… and currently, that means coming back from the dead. Sorry, Wolverine… you have some serious competition for resurrection counts. Jean Grey still holds that title. Probably higher count in Jean Grey alone than all the Marvel Universe characters combined… But that’s another blog. This is all about Logan coming back from the dead, after being deceased for a few years.
Charles Soule who wrote the Death of Wolverine mini, in which Wolverine’s healing factor has failed him, and in the end, is encased in admantium… somehow comes back from that. And that’s part of the mystery. Well, Charles Soule will be writing Hunt For Wolverine: Dead Ends which is apparently going to lead into… wait for it… a new Wolverine on going series. Now, since Charles Soule wrote the death of Wolverine, and he’s writing this mini that leads into the new Wolverine series, I think it’s a fairly safe assumption that Charles Soule will probably also be the writer of the new Wolverine series; as I am sure Marvel had his death and resurrection all planned, from the moment Wolverine’s death was pitched.
Unfortunately, for me, Wolverine is one of those characters that has become over saturated. The irony – not because of Wolverine himself. Back in February of this year, I had shared my thoughts on this whole Hunt for Wolverine gimmick. And in that post, I talked about how I was tired of all the Wolverine knock offs…
We’ve currently got…
- 616 Logan is now back.
- Daken “Wolverine’s Son” -sigh-
- X-23 (who I’ve come to tolerate)
- Gabrielle (the uh clone of X-23… really people?)
- Jimmy Hudson (coming from the Ultimates universe)
- And then there’s Old Man Logan… a future… version of Wolverine….?
All of these characters running around the Marvel Universe… all at the same time… all directly tied to Wolverine in some fashion… is, literally, overkill.
So I’d like to say I am excited about our regular Wolverine’s return, but I am so burnt out on seeing anything related to Wolverine… And that makes me sad.
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– Tawmis
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(Kate Bishop). Kate’s boyfriend, who I believe goes by the name Fuse. Joining them is Gwenpool, along with Quentin Quire (from the pages of the X-Men) better known as Kid Omega. And then rounding up the group is America Chavez, who I think just goes by the name America. The first issue comes out Wednesday, August 22.
Now. Wait a minute. Why does this sound very familiar? Oh, that’s right. The 
I was a huge fan of the original West Coast Avengers run, because I loved all of the characters that were on the team from my long history of reading Avengers (beginning with Avengers #159). My problem with this version is; other than Hawkeye (Clint), I am not familiar with the rest of the members (I know of them all, except for Fuse – who I know nothing about), but couldn’t tell anything about their stories, origins, or anything. And the idea that they’re doing a reality show, similar to what the New Warriors did, without considering the fresh wound that should have, admittedly bothers me. You’d think the super hero community would be like, “Whoa! Stop. This is not a good 
idea. Remember when the New Warriors did it and all those people died?” And maybe there will be some super hero opposition; especially if it’s the New Warriors, I’d pick up those issues for sure.
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Now… I don’t know how time lines work, but I’ve argued for quite some time, that the moment Hank yanked out the “616” versions of themselves; their adult selves should have either ceased to exist or been drastically changed. For example, when the time displaced Angel got his energy wings; how did “616” Archangel not suddenly sprout energy wings also, rather than the metallic wings? I even wrote an 
So now our troublesome time displaced mutants, who got yanked out of the future, into the present, are now also in a messed up future. And why is it 20 years in the future? And why is it the original X-Men? Where are the other mutants? I am sure it will be all uncovered in this book, but this book – let’s face it – is nothing more than an (ongoing?) What If…? issue because whatever they write in this grim future, will probably never truly come to pass for Marvel (similar to Days of Future Past, or any of the alternate realities we’ve seen others come from, such as Cable and Bishop). So they will have the liberty to kill and do whatever they want in this series, because it truly has no real consequences to the actual future of Marvel characters.
Now have a link to the individual episode on 
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Xavier (of the X-Men) and Magneto, which became a being known as Onslaught, all the heroes (except for the X-Men, pretty much) were apparently “blinked away” when Onslaught was defeated – this left the world without heroes. (What had actually happened is they were transported to a “Second Earth”). So, our world is currently without any heroes, so a new team shows up consisting of Citizen V, Atlas, Meteorite, Mach-1, Songbird, and Techno.
But then, at the very end of the very first issue, the big reveal happens. There aren’t heroes at all. As a matter of fact, they’re some of the most notorious villains in the Marvel Universe, led by, undoubtedly, one of the most intelligent, and also, one of the most vile villains of them all!
Now, someone might ask, “Well how is that any different than Suicide Squad over at DC?” Easy. This kicks it up a notch. The folks in Suicide Squad typically do what they do, because they’re forced to – and none of them are using another alias to hide who they are. With Thunderbolts – it’s all about the deception of being heroes by posing as new people. We learn that Zemo’s plan is to pose as new heroes to essentially gain the same level access that the Avengers, Fantastic Four, etc., all had – being the only big team of (new) heroes replacing the Fantastic Four, Avengers, etc. Other teams still exist (such as the New Warriors), but they’re not on the level of the Thunderbolts who are tackling folks like The Wrecking Crew.
Things begin to get a little twisted when a new team of the Masters of Evil suddenly surfaces, being led by the Crimson Cowl. This new version of the Masters of Evil consists of Crimson Cowl (a woman, by the shape of her body), a mutated Tigershark, Cyclone (Pierre Fresson), Man-Killer, Klaw, and Flying Tiger. Baron Zemo is immediately furious that another team has begun calling themselves The Masters of Evil (although, technically this is beneficial, because it would throw off the scent that the Thunderbolts are former members of the Masters of Evil).
When Issue #11 rolls around, the event Heroes Return happens, where essentially all the heroes that “blinked away” to the Second Earth, suddenly return back to Earth (because I think the Heroes Reborn idea was a stinker, and Marvel realized it, and needed to return the heroes back to the regular world). This is where this issue felt like it was a drastic change in pace; because Citizen V/Zemo finally got the file access he has wanted for the past ten issues, and he forgoes it all to reveal they’re the Masters of Evil – though he explains his actions as that he was tired of the charade and that too many members on his team were beginning to enjoy being heroes too much (essentially Atlas, Mach-1, and Songbird), and he was tired of Meteorite (Moonstone) trying to manipulate him.
It seems crazy to me that they didn’t have concrete plans, because the series clearly has many layers that are being put down. For example, the romance between Atlas and Dallas bloomed; but Atlas couldn’t tell her who he really is, because that would reveal who he truly was (Goliath), and when Zemo revealed they were the Masters of Evil, she feels absolutely betrayed… then there was the question of who is Crimson Cowl… there was the question of who is fixing things in the new base – more on that in a second. Back to Thunderbolts… One of the greatest moments is when Graviton is released back into the world. I’ve mentioned it before, how Avengers #159 was one of my first comics (along with Uncanny X-Men #121). Well, Avengers #159 featured none other than Graviton as the villain; so I have 
always been very partial to him. He was my first “big, seemingly unbeatable” villain I had read in comics (since in Uncanny X-Men #121, Alpha Flight were considered good guys, that the X-Men were fighting). Even in Avengers #159, Graviton, for all of his intense and insane power, had an extremely fragile ego. So, when the Thunderbolts seem like they can’t beat them, it’s Meteorite who uses her days as a shrink, to get inside of Graviton’s head and rattle his ego, so that he leaves to go find a purpose. (And that will also come back to haunt the Thunderbolts in the very near future).
Now what’s something every kid who reads comic want? To design a super hero or a super villain that would be featured in Marvel Comics, right? Well, the folks of Wizard Magazine held a contest to do just that. And so Charcoal, the Burning Man was created. Imagine, designing a character, winning, and getting it in (at the time) one of Marvel’s most popular magazines? And not just a one off, but the character becomes a part of the team? You would think that would make anyone excited enough to know that a character they designed had become a part of the Marvel Universe, and a part of a popular team. I’m going to dip here and talk about what happened next with the character briefly. Kurt also answered this previously on his FormSpring page on June 10th 2013: “The issue with Charcoal is that the creators [Wallace & Kroja Frost] of the character entered him in a contest which they knew meant that if he won he’d be property of Marvel, then after the fact tried to threaten a lawsuit in order to get Marvel to pay them lots of money. That seems pretty crass to me — if you don’t want Marvel to own the character if you win, don’t enter the contest.
So you know that Charcoal is about to end up dead – but that doesn’t happen in Kurt’s run, so we won’t talk about that yet. I am going to side with Kurt – as I said, I would have been happy just to have a character I designed be in a Marvel Comic, let alone on a team, let alone on a popular book at the time. The fact that it left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth at Marvel, sealed the deal that they would never do a contest like that, so that there’s no legal issues to deal with. It was so bad, that even though, it sounds like Marvel ended up sorting out the rights, they just figured it was better off to leave the character dead, and leave it at that.
With the defeat of the Masters of Evil, it’s revealed that it’s none other than Dallas Riordan who is actually the Crimson Cowl who has been leading the Masters of Evil. As if that were not bad enough, Graviton comes back – this time with a purpose, hoisting a huge portion of the ground in the air (similar to what he had done in Avengers #159), claiming he was a king of a sovereign land and that he imbues people who swear loyalty to him with the ability to fly. Jolt being the hero fanatic that she is, knows that X-51 is in the area and enlists his help, who gives her “Anti Gravity Bands” which is how he flies. Meteorite (now accepting that she is just going to be called Moonstone), takes the bands and throws them at Graviton who suddenly folds within himself, similar to a black hole, and he’s defeated again. (Oh, but he’ll be back in Fabian’s run – but I will get to that later!)
Moonstone soon finds, despite all her efforts to manipulate things her way, she has begun caring about both Jolt and Hawkeye, who were originally just tools for her to use. The relationship with Hawkeye gets really intimate during a training session the two are having, and she removes her clothing and the two embrace and kiss. That kiss and moment is broken up shortly after, when Songbird walks in on them to tell them something.
This made Bearclaw furious and he attempted to hunt Madcoil down on his own, but young Cutter would not let him go alone. Bearclaw did sneak off and try to face off with Madcoil and paid for it, with his life. Cutter found his dying father, and took New Moon for himself and returned to the tribe and formed a plan. With his tribe, he was able to lure Madcoil out and deliver the killing blow with New Moon.
In ElfQuest #5 of the Original Quest, the story centers around these large horse like creatures that the Sun Villagers call “Zwoots.” Several of these creatures can be spotted around Sorrow’s End as beasts of burden; but when a rumbling volcano sends these untamed zwoots in the desert on a stampede that often takes them through Sorrow’s End; as the villagers hide, and accept that the zwoots will destroy much of their land and food, the Wolfriders offer to find a way to save 
Sorrow’s End by diverting the Zwoot stampede. The Wolfriders do manage to divert the wild Zwoots, and then they proceeded to hunt some of them during the stampede as forms of meat; and Scouter and Dewshine of the Wolfriders, even try to bring a wild zwoot to the village to be tamed and be used as a beast of burden; however, the zwoot is erratic and cause Dewshine to be flung from it and wounded.
Redlance, she now uses her magical abilities to heal and save Dewshine. In this episode, you can also see the interaction between Wolfriders and Sun Folk have really developed and the two have come to accept one another. And later that night, Leetah finally surrenders to Recognition, and she and Cutter “seal the deal” if you will.
Rayek determines that, with him not being needed, that there might be something out there for him; similar to how the Wolfriders found Sorrow’s End, perhaps there is something out there – even though he has no Lodestone – that he can go out there and find.
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issue, that the humans attacked the elves of the Palace, our of fear, when the confused elves extended their hand in friendship. She explains that her own people were forced to also make the trek across the desert, and that’s how Sorrow’s End (the name of the Sun Folk’s village) was formed.
Cutter asks if Savah is what is called one of the High Ones; and she assures him, though she may be old, she is not one of the High Ones. The High Ones are the first elves to have landed on the world, from inside the Palace. The Wolfriders celebrate one of the High Ones, as a part of their bloodline (but more about that in the next issue! So hold on to your hats – or wolf fur – for right now, we will get into that tomorrow!)
Eventually, with the Wolfriders settled among the Sun Folk, the Sun Folk determine it’s a cause for celebration that there’s other elves – and that the Wolfriders are welcome in Sorrow’s End. The Wolfriders see that the Sun Folk are very different, not just in appearance, skin tone, or clothing – but in the way they celebrate, their music, their very culture is something that’s utterly different than anything any of the Wolfriders have ever seen before. All of the Sun Folk seem very welcoming to the Wolfriders, despite those differences. All of the Sun Folk, save one.
Rayek is less than pleased with the arrival of the Wolfriders. There’s several reasons that Rayek’s hatred of the Wolfriders runs deep – these new elves are excellent hunters, which puts Rayek’s value in Sorrow’s End, much lower. They’re new and different and catch the attention of many of the Sun Folk, when Rayek and his power, might, and magic, was often the center of the people of Sorrow’s End. But the deepest part of that hatred is born out of sheer jealousy of Cutter – and his inability to understand, that in Rayek’s eyes, Leetah is to be his and his alone. But something draws Cutter repeatedly to Leetah, from the very moment he saw her during the siege on Sorrow’s End – something that makes her irresistible to him.
During one of the days, Cutter is out hunting, when he spots Rayek and taunts him that hypnotizing his prey is unfair and takes the game out of the hunt. Rayek doesn’t take kindly to Cutter’s taunt, and turns around and uses the hypnotized animal as an example of what Rayek will do to Cutter if he continues to get in his way, and does not respect him.
Later, Cutter is seen wistfully leaning on his wolf, gazing into Sorrow’s End, and Treestump explains that when two elves see one another and Recognize one another – there’s nothing that can be done, but accept it. You learn that there’s a thing in the world of ElfQuest called Recognition. This is a essentially instinct built into an elf’s genetic pattern, triggered when two elves whose genes would combine to make a good, viable, elf come in contact with one another. Through Recognition, an elf with a Soul Name (not all elves have Soul Names) will have their Soul Name known by the other. So then, what’s a Soul Name? I’d best describe it as the undeniable truth about who you are, down to the very fiber of your being, void of any deception or lies. So essentially, the person knows who you are, fully and truly. That’s about to be important in this issue.
Rayek, tired of Cutter and the Wolfriders, challenges him to a Sun Folk custom called The Challenge of the Head, Hand and Heart. This forces Leetah to make a choice between Cutter and Rayek, and if she can not, they will compete for her hand. Leetah wants to choose Rayek, because they have been courting and flirting for a long time; but when she turns and looks at Cutter, she feels that Recognition; but thinks that she can’t choose 
Cutter, because she would rather mate with his wolf than him. (Why would she say that? Well, because she knows Cutter down to his core – but still, seems a little extreme, right? He seems like a great guy, and an attractive one to boot! Well, the next issue tomorrow I go over, will shed some light on this!) Unable to choose, the competition begins, and fate will decide who is to be with Leetah based on who wins. Skywise allows Cutter to wear his lodestone for good luck (since it was lucky enough to lead them to Sorrow’s End).
There are three competitions that they must complete. The first one has them blind folded and standing on two sticks that the Sun Folk move up and down, back and forward on a circular device. Cutter and Rayek seem evenly matched her for a considerably long time, trying to knock the other off, but it’s Cutter who eventually wins the first competition.
The second competition has the Sun Folk taking Rayek’s dagger and Cutter’s sword, New Moon (which he puts up a fight surrendering; the importance of that sword and why it means so much will also come up the next issue). Their weapons are hidden in a nearby cave. But to make it more tricky, both Cutter and Rayek are blindfolded, their hands tied behind their back. So now they must escape their bondage, remove their blind fold, and find and recover their weapon. Cutter does so and stumbles and sees New Moon in a small crevice (similarly, Rayek’s dagger is hidden in the same fashion). Cutter’s not able to reach it, while Rayek uses his necklace to create a device to grab his dagger. He returns to Sorrow’s End and finds that Cutter is already there, defeating Rayek in the second competition. It turns out as Cutter leaned in to get it, the lodestone did that whole magnetic thing and got the New Moon for Cutter.
The third competition is about facing their fears. Cutter’s fear is revealed to be heights. So they go to a place (if you look, you can see it at the end of the second issue as well!) known as The Bridge of Destiny. For Cutter to win this, he must overcome his fear of heights, cross the Bridge of Destiny, and touch the sun stone on the other side, then cross back across the Bridge of Destiny successfully. Clearly, the most lethal of the three tests – as falling off the Bridge of Destiny means falling several hundred feet to your death on the hot sands below. Cutter 
makes the attempt to try and cross the Bridge of Destiny, but between his own fear, and the winds that threaten to blow him off the bridge, Cutter’s not able to, and is overcome with fear and returns back to safety. Not to let this slide, Rayek takes this opportunity to try and belittle Cutter and his foolish fear of heights. Rayek strolls out onto the Bridge of Destiny, arms wide, walking 
backwards, taunting how Cutter is gutless and isn’t someone worthy of Leetah’s hand. However, Rayek’s overconfidence is his undoing as a gust of wind knocks him off his balance, and knocks him from the Bridge of Destiny. It is only by sheer luck that Rayek is able to barely catch the edge of the Bridge of Destiny. Cutter, fearful that Rayek will fall to 
his death, pushes his fear down, stomach churning, and slowly crawls towards Rayek in attempt to rescue him; and in that moment, Leetah mentally calls out Cutter’s Soul Name, which is Tam.
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Cutter is feeling the doubt of being a young chief and leader of the Wolfriders, while Treestump, one of the oldest living members of the Wolfriders assures him that things will be fine.
once again comes into play as it continues to always point in the same direction. (Rest assured, this isn’t the only time that lodestone comes into play… but much more on that later).
myself again. Believing that the lodestone is pointing them to their new home, they follow it’s lead. The Wolfriders venture int the desert – and struggle through the searing heat of the sun, with no food, and no water (until Cutter is pricked by a cactus and cuts it in half out of frustration – only to discover that it contains water).
driven, when we get to see Redlance (who was captured and wounded by the humans in the previous issue), is barely able to cling onto his wolf.
Cutter makes a promise that he will come back for them. It’s a touching moment, where he’s forced to leave Redlance and Nightfall behind…
What they do discover is another civilization of elves – but like none they’ve ever seen before. These elves appear to live in tiny huts, and having a small farming community. On top of that they don’t ride wolves or any kind of animal that’s visible to the Wolfriders.
We return to what I mentioned in the previous issue; that every action has a consequence and reaction. Because of what happened with the humans (and how these elves even seem to live like humans), Cutter decides that this time – they won’t politely ask. They will simply take, because that’s what needs to be done.
When the Wolfriders charge in, it’s Leetah that Cutter is headed for – but… again, things take an unexpected turn 
for Cutter. When Cutter looks down at Leetah – and their eyes lock – he feels something change inside of him. Immediately, he decides to capture her and throw her on his wolf, while the other Wolfriders grab food and water, and retreat back to the top of the mountain.
from these elves who has the courage to go after the Wolfriders. (And truly, you have to admit – given the situation – how the Wolfriders look and the fact that they’re all riding massive wolves – one indeed has to be very foolish or very courageous to go after the Wolfriders). Treestump, from the Wolfriders gazes down as Rayek shouts at his people for being spineless and sends (the Wolfriders have the ability to communicate telepathically called ‘Sending’) to the others that Rayek looks like he has some spunk.
Rayek indeed turns out to be more than spunky – as he almost immediately proves to be a threat by using his own magic to hypnotize Pike, of the Wolfriders. After some fighting where the Wolfriders use Rayek’s headband to cover his eyes, Cutter is reminded of Redlance and Nightfall. He pleads with these new elves for their help – and Leetah reveals that she, like Rayek, has 
magical abilities – namely, her ability to heal. Rayek demands that Leetah not go, but we see Leetah shows off just how strong of a female she is as she denies Rayek and says that a life is a life, and that she must help.
Returning to the village of these new elves, Cutter and the Wolfriders discover that they’re called Sun Folk; and we meet Leetah’s father, who is one of the elders (who is blind, but sees far more than his eyes could ever see). And they decide to take the Wolfriders to Savah – the Mother of Memory – the eldest of all the Sun Folk – and an elf, far older than any Wolfrider ever lived!
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Immediately, the first thing that captured my attention that “super hero” comics did not – was Wendy Pini’s ability to capture sheer emotion in these characters. Covers are one thing – because you can take all the time in the world to make a beautiful cover. But opening the first issue – I saw that remarkable talent for capturing and conveying emotion in every single panel of the first issue. There was no need for words in most panels, because of Wendy’s distinct ability to show something happening; and showing someone’s reaction to those events.
ElfQuest showed so much emotion – and more so, it was… realistic… which is odd, coming from a fantasy setting. I completely understood why the humans feared the “pointed eared demons” – and also, why the elves hated their “round eared enemies.” A hatred was born out of fear, and that hatred carried on for endless generations, which was so beautifully portrayed in the first issue of ElfQuest. There is no question to the reader as to how this world works and why people hate the people that they do. (It’s hauntingly real, in that, to this day, we have hatred in this world, simply because someone is different… so it’s easy to understand how this world works… because you need not look further than our own to understand how it applies).
The other amazing thing about ElfQuest was that every action had a consequence. Rarely, in ElfQuest did someone do or say something, without there being an effect that impacted the entire story. For example, in the first issue, the elf known as Redlance is captured by the humans, to be sacrificed because they’re “demons” and their gods 
demand the sacrifice. However, Cutter (the chief of the elves known as Wolfriders) is not about to let someone from his tribe be killed, and pulls together some of the elves for a rescue mission. That rescue mission results in one of the humans (the one that was going to kill Redlance) being killed by Cutter.
e, the leader of the humans claims that his god has spoken to him and that the lands must be cleansed – with fire.
seek shelter – and that they must turn to the trolls (who are unlike any kind of trolls you’ve probably seen before) in order to seek shelter from the fire. But before they escape, Wendy Pini manages, to yet again, capture the emotion on One-Eye’s face so tragically… so beautifully.
As I was saying, the Wolfriders need to seek the help of the trolls, whom live underground, from the fire that threatens to burn them down. Now, you’d think that these trolls whom they turn to – well, first, you immediately get the impression you shouldn’t trust them… while they seem like a bumbling lot, they also look like the type of people (er, trolls) you shouldn’t trust. But the Wolfriders have little choice but to trust these trolls – who promise them that there’s a new home for them just down this special tunnel.
But before they go, the current troll king has his foot, seemingly resting on a normal rock – that is anything but a normal rock. That rock turns out to be a lodestone, fallen from the sky. Skywise gets a piece of it, and uses each of his tribes members hair strands to weave a necklace to keep around his neck.
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