Weapon X Hardcover

TITLE-Weapon X

SOURCE-Marvel Hardcover

Months ago a buddy gave this to me. He was heading off to start his wrestling training and gave it to me right before he left. Sure I had read Weapon X forever ago when it was coming out in MCP.

That night I sat at the bar listened to a podcast and read the first half. Realizing I hadn't read this story in a long time. Then not that long ago had to get the main car's oil so grabbed this hardcover and a few TPB. Knowing sometimes you are there 2 hours.

So back when this was coming out,every 2 weeks in Marvel Comics Presents,it was touted as Wolverine's origin. And it is and isn't. 

Yes we learn how and where Wolverine got the adamantium bonded to his bones. Saw it happen. 

But the thing is since this we have been told Logan has memory implants. Was this just another of those? Is so oh well this is still a great story. 

Barry Windor Smith handles the story and art. Some of his best in my eyes since his Conan run. The colors really make this stand out.

Reading it every 2 weeks in 8 page chunks and now reading it all in one big book I saw not really any changes in how I digested the story.

Now yea I do wonder who the Professor was answering to. Heard back then it was suppose to be Apocolypse. I have no clue if this has been revealed.

Looked and this Hardcover is out of print and a more expensive version is the current in print version. I prefer the cover on this one.

Weapon X is not perfect but still worth reading if you have any interest in X-men at their peak.

Weapon X gets a A.

 

Deadpool Samurai Volumes 1&2 Manga

 Title-Deadpool Samurai Vols 1&2

Publisher-Viz Media

I had heard that Marvel was licensing out some of their caped heroes to a manga company in Japan. But never heard who it was or when it came out. Then early in summer I found these 2 volumes on sale. Want to say I paid 5 bucks each. Not bad.

VOL 1

Deadpool is in Japan and after running into what is basically Japan's version of Spider-man (Sakura Spider) he gets recruited to form an Avengers team in Japan. 

So you got Deadpool,Sakura Spider trying to find more members. No idea why none of the normal Marvel 616 Japan based heroes/heroines appeared. But we do get an Idol singer who just so happens to have a Symboite that she has control over. Yep a Japanese Venom... And Sakura Spider is a huge fan of the Idol Singer.

After setting up this 3 person team the rest of the volume is them facing Thanos. Yep Thanos... I know way to powerful to face this trio. But the writer makes it work.

Want to take a second to point out 2 things. One is that I have never given a shit about Deadpool. Read him when he first appeared and was just Marvel's clone of Slade Wilson. And read some of the later stuff that made Wade the 4th wall breaking Spider-man that kills. So  not really sure why I bought these two manga volumes about Deadpool. Might be that I will pick up any cheap comic I find locally hoping this will get the store to order more. Second thing is the writer of this manga is great at making Wade Wilson pointing out all the Manga Tropes.  Sure I haven't read much  Manga since the late 90s, but for about 8 years I wwwas reading piles of it. And even being disconnected from modern managa the tropes havent changed.

Overall this first volume was so  much fun. I started reading it  one night  while waiting on my sleep meds to kick in. Normally I can read for 10 to 20 minutes then get sleepy. Well I got sleepy but was so into this comic I had to finish  it. And it was hard to not just go ahead and read the second and final volume. 

The art is really well done.With Deadpool and the other Marvel properties appearing in  an art style that feels like a mixture of manga style plus that kind of IMAGE CLONE style Marvel was asking  artists to do back in 96.

Writing wise this was a fun fast read. Never did I have to go "wait what the fuck is he talking about". And besides the  normal getting use again to going from back to front,right to left,reading style manga uses this was a easy  read.

Also this volume 1  tpb contains a few pages that are exclusive to the tpb. 

Deadpool Samurai vol 2

Viz

Now Deadpool has his team,bootleg Venom and bootleg Spidey. They  won the  big fight in the first volume. But here in volume  2 they must face a villain so powerful that he caused the Avengers to form back in the 60s.

Yep Loki is the big bad guy in this volume. I love how Loki is drawn. Oddly unless I forgot I don't remember sseeing Thor show up in  this volume,not even near the end when the Avengers show up.

Not sure if the same artist/artists handled the pencils and inks on this volume. Because the art to me is more detailed and  has the appearance of thicker lines. 

Nothing really new in  this volume. Deadpool and his teammates face off againt a super powerful villain. And thanks to Deadpool's mouth they win. Yep Wade's smart aleck mouth defeats Loki.

Where as it took me close to 25 minutes to read vol 1 I got vol 2 read in like 15 minutes. But there was way  less writing and more battle scenes. Lots more 2 page spreads.

Seems these 2 volumes appeared in the weekly Shonen Jump comic. I  don't think this gets published physically anymore in the States,I did read it for close to a year in 2008. But I know it gets a digital release in the states. I do like how the art is bigger in  Shonen Jump,which is easier on my eyes. But It is way way cheaper to just buy the 2 volumes. And I never mentioned it but this series is only 2 volumes. Which is good. Most Manga seems to run FOREVER. So I hate starting in the middle of a series and  hate knowing the series might not get a proper ending. But with Deadpool Samurai you  got two volumess to buy.

Looked and these are $9.99 a volume. So 20 bucks to get the  full story,even though each of them can be read withut  reading the other. And keep in mind  I am not a fan of Deadpool and not  really that much into Manga.But if you  are a fan of either this is easily worth the cover price. And for someone that isn't,this is still good and if you can  find the two volume lot for say 13 bucks or less it is worth the cash.

Deadpool Samurai vol 1&2 Gets a B.

2016 Comic Challenge 282 What If? Volume 02 #16

TITLE-What If volume 02 #16
PUBLISHER-Marvel

Ahh I so love What If. So it is a title I will grab anytime I find issues for cheap. Got this one at the local comic shop.It had been put into the cheap bins. So while digging through stacks of mid 90s glut stuff I found not only this issue but a small stack of Conan I didn't own.

The story starts off back during Uncanny X-men #137. While the X-men are fighting the Imperial Guard,to decide to fate of Jean "Phoenix" Grey. This happens on the part of the moon that the Watcher lives in. So during that original story Wolverine fell into a dimensional door and thanks to the Watcher breaking his code,Wolvie made it back and managed to get Jean back in charge of her body long enough for her to kill herself.

But in another world,Wolverine fell through a door on the moon and ended up back in the time of Conan the Barbarian. So that is the premise for this issue.

Wolvie and Conan of course meet up and have a battle,can't have some Marvel heroes meet up for the first time without them fighting can we?

After the battle Wolvie joins up with Conan and Red Sonja and they have an adventure. A pretty decent one to be honest.

Then at the end of the adventure Conan falls into a wizard's pool,which transports him back to the modern day,well the modern day of Uncanny #137,and since Wolvie isn't there to get Jean to take control of her body from the Phoenix Force,well Jean goes full on Phoenix Force and it looks like that world is doomed.

I have never heard of any of the creative team. But from what I have heard What If was used a bunch of the time as tryouts for new talent.Got Glenn Herdling doing the story.Gary Kwapisz on pencils. Ian Akin on inks. Yep no one I have heard of before.

What If volume 02 #16 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 243 Old Man Logan #10

TITLE-Old Man Logan #10
PUBLISHER-Marvel

So in the present Logan is stuck in the bottom of a deep well. One one of the Silent Order,who are monks not Ninjas like I said before,armed with a bow and arrows at the top.

In the present we get Logan making his way to the top of the well. Where as in the past,which is the future for us but Logan's past,him and Maureen get captured by the Silent Order. And Logan reveals some of his powers to Maureen.

This is one of the best Marvel titles I have read in a very long time. Lemire has so far managed to stay true to the original Old Man Logan story,while filling in gaps.

Old Man Logan #10 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 242 Old Man Logan #09

TITLE-Old Man Logan #09
PUBLISHER-Marvel

Logan is using the old Patch alias and trying to find Lady Deathstrike. He gets double crossed and ends up massacring a huge amount of guys.He does get a clue as to where Deathstrike might be hiding and heads to what  turns out to be a ghost village.

Then spread through out the issue we get glimpses in Logan's past. Seems while on the run years ago he ended up in Japan. In a ghost town and ran into an order of what I assume are ninjas. Of course the same thing happens in the present day part of the comic.

Lemire has managed to keep this title interesting for 9 issues so far. I am hoping he has a long run that stays of this quality.

Old Man Logan #09 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 219 Old Man Logan #08

TITLE-Old Man Logan #08
PUBLISHER-Marvel

This ended up being a nice change of pace issue. Logan still thinks the villain uprising is gonna happen. With this getting worst at night. So Jeanie,I am guessing this is a Jean Grey from the past,is trying to cheer Logan up.

The entire issue is the two of them visiting various sites of battles during the uprising.So Jeanie can show him that it isn't going to happen. While doing this we get lots of details,most of which never before revealed,of how the final battle between the villains and the heroes went.

Lemire keeps writing fun stories. The art team keeps the book looking dark and moody.But also never making it look muddy.

Old Man Logan #08 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 199 Old Man Logan #06

TITLE-OLd Man Logan #06
PUBLISHER-Marvel

Logan is living in the far north cut off town in Canada. So he can keep an eye on his future wife.

Then the Reavers attack. Fuck yeah I have always loved the Reavers.

The art is damn good. Lemire writes a story that makes me want to keep reading.

Old Man Logan #06 gets a buy.

2016 Comic Challenge 122 X-force #02

TITLE-X Force #02
PUBLISHER-Marvel Comics

The comic opens up with Deadpool being attacked by Kane AKA Weapon X.This is back when Deadpool was just a bad clone of Deathstroke the Terminator.After a short fight,which the highlight of it was Kane shooting off his fist like one of the Shogun Warrior robots,Shield Agent Bridge shows up.

On the X-Force side we see them out in the woods training.Doing a version of Tag. Their target is Feral. Who quickly outsmarts Cannonball. And uses him to take out Warpath.The rest of the team shows up. And Feral steps over the line and claws the shit out of Cannonball. So she is knocked out and they all head back into their new HQ.Oh and in the last few pages Tom Cassidey and Juggernaut show up.

While Rob Liefeld isn't the best artist,he isn't the worst. The art in this issue looks rushed and unfinished. With some pages looking more like a 10 minute sketch Rob did at a con and not finished artwork ready to be published.

X-Force #02 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 084 X-force #01

TITLE-X-force #01
PUBLISHER-Marvel

Travel with me back to the summer of 91. New Mutants had just been cancelled and replaced with X-force. Rob Liefeld is one of the hottest comic artist in a long time. And of course since this was around the time the comic speculation boom started issue 01 was bagged with a trading card. 1 of 5 cards to be exact. And yes I did buy 6 copies of this comic. So I not only got all 5 cards but I had a copy to open and read.

Even though this comic is pretty much a direct sequel to the New Mutants series,they spend over half the issue introducing us to the various X-force members and setting up their history.

When I read this when it came out I loved it. Liefeld's art was so different from what I was use to getting from the big 2. And I liked the idea of taking the New Mutants,who were always pretty much X-men Jr,and making them this pro-active more military style team. Going back and re-reading it...well it doesn't hold up that well. The art I loved back then cause it was so different,but now when I see it all I see is all of Liefeld's faults. The story could have been told in 5 pages.

But you know what,even though the art isn't that good. And the story is kind of a big cliche,I still had fun while reading this. I brought me back to a time when I just wanted something to read while bored in Algebra II class.

X-force #01 gets a borrow.

2016 Comic Challenge 060 Uncanny X-men #281

TITLE-Uncanny X-men #281
PUBLISHER-Marvel

By the time this issue came out I had let right at 2 years worth of Uncanny build up. Sure I got copies in the mail every month. But they got bagged and boarded and stuck in the Uncanny shortbox. Which at this time had from 100 to 281. Sure lots of them were readers copies. But it was a nice run that I had managed to assemble for fairly cheap.

After the great cover by Whilce Portacio on the pencils and the great Art Thibert  on the inks. You get a story that while a fun quick read,suffers from way too many writers trying to each get their own version of what the X-men should be in the issue.

Jim Lee and Whilce are listed for plot and John Byrne is listed for plot. But it feels like a miss mash of all three.

The only reason why this issue got read back then,instead of being filed away for investment value,was everyone I knew that read comics was talking about how this was a start of a new golden age of X-men. I had long gotten tired of the annual multi-issue crossovers.

This new golden age never happened. At least not for me. I have never been a huge fan of Jim Lee's art. It is great for covers,posters,static shots. But for me his storytelling skills are just horrible. Whilce Portacio can do great art. But not bright pretty stuff like 90s era X-men.Really Thibert's inks save the art in this book.

Damn it sounds like I totally hate this issue. And I don't it just represents the end of the X-men for me. Maybe it is because Claremont is gone,and he had his problems before he left. Maybe is is the focus on art over story. But this is an issue that when I first read it I was excited. Excited enough to read Uncanny and every other damn X-title until Uncanny X-men 300 came out.

Uncanny X-men #281 gets a borrow,or if you find this for under 3 bucks BUY it. But be warned it is very very 90s Marvel.

2016 Comic Challenge 059 Uncanny X-men #244

TITLE-Uncanny X-men 244
PUBLISHER-Marvel

This was pretty much the last issue of Uncanny I read until 281. After Mutant Massacre,Fall of the Mutants and Inferno I was just fed up with having to read 4 to 5 books a month to get the story. I kept subscribing more out of habit,I got a damn good deal at the comic shop. But each new issue was filed away and never read until years later.

Psylocke,back when she was British,Rogue,Storm and Dazzler go shopping. And some kind of bootleg Ghostbusters ,who bust Mutants come after them. It is a light silly story. But a nice change after the boring gloomy Inferno shitpile.

Claremont is writing,Marc Silvestri was doing the pencils and Dan Green is on the inks. The art looks nice. Silvestri can be a good and fun artist when he wants to be. Claremont is his wordy self. But admit it we all loved it back then.

The only real thing of note is this issue is the first appearance of Jubilee. Who thanks to the 90 Fox Kids X-men cartoon is fairly popular. While I did like her. I found her a poor Kitty Pryde subsitute.

The issue was fun. And worth reading if you can find  it cheap or grab it in a trade. I think the Essentials line of trades made it at least this far.

Uncanny X-men #244 gets a buy,but don't spend more than $5 on it.

2016 Comic Challenge 058 Uncanny X-men #193

TITLE-Uncanny X-men #193
PUBLISHER-Marvel

I doubt I have read this issue since sometime in the late 80s. For my birthday in 85 I got mail order subscriptions to three comics.GI Joe,Muppet Babies and Uncanny X-men. I had been reading X-men almost every month since what issue in the 130s introduced Kitty Pryde. But cause I was relying on the comic racks at K&B drugs sometimes I would miss an issue or two.This was the first issue I got in of my subscription. One that I kept going until Uncanny 300.

Being the 100th appearance of "The New X-men" this was a double sized issue. Were the little brother of Proudstar stages an ambush for the current X-men team.

And I gotta talk about the team. This is my favorite grouping. You got Nightcrawler as Field leader.Kitty Pryde,Colossus,Wolverine,Rachel Summers and Rogue with a greatly weakened Professor X.

The writer is of course Chris Claremont. This was cover dated May 1985 so we are in the John Romita Jr era of art. He is assisted by Dan Green.

One last thing last issue Prof X got the shit beat out of him by a group of anti-mutant asswipes. So he was taken to the Morlocks tunnels and saved from death by the Healer. Caslisto dresses him in some messed up BDSM great. Yeah at an early age I was subjected to seeing bald ass Prof X in BDSM gear.


Really this issue,while wordy as fuck,is gonna get a high level of approval from me on nostalgia basis alone. I got lucky and got into the X-men a few years before they got hit my crossover madness.

Uncanny X-men #193 gets a BUY!

2015 Reading Challenge Book 078 Essential X-men volume 2

TITLE-Essential X-men Volume 2
AUTHOR-Chris Claremont&John Byrne
FORMAT-Trade Paperback
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-$12

From when I was about 5 until I was 14 the X-men was my favorite comic. Back in 2008 I was on Ebay looking for some cheap comic trades. Found the first volume of the Essential X-men run. After reading it I remembered how much I loved the Claremont era of Uncanny X-men. So two times a year I end up ordering a volume of this series of trades. Usually getting them from Instocktrades.

This volume starts off with a 2 part story where the X-men are in Canada and end up fighting Alpha Flight. And while this is a great pair of stories,there is 2 other storylines in this trade that are much better known. First off is the Dark Phoenix Saga. Where Jean Grey,now possessed by the Phoenix Force,turns evil and over the course of 10 or so issues ends up becoming such a threat the Shiar Empire steps in and wants to kill Jean to protect the universe. The old trade of this storyline was the very first comic trade I ever got. And it is great story. By this time John Byrne's art was at it's peak. And Claremont was also at his peak.

The other well known storyline pretty much ends this trade. And that is the Days of Future Past two issue long story. Thanks to the most recent X-men film this story is well known even with non-comic fans.It starts off in a dark future. Where mutant hunting robots have taken over. There is very few of the X-men left alive. And Kitty Pryde manages to send her mind back into the body of her teenage self. Hoping she can prevent the murder that caused this dark future to happen.

The other stories in the trade are good.Really from issue 100 of Uncanny X-men until about 200 there wasn't a bad story.

Essential X-men volume 2 gets a 4 outta 5.

2015 Reading Challenge Book 065 The Marvel Encyclopedia

TITLE-Marvel Encyclopedia
AUTHOR-Various
FORMAT-Hardcover
FIRST TIME READING-No
PRICE-X-mas Gift

Back almost a decade ago I got this along with the DC Encyclopedia for X-mas. If you remember the old Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe series,this is a mass market version of that.

From what I remember,I really haven't read much from Marvel since the late 90s,it seems to be fairly accurate.And most of the time the artwork is pretty good.The selection of heroes is well done. You get all the big names,plus a decent amount of lesser known heroes.

I think there is a newer version out now. So finding this one cheap shouldn't be hard.

The Marvel Encyclopedia gets 4.11 outta 5.

Comic Haul from the 84 Mart April 9th 2015

We got a junk store out near my home. The owner is the father in law of one of our neighbors. And when it first opened I was in there almost every month. But they were never getting in much of anything I wanted. So I stopped going.

A few hours ago I was heading to Dollar General to grab a drink,some moth balls and allergy meds for my dog. On my trip back something told me to make a stop at 84 mart. I walked in saw a few comic trades,asked the owner want he wanted for them. Got told the price per issue or if I grabbed all he had I got a huge discount. Saw that I wanted about 60% of what he had so went for the buy them all deal.

Got 8 issues of SHonen Jump. Most of them still in the mailer bags. All but 2 of them from 2010. Will end up reading a few stories from each then giving them to my cousin's son.

I remembered that most issues of SJ came with some kind of CCG card. Got these four. All of them got some amount of foil on them. Will end up using them as bookmarks.

Never heard of this series before. From CMX it is the first volume of what is labeled as a romantic comedy. I will give it a shot.

This right here is a major reason why I wanted the lot. I got into Gigantor when in the early 90s Sci FI Channel was showing it each morning. Didn't know there was comics published over here about him. Seems Ben Dunn of Ninja High School fame wrote this. So I guess it is what I have heard called American Manga. Still it is Gigantor.

From 1975 here is Super Goof 35 published by Whitman. I loved this series as a kid. And when I find issues cheap I will buy them.As you can see it is a reader copy.

And also from 1975 here is Tor #4. Published by DC.I have read scattered issues of this Joe Kubert creation.Again it has cover damage,but the issue is complete. Which makes it a reader copy.

I love the various horror and science fiction DC anthology titles. If I find issues cheap I always buy them. This issue is from 1969. The Unexpected #114,I figured it had to be late 60s or early 70s after seeing the 15 cent cover price.Flipping thru it there is no names working on stories that I know.

From 1978 here is issue 53 of the Gold Key/Whitman Star Trek run. I love the painted covers on this series. And for the cheap price I had to grab it.

Published by Harvey Comics in 1978 here is issue 101 of Sad Sack and the Sarge. I love the 70s and early 80s Harvey humor titles. They are what I was reading when I first got into comics.

Issue 106 of Conan the Barbarian's run at Marvel. This is another series I am collecting slowly. Mostly because I don't want to pay more than a buck an issue. Since this is from 79 Buscema and Ernie Chan are doing the artwork.

A few years back I got issue 4 of the Giant Sized Conan series. It is the last issue of that run. Well found issues 2 and 3 today. Sadly 3 had a huge sticker on the cover that did a bit of damage when I peeled it off. I love how on the cover of issue 3 it says "special ACADEMY AWARD issue,Featuring "Devil Wings over Shadizar". I don't remember a REH story with that title,so I am assuming this is either an original story or adapted from the non REH written stuff. Still 2 issues of Giant Sized Conan for less than a fourth of cover price is a good deal. Now just need the first issue to complete the run.

When I saw this I knew I wanted the lot. Sure it isn't mint. But it is in decent shape. And I know enough Star Wars geeks to be able to sell it and either make back what I spent on this lot,or more than likely make a small profit. Didn't notice until I was home that it is a reprint. Still I paid almost nothing for this. I think I read the reprints of the first 3 issues,but never the original issues. And gotta love that green Darth Vader drawn by Howard Chaykin on the cover.

I use to have to go once a week to another elementary school for my "gifted" class. Yeah they called it that back then. And I was always jealous of the kids at that school. They got the scholastic catalog each week and got to order great stuff like Dynamite and Bananas magazines. I saw this issue and had to grab it. Bananas for those that do not know about it,was a kids themed version of Mad magazine. Back in the 70s and 80s Mad was in some areas thought to be too adult themed for kids. I think some of the main artists and writers from Mad worked on Bananas.Flipping thru it I see the interiors are all in color. And they are doing Mad style parodies of various popular late 70s TV shows.

Crazy was Marvel's version of Mad. I never saw issues of this anywhere. Hell didn't know it existed until a few years back. The X-men themed cover of this issue from 1982 is what caught my attention.I do know that Crazy had it's own mascot.Like how Mad had Alfred E Newman and Cracked had that Janitor dude.Crazy had Obnioxo the Clown. Who sometime in the 80s got his own one shot comic. Where he crossed over with the X-men.

So that is my haul of older comics from 84 Mart. I might start checking in there more often.

X-men and me

The above is the cover to the first issue of Uncanny X-men I ever read. Was on a trip to some relatives. Had just learned how to read recently. Dad grabbed me a copy of comics from Stuckies. And for the  next 20+ years I didn't miss an issue. Sadly my original copy of the issue disappeared in  a fire years ago. But earlier this year I got a decent shape copy for a buck.

Well it was around issue 150 that I finally realized it was better to subscribe to the comic instead of hoping the local drug store would get in the next issue. And from then till issue 300 I kept subscribing. Of course the brown paper mailers the comics came in meant they were usually racked up pretty good by the time I got a copy. But not having to get a ride to town every week was worth the damage.

Found the trade of the Phoenix saga and enjoyed it. But still wanted to read more earlier X-men stories. Someone I knew got the Masterworks,but really at that time the 60s X-men stuff was beyond corny to me. But I am not a big fan of much 60s Marvel stuff. So when Classic X-men started in 86 I quickly subscribed to it.

I had discovered 4 comic shops by this time. But it was mid 80s and X-men back issues were way the hell outta my price range. So thanks to Classic X-men I ended up reading up to where I had first started.

As the X-men line of comics expanded I for quite a few years got everything. And titles like New Mutants,X-factor and Wolverine had good runs. But most of the time the spinoffs were kind of bland. Excalibur was the one stand out.

Well fall of 92 the Fox kids X-men cartoon premiered. And looking back on it now the animation is an eyesore. But the stories and voice acting are good. This is also when the X-men toy line exploded. I at one time had most of the first 5 or 6 waves of figures. But sold off all that stuff years ago.

I was still reading the comic,even though I hadn't enjoyed it that much for about 3 years. My current subscription was  ending at issue 300. Figured that would make a great jumping off point.

Now I am not the biggest JRjr fan,but that cover is just but ugly. The holofoil doesn't help. Plus the almost $4 cover price. I think I still have this issue buried somewhere's in a longbox.

After 2 seasons of the cartoon I stopped watching. Had stopped reading the comic. And the toys,hadn't bought any in years. Even with the movies coming out,something I had waited 15 years on,I wasn't excited enough about the X-men franchise to buy anything outside a dvd of the film and cartoons.

Then in 2008 I am looking on Ebay for cheap comic trades. Was working a job with lots of down time. So would read various stuff to pass the time. Found the first Essential X-men volume for cheap. Ordered it and re-discovered why I had loved the X-men for so many years. Actually loved the art more in b/w than color. But so far have read 6 of the Essential volumes and will be getting more soon.

Now there has been 2 more X-men cartoons. The late 90s one,that I saw maybe 4 episodes of. And then the Wolverine and the X-men show that lasted one season. It was actually pretty good. But got fucked over.

So since I was a kid reading the X-men they have exploded. 3 cartoons,well 4 if you count the Wolverine anime like show,4 films and bunch of merchandise. Too bad so much of the merchandise focuses on Wolverine. He is interesting sure,but I want more Nightcrawler,Racheal Summers and Colossus merch.

Wolverine and the X-men Volume 2 Deadly Enemies

Prior to watching this DVD I had seen a few random episodes of this ,the newest cartoon based on the X-men franchise. This DVD contains 5 episodes. The stand outs are the first one on the disc,which has Storm now back in Africa. Back in her role as weather Goddess. She ends up getting possessed by the Shadow King. And starts using her weather control powers to devastate Africa. The X-men team comes in and thanks to Emma Frost manages to get the Shadow King outta Storm's mind. And Storm stops the massive deadly weather she has started. This is also the episode were Storm rejoins the X-men. The next episode is all about how now that mutants are public knowledge and being hunted down by the government, a lot of them are booking passage on various cargo ships to Genosha. Genosha is an island that is ruled by Magneto that is a safe place for all of mutant kind. Nightcrawler stows away on a ship and before they make it to Genosha,the ship is attacked by pirates. Who seem to be lead by Spiral,who has the Reavers as her muscle. It seems they are attacking these ships bound to Genosha,and taking captive the more powerful of the mutants aboard to be used in a kinda of "Gladiator" challenge to the death. After they have attacked and disabled the ship that Nightcrawler is on,and taken the mutants they wanted. Nightcrawler uses the young mutant kids that are left to pursue Spiral's band of pirates.And they manage to take down Spiral and the Reavers and sink their pirate ship. The X-men arrive after the fact and Nightcrawler rejoins the team. Then we get a coda to the story were it is revealed that Spiral is working for Mojo. And I get a strong feeling that this will lead to more story lines either later this season or in the next season. Then you have what I consider one of the best animated things to ever come outta Marvel comics. The episode starts out with Wolverine in the city being chased by the government's special anti-mutant team AKA MRD. Wolvie is heavily out numbered but then a huge helicopter lands and Nick Fury of Shield sends the MRD out,and ask to speak with Wolverine. It seems the Hulk is up in the Canadian Rockies,He is very mad and has already destroyed 3 cities and will soon cross the border over into the USA. Wolverine at first doesn't want to go on this mission,but Fury blackmails him,by telling him the Shield has info on all the X-men that he is more than happy to turn over to the MRD. So Wolvie agrees to go try to stop the Hulk. He is dropped off in the wilderness of Canada. And soon realizes that Fury hasn't given him all the facts. It seems that a hiker up in this area has gotten the curse of the Wendigo. Which turns a normal human into a huge white version of a Sasquatch. Wolvie manages to track down Hulk and by a knockout gas grenade to the mouth,gets the Hulk to turn back into Bruce Banner. While they are regrouping in a cave,Banner reveals that he was working with Shield ,and was gonna use one of the various chemicals that he has used unsuccessfully to cure him from being the Hulk,and Shield thinks this formula will cure the man who has the curse of the wendigo. Banner and Wolverine are on their way to the crashed helicopter that has the cure in it,when they are attacked by about 5 or 6 wendigos. It seems when the first wendigo bites someone he transfers the curse to the victim. After a long battle Wolverine and Banner manage to get some darts that have the cure inside them and turn all the Wendigos back to their human forms. But Wolverine finds a Shield emblem on one of the former Wendigos. So when Fury shows back up to take Wolvie and Banner back to America,Wolverine reveals that he has found out that Nick Fury and Shield are behind the first Shield agent becoming a wendigo. This pisses Wolverine off,so he goes and hits Banner with a massive sucker punch. and leaves. Of course the sucker punch gets Banner angry and Fury and his agents are left with a massively pissed off Hulk to deal with. After watching all the episodes on this DVD I have found that the show is well written and has very good animation. I plan on getting all the other episodes that have gotten a DVD release. And watching the second season when Nicktoons Network finally airs it. Wolverine and the X-men Volume 2 earns a A-.