All Hallows' Eve

Halloween! It's a joyous day when kids dress up and collect candy from their neighbours! Or at least they used to when people still knew and trusted their neighbours. Huh. That's a happy thought. Aaaanyway...

Halloween has come once again, and for the first time in forever, I'm ACTUALLY prepared! I've got a costume ready and everything! It's not a scary costume. Just kinda fun. I'm dressing up as a nerd. Yeaaaah I know, that's not really a costume 'cause I AM such a big nerd. But just believe me, it's gonna be great!

I haven't really done the Halloween thing in so long! Last year for work I "dressed up" as Clark Kent. And by that I mean I wore my dressy work clothes with the shirt unbuttoned, a Superman t-shirt hiding underneath. Lame. I know. I'm hoping this year is a significant enough improvement to inspire me to continue doing better.

Wow, that sounds motivational. If only it was for a better cause than costume making. I'm pretty excited to see what all my friends are dressing up as tonight. Just as an added bonus, a reminder of my costume last year is below. Lemme know what you're doing for Halloween in the comments below!

A Brave New World?

So... This week was the finale of Avengers vs. X-Men. And what an end! If you are planning on reading it, spoiler warning! Read no further.

Picking up from the end of the last issue (where Cyclops took all the power of the Phoenix, killed Professor Xavier, and went all Dark Phoenix), Cyclops/Phoenix is laying waste to the entire planet, battling the Avengers and X-Men on a global scale. No one seems able to do anything to him as he causes cities to crumble, volcanoes to erupt, and even the ocean to burn.

The good guys have a secret weapon though. Hope, of the X-Men, and Scarlet Witch, of the Avengers. Their powers seem to be the key. Acting as yin and yang. The two of them are the only ones able to touch the Phoenix. As they duke it out, Cyclops has a vision of Jean Grey through the fire, telling him to let go.

Hope and Scarlet Witch finally manage to defeat Cyclops, and as the Phoenix leaves him, it moves to its intended host and possesses Hope. She zips around the globe putting out the fires and returns to the site of the battle to announce that she is the White Phoenix, but she is interrupted by the Scarlet Witch, who tells her she was never meant to possess this power, but to get rid of it.

The two join hands and together proclaim, "No more Phoenix." And with that, the power of the Phoenix is dissipated across the globe, undoing the spell the Scarlet Witch cast years ago, ending the "No more mutants" proclamation and causing new mutants to pop up around the globe.

The issue ends with Cyclops in custody, but not entirely ashamed of his actions because he believes bringing about the return of mutants is worth the price, sounding very much like Magneto.

So this event finally brought things full circle from the House of M event years ago. Mutants are back. But what does that mean for the Marvel Universe? Will the long depowered mutants get their powers back? (Will by beloved Sofia Mantega become Wind Dancer once again?!) Or is it just "new" mutants now? And how will the world respond to this upsurge in the mutant population after such a terrible global attack in the name of mutant kind? Only time will tell. I can't wait for Marvel NOW! to begin!