Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Scanned Thoughts: X-men Battle of the Atom #2


The end is here. Usually when someone says that, they're either suffering from irreversible brain damage or their doctor prescribed something awesome for them. But this time, it's just the end of another big Marvel event. I know that shit seems to happen more frequently than a meltdown by Amanda Bynes, but this isn't just any event. This is X-men Battle of the Atom, the event that's supposed to celebrate 50 years of X-men. It's one of those events that if it sucks, it's akin to taking a shit on Jack Kirby's grave and spitting in Stan Lee's face while pissing on Chris Claremont's foot. And with the somewhat sub-par showings in the past few issues, it's coming dangerously close to sucking. But X-men Battle of the Atom #2 is supposed to be the finale that won't just end the event, but set the tone for 2014. So what follows isn't just my review for X-men Battle of the Atom #2. It's a preview of how awesome 2014 will be or how much we can expect it to suck elephant balls.

I can’t say the setting isn’t appropriate. The past, present, and future X-men are all on the site of the X-men’s first battle against Magneto and the Brotherhood. Except this time, they’re also going up against a fully armed SHIELD fleet that Xavier and Xorna have made overly trigger-happy with their powers. So now they’re basically in an oversized target in Ted Nugant’s gun range. While it’s fitting, the attention to detail is about as focused as I am at four in the morning without my daily dose of coffee and blow. For some reason, O5 Cyclops and O5 Jean Grey found time to get into their X-men uniforms, which they threw away several issues ago. That shows me that someone didn’t give enough fucks or Marvel hoped most fans would read this book drunk. I guess they were half right.


It quickly becomes a two-front battle. On one front, the X-men have to stop the incoming missiles that are about to end them like Michael Jordon’s baseball career. On the other, they have to fight the future Brotherhood, who prove definitively that some of the X-men just lose their fucking mind in the future. Adult Kid Omega attacks Xavier and Xorna while the rest of the team tries to stop the missiles. Future Beast also gives a little speech that might resonate at a Rick Santorum fundraising event, but makes him an even bigger douche than before, which is like Chris Brown somehow finding a way to become more of an asshole. So it’s pretty satisfying at a level that may bring some fans to orgasm when he’s just fucking killed on the spot.

However, it wasn’t Cyclops who just decided he had enough of Beast’s bullshit. It was something far more fitting. It turns out that those missiles weren’t intended to explode. So in a not-too-big yet exceedingly appropriate twist, the true motives of the future Brotherhood become clear. One of the biggest problems with the previous issue was that even after several bong hits, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what the fuck the future Brotherhood hoped to accomplish by taking the X-men on a trip to memory lane and inviting a trigger-happy SHIELD along for the ride. They’re from the fucking future, remember? That means they have future knowledge that the past and present X-men don’t know they should be pissed about and in this moment, they put it to good use.


It’s Sentinels. Seriously, what’s the 50th anniversary of the X-men without fucking Sentinels? They showed up in the first issue to get the shit storm going. It’s perfectly fitting that they show up here in the final showdown. But these aren’t just random Sentinels that some mutant-hating asshole forgot about and wasn’t smart enough to sell on Ebay. These are brand spanking new Sentinels from the fine folks at SHIELD. Because it’s not enough for them to spy on and harass innocent mutants without due process or any of that humane shit. They also have to stock pile a weapon that every mutant has a fuckton of reasons to despise. To be fair to Maria Hill, she didn’t seem to know about it. But it’s painfully clear that these Sentinels were meant for mutants and like rat in a cheese factory, they’re hungry to use them.

The conflict that follows is fittingly destructive, albeit under-developed. But the emotional impact on the X-men is the major focus here. At one point Psylocke points out that they seem to be going around in circles like a freshly neutered dog with brain damage. No matter what they do, they just have to keep fighting giant killer robots and I imagine that shit gets more frustrating than arguing with Michelle Bachmann on civil rights. It also makes a clear point for the future Brotherhood. No matter what the X-men do, the human authorities are always going to have a gun pointed at their head in the form of giant killer robots. This helps put the turning points in the future shown a few issues ago into a better context. This future Brotherhood just got tired of fighting for humanity when all they ever seem to do is attack them. Now they want to help their past selves get ahead of the curve. I’m not saying it’s a very good plan, but considering it wasn’t their first plan to begin with, it does make more sense.


As the battle against the Sentinels unfolds, the X-men crack under the strain of having to fight a two-front war. It’s still a bit chaotic, but that’s to be expected in an epic battle where the X-men have to fight both Sentinels and the future Brotherhood. And it’s also expected that there will be casualties in this conflict. The first two to fall are future Jubilee, who dies at the hands of a Sentinel, and future Colossus, who gets mindfucked to death by Xavier. These losses strike the X-men hard and the emotional aspects are nicely captured, even if the action itself is not really refined. Magik and Sentinel X (future Shogo) are understandably upset. But it still feels like not enough reactions were captured. Then again, Magik goes demonic at seeing her brother die (again) so I think she compensates nicely for everyone. Sure, Xorna shut her up, but again it’s the emotional impact that gives the battle its power and not just pretty pictures of X-men fighting killer robots.


But the most epic struggle by far in this conflict involves someone with red hair, green eyes, and who isn’t named Hope fucking Summers. Xorna/Jean Grey has been a huge driving force, both as a warning to O5 Jean and as a harsh reminder for Cyclops and Wolverine. And for her, revealing that SHIELD had killer robots waiting in the wings to throw at the X-men wasn’t enough. She has to be extra pissed off because in many ways, she is the one who lost the most. By staying in the future, she lost every element of that special passion that she once had. Now she’s an embittered yet overpowered old woman who would rather not exist than deal with this shit and that makes her more dangerous than a billion sentinels.

Xorna understandably focuses her wrath on Wolverine and Cyclops, the two men she blames for fucking up the X-men. And her outrage isn’t just simple psychic PMS either. She does make some valid points. These two are the reason why the X-men were divided. And she claims that their bitter conflict is what turned her into Xorna, which is like Lindsey Lohan blaming her car for getting her in trouble. But in some ways, her frustration perfectly echoes the frustration of fans who think the hate between Cyclops and Wolverine has gotten old. And for Xorna, it’s very emotional because she claims she’s so damaged that she can never love anything or anyone like she once did. It helps explain her motivations for sending the O5 back. She wanted things to go back to the way they were before she came to the future. It’s not a full explanation, but it’s an understandable explanation none-the-less. And since Jean Grey has been the driving force of so many events throughout the history of the X-men, including the recent comics, it’s a very powerful moment.


That makes it all the more fitting when O5 Jean leads the rest of the O5 X-men in a full-fledged attack against Xorna. And unlike the other battles going on that are glossed over or too easy to forget about while stoned, this battle is richly detailed in all the right ways. It nicely depicts Xorna’s anguish and O5 Jean’s determination to not become her. She makes it clear that she’s not going to stop fighting and she’s willing to kick her own ass to keep doing it. I don’t know if that counts as badass or sadomasochistic, but it’s pretty fucking awesome.


And while it ends up in a stalemate, Xorna offers O5 Jean some pretty ominous warnings that she won’t be ready or powerful enough to face what she’s going to face. I think Xorna must have forgotten that warning teenagers about the future is like warning a dog not to shit on the carpet, it’s a difficult message to communicate. At the same time, it offers an ominous warning for future stories.

A lot of what O5 Jean Grey has been dealing with since she arrived are overwhelming powers that seem to keep growing. That doesn’t even get into the danger she faces with the Phoenix. Xorna made it clear early on in the battle when she bitch slapped Adult Kid Omega by telling him that the Phoenix still craves her even as he wields it. That’s like taunting a woman’s new lover by saying she still thinks about her ex when they’re having sex. And O5 Jean will have to face this and being a teenager, she doesn’t understand how much it will fuck her up. It’s like the anti-drug programs I saw in school, but even less effective.


But Xorna takes her warning much further than anything those anti-drug programs ever did. When it becomes painfully clear that she and O5 Jean can’t beat one another without it becoming self-defeating, she makes her final stand. She didn’t want to even exist in the first place so she skips a couple of steps and decides to overload her power in classic Jean Grey fashion. In doing so she doesn’t just blow herself the fuck up. She effectively destroys the remaining Sentinels as well, ending the battle yet still making her point. So I guess in some respects, Xorna and the Brotherhood didn’t lose completely. Xorna got what she wanted. She no longer exists, albeit not in the way she hoped. And the Brotherhood made their point. The rest of the X-men just didn’t buy it. They probably should’ve tried a more convincing sales pitch, but again, it wasn’t their first plan. So I think they can’t be blamed for getting overly creative/destructive. I just hope this doesn’t give struggling pot dealers any ideas.


This climactic explosion leaves a hell of a mess and not surprisingly, the X-men escape with the help of Magik. SHIELD shows up as well to assess the damage, but they might as well be walking around with shit stains in their underwear. The damage has already been done for them. The Brotherhood just revealed that they were packing an anti-mutant arsenal that they didn’t tell anyone about. It would be like a gay Jewish transvestite hooker turning up dead in Pat Robertson’s bedroom with semen stains on his face. There’s just no effective way to explain it away.

As for the X-men, they return to the Jean Grey Institute where they keep tabs on SHIELD. They also make it clear that some of the future Brotherhood escaped since they’re probably not stupid enough to stick around during a big fucking explosion in the middle of a SHIELD and Sentinel attack. Yet there are still plenty of problems to deal with. The O5 are still stuck in the present and some of the X-men still have a raging boner to see Cyclops and his revolutionary team thrown in jail. It’s downright stupid considering that Xorna just pointed out to them that this schism bullshit is what led to the future being so fucked up. But that’s a conflict that can’t and shouldn’t be solved in an issue like this. They just found out that SHIELD is now packing Sentinels and that takes priority over arguing who got to bone Jean Grey.

At the very least, they do address their inability to send the O5 back. It’s not a completely clear explanation because they don’t know yet. But O5 Beast hints that there’s a force keeping them from going back. So some of my concerns about them just becoming glorified clones are somewhat eased. What they do still may affect the future, but it still isn’t clear enough for fans like me who don’t read comics sober.


What follows after this are a series of epilogues. There are still a number of loose ends to resolve, but there are also some new twists that promise to shake up future stories. One involves Kymera, the daughter of Storm and an unknown father who might be her ex-husband, staying in the past to hunt down the future Brotherhood. Because if the O5 X-men can do it and get away with not fucking up the timeline too much, so can she. At this point the thought of more time travel stories makes me want to dry heave, but I can’t deny there’s some logic to this choice. The future Brotherhood probably aren’t going to go back to a future they feel is already fucked and someone needs to stay behind to ensure they don’t fuck it up the way they want. It might as well be someone who will make things even more awkward for Storm and her ex.


But beyond just setting up future stories, there’s also room for some more emotional moments, such as a goodbye between Jubilee and future Shogo. Since Jubilee’s future self died, it’s a nice moment that has nothing to do with fucking up the timeline for once. Shogo even reveals that Jubilee eventually comes to embrace her new vampire powers, which she hasn’t really done much since she rejoined the X-men recently. He also reveals that she was a damn good mother to him and considering how many shitty parents there are in the Marvel universe, that’s more refreshing than a cold beer at a football game on Sunday.


As for the rest of the future X-men, they decide they’ve fucked up the timeline enough and decide to go back to the future. There are still some emotional moments, such as Magik mourning the loss of her future brother. Considering how her brother in the present wants to kill her and is boning Domino, I think it’s nice that she gets to show a little emotion. There are even a few hints offered by future Iceman, who goes by a much cooler name, Ice Master now, about Nightcrawler’s upcoming return in Amazing X-men. He even tells him to grow a beard because the ladies will love it. This may be the one message the O5 X-men remember most. And while they leave with some questions still unanswered, their departure feels appropriate even if it isn’t as refreshing as a cold beer.


The final epilogue, however, isn’t so heart-warming. X-men Battle of the Atom promised significant changes to the X-men. It was already revealed that the O5 X-men weren’t going to be sticking around the Jean Grey Institute. Now Kitty Pryde reveals that she’s not sticking around either. She doesn’t just say she’s leaving. She also takes the time to break up with Iceman. It’s a special kind of pissed off and while some of her reasons make sense, it still feels somewhat abrupt.

Earlier in the story, Kitty Pryde was okay with sending the O5 back. Then she changed her mind like Mitt Romney and was all for letting the O5 choose to stay. But now she’s pissed that the rest of the X-men didn’t listen to her. They decided to listen to the phony future X-men that ended up trying to kill them. Also, she was supposed to be responsible for the O5 X-men. And neither she nor the rest of the X-men did what they could to help them when they needed it. For her, that shit is a deal-breaker. And while I understand her decision, I still think it’s somewhat abrupt. Naturally, the O5 decide to leave as well and their decision is the exact opposite of abrupt. Everyone at the Jean Grey Institute seems to want to send them back to the past and decide their fate for them. And if they’re not going to get their help, they might as well do the most responsible recourse for teenagers and tell them to fuck off.


And they don’t have to go too far for a new gig either. Earlier in the story, one team of X-men did actually listen to the O5 when they wanted to fight to stay in the present. And that was Cyclops and his revolutionary team, as in the same team that Wolverine and the entire Jean Grey Institute wants to shut down and throw in jail. So this isn’t just a casual “fuck off” for Kitty Pryde and the O5 X-men. It’s full blown parade of middle fingers combined with a score by Hans Zimmer telling them the Jean Grey Institute to go fuck themselves in the biggest possible way. I won’t even argue how fitting this ending is. I’ll just say it’s an awesome moment and one that begins a new chapter for Kitty Pryde and the time displaced O5 X-men.


So after 50 years of X-men, this is the story that’s supposed to commemorate it. I was hoping to be astonished. I wasn’t. At the same time, I wasn’t disappointed. I didn’t read this issue and think I needed to give myself a lobotomy with a rusty fish hook like I did with Avengers vs. X-men. This issue didn’t resolve every little detail. However, it did have a huge, kick-ass battle that brought the past, present, and future together in an epic way that is undeniably awesome. And while the story may be over, the conflict it started hasn’t ended. Parts of the future Brotherhood are still out there. And now the X-men know that SHIELD are assholes who don’t seem to understand that having mutant hunting Sentinels at their disposal is not a good way to foster peace between humans and mutants. So some plot holes were filled while others were only partially filled. I guess in that sense half a blow job is better than none at all.

I’m genuinely uncertain of how to assess this issue and Battle of the Atom as a whole. It didn’t suck. That much I can say in the most sober way possible. Now that it’s over, certain elements that didn’t make a lick of sense in earlier issues make more sense now. It’s not as concise or cohesive as it could be, but it actually does make sense on most levels, which is more than I could say for a lot of other shitty stories. But more than anything else, this issue and Battle of the Atom hit all the right emotional notes. Some of those emotions, like Wolverine and Cyclops’s bitching, are old yet still relevant. Others, like O5 Jean and Kitty Pryde, are still very powerful. Taking all this into consideration, I give X-men Battle of the Atom #2 a 7 out of 10. And I give X-men Battle of the Atom as a whole an 8 out of 10. It had the potential to be so much better, but it just lacked the details that would tie it together. Yet it’s still a story that resonates with the entire history of X-men and for that, I deem it awesome in the name of Stan Lee, Chris Claremont, Len Wein, and Jack Kirby, may he rest in peace. Nuff said!

32 comments:

  1. I'm still not sure how i feel about this crossover. I enjoyed the first few parts,but the increasing vagueness of what is so bad in the future killed allot of my enthusiasm. Like what did jean see from xorna that was so bad. And then when scott asks her she like i don't know one of us does something bad,wtf? And clearly dazzler wasn't killed by human,so I don't know how beast blames the humans. But I will say I'm looking forward to the further adventures of O5,so them being stuck in the future is fine. But the not knowing why they can't go back annoys me to no end. excellent review as always

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    1. I forget that Marvel tends to do events in trilogies nowadays. This is only Act I, so nothing is really going to be resolved, merely set up.

      I like the idea of Current Cyke getting a better conscience than what he has had up until now. Magneto? Ha! Ilyana? Ha! Double Ha! Emma? Not quite at the level of derisive laughter, but even on the best of days she isn't much for a conscience. The closest to the 'acts as a conscience' personality that Bendis has mentioned has to be among the students, and they don't really cut it.

      The Teen O5 has to stay, but I doubt they will be sticking around in Uncanny. Teen Scott rates his older self slightly higher than he does Wolverine, so him sticking around the new Xavier School isn't likely. I think they will be striking out on their own soon.

      The interaction with people more on the moral high ground is likely to change the rest of the Uncanny cast, starting with Magneto. Kitty isn't likely to approve of his current methods as it is, and if he goes darker, there will be drama. Plus her addition actually gives both Emma and Ilyana an actual friend to interact with, which is something they both need.

      As a self-contained event I wouldn't rate BotA very high. As a set-up style mini-event (10 issues is much less than the big ones get when all the tie-ins are considered) it is much better.

      Rothstein-Smash

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  2. I have loved this story!!!! Glad to see Kymera staying in the present!!:) wish I could have seen more of xorna though :(

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    1. Kymera seems focused and always ready to roll. Give her props, looking forward to seeing more of her as well. Maybe show Mom a thing or two of being the badazz she once was.
      I felt Xorna would of been a masterful villian but having two Jean Greys would just been a bit overkill though.

      One guy to also keep an eye out on is Xavier Jr. He was weak (despite being ruthless, ill give him that), expected alot more out of him. So maybe him running the Brotherhood (present and future) can definitely showcase how dangerous this guy can be. I fully expect him to shake the mutant community (and Marvel universe for that matter) upside down.

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  3. This crossover was equal parts awesome and frustration for me. It had a number of nice individual parts, but not learning what it is that truly caused the future Brotherhood to flip out so bad is annoying. I can buy that Logan and Scott's continual bitching was the primary culprit, but lack of specifics is annoying after ten issues.

    I can buy the whole "a mysterious force is preventing them from going home" at this point. That's the sort of mystery crossovers usually end with. I just hope it actually pans out into something.

    For me the bright spot of this issue was the 05, and specifically young Jean, cutting through the bull crap and taking the future failures to task. Watching young Jean reject her disastrous future self and proclaim her commitment to make things right is exactly what I expect from Jean Grey, so well done there.

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  4. I am mixed about it. This should have been shorter no matter what. However, the aftermath was pretty good though. SHIELD Sentinels, the world (eventually) seeing Xavier Jr as the head leader of the Brotherhood, and Team Pryde jumping ship (though she and young Cyke made it perfectly clear that they do not support Cyke's team, so that needs some explaning). Even Psylocke hinting at a possible dissension. Lot of good stuff there

    With Kymera and the future Brotherhood here, some of the questions about the future should be explained (lol im hoping that is)

    Lastly, please get to fixing and moving on with Schism



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    1. I'm guessing fixing the Schism is why they're jumping ship. After all, Logan's listening to no on but those who agree with him. Cyclops, for his problems, has repeatedly tried to extend olive branches to his former allies. I'll lay good money the first thing Professor Kitty tells him when they get back to the New Xavier School is that she's not there to be a good little soldier. She's there to be his conscience.

      And you know what? He needs that. He's surrounded by people who agree with him on one level and resent him on another. It's not a good combination. He needs Kitty's honesty and to have to justify himself periodically to a version of himself that hasn't turned so hard.

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    2. I agree with you on that. It would do him and his team alot of good. Especially if the O5 works with the team on some capacity as well. The new mutants could also be reinvigorated by having new members working with them as well

      Kitty may be the bridge to finally being able to the put the team together but I also feel like that Storm should be doing that as well (had she not been written so poorly during this event).



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    3. Currently whenever Storm speaks I see Wolverine's lips moving......

      Rothstein-Smash

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    4. @Anonymous Yeah, I agree with you there. She's #3 on my Shit List as far as the X-Men go. Go ahead, guess who the first two are. :)

      @Z Oh, this being Modern-Marvel, the Schism won't heal anytime soon, but I'm glad to see signs that people other Cyclops think Wolverine isn't the best leader for the X-Men. Honestly, this needs to end with both stepping down and a new leader rising up to unify them all. No idea who could actually do that, without Xavier coming back from the dead. ... Well, maybe Jean. But she's dead too. So same issue.

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    5. @ RS: That is exactly what is wrong with her (and the writers for that matter) She of all people is the kind of person (leadership, compassion, etc) who would of united both sides and not add fuel to the fire....

      @ Barachiel: When you put it like that, I have no other choice but to jump on that ship in hoping a new leader emerges and unite the X-men.
      Ill give it a shot. Wolverine and Beast. (thought you might have a wildcard that I am not thinking of)

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    6. Here's the thing, I'm *firmly* on Cyclops' side myself. I love it, Wolvie opens a school to get back into the business of teaching young mutants and keep them out of harms way. So what does he do? He reopens the same school that's been blown up at least a half dozen times, and has already drawn countless attacks. I'm sorry, Scott's right. He's an *idiot*.

      For the world as it currently is, Cyclops really *is* right.... given the choice between Logan's willful ignorance and Captain America, I'd take Cyclops any day.

      That being said, bring back the *real* Xavier (not this weird version we've had to deal with since Deadly Genesis), Adult-Jean, this isn't going to get fixed. There's too much baggage right now. It would either have to be someone old and trusted by all, or someone completely new and instantly capable of pulling it all together. Given that nearly every "new" character Marvel has made lately for the X-line in the last couple years has just about made me cringe, I sincerely doubt it'll be the latter.

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    7. The sad thing about Schism is that long-term, Wolverine was right. The problem is that for the immediate problem marching towards them, he was dead wrong, and had decided that it was his way or the highway. Since then he has gone off the deep end, and thinks that his right basic idea can be supported without any real foundation, and by putting trust in those who have been shown not to deserve it (Let's face it, in the Marvel U. the U.S. Government is pretty much a supervillainy group). He has now degenerated into screaming 'Scott bad! Scott evil!' instead of well, thinking even the slightest little bit. The loser of AvX wasn't Scott, it was Logan.

      Rothstein-Smash

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    8. Give Logan points for trying to integrate with humans, instead of hiding in some old base somewhere. If Cyclops and his crew don't like it, why don't they just build a colony in outer space. Problem solved. Bye bye, master racist

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    9. Is Cyclops a racist? His actions don't have any resemblance to what Magneto did in his old crazy days, you're probably not reading Uncanny X-Men since the beginning, Cyclops said that they're not going to tolerate any harm caused to mutants, and that he knew the human support he's getting and that they were gonna fight for them too, I don't get why people say he's a racist or even compare him to Magneto when his intentions aren't the same... hiding in some old base somewhere... you get that they're fugitives, right? They're not gonna follow the rules just because for example Captain America or Wolverine said so but well, maybe you just a Wolverine fanboy... not that that's bad but even someone like you have to see all the points...

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  5. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. As the 50th Anniversary... I was underwhelmed. But as the end for a standard Bat-Family Crossover event, this was pretty good. And it's been a LONG time since I could say that about a Marvel-run crossover.

    All in all, Battle for the Atom pleased me, and I'm intrigued to see where things go. I'll leave NXM and UXM on my pull list, and I think I may add Mr. Woods' title to it as well. I'm vaguely curious about the Shogo/Jubilee story now. Might pick up the next issue of WAXM just to see Logan spitting nails. Can't wait to hear him call Kitty and the Young X-Men, traitors and idiots and all other foul names because they dont' agree with him.

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  6. Whatever happened to Magik's Dormammu-fied form? She went back to looking her "Darkchilde" form she had back then. So much for writers and artists not getting the memo about characters' current statuses.

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  7. Shadowcat joined Smegheads Brotherhood?!?!?!!??! In same group with that bitch Emma Frost and this monster Magick, who ruined her romance with Colossus and also him??!!!????!
    Thats..thats it....im done. Earth 616 (Mainstream) is now oficially known as HELLHOLE and im totaly DONE WITH THAT!

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    1. *Emperor's voice: Hate flows through you....Good..Very good.

      Lol but on a serious note. Be patient but I guess since you see Cyke's team as the Brotherhood....maybe that be asking for too much

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    2. I been patient for more than 10 years and its only been worse and worse. I have enough. Like i say im done.

      And about Cyclops-for some time known as Smeghead, i never like that prick. And considering what he done to Madelyne Pryor and his X-force...He become X-men equivalent of Rimmer from Red Dwarf. (Jezz, i thing i have just insulted Rimmer.)
      And Cyke's realy acted as Brotherhood - they have Magik there and they "Mutant revolution" sound like something from Magnetos old days.

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    3. Magik isn't a bad person. She just have a misguided and screwed up sense of judgement. She's been broken several times and there wasn't anyone to be a positive role-model for her.

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  8. Thanks for the review! Honestly, despite a strong beginning, this event doesn't seem like it amounted to much. There was little character development, and seemingly nothing important changed. Logan and Scott still hate each other, with Logan somehow asserting himself as a moral authority. Beast still will not take any responsibility, and other characters like Storm, Rachel, Betsy, and Angel are still wallpaper. Also, given Bendis's penchant for throwing away his plot points, I'm not confident that the only major development that occurred, Kitty and the 05 leaving, will actually amount to anything important.

    On the plus side, we saw at least one Beast die, and Magik is still awesome! Thanks again for all the cool reviews.

    (Side-note: My friend told me about a a pretty awesome indie comic the other day, which has a lot of irreverent humor that reminds me of your reviews. www.manvsrock.com ... hopefully you like it!)

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  9. I'm going to say it again, BotA ruined Molly Hayes, no one cares about Molly Hayes.

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    1. Take it easy, it's not as if she will become that, her character needs more development that only time can bring if she gets featured on other teams, she was with the Runaways but she could join the X-Men in the future, I'm not a fan of her but I know how you could be feeling, just let this version of Molly pass, simple as that

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  10. I was not making any comments throughout the whole event until now... I liked the event, it was not that excellent (some details are not clear) but in the end I was satisfied with the ending. As I always say I'm not a Jean Grey fan, but I respect her a lot as a character, her presence was so much needed in this event, plus it made some justice for the character, you know... being dead and not taking a significant part on any storyline in some years.

    I'm very thrilled about what's going to happen next, Nightcrawler is coming back, Kitty joined Cyclops team (though I could see her still bitching about what he did, and tension with Emma as always) the O5 on their own and the upcoming crossover with the Guardians of the Galaxy, and finally what's next for the status quo of both schools.

    This is gonna be awesome.

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  11. Liked the first half of the series, but then the pacing was way off. Turn of events was too abrupt, which affected the gravity of events. Felt like I was reading a Cliff's Notes (for a comic!) Btw same thing is happening with Infinity. All of the sudden, the Builders are trashed and now an afterthought.

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  12. I liked this issue, but I didn't like the crossover. I think it takes some time to "digest" what happened. In the end I think "nothing" happened b/c the message was "nothing changes." Humans and mutants never fully trust each other, the X-men won't reunite and even some of the 'beloved' members become a new brotherhood. You REALLY have to re-read BOTA #1 to understand anything. The Future Xmen/Brotherhood are battling Sentinels, so that should've been a hint. But the whole Animax assassinating Dazzler doesn't make any sense. Even if she were controlled by humans there's no explanation of that. The "remaining" brotherhood bothers me b/c there *shouldn't* be any left. They killed Deadpool, Xorna imploded, Beast was killed, the Ice clone was taken out, Xavier I hope would've died either from Illyana's slash, or not being able to get away from Xorna's implosion...that really just leaves Raze and Molly and neither of them are interesting enough to keep around.

    I liked Xorna calling out Scott & Wolverine's Schism and blaming them (she should've blamed Beast tho for bringing her to the future!). I liked the Storm/Emma exchange. Emma sounded like EMMA "I don't take orders from you, btw hows the marriage?" NICE!! I like that the O5 are changing schools b/c it's a nice "chapter 2" and hopefully the next step is them on their own, maybe a third school?

    I think Kitty & the O5 going to Scott's side is fake. When Scott first offered students to join his school the JGS talked about needing someone to go undercover. I think they're using this opportunity to do just that.

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  13. I had a feeling this issue would generate a fuckton of comments and discussion. But once again, the wonderful readers of this blog surprise me. Thanks guys! Glad you're having fun commenting about this issue because it gave us a long list of shit to talk about. Based on what I've seen on message boards, a majority of fans didn't really care for this series. Most don't flat out hate it. They just didn't care for it. I still say that's a win considering how bad shit can go when an event walks the path of epic fail. I know it's a low standard, but hey it works for our education system. Rather than smart, it's okay if it just isn't stupid. Considering how fucked AvX and Fear Itself turned out, I'm perfectly okay with Battle of the Atom. I think it did a good job of shaking shit up. It would have been nice if the did less shaking and more refining, but I guess that would be too much to ask. With Thanksgiving around the corner, I think we as fans should just be thankful that Marvel isn't fucking shit up too bad...yet.

    Jack

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  14. Alright, just going to put it out there...unless I seriously missed something really important, in which case you can ignore this comment like a plague.... this whole conflict couldn't have happened. At least with the information we currently have on our hands.
    Think about it for a second, older Jean Gray NEVER went back to her original time. She was actually old enough that even Xavier, in the past, would notice that something was seriously amiss on her return. They even made a point showing how time reacts to changes (with Scott's temporal death).

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  15. First things first, I love your reviews they get to the point while still being hilarious at the same time. I've got mixed feelings on Battle of the Atom. Granted I am not a fan of the O5 x-men at all so while I understand why it was focused on them I find myself having a hard time being interested. I like the present x-men and the only thing the O5 bring is Jean a character I have always disliked. I am interested in the fact that of the future x-men only the O5 Jean appeared which made me wonder what happened to the rest. Maybe they went back without her. Kid Omega began to say they couldn't go back yet but was cut off quickly. The good had to be what resulted.
    Kitty left, I understand her reasons as she was ignored but honestly after adult Cyclops almost stopped existing I think her reasons are stupid. The kids have to go back or time will and may get seriously messed up. The O5 can get mad about there life being decided for them but they seem to be forgetting that there future selves are them, they made the decisions that resulted in what happened, well that and the random shit life throws at you which everyone gets. She broke up with Ice man which made me happy because frankly after her fit he should have broken up with her. One of the O5 is him, if the kid dies Ice Man of now will not exist. It's selfish of her to yell at him for being in favor of not wiping out his own existence.
    Still I want to see how Kitty changes adult Cyclop's team, maybe she can see his point of view and since she's already seen and agreed with Wolverines maybe Kitty will be the one who can heal the Schism. And maybe Warbird will get a shot at Ice Man now lol.

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    1. While not well explained on page (hopefully better explained in Uncanny), I think part of Kitty's anger is not only did they not listen to her, but they trusted the future X-Men without any real debate at all. Them turning out to really be the Brotherhood only made it worse. Add in the O5 moving away from the JGS and her reasons to leave became more important than her reasons for staying.

      I only wish Jean could have telekinetically ripped her name off the gates on the way out. I can't imagine she would be happy with the realization that he name is being used to divide rather than unite.

      Rothstein-Smash

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    2. I think you may be right. Just because someone is from the future doesn't mean they're incapable of bullshitting you. In fact, I would argue that people from the future are far more capable of bullshitting everybody. But to be fair, the X-men have had better luck trusting others from the future in the past. So I think it's not entirely unreasonable that they would give the future X-men/Brotherhood the benefit of the doubt.

      But yes, I do think that if Jean broke the gates on the way out, that would have been infinitely more badass!

      Jack

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