Cover by: Adi GranovWriter: Matt Fraction
Pencils: Terry Dodson
Inks: Rachel Dodson
Colored by: Justin Ponsor
Lettered by: VC's Joe Caramagna
Variant Cover by: David Finch
The Story: SECOND COMING, Chapter 6
A beloved X-Man died defending Hope, the returned mutant “messiah.” As they lay their comrade to rest, the remaining X-Men are left to question: Is she worth it?
In Stores: May 5, 2010
“For so long, my life has been out of control. Chaos and serendipity, wrapped in insanity. I have suffered, I have lost. Not just my life, but my very soul, my self. But no more. Now I know who I am.” – Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Braddock, daughter of Otherworld, mutant, telepath, telekinetic, defender of the realm and, above all, X-Man.
40 comments:
It's always nice to see Emma showing emotion.
Copy-pasting what I commented at the Rebel Rogue blog:
This preview is terrible. Where are Xavier and Storm? Shouldn't they be mourning Kurt, since they are, I don't know, "a little bit" CLOSER to him than Emma Frost or Namor??
Colossus just lost his best friend and he's all smiley to Kitty like if nothing happened??
And Karma was badly injured moments before, she lost a leg, went to the surgery table, and she's already in good shape (except for her amputated leg)??
Geez Fraction, you could dedicate yourself a little bit more about continuity...
@FSaker....
In all fairness, this preview appears to show different timelines. Magneto waking up to ask what he missed seems more like a means to graphically "revisit" the immediate aftermath of finding out that Nightcrawler had sacrificed himself for the rescue of Hope.
The fact that Peter is in the "Sick Lab" suggests that Magneto's re-awakening happens after the initial discovery that Nightcrawler had died.
I interpret pages 2-5 to be a story flashback of events from Magneto's question from page 1. As far as Storm and Professor X not being there, I think that can be easily explained by the fact that this is the immediate aftermath of the X-Force issue. Those in the vicinity rushed to see what happened. It's not like there was an announcement going around to advertise that Nightcrawler had died so "come and see the body..."
Where's Namor in the preview pages? I see Hope, Cable, Iceman, Emma, Cyclops, Angel, Dazzler, Northstar, Wolverine, Psylocke, Magma(?), and X-23. Am I missing something?
Where are Xavier and Storm?
Maybe they appear after the first 5 pages?
Colossus is holding the Phantom of the Opera DVD haha
The art sucks. I'd rather have Land than Dodson.
Storm probably won't be around since she hasn't been since a few scenes in The Sisterhood. It's too bad since she and Kurt were so close. I'd like to see all the older X-men's reactions to it, but SC is going to seem rushed. Fraction sucks like always. Psylocke looks very pretty in the scene with Wolverine though. It's cute that she was chosen to be with him in that panel and she seems worried for him. She looks like Joe Mad's version of Psylocke.
Storm got a few panels here and there during "Nation X" and even a few lines but nothing like the major players in that arc. Xavier...??? not sure why he's MIA. I would prefer to see some of the members that actually began WITH him like Storm and some of the veterans who've worked with him the most like Betsy and Kurt go through their grieving processes...it sucks too because Kurt was a heavily used character these past couple of years so his absence will definitely be noticed and felt. (I'd like to see Rachel's reaction if she ever comes back from space-and Kitty's as well.)
@2:37PM Anonymous - I understand that you are suggesting that the scene with Magneto awaking would take place some time after the following scene, with the X-Men staring at Kurt, right? While it could happen that way, take into account that Colossus is absent from the scene where the X-Men are staring at Nightcrawler's corpse, and neither Karma nor Madison Jeffries are there either.
I hope you are right, but so far it does seem more likely that Fraction just made Colossus ignore the grief over his friend's death and Karma ignore her suffering.
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@2:55PM Anonymous - Namor is in the panel where Hope pushes someone and runs away, right before the panel where Emma asks Scott to run after her (and calls him "dummy", very in-character). If I'm not mistaken, Danielle Moonstar also appears only in this panel.
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@3:03PM Anonymous - I hope so, my friend. I hope so... but I'm not very optimistic.
Storm's absence can be justified if Fraction says that she was in Wakanda when Kurt died (she's always traveling from Utopia to Wakanda and vice-versa, after all) - what I doubt he will do. But Xavier's absence is unexcusable. And it's not only Fraction's fault, because ALL the chapters of SC so far failed to even show him in any panel.
Basically I have nothing against Terry Dodson but in this case his art is completely out of place. I mean look at poor Kurt. It looks like he's high on pixie dust or something rather than dead.
And I really hope the first page takes place a bit later. How could Colossus be smiling like that when his sister is missing and one of his oldest friends has just died?
Xavier is not a important character in SC. What's the problem with it?
The problem is that he was always a close friend and a parent figure to Kurt, yet he isn't even shown in panel with the X-Men grieving over Kurt's death.
As far as we know, Iceman and Namor aren't important characters in SC either, yet the two of them are shown in the panel. Even Dazzler, who has been completely ignored since the X-Men moved to Utopia, is in the panel. But not the person who founded the X-Men in the first place, who personally taught most of them how to use their powers, and who rescued Kurt in Germany the first time they met??
I know there are people who dislike the bald man, but due to all his history, I'd expect a little more attention to him...
The best moment in this preview was the Psylocke/Wolverine panel. I wish it was done by a different artist though. Dodson's art doesn't really fit the tone of this issue which is supposed to be a funeral one. It's too light and fluffy.
I know people "want" Xavier to be there, but the truth of the matter is that he hasn't been around since Fraction wrote his obligatory showdown and apology scene for Xavier and Magneto [ignoring the resolution they had in Carey's X-men Legacy). If you didn't keep up with UXM, you'd forget he was even on cameo island, I mean Utopia, with his beloved X-men that don't really like him anymore because Scott and Emma don't. I wouldn't expect to see him at all DESPITE THE FACT he'd probably be a great asset to them right now with his TP ability that outranks everyone on the team. If he were used, I think he would have pinpointed Cable and Hope almost immediately (he does know Cable's mind and has some connection with the phoenix force) and this decompressed story could have been condensed by 3-4 issues. Too bad.
Storm is probably back in Wakanda dealing with the aftermath of Doomwar (which NC is in, so if you like Kurt, there goes your fix for a few more issues).
And if Astonishing ever comes out again (sad that X-men forever is not very far from surpassing Astonishing in its issue count), then you'll see at least 2 more issues of Storm before the revamp.
I´m so with @FSaker in this... after the well writing x force, i watch this preview and i can belive in this. yost and kyle put so much emotion in the end of that issue, and when i saw this I remember how empty is the writting of fraction. I have to say that fraction have great ideias (utopia) but Uncanny is such a empty comic right now. And I´m tired of this art.
Nothing about Uncanny seems to fit what came before. Maybe Fraction's first contribution was just a fluke? Dodson's art isn't as moving, the colors are very bright for something that should have a darker tone, and the dialogue... wow. No comment.
Also, why is Hope saying she can't do anything? We've already seen signs of her powers... she knows she at least has the ability to use TK when she's in life threatening situations. I know "Cable" wasn't the greatest book around, but the writers should at least make an effort to keep up with some of the development Hope had there beyond her gun use.
I think that Kurt's expression is suppose to represent an "I've see the light" look, which happened in X-Factor before he died. He did say "I believe in you" to Hope and there was a bright light behind her. I think the artist was trying to represent a peaceful/content death look as opposed to a random "I can't believe I'm dying" look.
It does seem that pages 2 through 5 happen after page 1...at least that would make more sense due to the fact that Colossus is in the sick bay in page 1 trying to cheer up Kitty instead of being at the death scene. Plus, Magento is asking what he "missed," so it suggests that time has passed. That would also explain why Karma is not still in shock.
The problem is that he was always a close friend and a parent figure to Kurt, yet he isn't even shown in panel with the X-Men grieving over Kurt's death.
I'm sorry. I didn't know you had alrady read the whole issue to know Xavier won't be there.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you had alrady read the whole issue to know Xavier won't be there."
You're right, we don't know. So let's hope that he does appear in the issue after the preview pages.
I still have serious doubts that he will, though.
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"but the truth of the matter is that he hasn't been around since Fraction wrote his obligatory showdown and apology scene for Xavier and Magneto"
Actually Xavier got a little spotlight during the story where Scott goes to Emma's mind to retrieve the Void from it, and shortly after he apologized to Magneto for his behavior.
But yeah, the bald man is quite underused in the X-verse nowadays...
Everyone's underused in the X-verse nowadays. Cos there are all these dipshit useless students running around taking up panel time haha.
Anyway, Thank you again for the preview! I am a fan of Dodson usually. I can see what people mean saying it feels a bit fluffy for this issue. Part of me agrees. But Kurt's face, it is supposed to be smiling. It's like he died doing good, & that is what he wanted. He was happy, hopefuly.
My favorite panel is the one with Betsy's hand on Wolverine's shoulder, & also the one where they are all around his body. I thought the panel with Cable & Hope was actually Cable & Psylocke, but then I realized that many women seem to be drawn similar, the ones with dark hair at least.
And to whoever said this art is crap compared to Greg Land... WOW! Greg Land is the worst there is. He doesn't draw any of it. It's all photoshopped from photos. I saw him do Warlock, & had thought maybe he finally actually drew something, but my brother pointed out that he most likely just photoshopped that in also.
It makes for fantastic "photo-like" comic art, when Land is doing it, but the reasons behind it are too obvious, so I hate reading any Land issues.
Anyway, I can't wait to read this in May!! I wonder if there will be variant covers? I'm kind of tired of Logan being on every single one.
I have to agree that Uncanny is always empty these days, I always hold out that the issue will be better than the previews, but it never is. And it's too bad that Fraction got to man the aftermath of Kurts death, which should be emotionally charged, but seems to fall flat here. An he always manages to throw some dialogue in that is supposed to be witty, but ends up giving me douche-chills, in this case "go after her dummy". All of a sudden their relationship turns into an episode of Everyone Loves Raymond with Cyclops being the bumbling stupid husband, all this with Kurts dead body there.
I love the panel with Psylocke and Wolverine too. To me, it doesn't appear that she's comforting Wolverine (as some have suggested) as much as she is shocked from the scene, and is touching Wolverine for emotional support. It appears that she is gazing at Kurt's body, not Wolverine, which gives it more of an emotional impact, because Psylocke, Wolverine, and Nightcrawler were so close.
i definitely don't think she's touching wolveine for her own support. she's looking at wolverine like that because she knows he's furious and hurt. if you see someone put their hand on someone's shoulder it's not because the person doing it wants support. it's them supporting someone else.
While I do not think that this issue is greater than the previous X-Force #26, I do like the premise of it. We all know that it does seem 'flat' compared to the other issues, but we can't truly and fully judge it before we read the actual thing.
I think that the first preview page takes place at the last moments of the last preview pages. Karma looks all pissed off, maybe because Kurt had just died and the guy is messing with her leg. Piotr seems to be cheering up a sad Kitty.
Eh, that is just what I see though.
Same poster from above ^ :]
but here are some preview pages from Hellbound #1, it reveals that Piotr does not want to lose Kurt and Illyana on the same day, so at least we know that he is thinking about Kurt!
http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.12263.preview~colon~_x-men~colon~_second_coming_-_revelations~colon~_hellbound_%231
Well, Nick Lowe proved me wrong... AND I LOVE IT!!
Xavier, Storm and even Beast will appear soon in Second Coming: http://comics.ign.com/articles/108/1087189p2.html
Now I was thinking of another point, though: we know Kurt will get his well deserved funeral and all... but will Ariel receive some homages as well?
She also died in the battlefield helping to rescue Hope (she was the one who allowed Rogue to join the Alpha Team and ultimately track Hope). Yet, even the Hellbound #1 recap page mentions Nightcrawler, Karma and Magik among the casualties, but if I'm not mistaken, Ariel isn't even mentioned...
The X-men didn't seem too concerned with Ariel, but she could be mentioned in passing. They actually have Kurt's body right in front of them; Ariel's body, if she is dead, is among car rubbage and is charred. I do question the thinking of having a funeral during the middle of the act while they're still in war. Ideally, it'd be done at the very end when they knew they'd have a moment of respite to actually honor ALL the fallen at one time.
Ariel could be alive as we never saw the body, and could be some kind of wild card in the end. Their seems to have been a focused effort on eliminating all the teleporters. Pixie is the last one that I know of, and she may be going to rescue Magik. Maybe Ariel will show up and pierce the bubble that the X-men will soon be trapped in.
I can easily see a future X-Men issue in which Ariel returns by stating that she used the car door at the last second to escape the missile attack. After all, people don't stay dead forever in the X-World.
As for Kurt, he has a T.O. arm sticking out of his chest. This seems like a great "out" for him to return at some time in the future...
While I am one who doesn't believe that Kurt (or Ariel for that matter) will forever be gone, I still think the story did portray a very heroic death for Kurt. I'm very interested to read how the other X-Men are going to memorialize him at his funeral. Maybe this event is a catalyst for convincing Psylocke to permanently join X-Force with Wolverine.
I really like what you said, Anonymous above me. Well a couple anonymous's haha.
I think it is definitely possible (& hopefully likely?) that Ariel used a car door as an escape. But also, she didn't see it coming so how could she? DId Logan repeat Psylocke's telepathic warning? & if so why would Ariel not have taken 23 & logan with her? If she used the cardoor to escape it leaves these things kind of open.
My main reason for responding is the Anon post above me regarding the catalyst for Psylocke to permanently join x-force.
I do like that idea very much! I hope they get characterization like that, where they each show reasons for joining, etc. Instead of just being "Oh hey guys we are superheroes & on a team lets FIGHT the bad guys !!".
With such anenormous cast I realize it's been difficult to do such development & reasons except for Scott & Emma & a few others. But hopefully we will see these reasons in X-Force if she is on the team.
If the Ariel theory were true, perhaps she did not take x and Wolverine with her to trick Bastions group into thinking that she is dead so that she can be used by cyclops later, Bastion has written her off for dead so he would never see it coming And like I said, all the teleporters see,d to be out of the game.
This might als explain why there were two cars and Psylocke did TK the missile out of the way or put up a shield.
Or not
(as the anonymous poster @3:26)
I wasn't trying to say that Ariel did survive...in fact, the SC story would be more memorable if she did die (I have no emotional connection to her character), my point was to state that a future author has an easy (and predictable) "out" to bring back this character if she or he wanted to. It would be the same with a "return" of Kurt. He dies with a T.O. arm in his chest and this T.O. virus was responsible for bringing back many long-dead mutants in the Necrosha story line.
I'm was just trying to read between the (comic-book) lines. Ariel, saw the missile coming and says, "Oh, spit!" and then there's the explosion...X-23 and Wolverine walk away and there is no graphic of Ariel's body (...how convenient...) My comment was merely stating the fact that there is a potentially plotted "out" for a future writer to bring back Ariel.
I do hope that the editors and authors take this opportunity to create a connection for Psylocke joining a pro-active X-Team. The death of her close friend (Kurt) would be a great way to explain why she joins a new X-Force (if speculations of the July revamp are to be believed).
However, the stories have already been written and drawn, so time will only tell.
Even if Ariel survived, Emma stated that she couldn't feel her mind anymore, so to all effects the X-Men consider that she is dead.
Therefore, even if Ariel appears alive by the end of Second Coming, it will still be weird if she gets no mention during Kurt's funeral. She might be alive, but the X-Men do believe that she died...
If twitter is anything to go by, then some of the writers just got done with their contributions to Second Coming and Yost just finished writing for X-force (his final issue?).
As for Ariel not taking X and Wolvie with her IF she teleported... I think there's a very simple reasoning there. She probably only had time to get herself through safely, and she knows X and Wolverine can take care of themselves. As for Psylocke... girl has lived through worse. Fight or flight instincts most likely kicked in for all of them, and the characters left in the car can all tolerate high levels of pain.
im sorry i dont have a link to a quote but the writer of the death of Ariel purposefully put the door in the shot and then no body shown as a get out. Maybe in the panic she teleported god knows where and is going to take a while to get back.
Kurt being a T/o virus slave would also be a decent storyline, especially such a pure character as Nightcrawler. better than stupid Vampires anyway lol
It was Mike carey on his facebook wall. He said he purposely put Ariel by the door as an out in case he wanted to bring her back because he really loves the character. So it's very possible that she did teleport away but the X-men still would think she's dead.
I agree with Anonymous. They certainly left a possibility for her to return at some point.
However I think she'll be considered dead for the time being.
She'll be back in a couple of years. Maybe.
Why is Fraction still allowed to write and wreck Uncanny X-Men?
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