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Agent X
To most, the letter X stands for an unknown quantity. The underworld is no exception. For people with evil intent, it stands for Alex Hayden, the hired gun who knows nothing of his past and doesn't care. Taking the code-name Agent X, the mystery man heads Agency X, a no-questions-asked mercenary service. Armed with any number of weapons, but especially proficient with handguns, a non-stop mouth and a bizarre sense of humor, Agent X seeks to become the world's greatest killer-for-hire!
Issue # 10
This is one screwed up issue. This isn't the first time I've said that about Agent X and I'm sure it won't be the last. The premise behind this issue is that Agency X has been hired to kill a woman's ex-husband. Quite a stretch, I know. Anyhow, Alex is off on assignment and so Sandi (she's sort of the brains behind the outfit, but she's not a merc) decides that the money offered is too good to wait for Alex to return, so she heads out to do the job herself. Discovering that she can't do it, she calls Alex.
Alex, meanwhile has returned home, found Sandi missing, and is in the process of beating the Taskmaster with the severed head of some Chupacabra he had been contracted to kill when he receives her call. Alex interprets her call to mean that she's in danger and he immediately rushes to her aid. When he reaches the hotel room Sandi is secreted in, he finds her extremely drunk and armed with a shotgun. She explains rather drunkenly that she can't shoot the mark because of the teddy bear he's sleeping with and then proceeds to sob and moan about how Alex is attracted to women who can shoot someone in cold blood and she can't. Alex proceeds to agree. He then takes the shotgun, aims at the guy sleeping in the room across the way...and can't do it. Damn teddy bear! He decides that he and Sandi should do it together. Sandi is ecstatic and they aim together and proceed to fill the guy with lead. Sandi then becomes incredibly frisky in her drunkenness and much sexual frivolity ensues.
The next morning, Alex wakes up to find Sandi gone (she left a note saying she had gone to collect the money and would be back to play "who wants to do a millionaire") and his cell phone ringing. Answering it as Agent Sex, Alex discovers that Sandi is being held hostage by their client because her ex-husband is not dead. She informs Alex that he has til midnight to kill him.
Alex somehow amazingly tracks the guy to his home to discover that the guy's house is full of superhero paraphernalia: suits, posters, etc. Alex proceeds to shoot the guy full of bullets only to discover that the man is bullet proof. Alex's healing factor kicks in, helping him recover from all the bullets that ricocheted into his body and the man tells him that he is Fight Man...a superhero...ex-superhero. Fight Man shows Alex a scrap book of all the bad guys he has defeated and then tells the tale of how he wound up in prison: 14 teenage sidekicks of his ended up dead.
Alex tells him that his ex-wife has hired Agency X to kill him and that she is holding an associate of his hostage. Fight Man says, "Well, I guess you better kill me, then." The rest of the issue is the two of them trying to figure out how to kill Fight Man: swords, guns, explosion, gas, truck, sawing off head, acid bath, drowning, fire, hanging, nude pics of Rosie O'Donnel, boredom, poison, more poison, nuke, etc. They eventually end up going out for beer after having run out of ideas and Fight Man starts to choke on a peanut. Alex debates whether or not he should save him and ends up kicking him in the gut to help him spit out the peanut. Alex decides they're just going to have to figure out how to save Sandi.
The artwork in this issue was most definitely not the greatest. Some of the dialogue sucked, too. I guess I'll stick it out through the next few and see if it gets any better.
| Avengers Issue #66 |
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| Red Zone Part 2 |
Avengers
And there came a day unlike any other, when Earth's Mightiest Heroes were united against a common threat! On that day The Avengers were born - to fight foes that no single hero could withstand! Captain America! Iron Man! Thor! Although their ranks may change, one fact remains constant: The Avengers will always assemble to protect the world from any threat imaginable!
Issue #66
Disobeying the orders of the U.S. government, Captain America leads a team of Avengers consisting of the Scarlet Witch, the Jack of Hearts, Ant-Man, Vision, Warbird, and She-Hulk into the heart of the red mist that is killing people in South Dakota.
Back at a C.D.C lab, scientists have discovered from the infected blood of the victims that they are dealing with a particularly virulent strain of necrotizing fasciitis, aka flesh-eating bacteria...and not a naturally occurring one. The scientist then goes on to inform Iron Man that the government is moving slow and since he's one of the richest men in the world, any help he could provide would be appreciated. Iron Man agrees to readily to aid in any way he can. The Wakandan King, the Black Panther, is also there and informs the surprised scientist that his country has been working on an enzyme that can kill necrotizing fasciitis. The Secretary of Defense then storms in and tells the two superheroes to get out, that the Avengers have no business being there. The Black Panther then proceeds to knock unconscious the two men ordered to escort himself and Iron Man out and then the two leave quietly. Once on the roof of the C.D.C, the Black Panther shows a vial of infected blood that he stole from the laboratory. Iron Man takes it from him and leaves, claiming that they can't let it fall into the wrong hands. The Black Panther sort of chuckles to himself and we see that he had a second vial of blood that he stole, knowing that Iron Man would take it from him.
Meanwhile, back in the midst of the red mist, Warbird is trying to get the infected people evacuated to hospitals...hospitals that are refusing to take them in for fear of contagion. The other Avengers are slogging through the mist and making their way around all the dead bodies in search of the source of the mist. It's at this moment that She-Hulk has an attack of claustrophobia inside her biosuit. The Scarlet Witch discovers an underground bunker of some sort during this and Jen (She-Hulk) recovers from her claustrophobia enough so that they all go investigate. Inside the bunker, Cap discovers a door with the words 'United States Bio-Weapons Lab 13' written on it.
| Elektra #22 cover |
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| Everything Old is New Again Part 5 of 5 |
Elektra
After her father was killed before her very eyes, the young woman named Elektra Natchios focused her rage on acquiring revenge. Now, trained as a ninja, and loyal to no one but herself, the deadly fighter known only as Elektra is the world's most dangerous assassin!
Issue # 22
So, Elektra walks knowingly into the trap set by Pain, Thought, and Shadow in the desert. The three men are intrigued and inquire why Elektra has come...is it to save Locke or to become their sister, their Perfect Death, again? Her reply is, "To kill." Not trusting her, Thought decides to probe her mind and she appears to consent to it. Calling her "sexy" he moves to unknowingly stand between her and Carson who is sitting up on a hill, watching through his scope and waiting. One shot and Thought is dead before he even touches Elektra. This is when the ninjas hidden beneath the sand burst out.
Doing what she does best, Elektra proceeds to trounce as many ninjas as she can get her hands on, while Carson shoots them from a distance. Shadow disappears to take out the sniper and Pain is left to deal with Elektra. "You cant hurt me," he declares. "I dont want to hurt you," she answers back coolly, "I want to kill you." Meanwhile up on the hill, Carson is surprised by Shadow and as far as we can see, he's killed.
Elektra and Pain exchange attacks, but she eventually manages to kill him. Shadow takes Locke and disappears, leaving Elektra to track them. They don't go far and she confronts Shadow, who is using the blindfolded and gagged Locke as a human shield. Shadow assaults Elektra with a bunch of psycho babble, that when she was with the Hand, she was pure and that they adored and treasured her, honoring her not for what she should be but for what she was; telling her that she is still the Hands Perfect Death, that the evidence of this is all around them (aka dead bodies). This brings tears to Elektra's eyes as he calls her Perfect Death again. "What is your nature, Elektra?" to which she replies softly, "Perfect Death," as she slides her katana through Locke and into Shadow, killing them both, much to Shadow's surpriseand probably Locke's too.
| Exiles #25 cover |
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| With an Iron Fist Conclusion |
Exiles
They have become unhinged from time. They are heroes from different realities whose own timelines have become compromised. The lives that they once knew have become altered. Now, to return to their worlds they must travel together from one alternate universe to another, each time completing a mission to set right what has gone wrong. They have found love, experienced danger and formed friendships. Their lives are unpredictable. No one can say where their next mission will take them. Such is the fate of the Exiles!
Issue #25
Alright, this was the conclusion of a three part story line, so I'll do a little extra background here. In this reality, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, has managed to become ruler of the entire world through clever machinations. Basically, he had secret takeovers of conglomerates, he managed to bring about terrorism and war through covert orchestrations, and did a strategic infection of livestock and crops that caused massive worldwide starvation. Through all of this, he managed to look like the good guy and the world gladly allowed him to take control. He was their savior. The world was not enough for Tony Stark, though. He wanted to conquer other worlds, but to do this he knew he would need a special army, one with special powers. He bent his will on the group of people called the Inhumans. They were led by Black Bolt and his wife Sue Richards, aka the Invisible Woman.
The Inhumans lived in a hidden city called Attilan under the sea. During some routine repairs, when they had surfaced, they were discovered. Black Bolt had one thing that could keep his people safe from Stark, an impenetrable force field given to them by Galactus. Wonder Man, the most powerful man on the planet, was the keeper of the only "key" to the force field, the only thing that would enable an outsider to get in.
Our Exiles team consists of Gambit, Spider (a Peter Parker alien symbiote), Angel (aka Warren Worthington), Storm, Colossus, and Vision. Their mission was to help Stark capture the Inhumans so he could use them, or at least get their genetic material, to breed his army. The Exiles managed to get the key from Wonder Man and then led a strike against Attilan. Using the key, they made their way into the city, only to find everyone within it dead. Black Bolt, whose mearest whisper can crumble mountains (so he NEVER speaks and has no telepathic powers) had killed his people to prevent them from being enslaved. Seeing all the dead, the Exiles turned and ran and began to be teleported out of that reality, meaning that their mission was done. The story, however, is far from done.
To prevent Stark from being able to use the bodies of his people to create his army, Black Bolt let loose a cry that would shake the earth...and vaporize himself along with the bodies. Nothing was left for Stark to use.
Unbeknownst to Stark, however, was the fact that 300 Inhumans were hidden away, Sue Richards, their Queen, was among them. She was grief stricken at the death of her second husband, a man she had grown to love after they had both comforted each other after the deaths of their first spouses. After things had quieted down a bit, she broke into Stark's home and, though it caused her death as well, she killed him to avenge her husband and her people.
"In the decades to come, the horrors that Stark had perpetrated would come to light. And it will be recognized by the world that it took the sacrifice of an entire civilization, and one woman who loved their king...to free this world from the hands of a monster."
| New X-Men #139 cover |
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| Murder at the Mansion 1 of 3 |
New X-Men
Born with strange and amazing powers, the mutants known as the X-Men have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them. Called together by their mentor Charles Xavier, the former strangers have become a family. Now, continuing Xavier's dream of peace between humans and mutants, the X-Men search the globe for the next generation of X-Men!
Issue #139
Things had finally started to calm down at the Xavier Institute after the riots and then...Jean came home from India after retrieving a young mutant girl to discover that her husband, Scott Summers (aka Cyclops) red handed in a 'mental affair' with Emma Frost (aka the White Queen). Jean flew off the handle, abruptly threw Scott out of Emma's mind and proceeded to beat the hell out of Emma Frost...all without breaking a sweat or lifting a finger. The Phoenix power has started to return to Jean lately and I think this helped cause her to fly off the handle. Whatever the reason was, I was immensely pleased, having been extremely pissed off that Emma was seducing Scott.
Anyhow, Scott managed to blast into the room that Jean and Emma were in and told Jean to read his mind. She did and saw that Scott's exact words were "It's Jean or nothing." That didn't seem to appease her, though, and Scott stole Logan's bike (much to Logan's chagrin) and took off. Logan went off to comfort Emma, strangely enough, though if anyone knows what it's like to come between Jean and Scott, it's Logan. Emma professed to Logan that she had fallen in love with Scott. I personally don't buy it. Emma doesn't love anyone but herself and only goes wherever she cause the most damage. She just bit off more than she could chew when she underestimated Jean Grey.
Later that evening, Beast went to Emma's room, singing something French and carrying a bouquet of roses and a bottle of wine. When he knocked on the door, however, there was no answer. Deciding to peek in, he opened the door to discover Emma...dead...shattered to be exact. Emma Frost's mutation was not only telepathic power, but the ability to change her skin to diamond. She had apparently changed to her diamond form and someone had smashed the hell out of her...but who?
My opinion? There are a few suspects here: the obvious is Jean Grey, but what about Scott Summers? Maybe he was angry that she had managed to seduce him enough to drive a wedge between him and his wife. He had supposedly left the grounds on Logan's bike, but what if he didn't? There's also Emma herself. Perhaps she actually had a crisis of conscience and decided she was a horrible slut and didn't deserve to live...yeah, right. The other suspect is Storm, though this one is a stretch. Storm is now leader of the X-Treme X-Men and she and Emma just recently went through a very violent battle, but they seemed to resolve things.
I wish I had a scanner so you could see the sweet picture of Emma's shattered body and Beast's shocked expression. This issue made me extremely happy. I've never trusted Emma Frost and I thought Charles was insane to let her into the Institute to teach. Ding dong the bitch is dead! =-)
Uncanny X-Men
Born with strange and amazing powers, the mutants known as the X-Men have sworn to protect a world that hates and fears them. Called together by their mentor Charles Xavier, the former strangers have become a family. Now, continuing Xavier's dream of peace, they have opened the doors of the Xavier Institute to teach a new generation of X-Men!
Issue #422
This is a rather long issue with two separate story lines going on at once. One involves Alex Summers (Havok), his fiancée Lorna Dane (Polaris), and Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler) and their trip to an archaeological dig in the Bermuda Triangle. The other deals with the others at the mansion and their problems with Alpha Flight. Let's start with Alex, Lorna, and Kurt.
Lorna is on the phone the entire time with her mother discussing plans for the wedding as they wander down to an excavation. At the dig, they meet up with a professor who taught Alex and Lorna. He's very excited to see them, but he's especially excited to meet Kurt and eager to show them why. On a wall at their dig is a picture in the Egyptian style of a blue man who looks very much like Kurt...pointy ears, blue skin, tail, and all. The professor then shows them the bones of ancient mutants and tells them that carbon-dating dates these remains to 15,000 years ago...predating humankind. They are then attacked by some crazy zealots dressed up in purple robes and wielding guns. The professor is shot and Kurt teleports away. Lorna is still holding the phone to her ear, but watching the scene in shock. There is an explosion and Kurt reappears beside the now dead zealots...discovering that the hand grenades they carried had the pins pulled out of them. At the same moment, they hear Lorna informing her mother that the noise was a backfiring car and that if so-and-so is invited to the wedding they had better be seated far from her because she has "no patience for stupid people these days." Gee...with her power of magnetic manipulation, I wonder who could have pulled the pins from the grenades? Maybe it was the zealots...but maybe not.
Meanwhile, back at Xavier's, Angel informs Paige that she means more and more to him as each day passes...and then they have to go out and deal with Alpha Flight. A huge fight ensues when Sasquatch of Alpha Flight tries to take custody of Sammy, a young Canadian boy Juggernaut was playing catch with and who he has developed a mentor relationship with. The two big brutes beat the crap out of each other and then Iceman gets pissed and freezes a woman named Vindicator in place, surrounding her up to her neck in a block of ice. Bobby (Iceman) then proceeds to rain an icy death down upon everyone, including the police cars that are outside the mansion. Cain (Juggernaut) and Sasquatch only cease their fight when Sammy runs between them, pleading with them to stop. The professor, in the meanwhile, has come up with a plan with his lawyer on the phone and proceeds to strike a deal with Alpha Flight's lawyer: Sammy goes home, the rest of the kids stay. Sammy agrees to keep his friend the Juggernaut from fighting and getting hurt and is taken away. Cain storms off, pissed at his step-brother (Professor X) for letting the kid be taken back to "the hellhole he calls home."
| Wolverine #189 cover |
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| Good Cop, Bad Cop Part 2 of 2 |
Wolverine
The deadliest mutant on the face of the earth, Wolverine is the perfect confluence of natural instinct and man-made weaponry. Born with heightened senses, razor-sharp claws, and a healing factor that renders him virtually indestructible, he's earned his reputation as a deadly force of nature.
Skilled in practically every fighting style on the planet, his lethal prowess is enhanced by a skeletal system and claws fused with the virtually unbreakable alloy Adamantium. As a member of the X-Men, he follows Xavier's dream and principles, protecting a world that fears and hates his very presence. As Wolverine, he seeks justice on his own terms...
Issue #189
This is a story of Logan running around being a good guy. He's sitting in a bar and over hears a conversation between two detectives, one good (but a lush) and the other a murderer. The good cop vows to get the bad cop.
Logan decides to help. He confronts the bad cop and gets whacked upside the head and knocked unconscious...which was along the lines of what he was hoping for. The bad cop tosses him into the trunk and drives off, taking him to the site where he had buried the bodies of the others he had killed. He shoots Logan in the head and buries him. I have to admit, I winced despite the fact that I know a bullet to the head won't phase Logan for long.
Anyway, Logan claws his way out, pissed off, and goes back to the bar, dropping a map and the murder weapon off for the good cop and that's where the story ends. Though, when Logan comes out of the bathroom, all cleaned up after being covered in dirt and the waitress says, "You clean up real nice!" and Logan gives her that little smirk and says, "Thanks, darlin'." All I have to say is...Yes he does! ;-)
Wonder Woman
Wonder Woman is Diana, the daughter of Hippolyta and a former princess of the Amazons of Themyscira. She is the reincarnated spirit of a human child who died in her mother's womb almost 30,000 years ago, brought to life by several Greek goddesses to combat the schemes of Ares, God of War.
Dubbed "Wonder Woman" by the press (and named after her mother, who later traveled back in time to World War II, where she used the name and garb of Wonder Woman), Diana became Themyscira's ambassador to the outside world, called "Patriarch's World" by the Amazons.
Issue #190
Diana has somehow lost her memory. No one knows how or why, but she's wandering around New York with no recollection of who she is or why she's carrying around a statue of a baby. Some bad guy who can 'possess' people is after her and that little statue, though.
After hiding the statue in the park, she happens to run into a girl who is her biggest fan after following a pigeon who is adamant that she follow it. The girl takes her into her house and shows her all her Wonder Woman paraphernalia and 'teaches' Diana how to do her twirly thing to change into her costume.
Diana decides she'd better stay out of costume until she can remember who she is, though and also asks the girl to cut her hair. So, Diana's hair gets chopped off...super fricking short. And she dons a pair of glasses. She really doesn't remember anything...lol.
Also, somehow connected, something funky is going on on the planet Oa, home of the last guardian of the universe and his two children. Stuff starts getting smashed up and the guardian can sense a malevolence gathering there at the center of the universe (aka Oa). ::hears ominous music playing::
X-treme X-Men
Once they were soldiers in Professor Xavier's war for peace between man and mutant. Each born with strange and amazing powers, they have now struck out on their own to find their destiny in this ever-dangerous world!
Issue #24
Hooray!!!! Cannonball has returned!!! Samuel Guthrie, aka Cannonball (he's Paige Guthrie's big brother, she's in Uncanny X-Men having a romance with Angel right now) has finally come back! This issue tells of his return.
Sam worked with a group in Europe called the X-Corp, but during that time, he had to bury too many of his colleagues and he was growing heartsick. Professor Xavier suggested that he go see Lila Cheney who was performing at a club in Paris. (Lila Cheney is a mutant rock star with the ability of interstellar teleportation, she's also a notorious thief). Sam and Lila apparently used to be an item. She's so happy to see him and can see that he is in a lot of emotional pain and she teleports them...somewhere. Months later they return and Sam eventually contacts Storm after he discovers on the internet that she and some of the others (Rogue, Gambit, and Bishop) have left Xavier's. They talk and Sam decides to go back to the U.S. with Storm and join the X-Treme X-Men. We're left wondering what Lila thinks.
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