Astonishing X-men 13 (Spoilers)

[ExodusCloak]

It was given to Cyclops in the 60s when Xavier first faked his death. I don't know if it was ever transferred back. Emma then reopened it in Morrison's X-Men and was funding it.

[Heroine Addict]

In All-New X-Factor, it was stated that Serval Industries purchased full rights to the name, from Jamie.

[ohsnapulon5000]

@too stupid real” is absolutely an aspect of X-men comic books from the start! It’s brilliant. Back in the 60’s the 05 couldn’t go fight the juggernaut or something because they couldn’t afford the jet fuel to fly the blackbird when the professor was away. I prefer those real life elements in my comic books especially X-men because the franchise is about limitations as much as it is about power. It has a great history of humanizing elements and characters so they don’t become boring capes.

[WhiteQueenEmmaFrost]

Finally, another beloved favorite is returned after a needless and prolonged absence. Welcome back, Sean Cassidy aka. Banshee!!!

I hope he isn't zombiefied like Archangel in Uncanny. So Beast kept him at Harvard? That's...odd.

@too stupid real” is absolutely an aspect of X-men comic books from the start! It’s brilliant. Back in the 60’s the 05 couldn’t go fight the juggernaut or something because they couldn’t afford the jet fuel to fly the blackbird when the professor was away. I prefer those real life elements in my comic books especially X-men because the franchise is about limitations as much as it is about power. It has a great history of humanizing elements and characters so they don’t become boring capes.

When it's written well....but it isn't. Writers are willing to give us things like taxes, but not the aftermath and destruction of the fights. The Xmen cause death and destruction and then leave without helping to clean up or help civilians at all. That's not Xavier's dream.

[Heroine Addict]

MORE love:

BleedingCool.com, X-Men: Land Design – The Truest Characterization in Astonishing X-Men #13 [X-ual Healing Special Greg Land Variant Edition]

... Showing that the creative team really “gets” these characters, the Avengers are portrayed as total @#$holes. ...

... Havok was just a supervillain only a few issues of X-Men Blue ago, but before Havok can explain that sort of thing happens to every X-Men at least twice...

... After Havok eats a bad Coney Island hot dog and has a nightmare flashback to his bad guy days in X-Men Blue, he wrecks a motel room like a true punk rocker. Later, at a Harvard genetics lecture, Havok tries to recruit The Beast to his team. In a wonderful bit of dialog that shows this creative team really “gets” The Beast too, Havok calls him out for being a total @#$hole as well.

Beast isn’t feeling it, until four Reavers attack (weren’t all but three killed just a few pages ago?). It turns out they are after Beast. Pinned down, Beast flips a switch and unleashes a secret weapon: Banshee! @#$% yeah! The issue ends there.

The Bottom Line

Matty Rosenberg is clearly living out his 1989 fantasy, and who can blame him? He’s a big Taylor Swift fan, after all. Greg Land has done his best to avoid his tendency to draw all of the female characters as if they are engaged in a sex act. Did Rosenberg have to explicitly write this in the script? “Page 9, Panel 2: Kitty lectures Havok on X-Men recruitment etiquette. She is not straddling a chair, her mouth agape and head tilted back like she’s ready to climax.” Either way, you have to applaud the restraint.

Excellent characterization of the Avengers as total douchebags. Beast is… almost likable, which is an accomplishment for the sanctimonious blue bastard. And it’s nice to see Banshee, which follows up a storyline from the first volume of Uncanny Avengers.

Hopefully, we’re not looking at five or six issues of putting the team together though. The pace of Astonishing X-Men #1-12 was glacial, and a year’s worth of comics should contain more than two stories. But that’s not a complaint about this book. This book is clearly the Wolverine’s Weiner X-Pick of the Week.

Congratulations to the creative team!

ComicsVerse.com, Havok Struggles for Purpose in ASTONISHING X-MEN #13

80 %
Fresh Start

... You can feel the frustration protruding from Havok, it’s great. He’s a very likable and hateable character (just like his older brother), and this writing makes him very real and honest. ...

... Beast calls upon a former ally that will no doubt have fans screeching with joy. It will also bring up Beast’s ethics (and that’s always entertaining), and I’ll be curious to see how Havok reacts to this encounter. ...

... ASTONISHING X-MEN #13 is a rather abrupt transition. However, it seems like a story that will no doubt be entertaining due to its independent plot. Like the first twelve issues, this story isn’t taking place in the immediate main X-Men continuity. Utilizing Havok makes sense, and I hope he and Beast can really find themselves on an adventure after this encounter with the Reavers. If this winds up being a story where Havok truly finds himself, I think that will be something worthwhile.

ShootTheBreezeComics.com, We plan, and the Gods Laugh (Astonishing X-Men #13 Comic Review)

... Opinion on Art and Story

That Matthew Rosenberg, Marvel exclusive writer for such titles as The Punisher and The New Mutants, is involved in this story is of no shock. His ability to write characters who are haunted by tragedy and trauma is second-to-none, and he does not fail to deliver in this issue. Until Our Hearts Stop draws you in with a compelling story and beautiful artwork.

Havok is undeniably the star of this issue, and my heart ached for him on every page. He’s been a villain in the past–albeit not of his own design–and watching him attempt make amends for the things he regrets is alternately disheartening and inspiring. He can not seem to catch a break, but when he gets knocked down, he gets right back up. He’s not ready to give up on ‘The Dream’, even if everyone around him is content to just survive rather than fight for what is right. I was rooting for him from his first interaction with The Avengers, and if his character arc remains this rich, I will continue to do so.

Greg Land (Uncanny X-Men, Weapon X) and his team have delivered a style that pulled me in and kept me reading. The artwork is colorful, sharp, dramatic, and gritty. It made each panel and page a story-feast and an artistic one. Normally I make my journey through a comic in minutes in my desire to get to a payoff but not in this issue. I poured over each page, looking for clues to where the story was going. I admired how the story and art melded to create an experience I look forward to continuing.

Compliments and Critiques

There are many good things about this first issue, unrelated to Havok’s personal character arc. The heroes who make appearances are illustrated as exactly what a good character should be: three-dimensional and intrinsically flawed. Their lack of sympathy for what was mind-control and unwilling participation in acts of terrorism is soul-crushing. It is also psychologically honest. They make the redemption arc much more compelling.

Havok is the centerpiece. We get a sense that he is not the only character fighting with personal demons. Hank McCoy is ‘the disillusioned veteran’, an interesting twist on a character often characterized as idealistic. How the other team-members are brought into the fold will be interesting.

I don’t have many complaints about this issue of Astonishing X-Men. The scene-changes are abrupt at times. Whether it is the artwork going from colorful brightness to contrasting darkness with little warning, or the shifts in the story happening extremely quickly, it had me blinking at the page a few times to adjust my vision. The segue between the The Reavers and ‘The Big Bad’ of this arc and Havok’s dream is a good example.

A Note from a Mama-Bear

This series has the potential to become excessively violent. It looks like it is going to deal with mature content and sensitive issues. With Rosenberg as the lead writer, this is a fair warning. In this first issue, there are four violent battles, mentions of non-consensual mind-control, victim-blaming, attempted genetic experimentation on a child, and a potential child-death. It isn’t a comic I would give my nine-year old daughter without vetting the next couple of issues.

Summary

All in all, Astonishing X-Men #13, Until Our Hearts Stop (Part 1) does what it is meant to do: entices it’s readers into a rich, character driven story while keeping us on the edge of our seats and wondering what is going to happen next. It is a great read for any fan of Astonishing X-Men, and a thrilling addition to the franchise. I can not wait until the next issue is released. Between Matthew Rosenberg’s story-sense, and the art team’s sharp fluidity, we’re in for a ride. And I’ve always loved roller coasters.

9.5
Amazing

[cc008]

bleeding cool is f#$cking hysterical because one shmuck will post a review saying it's terrible and then they'll do this x-haul thing and say it's the pick of the week.

[Celestialbodies]

Becoming headmaster, doesnt automatically grant you legal ownership of the school. Its a job/position. I highly doubt ownership was transferred throughout any of the headmaster changes.

With that said, who actually owns the school now is interesting. For one it is not the original building that Xavier owned, nor is it on his estate. Even if X were to reveal himself, he shouldnt technically have any claimi to the school that Kitty is running

Wouldn't your second point be a good enough reason to have the trademark of the name/ brand transferable to whoever is the "headmaster/headmistress or whoever's the face in charge of the X-men"? That and the school now has no primary location especially this last decade.

Or at least I'd hope Xavier would be proactive with such things given how often and frequently he or an X-man is killed.

[Heroine Addict]

bleeding cool is f#$cking hysterical because one shmuck will post a review saying it's terrible and then they'll do this x-haul thing and say it's the pick of the week.

LOL, right?! But yeah, I'm not posting THAT one...

... Joshua Davison @BC...



... same goes to you, Jamie Lovett @ComicBook.com...

[berserkerclaw]

I hope he isn't zombiefied like Archangel in Uncanny. So Beast kept him at Harvard? That's...odd.



When it's written well....but it isn't. Writers are willing to give us things like taxes, but not the aftermath and destruction of the fights. The Xmen cause death and destruction and then leave without helping to clean up or help civilians at all. That's not Xavier's dream.

Beast didnt keep him. Ill have to re read the scene but wasnt it Havok who used Banshee.

[plasmaintights]

Beast didnt keep him. Ill have to re read the scene but wasnt it Havok who used Banshee.

Beast had Banshee in death-seed stasis at the end of the Avenge the Earth arc in Uncanny Avenger's first go-round. How he managed to transfer Banshee to Harvard is some off-stage comics stuff, though it'd be funny, maybe, to see how that worked.

I wonder, separately, if Havok isn't thinking of Beast as one of his best friends due to remembering that they spent six years underground together on Planet X during that same UA arc. But Beast wouldn't remember that. But Havok should! You'd think a thought balloon or two might be reserved for the extra-memory angle. At the same time, spending long periods of time in alternate versions of reality is somewhat common to these characters. There should be therapists in the marvel universe who specialize in helping folks handle that kind of thing

[Heroine Addict]

Beast didnt keep him. Ill have to re read the scene but wasnt it Havok who used Banshee.

Yeah, I had to check again at first also, to make sure. But no, it was Beast...

... hence the "equipment requirements" comment. That's what I took it to mean, anyways.

[Havok83]

Wouldn't your second point be a good enough reason to have the trademark of the name/ brand transferable to whoever is the "headmaster/headmistress or whoever's the face in charge of the X-men"? That and the school now has no primary location especially this last decade.

Or at least I'd hope Xavier would be proactive with such things given how often and frequently he or an X-man is killed.

We dont know who owns the trademark. Everything in this thread is speculation based off of what Kitty said, which could have been a lie. Lets say the X-men name was trademark, did Xavier do it under his name or the school? Lets say he did it under the school. The headmaster doesnt own the school; they only run it. Its a job. To bring in an analogy, its like a CEO being hired to run a company. Said CEO doesnt now own the company and its intellectual property. They just run and oversee things.

Alot of this speculation is based off of Xavier getting the name trademarked. For all we know Wolverine, Beast or even Quentine Quire could have done so. This has never been brought up till now

[LeonardEugenius]

This issue was good, but let’s hold off on calling Rosenberg a legend. He has a lot to make up for after the catastrophe that was Phoenix: Resurrection.

[Rich Johnston]

bleeding cool is f#$cking hysterical because one shmuck will post a review saying it's terrible and then they'll do this x-haul thing and say it's the pick of the week.

Oh you mean different reviewers have different opinions and there's no attempt to make different contributors agree with each other? Funny that... would you prefer it otherwise?

[Rich Johnston]

We dont know who owns the trademark. Everything in this thread is speculation based off of what Kitty said, which could have been a lie. Lets say the X-men name was trademark, did Xavier do it under his name or the school? Lets say he did it under the school. The headmaster doesnt own the school; they only run it. Its a job. To bring in an analogy, its like a CEO being hired to run a company. Said CEO doesnt now own the company and its intellectual property. They just run and oversee things.

Alot of this speculation is based off of Xavier getting the name trademarked. For all we know Wolverine, Beast or even Quentine Quire could have done so. This has never been brought up till now

And The Beast confirms it.