Frankly, I'm of the opinion that it would make a lot more sense to make Nightcrawler a deacon (if, for some reason, he can't go on being a non-cleric - one of the things that bugs me about it the most is the idea that it always seems presented as though if someone's Catholic, they MUST want to be a either priest or a nun). For those who don't know, very loosely speaking, a deacon is sort of a step below a priest, with many of the same duties but fewer responsibilities and less authority. And they can be married.

For the record, it takes about 4-5 years to become a Catholic priest in America (it varies by country) and that's after obtaining a college degree (I've never been clear on whether Xavier's is accredited as a university, but it's not hard to imagine that Xavier could have gotten Kurt a bachelor's degree in philosophy at some point).

Now, the logical conclusion to reach is that Sir Samuel, the victim, begged Holmes to kill him because he didn’t want a slow, lingering death from consumption..."

And it's obvious the man grabbed Holmes's gun, shot himself, then Holmes picked up the gun, after which the police came in and made an incorrect assumption.

An alternative thought is that Holmes and the man faked his death so he could live, in hiding, until Holmes solves the case.

My guess is that it is Thorn. But clmcshane's response would also make sense.

One of them ordained Sinead O'Connor, and really, to the Catholic Church, a female Irish pop star is just as strange as a fuzzy German mutant.

As far as Fraction's Uncanny goes, it's the only ongoing he's done at Marvel I've liked enough to buy monthly, and I do enjoy it, but I'm honestly not sure if that's because it's good or because I just really want it to be because I love the characters and the writer, and it's just close enough. I do want one X-Men comic to read every month, and this is fitting the bill well enough.

Oh, and the Nightcrawler priest thing:
1. There were a lot of debates about its merits on the CBR X-Men boards back when I wasted my time there instead of here. Brings me back to my misspent early 20s.
2. I was under the impression that he was supposed to have completed his priesthood training during the one year gap that happened before Claremont took over, even though that's apparently impossible (I'm a lapsed Lutheran, so I know SFA about Catholicism beyond the fact that it has much nicer decorations).

I dunno. I think Fraction's handling it well, at least in the few scenes we've seen him in dealing with religion. It's seems like he's taken on the role for the X-Men because no one else has. I mean, I'd rather he be the swashbuckling, lady romancing Elf who owed Wolverine a million cases of beer, but this is fine too.

And yes, the Black Hole actually exists.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/g/a/2001/01/11/raiderfans.DTL&o=0

(For that matter, whenever they dwell to much on how terrible it is that no more mutants can be born, I want some non-mutant hero to do a call back to the scene of Kitty comparing "mutie" to the N-word. Maybe Luke Cage cocking an eyebrow and saying "Oh, I get it Logan - you've got no problem with humans, you just wouldn't want your kid to BE one, huh?")

I also know how you feel about favorite characters. Mine is Nighcrawler. Let's just say I'm not a fan of the "priest" angle on the character. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Fraction isn't Catholic, or if he is, he doesn't know what's involved in being a priest. My apologies to him if I'm wrong. (Not that I expect people to know anything at all about Catholocism ... but if if you're going to write a character as a member of the clergy, it wouldn't hurt to get it right.)

(By the way, do people actually dress like that to go to Raiders games? When I first saw that panel, I thought "The Black Hole" was, like, something established in a book I hadn't read as some kind of west coast equivalent of the Morlocks. Then I realized one of the people in the picture was Colossus, and I thought he must have been at a GWAR concert or something.)

Dave: Legacy is kind of boring. Fraction's X-Men certainly isn't boring, although it does try my patience.

Good to know, Jamie!

After reading a trade of the the "Bizarre Love Triangle" arc in a used bookstore a few days ago, I've come to realize Fraction's work so far has seriously been on the level of Milligan's run on Uncanny, except with frequently worse art. The plotting is glacial, the characterization is sloppy, and not even my fondness for the franchise and the characters can motivate me to keep buying the series at this point.

Planning a second (and third and fourth!) series of SG, and I hope I can fit it in quite soon.

Then we get Trask introducing a proposition to neuter mutants. These are the kinds of things that always bother me in the Marvel U., because Marvelites want us to believe that the Marvel U. is oh-so-similar to our world, but it’s really not. Can you imagine someone getting in front of cameras and announcing a proposition to neuter Muslims? He’d be laughed off the television.

Yeah, that sounds totally far-fetched.

Sterilization of a group deemed "unfit" for whatever reason is a very real, very ugly part of American history. Fraction is, seemingly, using that history, as ludicrous as it may sound today, as a springboard for his fiction. And, who better than a Trask to propose such legislation in the MU?

Which doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense, at least to me, but then neither do a lot of other things about Diamond.

By the way, despite what those liars at Diamond assured Brian Wegener, that Atomic Robo didn’t come out this week.

The Atomic Robo, you mean? It wasn’t on Diamond’s Shipping List for 4/29. It’s on HeavyInk’s & Graham Crackers’ lists for 5/6.

So, maybe I won't be hitting the store tomorrow.

I will brave the storm that is Free Comic Book Day and hit the local shop tomorrow after work.