Good Dragon, Bad Dragon

First Look for January 18, 2018

Yesterday I finished off the fun Star Wars arc and today I start up on a story I read a while ago (at least the first volume) and really enjoyed. I also continue my move forward with my Modern Marvel Reading and see more of the foundations for the Avengers vs. X-Men conflict. In Bone #1 we see the beginning of a very exciting tale of fantasy adventures. The 3 Bone cousins are enjoyable to journey with and I’m planning on reading through the entire series over the coming months. In Uncanny X-Men #10 we learn more about the tensions between the X-Men and Avengers and I have to say I think Steve Rogers is being a real jerk. Perhaps because he doesn’t have any children he finds it hard to empathize with Cyclops running off to save his granddaughter, but when you compare that to what he’s done for Bucky over the years I just think he’s got his head in the wrong place.

Bone #1

Out From Boneville, The Map by Jeff Smith. Published by Cartoon Books, 1991.

This issue begins a fantastical story of 3 cousins, Fone Bone, Smiley Bone, and Phoney Bone, and their adventures in a land filled with dragons, rat monsters, and bugs that talk. I actually read this first story arc a few years ago and loved it and the potential it held. Considering this series collected quite a few awards I wanted to go back and start at the beginning and follow these fun characters all the way through their journey.

In this first issue, Phoney Bone has been run outta Boneville by the townsfolk and his cousins, in solidarity, went with him. They head out into the desert and are soon separated when a locust swarm flies by. Fone continues on by himself but we soon see he’s picked up a follower – a dragon who scares off the creatures who try to eat the Bone as he sleeps. Not knowing the dragon saved him, Fone follows a map he and his cousins had found and ends up in a beautiful valley but he sees no signs of them. A fortunate run in with a tiny bug and his big brother might lead him to someone who may be able to help, but as we leave the tale, Winter has literally fallen on Fone’s head.

Plenty is already going on in this issue as we see that rat monsters are looking for Phoney Bone for some reason and the Great Red Dragon has decided to help Fone. The art is simple but whimsical and the humor is plentiful. Definitely a good start to a fun tale.

You can find first looks at other issues in this title linked in my January Reading List.
I rate this issue an A-.

Uncanny X-Men

Tabula Rasa, Chapter 6 by Kieron Gillen, Carlos Pacheco, and Paco Diaz. Published by Marvel Comics, 2012.

This precursor to the Avengers vs. X-Men event finishes off the previous arc where the two teams are actually playing nice with each other. As the issue begins, they’re engaging in a pitched battle against what appears to be a dragon in Argentina. Before they subdue the beast though, Scott gets a call that something called Unit is in Canada and that’s exectly where his granddaughter is. Scott breaks off from the engagement and heads to save Hope with the rest of the X-Men. Needless to say, the Avengers are not happy with this development.

When they get to Canada they seemingly walk into a situation where they are outclassed. This Unit being is clearly powerful and systematically wreaks havoc with the X-Men who joined Scott in the battle. When it looks like Unit has won the day, the robot Danger shows up and quickly subdues him. It turns out he’s an escaped prisoner but perhaps more precisely, it was less of an escape but rather a release based on his prison disintegrating around him. In any case, he willingly submits to captivity and the X-Men head back to the battle with the dragon, but the fight’s over and Captain America has some choice words for Scott and his priorities.

Back in Utopia, things get interesting as Agent Brand of S.W.O.R.D. and Scott reach an agreement on how to deal with Unit which is fortunate because he’s gonna help Hope learn about the Phoenix.

Even though this is the end of a story arc I didn’t read I enjoyed it. This Unit being sure seems powerful and it could be interesting to see how he might be able to help when the Phoenix shows up, which based on the other comics I’ve been reading will happen pretty soon.

You can find first looks at other issues in my look at Modern Marvel linked in my January Reading List.

I rate this issue a B+.