The Incredible Hulk by Jason Aaron vol. 1 (comics)

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artists: Marc Silvestri, Whilce Portacio
Collects: Incredible Hulk (vol. 4) #1-7

Jason Aaron is a writer who has yet to let me down. That said, I didn't have high hopes for this book. It was announced that Jason Aarons run on the book was, for whatever reason, wrapping up long before the first volume even hit paperback to make way for a new primary Hulk title under the Marvel NOW! banner. That's just not enough time to put together a classic, memorable run and I adjusted my expectations accordingly.

Still, I think the potential was there as the book has an intriguing high concept; what if Bruce Banner was the real monster of the two personalities? Somehow, Hulk has found a way to physically separate the two, allowing them to go their own way. Only problem is that something is clearly wrong with Banner, who has gone off the deep end now that he's been separated from the Hulk; he creates an island full of transformed abominations in his continued effort to recreate the accident that led to the Hulk and is now a danger to the world.

This time, it's the Hulk who has to stop Bruce Banner.

I like the role reversal. It's such a simple idea, but one that we - that I'm aware of - have not seen before. The trouble is, I'm not sure it does the character any favors. The story seems to say that it's possible, had the Hulk never existed, Banner may have ended up as crazed and dangerous to the world as we see him here. I'm not sure that's something I completely buy; in any origin, Banner was at least a good enough person to have been willing to risk his life saving a reckless teenager.

Actually, this seems to be a little bit of a trend of late. I notice some writers have been interested in sort of "redeeming" the Hulk in a way, or making him seem less like a danger and more like a misunderstood teddy bear. It feels like there have been attempts to tone down the destructive qualities of the Hulk, or curb anything that might make him look bad; one glaring example being the time they tried to sell us on the idea that no one had ever died during a Hulk rampage, which even in the realm of fiction is ridiculous. The Hulk is admittedly cool and he represents something we all can relate to - that angry side of us we repress - but I guess I'm trying to say that occasionally it feels as though writers prefer to give him excuses within the narrative.

It's troubling, because I think it dilutes the appeal somewhat. The story does have an out, however; obviously, Hulk couldn't pull off the separation on his own and the person he recieved help from is not known for being the most moral individual. Still, we're clearly meant to at least question if this was who Bruce Banner would have become all along - a mad scientist unleashed - and I feel like something about that question wrecks the dynamic.

Had this been it's own thing - divorced from modern continuity and allowed to simply be, or at least separate enough that you can decide if it's canon or not - it would be a wonderful thing to explore. As it is, it's still an interesting idea and I do want to read the second half of the run. I just have my misgivings.

The art takes a similar approach to Wolverine and the X-Mens first volume - the first three issues with the star artist while another handles some after that - but the switch is far worse than that books. We start off with Marc Silvestri - who has a style I can enjoy well enough - and go right to Whilce Portacio. I hate being down on someones art, I really do, but this is not the first time I've encountered this guys work. I'm sad to say he has not managed to improve a lot since then. There's a higher ratio of decent pages, but the faces, poses and bodies are still borked. The last thing I want to do is begrudge a guy for getting work, but I can't get past how ugly his art can be at times.

The Score: 7 out of 10

An interesting high concept and some good writing manage to elevate this book, but the issues with said concept and the lackluster art in the second half of the book hurt it. I also have to look at the fact that there is only one more volume to this run, which leads me to believe there's little chance it had enough time to reach its full potential. Worth a look if you're a Hulk fan and would like a new take on him.

Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen vol. 1 (comics)

Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Carlos Pacheco, Brandon Peterson
Collects: Uncanny X-Men #1-4 (2011)

You might want to grab something to eat and drink, because this might be a long one.

The X-Men are pretty good stand-ins for just about any minority group - Bryan Singer did a lot of parallels to gays in the films - but I think we can all agree that they were always meant to represent the Civil Rights movement and the general fight for minorities to receive the same rights as white people. The parallels were as on-the-nose as you get; Xaviers Dream was basically Martin Luther King Jr.s idealogy brought to color comics, while Magneto represented the stance of "by any means necessary".

For the longest time, it was pretty clear who the heroes were supposed to be; the X-Men were the group fighting for a better tomorrow for everyone, while Magneto was the man who wanted results right now and would do anything he had to - down to committing straight up genocide - in order to get it. In the past decade, the waters have muddied considerably. Since Cyclops took over for Xavier as the figurehead of the group, the X-Men have slowly but surely veered into ideology resembling Magneto more than Xavier, imbuing the property with the sort of cynicism that befits 90's Anti-Heroes rather than a true group of heroes. Crap like that is what led to Cable.

"By any means necessary" is an attractive mantra. That may even be a fair take for certain characters or groups. But the X-Men are meant to be heroes - to represent something better - and typically heroes are not supposed to go down that road. They are supposed to be the group that believes in a better way and a better tomorrow so we can believe along with them. They may be forced to make tough decisions and take a harder route, but the path closest to the abyss should not even be an option for them. It's why Batman never kills Joker even though we're long since past the point where anyone would blame him. It's not the heroic action; and while Batman may lurk in the darkness, it - as Grant Morrison has laid bare in his run - should never be in his heart.

The X-Men have strayed. It finally came to a head in-universe in Schism, where Wolverine and half the mutants left over it. You'd figure it would have happened sooner - Beast realized where things were going a while ago and reacted accordingly - but better late than never.

Going to those extremes will result in fear. The sad part is that fear happens to be the thing the X-Men have been fighting from the start. Now they've decided to fight it with... more fear. Not a good way to get people to accept you. It breeds resentment. Makes them want to see your downfall. The X-Men have begun to resemble the oppressive instead of the oppressed, which is everything that the humans of the Marvel universe feared. Eventually, that poisoned fruit is gonna come to bear.

Going by this volume, I assume Kieron Gillen realizes that and is deliberately showing that things are going a bit too far. It's made pretty clear those still on Utopia resemble the Brotherhood of Mutants moreso than the X-Men. Everyone there save Storm has at one point been a villain. Everything is harsh, right down to the language. Cyclops labels them the Extinction Team and outright states that they are to fight back with fear. Obviously, this is not going to end well.

Storm is the voice of the reader here, asking "what the hell" of Scott and his ideas. I kind of wondered why she had been kept on the Utopia team - and I'm not sure I completely bought the in-story reasoning from the Tribal War Dance Recruitment Special - but for the purpose of the book her role is clear. She's the voice of reason, the one member that hasn't forgotten what the team represented.

Anyways, I'm rambling on a lot about themes, where the franchise has gone wrong and so forth without really discussing the conflict of the story. Well, it involves Mister Sinister, who has basically hijacked a Celestial and thought taking over folks bodies, essentially making them his clones, would be a good time. Mister Sinister has a bad rep, since he's been a critical part of some of the worst X-Men stories, many from the 90's. Gillen sort of redeems the character through making him an entertaining adversary while sidestepping the crap that made him unbearable at times.

After that we have a one shot supplementing the previous arc - basically explaining how Sinister discovered the means to do the things he did in the main arc - while also telling it's own tidy little tale. It focuses on the last of the Phalanx, which Sinister had captured at some point in the past, sparing it from the death of its kind. The story is almost sad, showing us a monster that does not understand a way of life separate from the hive mind and only wants to hear the collective voice of his bretheran. It's a being caught in the grip of loneliness and - when he discovers there's nothing left of his kind - despair.

The conclusion was foregone - because geez it devoured an entire town without a second thought, what other option did the X-Men have? - but it's a testament to the writing that you feel for it in some small way.

On the art side of things, we have the typically great work you'd expect from Carlos Pacheco. More surprising is the work by Brandon Peterson, whom I'm unfamiliar with. A quick search shows he's been in the business for a while, but if I've seen his work before I can't recall. He's pretty good at drawing the X-Men, but it's his depiction of the Phalanx that stands out. They look like this creepy mix of metal and code come to life, similar to how I've seen the alter ego of Cipher drawn in the past. I'm not sure if they've always looked that way or not, but the art is effective nonetheless.

So, great writing and good art combined with a continuance of a direction I've hated for years now. Ain't that always the way?

The Score: 7.5 out of 10

This volume of Uncanny X-Men is well written and well drawn, but I have a hard time getting into it. While Wolverine and the X-Men took a wonderful, fun approach that built on the basics the X-Men have thrived on for so long, this book is the evolution of everything the X franchise has done in the past eight years or so. It's an approach that seems to betray the X-Men and is, ultimately, not for me. Even so, it's an enjoyable read. Enough that I'll continue if the library keeps it stocked. I'm curious as to whether the kingdom eventually crumbles.

Cyclops Douchebaggery Alert: I think this might be the most blatant example of all. Dude flat out drafts a letter to the nations of the world saying "we'll still protect you if you need it, but if you so much as look at us funny we're going to kick your ass". Setting aside that this is basically a threat that justifies many of the fears people had of mutants - without a direct visible counterpoint as the X-Men used to be to Magneto - it's basically just asking to be wiped out. Keep in mind that, thus far, they've managed to get away with seceding from the US on their own little island nation - actions that I'd say are typically frowned upon - have deaths directly tied to them and have Magneto of all people on the team. There's such a thing as pushing your luck; I may have said it before, but if someone were to feel threatened and drop a nuke or something on Utopia, maybe all of three people would have a mutant power that would save their ass.

This, of course, being part of his brilliant plan to make everyone fear the X-Men so they don't try anything. Because there's no way that could possibly go wrong. It's not like they ever, say, feared Magneto - who threatened total global catastrophe on more than one occasion - and attacked anyways before, right? Oh Cyclops, you tactical genius.

Also, the Extinction Team? Scott, you asshole. How do you THINK people are going to take that one?

X-Men: FF (comics)

Writer: Victor Gischler
Artists: Jorge Molina, Will Conrad, Mirco Pierfederici
Collects: X-Men Vol. 3 #15.1, 16-19

So far the third volume of X-Men had been a fun enough read. "Curse of the Mutants" was decent enough for what it was. With Great Power was a hair better. There was an interim volume - X-Men: First to Last - but it wasn't anything special and I didn't have much to say about it. It wasn't by the regular writer anyways.

So that brings me to X-Men: FF, which is the first volume of the book that I feel outright failed.

The plots aren't anything special. The FF find some interdimensional bouy out in the Bermuda Triangle (Spider-Man is the one who discovers it, in fact, though for some reason that'll be the only time you see him). The FF call in the X-Men. They all go into another dimension on a rescue mission.

Unfortunately, the writing feels weaker than usual. The flow of the plot feels off at times and we have the by-now-expected issue of the characters not sounding themselves, Doctor Doom being the only real exception. This has been a consistent problem with Gischlers run on this book, but it's made worse here by the inclusion of another team of characters he doesn't seem to get.

This is not entirely unexpected; Gischlers run on X-Men hasn't had what you'd call great writing. It's competant enough to skate by when paired with fun plots. Problem is, FF is kind of a clunker. There isn't anything particularly interesting going on and anything new he introduces won't exactly qualify as original. I'm not entirely sure why it had to be another dimension the teams traveled to, as this story could just as easily have worked in the Savage Land. There are even dinosaurs running around.

Wonderful art has made up for problems with the writing in the past. Gischler doesn't have as much luck this time. The art is perfectly fine - hell, I'd go so far as to say it's pretty good overall - but there's nothing about it that might differentiate it from most of the artists in Marvels stable. It doesn't have the flair or uniqueness of a Paco Medina or Chris Bachalo, who both worked on earlier volumes, so it does not have as much luck drawing attention away from the iffy writing.

There's a point one issue stuffed in here as well - with the very short lived female Ghost Rider showing up - but it's completely forgettable. Something about ancient spirits. It's nothing you'll bother to recall when you're done reading it.

The Score: 5 out of 10

By far the weakest entry into the third volume of X-Men to date. It's self contained and affects nothing. Skip it.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution (video game)

Platform: Playstation 3
Developer: Eidos Montreal
Genre: Action, Role-Playing, First Person Shooter, Stealth
Release Date: August 23rd, 2011

I'm often surprised at how little cyberpunk is used in video games. With current struggles and the power corporations wield in current US politics, the genre is more relevant than ever. Yet somehow it remains something of a niche genre. Sure, you can name some really good ones - including this games forebearer - but how many big budget games focus on it, or even partially utilize it*?

Here comes Deus Ex: Human Revolution to help fill the gap. It has one hell of a legacy to live up to. Does it?

You are Adam Jensen, chief of security for a top biotech firm. You have a... complicated relationship with your ex, who got you the job, and are set to escort her to Washington to reveal her revolutionary findings that could change everything in the field of human augmentation. That's when everything goes to hell. The building is attacked and after fighting valiantly, you end up mutilated. You may as well change your status from "it's complicated" as well, since she apparently died in the attack despite your best efforts.

Six months later, you return to work, newly augmented and struggling to understand what happened and why. Your quest to find the truth will bring you neck deep into a conspiracy that spans the globe. Welcome to 2027 Detroit. It's only going to get worse from here.

If you're familiar with the original Deus Ex, you can already tell this one is a prequel. We're twenty five years into that games past, on the cusp of a technological revolution. At first glance, that sounds like a bad idea, but the change in time period allows the game to carve out a look and identity of it's own. It's a different period, with problems both new and as old as time.

It allows the developers to explore what it might look like to live in a time period where such things might be a reality. It starts to resemble the racial issues we as a species have always struggled with; the fear of the unknown and those different from ourselves. The politics, the discussions, all of it feels realistic, as though it were a natural progression from the conflicts of today. E-Books scattered around the maps also help to add detail. The effect is a world that feels as though it's fully realized and lived-in.

Sound is a bit more mixed a bag. Not so much the soundtrack, mind you - which is excellent - but the voice acting. It can and will range from very good to just okay. Since he's the protagonist, Adam Jensens voice acting sticks out the most; there are some great moments of subtle emotion in the voice - an argument early in the game where he slowly loses his cool, depending on which responses you go with, is a nice example - but other times monotone is the default. Sadly, the age old video game problem of "characters with accents they should not have" is also present.

Gameplay is always important and Human Revolution hasn't strayed too far from its predecessor. Choice is again the word of the day, with your decisions on how to proceed seeming to change the world around you. At times, this will affect even the most minor of things, such as NPC dialogue; your actions in the first mission, for example, will alter the reaction and dialogue you receive from the SWAT members at the end, as well as the civilians working at Sarif Headquarters. The little touches add to the experience.

That choice also extends to how you deal with enemies. You can play it like John Rambo if you want, shooting up everything in sight, or you could do like Solid Snake and deal with problems silently. That said, it's pretty clear there's a "right" way to play the game; you'll find you gain more experience in the long run through stealth takedowns and bonuses for remaining undetected. Same goes for non-lethal weapons. You can do what you want, but it ends up making a hell of a lot more sense to deal with problems in the most efficient way possible.

There's so much about Human Revolution that I love. But - and you had to know a but was coming - it's not perfect. There are two issues in particular that nag at me and must be addressed.

The first issue is the boss battles. Simply put, they do not play fair with the player. You may recall that Deus Ex allowed you to play a pacifist throughout the entire game, including boss battles. If you didn't want to kill anyone, you weren't forced to. Almost all of Human Revolution is structured the same way; if anything, non-lethal action is practically encouraged as noted earlier.

All except the boss battles. You are left with no non-lethal options here. You must kill the bosses. From a story perspective, it makes sense; the bosses are all members of the team that seemingly killed your kinda-sorta-not-really girlfriend and mutilated you in the opening - the latter of which leaving Jensen with no choice but to be augmented or die - so Jensen has a pretty legit reason to want to shoot them in the face. From a gameplay perspective, it's a nightmare on your first playthrough unless someone warned you it was coming.

If you're anything like me, you realized early that stealth and takedowns are the methods with the most reward. This is even worse if you played Deus Ex and the rest of Human Revolution tricked you into thinking you could do the whole "mercy" thing for the the entirety of this game too. Which means, ten to one, you dumped most of your early praxis points into stealth and hacking upgrades, eschewing the ones pertaining to gunplay. You probably sold any lethal weapons and upgrades you may have picked up as well. Bad move.

The first boss is a wake-up call you just don't see coming. It's likely you have no armor upgrades at that point - if you're playing a proper stealth run you likely figured you wouldn't need it - meaning he'll shred you in seconds. Worse still, he's essentially a walking tank that will no-sell your weapons. Then, the capper; if you had no intention of killing anyone, you probably sold all your lethal weapons for cash and space. The boss room anticipates this possibility and does provide you with weapons, but you're still walking in unprepared.

In this situation, abuse of the cover system is necessary to get past him. Even that's not a guarantee; he's frequently moving toward you and moving around your cover, because it's not like he needs to duck behind something to avoid gunfire or anything.

The second problem I had pertained to the endings. Put bluntly, they're a complete letdown. You have four options, but no matter which one you choose you get a voiceover narration of Adam musing on what he's done, his choices and whether humanity will move in the right direction. It wraps nothing but the main plot thread. Anything pertaining to Jensen, his friends, unfinished business and where the characters would go from here receives exactly zero closure. While I realize it leaves quite a bit to be dealt with should a sequel be made in this time period - and the fact that it bothers me at all can be seen as a triumph, since it means I care about the characters - it makes for an unsatisfactory conclusion to the twenty to thirty hour game you just finished.

Niether problem is enough to sink it, but they are a pair of black marks on an otherwise great game.

The Score: 8.5 out of 10

It isn't perfect and isn't quite on the level of the original Deus Ex, but Human Revolution is a worthy successor to the franchise. I'm kind of hoping for a sequel set in this time period, but I'll be there for a sequel regardless of when it takes place. Well worth your time and money.

* Final Fantasy VII - one of my favorite RPG's - is guilty of this. The first quarter of the game is heavy on the cyberpunk influence. The dystopic cityscape, the corporation that rules over everything and does what it wants, the conspiracies, the cover-ups for the ill deeds of said corporation; right up until the last few scenes in Midgar, where the game shifts to a bit more typical "save the world" plot, the game is dripping in it. There's still strands of it in the games DNA, but once you leave Midgar in the dust it's mostly abandoned. It's interesting to think about what could have been had the game stuck to it. It likely would have made for a tighter story; as great as Final Fantasy VII is and as much as I love it, the game was all over the map at times.

Mega Man 10 (video game)

Platform: PSN, X-Box Live Arcade, Wiiware
Developer: Inti Creates
Genre: Action, Platformer
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Release Date: March 1, 2010

I think I came down on Mega Man 9 harder than I intended to. It was a very good game, but it was not perfect. I had issues with it, to put it plainly, but I did not hate it.

I still have some of those same reservations - yet again, Mega Man has nothing past the basic controls of Mega Man 2 - but this time the game is just too damn good to care.

Story is simple, as it always is. This time, a virus is going around. The kicker? It only effects robots. It's their version of the flu, basically. Dr. Wily shows up saying none of it is on him - I'd say spoiler alert, but come on, I'm not telling you anything you don't know when I say he's full of shit - and that the crazed robots have taken the device he had used to develop a cure. Mega Man takes Wily at his word - I guess he forgot the last time Wily pulled the "fetch my stolen crap" trick with the Peace Keeping Robot from 3 - and goes to smash some robot heads together.

While the things that annoyed me with 9 carry over, everything else has improved. It's clear Inti Creates took all the lessons they learned from making Mega Man 9 and applied them to 10, because everything is just that much better. Mega Man 10 has what is easily my favorite group of levels since Mega Man 2, with a wonderful amount of variety, great gimmicks, interesting looks and killer design. The music is even better this time around - I thought 9 had a great soundtrack, but I wasn't fond of a couple themes - with an eclectic group of Robot Masters and subsequent power-ups. Some of the power-ups were even worth using outside of the boss battles for me, which is a far rarer occurrence than you'd think*.

Even the endgame is improved. Dr. Wily's Super Death Trap Castle is as frustratingly crazy as ever and the bosses are just as bad. The "Yellow Devil" version of this game is the Block Devil, which is almost fiendish, even once you get the pattern down, since it's made up of the blocks from the floor and wall. Meaning that being knocked off the ledge to your death is a concern. Then, after Wily has thrown everything he can at you and the game seems over, it has one last trick up its sleeve.

There are even some advancements to be found in the gameplay if you're willing to venture outside of Mega Man. Proto Man is available in the stock game - shield and all - and he has the slide move that used to be a staple of Mega Man's moveset. Meanwhile, Bass is available as DLC - complete with his ability to fire in eight directions from Mega Man and Bass - and he can combine with his robodog Treble, an ability that's been unavailable to us since the Rush Adapter in 7.

Oh, speaking of the DLC, I didn't bother with 9, but I got it this time. It was worth the money. Bass is, of course, fun to play as. But also on offer is the "Endless Stage" mode, a marathon session where your only objective is to stay alive for as many screens as you possibly can. Unfortunately, only Mega Man is on offer for this mode, but that does not make it any less addictive. I've dropped cash on worse DLC, for certain.

All told, 10 may just be one of the best entries in the Classic Mega Man series.

The Score: 9 out of 10

Mega Man 10 is pretty close to perfect. Well worth your cash. Tenth time's the charm.

* This might just be me, but for the classic series, I tend to find the different powers impractical for use outside of the designated boss they're strong against. The first a second game had some fairly practical powers, but as the series wore on it seemed like they ran out of interesting things to give you. This is all not to say that 10 doesn't have it's duds; Thunder Wool is completely useless and the Water Shield - which works the same way as the Leaf Shield from 2 - isn't a hell of a lot better.

Mega Man 9 (video game)

Platform: PSN, X-Box Live Arcade, WiiWare
Developer: Inti Create
Genre: Action, Platformer
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Release Date: September 22, 2008

There's been a bit of a "retro" revival lately. Sonic the Hedgehog attempted a middle ground between the modern day and the past with Sonic 4. But before the other blue hero decided to get back to his roots to win back his fans, Mega Man had the same idea. The main difference is that he went all the way, regressing back to his 8-bit heydey for this latest adventure.

Plot was never a focus in the Mega Man games and this one doesn't break the mold. Dr. Wily frames Dr. Light and Mega Man has to smack around some robots to clear his name. As expected, it's not much more than an excuse for our pixelated hero to fight eight more master robots - even including a female for the first time in series history - and traverse Wily's Super Deathtrap Castle to shoot him in the face.

Mega Man 9 is fanservice of the highest order. A lot of time and effort has clearly gone into recreating the classic Mega Man experience, right down to making an intentionally bad box cover* just to complete the illusion. The graphics, the controls, the music, the effects; everything has recieved painstaking attention to detail, to the point where the only evidence that 7 and 8 ever existed is maybe Auto and the item shop. That's the problem.

A lot of people more articulate than I have gone into detail about why nostalgia - and attempting to recreate things based around it - is a doomed effort. The Iceberg Lounge has a pretty good piece about this, so I'll just say "go read what he has to say" and I won't go into too much detail about that particular subject. But that's the gist of what we're looking at here; they've tried so hard to hit those nostalgia centers that they've taken the series ten steps backwards, to the point where the controls have regressed back to what we had in Mega Man 2.

That's not good for a game series and in fact it actually leads to stagnation. Quick, how many of you ever think of 4, 5 and 6 whenever Mega Man is brought up? Exactly. They were pretty good games, overall, but that was the period in which the series had begun to stall. Rather than jump to the Super Nintendo, the franchise stuck with the then-outdated NES and any improvements made were incremental at best.

See, video games have to keep moving and keep improving. Otherwise, they may as well be the equivalent of a mission pack extension of the older games. What would Final Fantasy have looked like if it never progressed past the first game? We'd have lost a lot of things, such as the job class to start. Why has the Katamari series begun to lose some of its cult fanbase? Because the series refuses to move forward in any meaningful way. Say what you want about 7 and 8 - and they had dumb ideas, like the soccer ball mechanic from 8 - but they were attempts to finally move forward instead of lingering in the past.

Which brings me back to Mega Man 9. It's about as perfect a piece of 8-bit gaming as you can find. It's fun, it's challenging and engaging. But it's so deeply rooted in the past that I wonder it maybe they've gone too far. They're shooting for one demographic here - the people who grew up with NES Mega Man games - and in that regard I wonder if they've forgotten other demographics exist. I've heard more than one story of a parent seeing Mega Man 9 as their own personal nirvana while their kid just didn't get what the big deal was.

If the series is to continue past Mega Man 10, I'm hoping they get back to moving forward again. If you must, keep the pixelated graphics. But man, at least evolve the gameplay a bit, even if you just end up bringing things back from the later games in the series.

The Score: 8 out of 10

A well polished game that is arguably too much of a blast to the past. It's a great game, but I can't help but feel like it's a step back for the franchise instead of a step forward. But if old school Mega Man is your thing, have at it. Just don't be too surprised that the game is basically Mega Man 2 with a fresh coat of paint**.

* This is an amusing thing to go ahead and replicate. Sure, everyone remembers the insanely bad cover for the first Mega Man, but that was the only one that was flat out wrong. Mega Man 2's had a lot of inaccuracies, but was far closer. Past that the cover art nailed the look of the characters.

** This is not necessarily a bad thing. Mega Man 2 is easily my favorite in the classic series, maybe even in the entire franchise. I'm not sure I wanted a remix of it, though.

Wolverine and the X-Men Vol. 1 (comic)

Writer: Jason Aaron
Artists: Chris Bachalo, Nick Bradshaw
Collects: Wolverine and the X-Men #1-4

You'll recall in my review of Schism that I named this the book I was looking forward to the most out of anything. Funnily enough, I ended up reading the Uncanny X-Men relaunch first. I didn't review it - I've yet to decide if I want to - and in case I don't bother the short version is Cyclops and his not-so-merry band of X-Men continue to be stuck too far up their own asses. This comic is the exact opposite; it's funny, visually interesting, packed with great characters and never dull.

It's the X-Men book I've been waiting a long time for.

The setup will be familiar to almost anyone; we're back on the school grounds again, arguably where the X-Men belong. Schism surprisingly plays more of a role here than it did in Uncanny. The Kid Helfire Club - who you'll recall orchestrated everything that happened in Schism - decide it would be pretty funny if Logans new school blew up on the first day. So they blow it up on the day the board of education is visiting the school to evaluate. Hilarity ensues. Also Krakoa is involved. This all takes place in the first three issues, I remind you. The fourth issue is a standalone bridging our introductory arc and what comes next.

At first I felt Jason Aaron got the raw deal out of the split, with most of the power players sticking with boring Scott and his sinking island, but as it turns out he got the better end of the bargain. His eclectic group of mutants immediately proves themselves an engaging group, even as it becomes clear they're way out of their depth. The new kids are endearing and the old favorites are just as great. Everything simply works right from the first issue.

You can probably imagine my delight when I found out Chris Bachalo was on art duties. Turns out, he manages three issues before we need a fill in. But they are three stylish, visually striking issues. His exagerrated, animated style works perfect for a book like this; there are a couple of panels that aren't entirely clear in their storytelling, but they end up being minor issues in an otherwise beautiful book. Nick Bradshaw is also a strong artist in his own right and if he's the guy they have in mind for trading off art duties with Bachalo I'll have no complaints.

But there's just one other problem that has nothing to do with the contents themselves. The issue count. They want fifteen dollars SRP for four issues. This is quickly becoming standard at Marvel and it's starting to work on my last nerve. Once in a while is fine, but deliberately splitting stories or putting in a low issue count just to get more money out of the consumer is just low. I'm even more annoyed this time, because this is a series I'm buying rather than borrowing from the library.

The Score: 9 out of 10

If you are an X-Men fan and you don't like this book, I can only conclude that you either hate fun or are one of those odd souls that prefer King Cyclops and his team of villains.