Luck Be A Lady: Domino Appreciation...

[Bl00dwerK]

Never seen those guys but that was very well-done. Everyone did great with their characters and Bea was gorgeous...

[CraigTheCylon]

I hope she isn't in Secret Avengers. I'm not a fan of this cross-team business Marvel is doing. I can't read anything about Rogue because I don't (won't) read Avengers books...

Ehhhh. I don't have the Complex-related problems that most of the X-board users do, and willingly read a fair few A-side books so long as they interest me. If Dom shows up in one, I'm buying it. Loyalty to her outstrips whatever loyalty I have to the X-Men as a whole. And at this point, with no (real) X-Force and no obvious place for her on the other confirmed X-books post Secret Wars, stepping out into pastures new would be for the best, IMO.

Im a little surprised she's not on Magneto's Uncanny X-Fo.....er X-men team.

Nice save.

I agree in a sense - even the latest Axel-in-Charge article basically came out and said the new Uncanny is X-Force in all but name, likely because the Uncanny X-Men name sells better. Historically speaking that's where Domino should be. But with the team already including 2 gun-toting types in Mystique and Fantomex it's understandable why Bunn wouldn't want to triple-dip. Why he'd willingly go with Fanto over our girl is beyond my comprehension, but hey, there's no accounting for taste...

[CraigTheCylon]

Finally, FINALLY got around to taking some shots of my latest and favourite-est acquisition - behold, LEGO DOMINO!

LD1.jpg

Now, obviously this isn't an official product. Lego have only made 2 X-Men sets since acquiring the Marvel license (movie-related stuff inevitably takes priority) and thanks to double-dipping on Wolverine and Magneto figures they've only realized 3 actual X-Men proper. Instead, this is a pretty well-executed custom job by someone called Poppunkmonkey. It's based on Neena's costume from Cable & Deadpool and it really matches the source well, with the nice vivid blue highlights at the edges and the brown belt pouches and thigh holsters. If I've one complaint it's that her head is done in typical fleshtone rather than pure white, but they did remember to add the patch so it's not a total loss. And yes, it came with the opening display case AND all those extra weapons. Mmm guns mmm.

LD2.jpg

Also impressive - the decals continue not just on her back, but on the back of her legs as well (something you never see on official Legos). They even added a couple buckles on each arm.

LD3.jpg

Of course, it's still official Lego beneath the paint so it still connects with any other Legos. Sorry Nat, Dom needed a lift!

(Figure purchased from ToysInc via eBay. Last I checked they still had some duplicates left if you're interested.)

[CraigTheCylon]

More pics, for a giggle:

LD4.jpg

Comparing notes down at the firing range with Wade and Mister Is Right.

LD5.jpg

Taking the fight to everyone's favourite (?) Nazi warmonger!

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Hey, the guy wanted that "masked menace" stopped so badly, and a girl's gotta eat...no hard feelings, right Petey?

[Drakeon]

I dont care what they call it its my new Xforce book ans given Bunns Magneto book, it will be damn good. He says the team will have other members and that the classic outfits are just on the cover so Im hoping Domino or Cable could potentially be on the team as well.

[LoganAlpha30X33]

Well Bunn's last book was dropping like a rock in sales except for a crossover issue...and the last X-Force wasn't exactly selling out either...so I wouldn't bet the farm on the book lasting...though I wouldn't mind seeing Cable and Domino join and replace Psylocke on the team...

[Drakeon]

Well Bunn's last book was dropping like a rock in sales except for a crossover issue...and the last X-Force wasn't exactly selling out either...so I wouldn't bet the farm on the book lasting...though I wouldn't mind seeing Cable and Domino join and replace Psylocke on the team...

First of all, sales were just fine on Magneto and it solld much better than quite a few books.

Secondly I said the book was good not that it sold a bunch. Bendis' Uncanny Xmen sells great but its not good at all.

So sales mean squat when it comes to quality storytelling.

Psylocke doesnt need to be replaced either. Thats just you being negative cause you dont like Betsy being on an xforce team.

How about try constructive critisism rather than opinionated negativity?

Its a book called Uncanny Xmen with Bunn and Land (he sells books despite his art) and is only up against a few x books. It will sell. Bet the farm all you want. Im quite certain Ill be enjoying my time on that farm reading the book lol

[LoganAlpha30X33]

If I remember correctly aside from the bump from the crossover Magneto was selling pretty close to 20k, which is pretty much the threshold for cancellation, books that go much below that don't last, and Magneto had been dropping readers every issue except for that one, so I wouldn't call it selling fine, as for Psylocke, she had turned a corner and now gets regressed back onto an X-Force book so it's negative that any growth that she had will be thrown away more than likely...and is opinionated optimism any better...

[petrefax]

Ehhhh. I don't have the Complex-related problems that most of the X-board users do, and willingly read a fair few A-side books so long as they interest me. If Dom shows up in one, I'm buying it. Loyalty to her outstrips whatever loyalty I have to the X-Men as a whole. And at this point, with no (real) X-Force and no obvious place for her on the other confirmed X-books post Secret Wars, stepping out into pastures new would be for the best, IMO.


Nice save.

I agree in a sense - even the latest Axel-in-Charge article basically came out and said the new Uncanny is X-Force in all but name, likely because the Uncanny X-Men name sells better. Historically speaking that's where Domino should be. But with the team already including 2 gun-toting types in Mystique and Fantomex it's understandable why Bunn wouldn't want to triple-dip. Why he'd willingly go with Fanto over our girl is beyond my comprehension, but hey, there's no accounting for taste...

I agree on Fantomex or as I like to call him poor man's Gambit cosplaying as Stormshadow.

I still would love to see Al Ewing write her . I think Domino would fit on Sunspot's AIMvengers team. Plus they have been former teammates and having someone who has done corporate espionage in the past would prove to be a good asset even as a security consultant or AIM's head of security. Who else is gonna do the job? Hawkeye? Matt Fraction as enjoyable as he made him to has made Hawkeye into a hapless guy who gets caught up in outlandish things. He's a walking disaster zone. He's the anti-Domino at this point. Even Peter Parker has better luck than he does as of late. Ewing wrote this happening to Hawkeye in Loki: Agent of Asgard #1.



I wouldn't mind seeing her on Ewing's other book, Ultimates but considering the Ultimates is looking like a DC Justice League team in terms of raw power Neena might be a little outgunned around the likes of Captain Marvel, Blue Marvel, and Monica Rambeau.

[Drakeon]

If I remember correctly aside from the bump from the crossover Magneto was selling pretty close to 20k, which is pretty much the threshold for cancellation, books that go much below that don't last, and Magneto had been dropping readers every issue except for that one, so I wouldn't call it selling fine, as for Psylocke, she had turned a corner and now gets regressed back onto an X-Force book so it's negative that any growth that she had will be thrown away more than likely...and is opinionated optimism any better...

Regressed to an Xforce book? Her last status WAS with Xforce so its just her continuing to be featured in an Xforce like book as she has been for quite a while now.

And Magneto was selling in the early 30's for most of its run and only slipped near the end into the mid 20's. Much better than quite a few books like Storm that sold at only 13. It was a successful book all things considered. But again its sales have nothing to do with the upcoming Uncanny series.

[Bl00dwerK]

If Dom shows up in one, I'm buying it. Loyalty to her outstrips whatever loyalty I have to the X-Men as a whole.

With me it's not about loyalty to the X-Men as much as it is not caring about the Avengers side of Marvel. Bucky and Widow are the only two non-mutant Marvel characters I care anything about...

[CraigTheCylon]

Never seen those guys but that was very well-done. Everyone did great with their characters and Bea was gorgeous...

Only just realized I never actually talked about the video after posting it. Derp. But yeah, it's a very slick-looking piece, as I've come to expect from the Bat In The Sun crew, and props to all involved. Specifically r.e. Domino - good lord is Tatiana DeKhtyar beautiful. Dunno what it is about white make-up but it always seems to highlight the wearer's cheekbones and hers are magnificent. I'd done some cursory Googling for her in advance of the vid going up and saw some martial-arts demo stuff she's done previously, but she looked a lot more convincing in her motions here. Also appreciate that whoever was on writing duties remembered to factor in her powers as well as her fighting skills - maybe I'm just cynical but I figure a less dedicated creator would just assume she's Black Widow or whoever with a lack of sun-tan. Sometimes all I need is a dumb pun and some jammed guns to make everything okay. If I have a complaint it's that this is a fairly humourless Domino rather than the more lively, cocky version I tend to favour, be it from Kyle/Yost, Hopeless or etc., but historically she does tend to put on a straight face when Wade's around, so there's a precedent.

Plus, y'know, it's not every day that you get to see your favourite X-lady put a bullet in the head of the most well-known bad guy in all of comics.

Anyway! It's time for another INCURSION~ to interrupt the scan parade. Just as Ultimate End's debut made a sensible backdrop for talking about Not Actually Ultimate Domino, this week's return to Fittest Survivals and terrible haircuts in Age of Apocalypse #1 feels like a good opportunity to look back at the original AoA and its take on our beloved Albino Assassin, as featured in X-Man #1-3! (written by Loeb, art by Steve Skroce with colours by Mike Thomas)

If you don't recall, X-Man replaced Cable during AoA and told the story of Nate Grey, who is basically Cable minus all the stuff that makes Cable cool. His origin is a mystery at this point - because if there's one thing mid-'90s X-books love more than pouches, it's Not Explaining S*** - and he's part of an anti-Apoc resistance cell led by Forge, that passes around the human hovels doing theater work as a cover for their sabotage jobs. However, the more Nate uses his psychic powers, the more disruption he causes in the astral plane...something that's easily picked up by the Shadow King, who has here been reduced to a lava lamp in Apocalypse's throne room.



Anyone else figure En Sabah Nur doesn't actually need a psychic watchdog and just put Shadow Lamp there because he brightens up that corner? "HMMM, YES, THE PURPLE GLOW OF THIS BOTTLED SUPERVILLAIN REALLY OFFSETS THE ROW OF SKULLS I PUT OVER THE FIREPLACE!"

But yeah, there's our first look at AoA Domino - not a hero, not a merc, but a willing servant of the Big A. That's a pretty big change, and so is her wardrobe. Most of the AoA redesigns kept some recognizable elements of each given character's past look, but this basically throws out the Domino rulebook and starts over from scratch. There's still armour on her arms and legs but it's got more coverage, and complimented by a toughened metal sheathe over her body as well. She's actually wearing a black cape, reaching down to her butt, though it can be tricky to make out here. Her regular 'patch' is now an actual eyepatch, or at least a slab of metal somehow attached to her skull. Her hair's longer than ever, and naturally tapers into a tail that realistically should drag along the floor, but instead curls and writhes with a mind of its own. And of course, it's almost all solid red, which isn't a colour 616 Domino has ever shown a preference for. All told though, I quite like the design. Keeping it so uniform in colour tones down a lot of the details, which keeps it very streamlined and memorable in a way the abundance of over-designed monstrosities populating this event generally aren't.

Onto #2, and while Forge's rabble expand their ranks with Siryn and a completely innocuous fellow called Essex, Domino and her partners have been busy chasing down leads, which have led them to AoA Omega Red, who is not called that because he's not actually wearing any red. Because Domino stole ALL OF THE RED.



Apparently the cape is for fancy ceremonies only, since it doesn't show up again. And now she's rocking a...balaclava? I don't know what it is exactly, but I'm not really feeling it.

That growling is the cue for Grizzly to show up, with a vertical double-page splash (this series LOVED splashes, as we shall see) that results in him bellowing ineffectually and being swatted aside like he's nothing. Tch, Dom's gotta do everything herself. Guess this universe isn't THAT alternate.



I love how she teases going for Wolverine's lame catchphrase before turning it into Bret 'Hitman' Hart's much cooler one. And hey, Caliban's here too! And apparently he is Spider-Man! Or maybe a frog!

You ever notice how characters automatically get +10 to all stats when they turn evil? Regular Domino is supposed to be a super-lethal merc but only really kills unnamed stormtroopers while the real baddies get away unscathed; AoA Domino only waits 3 pages before she's slotting a dude who usually gives Logan a run for his money. Huh.

TBC in next post.

[CraigTheCylon]

The rest of the issue focuses on Forge's crew chatting about how sad they are or something similarly lame and not-Domino-related, while Essex does things of what some might call a sinister nature, like killing off Brute, which goes completely unremarked on because everyone else had forgotten Brute was ever in the book. Forge still smells a rat, though, and goes to confront Essex...



Sing along!

And now we hit #3, starting with Forge choosing to resist arrest:



Friggin' splash pages, you will be the end of me. And it turns out that wasn't a balaclava, I guess, just a very tight-fitting helmet? The important thing is it's off now, so once more Dom is as free as her hair. Feel free to sing along to that, too.

Sadly for Forge, his escape plan amounted to running all of 20 feet away before stopping at his team's campsite, so it takes Domino slightly less time to catch up to him than it did for me to type this sentence.



...that you, Daken? I just assume because no-one else is lame enough to rock that mohawk.

More of Not Actually Daken in next post.

[CraigTheCylon]

Oh, it's actually Mastermind? My mistake.



Welp, bye Mastermind! Awesomely powerful one-shot kill blasters seem to be a common thread among AU Dominoes. Again, +10 to all stats, etc. And that's 2 named-character kills for her. Girl has no mercy.

Sadly, Forge will not be taking the third spot on her list, as Nate chooses this moment to finally remember it's his damn series and interrupt, fly-tackling Domino away from Forge and onto the next page, where is less than happy with the lack of in-flight movie:



I will never understand why so many comics choose to interpret Telekinesis as 'laser bolts from your head', but I suppose it'd be weird if Domino was just dodging invisible stuff while mouthing off.



I'd dearly love to know what the application for the tiny axe-head hanging off the stock of her gun is. Also, how derpy IS Nate here? "She DROPPED her GUN?? Oh well, it's a shame I don't have any range attacks that I might have been using one whole page ago to catch her with. Figure I'll just stand here and maybe punch her when she gets close. Wait, is that a SWORD??"

Maybe Domino's luck powers actually cause plot-convenient stupidity in her enemies. That would actually be really useful.

To be concluded in next post.

[CraigTheCylon]

Nate's strategy is exactly as effective as my sarcasm implied.



She does look amazingly badass in that last panel there. Hat-tip to Skroce.

Of course, the reality of this is that Domino is the villain here, and thus needs to her her comeuppance. So instead of seeing overpowered flop-haired boy get decapitated, the next 2 pages show the other side of the melee, where Caliban, Toad and Grizzly are all killed in that order. And if there's one thing 13 or so years of watching pro wrestling has taught me, it's that there is no stronger attack than a mid-fight distraction.



Yeah. Ouch. That's...not a nice way to go. And again, props to Skroce and Thomas, the art here really gets across just how horrific this is, with the multi-panel scream shattering at the edge, Nate's super-contorted rage face, and that last little grace note of him walking away from Dom's wide-eyed, catatonic self, complete with a little daisy (maybe representing the good-natured side Nate has rejected by letting vengeance drive him to murder?).

And with that, the short (but eventful) life of another Domino comes to a close. I wouldn't say it was pleasant to know you, AoA Domino - since, y'know, you were a crazypants heartless killing machine - but it was certainly interesting. And who knows if this is absolutely the end - the new Age of Apocalypse is a fresh take on that universe, so you never know, maybe this scarlet-clad sentinel of sadistic stabbing will pop back up. We'll see.