Review Time - Week of September 20th.

Astonishing X-Men #17 - We begin with Kitty cradling the newborn she has just given birth to. She is surrounded by the baby's father, Colossus, and the other X-Men. We jump forward and the baby is now a toddler. The X-Men come to take the baby away since it has some 'terrible power' and Colossus is forced to stop Kitty from fleeing. We jump forward another 18 months and Kitty, having escaped from custody, holds an axe phased into Peter's head to make him tell her where her son is: In a box in the basement.

Of course what we saw wasn't real. It was a psychic episode broadcast into Kitty's mind by The White Queen to make her breach The Manger. What's inside of The Manger? The body of Stuff, a shapeshifting member of the Shi'ar Imperial Guard inhabited by the mind of Cassandra Nova, Xavier's evil , unborn twin sister. As Kitty is trying to get into The Manger the scene shifts to S.W.O.R.D. as they recieve word from their 'mole' inside the X-Mansion that Ord and Danger are only a few miles away from the mansion. Who is the Mole? Lockheed! Ord and Danger hit the mansion, inadvertently snapping Wolverine out of his trance in the process. Just as Cassandra is about to inhabit her new body, that of the now unconscious Kitty, The White Queen is shot in the back by a now visor-less and pistol-packing Cyclops.

Maybe I'm just a little slow on the uptake this week, but this issue was just a little confusing at times. I couldn't tell if Cassandra Nova or the classic White Queen was running the show and both Shaw and Negasonic were acting very...odd. I'm fairly sure that the strangeness was intentional, but it was nonetheless annoying. Otherwise this was a great read. Cassaday's work is masterful as always and Whedon peppers the book with great lines and moments. The page where Wolverine comes to his senses, aided by a can of beer, is both funny and masterful. I'm a little annoyed that the whole 'Ernst is Cassandra Nova being taught humanity' thing from Morrison's run is being disregarded, but since the story has been so good I'll let it slide.

Walking Dead #31 - Rick and Michionne are still the Governor's captives, but things in the town of Woodbury are not going well and things get worse when one of the town's 'gladiators' is killed by the other. This forces the Governor to enlist Michionne in his efforts to give the people their bread and circuses. Instead of keeping to the WWE-like script she immediately decapitates her opponent and kills biters that surround them. Rick, still held in the infirmary and short a hand, begins to bond with the Doctor and his attractive female nurse. Meanwhile Martinez, a guard who has become disgusted with the goings on in town, moves to help Rick escape from Woodbury.

Ahh, thats the Walking Dead I know and love. There just haven't been enough decapitations the past few issues for my tastes. The book has fallen into something of a rut ever since the survivors settled into the prison, but this issue feels more like one of the earlier issues where danger seemed omnipresent.

Quick Hits
Civil War #4 - Well the death everyone predicted came to pass. Everyone except for me that is, since I thought it was the too obvious choice.
Checkmate #6 - The Suicide Squad is back and of course one of them dies during the mission. The reason for bringing the mback, while convoluted, makes a lot of sense.
Moon Knight #5 - BADASS!