Gambit #15-17 – “No Opportunity Wasted”
That’s the title for the final trade paperback, if you’re wondering. Because, yes, it is time once again for the X-books to indulge in the Cancellation of Gambit. We had it in 2001, we had it again in 2005, and now here it is again.
In some ways it’s surprising that Gambit hasn’t been able to support a title better than this. On paper, he ought to be one of the most suitable X-Men to sustain a spin-off book. He’s a loveable rogue adventurer who has ample excuse to go off and have his own stories. He wasn’t specifically conceived as a team player; if I remember rightly, his creator Chris Claremont originally planned for him to be a recurring guest rather than joining the team. He’s got a back story and mythology of his own, which has nothing much to do with the themes of the X-Men and might even be better off explored in its own book.
Cable & X-Force #10-14 – “This Won’t End Well”
Cable & X-Force seems to be a book paced more for the ongoing series than the trade. These five issues are going to form the third trade paperback of the current run, which makes this as good a point as any to check in on the series, and they do indeed have an overall linking arc. But at the same time there are single issue stories as the team split up to fight some villains of the week.
There are two main strands here, though. The main one doesn’t technically feature the title characters at all. Hope goes looking for Blaquesmith in order to find out what’s up with Cable and his spate of visions. She ends up being taken to an apocalyptic near future, where it turns out that Cable’s visions are the result of Blaquesmith and an older Hope trying to kickstart his precognitive powers so that he can change history and avert the apocalypse. Then, of course, she has to go back and try to sort out some of the damage they’ve done to him as a result of their botch job.
Charts – 22 September 2013
We have a new number one – and it’s not very good!
39. Jason Derulo – “The Other Side”
Re-entry, as a spillover effect from the promotion of the new single, which we’ll be coming to. Originally a number 2 hit in June.
38. Chvrches – “The Mother We Share”
Savage Wolverine #6-8
It’s been a while since Marvel last put out a story that so obviously looked as though it had received a visit from the rewrite fairy. Zeb Wells and Joe Madureira were the creative team on the first three issues of the team-up book Avenging Spider-Man, and this story was originally slated to appear in that book. And Spider-Man dutifully appears in the first issue… only to disappear entirely and resurface for a cameo in the coda.
It seems reasonable to infer that he was originally planned to have a larger role, and it’s far from obvious why he’s been removed, given that the story could certainly have used somebody in the outsider/comic relief. And given that a decision has been taken to downplay him, it’s no less clear why he’s still in the story at all, particularly considering that he’s the Peter Parker version of the character, thus placing the story massively out of sequence for no clear reason.
Charts – 15 September 2013
Not much going on in terms of new releases, which means lots of stuff is climbing instead…
40. Swedish House Mafia featuring John Martin – “Don’t You Worry Child”
A number 1 at the tail end of last year. I’m guessing that it’s back because somebody covered it in an X Factor audition.
34. Chris Brown featuring Nicki Minaj – “Love More”
Astonishing X-Men #66-67
There’s a big crossover going on in the X-Men books right now, and Astonishing X-Men is not invited to the party. The book is scheduled to end with issue #68 (albeit that it’s being instantly replaced on the schedules by Amazing), so you might have thought that outgoing writer Marjorie Liu would be using these remaining issues to wrap up some outstanding storylines, such as the subplot about Northstar’s immigration status. Instead, these two issues contain a story that doesn’t seem to have much to do with anything else from her run.
Issue #66 picks up in the aftermath of the Iceman storyline. The melting ice floods the New York subway and wakes a green tentacled baby alien that can possess people by touching them. Mostly the alien just wants a hug, so the result is shambling groups of people asking for a cuddle. The X-Men break its hold on some New Yorkers (using a good old fashioned electric shock) and then try to hunt the alien down, while it apparently manages to hitch a lift on a series of vehicles out of town.
Night of Champions 2013
Ah, Night of Champions. The annual show where the entire gimmick is meant to be that every title is defended – and so, of course, one of them won’t be. Admittedly, that’s because the storyline in question pretty much requires a non-title match, but it shows the limitations of the company committing itself in advance to themed shows. (I use the word “committing” loosely, obviously. This is the WWE we’re talking about.)
1. WWE Title: Randy Orton (c) v. Daniel Bryan. Last month, you’ll recall, dimwitted Raw GM Brad Maddox allowed John Cena to pick the challenger for his WWE Title. Being a solid heroic type, Cena played fair and chose Daniel Bryan, setting up the storyline that the McMahon family, who own the company, were divided about whether the misfit underdog Bryan was a remotely acceptable world champion . As widely expected, Bryan did indeed beat Cena to win the title clean, with Triple H refereeing the match fairly – only for Triple H to attack him immediately after the match and basically hand the title to Randy Orton, who cheerfully cashed in the Money in the Bank title shot he won earlier in the year.
Charts – 8 September 2013
This week: Katy Perry releases her big single, and everybody else steers well clear.
39. Starship – “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now”
It’s being used in an advert for… you know, I’ve seen it several times, and I still can’t remember what for. Google says it’s Talk Talk.
“Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” was a number 1 hit back in 1987, and started off life as the theme to Mannequin. Perhaps surprisingly, this is its first chart appearance in the download era. Starship were a spin-off that emerged from the break-up of Jefferson Starship, the name reflecting the fact that (unlike Jefferson Starship) they didn’t feature any former members of Jefferson Airplane. They had one other hit in the UK, “We Built This City”, which reached number 12 in 1985.
X-Factor #257-262 – “The End of X-Factor”
What was the last time a series ended with six straight issues of epilogue? Sandman?
Yes, granted, X-Factor is evidently being relaunched. Issue #260 ends with Polaris being being recruited for a new corporate version of X-Factor, and Peter David’s closing essay is sure to remind us of that. In fact, it sounds very much as though David himself is sticking around for the new version. This is not a high-selling book, and from the looks of it everyone realised that the Hell on Earth War was a suitable opportunity to quit while they were ahead and go for the relaunch.
Charts – 1 September 2013
So is the parade of huge-selling number ones over, or are we just in a lull for now? Probably a lull…
40. Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx – “Gold Digger”
This charted on the strength of a late surge of sales after it cropped up on an X Factor audition show on Saturday 31 August. So yes, it’s that time again. Originally a number 2 hit in 2005.
39. Bastille – “Things We Lost In The Fire”
