Thank God Robert Kirkman has fucked off out of this series. Clearly I'm not the only one thinking this, as Aron Eli Coleite has come on board and is quickly trying to undo as much of the damage Kirkman did to the series as he can. Jean Grey has returned, both to the school and to her normal self. She and Scott are back together and all the Phoenix stuff seems to have been forgotten about. There is a cursory mention of Nightcrawler still leading the Morlocks, but apparently he doesn't have to be there as he has returned to the X-Men as well, and seems to have completely dealt with his homophobia (that said I didn't actually mind the fact that Kurt had so much difficulty dealing with Peter's sexuality).
And once again the X-Men are playing baseball against the Academy of Tomorrow (although no Lorna! What's with that?), this time joined by newest recruit Liz Allen, who has crossed over from Spider-Man to X-Men now that she has developed powers and become the Ultimate version of Firestar. I love the fact that the Ultimate comics are all linked so closely and that this sort of thing can happen without too much hassle. Equally in this run we get to see Spider-Man, still working with Shadowcat (in her new costume) as Wolverine pops in to pay them a visit (the fact that these two are working together makes me wonder if Coleite is also attempting to fix the continuity problems Ultimate Power presented to the X-Men).
But the baseball is interrupted by the appearance of Alpha Flight, and there are a few curious things going on with these guys. Their Ultimisation (if I may coin the term) brings out some interesting twists to Marvel characters - Sasquatch is now Rahne Sinclair, while Jubilee is a member of the Flight. Gone are Box and Puck, but Shaman, Aurora and Snowbird are all in, while Guardian is going by the name Vindicator. Wolverine's assocition with Alpha Flight remains, though curiously Vindicator fails to recognise Wolverine when he calls him "Mac" suggesting that something is going on with Vindicator that may play out later (indeed this seems to be confirmed when Rogue attacks Vindicator and he is horrified that someone knows his secret).
With Alpha Flight having kidnapped Northstar, Colossus is keen to go after them, but Cyclops says no and so Colossus leaves and forms his own team of X-Men. However, here's the cool bit - Colossus, though able to turn himself into metal, does not have super strength and therefore needs a drug called Banshee to enhance his powers - Banshee giving non-mutants powers, and mutants enhanced or additional powers. It's a great concept and one that works well in the X-Men universe. When Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Angel and Rogue all join Colossus team, they take the drug and become something quite different - Angel actually changes into a bird. Cyclops goes undercover with their team, but is forced to take the drug and when he does he goes absolutely loopy, even as the rest become addicted.
And, of course, Wolverine also shows traces of the drug - except it turns out that he IS Banshee.
It's a complex plot, and ties into something that Magneto and Xavier did many years ago when they first arrived in the Savage Lands, and for that Wolverine goes straight after Xavier in retaliation for what has happened. However, it turns out that Moira MacTaggert is behind it all (and behind her is Quicksilver) and she has developed a sonic scream from taking the drug (which is a nice reference to the normal universe as the X-Man Banshee has the power of a sonic scream).
All in all, Coleite has taken the X-Men series is a very good direction, starting off with some sweeping changes, making some bold revelations (not only about Alpha Flight, but also things like Iceman's arm breaking off but him being able to regenerate it) and sowing the seeds for some interesting stories to come.
"A"
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