Uncanny X-Men Moving to San Fran Gave the X-Men a Brief Glimpse of Celebrity, but Now Simon Trask and Norman Osborn Are Ready to ‘Reign’ on Their Parade by Chris M
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BOOK OF THE MONTH 34 UNCANNY X-MEN Moving to San Fran gave the X-Men a brief glimpse of celebrity, but now Simon Trask and Norman Osborn are ready to ‘reign’ on their parade by Chris m. Arnone att Fraction knows that the secret to keeping Uncanny X-Men humming is to play up the soap opera behind Mar- vel’s Merry Mutants. M Calling his tenure on the House of Ideas’ premier X-book a “dream” project, Fraction has instituted major changes: The I’ve ever written.” do?” Fraction summed up his choice of X-Men have relocated to San Francisco, Yet despite the public support of mutant team members with, “Who was going to Cyclops’ secret death-squad (aka X- rights by SanFran’s mayor, in Dark Aveng- deliver just raw-ass bang-for-buck in the Force) has caused dissention in the ranks, ers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia—this sum- crossover? When the s--- comes down Emma’s secret meetings with Norman mer’s biggest Marvel crossover event— and things start exploding, who’s going to Osborn’s cabal of powerful villains have mutant-human relations are tenuous again be fun to watch?” been laid bare and the events of “Messiah thanks to Trask, leading the X-Men to try With the return of penciller extraordi- Complex” have become public, prompting and stop the human protesters before naire Terry Dodson to the mix, the future Simon Trask and his Humanity Now coali- violence ensued. Enter Osborn, villain- of the title looks bright, even if the X-Men’s tion to create Proposition X, which could ous new chief of policing America, who, doesn’t. So what’s to come for Uncanny force mutants to undergo chemical con- along with a seemingly traitorous Emma X-Men? traception. Things never slow up with the Frost, puts together a new team of “Dark “The end of Exodus takes us somewhere X-Men, and Fraction’s intricate web of side X-Men” consisting of Mimic, Cloak, Dagger, we’ve never been before. It leaves the stories and elaborate ensemble plots are Wolverine’s son Daken, Weapon Omega, team—it leaves the status quo—profound- coming to a head like never before. Dark Beast and Namor to act as mutant ly changed,” promises Fraction. “It’s big. “The cast is huge, it’s really an ensemble law enforcers. Things are very different. It puts us in piece,” notes Fraction, whose Invincible “Part of it...was thinking about it like completely unfamiliar territory—uncharted Iron Man won 2009’s Best New Series Eis- Osborn. If I was a strategist, who would I territory. [Dark Reign: The List] is a direct ner. “It was really complicated and really want in the field? Part of it was thinking outcome of how Exodus ends. That takes complex. I had a spreadsheet and a lot of like Emma, if I had to deal with Osborn us into our new place, which we’re calling note cards. It’s the most complicated thing and watch my own back, what would I Nation X. And Magneto comes back.” 216 wizarduniverse.com Look for surprise guest villain 33 General Tso! WEBCOMICS OF THE MONTH Bringing the daily newspaper comic strip mentality online with twisted humor and ironic satire for the modern-day Webo- phile, these three Webcomics—Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, Chainsawsuit 32 and Least I Could Do—represent the pin- superhero nacle of punchline for geek culture. Their supplement respective creators are regularly pushing the content boundaries of their strips to hilarious effect on the Internet. So grab your mouse and get ready to click through some archive pages for some of the most gut-wrenchingly funny content in the TEAM Webcomics world. STEVE SUNU BOOKS The ensemble cast comics BY Stephen Wettstein to keep an eye on this fall and The Wizard Staff IMMORTAL WEAPONS MARVEL Introduced in Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction’s acclaimed Immortal Iron Fist relaunch, badass doesn’t even begin to describe the level of awesomeness the Immortal Weapons of K’un L’un’s sister cities have instilled into Marvel’s kung-fu arena. Kicking off a five-issue miniseries in August withImmortal Weapons #1, writer Jason Aaron explained: “The world of the Iron Fist is about to get a lot bigger and crazier as the other Immortal Weapons finally take the spotlight. We all know that Fat Cobra and friends can kick loads of ass, but other than that, they’re all still a mystery. That’s about to change.” Tackled by a stable of slam-bang writers, Immortal Weapons kicks off with Fat Co- bra, followed by the Bride of Nine Spiders then Dog Brother. Also, each ish includes Name: Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal a bonus story following Danny Rand, written by Duane Swierczynski (Cable). Creator: Zach Weiner URL: http://www.smbc-comics.com/ GOTHAM CITY SIRENS OUTSIDERS DC COMICS SMBC is like a more inappropriate, modern-day DC COMICS Rising tensions between Geo-Force and Far Side. Jokes range from classic misinterpreta- Paul Dini and Guillem March con- Black Lightning come to a head as Peter tion of panels to comics that creatively use online tinue their series highlighting Tomasi’s Bat-sanctioned team sets out format for a punchline. Gotham’s sexiest supervillains, to take down Clayface. and it looks like Poison Ivy, Cat- Name: Chainsawsuit woman and Harley Quinn are CYBERFORCE/HUNTER-KILLER TOP Cow Creator: Kris Straub set to followup on Selina’s feud Talk about ensemble casts, this explo- URL: http://www.chainsawsuit.com/ with Hush and take out the Bruce sive crossover of Top Cow’s two biggest Chainsawsuit answers the age-old questions like, Wayne imposter who literally stole teams continues as Morningstar’s part- “What would Smurfs be like with Frank Miller at her heart. nership with Cyberdata is explained, and the helm?” or “What happens when a nympho- the rest of the massive crew head out on maniac gets cured?” RUNAWAYS MARVEL a destructive world tour. Taking over the fan-favorite team Name: Least I Could Do with the promise of a death and a DOOM PATROL DC COMICS Creator: Ryan Sohmer (W) and Lar DeSouza (A) return, this conclusion to Kathryn It’s Keith Gffen writing one of DC’s URL: http://www.leasticoulddo.com/ Immonen’s “Homeschooling” arc kookiest teams, what more to do you Follow über-geek and ladies man Rayne Sum- features Gert on the cover, and she need? Giffen teaming with J.M. DeMat- mers and friends through adventures chock full of doesn’t even look like a zombie! teis and Kevin Maguire and sending the geek references to G.I. Joe, Transformers, Marvel, Could the beloved Runaway be back Metal Men to space in this title’s backup DC and Lord of the Rings. for reals?! feature? Done! wizarduniverse.com 216 .