Surely you know, a Phoenix is reborn -- only to be reborn again!

Just in case you wanted to know, I had a great time on the West Coast. I spent a great deal of it touring the University of California in Berkeley, and doing general tourist-y things.

I figured it'd be a pretty good way to get back to the blog by following up on the sequel to Phoenix: Endsong! So here's

X-Men: Phoenix - Warsong

by Greg Pak and Tyler Kirkham

WHAT IT'S ABOUT: Pak takes another crack at the Phoenix entity's saga, with the Stepford Cuckoos this time! And Weapon Plus! Is it up to snuff? Does it work as a sequel to Endsong?WHAT I LIKED:

WHY I DIDN'T LIKE IT: Ehhhh it's kinda hard to get into the story, when they're introducing these people who are meant to be "Oh hey it's that one guy from that one comic," except it turns out to be "Oh hey, I've never read anything with these people before."

The series in question is Grant Morrison's New X-Men, and the details include the cuckoos, Dr. Sublime et al, and if you haven't read it, you'll probably get confused. It kinda sucks.

EXTRAS?: Cover gallery of two variants, with a bio on the Cuckoos. Thankfully, no concept sketches from Kirkham, because I have an extreme dislike for his barbie doll style.

FINAL THOUGHTS: I figured I could pick this up on the strength of Endsong, but I was pretty darn mistaken! While Endsong also relied on a background in New X-Men, it didn't take the story to a place where it was entirely dependent on it. Warsong is a pretty bad book in my, uh, book.