Nation X #3

So Diamond Lil is dead.

Well, actually she died a few weeks ago, in the attack of Selene’s techno-zombies or Necroshites on the X-Men’s new home Utopia.

I was disappointed in the manner in which she died, or at least how little attention her death was given. She was treated (in my eyes) as nothing more than a throwaway character, her presence and subsequent death a mere triviality.

Let me get this straight. Diamond Lil is not a throwaway character. She first appeared in Alpha Flight back in 1984, was at first a Gamma-Flight trainee and then fell into villainous ways with Omega Flight.

We were there when she redeemed herself as a valuable ally against the threat of Llan the Sorcerer. We were still there as the major crossovers of the time, the Infinity Trilogy took over the title, and led IMHO to its demise.

We saw her escape Weapon X and fall into the company of the then mutant messiah Mister M, and later return to the fold in arriving at Utopia.

Madison Jeffries, Box had his own story in Nation X #3 last week, but really it was Lil’s story, the story that Madison’s continued presence must always honour. It resolves many of the issues and questions that I confess had occurred to me, and I’m sure many other fellow Alphans. Nation X as a series is growing on me, I’m almost disappointed that the next instalment is the final one, because they may only be 8 page stories, but with a cast as large as the X-Men currently have (possibly greater now than the cast of the Legion Of Super-Heroes), these little shorts are needed.

What am I looking forward to this week? Buffy #33, Adventure Comics #8 Great Ten #5 (if you’ve not read this yet, give it a go), the culmination of JLA Cry For Justice, and of course, Milestone Forever #2.

From the House Of Ideas, The Savage She-Hulks get their spotlight in the Fall Of The Hulks, which gets better as the plot unfolds. Oh, and Hope, the current mutant messiah gets her own one shot.

My recommendation above all others? Avatar’s God Complex #4. Don’t miss it.