X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2 Review

Writer: Jason Aaron

Artists: Esad Ribic & Giuseppe Camuncoli

Although Battle of the Atom has lasted longer than it probably should have, having some slow moments along the way, it has overall been a very entertaining story. It does however all come down to this ending, as although it's been good so far, a bad ending could ruin the entire story.

Plot

The X-Men and the future Brotherhood go at it one last time, with S.H.I.E.L.D. inadvertently attacking the mutants as well. 

Review

This was a very good issue as a whole, but it had quite a few problems, with the ending being one of the main problems. Also unlike solicited the issue would actually be written by Jason Aaron who did a brilliant job of making the issue very exciting. He did however not didn't do a fantastic job of ending the story, as although a certain part of the outcome was already spoiled, the ending wouldn't give much clarity to the overall story, making it feel rather unnecessary. Aaron would however add a lot of suspense and drama to this issue as well, with there being some very interesting dialogues, though the poor ending still overshadows all this quite a bit.

The artwork on this issue would be the other big problem, as although there were some very talented artists with the main artwork being done by Esad Ribic and Giuseppe Camuncoli, and the epilogue artwork featuring more of Camuncoli's work, also featuring art from Chris Bachalo, Kris Anka and Stuart Immonen. The main problem with the art was that it was clearly very rushed, with it being poorly detailed. There would however be the odd phenomenal panel, and the layout overall was amazing, but the roughness of the art made it very hard to enjoy it, even with the beautiful colours from  Ive Svorcina, Andres Mossa and Guru Efx.

The issue would start straight from where Wolverine and the X-Men #37 left off with the X-Men being attacked by S.H.I.E.L.D. missiles, that were fired by the Brotherhood. Now this would be a very exciting sequence with the fight between all the X-Men and the future Brotherhood taking up most of the issue. During the fight there would be some amazing interactions, but the best would be between Wolverine, Cyclops and  the future Jean Grey.  On top of this the younger X-Men would also add some fun to the sequence with what certain members had to say about the events.

We'd also get to see some Sentinels in this issue, though what bothered the X-Men most about this was the fact that they were S.H.I.E.L.D. Sentinels. Now naturally this wouldn't make the X-Men happy, and naturally so. The addition itself was however rather hollow, as it would have been nice to have seen a bit more action involving the Sentinels, as their appearance seems to be mainly to set up the future events of Wolverine and the X-Men. Other than that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s involvement in this issue was overall very decent, as although they seemed mainly background characters, they added a different tone to the issue, and overall I look forward to seeing the aftermath of this sequence.

The main story would be followed by four epilogues, two written by Aaron, one written by Brian Wood and the last being written by Brian Michael Bendis. Now I won't go into any detail about these epilogues, but story wise they'd be the best part of the issue, and did a fantastic job of giving a little bit of closure for the characters, setting up the future of the X-Men brilliantly. The epilogue that interested me the most however had to be the final one by Bendis that would see Kitty Pryde air her feelings over the event in a very exciting fashion.

Final Verdict

This was an exciting issue, but due to a poor ending and very rushed artwork it was probably overall the poorest issue in the story, with it making the story feel irrelevant and unnecessary. There would however be some explosive moments, and some shocking developments with the epilogues doing a fantastic job of setting up the future of the X-Men titles, but unfortunately it wasn't enough to overcome the sudden and poor ending. Due to this I'd only recommend this issue to anyone who's been following the story so far, or anyone that loves explosive action, as otherwise it's only essential for the epilogues.

Rating: 6/10

Uncanny X-Men #11 Review

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artists: Frazer Irving & Kris Anka

This has been a very good series up till now, as although it's not been outstanding, it has been very enjoyable to read. I am however more focused on the upcoming Battle of the Atom crossover, and look forward to seeing the involvement this series will have.

Plot

Cyclops' X-Men take on a Blockbuster Sentinel in a brutal fight that could spell the end of these X-Men.

Review

This was a good issue, but nothing special, being slightly mediocre. Brian Michael Bendis did a decent job with this issue, but it felt a bit rushed, making way for the upcoming Battle of the Atom storyline, being nothing more than a filler, and an early set-up for future events. It was however still interesting, and I really enjoyed the mystery in this issue. There was also some brilliant monologue from Cyclops in this issue, and that with the dramatic dialogue was a nice addition, helping to give tone, and depth to the issue. I also loved how Bendis handled the characters reactions in this issue, as with all the action there needed to be this kind of emotional response.

I wasn't too sure on the art in this issue, as although I love Frazer Irving's art, with his art on this series being very good so far, there are times when I question whether his style suits this series, as although it suited the Magik centred story, also suiting last issue, I wasn't entirely sure if it suited this one. I did however like the detail in Irving's art, as although the faces looked slightly awkward at times, with Emma Frost's diamond form still not looking right, it was overall very good, and I loved the emotion from Cyclops. This issue would however also have artist in Kris Anka working on it, producing art during the S.H.I.E.L.D./Madripoor sequences. Anka's art was also good, but not as good as Irving's.

This issue would see a Blockbuster Sentinel go against Cyclops' X-Men in a phenomenal battle. Now as fights go this is a very good one, and if it wasn't for the suddenness of this battle, as well as the lack of meaning it would have been even better. As it was however this was still an outstanding fight, and I loved seeing the X-Men function as a team during this. I also loved seeing the younger X-Men come out of their shells a bit more, and look forward to seeing the developments of this, and hope that they make up for the quickness of this set-up fight.

This issue would also have a lot of monologue from Cyclops, with that being the main form of storytelling in this issue. This isn't the first time that Bendis has used this style of storytelling in this series, as just a few issues ago Magik would do the same. Much like then I enjoyed this, as although it wasn't expected either times, it's a very unique, and interesting way of telling the story. I did however much prefer it this time round, as I felt that last time round it took away slightly from the story, adding an anticlimactic tone to the issue, with other things helping to pick up the overall quality of that issue. This time however it added a lot of emotion, and showed what was going on in Cyclops' head, which I loved.

S.H.I.E.L.D. would also once again feature in this issue, still having an interest in the X-Men. Overall I found this sequence to be mostly unnecessary, as there was only one thing that made it interesting, and that was the clarification that Mystique is still pretending to be Dazzler. It would also appear due to this, and the actions of Mystique during this issue that she still has a plan up her sleeve, and I question whether this is something that will pay off in Battle of the Atom or after (I personally think it will pay of in Battle of the Atom due to her involvement in All-New X-Men as well).

Final Verdict

This wasn't a terrible issue, but it is probably the worst in the series so far. It had some interesting monologue, with plenty of emotion, action, and some mystery. It was however overall a bit mediocre, being more of a filler/set-up issue, also having too quick a pace. I would however probably still recommend the issue, as it was a good read, and has a lot of interesting mysteries to it.

Rating: 6/10