AXIS Revolutions #2: Nightcrawler vs Sabretooth - Spoilers & Review

[anthony_lynch15]

This is just a review for Part 1 of AXIS Revolutions starring Sabretooth and Nightcrawler.
I (or someone else) might do another one for Part 2 (starring Thor) in the Marvel Universe thread later.

Summary
We open on Sabretooth returning a stranger's lost scarf to her in the street.
(So now we know Creed's a nice guy.)
Suddenly from off panel Nightcralwer punches Sabretooth in the face and begins giving Creed a teleportation beatdown.
(Some nice action shots of Nightcrawler here.)

Nightcrawler chastises Creed about all the misery he's caused in his life.
Before attempting to teleport his hand off.



Sabretooth manges to pull away and Kurt only takes a few fingers, but now Creed realises he's in trouble.
Not that he can do anything about it because next Nightcrawler tries to teleport off his head.
Again Creed pulls away losing only an ear and some hair.

Kurt then comments on how fast Sabretooth is, just before he starts teleporting large objects down on top of him.
"But are you fast enough..."



Sabretooth comments that Nightcrawler should have let himself go a long time ago and he may actually have defeated him.
Kurt's reply is to start stabbing him with in swords, knives, beer bottles, glass, a pick axe and any other sharp objects he can find.
There's even a sign post.



But before Nightcrawler can finish him off Sabretooth manages to land a punch knocking Kurt to the ground.
Creed tells Kurt that he worked out where he'd strike next not by thinking what would Nightcrawler would do, but what would he do.
(I'd buy this logic except for the fact that Creed can't teleport, and Kurt is just stabbing him everywhere - so it seems unlikely)
He then lifts up the food cart to crush Kurt and Nightcrawler says "Do it you bastard. Do what you do best."

This rattles the inverted Creed's cage and the All New Sabretooth walks away instead, remarking "Guess I'm not the man I used ta be"
(I assume he then goes off to find a barber and a tailor before his appearance in AXIS #6.)

Review
This was a pretty much one big fight scene, but despite that we get plenty of character stuff from the comments being made by both men and the actions they're willing to take.
Creed is trying to be a better man, but still he was still willing to fight back.
And Kurt is angry, bitter and in full revenge mode.

I loved seeing Kurt cut loose and we got some pretty impressive action from him in this story.
(How the hell did Mystique survive an encounter with him during AXIS)
Teleporting off limbs, sword play, acrobatics, rapid teleporting, dropping cars and even the tail came in to play.
Extremely enjoyable to see, especially when there's no consequences to worry about for Kurt's character because Creed will heal.

The art was great in this, both Creed and Kurt looked menacing.
And the flow of the action and teleporting was captured very well.

The only flaws I really had with the story were Creed's explanation for predicting where Kurt would strike
and the fact that Kurt didn't continue attacking after Creed walked away.
other than that it was great - not that you could go that wrong with an extended fight scene, but you never know.

Conclusion
Anyway, fun story for anyone wanting to see Kurt cut loose and or Creed get his ass kicked.

[True Believer Tony]

Yeah, art was lovely and fight was great but I too was disappointed that Kurt just walked off without explanation at the end.

[Jackraow21]

Pretty decent story. A bit too short IMO, but enjoyable. Inverted Creed is my new favorite character, so I was a mark for this issue.

[Jackraow21]

Didn't see a general AXIS thread in the X-books forum, so I'll post this here:

Mystique is saved by Sabretooth, and we know you'll continue to chronicle his adventures in a new volume of "Uncanny Avengers." What makes Victor Creed such an interesting character to you? Which aspects of his personality are you especially interested in exploring?

There's still a good bit of mystery about his background. There was a point in time when Wolverine had a lot of mystery. I think that was part of the character's appeal. I think it's one of the things that works for a character like Fantomex, as well. There's something fun about the mystery and unravelling little bits and pieces here and there.

What we do know about Creed's background is that he's someone who's been an unrepentant serial killer and mercenary. He wasn't necessarily a puppet like Logan was, and he wasn't necessarily somebody who was constantly abused and misused. A lot of this was that he was a bad person who does bad things, like eviscerating people for money and killing people for pleasure.


What we end up seeing is a character who has a lot of mystery in his background. He's not as well known as Logan, obviously, and he's got much more blood on his hands. It's blood that he, in many cases, chose to spill for vindictive and rotten purposes. Now, you've got that same person inverted and looking down the barrel at all these years of crime and horror and all the terrible things that he's done.

I don't want to give too much away. He's got a couple big moments coming up in "AXIS." He's an interesting character and becomes sort of a point of view character in "AXIS" #9 because of the sort of painful recollections of the past. Now that he's somebody whose conscience has a Jiminy Cricket instead of a devil, he's aware of what he's done. He's aware of the evil. He has to feel it, process it, and come to terms with it. What that does to him, how it affects him, and how the end of "AXIS" affects the Marvel Universe will be revealed as we get into the end of "AXIS" and the beginning of the new volume of "Uncanny Avengers."

From: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=57210

This to me is so spot on. In a way, it's like having the Wolverine of old back, purely in the sense that everyone was wary of him because he was kind of a psycho and extremely unpredictable. Back in the 80s many of the heroes even referred to him as a "psycho" or "Shorty Psycho", things like that. I seem to remember a lot of that in the original Secret War, for example, and around that period when he interacted with other heroes and wasn't everyone's best friend like he ultimately became in the 90s and 00s (after they shoehorned shared history with everyone in the Marvel U into his backstory via retcons).

Yes, Creed is worse than Logan for a lot of reasons, but that same general sense of mystery and wariness around the character is what I'm referring to here. That will be fun to explore as the man tries to atone for a lot of the terrible crap he's done in his life.

[anthony_lynch15]

Didn't see a general AXIS thread in the X-books forum, so I'll post this here:



From: http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=57210

This to me is so spot on. In a way, it's like having the Wolverine of old back, purely in the sense that everyone was wary of him because he was kind of a psycho and extremely unpredictable. Back in the 80s many of the heroes even referred to him as a "psycho" or "Shorty Psycho", things like that. I seem to remember a lot of that in the original Secret War, for example, and around that period when he interacted with other heroes and wasn't everyone's best friend like he ultimately became in the 90s and 00s (after they shoehorned shared history with everyone in the Marvel U into his backstory via retcons).

Yes, Creed is worse than Logan for a lot of reasons, but that same general sense of mystery and wariness around the character is what I'm referring to here. That will be fun to explore as the man tries to atone for a lot of the terrible crap he's done in his life.

Definitely seems like they've thought it through anyway.
I'm sure plenty of people will be giving out about Creed's new status for a while and then they'll forget all about it once they start enjoying his new direction.
Personally I'm looking forward to seeing him play hero, and the fact that they say the other heroes are wary of him means that he'll have to earn their trust.
Which was pretty much how I hoped his story would go.

[Grimsmack]

This is more proof that Kurt is absolutely lethal if he wants to be. If Nightcrawler was a depraved lunatic along the lines of Carnage or Sabretooth (sans inversion), he would be much more of a menace than either of those two. If he fought "dirty" like this with Thor or Superman, I'm not sure they'd survive the experience.

I enjoy Axis so much because Nightcrawler is a featured hero/villain. In past Marvel U-wide events, Kurt might have had a comment somewhere in the background in a lame attempt by the writers to include him. Perhaps there would be a cover shot of him along with each of the other X-Men (and a prominent, snarling Wolverine, of course).

Remender has made Kurt one of the focal points in the storyline, and as a fan I am grateful!

[sureshot]

My only complaint about the preview. Not just the preview yet seeing the inverted characters in action. Is why does it take a hero turned villain to be come so damn effective in combat and in general. I get that as villains they are willing to do go the extra step like villains. Yet at the same time the characters seem doubly if not triple in combat. It reminds me of Blackest Night when the undead Martian Manhunter is fighting against Flash and Green Lantern. They hide inside a building hoping to lose the Manhunter or maybe by some time. Manhunter rips of the front off the building and goes "why do people forget that I'm as as strong as Superman". It would be nice to see heroes be as effective without having turned evil.

That being said it is good seeing Nightcrawler do what he does best. Even if his personality is inverted. It's terrying to imagine him with a personality like Carnage.

[Daymare]

This is more proof that Kurt is absolutely lethal if he wants to be. If Nightcrawler was a depraved lunatic along the lines of Carnage or Sabretooth (sans inversion), he would be much more of a menace than either of those two. If he fought "dirty" like this with Thor or Superman, I'm not sure they'd survive the experience.

I enjoy Axis so much because Nightcrawler is a featured hero/villain. In past Marvel U-wide events, Kurt might have had a comment somewhere in the background in a lame attempt by the writers to include him. Perhaps there would be a cover shot of him along with each of the other X-Men (and a prominent, snarling Wolverine, of course).

Remender has made Kurt one of the focal points in the storyline, and as a fan I am grateful!

He wrote a great AOA Kurt and this is basically what he was.
I am wondering at the end, as we know the status quo will be reverted for many, if they will have the choice to remain inverted which is how Creed stays on the side of the demi-angels or if he will be more like Frenzy where it is undone but they see the benefits of trying to reform. They will most likely remember what happens during this time which could lead to interesting future stories if the writers continue with it, although with current editorial that may be like spitting on a roller coaster.
This idea had so much potential...even so though, no telling what Marvel will look like after the Secret Wars blender creates a new recipe for the world.

[sureshot]

He wrote a great AOA Kurt and this is basically what he was.
I am wondering at the end, as we know the status quo will be reverted for many, if they will have the choice to remain inverted which is how Creed stays on the side of the demi-angels or if he will be more like Frenzy where it is undone but they see the benefits of trying to reform. They will most likely remember what happens during this time which could lead to interesting future stories if the writers continue with it, although with current editorial that may be like spitting on a roller coaster.
This idea had so much potential...even so though, no telling what Marvel will look like after the Secret Wars blender creates a new recipe for the world.

The problem with villains who reform or in this case become inverted is that once it wears off. Or they go back to being a villain they forget everything they learned as a hero. It's like they go through a personality lobotomy once they become a villain again .

[raidensix]

Would it have been possible for Kurt to actually teleport the edge of an object inside Sabertooth instead of having to stab him? I don't recall his power being used in that manner.

[Grimsmack]

Would it have been possible for Kurt to actually teleport the edge of an object inside Sabertooth instead of having to stab him? I don't recall his power being used in that manner.

I'm not sure if I recall him teleporting an object into something else so that the two are "melded" together. I do know that he can teleport himself or anyone he's carrying into solid object like a wall and therefore he has to be careful at all times. So it makes sense that it can work the other way around - a solid object into a living thing seems doable.

Does anyone have any examples of him teleporting an object inside of something else similar the shark/Blob example?

[Daymare]

I'm not sure if I recall him teleporting an object into something else so that the two are "melded" together. I do know that he can teleport himself or anyone he's carrying into solid object like a wall and therefore he has to be careful at all times. So it makes sense that it can work the other way around - a solid object into a living thing seems doable.

Does anyone have any examples of him teleporting an object inside of something else similar the shark/Blob example?

I think he could, just that THIS Kurt would not have used his power in this way...plus the way AOA did the shark, while awesome, should have killed himself as the was not room in Blob for all the business (how did Kurt avoid every bone and muscle and such). Kurt does not have his bamf's amplifying his powers here so I am not sure how he could teleport so much without being an exhausted puddle. Is his soulless worm-shell not able to be wounded or winded? Fun to see him back in real action.
#saveasoul #savemesomefebreeze

[Innocent Bystander]

I think he could, just that THIS Kurt would not have used his power in this way...plus the way AOA did the shark, while awesome, should have killed himself as the was not room in Blob for all the business (how did Kurt avoid every bone and muscle and such). Kurt does not have his bamf's amplifying his powers here so I am not sure how he could teleport so much without being an exhausted puddle. Is his soulless worm-shell not able to be wounded or winded? Fun to see him back in real action.
#saveasoul #savemesomefebreeze

that was my thought - teleporting tons of material and multiple rapid 'ports with no adverse effects seems off. And I think he easily could have just teleported a stop sign inside of Creed -say, in his spine maybe - or something like that. Painful, incapacitating, but not immediately lethal, since he seems to be toying with him.

[sureshot]

Maybe he taps into the rage his rage and anger at Sabertooth. Which allows Nightcralwer to do the multiple rapid ports. Or the writer simply decided to ignore that aspect of the character for the sake of the story. Or becoming a villain suddenly makes his powers twice as effective with less restrictions.