The Astonishing X-Men by Marjorie Liu, Volume 12: Unmasked

It would seem that the third time is the charm for writer Marjorie Liu. As the very last writer for this 2005-2013 series of The Astonishing X-Men, she really delivered on the last arcs for her run, mainly because it focused on two characters I find so compelling and enjoyable to read about. They are no other than Shi'ar warrior Warbird (issues #57-58), and the youngest of the Original Core Five of sixties X-Men, Bobby Drake, a.k.a Iceman (issues #62-65). All these issues were illustrated by artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta whose visual work was just majestic for me as I explore through the panels, more so when it was accompanied with a more cohesive and meaningful narrative penned by Liu.

As I've stated from my previous review about the Karma-centric story for the eleventh volume Weaponized, this is my very first time meeting Warbird's character. From what I can gather, she is a Shi'ar warrior exiled on earth who is an honorable woman who swore to serve and protect the weak, albeit one who lacked the skills to interact with humans normally. She's an alien, after all, and that makes her ineptness in dealing with people so adorable, especially those panels with her conversing with a human child from the last volume. Since then, I was captivated by her because I'm so amused by that small exchange since it was reminiscent of another character I love from the CW show Supernatural, the angel Castiel. Like Cas, she's painstakingly awkward around humanity but a force to be reckoned with as a powerful fighter. 

Warbird was also respectful even toward others whose values she does not share. For example, she does not recognize Northstar's gay marriage with his civilian boyfriend Kyle as a valid one, but she did not feel the need to personally attack his choice. Instead, she merely declined his invitation to the wedding and doing it by being polite as possible which was nice. It showed that she has convictions but she would never impose those convictions or oppress other people with it. So I was so happy that Liu wrote a two-parter story focusing on Warbird. Personally, I wish it was longer but I was nonetheless thrilled that even with its brevity, it managed to be so insightful concerning Warbird who I think she is officially my NEWEST FAVORITE X-MAN! Witness her adorkableness:

So Volume 12: Unmasked is divided between Warbird and Iceman, and the titular theme is applicable to both of them. We eventually find out over the course of their arcs that both are hiding behind a well-cultivated but ultimately failing facade to arm and guard themselves from whatever shame and rejection they fear or have represse, and Liu did a wonderful job exploring the facets of these feelings for their respective stories. Now this is what I like the most from comic books: riveting character arcs, and Liu delivered. She delivered well enough in this volume that my earlier harsh criticisms from her previous installments can be set aside since she followed up with something daring that possesses a heart. Look, I'm hardly that difficult to please. I'm perfectly happy with a comic book as long as it makes me care about the characters and allows me to root for them and, in some cases, wish them dead. Either way, you would have had be hooked if you as a writer would manage to do this. Liu finally has, thanks to her spectacular characterizations of Warbird and Iceman.

Just in time for Christmas in Manhattan, Warbird feels all alone in an alien place called Earth, and having been invited to have some quiet dinner with Shan (Karma) and her siblings, Warbird still feels awkward and unsure about herself. And then she recognized an image of an artifact in one of the magazines inside the house and she took off without even saying where she is heading. The X-Men, along with S.H.I.E.L.D, tracked her down to Cairo, Egypt. There she uncovered an unsettling truth concerning an ancient race from Earth that the Shi'ar Empire has wiped out, fearing their technology as harmful infection that could destroy the Shi'ar. Warbird encountered one of its last remaining descendants (but was revealed to be merely a machine created by said race) and she was haunted by memories of her past she tried so hard to bury. When the X-Men found her, she was unconscious and upon waking she told them exactly what has gotten her so rattled. It turned out that the ancient race her own kind has wiped out was composed of a civilization of artists which is something the Shi'ar somehow feared because, according to Warbird, their art--specifically their music--can penetrate through their layers of consciousness. 

Therefore, it can be used for manipulation and the Shi'ar expected the worst from this invention and decided to slaughter the race that have found a way to, well, basically, touch their souls. Talk about unnecessary overkill. There truly is nothing more damning that plain old ignorance. But, as Liu put it, "We will always be surprised at what can hurt us. And, equally, what will save us." The most personal thing about is was that Warbird was gifted with a talent for art, and yet she saw this as a 'defect' which made me so sad for her because she was ashamed of something that should have been celebrated in the first place!

In the end, Warbird was overcome with vulnerability and decided to listen to the advice of the last descendant of that unfortunate race, and embrace that she doesn't have to remain a warrior fighting wars because that was her conditioning. She could be whatever she wants now after being freed from her own planet's control. Now she can explore her other skills and that includes and not limited to art. I was so happy for her decision to do the bravest thing she could ever do at this point, and that is to willingly accept that there may be another purpose for her this time than mere violence and war. This simple two-issued story about a character I haven't even known that long and only met just now resonated with me so much and I definitely will check out more of Warbird in other titles next time!

Now, we move ahead with Iceman's storyline. For the first time since Whedon and Ellis, we get an arc that ran for at least five issues which are so exciting, splendid and well-crafted. I'm glad that I gave Liu a chance to redeem herself because she did so in a big way with her deft and painful characterization of Bobby Drake who has functioned in several titles I've read before (Jeff Parker's X-Men: First Class and Brian Michael Bendis' All-New X-Men) as comic relief. Well, that was the teenage Bobby. We are talking about the adult veteran here who has seen his share of horrors and despair. You might have noticed that I skipped issues #59-61 and that's because those are crossover issues about Apocalypse which I just didn't bother myself with because they were not included in this collected volume anyway. But the premise for Iceman's arc here came from said crossover. Apparently, during the commotion in that crossover, goddamn Dark Beast transfered a death seed inside Bobby which then fed on his darkest thoughts and feelings as well as his rage and guilt about his father, authority figures in general and failed romances. That's how this story started; by Bobby having face all his girlfriends from the past (Lorraine, Opal and Annie) while having to deal with his current romance with Kitty Pryde who is also still reeling from the loss of her first love Peter Rasputin (Colossus). 

Everything stings and I can't stop reading because of it! One of my favorite moments was when Kitty went to Logan (of all people) for relationship advice. It's so gooood to see Kitty again even if she's not necessarily part of the X-Men team going on missions. Her mere presence and participation in this reminded me of Whedon's run especially now that she's reminiscing about Peter and the future they could have had. Too bad Bobby was within earshot and listening to this. Like I said, everything about this story just stings, like small paper cuts slowly accumulating in a forgotten corner of your mind until they suddenly become plenty and sharp enough to really make you bleed out. That's how it felt for Bobby, I think, as I read him go through probably the darkest periods of his life. It's great---but also, you know, NOT.

Another important thing worth mentioning is that, apparently, Iceman and Mystique got it on too. Well, should I really be shocked? That turncoating, backstabbing, unpredictable shapeshifter bitch-face gets around, and this is no exception. Raven Darkholme just doesn't give a fuck anymore so nobody trusts her when she offered to help Bobby battle his terrifying demon that's about to unleash the biggest snowstorm that is guaranteed to snuff out life in the planet. Hell, even Thor was freaking out about it, claiming it will make way for Ragnarok. As an elemental, Bobby's powers have always been hard to discern; its potentials, its limits, and so it's not surprising that he would be able to unleash something terrible in the off-chance he started to feel like being the bad guy and you better believe he is consumed by playing the villain for this story that even Mystique is embarrassed to be knocked down a peg by how impressive his girth of villainy is becoming. Nevertheless, somewhere inside that impenetrable giant ice form--refusing to listen to his friends--is still Bobby Drake only that he has also finally learned to deal with ugly feelings, no longer masking his sorrow underneath a false bravado and ready humor. It's quite bothersome to see him this way, as well as the fact that he is maliciously trying to kills us all with snow.

Timely GIF jokes aside, this is some serious shit and I cannot for the life of me can't stop reading even while I was at work. It has got to be one of the most suspenseful reading experiences I had which is saying something because I have honestly zombied through reading this title since the quality of the series has dropped so drastically in just a span of ten or so issues. Now we're back to form. Now I care about characters again, and I'm afraid of what will happen to them. The best part was this interaction between Warbird and Iceman. I FANGIRLED SO HARD because I love Warbird already and her on-point insights about Bobby in these panels just killed me! Girl read him like a book and it was glorious! If I wasn't at work, I would have pumped by fists alternately in air!

But that's not all either! Kitty Pryde also confronts him because if anyone can knock some sense into anyone, it's always Kitten!!

I won't spoil the ending because I'd like you to pick up this volume yourself. Overall, Marjorie Liu delivered, thank Loki fuck, and so I'm more than happy to end my reviews for the official run of the 2005-2013 series The Astonishing X-Men on a positive note! Man, what a journey! Up next is Brian Michael Bendis' Uncanny X-Men because I can't delay reading that title anymore, considering it's happening back-to-back with his other title All-New X-Men which I have read before Astonishing and I would like to see for myself how Bendis balanced his writing on both major titles. I'll also be reviewing X-Men Volume IV alongside it because that's where the ladies at!!~

RECOMMENDED: 8/10

The Astonishing X-Men by Marjorie Liu, Volume 11: Weaponized

One last volume to go after this. I badly need a change of X-Men series to read and talk about in reviews because this one just doesn't do it for me anymore. It has gotten so inexcusably mediocre and stale that it's taking everything from me not to just drop this and call it a day. I'll persevere though because I did vow to complete every title imposed on my reading list. That's all there is to it now, really; I'm compelled by a sense of obligation that is surprisingly stronger than my steadily growing dislike towards this title.

Marjorie Liu's sophomore contribution to the dwindling series of The Astonishing X-Men was somewhat better than her debut, but only slightly more so. With the exception of last arc's wedding issue concerning Northstar and his civilian boyfriend Kyle, it was a rather shitty story about the Marauders and an X-Man I Barely Know named Karma (real name Shan). Afterwards, we were offered an expansion to the mystery as to why Karma started acting murderous in the first place here in this collected eleventh volume entitled Weaponized composed of issues #52-56. After yet another guest writer (Greg Pak's ninth volume installment which was yet another trite of a story) has failed to deliver a satisfying albeit short-lived run, The Astonishing X-Men tried to rekindle something fresh and exciting again by employing the writings of a female comic book writer this time, accompanied by a brand new cast of X-Men. For this roster, we have Wolverine as the constant, and the rest are Gambit, Iceman, Cecilia, Warbird and Karma. I am not at all familiar with the last three X-Men though I must say Warbird (as conservative and against gay coupling as she revealed to be in the last arc) has grown on me only because she's an alien warrior who interacts with humans in a humorous titled way I have not encountered since angel Castiel from the CW's decade-long ongoing show Supernatural.

Seriously, Warbird is ADORBS! And I don't even know how she got here but I hope she stays

That being said, Weaponized will never be a strong contender, but it was thankfully not the worst from the entire TAXM roster either. Marjorie Liu as a writer has been competent enough because there are scenes in her two stories so far that do resonate for me every now and then but I always get the sense that her narrative could have been polished better. I feel as if she can do better than what she produced here and I might just read more of her stuff from other titles. This storyline was particularly terrible; it was just so cliché and uninteresting altogether. I do think that it was a great thing to use a character as focal point for the story's conflict. In this case, it's Karma whose issues about her family tragedy had caught up to her via the appearance of her long-lost half-sister Susan Hatchi. Said woman served as the villain of the entire plot and her motivations and methods of tormenting Karma as well as her friends were just too generic. A victimize child who managed to work her way to the top and gather enough money and resources to get her hands on a technologically advanced biological weaponry (nano-worms) which she proceeded to infect the X-Men with so they will do whatever she tasked them to do, lest they face a gruesome death. 

It wasn't anything original. The predictability played out in the next five issues, whilst I was trying yet failing to convince myself that perhaps the ending would be a complete surprise. Well, it wasn't. Sure, I was slightly sad that Susan died right at the point where Shan (Karma) was ready to forgive her and they can start anew. But I was distracted by the generic way she was disposed of that easily; murdered by their asshole father via gunshot. It was so disappointing. Susan Hatchi could have been more fleshed out next time around, as well as her relationship with her X-Man sister Shan but nah, Liu just killed her off right after giving us her supposedly intriguing backstory, because hey, she's a bad guy, and no one cares anyway in the long run, right?

WELL, MAKE ME CARE! That's the point of reading a story. I'm supposed to like these characters and root for them, and be moved by their sorrow and suffering and rejoice their triumphs and I simply don't! Where the fuck are Scott and Emma? And Kitty and Colossus? I've grown attached to these people because I've known them longer and Whedon made me give a squiggly fuck about their circumstances but so far Liu hasn't done me the same courtesy...YET. I'm still hoping her last volume and arc will do that. I have no idea why Gambit or this Cecilia character have to be there. Bobby Drake isn't even funny in this. Northstar and Kyle continue to be a couple but their conversations don't really reveal anything new about their usual shit, and Warbird I feel could be very captivating if she gets more scenes and lines. I'm fine with Karma but I'd like to get to know her less for now because Weaponized was so annoyingly bland that she could just shut up the entire way in the next volume after this and I won't even notice or complain. Unless Liu plans to do more for her characterization, though I'm not holding my breath.

But I don't want to just bitch and whine in this review so I will end it in a hopeful note. This collection also included the forty-five paged annual which had three stories in it; two of them were quirky ones about the present concerning Kyle and Northstar's relationship (or more like their first weeks of marriage) alongside the X-Men who always have to take Northstar away for some dangerous mission, and the Alpha Flight issue where Northstar "proclaimed homosexuality" in public (I will never ever stop finding this phrase amusing). It was a nice issue that made me feel better enough to give this volume at least a solid 7. Good effort, Liu, but do better next time.

RECOMMENDED: 7/10

The Astonishing X-Men by Marjorie Liu, Volume 10: Northstar

I vividly remember how The Astonishing X-Men came to be. After all, it was only since last month that I began to read and review it, starting with Joss Whedon's phenomenal twenty-four issued run. This was followed up by Warren Ellis with twelve more great issues. Unfortunately, whatever magical spark that this series had on me began to fade steadily especially once different writers took over and produced stories that range between gratingly average and mind-blowingly awful. The last three volumes of this run are all penned by writer Marjorie Liu, and this is the first of her arcs. To even call it an arc is a very generous consideration because in its four-issued span (#48-51), nothing really happens. I wish something did, considering what issue #51 was about. It's the first time in comics ever for this occasion to occur (and hopefully won't be the last) and it's no other than the fact that Marvel decided to have two of its male and proudly out characters be united in the holy sacrament of marriage, and grace us with that lovely cover. That was honestly the only good thing about this volume. 

Other than that, well--everything about the story itself was actually pretty shitty. 

Look, I get it. I'm pleased that we now have two queer characters tying the knot as featured in mainstream comics because it shows that we as a society have embraced this timely social change and were now even comfortable to portray stories about them. In Brian Michael Bendis' ongoing series All-New X-Men, we also have Bobby Drake coming out as gay as well. I like the fact that superheroes can be gay now too, and that we are allowing the X-Men to become the representation of minority its thematic concept as a fictional work has always been meant to be. But as I read through the issues leading up to this moment, I can't help but feel cheated because this for me came off as written under the guise of false inclusiveness. If Marvel really cared about writing queer characters into their series, they should have picked a better writer because Liu's storyline and approach to the characterization of Northstar and his boyfriend Kyle's relationship just didn't cut it.

This review is in no way criticizing the fact that gay marriage is portrayed in this comic book's pages because I'm neither a disagreeable asshole or have strong religious beliefs against homosexuality. Hell, I'm fucking queer myself! What I do take serious injury though was how badly written the entire thing was, even with the nice wedding ending on issue #51. It didn't undo the bitter aftertaste that the previous three issues leading to it had left in my mouth. It just didn't make me like it more just because I as a queer woman and my affiliated sexual orientation was represented in its comic book story. Look, I don't even make a habit of identifying with gay characters in fiction just for the sole reason that they are gay. And when people say you should like this volume because it has gay marriage in it, and when you tell them that you don't like it, then that suddenly makes you a bigot is complete trash. How is that even a logical point of view? So, I kindly advise anyone who would take such a narrow-minded and insensitive stance to go fuck themselves.

If you have that kind of opinion then please don't talk to me

My primary dislike is what Marjorie Liu wrote for Volume 10: Northstar overall and not just in the passable, barely coherent mess about the plot concerning Marauders and Karma being a manipulative bitch (though that admittedly got me very confused and angry all at once). I take issue with how the gay couple's relationship is portrayed. My opposing view about the way Liu as a writer handled their relationship as part of the narrative does not invalidate my sexual identity as a gay woman. I am not betraying my community but downright dismissing Northstar and Kyle's love story as disingenuous---but their sudden marriage was unconvincing though. As I've said, I like issue #51 just for the simple fact that we got to see two gay men happily married even though their characters and relationship were barely touched upon and suffered from being poorly underdeveloped. But it doesn't excuse the fact that Liu simply did not produce a story with any kind of emotional resonance where I could actually stay invested as I see the conflict and drama unfold concerning the Marauders stuff and the baggage and struggle between Northstar and Kyle. There is that singular honest moment concerning their relationship that was sufficiently well-written enough as a scene, and that was when Northstar proposed to Kyle and Kyle turned him down, citing that he was merely putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. Kyle was feeling insecure about his place in Northstar's life considering the guy is a mutant and a superhero, and therefore might prioritize a life of crime-fighting than having a relationship with him. It's a valid point, and proposing marriage does not solve anything so Kyle was right to turn that down and Northstar should have been given an opportunity to prove his commitment in another way than that easy way out. And then Kyle's life was endangered and Northstar saved him and all of a sudden all was forgiven and marriage was an acceptable fix-it-all solution. 

If you examine it in a superficial level, it's understandable for both men to commit after just having a near-death experience together since it made them realize they can't spend another day to live without each other. But looking at it more in-depth, it was a poor excuse to have a wedding celebration all so Marvel can give us a comic book issue that featured gay marriage, never mind that the characterization and story leading up to that moment were inconsistent and inadequately executed. It's a lazy cop-out, that's what it is.

However, there was another thing that I could credit Liu for, and it's that small moment I really liked in issue #51 when Shi'ar warrior and former X-Men Warbird refused to attend the wedding because she just doesn't believe in gay marriage and its validity. That being said, she was very polite and respectful about turning down Northstar's invitation which was great because I hope more people could be like her. If you're a person who does not approve of gay marriage for religious or traditional reasons, you don't readily have to be a hatemongering nut who would passionately protest agaisnt it, claiming homosexuals will burn in hell because they are disgusting sinners. Warbird respected Northstar's choice to marry someone of the same sex even if she didn't acknowledge his marriage with Kyle to be valid. I'm glad Northstar respected her decision to not attend as well. It has become such a heated issue, the entire gay marriage movement, that it's nice to see that we can have two people simply disagreeing about it but don't necessarily have to be antagonistic or embittered about each other. 

Now, as a collected volume, this featured two issues from Nation X and Alpha Flight. The first one showed the budding relationship between the two men, while the 1992 piece written by Scott Lobdell talked about AIDS baby (srsly). But if you've only managed to read the four issues Marjorie Liu wrote then too bad for you because I bet you never really enjoyed yourself and you might even be forced to say you like it when someone would ask you about it in public, in fear of being misjudged as a homophobe. I'm hear to tell you as a queer woman that I don't like it myself and having a gay marriage scene in one of its issues has nothing to do with it at all. It's just an underwhelming silly story that wouldn't have a redemptive value if the two gay guys didn't have a happy wedding ceremony at the end. On that note, my rating is sealed.

RECOMMENDED: 6/10

The Astonishing X-Men by Greg Pak, Volume 9: Exalted

As of the moment, I'm circling the drain of the downhill ride that is The Astonishing X-Men. Since Whedon and Ellis stopped writing for this series, other writers have taken over and the last two did a fine enough job to keep things afloat with forgivably acceptable stories like Children of the Brood. This time, we have Greg Pak and I've read and reviewed two of his stories before (Batman-Superman and Magneto Testament) and I liked them, especially the latter, so I was hoping that he could deliver me something riveting. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen for AXM anymore because I'm ready to believe that the creative powers-that-be handling this series have checked out at some point and focused on other titles running alongside it. Whatever. I'm not even sure what I want to talk about for this volume, but I have an obligation to uphold so I'm soldiering on nevertheless. Besides, I think I only have three more volumes to go before I mercifully end my reviews for this title and I comfort myself with the fact that perhaps those last three may be at least entertaining again.

Volume 9: Exalted is composed of four measly issues (#44-47). Issue #43 was a standalone and written by a different writer, focusing primarily on Emma Frost and Danger. It was a nice break and was probably written in between while somebody is trying to get someone to write a story arc for the next issues of AXM. And that man is Greg Pak, and his work on Exalted could have been better if the premise wasn't so silly and ultimately uninteresting. For one, it's a Cyclops-centered narrative which would have made me very happy if it wasn't so boring. It offered little insight to the change and struggle that Scott Summers had gone through after the events in Schism. See, that's the problem with X-Men canon in general. So many stuff happen that titles like The Astonishing X-Men get affected, considering it's part of the continuity (and I maintain that it should have been a standalone title to afford more flexibility and expanded mythos independent from the overall Marvel continuity). The consequence is that if a reader only reads this title without any other X-title as reference then the story arcs seem to jump and skip ahead without explaining how and why members drop and leave such as the case with Beast retiring from the group at some point, and now Wolverine and Kitty Pryde separating from Scott and Emma to form their own school back in Westchester. But before that, they were in San Francisco, then Utopia...I can't honestly follow anymore. 

And the only reason I can't is because I refuse to. And I refuse to because I CAN'T CARE.

Anyway, Exalted is supposedly about Scott recovering from all the transformation and pain and loss he had experienced since M-Day occurred. Heck, since Jean Grey died. I would have been concerned about him undergoing through such difficulties but Pak's writing was so detached from any kind of meaningful character reflection that Scott was portrayed like a flat character lacking any dynamic role from start to finish of Exalted. First, we see him grieving the losses of his comrades who abandoned him because they could no longer work with him and agree on the way he runs things. The fact that they question his leadership like that once again echoes back to his deeply-rooted insecurity of not being good enough as a hero. Next, Ororo Munroe arrives to smooth things over and ends up making out with him. That was weird and Scott readily accuses her of being a fake. Technically, she wasn't. As it turns out, she's another version of Storm from a world a part of the multiverse. She abducts Scott and imprisons him with other versions of his friends like Emma (who is Emmeline Frost-Summers), Logan (General James Howlett) and young Kurt and Kitty (Shadow). Other-Storm is working for a mutant who calls himself the Savior. Said Savior has been using mutants from the multiverse to power up his chosen city. This Savior is no other than Charles Xavier who can walk and has luscious blond hair. He also killed the Magneto of his world and so I already hate him because I could not for the life of me believe that Charles Xavier could ever kill his BFF, regardless of whatever version of reality he came from which meant that this Savior is not Charles at all and I don't care what the writing says, he's just not, OKAY?!

True to form, Scott rallies the Other-X-Men to fight their way through an escape plan and ensure that Savior doesn't use Ghost Boxes anymore to travel through different worlds to abduct more X-Men. They accomplish this by traveling to another world and getting other Emmas and Logans to help them defeat the inexcusable piece of shit that IS NOT A VERSION OF CHARLES XAVIER, DO YOU HEAR ME?! Scott, for some inexplicable sense of misplaced duty, felt the need to actually STAY BEHIND and fix the wrongs that the now thankfully dead Savior committed in his own world, but Other-Logan was smart enough to push him into the portal so he can go back to his own world where he is still actually needed in spite of how he feels the opposite of that. Well, at least he was able to work with his comrades again even if they are not the versions he grew up with and lost along the way. I would have felt bad and sad for Scott but the story just ends there without any more need for contemplation and insight. The story arc is just done. It only took me less than an hour to finish the entire thing and I felt nothing afterwards but contempt towards Savior because he killed a Magneto, and lukewarm sympathy for Scott even though Pak has written him so blandly that I wondered what was the point of making him the main focus of the arc in the first place. God, whatever. I'm going to read the tenth volume next with another writer again and hope I can have something more polished than this trite.


NOT RECOMMENDED: 5/10

The Astonishing X-Men Volume 7: Monstrous by Daniel Way / Volume 8: Meanwhile by Cristos Gage

In the next seven issues of The Astonishing X-Men, two writers (Daniel Way and Cristos Gage) contributed two story arcs and whose issues were published in alternate succession of each other. The first story arc penned by Way is entitled Monstrous and has four installments (issues #36-37, #39, and #41). Meanwhile, Gage has Meanwhile (a rather dull title for an arc that was better handled than the aforementioned former) composed of issues #38, #40, and #42. Now, the reason why I'm combining their reviews in one official post in my X-Men blogger is because there isn't much to stay about them separately. One was an entertaining yet excusably average story while the latter was nothing but a disappointing trite and a colossal waste of my time. So I decided to just unite them here in a single post, just to save myself the pain of discussing and elaborating on specific points in either story that ultimately don't warrant that much of my attention span. On the other hand, for my Goodreads review counterpart, this post will be divided accordingly between the volumes, but I will still shamelessly copypasta this introductory paragraph because fuck it. Some X-Men stories are just plain awful that reviewing it causes me actual headache. I had three or four or those already, and Daniel Way's baffling Monstrous is one of those unfortunate few.

THE ASTONISHING X-MEN VOLUME 7: MONSTROUS

Here is what you need to know about Monstrous: it's an underwhelming spectacle of C-level narrative (illustrated quite terribly too; I was not a fan of the artwork that came along with this arc) that featured some throwaway villain you never would have remembered unless you googled about him. Heck, I googled about him and I could only recall him in passing and even then I think I have mistaken him for somebody else. The villain's name is called Mentallo who is a telepath and a mercenary, flip-flopping his way through villainy by being a backstabbing bitch, serving for S.H.I.E.L.D one moment, and then HYDRA the next. There are other organizations he belonged in but I don't really give a racoon's feces fuck about his credentials because for Way's story, he was absolutely flavorless. Even a week-old bowl of soggy noodles in the darkest corner of my fridge has more flavor than Mentallo. He even stated it himself--in a brilliant moment of self-awareness and self-deprecation--that everyone thinks he's a fucking joke. SPOILER ALERT: HE TRULY IS. In the most pitifully boring way possible, he's a joke.

He hijacked an oil-drilling operation headed by a man named Roxxon just so he can demand ransom money. The island where this operation was being conducted in is the infamous Kaibutsu Jima or Monster Island. One of the monsters was sent to Japan to wreak havoc but I'm not really sure. The X-Men composed of Emma, Cyclops, Wolverine and Armor (the lovely Hisako who really should have gotten a better character arc for this story) responded to the emergency. They were in Japan in the first place because Hisako's mother and brother were killed in an accident. She has to attend a very awkward funeral ceremony where her father was a total lukewarm bastard who was grieving the fact that he lost the son and got stuck with the daughter instead. This allowed Hisako some room for character development when she took on the monster by herself. With the death of her close relatives, her power surged and allowed her to become a bigger armored mutant equipped to go head to head with a Godzilla-like monster. Good for Hisako, but her character arc was unjustly overshadowed by the stupid main plot concerning Mentallo and his evil plans to get money while mind-controlling monsters to do his bidding. Seriously, HE IS SOOOOO LAME.

The four installments were mediocre, presented with visually unappealing art (the characters look so weird and facially elongated in the most unflattering ways possible), saved only by those tiny moments with Hisako and her father in the second part and the last. But those faint touches of humanity don't make this story arc any less disappointing or silly in the most upsetting manner possible. Hisako whose loss and grief should have felt more meaningful and resonant in the pages, was also inconsistently characterized. Way's attempt at humor by making her say such cliché things that a teenage girl would say does a disservice to her obvious emotional maturity after experiencing so much, starting from the death of her close friend Wing back in Whedon's run. I would much rather have Hisako confronting her father about his biased treatment of her, or her sparring words with Wolverine during fights, rather than read her whine about her weight (that brief exchange about her taking offense when she misconstrued Scott's harmless comment about her heaviness as proportional to him calling her 'fat' was not only deeply sexist but a pointless drivel that served nothing regarding her character). Another grating characteristic is the exaggerated way of speaking pertaining to Logan's Canadian roots. Rogue's Southern way of speech has proven to be endearing at times but Logan's way of talking here in Monstrous was too much and often distracting as I try to understand what he's saying during conflict.

Overall, after finishing, I felt like I should have spent what precious time I had to do more important things than read this.

NOT RECOMMENDED: 5/10

THE ASTONISHING X-MEN VOLUME 8: MEANWHILE

Cristos Gage's story arc only had three installments but it was infinitely more interesting than Way's piece-of-shit story. I thought it was unfairly presumptuous to name this Meanwhile as if this was merely a bonus story squeezed in while there is a far more superior main attraction. I suppose that was the intention when this was released alongside Way's Monstrous, but let me assure everyone that such a concept proved otherwise in reality. Meanwhile was fun and refreshing in a few ways that Monstrous has not been. In face-value, there are some common threads between the two arcs. First, there is a presence of monster figures in both stories. For Meanwhile, it's the Brood, parasitic alien creatures that the X-Men have had the displeasure of fighting over the course of canon history. What elevated this arc for me had to be the welcome addition of Kitty Pryde. It was shocking for me because I have never stopped complaining about the fact that Whedon entrapped her inside a giant bullet, unable to phase out. I never found out how she managed to get out of that torture chamber. It may have been featured in another title. I'm not that eager to find out how; all that mattered to me was that she's back, and so is Colossus. We also have Storm again which is always nice. Kitty's best friend/alien pet Lockheed assisted them in their mission as well after a very touching and humorous conversation with Kitty where they eventually patched things up. Meanwhile was a nice break between issues for Monstrous because its main plot actually had more meat and bones than the latter.

While Emma, Scott, Logan and Hisako are busy having the most boring confrontation with the lamest villain ever in Monstrous, the other X-Men are rocking it in space. Hank McCoy, who recently left the team due to some more complicated arguments with Scott regarding important decisions, sought their help when his girlfriend S.W.O.R.D Agent Abigail Brand was captured by the Brood. He explained that there is a division in one of the agency's research facility for alien lifeforms called Pandora's Box. Essentially, it's a place of discovering hope amidst the horrors of unknown universes. According to Hank, S.W.O.R.D had just found a way to separate Brood larvae from its host without killing the host which is great progress, but somehow the Brood hive was able to hijack Pandora's Box while Brand and a couple more scientists were still inside. The X-Men immediately agreed to help Hank as a favor, and they went to the Box only to discover that Agent Brand and the others may be alive, but they also now serve as hosts for the Brood. To make matters worse and more disgusting, the Brood has found a way to infect their hosts multiple times with their larvae; meaning that Brand and the others can keep getting impregnated by ugly Brood progenies for as many times as possible. Yes, it's so gross that it brought to mind that infamous alien chestburster scene from Aliens. 

Later on, as Brand's infection got worse and she is slowly but surely mutating into a Brood creature, she was adamant that the X-Men will not kill the Brood race and so they had a serious discussion regarding genocide which should not be casually practiced in any way even against the gross monstrosity that is the Brood. Brand justified that the Brood are predators to even worse species and completely eradicating them will affect the interstellar ecosystem dramatically and they may have more serious alien problems in their hands if that ever came to pass. Reluctantly, the X-Men tried to reach a compromise but they were timely attacked by the Brood hive. Colossus, Storm and Beast were captured and were infected as well and only Kitty and Lockheed were able to escape. Brand had explained to them early on that there is a Brood creature who was unlike his kind; said Broodling has compassion and he may be the only key in preserving the lineage, as long as said Broodling could possibly reproduce a new kind of Brood race that is less savage and more humane. A novel idea, and one that Kitty and Lockheed rush to see into fruition. In the end, the Broodling was secured and his kind was not completely terminated. The surviving larvae were kept under supervision by S.W.O.R.D but Storm was not pleased about it. She argued that these larvae need not suffer under cruel experimentations in the name of scientific discovery and urged the Broodling to care for them and teach them to fight against their biological wiring of destructive and parasitic ways. She also promises that there is a place for him in the Xavier School if he ever wants to visit Earth and have an actual life. The Broodling considers this thoughtfully and this may not be the last time we see him again.

In a nutshell, the deceptively named Meanwhile was a decent story that had a heart underneath the gritty parts, and was composed with enough conflict and character developments in along the way that it was able to sustain my interest and investment. It was engaging and definitely a bright spot in contrast of the gratingly subpar writing present in Monstrous.

RECOMMENDED: 7/10

The Astonishing X-Men by Warren Ellis, Volume 6: Exogenetic

You would think that the insanity would have calm down just a bit after the clusterfuckity that was Joss Whedon's first run for The Astonishing X-Men. But you're reading an X-Men title so your plucky optimism will only be surely crushed if you ever expected any different. Sure, Warren Ellis' two story arcs so far within ten issues haven't been as crazy and experimental compared to all of Whedon's four arcs, but it doesn't mean things have improved. In fact, the last time we left our heroes, certain events still remain to conspire against them, and this time their survival as a species is at stake, all thanks to Scarlet Witch's irreversible decimation where the mutant X gene had been wiped out, causing a tectonic shift in power. Now with only two hundred or less mutants globally, the X-Men are in a tight place. After recently discovering a mutant baby born in the aftermath of M-day and sending her somewhere dimensions far away under the care of Cable, Scott Summers' estranged son, the X-Men have been occupying themselves in making sure no more mutants will die, but that has to be the most difficult thing to do given the never-ending amount of enemies showing up left and right, trying to take advantage of the whittled down number of surviving mutants.

In the last arc Ghost Box, self-proclaimed mutant engineer Forge tried to create his own mutants by placing a modified X-gene in a different chromosome strand akin to those mutants who belong in alternate worlds. Mentally unstable, he justified this radical move on his part as a necessary evil but the X-Men fortunately was able to put a stop to all of it by allowing S.W.O.R.D leader Agent Abigail Brand (Beast's current squeeze) to step up and obliterate said alternate worlds via explosion through a ghost box which connects dimensions together. It was an enjoyable story especially with the pleasant addition of Ororo Munroe who was recently married and now queen of the rising African nation Wakanda. Because of M-day, she felt that her old friends needed her to fight by their side once more, and her timing couldn't have been more right. However, there seems to be a tension between her and Scott concerning how to run the team and his methods in containing situations during battles. Their difference in philosophies was pronounced by the previous arc and I got the feeling that Ellis might explore this some more in their other upcoming missions. Scott Summers has been changing--evolving into someone who more often than not has to cross certain lines his old self back in the more idyllic days of his team-leading never would have taken. As we will later witness in other titles and during the course of other decimation stories, this change in his leadership will only continue to grow and in turn will create a chasm between him and his colleagues/friends. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's discuss Elli's second arc, Exogenetic covered by issues #31-35.

Much like Ghost Box some asshole is taking advantage of M-day and specifically targeting the X-Men. His nefarious plan is much more twisted than Forge's was, however. Apparently, he's been reanimating dead mutants and combining their DNA with certain machines which is as disgusting as it sounds. This unholy union of genetics and confounding vendetta has produced really nightmarish killing machines such as a flesh-made Sentinel, and a horde of rabid Broods. But the most appalling thing about it was how this unseen enemy was able to get access to such a horrid necromancy idea in the first place; and that is no other than the helpful information provided by Hank McCoy's research. As a scientist, he had been working on different scenarios to ensure the safety of their mutantkind and that meant thinking outside the figurative box of conventional methods so, yes, he had written down the possibility of harvesting recently deceased mutants in hopes of possibly activating the X-gene...or some shit. Frankly, I was definitely as horrified by the fact that he considered much like everyone else. But not like Scott though because Scott is more than horrified; he is absolutely livid and is getting ready to kick his old friend's ass. 

They have a lovely verbal sparring where all their issues towards one another are finally discussed out in the open and in the presence of other parties. It's a really great way to clear the air. I loved the conversation because it was brutally honest and considering how Scott and Hank are now for the MARVEL NOW! continuity, it's great to see them speak up their minds and not worry about offending each other. There remains trust and friendship between these two and it's a remarkable relationship that was unfortunately snuffed out after the Avengers vs. X-Men debacle (you know, where Scott was possessed by the Phoenix force and ended up murdering Professor X).

Hank raised valid points concerning Scott, psychoanalyzing him in a way that Emma had before during the TORN arc. Meanwhile, Abigail Brand has been developing as a rather likable character for me even if Scott disagrees because they never seem to ever get along (for now). I think that the only reason why they don't get along is the simple fact that they actually have the same methods of operating and leading their teams--and are therefore very judgmental of one another because they see their flaws reflected back at them through each other. I wonder if they were even aware of this paradox concerning their interactions but perhaps Ellis will touch upon in the next arc. So Agent Brand has known about this asshole targeting the X-Men for quite some time and was trying to contain the situation all by her lonesome before the X-Men get mixed up on it because, well, I think she is beginning to deeply care about the mutants. As brash, mercurial and stubborn as the woman is, Brand always upholds her duty and takes her job seriously but now that she's in love with Hank and is always hanging around the X-Men, her emotional investment is growing. She's now experiencing sentiment which Hank has pointed out back in Whedon's run is something that she lacked. It's pleasantly surprising to see that this has changed and now she's putting herself at risk to defend the X-Men from any unseen forces trying to tear them down. Scott will continue not to like her and distrust her, however, which I think Brand would rather have because they both keep each other honest and this actually works well for their strained and begrudging alliance. 

Anyway, the unseen enemy here is a man named Kaga who was a villain I did not expect to feel so much sympathy for when his motivation for attacking the X-Men was finally revealed. It turns out that his mother was a survivor of the Hiroshima-Nagasaki US bombings and her mother's exposure to radiation has malformed in during pregnancy. He is the original "child of the atom" and this has made him physically disfigured, shunned and unloved by the majority. He has no superpowers whatsoever and his intelligence came from his dedication and hard work to rise above his afflictions. Finding out that there is a group of mutants who fight for equality rights such as the X-Men has gotten him so excited because he thought he will finally have a place to belong to and a new family to accept him. But seeing what the X-Men are and what they can do made him feel betrayed and cheated on because he argued a valid observation concerning the privilege that mutants have even if they are considered outcasts by humans. Kaga claimed that they at least have their powers and are aesthetically attractive as a unit, and that they will never know how real alienation, savagery and deprivation truly feel like, not like he has. That's why he felt the need to punish them. He was merely lashing out because he has been hurt all his life and it's time to hurt back even if most of his torment and the target of his vengeance are only imagined slights. Still, I can't help but feel very sorry for him:

Kaga's story is a great cautionary tale against revenge and also an introspective story about self-loathing and self-acceptance. It's great for writer Warren Ellis to raise these issues in his arc and for creating a supposed villain who is only acting out due to the anguish, jealousy and grief over the unfairness of his life, humanizing him as someone who doesn't know how to be compassionate and kind because he has not known anything remotely close to those qualities. The X-Men also realized that even though they represent a marginalized sector of society, their outsider status can still be considered a privilege next to someone like Kaga. Unfortunately, Ellis didn't commit to the message and the story awkwardly ends with an out-of-place humorous exchange about Wolverine after he knocked out Kaga because he mistakenly thought Kaga was still going to attack them when it was obvious he was finally surrendering. I was upset that Ellis pulled back the punches and instead left me cold and disappointed. He could have had something emotionally powerful and meaningful here by making the X-Men consider other people outside their mutant community who look up to them and what their fight for equality symbolized. 

But instead, he chickened out in the last minute and just turn a redeemable villain like Kaga into a prisoner, some burden that Scott was only going to take care of not because he felt pity towards the guy but because he wanted to spite him. What a douche move, slim. Ororo should have said something because she seemed to be the only one who sympathized, given her facial expression in that one panel. Emma was expectedly cold-hearted; Hisako was too young to comprehend the poignancy and moral quandary she is witnessing; and Wolverine was UNCHARACTERISTICALLY BRUTISH. When he punched Kaga, that really shocked me. Sure, Logan can be a bit macho but we all know that underneath that is a man who had fought enough wars and experienced enough bloodshed to understand that Kaga is someone to heal, not someone to assault like that! I'm just very disappointed by how everyone acted here. It's times like this that we need Kitty Pryde more than ever; someone who is humane and empathic. But Kitty is gone, so who will step up to that plate and fill her role?

For such an insensitive conclusion, I'm deducting one star and making this arc a seven our of ten.

RECOMMENDED: 7/10

The Astonishing X-Men by Warren Ellis, Volume 5: Ghost Box

From this point forward in my The Astonishing X-Men reviews, I'll be doing a collective analysis of a story arc instead, much like this one which is comprised of issues #25-30 and penned by Warren Ellis who is generally an awesome comic book writer. This is due to some time constraints in RL stuff at my workplace. I simply can't find enough time to write individual reviews anymore, at least for the time being. As a compromise, I'll finish The Astonishing X-Men with the consistent format of collective reviews because since Whedon's run, I honestly just ran out of steam for this title. It's not because it left a bad aftertaste in my mouth (well, there is that fucking goddamn shitty Giant-Size issue about the conclusion of Unstoppable concerning Kitty Pryde's fate). After all, I was irreconcilably in love with the entire twenty-four-issued run (that I actively try to forget that Giant-Size even happened). It's mostly because of my RL obligations taking most of my time so I was forced to read more than pause to construct reviews for the blog. However, I also think it's because I don't know if anyone can top whatever clusterfuck awesomeness Whedon has accomplished in the first run. Mind you, Ellis has done a fine enough job in his story arc Ghost Box (which I will discuss in detail below), but I simply can't find enough strength in me to devote individual reviews for each issue so I think it was a really wise choice in my part to post one official review for each volume. We're now at the fifth. Let's get on with it.

THE ASTONISHING X-MEN ISSUES #25-30, "GHOST BOX"

This segment of the AXM is composed by a new writer and artist, and picks up in the aftermath of the Decimation which is the historical event prompted by cuckoo Scarlet Witch when she re-wrote Marvelverse and expunged the mutant gene for good to punish her daddy Magneto for being a world-class jerk. Also known as M-Day, this crossover big event can be read in its glorious coverage in Brian Michael Bendis' House of M. For its second season, The Astonishing X-Men is back with the heroes that Whedon established in the first run: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Wolverine and Beast (minus two other members) and with the addition of the recruit Hisako and the visitation of now Queen Ororo Munroe who got married to the former superhero Black Panther so she's both a wife and fellow ruler of Wakanda in Africa.

Before we head on to the story, let's first talk about Simone Bianchi's illustrations first. I don't think I ever once commented on the visual style of X-Men comics until John Cassaday's in the first run of AXM. I may have complimented Stuart Immonen once or twice for his art in Bendis' All-New X-Men, but generally I don't pay attention to the visuals which is weird because I often indulge in describing the artwork for the current run of Batman titles in DC specifically when it came to the work of artists Greg Capullo and Patrick Gleason. Still, I was heavily critical of Age of Apocalypse because it's visual style was too period-particular for my taste and honestly, the most of nineties comics back then for me were ugly to look at so I'm biased on that front. For Ellis' run, I think Bianchi's illustrations didn't exactly fit the narrative until the third installment. The entirety of the art is just too pretty with a lesser pronounced depth to convey motion, even when it came to more action-oriented scenes. Still, when it's expository, Bianchi managed to draw some intriguing panel choices that can even be comparable to Capullo's rendition for Snyder's Batman. I think that most of the time Bianchi's art can be distracting when I'm focusing on the action part. But when it's all just characters conversing and sitting around contemplating and planning among themselves, her illustrations bring dimensions to these interactions, enhancing the more subtle psychological messages implied in the dialogue. And for that, I can commend Bianchi. I think his artwork for action scenes did improve, however, when we got to the last two installments, particularly on #30 which was loaded with lots of creative fight sequences and landscape panels depicting explosions and the like. It was beautiful composition which was splendidly colored as well. Overall, Bianchi's work for Ellis' arc Ghost Box is a mixed bag but when it does shine on the most special places, it blinds.

Here are some sample pages that I liked in issue #30

Now let's talk about the content itself. After M-Day, there are only less than two hundred mutants that are active globally and the X-Men are determined to defend and protect those precious few in any way they can. After the birth of the the so-called mutant messiah in Messiah Complex, said baby carrying the X-gene post-M-Day was then  whisked away by Scott's son Cable (Nate Summers) who traveled across dimensions to keep the baby safe from harm. Now the X-Men are just waiting for any sort of sign from Cable and this unique specimen he is safekeeping, so they decided to keep working cases in the meantime. Hisako is a former student of the Xavier School recruited back in Whedon's Unstoppable last arc and she was still in her adjustment period, mostly keeping close with Wolverine who is now her go-to mentor, and cracking up jokes in his expense to lighten the mood in their group every so often. I find her readily endearing especially when she makes it easy to forget sometimes that Kitty Pryde is gone, and so is Colossus. The reason why these two lovebirds aren't even here anymore (when they took up a good 70% of what is going on in Whedon's run) is because GIANT-SIZE ASTONISHING X-MEN IS CRAP. Kitty is left inside the hollow center of the giant bullet that would have murdered Earth if she didn't phase it. So now she can never be removed there because she's intrinsically part of the weapon, physically-speaking. But it begs the question: If M-Day happened and the mutants were de-powered, was Kitty the lucky few who retained her powers much like most of the veteran X-Men? I mean, that should be the case. Otherwise, the bullet would have stopped phasing and broke earth's core already. Ah, fuck it. Let's not talk about this anymore. I'm just getting angry again.

All you need to know is Colossus is gone because how the fuck does anyone expect him to keep on fighting after losing his soulmate in such a horrid, depressing way? So yeah, we got Hisako as a new member and the pleasant return of Ororo Munroe whom Bianchi, to his credit, drew so ethereally and appealingly that you never forget that she is supposedly a self-made goddess. It shows in the way she hovers in the panels, all silver-haired beauty and deadly strength. My favorite moments in issue #28 have to be when she and Emma were trapped together with a mutant whose sole power is to inhibit other mutants' powers. So Storm had to do it the old-fashioned way and freaking knife-attacked the bastard to near death like the pro she is. I will always enjoy that scene because she got to work with Emma and both ladies do not back down especially when they are pushed against a corner by some enemy. I'm already rambling on about characters when I haven't even discussed what Ghost Box is all about. Well, the X-Men are investigating the murder of a mutant, but further scientific findings revealed that this mutant's genes were tampered on, meaning that his X-gene sits on the wrong chromosome. They follow a set of clues which led them to the spaceship graveyard called Chaparanga where people are literally taking apart spaceships for metal scraps they can sell to parties and places interested in acquiring them. The setting has a very haunting look to it the moment it was shown and this is where they found another modified mutant who killed himself rather than to reveal his group's plans to the X-Men.

This dead mutant had been trying to get a machine called a Ghost Box to operate but Storm messed up the electrical currents and so he was unsuccessful. The team brought the Ghost Box with them and it got the attention of Special Agent Brand who is now Hank's "lab partner" o the side (and by lab partner, we mean they are sexing each other; or, as Scott likes to call it, the two are committing "crimes against nature"). Brand's first name is Abigail, and Scott is not happy with her and even said a bad word in her presence which amused everyone because no one has pissed of Scott enough to make him say the F-word. Through Abby Brand, they discovered that a Ghost Box is a portal between parallel dimensions. Later on, they went to Tian which was apparently the headquarters of Chinese X-Men who were left for dead the moment M-Day hit the shores. That was when they encountered three more modified mutants (dubbed by Beast as Triploids). So, this Triploids have Ghost Boxes and they came from several dimensions that have their own mutants but with X-genes resting in a different chromosome. Somehow, they figured out that M-Day doomed the mutant species in our world, and now are interested in conquering ours because...well, why not? Unfortunately, former X-Men Forge disagrees. And when Forge disagrees with something...bad things follow.

Goddammit, Forge. Must we always meet this way?

Before we get to that, I'd like to post this great exchange between Scott and Ororo in issue #26 which spoke volumes of how much they differ in handling their leadership roles, and the fact that Scott was kind of a hardass on Ororo and I actually liked that because he was more committed in his making the difficult choices he has now more than ever. Ellis has done a phenomenal job keeping the established characterizations from Whedon's previous run intact, making readers feel at ease because these people are the ones they can recognize and still relate to as if the writer hasn't changed at all for this title. So here's Scott being straightforward with Ororo regarding deaths:

Now let's go back to Forge. Apparently, the asshole has once again lost it, most especially after M-Day occurred. I mean, the guy is already hanging by the thin line and now it has gotten so worse. How worse? Well, he operated on mutants and transformed them into his own version of Triploids. And now he planned on using a Ghost Box to travel to those other dimensions and attack them. Because in Forge's demented, decaying mind, that solves everything. And, of course, since this is an alien invasion, it's the territory of S.W.O.R.D., much to Scott's chagrin. Agent Brand stepped in in the nick of time and fired a concentration of lasers to destroy the parallel dimensions on the other side as soon as the Ghost Box went online, so to speak. But before that, we get this harrowing conversation between Forge and Ororo who already have a complicated history God, let's not bring up The X-Tinction Agenda. It's sad and I feel a little bit bad for Forge here:

The five-issued arc Ghost Box was nice. Nothing that special or memorable but it made up for its superb character interactions and small moments of humor and poignancy. The appearance of Storm is a welcome treat. The last two series that I read where she was a central figure was X-Men Forever and the goddamn X-Tinction Agenda. I hope she stays around for the next arc. STORM IS MY THIRD FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER from the X-Men and I love reading more of her. I expect Ellis to deliver some Storm-centered scenes my way in his next arcs, hopefully. A girl can dream. Overall, Ghost Box was not a bad start. I'm still very much invested with its character roster.

RECOMMENDED: 8/10