Amazing X-Men Comics Reviews and Analysis
Originally Posted March 3, 2019
Amazing X-Men #15-16 (part of “Once and Future Juggernaut”)
This story arc starts when the Jewel of Cyttorak has returned to Earth, and the X-Men (Storm’s group) try to prevent a bunch of villains (plus Colossus) from recovering it. Chris Yost (writer), Jorge Fornes (pencils). Well-written, good character voices, iffy artwork.
Juggernaut on the cover of Amazing X-Men #17
Juggernaut on the cover of Amazing X-Men #17
Amazing X-Men #17 (“Once and Future Juggernaut” Part 3)
Cain Marko’s appearance sparks a new battle, and even without the Jewel, Marko is able to handle several powered heroes. Meanwhile, around the temple, individual battles continue (Firestar vs. Crossbones, Storm vs. Demon), and then Pixie teleports in with Colossus and Crossbones makes the mistake of trying to punch Colossus. Meanwhile, Marko has revealed to Iceman that he seeks revenge for the death of his brother (Charles Xavier), and blames Cyclops (and not the Phoenix Force).
Marko finds the Crystal and ends up battling Colossus (they have a history), but while fighting, they discover that they both intend to destroy it, not use it for themselves. Just as they realize their common goal, the Crystal is taken by the mysterious hooded villain who is now revealed to be Ahmet Abdol, AKA The Living Monolith, who, with the Crystal, is now The Juggernaut (and what a big one he is!)
X-Men thinking about how to defeat Cyttorak and the Monolith Juggernaut in Amazing X-Men #18
Amazing X-Men #18 (“Once and Future Juggernaut” Part 4)-
The X-Men really do not know what to do as they watch a gigantic version of Juggernaut/The Living Monolith), getting ready to destroy and cause chaos. This issue has a minimum of combat action, as Chris Yost makes use of his excellent character dialogue to have our somewhat dejected mutants just sit down to talk over what to do. This is a refreshing change from the usual “see bad guy, immediately attack bad guy without discussing a plan first” comic book action. Taking time to sit by a fire, the X-Men figure out what to do. The monolithic Juggernaut, confused by the lack of attention by our heroes, just sort of stands around waiting for something to happen. After some great dialogue between our mutant characters (plus Cain Marko, who tagged along after escaping the temple in the last issue), we see Storm, Firestar, Iceman, and the rest attack the new Juggernaut, while Colossus and Marko, with help from a couple of telepathic X-Men, make contact with the demon Cyttorak and Colossus offers him/it a new challenge. Cyttorak accepts that challenge, but instead of once again possessing Peter Rasputin, we see that it chose instead to take Cain Marko. This sets up a potentially great battle between the Marko Juggernaut (can we call him the Classic Juggernaut?), and Colossus, or at least that is how this issue ends. We shall see…
Overall, this X-Men storyline, featuring one of the best X-Villains, Cain Marko, AKA Juggernaut, was a good read. The writer, Chris Yost, captured the overall personas of the characters quite well, and the dialogue between the characters as well as the action sequences were written very well indeed. The mediocre art by Jorge Fornes in this storyline was at times a distraction, and brought the overall quality of these comic books down.
Copyright © 1998-2023 History Guy Media; Last Modified: 11.10.23
The Comics History section of the Historyguy website features information on both the fictional and non-fictional personalities from the comics book universes of both the DC Comics and Marvel Comics, along with some other comic book companies and universes. All fictional characters presented here are the intellectual property of either DC or Marvel, or their respective companies. Opinions, descriptive information, reviews, and other text herein are the intellectual property (copyrighted) of History Guy Media.
“The History Guy” is a Registered Trademark.