X-Men #5

            This series has been “disappointingly average.” When two things like mutants and vampires are out together in the same arc, and the mutants are X-Men, I get high expectations. If this arc isn’t great then I am discouraged. So far that is exactly what this series has been, and I have been disappointed.

            In this issue the vampires siege Utopia. Cyclops puts all of his “hard skinned” people out front. Like Emma Frost, Colossus, Ice Man, and archangel. Cyclops also stays out side, and all the other people go inside. The vampires then release the vampired Wolverine. Cyclops then reveals that he temporarily shut down Wolverine’s healing gene, but then he turns it back on, and gets the vampirism out of him. So the mutants beat the vampires. Then Dracula comes back and takes control of the vampires.

            This is a good issue. In X-Men 3: the last stand there was a moment where they were about to battle the brother hood where it felt like the movie was holding its breath. This issue had the exact same feeling before the vampires. It’s hard to do that in a comic, but Gischler did it very well. Other than that the comic was almost entirely a fight scene, but a very entertaining fight scene. Except when Xarus lost, his defeated attitude and expressions really showed that he felt powerless. I still don’t know what happened to Janus, I expected him to show up around issue two or three, but I still just have no idea what happened to him. It’s a loose end that no one has tied up, if he appears now it will be pointless because he was on the run from Xarus, and now he’s not in charge any more, so I just don’t know about him.

            This arc isn’t over yet, but now I’m genuinely exited for the next couple issues, and the next arc. I wouldn’t call this a must buy issue, but it’s definitely in that range.

Grade: 8/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com

The Death of Dracula #1

               This is supposedly a Marvel one-shot, but I highly doubt this is the last time we are going to here about this story.Vampires are a fad now a days, and it was smart of Marvel to make a vampire comic. In this issue Xarus (Dracula's oldest son) killed his father, and all of the vampire sects have to decide to join Xarus and agree to make him the new king vampire or fight back. Janus (Xarus' older brother/ main character) has to think.
               Before I go any further I have to state that there are three main sects in this comic. There is the Siren ("female seductresses") Krieger sect (warriors) Claw. (warriors) The Krieger sect walks away, and so does the Claw sect. The Leader of the Siren sect's leader tries to kill Xarus, but of course that fails. He wipes out the Krieger Sect and Janus goes to attempt to gain the Claw sect's loyalty, for the revolt against Xarus. That's where I leave off on the synopsis.
                 I would be very happy if this became an ongoing series. You can flip to any page in this comic and you will see amazing art. It is the best art I have seen in at least the past two months. I know I say I like a lot of art in different comics, but this is truly something else. I didn't like how the comic is called the Death of Dracula, Dracula's death wasn't very dramatic, actually that's not true it was very dramatic, but it would have been more dramatic, and effective if he had been in more than four pages. The pages that he was in were perfect, he looked and talked exactly how I ever could have wanted. I also appreciated that Dracula was hard to kill, if it had just took one stake to the heart I would have been disappointed that the most famous vampire ever, and who was supposedly king vampire for years went quietly. I really liked how each sect had different appearances and views on "vampire-hood" and humanity. The Claw kept to them selves, the Anchorite wanted to be left alone and so on. So I really want to see more, at the end of it I was longing for more.
              


Grade: 9/10
Buy at: www.mycomicshop.com