X-Men: Second Coming #2 - Second Coming part 14
Jul 15th, 2010 | By Jason Kerouac | Category: Marvel, Reviews
Written by Zeb Wells, Mike Carey, Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost, and Matt Fraction
Art by Ibraim Roberson, Esad Ribic, Greg Land, and the Dodsons
Cover by Adi Granov
***Spoilers ahead!!!***
Well, that sucked. Sorry, but this was NOT a final issue to Second Coming. Instead, it was exactly what Ben complained about in Green Lantern #53 - Rather than closing this story off in any way, shape, or form, it instead merely set up the status quo for the books coming out of the event.
Who or what is Hope? We still don’t know.
DID Vanisher really die? :shrugs:
What is Magneto’s place within the X-family? Got me!
This isn’t to say that this issue didn’t get at least a few things right. Cable’s funeral was amazing. Everything it should have been. I still mourn the character’s passing - moreso than Nightcrawler’s, personally - but this was the funeral he deserved. Speaking of Nightcrawler, we get a nice nod to him in conjunction with a great scene between Wolverine and Storm. Still, this might have served better as the first issue of New X-Force, or even as a component of some stand alone title.
And that’s exactly the problem here. This is more the first chapter of the next generation of the X-Men then it is the last chapter of the current era. I suppose it’s just semantics, but to me, it’s an important distinction. To this end, however, we do have one last bright, shining success. The final page of this book is exactly what the final page of this book needed to be, and it was a moment that got me a bit choked up and every bit as excited. You can likely guess what happened, but I’ll leave it to you to see for yourself.
X-Men: Second Coming #2 gets a lopsided 3.5 out of 5… there are some pages that warrant full 5’s, and others entirely that barely deserve 2’s.
Oh, and one final note, re: the New X-Force roster… Warren was an obvious choice and I called Betsy a while back. That said, Deadpool is already overexposed and Fantomex is often written as nothing more than a Deadpool clone, so I do NOT like the way this team has shaped up. Then again, I thought I’d hate the original roster of the Logan-led X-Force, and it became one of my favorite books ever. Can Remender do what Kyle and Yost did? Time will tell.
I have not read this yet, but any news on where they are going to put Warpath? He was an “decent” addition to the Uncanny team a few years ago, but I feel he really shined in X-Force. I wish they would have kept him on this new X-Force team. And yeah, as you pretty much said, I could do w/o Fantomex. Not a big fan. He should have died in Morrison’s New X-Men run.
They got a lot of things right here, I thought. I’m sure you loved Land actually drawing Scott putting on his jetpack
I thought Logan/Storm was great, as was Namor/Hank. Truthfully, I’d say pretty much all of the character moments were spot-on in this issue. I still can’t help but think you’re still right. i don’t know what I thought the last issue of this story was going to be, but I know it most certainly wasn’t this. Still, i don’t think that makes it a bad book.
@Ric: Fantomex COULD have been a cool character, I think. Instead, he’s only ever been either a clone of Gambit of a clone of Deadpool or somewhere between the two. Even that last option wouldn’t be so bad, if they weren’t planning on putting him on a team WITH DEADPOOL! Make him a wise cracking thief or a debonair merc, but make up your mind and keep him in character.
@Lee: It’s not a bad comic book, but it’s not a good last chapter of a story, and that’s exactly what it’s meant to be. Again, if the final chapter of Second Coming had already come out, and this was X-Men: New Genesis or something… that could be great. It isn’t though. And that’s a shame.
And fuck that jetpack scene. He didn’t even USE it in this issue, and he’s NEVER worn it in any other book that I recall. I’m going to go on record right now and say it. Greg Land ruined Kick-Ass the Movie.
HA!^^^
im sad. (wait, you say its a comic book death and that i only have to wait a year to see cable again?!) *phew!*
Because Greg Land couldn’t find anyone with Laura Kinney’s hairstyle to trace, he just decided to give her a new hairstyle. Which, until Logan calls her “X”, I didn’t know who the hell he was talking to. When did she have time to go get her hair done? I must have missed that scene… *rolls eyes*
I was actually considering buying this in trade… until I read this:
“Rather than closing this story off in any way, shape, or form, it instead merely set up the status quo for the books coming out of the event.”
THIS is why I don’t buy X-men comics anymore. Going as far back as Deadly Genesis, there hasn’t been a satisfying resolution to any of their stories. Everything just leads into the big thing. I’m sure it’s cool if you’re a faithful subscriber, but it’s a nightmare for a casual reader that just wants to read a good X-story. Get me to keep following your story because you intrigued me, not because you’re forcing me to.