Writer: Mike CareyArt: Greg Land
In. TENSE. That's how I would summarize this last chapter of Second Coming. I seriously haven't been this excited about reviewing an issue since Dark Avengers/Uncanny X-Men: Utopia one-shot. But be warned, there is also a tragedy that occurs this issue.
We return to the New Mutants vs. Hodgo battle to find things not looking good for Karma. And what I mean by that is (SPOILERS OF INTENSITY FROM HERE UNTIL THE END) as evidenced by one of the pages in the preview (here) as well as the latest solicitation for New Mutants (here) it appears that Karma has lost her leg. Now we all know that it's Karma's that put the Leg in Legacy. Maybe she can accessorize her prosthetic leg with a headband?
Back at Utopia, it turns out Rogue has a connection with Hope that Emma cannot sense, so Cyclops sends Rogue out to look for her. By using the most glamorous means of transportation of course: ARIEL! Yes, my favorite diva in the world comes in and you can find her charming chattering in the preview.
Back with the NM, Cypher comes up with the solution of repowering Warlock and turning the tides of the fight by letting Warlock loose on their life energy. His reaction is basically, "NO!!! This is appalling!!!.....All right!" because he seems completely down for it in the next pages where he attacks the smileys. Also, point of note is what looks like a completely ripped off Warlock in his full one-page spotlight. A gold star to whoever finds out where Land got it from.
Concerning Rogue and Nightcrawler, it seems Rogue's functioning as a compass to find Hope and Nightcrawler is exhausting himself as he's had to teleport over 800 miles to get her there. And back at Dystopia, the expected happens:
YES! It's time for mandatory psychic attack time! Because nothing says "This shit's seriousssss!" like an attack on all the psychics. Because it wasn't enough to have this happen in Messiah Complex, Sisterhood, Dangerous, and many more. Luckily, this time it seems none of the psychics were actually knocked out so much as they were hurt by psychic feedback as Bastion had disabled their Cerebro machines. Yet another overdone move to make an arc seem serious. It's also revealed that Bastion can sense who's around the teams and it has to do with Bastion using the T/O virus and tapping into Cable's. More on that in a bit because we have something MAJOR to go over.
Returning the Alpha team, the group is split up in two vehicles with Archangel flying outside. We've got Ariel, X-23, and Wolverine in one vehicle and the rest in the other. And the worst thing EVER happens. A jet flies by and sends out missiles!
Andddd hits the car with Ariel in it. Yeah. My heart snapped in two at that point. And if there's any question within the issue if she got out, we've got commentary on that from both Emma and Wolverine.
Returning the Alpha team, the group is split up in two vehicles with Archangel flying outside. We've got Ariel, X-23, and Wolverine in one vehicle and the rest in the other. And the worst thing EVER happens. A jet flies by and sends out missiles!Andddd hits the car with Ariel in it. Yeah. My heart snapped in two at that point. And if there's any question within the issue if she got out, we've got commentary on that from both Emma and Wolverine.
BUT, there have been rumblings on the boards about the possibility that Ariel got out in time considering she is a teleporter and it's not like she was far from a door. Also, apparently somewhere on the CBR boards, someone said it could be like when Lady M "died" in Messiah Complex and I guess Carey's agreeing with that take or sounding like it. So here's hoping. For those of you hoping to relive the good times with our glamorous cameo queen, you can find her updated cameo queen page here.
In any case, I'm heartbroken because Ariel was the tranny that brought light to my life. There is no Legacy without Ariel much like there's no strawberry shortcake without strawberries. Plus, we still need to have our A Very Special X-Men Legacy where Ariel admits she used to have a D.
Anyway, Archangel takes care of the jet and there's the very dramatic moment of the other team looking over the place where the missile hit the vehicle, waiting for someone to come out. Adding the most to the serious mood of the moment is:
Psylocke's ass of untold power!
In any case, I'm heartbroken because Ariel was the tranny that brought light to my life. There is no Legacy without Ariel much like there's no strawberry shortcake without strawberries. Plus, we still need to have our A Very Special X-Men Legacy where Ariel admits she used to have a D.
Anyway, Archangel takes care of the jet and there's the very dramatic moment of the other team looking over the place where the missile hit the vehicle, waiting for someone to come out. Adding the most to the serious mood of the moment is:
Psylocke's ass of untold power!
Yes, the real star of Uncanny has made a reappearance. You know the shit's going down when Psylocke's ass makes an appearance. I actually suspect it's omega-level. To find out more on the power of Betsy's awe-inspiring buns you can click on the newly created tag "Psylocke's ass".
X-23 and Wolverine finally come out of the wreckage looking absolutely terrifying, you can see Logan's creepiness above in the panel I just put up. Back at base Emma informs Scott of Ariel's (possible) passing and he takes a second to mourn in manly silence. And then Pixie volunteers to be replacement teleporter. He denies her, saying that he'd be sending her to her death if he let her go........Yeah? So? I fail to see the problem there.
Concerning the New Mutants, they end up winning overwhelmingly with Warlock going on a life-sucking spree. In the end, he takes out Hodgo. Which is a tragedy because he was SUCH a unique villain. Oh the rough days we have ahead ourselves with the absence of.....that guy.
Back with Alpha team, the revelation about Cable being tracked is revealed, and so he goes with Alpha team while Hope goes with Rogue and Nightcrawler. Only it isn't just any Rogue:
It's gorgeous Rogue! Who's got the fabulous hair mutation she siphoned?
X-23 and Wolverine finally come out of the wreckage looking absolutely terrifying, you can see Logan's creepiness above in the panel I just put up. Back at base Emma informs Scott of Ariel's (possible) passing and he takes a second to mourn in manly silence. And then Pixie volunteers to be replacement teleporter. He denies her, saying that he'd be sending her to her death if he let her go........Yeah? So? I fail to see the problem there.
Concerning the New Mutants, they end up winning overwhelmingly with Warlock going on a life-sucking spree. In the end, he takes out Hodgo. Which is a tragedy because he was SUCH a unique villain. Oh the rough days we have ahead ourselves with the absence of.....that guy.
Back with Alpha team, the revelation about Cable being tracked is revealed, and so he goes with Alpha team while Hope goes with Rogue and Nightcrawler. Only it isn't just any Rogue:
It's gorgeous Rogue! Who's got the fabulous hair mutation she siphoned?
Conclusion: BUY this issue. It's both exciting and tragic. And it makes me extremely excited for next week, which of course will have the big reveal of who dies!
