones. Why those three? A couple of years ago, Tony and those three worked with Wolverine to stop a bomb from destroying Manhattan. Wolverine had made a mysterious deal with  all of them that brings them back together to search for Logan. Tony finds out about a black-market auction that promises the complete DNA of someone from the superhero community. Has the black marketeer has acquired Wolverine's body to monetize it? The group goes off on an adventure to find the sale and bring the seller to justice, hopefully finding out the fate of Wolverine along the way.

The mysterious backstory provides intrigue for readers and motivation for the main characters. I found the tale interesting even though it is not entirely conclusive.

Mildly recommended--this is stronger than the above tale.

Book Review: Miles Morales: Spider-Man by B. M. Bendis et al.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Sara Pichelli, Chris Samnee, and David Marquez

Norman Osborne makes another spider like the one that bit Peter Parker. The new spider winds up biting Miles Morales through a bit of contrived circumstances. Miles develops Spider-powers just in time because Peter Parker is shot and killed. The city loses Spider-Man just in time to get a new one. But Miles has family problems. Uncle Aaron is estranged from Miles's dad because he's a criminal, though Miles doesn't know. Miles still goes to hang out with Aaron (where he's bit by the spider that Aaron brought home as he robbed Oscorp). Miles's dad hates superheroes which obviously becomes a problem for the new Spider-Man. Miles starts a new boarding school and has to deal with roommates and a new routine. And now he has to figure out his superpowers, hide his identity (especially from his father), and deal with people thinking he's a poser and not the real Spider-Man.

The story has enough new wrinkles and changes to make it entertaining. It is very intelligently written and also has lots of action, which is often a hard combination to pull off. The only big misstep (besides killing Peter Parker) is a reimagining of Scorpion as a Mexican crime boss with some limited superpowers--he's both one-dimensional and a negative stereotype. Otherwise the story is good and well worth reading.

Recommended.

Book Review: Invincible Iron Man Vol. 1: Reboot by B. Bendis et al.

Invincible Iron Man Volume 1: Reboot written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by David Marquez, and colors by Justin Ponsor

Tony Stark goes back to the drawing board to redesign his Iron Man armor, incorporating the best of all the other suits into one. The suit comes just in time to fight an old enemy, Madame Masque. She's crazy and also has previous romantic history with Tony. Now, she's running around stealing magical items and being pursued by what appear to be ninjas with light sabers. She robs Doctor Doom's castle in Latveria which brings Tony in touch with a seemingly reformed Victor von Doom. Doom promises to help Tony take down Madame Masque. Can Tony trust Doom? Can he keep up a new relationship with intriguing scientist Amara Perera? Will Madame Masque get in the way by renewing their relationship or (more likely) killing Tony?

The story does a good job dealing with the issue of power creep. If his suits get more and more powerful, won't he eventually become literally invincible? Magic plays a big part in balancing the scales, giving Iron Man an Achilles' Heel and forcing him to accept help from Doctor Doom. Doctor Strange shows up too (probably part of the marketing campaign for the movie) and has some good comedy moments. The art is pretty good but not stupendous. Overall, it's a fun adventure.