Bishop: War College #2 - Review/Spoilers

[JB]

We open with the preview pages, Bishop having just landed in front of an alternate version of Xavier's Academy, its Cyclops and Jean standing/hovering over him. There are students watching in the background. Bishop asks what all of this is, where is he? Jean tells him her name and he says "you are not Jean Grey" and grabs his gun. Jean tells him to think calming thoughts as she telepathically tries to calm down, but his mind is resisting her to her surprise. Cyclops fires an optic blast at him which of course charges Bishop up. He fires a large blast at them which they quickly dodge. Jean throws up a shield saying they're way past words now. Bishops detects movement behind him, turns around and is punched by a super fast Beast. He, Iceman, and Angel join the fight.

"Enough!" This reality's Charles Xavier enters the scene. "Everyone, please. Stop this. Now." He approaches Bishop, calling him by his full name. Bishop says he's not Xavier, and Xavier replies, "Not the one you know." Bishop asks if this is all real and Xavier says it is, that Bishop knows the universe is wide and full of variation. The X-Men are concerned, saying Bishop drew first but Xavier says he has it on good authority that Bishop means them no harm...



Data page of psychic communication between Xavier and this world's Bishop from moments before. Bishop was teaching a class when Xavier called out to him to come out to the east lawn. Bishop asks if the HLF (Human Liberation Front) has attacked and Xavier says no, this is something personal particularly for him. Bishop is surprised because he's not an X-Man and is unsure how he could assist in battle. Xavier says he needs him to help avoid a battle. Then that's when the two Bishop's come face to face above.

The shady Fenris twins are on video call with Moira. Ugh. The drilling operation in Krakoa's underground is her operation and she's demanding to know if it's been compromised. Fenris assure her it's still on track. Moira says Bishop catching them doesn't sound "on track" and Andrea tells her they had no idea he and his team would be down there, but that they haven't escaped yet. Moira says she'll have wasted men, material, and time if the X-Men find out what they're up to, and that she hired Fenris for their knowledge. Andrea once again assures her that the objective will be met and to let them do their job. Boss lady Moira says to contact her once it's done and signs off. Andrea asks Andreas, "They're paying us a lot for this, yes? a lot?" He says they're paying enough. He orders the workers to get the drill up and running again and orders one of the guys to come with them to hunt down the children.

We're with the trainees now and Armor says they need to keep moving and find their way to the surface. Aura's head hurts and is still unable to fly. Armor is unsure which way to go and she and Cam get into a little tiff. Surge breaks it up as everyone is on edge. Amass says it's the Blightswill and that they've been studying its properties and how it can have a powerful effect. They suspect Orchis altered it somehow because it dampened their powers but made Tempus' (sic) erractic. (Amass calls Tempo "Tempus" twice so I hope it's not a glaring error and rather something they'll be corrected on later since they're new to Krakoa.) Cam says that must be why they didn't transform to a human-looking state and why Aura didn't lose her wings. The Blightswill seems to be hitting Aura harder than the others. Amass says since Orchis didn't expect find them in the tunnels the question is what did they plan to use the substance for.

Data page of what Orchis has done with the Blightswill and it's not good. They're targeting a lot of different mutants and they seem to be targeting Krakoa itself. Now we see why Tempo's powers went crazy last issue.



Armor again says they need to keep moving but Cam says they can't just run away, they should stay and fight and protect Krakoa. They go back and forth getting into each other's faces until Surge says she thinks Cam has a point.



I love how Amass is like a research expert now. Suddenly the Fenris twins appear and hit the team with an energy blast, knocking Surge, Armor, and Aura out cold. Cam moves to attack Andreas but when Andreas punches Cam, they fall back and crash into Amass. Cam gets absorbed into Amass who yells, "I can't control my powers!" Amass becomes very large, has Cam's face and roars very loud. They grab Andreas and absorb him too. Andrea demands they release her brother but AmaCamDrea says no and rushes at her. She fires her gun as the issue ends.



I see that Alberto Foche was brought in to do the art for the Krakoa scenes while Hill continues with the alternate world. Foche did X-Corp and his art looks great here. I definitely think it helped this issue.

Moira is so evil. I like how Brousseau continues to appear or be mentioned in books as he's becoming the connective tissue between Krakoa and Captain Britain.

[gonnagiveittoya]

Here's the story development from this issue:
There is a second Bishop in the other timeline.


That's it.

[JB]

Here's the story development from this issue:
There is a second Bishop in the other timeline.


That's it.

Yeah it didn't really move much, we just know that Moira ordered the operation and they're probably going to use Blightswill on Krakoa itself. The targeting of psionics and energy-based mutations will be interesting if it gets to actually be used later.

[Rift]

The art in this issue is more my speed. Surge is beautiful and wonderful and a genius, but she always is all of those things, all the time.

Black Hellion from the preview Between this, the Regenesis cameo and THREE X-Men Monday mentions in a row, this really is his year.

[jwatson]

This was actually really good. the art took a bit to get into but once you got into the story you really get into it. That Blightswill is some nasty stuff.

Some of my fave scenes.

whattodo.jpg
beastlookcoolasf.jpg

[JB]

This was actually really good. the art took a bit to get into but once you got into the story you really get into it. That Blightswill is some nasty stuff.

I'm enjoying this series, it's fun and straightforward and it actually makes me wonder what's coming next. Like where is Tempo?! Now that we know the Blightswill makes certain powers erratic I'm worried about where she might be.

[Rift]

Finally got around to reading this

Disappointed we didn't get a white Bishop or something. There's something just inherently hilarious about Bishop meeting a version of him that's white and blue-eyed. It'd be like Steven Universe characters meeting those troll edits from way back in the day. Other than that, the designs of everyone not named Beast looked p good. They translated well.

Yet the whole black X-Men thing was only like 5 pages and a telepathic email? I thought this would be the main story. And maybe it will be as we go further on, but I prefer it to the dull Fenris story. Moira doesn't even talk with a visible accent.

Also, Surge YESSSS disagree with Arnor. That Academy X pretender has no right to tell you what to do here. You're a born leader, Surge. Cam, you said something Surge agreed with, so you get to live for now.

[jpmst17]

the art in this series is good, but the story is boring