Brief Mentions: Dark Reign Has Begun

Uncanny X-Men
Written By: Matt Fraction
Art By: Terry Dodson

So now all Marvel fans are in the grips of Dark Reign. I was one of the few people I believe who actually liked the last couple pages of Secret Invasion #8. It was great to see Norman Osborn being evil again and instead of being a government lapdog. But with that being said, I will now turn your attention to that of Uncanny X-Men # 505 (Written by Matt Fraction and art by Terry Dodson). Since the beginning of my comic-reading career it has been hard for me to thoroughly enjoy an x-men book. With all the x-book crossovers and tie-ins and do-overs and under-dos or whatever, I have never been able to follow really what has been going on. This has confused me considering that two of my favorite writers have been working on both the x-men books (Brubaker & Ellis). With issue #505, I feel like I have a sense of what’s going on. This may be due to the fact that I actually did read the Secret Invasion story but it made me excited to actually get the next issue of Uncanny X-Men. As the team resides in San Francisco, the television is continuously bombarded with images of mutant hate and the idea of “mutant reproduction legislature” is introduced. The main focus of this issue is Emma Frost and exactly how she ended up at the Norman Osborn’s guest list. Frost is battling to find away to help her mutant people. After her dialogue with Cyclops, Frost decides to accept the “invitation” that we can only assume is Norman Osborn’s. Uncanny X-Men #505 is a great issue to begin reading this book, especially if you read Secret Invasion. This book is also testament to the great ability of Matt Fraction to write team books. Terry Dodson also adds great pencils to the series, which gives it a great look. Though X-Factor is still considered my favorite “x” book, Uncanny X-Men is a close second.