November 26, 2025 • 53 mins
Join us for another episode of Uncanny Book Club and explore one of the most influential storytelling sagas in comic book history.
Episode 17 covers issues 139 and 140 of X-Men -- and it feels a lot like a season premiere. Wolverine and Nightcrawler head up to Canada to talk with Alpha Flight and are roped into hunting the Wendigo. Meanwhile, Kitty gets her first of many super hero names and begins taking dance classes with Stevie Hunter. We see Professor X discuss his dream and the potential he sees in Logan. Speaking of which, Wolverine helps save the day in Canada, but Alpha Flight ends up being disbanded.
Have feedback or questions for the show? Email uncannybookclub@gmail.com.
Uncanny Book Club is a biweekly read-along through Chris Claremont’s 16-year long X-Men run, which includes some of the most iconic X-Men stories.
Whether you’re revisiting these stories, are reading it for the first time like us, or just want to ride along for the discussion — we hope you’ll join us every other Wednesday.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:09):
Hello and welcome to Uncanny Book Club.
I'm Michael Peter, and joiningme today is my co-host Adam
Warren.
Hey, I still haven't watched themovie.
Well, I've got an update thereas well.
I have now watched Days ofFuture Past the movie in
preparation.
Was that your first time, orhave you seen it before?
(00:31):
I'm assuming you've seen itbefore.
I've seen it before.
I know I've I watched it intheaters.
I don't know if I ever saw itagain after that, but I wanted
to return to it becauseobviously that movie at this
point came out a really longtime ago, or at least what feels
like a really long time ago.
And I was like, uh, I don'tknow, is it gonna hold up?
(00:51):
I'm not really sure.
But it was good, pretty goodmovie.
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
I remember it being good, and I remember enjoying it
a lot.
Um so you know what?
I think I will watch Days ofFutures Past because it really
does stand alone, anyways.
And I don't have to feelobligated to watch any of the
other ones, so I can just watchthat one.
SPEAKER_01 (01:13):
It might be the best of the newer X-Men movies, you
know, not the original trilogy.
I feel like it definitely is.
I'll go ahead and make thestatement without, you know,
revisiting the others.
SPEAKER_00 (01:26):
Are we strictly talking X-Men or are we also
including like X-Men adjacent?
SPEAKER_01 (01:31):
Are you asking about like a Deadpool situation?
SPEAKER_00 (01:34):
Uh not not not so much a Deadpool situation,
because I think that's like inits own bucket at this point.
I'm thinking more like theWolverine movie, Logan.
SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
I'm gonna put Logan into a different bucket too,
which also I don't think I'veseen since I watched it in
theaters.
So that one's been a while aswell.
But um, I would say yes,including all the other
Wolverine movies, not Loganthough.
I feel like Logan is a prettygood movie.
SPEAKER_00 (02:06):
I have a bit of a hot take.
Between the Wolverine and Logan,I definitely like the Wolverine
way more.
Which one was the Wolverine?
That is the one where he goes toJapan and the entire movie takes
there with Silver Samurai.
SPEAKER_01 (02:20):
Yeah, I remember very little of that movie.
I'm pretty sure I watched italone in college, probably in my
room, maybe with like a bunch ofPizza Hut wings.
That's a free shout out to you,Pizza Hut.
If you want to sponsor thepodcast, get in touch.
We're willing to hear you out.
SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
Yeah, we have Pizza Hut in Canada.
It could work.
How are their wings?
I don't know.
I've never had them, but therecould be an opportunity for that
to happen.
Just say the word.
Say the word, Pizza Hut.
We'll hawk that shit all day.
It can be the best pizzaavailable for the right price.
Yeah.
I will say I am making this kindof a a pairing of movies here
(03:08):
based solely upon like mewatching them, whatever, when
they came out.
It has been a long time, and Idon't think I've watched Logan
since.
I think I may have watchedWolverine at least two or three
times.
So that's a lot of watchingWolverine.
I mean, I liked it, man.
What can I say?
I like the whole aesthetic.
(03:28):
I like the samurai stuff.
I'm a sucker for like high-endfilms that are taking place in
Japan.
And if if Wolverine is amongthem, then so be it.
I'll put it on the bullet train.
I'll put it on the phone.
SPEAKER_01 (03:42):
And unless The Last Samurai.
The last Samurai, yeah.
There you go.
All right.
Next X-Men movie should takeplace in Japan.
Partially, at least.
Yeah, partially.
I'd watch it.
SPEAKER_00 (03:53):
We can get Sunfire introduced.
That'd be awesome.
There we go.
Speaking of third-party Marvelrelated things, have you seen
the trailer for the Wolverinegame?
I did.
SPEAKER_01 (04:06):
Yeah, I did watch that.
And what what are your thoughts?
It looks like it's gonna bepretty intense.
SPEAKER_00 (04:12):
Yeah, I think I described it as brutal.
Like it was That feels right.
Yeah.
Like it had a brutality to itthat I think I would I would
associate it with Mortal Kombat,for example.
You know, they really have theidea and concept of brutality
very well established and welldone for the most part.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
Specifically the part of the trailer where he
like rips somebody in half thelong way.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:39):
There's a lot of a lot of things that I don't know
I would have ever imaginedseeing involving Wolverine in a
video game occurring in thattrailer.
And and it was awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (04:51):
Yeah, I've got high hopes for it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:53):
I think that's one that I would probably look into
picking up.
Well, I guess on to issue 139brought to you by Pizza Hut.
Issue 139 kicks things off witha good old session in the danger
room with Storm, Wolverine,Nightcrawler, Colossus, and
Angel.
It seems Kitty is not the onlynew addition to our team.
(05:15):
Warren is extremely rusty andmakes a few blunders, but the
rest of the X-Men are there topick things up.
After their sush, Wolverineenjoys the smoke and says he's
beginning to think that Charliemade the right decision naming
Storm as leader.
Xavier suggests the name Arielfor Kitty, and she's not really
into it.
(05:36):
Storm says, you know, maybeSprite would be good, and she's
into it as long as they stayaway from any soda-related
jokes.
Wolverine mentions to Xavierthat he would like to return to
Canada now that things are a bitquieter and solidify his earlier
resignation and avoid any futurebeef with the Canadian
government.
(05:56):
It's decided that Nightcrawlerwill accompany him.
Meanwhile, Storm takes Kitty toa dance studio in Harlem to
learn from Stevie Hunter.
Nightcrawler and Wolverinearrive at the home of the
Hudson's, but Heather informsthem that James is on mission.
This is also when Kurt learnsWolverine's name is Logan.
(06:16):
Apparently he did not know thisyet.
Heather informs Logan that AlphaFlight is in Hudson Bay dealing
with a serious threat.
We switch gears to Hudson Bay,then and see James McDonald
Hudson.
That can't be right.
Did I f this up?
No, that's his name.
Yeah, but are they go- do theygo to Hudson Bay too?
(06:37):
Yeah, they do.
That's too much.
We switch gears to Hudson Bayand see James McDonald Hudson,
Vindicator, with Shaman andSnowbird.
Wolverine shows up, andinitially things are a bit
tense, but it's talked down.
We learn that a dangerous beastate a camper with the mom and
(07:00):
child still missing.
The boy who witnessed thingsescaped but is in shock.
Wolverine says he knows what itis, and he recants his earlier
altercation with the Hulk andthe Wendigo.
We get a recap on who and whatWendigo is, and Nightcrawler
scurries off to get things outof the car.
While he's unloading, he'sattacked by the Wendigo in the
(07:22):
issue's final panel.
Nice.
So last time I said that thingsfelt very much like that season
finale.
And I really do also think, andmaybe it's because I'm coming
into this with that biasalready, but it really does feel
like this issue and the nextissue feel like that kind of
(07:44):
kicking off a new season to me.
SPEAKER_00 (07:46):
I agree 100%.
I was thinking about thisactually before we hopped on.
And I think these two issueswere really smartly made.
You know, we get a natural jumpon point for new comic readers
after like this dozens issuelong story that really started
(08:07):
when Chris took over this uhthis story, this team, and has
now wrapped it up, right?
Like all of these loose endsthat were kind of mingling out
there have now mostly all beenkind of tied up at this point.
And, you know, we're jumping inwith the X-Men kind of reeling
from this a little bit, but likenot too much.
(08:27):
Like I didn't read this firstissue, 139, and walked away
feeling as if they were dwellingon anything, and that I needed
to have read what happened inDark Phoenix.
It was kind of like, okay,everyone, here's Angel, he's
back, he's part of the team, hesucks.
We got a new leader in Storm,and we have a new X-Men coming
(08:51):
in, which like I see serves abunch of different purposes,
right?
We kind of have a young femalecharacter that would be probably
attractive for Marvel to market,given that they probably had
like the male audience lockeddown, and here's an opportunity
to bring in another characterthat is a young, strong woman
(09:13):
who is kind of working throughher powers, and I can find and
think of a lot of things thatmight be relatable to somebody
who's going through those thingsthemselves.
So, like we have a really cooldynamic, and I think Kitty also
brings just a lot of youth andpop to the team that I think was
really missing up to this pointbecause a lot of these stories,
(09:34):
and while there have beenmoments of like jibbing and
jabbing between the teammates,there hasn't really been, I
think, the same optimism that ayounger character can bring to
the team.
That's what we have going onhere.
So I think this is a you know,like a really, really smart way
to kind of establish all ofthese new threads, give new new
(09:56):
people who are coming on toreading comics for the first
time or maybe wanted a freshstart with the X-Men because
they were just out of it for solong.
We have this story, and tiedinto all of this is essentially
what will become a two-partissue on Wolverine.
And he is arguably one of themost popular characters in
(10:18):
Marvel, and this was a reallyawesome story involving Logan, I
felt, anyways.
So I think they they werereally, really smart with how
they put these two together, andI and I really welcome the
change of pace.
SPEAKER_01 (10:33):
Yeah, it's great to get some new perspectives.
We're getting new leadership.
It seems, you know, maybe evengot Logan's respect.
So that's you know somethingthat it took Cyclops a long time
to sort of get.
It does feel like a pretty goodjumping on point.
I don't know why you would wantto jump in here.
(10:53):
I mean, there's definitely likesome better spots, but going
back to, you know, the 80s, itserves as a really good.
I miss some of the other stuff,but I can jump in here now.
SPEAKER_00 (11:06):
I I think also look at it as, you know, you just
kind of wrapped up this bigstory.
And I had kind of alluded tothis already, but I really think
this story that just finishedwith Dark Phoenix was really the
culmination of a lot of stuffthat has been happening over
dozens of issues.
(11:26):
Like it's like I don't I likeyes, while the Dark Phoenix is
like an arc in itself, it'sreally played out over dozens
and dozens of issues, ifespecially if we think back all
the way to the Proteus stuff,right?
And that was that feels likeforever ago.
So imagine that came out liketwo years ago or a year ago in
(11:48):
real life, and you had no ideaand none of the context, and you
can't just easily get thematerial.
I like that would be difficultto hop onto.
And this also gives like comicshops something to like sell it
as.
Like, here's a fresh start.
Like, Marvel loves that shit.
They do it today.
Like, think of Marvel now.
(12:09):
That entire thing was like justa refresh, and like here's a
bunch of number ones that we'regonna like sell.
And if they did this like in themodern day, this would be a
number one a hundred percent.
Feels accurate, or they wouldchange the um adjective.
The amazing X-Men.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
Yeah, the X-the excellent X-Men.
Is that one?
Has that ever happened?
Exceptional X-Men is there,astonishing X-Men, yeah, new
X-Men, all new X-Men, the X-Men,X-Men, X yeah, X-Men, no
adjective.
Yeah, that one's pretty good.
The current ongoing.
SPEAKER_00 (12:47):
I was surprised to see Angel.
I was not expecting Warren to beon the team.
Like it, I it like thinkingabout it like it's there, I
guess.
Like he's had a little fix ofthe life of action and what he's
been missing as a as an X-Menover the last couple of issues.
SPEAKER_01 (13:05):
But yeah, last time I gave that whole thing about
like, oh, it'll be the firsttime the X-Men don't have any
original member on the team, andthen the next issue, I just look
dumb now.
And it's like, all right, well,Angel's here.
Yeah, and he's not doing well.
SPEAKER_00 (13:21):
No, like we have this the rest of the team looks
great, though.
Uh, they look exceptional, andthey they look excellent,
astonishing, even.
There you go.
Yeah, they look great.
I really love this series ofpanels where um Warren bumps
into Kurt as he's bampingaround, and that causes him to
(13:42):
fall, and it looks like he'sgonna get stuck in this
machinery trap.
But then we have Logan come byreally quickly and pull off a
panel and he catchesNightcrawler enough for him to
kind of like bounce offsomewhere else.
It's a really interestingcontrast, and I think really
shows the you know thedevelopment of the team, but
(14:04):
also like when I look at Loganand Logan through these two
issues, you know, I I said thisalready, but like it is really a
low a Logan slash Wolverinestory that we're kind of getting
here with this kind of refresh.
And we're already starting offby saying, hey, Logan is not
(14:24):
like he's more pronounced as ahero, I think, in this issue,
especially.
SPEAKER_01 (14:29):
He feels, and I think so some of this will come
up in our talk for the nextissue, but he feels a lot more
mature and like more rounded andless kind of like I'm the angry
guy, I'm gonna pop my claws andsay something rude.
(14:49):
I feel like there's just a lotmore thought being put into his
dialogue.
And it feels really good to seethis evolution in the character.
Don't get me wrong, he's stillretaining a lot of that like
rudeness like, all right, let'slet's throw down.
Like, yeah, it's it's a reallygood evolution without doing
(15:13):
like a complete 180 on what thecharacter is.
SPEAKER_00 (15:16):
I agree with that assessment, like to the T.
This is you know, and I love tokind of see these things.
I in a lot of different kinds ofstorytelling, like even, you
know, this is making me think ofDungeons and Dragons, for
example.
And like, you know, if if you'venever played before, you choose
a rough alignment of yourcharacter that really kind of
(15:39):
sets the tone for how youinteract with the world and how
you interact with people andsituations.
It's kind of a morality thatkeeps you focused on what you're
doing.
And, you know, some people willbe very rigid in their thinking
of, you know, if I am chaoticneutral, for example, or you're
very selfish, that you can't getbeyond that and you just play
(16:02):
that character for forever.
But like I like to think of itthat your characters can change
and grow, just like we can,right?
So it makes a lot of sense thata character that might start
somewhere in the middle if theyhave a lot of good experiences
and things that touch them andchange them and uh really help
evolve the character intosomething different, and that
(16:22):
can be really enjoyable andendearing.
And I think seeing this kind ofunfolding here with Logan is I
think a really big jump for thecreative team.
And you could probably also lookat it too, that we're losing
Scott here, he is gone.
So, yes, we're getting Storm asthe new team leader, and I think
she's an excellent choice.
(16:44):
I'm really happy about this, andI'm excited to see her in that
kind of leadership role.
But we lose, I think, like theimportant male character that
like these stories tend torevolve around, and that's where
Logan really kind of fits in.
Because I think at this pointthey probably knew they had
something incredibly valuable inLogan, and this is an
(17:07):
opportunity for them to kind ofput Storm and Logan, who I have
to imagine are like the mostfavorite characters from this
team, at the forefront.
I would assume.
I would assume, especially nowthat Scott's gone.
Yeah.
But is Scott even, you know, upthere at this point in history?
That's a great question.
(17:28):
I think I have long seen a lotof people put Scott on lists,
you know.
Um because he is the ultimateX-Man.
SPEAKER_01 (17:38):
He is the X-Man.
SPEAKER_00 (17:40):
There's gonna be a lot of character development in
between now and then.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, anyways, I think this was uhit a fun new dynamic that we're
getting, uh, especially betweenStorm and and Logan.
And we also see Professor X evenacknowledge the value of
(18:02):
Wolverine, which we've neverseen before.
Like he acknowledges that he'syou know, he's not perfect.
SPEAKER_01 (18:12):
I think that's the start of next issue, where he
has the talk with Warren.
Yes, you're a great talk aboutthis now, but Warren is like uh
Xavier checks in with Warren andhe's like, and Warren's like,
oh, everything's great.
Uh except you know, Wolverine,he's kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_00 (18:30):
What is what are the words he uses?
He says, uh, you wanted to seeme, Professor.
Curiosity, Angel.
I was wondering about yourreaction to your fellow X-Men
now that you've had a chance towork and train beside them.
And then Angel says, quote, noproblems except for Wolverine.
He's crazy, you know, anddangerous.
(18:51):
Suppose he goes berserk in afight and kills someone with
those freaky claws of his.
And then we get this kind ofconversation between Xavier and
Angel, and we get, yeah, thisnice recognition from Charles.
And I think this is even somedevelopment for him, as we're
kind of getting chucked probablyback into a central role on the
(19:15):
X-Men, since he's been or moreinvolved, at least.
Yeah.
I meant central like a pr yeah,he's gonna have a presence, I
think, where he's been a bitabsent over I think the majority
of the last dozen issues or so.
It's not just gonna faff aroundin space.
And he says, I knew that when Iinvited him to join the X-Men
(19:38):
Warren, he has faults yet.
For all of that, he is a goodman.
His potential as a leader, as asuperhero, is extraordinary.
SPEAKER_01 (19:47):
I really liked that whole encounter because one,
they brought up the whole likeLogan has a ton of potential as
a leader and just in general asa superhero.
And then two, uh I think it'sprobably like one of the next
lines after that, but we kind ofstart getting into talking more
(20:09):
about like what is Xavier'sdream and his goals and how he
wants to see humanity andmutants living together in
harmony and peace.
Yeah.
And I feel like that's somethingthat I don't think has really
been brought up all that much.
SPEAKER_00 (20:26):
Yeah, I think it's been a bit of a we've had a bit
of a break here from I think thecurrent state of affairs of
human mutant relations, really.
Like it's been kind of abackburner topic.
And I think the absence ofCharles and that kind of
morality that he has around thattopic, it was really lacking.
And I'm okay with that.
(20:46):
Like, I think at the at thispoint they needed that, right?
Like when Chris took over thecreative for this, I think they
needed to start moving in adifferent direction because they
were already doing that story,and then it got canceled.
SPEAKER_01 (21:02):
It became more the story about a new young team
coming together, figuringthemselves out and how they
interact with their newteammates, getting better as a
team, going off on sillyadventures into volcanoes and
savage lands.
SPEAKER_00 (21:18):
Yeah, and it worked, and it was great.
But, you know, now again, likethis is a fresh start.
You know, we're we're againreally talking up Charles
Xavier's school for mutants, oryou know, for special kids or
gifted youngsters.
Thanks.
And and that has not really beena key element of the last they
(21:39):
finally have one youngster.
Like everything to this pointhas not been about the school.
SPEAKER_01 (21:45):
Tuition must be insane.
SPEAKER_00 (21:47):
Uh, to go to the school that no one attends.
She's keeping the whole schoolafloat.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I th I thought it was like veryum generous of him to call it a
school with like no students.
SPEAKER_01 (22:02):
Do you want to come to school?
We outsource our gym to a dancestudio.
SPEAKER_00 (22:09):
I really like that whole interaction.
It was very sweet, you know.
It was the dance studio?
Like the whole sequence ofAurora and Kitty kind of bonding
and going to the dance studio.
SPEAKER_01 (22:24):
I have a feeling we're gonna see a lot of the two
of them and their bond.
I feel like they really set usup for it the last time uh when
Kitty was first introduced, andshe was just very enamored by
Storm and having a good malttogether.
SPEAKER_00 (22:42):
It kind of fits to the theme that we're looking at
here with Storm as the teamleader.
She's really the only one thathas kind of a pre-existing
connection.
I don't want to even call it arelationship, but a connection
with Kitty.
So I'm I'm interested to kind ofsee where that that will go.
But I I really felt that thisissue, especially, showed the
(23:07):
value that Kitty kind of bringsto the dynamic of the team.
And it's really thatyouthfulness of kind of seeing
this all for the first time andexperiencing it all for the
first time, and she brings likea level of optimism and
ignorance that I think the teamhas now passed, right?
(23:27):
Like we're literally seeingearlier in this issue, like the
team that has been here togetherhas is like a well-oiled
machine, they know how to workwith their strengths, and then
you add in Warren, who is theyou know, the veteran X-Men
who's stumbling all over theplace as he tries to get back
into the game, and then you haveon the polar opposite end Kitty,
(23:50):
who's now trying to become anX-Man and navigating the perils
of being a teenager, and haslike super smart intellect, I
didn't which is not a thing Iknew about her.
Like, I figured she was as smartas any person.
She's a computer hacker.
I guess I always missed thatcharacteristic of her.
SPEAKER_01 (24:12):
It's not always brought up, like it just
randomly shows up every now andthen, kind of, but yeah, she's
deep in the uh the computers andprogramming languages and stuff
like that.
And a ninja.
Uh, I will say the name Spriteis terrible.
So is Ariel.
Like, what Yeah, what is thehell?
(24:34):
I'm so I I must be missingsomething.
Like, Ariel must mean something.
I don't know what it means, andI didn't feel interested enough
to look it up, but like, what?
SPEAKER_00 (24:47):
Like the only Okay, to to look at it through the
perspective that you just gave,like if it were to be anything,
the only meaning of Ariel I canthink of would be, you know, if
if you're flying a plane, right?
Like you're It's not spelledlike that.
SPEAKER_01 (25:03):
Yeah, it was spelled like Ariel from the Little
Mermaid.
That's the only thing I canthink of.
I know it's not the LittleMermaid, but that is like 99% of
my association in my head withthe word Ariel.
SPEAKER_00 (25:21):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:22):
I it's it it was a terrible like boomer name by
Charles.
How do you feel knowing that shedoes later adopt the codename
Ariel?
SPEAKER_00 (25:32):
I don't like I mean I would under I think uh if it's
written correctly, I think itcould work.
I think she goes through a lotof code names.
Depending on how it's beingused, like if it's being
acknowledged as like, hey, I'mgonna use this code name because
it was a terrible one thatCharles Xavier gave me
originally, then I think that'sfine.
Like an acknowledgement of it,you know?
(25:55):
It's such a bad name, no onewill think of it.
Thus, super sneaky.
They're both not great.
Yeah, it's Sprite's not greateither.
It doesn't really match herpowers either.
So I guess sprites can be kindof tricky.
SPEAKER_01 (26:09):
It's it's a difficult power set to come up
with a cool name for.
They could have just called herGhost.
Ghost is alright.
Ghost Spider is cooler.
Well.
We're not talking Gwen here.
SPEAKER_00 (26:24):
I'm just saying, like, cool name.
Is uh for a cool girl.
Do we know when she gets ashadow cat name?
SPEAKER_01 (26:32):
Like as Um Yeah, I read that spoiler when I was
looking up the aerial thing.
Do you wanna know?
Uh sure broadly.
Like, is it soonish or no?
I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00 (26:43):
Damn.
SPEAKER_01 (26:44):
She takes it on when she receives ninja training at
some point.
That feels like a broad enoughspoiler answer that that's not
that bad since I've already saidshe's like multiple times that
she's a ninja.
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
I mean, her skill set works perfectly for it, so
it really does.
SPEAKER_01 (27:07):
Yeah, for me, issue 139 was in a lot of ways, it
feels very like back to basics.
Yeah.
We got like, oh, they're justdoing some regular danger room
training, you know, back tobasics for Angel, especially
since he's got that all thatrust to shake off.
We're getting a little bit morealmost slice of life content,
(27:29):
like them going to the dancestudio, Wolverine and Kurt going
on a little Canadian vacationthat eventually turns into a
thing.
But I think it's a very goodtransition from where we were
kind of, you know, as a firststep away from that.
SPEAKER_00 (27:47):
I agree a hundred percent.
I also really liked theWolverine story that we're
getting here, where he's goingto the north to try and tie up
this loose end that kind ofexists from the pre Dark Phoenix
time, you know, where he needsto try and get out of this issue
(28:10):
with the Canadian government.
Um, and so he goes to see hisold pal, who's been occasionally
hunting him down.
It's uh I I really liked it.
I I thought that like learningabout Logan's past connections
with Alpha Flight in more detailwas great.
Seeing this, you know,reiteration of Logan's battle
(28:34):
between the Hulk and theWindigo, which I appreciated
that a lot as someone that's notgoing to go back and read that
issue of the Hulk.
SPEAKER_01 (28:42):
So getting that little recap was very helpful.
SPEAKER_00 (28:45):
Yeah, and I think it really kind of takes a lot of
the effort away, especially whenyou put yourself in the
perspective of somebody who'sreading this in the late 70s or
80s, and thinking again aboutthe difficulty of like coming on
board and here they are talkingabout oh yes.
I remember fighting the Windigoback in issue whatever, 72 of
(29:08):
The Incredible Hulk.
Good luck finding that.
No wiki available.
Enjoy.
Well, the only wiki is the comicbook guy.
Anyways, this is all to say.
Um, I really enjoyed all ofthis, and we can get more into
it because I think we kind ofget into the heavier stuff in
the next issue as it were goeswith Wendigo.
(29:31):
But I really liked the thismonster of the week kind of
returning, and I know that'slike something I've complained
about a lot when it's happened,but this felt different.
At least for me.
It felt more enjoyable.
I think there was more not maybenot more stake, because some of
these monsters of the week havebeen like, We're gonna destroy
(29:54):
the world or the timeline or theuniverse or whatever.
I'm going to make you run.
Through my murder world.
Yeah.
Welcome to my murder world.
But, you know, here we have notthat, and it just felt better
and enjoyable.
SPEAKER_01 (30:11):
On to issue 140.
Issue 140 starts with a sexyColossus ripping a tree stump
out of the ground so that he canreturn to his farming roots a
bit.
Warren is confused by Peter'sagricultural interests, but he
says something very poetic aboutnature and beauty and how it
relaxes him.
(30:31):
Warren leaves thinking thatthere is more to Peter than
meets the eye.
Professor Axe checks in onWarren to see how rejoining the
team is going.
He signals all good but mentionshe thinks Wolverine is crazy and
dangerous.
Professor Axe agrees, but saysWolverine is a good man with
extraordinary potential as aleader and superhero, and that
(30:54):
helping people like Logan ispart of his mission to see
humans and mutants livingpeacefully.
Back in Harlem, Kitty is reallyenjoying her dance class and new
teacher.
Storm seems a little wary ofthis Stevie Hunter, especially
when she refers to Kittypossessively with an Our Kitten.
(31:14):
We shift back to Canada and seethe Wendigo hunting poor
Nightcrawler, who attempts toclimb a tree, but the tree just
gets knocked down.
He is eventually caught and onlymanages to escape by attempting
a blind teleport.
Wolverine and Alpha Flight areeventually alerted to the danger
when Nightcrawler is hit byWendigo and thuds against the
(31:37):
cabin's exterior.
A fight ensues, but the Wendigois able to escape with Wolverine
and Stowbird in pursuit.
While trekking him, Wolverinenotes that the creature has
gotten smarter.
When they locate the creature,Snowbird flies back to get the
others, and Wolverine iseventually forced into a
one-on-one confrontation to stopthe Wendigo from eating the
(32:01):
missing mother and baby.
Wolverine knocks him down, andthe three begin to limp away,
but unfortunately, the Wendigosoon catches up.
Wolverine is taking a majorbeating, but the Calvary arrives
in time.
With Wolverine down for thecount, Snowbird decides to
transform into a giantWolverine, the animal, to take
(32:22):
on the Wendigo.
The Wendigo is seriously injuredand will be out for hours, but
Snowbird takes on the animalpersona of whatever she
transforms into, and everyone isafraid that they've lost her to
it or that maybe she'll attackthem.
Wolverine is able to connect andcalm her down, and she's able to
(32:42):
shift back into her humanoidform.
Shaman completes the ritual toturn the Wendigo back into the
man, George Baptiste, who isimmediately arrested by Alpha
Flight.
James says he'll take care ofthings for Wolverine, and
Nightcrawler says to Logan thatBaptiste will pay for his
actions, but shouldn't Loganalso have to pay for what he's
(33:05):
done in his life?
Logan says he's been a wartimesoldier and a secret agent for
the government, but he's neverkilled anyone who wasn't gunning
for him first.
He sees his life as a series ofself-defense actions.
Nightcrawler says, I understandLogan, what you say is
reasonable, logical,justifiable.
(33:27):
But does that make it right?
It's mentioned that Logandoesn't reply and there is
silence between the two men forquite a while.
James ends up meeting with thePrime Minister of Canada, but
before he can mention Wolverine,he learns that Alpha Flight is
being disbanded.
In the final page, we see FredDukes, the blob, escaping his
(33:48):
high security prison with atrick he learned from quote,
that lady lawyer, and that he'sjoining the new brotherhood of
evil mutants.
The banner at the bottom saysnext issue, days of future past.
Aw man.
Freddie Dukes, bartender of theGreen Lagoon.
(34:11):
Really?
In Cricoi?
Yeah.
Their tiki bar.
I can dig it.
It's another issue when we'vegot like a few different scenes
and a few differentperspectives.
Like it's mostly the Wolverinestory, but we take a little bit
of a break at the beginning, andwe do like, all right, here's
(34:31):
some Warren and Peter content,and then here's some Storm and
Kitty content.
And then at the end, we havethose two kind of let's close
off one thread and open anotherwith hey Alpha Flight, you're
getting disbanded.
Money, am I right?
And alright, Fred Dukes is onthe loose, and there's gonna be
(34:53):
a new brotherhood of evilmutants.
SPEAKER_00 (34:56):
It's funny for me as a Canadian seeing this
interaction between uh the PrimeMinister and Hudson.
He's just like, eh, sorry, man.
The house voted.
The house voted.
I don't know what you want todo.
What can you do about it, bruh?
But you can keep your securityclearance and you can just do
whatever you want.
(35:16):
As you were, as long as it's forfor the mother, the homeland,
the Canada.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (35:23):
Um, what did you think of the Windigo?
I think he's a good two-issuevillain.
I feel like he's not reallythere's not really like a focus
or like a development of him, orkind of like anything like that.
He's sort of just there to drivethe action forward a little bit.
Yeah, he's a plot device here.
Yeah.
(35:44):
I think he's fine for that.
I thought it was you know, theywent into like the history of,
you know, the curse was attachedto somebody, and then somebody
else took the curse for himself.
I lost the thr you know thethread a little bit in all of
that, but I appreciate that theytried.
Uh, I think there was probablyjust like something on TV at the
(36:08):
time and really hard for mybrain to concentrate, but he's
fine.
Uh my main thing with him wasnot it kind of dismisses of him,
but at the end of this, I wascurious.
Like, I wonder if the Wendigoserves as any inspiration for
Sabretooth.
(36:28):
Because they have sort of asimilar build and physicality,
they both regenerate, and youknow, it you know, we get to see
Wolverine really, you know, gosafely go toe-to-toe and like be
as like wild and brutal as heneeds to be, which is something
(36:50):
that he eventually gets in his,I guess we'll say longtime rival
Sabretooth, you know, that kindof a s a villain that he can
safely allow his wild side tocome out against.
I I don't know if there's anyactual like direct inspiration
for it, but I do see a lot ofparallels between the two
(37:12):
characters.
SPEAKER_00 (37:13):
You spelling it out the way you just did, I I do see
it.
I don't know that reading it, Ithought it.
I felt like I am looking at likeI like the design a like not a
lot, but I like it.
Like just there's somethingweird about the whole pure white
aesthetic with the with the redeyes.
(37:33):
And a weird tail.
Yeah, and the weird tail.
It gave me sexy mane of hair.
It gave me Hulk vibes, you know?
Like this this is like a Hulkmonster that Hulk thought.
And it was.
And and it was.
And it's not like uh likethere's nothing raw with that,
but like that's what it feelslike looking at it.
(37:54):
Especially like I'm looking atthis panel right now where
nightcrawler's kind of likedodging away in the woods, and
you you really kind of get agood look at his face, and he he
looks like if he was green,you'd be like, that is a hairy
hulk.
He does seem to be an angry boy,yeah.
Just a wee bit, but I liked it.
(38:15):
I liked the the whole kind ofcat and mouse game with
Nightcrawler, which is which wasa lot of fun, and even seeing
him banfing around the way hewas, it made me think of the
Nightcrawler that I know today,where he can really go ham.
So to see again, like thischaracter progression of, oh
yeah, hey, look how he's doingnew things is a lot of fun to
(38:39):
see here.
SPEAKER_01 (38:40):
We get to see him be a little bit risky with the
blind teleport.
Though I do think he does thatone straight up in the air, so I
don't know if it really countsas being that dangerous.
SPEAKER_00 (38:49):
I mean, when I saw him up in the air, I thought,
oh, he's in a bad spot,honestly.
But then he just like bampeddown.
SPEAKER_01 (38:56):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (38:57):
Just another real quick teleport.
But like I I guess like thereason I thought of it in that
way is because in the dangerroom they play they made it out
to seem like, oh no, he's he'sdone for.
He's been hit once.
And that's that was a littleweird.
SPEAKER_01 (39:12):
Like I felt like Nightcrawler could have just I
don't remember.
Maybe it said he was likestunned in some way, but or
maybe they had some sonicscramblers going to mess with
his teleportation powers andjust didn't spell it out.
But yeah, it felt like he couldhave fixed the situation
himself.
SPEAKER_00 (39:32):
Like I get that the purpose of it was just to show
the dynamic of the team and liketheir connection to each other
and that they can adapt.
And here's Logan again being aleader.
It's uh look out, look at hisdevelopment.
So I think it served itspurpose.
It was fine.
But one thing we haven't talkedabout yet is Wolverine's new
look.
(39:52):
I like it.
SPEAKER_01 (39:53):
I mean, I'd known of it already, but I feel like it
works for it.
Almost seems like they've kindof made him.
I I mean I touched on itearlier, but he's got like a
more maturity about him.
But it also seems they're tryingto really portray him as just
like, I don't know, for somereason it really stuck out to me
(40:16):
that like the multiple timeshe's smoking or drinking a beer
in these two issues.
SPEAKER_00 (40:23):
Like it's uh the embodiment of something manly.
SPEAKER_01 (40:28):
I guess.
Like if it feels like they'retrying to show more of that.
And you know, maybe it's justthese two issues and it isn't
gonna like pop up so much, butit was it was really funny to
just be like, all right,everyone's having lemonade,
Logan's cracking open uh a beer,and then he lit lights up a
cigarette.
SPEAKER_00 (40:47):
It's funny that that was your takeaway, because my
takeaway was why doesn't hedrink lemonade?
It's like he mixed the twotogether.
I was so curious.
I was like, what is it about thelemonade that you don't like?
Just too sweet, too sour, notbeing a lemonade.
SPEAKER_01 (41:05):
Badly made lemonade is not something you want to
drink.
Maybe he just doesn't want torisk it.
Just give me the can of beer,it's pre-made.
It's probably like 10 a.m.
SPEAKER_00 (41:17):
in the morning.
Who knows?
The the other thing that wedidn't touch on, but I believe
it was in the last issue, rightafter the fight in the danger
room, there is like a scene whenKitty walks in for the first
time, literally in the sequencewhere we're talking, where uh
(41:37):
Kurt's there with the lemonade,and there's this little pink box
in the middle of the page, andit says Cyclops' organic steel
armor becomes flesh, and whatthat's what it says.
It says Cyclops' organic steelarmor becomes flesh again.
Hold on.
I'm gonna I have to go back tothe past issue.
SPEAKER_01 (41:59):
It's such a glaring mistake.
Oh, wow.
That's like how did like thesethings happen, but like they do,
yeah.
That's such a weird one.
I appreciate that they did notfix it for the digital comic.
SPEAKER_00 (42:15):
It'd probably be way more money than it's worth at
this point.
And as you said, like thesethings happen.
Like I'm sure it's far from themost egregious error that's ever
been made in comics.
They did misspell Havoc's namein one of the first issues we
did.
SPEAKER_01 (42:33):
This seems much worse.
This is way worse than that,yeah.
It's like we just got rid ofCyclops.
I didn't I did not clock that atall.
Like, I just completely glossedover it.
I don't know.
It just it popped out to me likeat the sore thumb.
SPEAKER_00 (42:48):
Typical Peter disrespect.
Yeah.
Just par for the course, man.
Still waiting for that arc whenPeter's gonna be the shining
star.
SPEAKER_01 (43:00):
It's weird that the Wendigo all he does is shout his
name like a Pokemon.
Wendigo.
SPEAKER_00 (43:06):
But it's hyphenated, so it'd be more like when de go.
Wendigo?
More like where do you go?
How do you go?
Hey.
What ego.
If we had Banshee, that's thekind of joke we would be getting
right now.
SPEAKER_01 (43:22):
Yeah.
We're missing that good old SeanCassidy charm.
I like that they smartened himup, going back to you know, what
I thought about the character.
You know, I liked that instead,like, you know, Wolverine made
the comment that, you know, theold hand would have just like
barreled through the forest andleft like a giant trail of
(43:46):
destruction that was easy tofollow.
I like that it was more he'skind of like that almost like
primal part of nature living inthe woods.
Yeah.
A little bit more brain to him.
SPEAKER_00 (43:58):
It's uh you I think you nailed it perfectly earlier
when you said he's just morewell-rounded.
Like it felt like Logan was kindof typecast in the first book.
Or like in the first one.
Well, I was saying the when togo.
Oh, the when to go.
SPEAKER_01 (44:11):
I think the only other time I've heard of like a
when to go or a when to go orwhatever we want to call it, is
from Supernatural.
Like probably season one, I'massuming.
SPEAKER_00 (44:24):
I think you are correct.
And I am imagining the episodewhere I think they I think it's
like the second or thirdepisode, honestly.
A lot of Canada in that show.
I think it was almostexclusively filmed in BC.
Pretty sure.
It's got that spooky vibe, I'veheard anyway.
I haven't been too.
SPEAKER_01 (44:44):
I assume it looks exactly like Supernatural when
you go there.
Like it's got like that filterover it.
SPEAKER_00 (44:51):
There's just a bunch of haunted shit in the woods.
Yeah.
I mean, uh that I wouldn't wantto be out there, especially in
those woods.
Those are way more dangerousthan the woods around my part of
Canada.
They got they got grizzly bearsout there.
We just got black bears.
They're not as scary.
I wouldn't mess with one, but uhyou know, they're they're cute.
SPEAKER_01 (45:14):
I think one other call out that I had, and I
missed some of this fell out.
It didn't make it to my notes,but it seems like they're
starting to so we've alreadylike touched on them developing
and taking Logan into kind of anew direction.
Yeah.
I think they're doing the samewith starting to work in some of
(45:38):
Nightcrawler's religious aspectsover these last two issues.
Like, there's definitely thatthere, but for the grace of God
goes you quote at the very end,but I swear there was like one
more thing in either the firstissue or this one where he
mentions something.
(45:58):
I don't know what it was.
SPEAKER_00 (46:00):
When you were going over the recap, I was thinking
about the that interaction atthe very end between
Nightcrawler and Logan and themorality of killing.
Um, and and I immediatelythought of Kurt's religion
beliefs.
Mm-hmm.
And and that's a huge part ofhis character.
It's like uh Matt Murdoch,right?
(46:22):
Like it's the same moral code.
That's a team up they should do.
God's Boys.
SPEAKER_01 (46:27):
Yeah.
Ooh, they could call it God'sBoys.
What a good name.
SPEAKER_00 (46:35):
Daredevils.
I mean, wasn't NightcrawlerSpider-Man for a little bit?
He was.
I don't know the context aroundany of that.
It sounded weird to say.
I just remembered reading thatthat wasn't a thing.
SPEAKER_01 (46:48):
Well, there was multiple Spider-Men.
Um, he just needed like a break.
He had a rough go of things.
He died so many times, and in away that he had to remember all
those deaths.
Ugh.
So he had to do but he saved theday.
But he had to do a big vacationand just get away from it all.
(47:11):
And people love Spider-Man, soyou might as well be Spider-Man.
I mean, why not just go on areal vacation?
And then he worked out some shitwith his brain-damaged mom.
Happy ending.
Alright.
And that was the end of it?
It was just like a short series,right?
I don't remember which seriesthat happened in, but yeah, it
(47:32):
wasn't super long.
I think it's literally Is it itsown?
Yeah, it was its own book.
I read all those in a way that Ican't recommend to anyone else
because my brain can't keeptrack of what happened, like the
different books, because Ididn't read any of them in
order.
Or I read them all inchronological order.
(47:53):
Yeah, that's fair.
SPEAKER_00 (47:54):
It's called Uncanny Spider-Man.
There we go.
Gotta get that uncanny in there.
I just saw this Reddit like as Iwas like scrolling through the
Google search.
This uh Reddit thread thatpopped up, and it's just there's
a comment of his entire powerset makes it incompatible to
(48:15):
pretend to be Spider-Man.
It's not like Iron Fistpretending to be Daredevil.
He sticks to walls.
Yeah.
He doesn't have to use histeleport powers.
I mean, what's the differencebetween his teleport powers and
literally shooting out a web?
It's essentially like the samegeneral concept.
SPEAKER_01 (48:35):
People want to see Spider-Man swinging on a web.
That's what the people of NewYork love.
They love good deli meat and aswinging Spider-Man and yelling,
bagels, pizza, other stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (48:52):
Overall, I really like these two bucks.
I think I would give it I'd giveit like an eight out of ten.
It's pretty high.
I was gonna say seven.
Like I'm trying not to compareit to like I'm trying to compare
it as a fresh start, as opposedto dwelling on where things are
leaving off with Dark Phoenix,because I think that would be a
very unfair comparison.
(49:13):
So looking at it as a freshstart and this new team with a
lot of character development,like a fun overall Wolverine
story, and like these newdynamics that are playing it
with the team.
Yeah, I think it's worthy of aneight.
It was a lot of fun.
It kind of sets a bit of a newstatus quo, and we get the tease
(49:35):
for Days of Futures Pass.
So we'll see what happens withthat.
SPEAKER_01 (49:39):
For me, uh, I wrote down seven out of ten, kind of a
good, not great sort of score.
You know, I would call thisthese two good issues.
I really enjoyed the buddy sidestory, Wolverine and
Nightcrawler as the main focus.
Felt like we got to see a moremature version of Logan.
I like that he's fine withAuroro being the leader.
(50:00):
He's still very much himselfwith his dialogue, but you know,
he seems like he's in like areally good, amicable teammate,
teamwork sort of place thatseems to be working out for him.
I mean, yeah, I feel like it wasin many ways just like a great
opener for, you know, we're kindof talking about this like it is
(50:21):
a new season of TV, but yeah,thumbs up.
I enjoyed it a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (50:26):
Yeah, it's it's season two, right?
Like that's what it feels like.
This feels like season two.
And and that's not a bad thing.
I think it was really needed toit would it would be hard, and I
don't know what direction theywould really go in after Dark
Phoenix, you know?
Like it it tied up so muchstuff.
So I think if there was ever atime for a fresh start, it's
(50:49):
right now.
And so I'm curious to see wherethings go.
I hope it keeps this momentum.
I know the story of Days ofFutures Past, like through not
reading it, but reading or maybeI have read it absorbing it
generally.
If I have, it's been a longtime.
So I'll I'll be really kind ofcurious to read it cover to
(51:10):
cover and then see how it holdsup to the film, which as we
talked about earlier, I doremember very fondly.
SPEAKER_01 (51:17):
I'm assuming they'll be somewhat different, but both
enjoyable, and you know,hopefully there's kind of like a
good enough direct connectionbetween the two.
Before we uh get out of here,Fred Dukes.
The blob.
That quote unquote lady lawyer,that's definitely like gonna be
mystique, right?
SPEAKER_00 (51:38):
Maybe.
You know what?
I didn't really think about it.
I I would love for it to be EmmaFrost, but I think she's been
kind of sidelined for the timebeing.
SPEAKER_01 (51:47):
My intuition is really telling me that this is
like a mystique thing, thatshe's putting together the new
brotherhood of evil mutants.
SPEAKER_00 (51:55):
Because I don't think it's gonna be I mean,
maybe Magneto involved, but notonly Magneto.
I think Magneto coming backwould make a lot of sense if
we're having this sort of newstatus quo for the team, and if
we have an opportunity to bringMagneto back into the fold on a
semi-regular basis, I think thatwould make sense, but I wouldn't
(52:18):
be upset if it was not his.
SPEAKER_01 (52:21):
An interesting thing to see where they go with.
You know, we got this thing, wegot the dance studio person.
I have a theory about that too,but I'm worried that some of
like the knowledge I've absorbedis coloring my opinion of what
might be happening there.
(52:41):
That does it for this episode ofUncanny Book Club.
Thanks for listening, and wehope to see you next episode
where we'll discuss issues 141and 142.
Bye.
Thanks for tuning in to thisepisode of Uncanny Book Club.
If you enjoyed this podcast,don't forget to subscribe, leave
a review, or share with afriend.
Hello and welcome to Uncanny Book Club.
I'm Michael Peter, and joiningme today is my co-host Adam
Warren.
Hey, I still haven't watched themovie.
Well, I've got an update thereas well.
I have now watched Days ofFuture Past the movie in
preparation.
Was that your first time, orhave you seen it before?
(00:31):
I'm assuming you've seen itbefore.
I've seen it before.
I know I've I watched it intheaters.
I don't know if I ever saw itagain after that, but I wanted
to return to it becauseobviously that movie at this
point came out a really longtime ago, or at least what feels
like a really long time ago.
And I was like, uh, I don'tknow, is it gonna hold up?
(00:51):
I'm not really sure.
But it was good, pretty goodmovie.
SPEAKER_00 (00:55):
I remember it being good, and I remember enjoying it
a lot.
Um so you know what?
I think I will watch Days ofFutures Past because it really
does stand alone, anyways.
And I don't have to feelobligated to watch any of the
other ones, so I can just watchthat one.
SPEAKER_01 (01:13):
It might be the best of the newer X-Men movies, you
know, not the original trilogy.
I feel like it definitely is.
I'll go ahead and make thestatement without, you know,
revisiting the others.
SPEAKER_00 (01:26):
Are we strictly talking X-Men or are we also
including like X-Men adjacent?
SPEAKER_01 (01:31):
Are you asking about like a Deadpool situation?
SPEAKER_00 (01:34):
Uh not not not so much a Deadpool situation,
because I think that's like inits own bucket at this point.
I'm thinking more like theWolverine movie, Logan.
SPEAKER_01 (01:46):
I'm gonna put Logan into a different bucket too,
which also I don't think I'veseen since I watched it in
theaters.
So that one's been a while aswell.
But um, I would say yes,including all the other
Wolverine movies, not Loganthough.
I feel like Logan is a prettygood movie.
SPEAKER_00 (02:06):
I have a bit of a hot take.
Between the Wolverine and Logan,I definitely like the Wolverine
way more.
Which one was the Wolverine?
That is the one where he goes toJapan and the entire movie takes
there with Silver Samurai.
SPEAKER_01 (02:20):
Yeah, I remember very little of that movie.
I'm pretty sure I watched italone in college, probably in my
room, maybe with like a bunch ofPizza Hut wings.
That's a free shout out to you,Pizza Hut.
If you want to sponsor thepodcast, get in touch.
We're willing to hear you out.
SPEAKER_00 (02:42):
Yeah, we have Pizza Hut in Canada.
It could work.
How are their wings?
I don't know.
I've never had them, but therecould be an opportunity for that
to happen.
Just say the word.
Say the word, Pizza Hut.
We'll hawk that shit all day.
It can be the best pizzaavailable for the right price.
Yeah.
I will say I am making this kindof a a pairing of movies here
(03:08):
based solely upon like mewatching them, whatever, when
they came out.
It has been a long time, and Idon't think I've watched Logan
since.
I think I may have watchedWolverine at least two or three
times.
So that's a lot of watchingWolverine.
I mean, I liked it, man.
What can I say?
I like the whole aesthetic.
(03:28):
I like the samurai stuff.
I'm a sucker for like high-endfilms that are taking place in
Japan.
And if if Wolverine is amongthem, then so be it.
I'll put it on the bullet train.
I'll put it on the phone.
SPEAKER_01 (03:42):
And unless The Last Samurai.
The last Samurai, yeah.
There you go.
All right.
Next X-Men movie should takeplace in Japan.
Partially, at least.
Yeah, partially.
I'd watch it.
SPEAKER_00 (03:53):
We can get Sunfire introduced.
That'd be awesome.
There we go.
Speaking of third-party Marvelrelated things, have you seen
the trailer for the Wolverinegame?
I did.
SPEAKER_01 (04:06):
Yeah, I did watch that.
And what what are your thoughts?
It looks like it's gonna bepretty intense.
SPEAKER_00 (04:12):
Yeah, I think I described it as brutal.
Like it was That feels right.
Yeah.
Like it had a brutality to itthat I think I would I would
associate it with Mortal Kombat,for example.
You know, they really have theidea and concept of brutality
very well established and welldone for the most part.
SPEAKER_01 (04:33):
Specifically the part of the trailer where he
like rips somebody in half thelong way.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (04:39):
There's a lot of a lot of things that I don't know
I would have ever imaginedseeing involving Wolverine in a
video game occurring in thattrailer.
And and it was awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (04:51):
Yeah, I've got high hopes for it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:53):
I think that's one that I would probably look into
picking up.
Well, I guess on to issue 139brought to you by Pizza Hut.
Issue 139 kicks things off witha good old session in the danger
room with Storm, Wolverine,Nightcrawler, Colossus, and
Angel.
It seems Kitty is not the onlynew addition to our team.
(05:15):
Warren is extremely rusty andmakes a few blunders, but the
rest of the X-Men are there topick things up.
After their sush, Wolverineenjoys the smoke and says he's
beginning to think that Charliemade the right decision naming
Storm as leader.
Xavier suggests the name Arielfor Kitty, and she's not really
into it.
(05:36):
Storm says, you know, maybeSprite would be good, and she's
into it as long as they stayaway from any soda-related
jokes.
Wolverine mentions to Xavierthat he would like to return to
Canada now that things are a bitquieter and solidify his earlier
resignation and avoid any futurebeef with the Canadian
government.
(05:56):
It's decided that Nightcrawlerwill accompany him.
Meanwhile, Storm takes Kitty toa dance studio in Harlem to
learn from Stevie Hunter.
Nightcrawler and Wolverinearrive at the home of the
Hudson's, but Heather informsthem that James is on mission.
This is also when Kurt learnsWolverine's name is Logan.
(06:16):
Apparently he did not know thisyet.
Heather informs Logan that AlphaFlight is in Hudson Bay dealing
with a serious threat.
We switch gears to Hudson Bay,then and see James McDonald
Hudson.
That can't be right.
Did I f this up?
No, that's his name.
Yeah, but are they go- do theygo to Hudson Bay too?
(06:37):
Yeah, they do.
That's too much.
We switch gears to Hudson Bayand see James McDonald Hudson,
Vindicator, with Shaman andSnowbird.
Wolverine shows up, andinitially things are a bit
tense, but it's talked down.
We learn that a dangerous beastate a camper with the mom and
(07:00):
child still missing.
The boy who witnessed thingsescaped but is in shock.
Wolverine says he knows what itis, and he recants his earlier
altercation with the Hulk andthe Wendigo.
We get a recap on who and whatWendigo is, and Nightcrawler
scurries off to get things outof the car.
While he's unloading, he'sattacked by the Wendigo in the
(07:22):
issue's final panel.
Nice.
So last time I said that thingsfelt very much like that season
finale.
And I really do also think, andmaybe it's because I'm coming
into this with that biasalready, but it really does feel
like this issue and the nextissue feel like that kind of
(07:44):
kicking off a new season to me.
SPEAKER_00 (07:46):
I agree 100%.
I was thinking about thisactually before we hopped on.
And I think these two issueswere really smartly made.
You know, we get a natural jumpon point for new comic readers
after like this dozens issuelong story that really started
(08:07):
when Chris took over this uhthis story, this team, and has
now wrapped it up, right?
Like all of these loose endsthat were kind of mingling out
there have now mostly all beenkind of tied up at this point.
And, you know, we're jumping inwith the X-Men kind of reeling
from this a little bit, but likenot too much.
(08:27):
Like I didn't read this firstissue, 139, and walked away
feeling as if they were dwellingon anything, and that I needed
to have read what happened inDark Phoenix.
It was kind of like, okay,everyone, here's Angel, he's
back, he's part of the team, hesucks.
We got a new leader in Storm,and we have a new X-Men coming
(08:51):
in, which like I see serves abunch of different purposes,
right?
We kind of have a young femalecharacter that would be probably
attractive for Marvel to market,given that they probably had
like the male audience lockeddown, and here's an opportunity
to bring in another characterthat is a young, strong woman
(09:13):
who is kind of working throughher powers, and I can find and
think of a lot of things thatmight be relatable to somebody
who's going through those thingsthemselves.
So, like we have a really cooldynamic, and I think Kitty also
brings just a lot of youth andpop to the team that I think was
really missing up to this pointbecause a lot of these stories,
(09:34):
and while there have beenmoments of like jibbing and
jabbing between the teammates,there hasn't really been, I
think, the same optimism that ayounger character can bring to
the team.
That's what we have going onhere.
So I think this is a you know,like a really, really smart way
to kind of establish all ofthese new threads, give new new
(09:56):
people who are coming on toreading comics for the first
time or maybe wanted a freshstart with the X-Men because
they were just out of it for solong.
We have this story, and tiedinto all of this is essentially
what will become a two-partissue on Wolverine.
And he is arguably one of themost popular characters in
(10:18):
Marvel, and this was a reallyawesome story involving Logan, I
felt, anyways.
So I think they they werereally, really smart with how
they put these two together, andI and I really welcome the
change of pace.
SPEAKER_01 (10:33):
Yeah, it's great to get some new perspectives.
We're getting new leadership.
It seems, you know, maybe evengot Logan's respect.
So that's you know somethingthat it took Cyclops a long time
to sort of get.
It does feel like a pretty goodjumping on point.
I don't know why you would wantto jump in here.
(10:53):
I mean, there's definitely likesome better spots, but going
back to, you know, the 80s, itserves as a really good.
I miss some of the other stuff,but I can jump in here now.
SPEAKER_00 (11:06):
I I think also look at it as, you know, you just
kind of wrapped up this bigstory.
And I had kind of alluded tothis already, but I really think
this story that just finishedwith Dark Phoenix was really the
culmination of a lot of stuffthat has been happening over
dozens of issues.
(11:26):
Like it's like I don't I likeyes, while the Dark Phoenix is
like an arc in itself, it'sreally played out over dozens
and dozens of issues, ifespecially if we think back all
the way to the Proteus stuff,right?
And that was that feels likeforever ago.
So imagine that came out liketwo years ago or a year ago in
(11:48):
real life, and you had no ideaand none of the context, and you
can't just easily get thematerial.
I like that would be difficultto hop onto.
And this also gives like comicshops something to like sell it
as.
Like, here's a fresh start.
Like, Marvel loves that shit.
They do it today.
Like, think of Marvel now.
(12:09):
That entire thing was like justa refresh, and like here's a
bunch of number ones that we'regonna like sell.
And if they did this like in themodern day, this would be a
number one a hundred percent.
Feels accurate, or they wouldchange the um adjective.
The amazing X-Men.
SPEAKER_01 (12:28):
Yeah, the X-the excellent X-Men.
Is that one?
Has that ever happened?
Exceptional X-Men is there,astonishing X-Men, yeah, new
X-Men, all new X-Men, the X-Men,X-Men, X yeah, X-Men, no
adjective.
Yeah, that one's pretty good.
The current ongoing.
SPEAKER_00 (12:47):
I was surprised to see Angel.
I was not expecting Warren to beon the team.
Like it, I it like thinkingabout it like it's there, I
guess.
Like he's had a little fix ofthe life of action and what he's
been missing as a as an X-Menover the last couple of issues.
SPEAKER_01 (13:05):
But yeah, last time I gave that whole thing about
like, oh, it'll be the firsttime the X-Men don't have any
original member on the team, andthen the next issue, I just look
dumb now.
And it's like, all right, well,Angel's here.
Yeah, and he's not doing well.
SPEAKER_00 (13:21):
No, like we have this the rest of the team looks
great, though.
Uh, they look exceptional, andthey they look excellent,
astonishing, even.
There you go.
Yeah, they look great.
I really love this series ofpanels where um Warren bumps
into Kurt as he's bampingaround, and that causes him to
(13:42):
fall, and it looks like he'sgonna get stuck in this
machinery trap.
But then we have Logan come byreally quickly and pull off a
panel and he catchesNightcrawler enough for him to
kind of like bounce offsomewhere else.
It's a really interestingcontrast, and I think really
shows the you know thedevelopment of the team, but
(14:04):
also like when I look at Loganand Logan through these two
issues, you know, I I said thisalready, but like it is really a
low a Logan slash Wolverinestory that we're kind of getting
here with this kind of refresh.
And we're already starting offby saying, hey, Logan is not
(14:24):
like he's more pronounced as ahero, I think, in this issue,
especially.
SPEAKER_01 (14:29):
He feels, and I think so some of this will come
up in our talk for the nextissue, but he feels a lot more
mature and like more rounded andless kind of like I'm the angry
guy, I'm gonna pop my claws andsay something rude.
(14:49):
I feel like there's just a lotmore thought being put into his
dialogue.
And it feels really good to seethis evolution in the character.
Don't get me wrong, he's stillretaining a lot of that like
rudeness like, all right, let'slet's throw down.
Like, yeah, it's it's a reallygood evolution without doing
(15:13):
like a complete 180 on what thecharacter is.
SPEAKER_00 (15:16):
I agree with that assessment, like to the T.
This is you know, and I love tokind of see these things.
I in a lot of different kinds ofstorytelling, like even, you
know, this is making me think ofDungeons and Dragons, for
example.
And like, you know, if if you'venever played before, you choose
a rough alignment of yourcharacter that really kind of
(15:39):
sets the tone for how youinteract with the world and how
you interact with people andsituations.
It's kind of a morality thatkeeps you focused on what you're
doing.
And, you know, some people willbe very rigid in their thinking
of, you know, if I am chaoticneutral, for example, or you're
very selfish, that you can't getbeyond that and you just play
(16:02):
that character for forever.
But like I like to think of itthat your characters can change
and grow, just like we can,right?
So it makes a lot of sense thata character that might start
somewhere in the middle if theyhave a lot of good experiences
and things that touch them andchange them and uh really help
evolve the character intosomething different, and that
(16:22):
can be really enjoyable andendearing.
And I think seeing this kind ofunfolding here with Logan is I
think a really big jump for thecreative team.
And you could probably also lookat it too, that we're losing
Scott here, he is gone.
So, yes, we're getting Storm asthe new team leader, and I think
she's an excellent choice.
(16:44):
I'm really happy about this, andI'm excited to see her in that
kind of leadership role.
But we lose, I think, like theimportant male character that
like these stories tend torevolve around, and that's where
Logan really kind of fits in.
Because I think at this pointthey probably knew they had
something incredibly valuable inLogan, and this is an
(17:07):
opportunity for them to kind ofput Storm and Logan, who I have
to imagine are like the mostfavorite characters from this
team, at the forefront.
I would assume.
I would assume, especially nowthat Scott's gone.
Yeah.
But is Scott even, you know, upthere at this point in history?
That's a great question.
(17:28):
I think I have long seen a lotof people put Scott on lists,
you know.
Um because he is the ultimateX-Man.
SPEAKER_01 (17:38):
He is the X-Man.
SPEAKER_00 (17:40):
There's gonna be a lot of character development in
between now and then.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, anyways, I think this was uhit a fun new dynamic that we're
getting, uh, especially betweenStorm and and Logan.
And we also see Professor X evenacknowledge the value of
(18:02):
Wolverine, which we've neverseen before.
Like he acknowledges that he'syou know, he's not perfect.
SPEAKER_01 (18:12):
I think that's the start of next issue, where he
has the talk with Warren.
Yes, you're a great talk aboutthis now, but Warren is like uh
Xavier checks in with Warren andhe's like, and Warren's like,
oh, everything's great.
Uh except you know, Wolverine,he's kind of crazy.
SPEAKER_00 (18:30):
What is what are the words he uses?
He says, uh, you wanted to seeme, Professor.
Curiosity, Angel.
I was wondering about yourreaction to your fellow X-Men
now that you've had a chance towork and train beside them.
And then Angel says, quote, noproblems except for Wolverine.
He's crazy, you know, anddangerous.
(18:51):
Suppose he goes berserk in afight and kills someone with
those freaky claws of his.
And then we get this kind ofconversation between Xavier and
Angel, and we get, yeah, thisnice recognition from Charles.
And I think this is even somedevelopment for him, as we're
kind of getting chucked probablyback into a central role on the
(19:15):
X-Men, since he's been or moreinvolved, at least.
Yeah.
I meant central like a pr yeah,he's gonna have a presence, I
think, where he's been a bitabsent over I think the majority
of the last dozen issues or so.
It's not just gonna faff aroundin space.
And he says, I knew that when Iinvited him to join the X-Men
(19:38):
Warren, he has faults yet.
For all of that, he is a goodman.
His potential as a leader, as asuperhero, is extraordinary.
SPEAKER_01 (19:47):
I really liked that whole encounter because one,
they brought up the whole likeLogan has a ton of potential as
a leader and just in general asa superhero.
And then two, uh I think it'sprobably like one of the next
lines after that, but we kind ofstart getting into talking more
(20:09):
about like what is Xavier'sdream and his goals and how he
wants to see humanity andmutants living together in
harmony and peace.
Yeah.
And I feel like that's somethingthat I don't think has really
been brought up all that much.
SPEAKER_00 (20:26):
Yeah, I think it's been a bit of a we've had a bit
of a break here from I think thecurrent state of affairs of
human mutant relations, really.
Like it's been kind of abackburner topic.
And I think the absence ofCharles and that kind of
morality that he has around thattopic, it was really lacking.
And I'm okay with that.
(20:46):
Like, I think at the at thispoint they needed that, right?
Like when Chris took over thecreative for this, I think they
needed to start moving in adifferent direction because they
were already doing that story,and then it got canceled.
SPEAKER_01 (21:02):
It became more the story about a new young team
coming together, figuringthemselves out and how they
interact with their newteammates, getting better as a
team, going off on sillyadventures into volcanoes and
savage lands.
SPEAKER_00 (21:18):
Yeah, and it worked, and it was great.
But, you know, now again, likethis is a fresh start.
You know, we're we're againreally talking up Charles
Xavier's school for mutants, oryou know, for special kids or
gifted youngsters.
Thanks.
And and that has not really beena key element of the last they
(21:39):
finally have one youngster.
Like everything to this pointhas not been about the school.
SPEAKER_01 (21:45):
Tuition must be insane.
SPEAKER_00 (21:47):
Uh, to go to the school that no one attends.
She's keeping the whole schoolafloat.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I th I thought it was like veryum generous of him to call it a
school with like no students.
SPEAKER_01 (22:02):
Do you want to come to school?
We outsource our gym to a dancestudio.
SPEAKER_00 (22:09):
I really like that whole interaction.
It was very sweet, you know.
It was the dance studio?
Like the whole sequence ofAurora and Kitty kind of bonding
and going to the dance studio.
SPEAKER_01 (22:24):
I have a feeling we're gonna see a lot of the two
of them and their bond.
I feel like they really set usup for it the last time uh when
Kitty was first introduced, andshe was just very enamored by
Storm and having a good malttogether.
SPEAKER_00 (22:42):
It kind of fits to the theme that we're looking at
here with Storm as the teamleader.
She's really the only one thathas kind of a pre-existing
connection.
I don't want to even call it arelationship, but a connection
with Kitty.
So I'm I'm interested to kind ofsee where that that will go.
But I I really felt that thisissue, especially, showed the
(23:07):
value that Kitty kind of bringsto the dynamic of the team.
And it's really thatyouthfulness of kind of seeing
this all for the first time andexperiencing it all for the
first time, and she brings likea level of optimism and
ignorance that I think the teamhas now passed, right?
(23:27):
Like we're literally seeingearlier in this issue, like the
team that has been here togetherhas is like a well-oiled
machine, they know how to workwith their strengths, and then
you add in Warren, who is theyou know, the veteran X-Men
who's stumbling all over theplace as he tries to get back
into the game, and then you haveon the polar opposite end Kitty,
(23:50):
who's now trying to become anX-Man and navigating the perils
of being a teenager, and haslike super smart intellect, I
didn't which is not a thing Iknew about her.
Like, I figured she was as smartas any person.
She's a computer hacker.
I guess I always missed thatcharacteristic of her.
SPEAKER_01 (24:12):
It's not always brought up, like it just
randomly shows up every now andthen, kind of, but yeah, she's
deep in the uh the computers andprogramming languages and stuff
like that.
And a ninja.
Uh, I will say the name Spriteis terrible.
So is Ariel.
Like, what Yeah, what is thehell?
(24:34):
I'm so I I must be missingsomething.
Like, Ariel must mean something.
I don't know what it means, andI didn't feel interested enough
to look it up, but like, what?
SPEAKER_00 (24:47):
Like the only Okay, to to look at it through the
perspective that you just gave,like if it were to be anything,
the only meaning of Ariel I canthink of would be, you know, if
if you're flying a plane, right?
Like you're It's not spelledlike that.
SPEAKER_01 (25:03):
Yeah, it was spelled like Ariel from the Little
Mermaid.
That's the only thing I canthink of.
I know it's not the LittleMermaid, but that is like 99% of
my association in my head withthe word Ariel.
SPEAKER_00 (25:21):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (25:22):
I it's it it was a terrible like boomer name by
Charles.
How do you feel knowing that shedoes later adopt the codename
Ariel?
SPEAKER_00 (25:32):
I don't like I mean I would under I think uh if it's
written correctly, I think itcould work.
I think she goes through a lotof code names.
Depending on how it's beingused, like if it's being
acknowledged as like, hey, I'mgonna use this code name because
it was a terrible one thatCharles Xavier gave me
originally, then I think that'sfine.
Like an acknowledgement of it,you know?
(25:55):
It's such a bad name, no onewill think of it.
Thus, super sneaky.
They're both not great.
Yeah, it's Sprite's not greateither.
It doesn't really match herpowers either.
So I guess sprites can be kindof tricky.
SPEAKER_01 (26:09):
It's it's a difficult power set to come up
with a cool name for.
They could have just called herGhost.
Ghost is alright.
Ghost Spider is cooler.
Well.
We're not talking Gwen here.
SPEAKER_00 (26:24):
I'm just saying, like, cool name.
Is uh for a cool girl.
Do we know when she gets ashadow cat name?
SPEAKER_01 (26:32):
Like as Um Yeah, I read that spoiler when I was
looking up the aerial thing.
Do you wanna know?
Uh sure broadly.
Like, is it soonish or no?
I don't think so.
SPEAKER_00 (26:43):
Damn.
SPEAKER_01 (26:44):
She takes it on when she receives ninja training at
some point.
That feels like a broad enoughspoiler answer that that's not
that bad since I've already saidshe's like multiple times that
she's a ninja.
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
I mean, her skill set works perfectly for it, so
it really does.
SPEAKER_01 (27:07):
Yeah, for me, issue 139 was in a lot of ways, it
feels very like back to basics.
Yeah.
We got like, oh, they're justdoing some regular danger room
training, you know, back tobasics for Angel, especially
since he's got that all thatrust to shake off.
We're getting a little bit morealmost slice of life content,
(27:29):
like them going to the dancestudio, Wolverine and Kurt going
on a little Canadian vacationthat eventually turns into a
thing.
But I think it's a very goodtransition from where we were
kind of, you know, as a firststep away from that.
SPEAKER_00 (27:47):
I agree a hundred percent.
I also really liked theWolverine story that we're
getting here, where he's goingto the north to try and tie up
this loose end that kind ofexists from the pre Dark Phoenix
time, you know, where he needsto try and get out of this issue
(28:10):
with the Canadian government.
Um, and so he goes to see hisold pal, who's been occasionally
hunting him down.
It's uh I I really liked it.
I I thought that like learningabout Logan's past connections
with Alpha Flight in more detailwas great.
Seeing this, you know,reiteration of Logan's battle
(28:34):
between the Hulk and theWindigo, which I appreciated
that a lot as someone that's notgoing to go back and read that
issue of the Hulk.
SPEAKER_01 (28:42):
So getting that little recap was very helpful.
SPEAKER_00 (28:45):
Yeah, and I think it really kind of takes a lot of
the effort away, especially whenyou put yourself in the
perspective of somebody who'sreading this in the late 70s or
80s, and thinking again aboutthe difficulty of like coming on
board and here they are talkingabout oh yes.
I remember fighting the Windigoback in issue whatever, 72 of
(29:08):
The Incredible Hulk.
Good luck finding that.
No wiki available.
Enjoy.
Well, the only wiki is the comicbook guy.
Anyways, this is all to say.
Um, I really enjoyed all ofthis, and we can get more into
it because I think we kind ofget into the heavier stuff in
the next issue as it were goeswith Wendigo.
(29:31):
But I really liked the thismonster of the week kind of
returning, and I know that'slike something I've complained
about a lot when it's happened,but this felt different.
At least for me.
It felt more enjoyable.
I think there was more not maybenot more stake, because some of
these monsters of the week havebeen like, We're gonna destroy
(29:54):
the world or the timeline or theuniverse or whatever.
I'm going to make you run.
Through my murder world.
Yeah.
Welcome to my murder world.
But, you know, here we have notthat, and it just felt better
and enjoyable.
SPEAKER_01 (30:11):
On to issue 140.
Issue 140 starts with a sexyColossus ripping a tree stump
out of the ground so that he canreturn to his farming roots a
bit.
Warren is confused by Peter'sagricultural interests, but he
says something very poetic aboutnature and beauty and how it
relaxes him.
(30:31):
Warren leaves thinking thatthere is more to Peter than
meets the eye.
Professor Axe checks in onWarren to see how rejoining the
team is going.
He signals all good but mentionshe thinks Wolverine is crazy and
dangerous.
Professor Axe agrees, but saysWolverine is a good man with
extraordinary potential as aleader and superhero, and that
(30:54):
helping people like Logan ispart of his mission to see
humans and mutants livingpeacefully.
Back in Harlem, Kitty is reallyenjoying her dance class and new
teacher.
Storm seems a little wary ofthis Stevie Hunter, especially
when she refers to Kittypossessively with an Our Kitten.
(31:14):
We shift back to Canada and seethe Wendigo hunting poor
Nightcrawler, who attempts toclimb a tree, but the tree just
gets knocked down.
He is eventually caught and onlymanages to escape by attempting
a blind teleport.
Wolverine and Alpha Flight areeventually alerted to the danger
when Nightcrawler is hit byWendigo and thuds against the
(31:37):
cabin's exterior.
A fight ensues, but the Wendigois able to escape with Wolverine
and Stowbird in pursuit.
While trekking him, Wolverinenotes that the creature has
gotten smarter.
When they locate the creature,Snowbird flies back to get the
others, and Wolverine iseventually forced into a
one-on-one confrontation to stopthe Wendigo from eating the
(32:01):
missing mother and baby.
Wolverine knocks him down, andthe three begin to limp away,
but unfortunately, the Wendigosoon catches up.
Wolverine is taking a majorbeating, but the Calvary arrives
in time.
With Wolverine down for thecount, Snowbird decides to
transform into a giantWolverine, the animal, to take
(32:22):
on the Wendigo.
The Wendigo is seriously injuredand will be out for hours, but
Snowbird takes on the animalpersona of whatever she
transforms into, and everyone isafraid that they've lost her to
it or that maybe she'll attackthem.
Wolverine is able to connect andcalm her down, and she's able to
(32:42):
shift back into her humanoidform.
Shaman completes the ritual toturn the Wendigo back into the
man, George Baptiste, who isimmediately arrested by Alpha
Flight.
James says he'll take care ofthings for Wolverine, and
Nightcrawler says to Logan thatBaptiste will pay for his
actions, but shouldn't Loganalso have to pay for what he's
(33:05):
done in his life?
Logan says he's been a wartimesoldier and a secret agent for
the government, but he's neverkilled anyone who wasn't gunning
for him first.
He sees his life as a series ofself-defense actions.
Nightcrawler says, I understandLogan, what you say is
reasonable, logical,justifiable.
(33:27):
But does that make it right?
It's mentioned that Logandoesn't reply and there is
silence between the two men forquite a while.
James ends up meeting with thePrime Minister of Canada, but
before he can mention Wolverine,he learns that Alpha Flight is
being disbanded.
In the final page, we see FredDukes, the blob, escaping his
(33:48):
high security prison with atrick he learned from quote,
that lady lawyer, and that he'sjoining the new brotherhood of
evil mutants.
The banner at the bottom saysnext issue, days of future past.
Aw man.
Freddie Dukes, bartender of theGreen Lagoon.
(34:11):
Really?
In Cricoi?
Yeah.
Their tiki bar.
I can dig it.
It's another issue when we'vegot like a few different scenes
and a few differentperspectives.
Like it's mostly the Wolverinestory, but we take a little bit
of a break at the beginning, andwe do like, all right, here's
(34:31):
some Warren and Peter content,and then here's some Storm and
Kitty content.
And then at the end, we havethose two kind of let's close
off one thread and open anotherwith hey Alpha Flight, you're
getting disbanded.
Money, am I right?
And alright, Fred Dukes is onthe loose, and there's gonna be
(34:53):
a new brotherhood of evilmutants.
SPEAKER_00 (34:56):
It's funny for me as a Canadian seeing this
interaction between uh the PrimeMinister and Hudson.
He's just like, eh, sorry, man.
The house voted.
The house voted.
I don't know what you want todo.
What can you do about it, bruh?
But you can keep your securityclearance and you can just do
whatever you want.
(35:16):
As you were, as long as it's forfor the mother, the homeland,
the Canada.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (35:23):
Um, what did you think of the Windigo?
I think he's a good two-issuevillain.
I feel like he's not reallythere's not really like a focus
or like a development of him, orkind of like anything like that.
He's sort of just there to drivethe action forward a little bit.
Yeah, he's a plot device here.
Yeah.
(35:44):
I think he's fine for that.
I thought it was you know, theywent into like the history of,
you know, the curse was attachedto somebody, and then somebody
else took the curse for himself.
I lost the thr you know thethread a little bit in all of
that, but I appreciate that theytried.
Uh, I think there was probablyjust like something on TV at the
(36:08):
time and really hard for mybrain to concentrate, but he's
fine.
Uh my main thing with him wasnot it kind of dismisses of him,
but at the end of this, I wascurious.
Like, I wonder if the Wendigoserves as any inspiration for
Sabretooth.
(36:28):
Because they have sort of asimilar build and physicality,
they both regenerate, and youknow, it you know, we get to see
Wolverine really, you know, gosafely go toe-to-toe and like be
as like wild and brutal as heneeds to be, which is something
(36:50):
that he eventually gets in his,I guess we'll say longtime rival
Sabretooth, you know, that kindof a s a villain that he can
safely allow his wild side tocome out against.
I I don't know if there's anyactual like direct inspiration
for it, but I do see a lot ofparallels between the two
(37:12):
characters.
SPEAKER_00 (37:13):
You spelling it out the way you just did, I I do see
it.
I don't know that reading it, Ithought it.
I felt like I am looking at likeI like the design a like not a
lot, but I like it.
Like just there's somethingweird about the whole pure white
aesthetic with the with the redeyes.
(37:33):
And a weird tail.
Yeah, and the weird tail.
It gave me sexy mane of hair.
It gave me Hulk vibes, you know?
Like this this is like a Hulkmonster that Hulk thought.
And it was.
And and it was.
And it's not like uh likethere's nothing raw with that,
but like that's what it feelslike looking at it.
(37:54):
Especially like I'm looking atthis panel right now where
nightcrawler's kind of likedodging away in the woods, and
you you really kind of get agood look at his face, and he he
looks like if he was green,you'd be like, that is a hairy
hulk.
He does seem to be an angry boy,yeah.
Just a wee bit, but I liked it.
(38:15):
I liked the the whole kind ofcat and mouse game with
Nightcrawler, which is which wasa lot of fun, and even seeing
him banfing around the way hewas, it made me think of the
Nightcrawler that I know today,where he can really go ham.
So to see again, like thischaracter progression of, oh
yeah, hey, look how he's doingnew things is a lot of fun to
(38:39):
see here.
SPEAKER_01 (38:40):
We get to see him be a little bit risky with the
blind teleport.
Though I do think he does thatone straight up in the air, so I
don't know if it really countsas being that dangerous.
SPEAKER_00 (38:49):
I mean, when I saw him up in the air, I thought,
oh, he's in a bad spot,honestly.
But then he just like bampeddown.
SPEAKER_01 (38:56):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (38:57):
Just another real quick teleport.
But like I I guess like thereason I thought of it in that
way is because in the dangerroom they play they made it out
to seem like, oh no, he's he'sdone for.
He's been hit once.
And that's that was a littleweird.
SPEAKER_01 (39:12):
Like I felt like Nightcrawler could have just I
don't remember.
Maybe it said he was likestunned in some way, but or
maybe they had some sonicscramblers going to mess with
his teleportation powers andjust didn't spell it out.
But yeah, it felt like he couldhave fixed the situation
himself.
SPEAKER_00 (39:32):
Like I get that the purpose of it was just to show
the dynamic of the team and liketheir connection to each other
and that they can adapt.
And here's Logan again being aleader.
It's uh look out, look at hisdevelopment.
So I think it served itspurpose.
It was fine.
But one thing we haven't talkedabout yet is Wolverine's new
look.
(39:52):
I like it.
SPEAKER_01 (39:53):
I mean, I'd known of it already, but I feel like it
works for it.
Almost seems like they've kindof made him.
I I mean I touched on itearlier, but he's got like a
more maturity about him.
But it also seems they're tryingto really portray him as just
like, I don't know, for somereason it really stuck out to me
(40:16):
that like the multiple timeshe's smoking or drinking a beer
in these two issues.
SPEAKER_00 (40:23):
Like it's uh the embodiment of something manly.
SPEAKER_01 (40:28):
I guess.
Like if it feels like they'retrying to show more of that.
And you know, maybe it's justthese two issues and it isn't
gonna like pop up so much, butit was it was really funny to
just be like, all right,everyone's having lemonade,
Logan's cracking open uh a beer,and then he lit lights up a
cigarette.
SPEAKER_00 (40:47):
It's funny that that was your takeaway, because my
takeaway was why doesn't hedrink lemonade?
It's like he mixed the twotogether.
I was so curious.
I was like, what is it about thelemonade that you don't like?
Just too sweet, too sour, notbeing a lemonade.
SPEAKER_01 (41:05):
Badly made lemonade is not something you want to
drink.
Maybe he just doesn't want torisk it.
Just give me the can of beer,it's pre-made.
It's probably like 10 a.m.
SPEAKER_00 (41:17):
in the morning.
Who knows?
The the other thing that wedidn't touch on, but I believe
it was in the last issue, rightafter the fight in the danger
room, there is like a scene whenKitty walks in for the first
time, literally in the sequencewhere we're talking, where uh
(41:37):
Kurt's there with the lemonade,and there's this little pink box
in the middle of the page, andit says Cyclops' organic steel
armor becomes flesh, and whatthat's what it says.
It says Cyclops' organic steelarmor becomes flesh again.
Hold on.
I'm gonna I have to go back tothe past issue.
SPEAKER_01 (41:59):
It's such a glaring mistake.
Oh, wow.
That's like how did like thesethings happen, but like they do,
yeah.
That's such a weird one.
I appreciate that they did notfix it for the digital comic.
SPEAKER_00 (42:15):
It'd probably be way more money than it's worth at
this point.
And as you said, like thesethings happen.
Like I'm sure it's far from themost egregious error that's ever
been made in comics.
They did misspell Havoc's namein one of the first issues we
did.
SPEAKER_01 (42:33):
This seems much worse.
This is way worse than that,yeah.
It's like we just got rid ofCyclops.
I didn't I did not clock that atall.
Like, I just completely glossedover it.
I don't know.
It just it popped out to me likeat the sore thumb.
SPEAKER_00 (42:48):
Typical Peter disrespect.
Yeah.
Just par for the course, man.
Still waiting for that arc whenPeter's gonna be the shining
star.
SPEAKER_01 (43:00):
It's weird that the Wendigo all he does is shout his
name like a Pokemon.
Wendigo.
SPEAKER_00 (43:06):
But it's hyphenated, so it'd be more like when de go.
Wendigo?
More like where do you go?
How do you go?
Hey.
What ego.
If we had Banshee, that's thekind of joke we would be getting
right now.
SPEAKER_01 (43:22):
Yeah.
We're missing that good old SeanCassidy charm.
I like that they smartened himup, going back to you know, what
I thought about the character.
You know, I liked that instead,like, you know, Wolverine made
the comment that, you know, theold hand would have just like
barreled through the forest andleft like a giant trail of
(43:46):
destruction that was easy tofollow.
I like that it was more he'skind of like that almost like
primal part of nature living inthe woods.
Yeah.
A little bit more brain to him.
SPEAKER_00 (43:58):
It's uh you I think you nailed it perfectly earlier
when you said he's just morewell-rounded.
Like it felt like Logan was kindof typecast in the first book.
Or like in the first one.
Well, I was saying the when togo.
Oh, the when to go.
SPEAKER_01 (44:11):
I think the only other time I've heard of like a
when to go or a when to go orwhatever we want to call it, is
from Supernatural.
Like probably season one, I'massuming.
SPEAKER_00 (44:24):
I think you are correct.
And I am imagining the episodewhere I think they I think it's
like the second or thirdepisode, honestly.
A lot of Canada in that show.
I think it was almostexclusively filmed in BC.
Pretty sure.
It's got that spooky vibe, I'veheard anyway.
I haven't been too.
SPEAKER_01 (44:44):
I assume it looks exactly like Supernatural when
you go there.
Like it's got like that filterover it.
SPEAKER_00 (44:51):
There's just a bunch of haunted shit in the woods.
Yeah.
I mean, uh that I wouldn't wantto be out there, especially in
those woods.
Those are way more dangerousthan the woods around my part of
Canada.
They got they got grizzly bearsout there.
We just got black bears.
They're not as scary.
I wouldn't mess with one, but uhyou know, they're they're cute.
SPEAKER_01 (45:14):
I think one other call out that I had, and I
missed some of this fell out.
It didn't make it to my notes,but it seems like they're
starting to so we've alreadylike touched on them developing
and taking Logan into kind of anew direction.
Yeah.
I think they're doing the samewith starting to work in some of
(45:38):
Nightcrawler's religious aspectsover these last two issues.
Like, there's definitely thatthere, but for the grace of God
goes you quote at the very end,but I swear there was like one
more thing in either the firstissue or this one where he
mentions something.
(45:58):
I don't know what it was.
SPEAKER_00 (46:00):
When you were going over the recap, I was thinking
about the that interaction atthe very end between
Nightcrawler and Logan and themorality of killing.
Um, and and I immediatelythought of Kurt's religion
beliefs.
Mm-hmm.
And and that's a huge part ofhis character.
It's like uh Matt Murdoch,right?
(46:22):
Like it's the same moral code.
That's a team up they should do.
God's Boys.
SPEAKER_01 (46:27):
Yeah.
Ooh, they could call it God'sBoys.
What a good name.
SPEAKER_00 (46:35):
Daredevils.
I mean, wasn't NightcrawlerSpider-Man for a little bit?
He was.
I don't know the context aroundany of that.
It sounded weird to say.
I just remembered reading thatthat wasn't a thing.
SPEAKER_01 (46:48):
Well, there was multiple Spider-Men.
Um, he just needed like a break.
He had a rough go of things.
He died so many times, and in away that he had to remember all
those deaths.
Ugh.
So he had to do but he saved theday.
But he had to do a big vacationand just get away from it all.
(47:11):
And people love Spider-Man, soyou might as well be Spider-Man.
I mean, why not just go on areal vacation?
And then he worked out some shitwith his brain-damaged mom.
Happy ending.
Alright.
And that was the end of it?
It was just like a short series,right?
I don't remember which seriesthat happened in, but yeah, it
(47:32):
wasn't super long.
I think it's literally Is it itsown?
Yeah, it was its own book.
I read all those in a way that Ican't recommend to anyone else
because my brain can't keeptrack of what happened, like the
different books, because Ididn't read any of them in
order.
Or I read them all inchronological order.
(47:53):
Yeah, that's fair.
SPEAKER_00 (47:54):
It's called Uncanny Spider-Man.
There we go.
Gotta get that uncanny in there.
I just saw this Reddit like as Iwas like scrolling through the
Google search.
This uh Reddit thread thatpopped up, and it's just there's
a comment of his entire powerset makes it incompatible to
(48:15):
pretend to be Spider-Man.
It's not like Iron Fistpretending to be Daredevil.
He sticks to walls.
Yeah.
He doesn't have to use histeleport powers.
I mean, what's the differencebetween his teleport powers and
literally shooting out a web?
It's essentially like the samegeneral concept.
SPEAKER_01 (48:35):
People want to see Spider-Man swinging on a web.
That's what the people of NewYork love.
They love good deli meat and aswinging Spider-Man and yelling,
bagels, pizza, other stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (48:52):
Overall, I really like these two bucks.
I think I would give it I'd giveit like an eight out of ten.
It's pretty high.
I was gonna say seven.
Like I'm trying not to compareit to like I'm trying to compare
it as a fresh start, as opposedto dwelling on where things are
leaving off with Dark Phoenix,because I think that would be a
very unfair comparison.
(49:13):
So looking at it as a freshstart and this new team with a
lot of character development,like a fun overall Wolverine
story, and like these newdynamics that are playing it
with the team.
Yeah, I think it's worthy of aneight.
It was a lot of fun.
It kind of sets a bit of a newstatus quo, and we get the tease
(49:35):
for Days of Futures Pass.
So we'll see what happens withthat.
SPEAKER_01 (49:39):
For me, uh, I wrote down seven out of ten, kind of a
good, not great sort of score.
You know, I would call thisthese two good issues.
I really enjoyed the buddy sidestory, Wolverine and
Nightcrawler as the main focus.
Felt like we got to see a moremature version of Logan.
I like that he's fine withAuroro being the leader.
(50:00):
He's still very much himselfwith his dialogue, but you know,
he seems like he's in like areally good, amicable teammate,
teamwork sort of place thatseems to be working out for him.
I mean, yeah, I feel like it wasin many ways just like a great
opener for, you know, we're kindof talking about this like it is
(50:21):
a new season of TV, but yeah,thumbs up.
I enjoyed it a lot.
SPEAKER_00 (50:26):
Yeah, it's it's season two, right?
Like that's what it feels like.
This feels like season two.
And and that's not a bad thing.
I think it was really needed toit would it would be hard, and I
don't know what direction theywould really go in after Dark
Phoenix, you know?
Like it it tied up so muchstuff.
So I think if there was ever atime for a fresh start, it's
(50:49):
right now.
And so I'm curious to see wherethings go.
I hope it keeps this momentum.
I know the story of Days ofFutures Past, like through not
reading it, but reading or maybeI have read it absorbing it
generally.
If I have, it's been a longtime.
So I'll I'll be really kind ofcurious to read it cover to
(51:10):
cover and then see how it holdsup to the film, which as we
talked about earlier, I doremember very fondly.
SPEAKER_01 (51:17):
I'm assuming they'll be somewhat different, but both
enjoyable, and you know,hopefully there's kind of like a
good enough direct connectionbetween the two.
Before we uh get out of here,Fred Dukes.
The blob.
That quote unquote lady lawyer,that's definitely like gonna be
mystique, right?
SPEAKER_00 (51:38):
Maybe.
You know what?
I didn't really think about it.
I I would love for it to be EmmaFrost, but I think she's been
kind of sidelined for the timebeing.
SPEAKER_01 (51:47):
My intuition is really telling me that this is
like a mystique thing, thatshe's putting together the new
brotherhood of evil mutants.
SPEAKER_00 (51:55):
Because I don't think it's gonna be I mean,
maybe Magneto involved, but notonly Magneto.
I think Magneto coming backwould make a lot of sense if
we're having this sort of newstatus quo for the team, and if
we have an opportunity to bringMagneto back into the fold on a
semi-regular basis, I think thatwould make sense, but I wouldn't
(52:18):
be upset if it was not his.
SPEAKER_01 (52:21):
An interesting thing to see where they go with.
You know, we got this thing, wegot the dance studio person.
I have a theory about that too,but I'm worried that some of
like the knowledge I've absorbedis coloring my opinion of what
might be happening there.
(52:41):
That does it for this episode ofUncanny Book Club.
Thanks for listening, and wehope to see you next episode
where we'll discuss issues 141and 142.
Bye.
Thanks for tuning in to thisepisode of Uncanny Book Club.
If you enjoyed this podcast,don't forget to subscribe, leave
a review, or share with afriend.
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