EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How much does the Geek Husband What Rules love me?  He went out and bought me the four issues that are out so far.  And when we got to our new Shadowrun game that night, I immediately sat down and read them all while waiting for the guys to get done cooking dinner, because that is how we roll in my circle of friends.  The menfolk belong in the kitchen.

Anyway, the writing is pretty good.  Nightcrawler is very much in character.  I’m still pissed off about the bits of Chuck Austen that cling to his backstory like a tenacious slime mold, and that have apparently taken precedence in the last several years…  And what the ever loving fuck happened to Margalis?  Ok, look, I know I’ve largely been absent from the comics scene for… an embarrassingly long time, but making Kurt’s happy childhood essentially one big lie so that Margalis could gain ALL THE POWERS?!?!  So not pleased about that.  And now she has horns?  WTF?

So, the gist is, Nightcrawler died (Boo!), and went to Heaven (Yay, I guess?), but the X-men needed him to come back and help them save the world, so he “rejected” Heaven, and came back to save everything INCLUDING Heaven and God’s all, “No, I don’t care why you did it, you DISSED ME, Man! NO MORE HEAVEN FOR YOU EVER!!!!! Even though you saved my ass.”

I don’t know about you, but that is one jacked up, shitty God.

So, Nightcrawler is back on earth, and he misses Heaven.  Which is understandable, it’s Heaven.  And he’s spent much of his adult life striving to be good enough for that, in between bagging babes left and right…* Come on, I cannot be the only one who’s read… any X-men or Xcalibur ever.   So, this is our backstory:  Nightcrawler dead, fight in Heaven, saves Heaven, comes back to life to save the world.  And no, I’m not going to discuss how.  I know, but sweet zombie Jesus on a pogo stick, really, guys?

In the interim, Logan has also lost his healing factor.  That is entire other issue/rant.  They’re all at the Jean Grey Institute, except for Jean and Scott, who are off doing something.  Jean is alive for the eleventy-bazillionth time, I just don’t question it anymore.

Kurt goes to visit Amanda, re-enacting a scene from relatively early on in his tenure in the comics, and their peaceful interlude is interrupted by a giant robot thing after Amanda.  Nightcrawler collapses a wall on it, and Amanda magically teleports them to Germany, back to the circus they grew up in to talk to Margalis.  Who has, according to Amanda, done unforgivable things, which she does not enlighten Kurt about when he insists on going to Margalis, she just acts like a sullen teenager once they get there.

Ok, not going to recite the entire four issues to you.  And while it sounds ridiculous when I recount it here, while reading it I was really engaged with the story.  It’s well written, the dialogue and action flow well, and they provide enough exposition for someone who hasn’t been keeping up until now to understand what’s going on.

The art is great, and the action scenes are really well plotted.  I enjoyed the slice of life bits from the Institute during class changes, and all that.  I’m glad to see Rachel again.

And I don’t actually hate Amanda, which is a problem I’ve had with various past iterations of Amanda.  I actually like this one, and I kind of get not wanting to tell the guy you grew up with, who still loves your mom, why your mom sucks.  I get it, but god damn it, this isn’t like disowning you on your birthday or even sleeping with your boyfriend levels of fucking up (there’s a fanfic I never want to read**).  We are talking like Hitler and Pol Pot levels of fucking up.  I think in that case just MAYBE you should suck it up and tell him before you go shooting off to the serpent’s den.

The series is really enjoyable so far.  I mean, like most comics certain elements of the plot don’t bear much thinking lest ye discover holes the size of Mack trucks, but I really like it.  I’m looking forward to the next one.

But please for the love of fuck, can we retcon away the icky residue of Chuck Austen’s slimy fingers.  Thank you.

*Ok, so there’s Jimaine, and Amanda (who is really Jimaine but apparently when she took her hair out of its ponytail she was COMPLETELY unrecognizable), and then the redhead he rescued from Arcade, and Cerise, and Christine, and Storm at one point, I think, and possibly Kitty in some universe, and…  I know I’m leaving out tons during the Cross-time Caper alone who either didn’t get a name or I just don’t remember it.   Seriously, it’d be a years long project cataloging how much tail this guy gets.  (pun totally intended)  And it is part of why I adore him.  
**Actually, I have read it.  And it was Mystique and not Margalis.  Yeah…  That’s something I’m never going to be able to unsee.  

If you like the blog or the podcast,  please, please, please donate to keep us going, and fund the acquisition of more things for the Nightcrawler shrine in my bedroom.  Donations go to pay for the podcast hosting and website domain, primarily.

Oh, and Honey Badger’s first two songs are available for download here, for free or pay what you want.  We’re also part of a larger compilation to benefit a local venue, with a song written by yours truly.  Check it out (we’re track 16).   We’re going in to the studio to finish the new EP in late July, I caught the plague, so haven’t been up to vocals.  We’ll also be in Portland, OR on August 15th for a show, and Longview, WA on August 16th. 

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