X-Men: The (fan fic) Series

I’ll admit, I never quite understood the concept of the ‘Annual’.

It’s usually nothing more than a filler issue with a fancy name. Often it doesn’t even take place in the current timeline, like it’s something that happens before the current story arc or otherwise not a part of what is happening. It’s not always a bad story, they can be quite enjoyable, I just don’t know why the need to have them when they could easily replace filler issues that typically are pretty lame.

Semi-rant aside, I have a feeling this annual was done as a step up to the new Storm solo that is coming out soon. We get a  glimpse at her personal life outside the X-Men, and her past as a Goddess. There is an important message here about balance, about how the ‘butterfly effect’ is a real thing. And how Storm is so strong that she really could let the world burn if she chose it so.

Storm is a really one of the most underrated characters. She’s well known but not well used. Though granted, she’s such a badass, writers could be worried about the very real fact that she could just save the day all by her self most the time… and we can’t have that now can we…

ps… that was sarcastic

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Right here is a perfect example of a filler issue done right.

Not only do you have two of the main characters doing banal, everyday stuff, but you also have a guest star to spice things up. Firestar and Iceman go grocery shopping and show that they are about as alike as, well, fire and ice. Spider-man is a little off, but he is a guest star and also dealing with being back from the sorta/kinda dead (okay, so I don’t read Spider-man, I’m fuzzy on the details).

Throw in the perfect amount of satire and social commentary without going overboard and you have a nice stand alone story that is fun to read and makes a point. In fact, I really like how blunt but not overbearing the commentary is in this one because it’s delivered perfectly.

In the end, people ten underestimate the importance of a good filler issue, but they keep the pace going and expand on the characters, which is why it’s so important. A+ work here.

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It’s true, you don’t get to choose your family, and when you’re Nightcrawler… family is a complicated and messy subject.

I always liked the idea that Mystique’s kids could see through her shape shifts, both Kurt and Rogue have been able to call her out on more than one occasion. I like how when Kurt sees her this time he’d rather she just left than start any battles. It’s the Kurt we know and love, but there is a sadness there. We know that he ‘lost his soul’ so what does that really mean for our beloved Kurt?

As for Mystique, she’s as crafty and clever as ever, pulling a Black Widow move and getting Azazel’s location from Kurt. Then the resulting fight and the banter… sassy parents are sassy. It all ends about the way you expect it to. Mystique offers Azazel a job after being unable to kill him. Mystique has that problem, she’ll kill anything/anyone without a moment’s hesitation… unless it’s someone she loves or had loved. It all started with Kurt, he has that effect on people.

Now that Rogue has come back alive, maybe we’ll get another larger reunion in the future. Until then, it should be interesting what this new team is going to get into now that the set up has pretty much gotten cleared away.

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We get down to the final battle of Father vs Son… and it proves why you should always bet on blue.

Everything in the last four issues has basically lead up to Nightcrawler becoming human again so that he can get his own solo (not that I’m complaining about him getting his own solo). He takes on his dad and pulls a bigwhammy on him, essentially clipping his wings. The side effect of defeating Azazel being that Kurt becomes human… and loses his soul.

Did he literally lose his soul or was that more metaphorical than literal?

It pains me to think of Kurt in that kind of a situation, he’s a good man with a strong moral compass, but he did what he had to in order to save millions. It’s the kind of tough call that a man like him would make.

How will this affect the team? How will this change Kurt? Can I give him a hug? I really think he needs a hug…

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I don’t know if it’s technically possible to burn down hell… but that sounds awesome…

Everyone is finally brought together, Beast is knocked to his senses, Wolvie and Northstar are found, then Iceman and Firestar are rescued by the Bamfs.  It was all appropriately nostalgic and fun. Now the group is ready to go do some damage on the high seas of the afterlife.

What really interests me is the backstory of the Bamfs. We discover where the Red Bamfs came from, and most of the history behind the Blue Bamfs. The biggest question though is what did Nightcrawler offer them? He treats them like family (of course he would) but there is an insurmountable sadness there. I hope this isn’t something that is going to take forever to resolve (if ever).

Until then, we’re going to have a swashbuckler of a time… can’t wait!

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The amount of feels in this issue is only equaled by the amount of sass.

The banter between Beast and Azazel was beyond fun, beyond perfect, and just full of so much sass about the nature of god and the afterlife without getting preachy. I love how Azazel is in this, very much a classic-style villain and it’s great to see that in this age of ‘let’s just make everyone the villain against each other’ story telling. I can’t wait to see more great things from him.

Then we move into Storm who apparently can’t be kept captive. I love it when writers remember that she’s an expert lock picker thanks to Gambit. Then she runs into Nightcrawler and OMG the feels… the FEELS! Forget Black Panther and Wolverine, Nightcrawler will forever be her soul mate. It didn’t take much to get you teary-eyed with these two. You just can’t argue that they are beautifully matched.

Now, if they can just keep themselves from being eviscerated by Beast… details.

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Do you really need to ask us if we missed you Nightcrawler? Cause, seriously, that’s a dumb question. Of course we missed you!!!

Your reintroduction to the Marvel Universe was near perfect. We saw a piece of your thoughtful soul and a piece of your swashbuckling heart.  At one point you’re fighting with three swords, do you know how all kinds of awesome that is? Do you?! And then your dad shows up and it’s all kinds of awkward but you deal with it masterfully. Seriously, if this is the direction this story is going to take with you, well, Captain, I’m ready to set sail!

Nightcrawler’s wonderful rebirth almost makes up for the fact that the back end of this issue is a bit off, and in some places, really off. The introduction of Firestar into the series is interesting as she quickly realizes that the school is all manner of crazy. This in and of itself isn’t an issue. It’s the random characterization of the other characters that are just wtf? I can’t see ‘Ro not taking a second to at least properly welcome Firestar, but here she’s really pissy. Warbird is way too territorial (like seriously, her being territorial regarding ‘breeding partners’ is actually counter to everything I know about her). Everyone else is serviceable but these two were so OOC in prominent ways that I couldn’t but scratch my head and wonder if I was still reading the same comic.

But hey, it’s just the first issue and they had to set up the inter-dimensional travel through the gate created by the Bamfs (omg that  was awesome I love the Bamfs!). Can’t wait to see where we get to next!

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