X-Men: Colossus: Bloodline

X-Men: Miniseries

by David Hine, Jorge Lucas (Illustrator)

From the pages of Astonishing X-Men! Colossus has returned from the dead, only to find his relatives are being killed in his homeland! Peter must travel to Russia to face a shadowy villain whose origin lies in Peter's past. Will this foe lead Colossus down the path of darkness, and will defeating him cost Peter his soul?! Collects X-Men: Colossus Bloodline #1-5.

Genres: Comics, Marvel, Graphic Novels, X Men, Superheroes, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Jiro Dreams of Suchy]

I would give this 4 stars IF the story was a little more important, which in the x-men world is changing constantly but this one is certainly a comic that most readers could skip and never miss any real crucial material.

Colossus finds out that he is a descendant of Rasputin and his family has inherited his madness through their bloodline (which very well may have been some form of mutation). Mr. Sinister is there to kill off the bloodline because he was the one who helped old Rasputin spread his bloodline so far and wide to develop something more.

The setting is great, Russia is shown to be a pretty desolate and haunting place with its own charm. The art is nice and reminds me of a marvel take on Mignola, where the characters are crisp but the shadows are all turned up to like 100. Colossus inherited depression is a great touch that really makes his character (and family) feel more real, it felt like a great way to illustrate the way family pain can drip down through the blood.

If you are an X-men fan this is a great read and does make expand the character of colossus with great depth, but if you aren’t a dedicated X-men fan you probably don’t need to read this.

[Alex E]

Colossus is related to... Rasputin?!??!

yep, you read that right. So this a graphic novel focused on Colossus solely, as he goes back to Russia to help his cousin, who calls him to help her with a murder within the family. From there its revealed that everyone of Colossus' family has a small part of Rasputin's soul within them. So when one dies, the little bit goes into the remaining lineage. Sinister plots to kill all of the family in order for Rasputin to become whole again and come back to life - so to speak. It's pretty convoluted and completely unbelievable, but most things are when dealing with Rasputin in general.

I think using Rasputin as a villain or at least an antagonist of sorts is a bit over used nowadays. However, it was interesting to see how the legend of Rasputin is woven into Marvel history. And also, Colossus' brother makes a comeback and provides a solution to the whole ordeal - somewhat redeeming himself for previous villainous behavior.

Ultimately the book is ok. I wouldn't say its terrible but I wouldn't re-read it. Recommended for fans of Colossus, who wants to delve deeper into his backstory.

[Fugo Feedback]

Historia demasiado alargada y mal llevada para resultar placentera. La idea de relacionar a "Rasputín el monje loco" con Coloso de los X-Men no es mala pero está poco lograda y no resulta muy convincente. El desarrollo de los acontecimientos es un poco atolondrado y sólo cuando se narran secuencias del pasado la narrativa resulta funcional. En el apartado gráfico, la labor de Jorge Lucas apenas cumple, y está lleno de personajes, escenarios (fotos mínima y pésimamente retocadas) y armados de página que van de lo aceptable a lo netamente malo. La inexpresividad de sus personajes hace que los pocos momentos emotivos del comic no sean tales. Tampoco ayuda que el dibujo contradiga el guión (en una escena un personaje dice "y luego salió toda manchada con sangre" y vemos que está con el vestido blanco y limpito como tres viñetas atrás). Si algún día la releo, procuraré esforzarme por resaltar con más benevolencia los pros y contras, pero no creo que eso pase ni a corto ni a mediano plazo.

[C]

Continuing the (sometimes) great x-read of 2017...

Since I am at the very tail end of 2017 and I haven't updated my reading in quite a while so I am "cheating" and just kind of writing one review for all of the volumes that I have read so that I can get them up by the end of the year.

The aftermath of M day has been mixed to say the least. There were a few high points (Cable and Deadpool, the 198, the beginning of the new X-factor series... and more than a fair share of low points (the new Excalibur, Colossus, Deadly Genesis...). It certainly has not come across as a well-orchestrated and planned out event at this point. (And the plot armor of the main characters primarily being the ones that retained their powers is a bit ridiculous, but that is to be expected.)

At any rate, my x-read of 2017 is going to extend into 2018 since I am still not close to catching up. It may have to slow down in velocity a bit so that I can do a bit more "real" reading but the slog shall continue...

[Brad]

This follows the format of X-Men solo miniseries like Iceman or Kitty Pryde: Colossus starts feeling that unexplainable ennui, goes back to his home (thus tapping into Chris Claremont's genius multi-cultural X-Men from 30 years ago), and confronts enemies old and new. Colossus has a bigger mutant family than most X-Men--the Rasputin family comes in behind the Summers and Guthrie family. David Hine decides to bring in that other Rasputin because, hey, same last name. The history and family bits are interesting, though the connections to Russian history past (murderous royalty!) and present (murdering journalists!) are strained.

[Jon]

Meh, it was OK. Kind of a weird story. Just yesterday I was actually talking to my friend about how hackey it is for people to use Rasputin and the Romanovs as plot poionts. Try something original next time instead of dredging up the same 2 Russian historical figures. Might as well have used Hitler to make it really fresh and unique. Sorry to be a hater, I think this story just caught me at the wrong time. I also have food poisoning and that might explain some of my grumpy review.

[Lillian Francis]

I'm not quite sure what to say about this. I enjoyed bits but the art was meh and the story strange.

[cardulelia carduelis]

A fun back story for colossus to explain his rage blackouts. He's actually haunted by the soul of Rasputin! And who has been growing in power recently as his horcruxed soul was split amongst his ancestors and.. someone has been killing the children and with each death his presence concentrates.

Sinister has been killing the children it turns out, following the path he started in the Royal Society and that Apocalypse reinforced within him. So back to Russia we go.

I enjoyed this, it was very silly but short. It probably offended a lot of students of history and Russians but mercifully being neither of those I was able to take it at its campy face value.

[Emmett]

4.5 rounded down.

I really enjoyed this storyline. Colossus has always been my favorite X-men character [not including the women of the team], so I appreciated getting some more of his family backstory. I loved how one of my favorite villains was tied in, as well as a real-life historical figure- in a way I felt was quite effective. The art was also suitably dark/creepy to fit the tale.

Hey, Marvel- more Colossus, please? 🥺

[Honza Sláma]

Revealing Colossus' family line to be tied to Rasputin isn't exactly the most original twist, but Hine executes the idea well enough to keep it engaging. The story has a few solid moments and adds some flavor to Colossus' background without fundamentally changing the character. Worth a read if you're a fan of Piotr, but far from essential.

[Klaus]

Maybe a bit silly in ways but also insightful in other ways. It progresses some important character development and has some surprises

[Brian Snow]

Colossus is consistently one of the most underrate heroes in Marvel and this storyline is absolutely great giving him some more much needed development.

[Bruce Bean]

I absolutely loved this arc!

[M]

David Hine explores the past of Russian X-Man Colossus in this miniseries. Having recently returned from the dead, Peter Rasputin is having trouble sleeping. A phone call from a cousin sends the Russian on a trek to his old stomping grounds, helping solve a murder mystery. Members of the Rasputin bloodline are being systematically killed in a bid to restore the power of the mad monk into being. Forced to confront not only his own demons, but those in the physical form of Sinister and Mikhail, Peter must overcome his past to insure his future. While Hine offers an intriguing premise, the execution falls apart almost immediately. The idea that Rasputin was a mutant would would be reconstituted in his last surviving relation requires quite the suspension of disbelief. Add in the fact that the mystery assassin is a famous X-Men foe who is just seeking more power does a disservice to the character. Ideally, Sinister would have been a behind-the-scenes puppet master as opposed to a hand-on killer. Finally, the notion that the Rasputin bloodline would be eliminated so quickly - and leave the most powerful members standing - is just preposterous. As a Colossus fan, I wanted to enjoy a feature on the armored X-Man; instead, I needed to be very thick-skinned in order to survive this book.

[Rosa]

This graphic novel was an incredible weaving of history into a superhero's past. Colossus find's out that him and his kin are all part of Rasputin's bloodline. Not only is he genetically related but Rasputin used his power to actually hide a part of his soul in each of his descendents. As the family grows larger the soul weakens, as the family gets smaller Rasputin takes more control. He tries to drive family members to commit suicide so that when there is only one member left, he will be able to be reborn in that persons body. It is gut wrenching to see the pain that Colossus and his family members have had to deal with due to Rasputin's attempt to make them commit suicide. What a clever and creative storyline.

[Mitchell Friedman]

Not a bad story but nothing fantastic. But still better than I was expecting. I've never really bit a fan of Piotr Rasputin. Never even considered the importance of his last name. But actually parts of his back-story made some sense. Not actually all that familiar with Sinister - I only ran into Nathaniel Essex recently. I did kind of like Piotr's self-portrait however - which made a lot more sense after this book. Anyway, the story was another opportunity for Kitty to appear at least in passing.

[Roman Colombo]

The one thing this could have used more of...was Colossus. I love Colossus. He's one of the best X-Men characters, but at times, it felt like this story was more about Sinister than Piotr. Even though it was a pretty cool story, nonetheless. And the art was fantastic. Some of it looked like Ditko goodness. I tried adding it...I don't get how. Sorry.

[Michael]

Being a huge fan of Colossus since I was a teenager ( I still retain my geeky nature) I found this story just to weird. Peters past is written and made up in a silly manner, I say boo. On the otherhand, it was nice to see a book about Colossus, that took how many years?

[James Hyman]

Really interesting, I'd read about this before, but it's so much better actually in the reality. Like you get a real sense for Piotr's PTSD over his resurrection and the insanity of a lot of other characters.

[J.]

Who spilled this BPRD plotline all over my X-Men comic?

Fairly enjoyable, if sort of sloppy, as a stand-alone story, but wreaks havoc on chronology and history.

[Angel]

I will be posting a small review later in my blog.

[Katy]

Weird bullshit horror pregnancy rubbish. What a waste of Pete.

[Dony Grayman]

Edición española, miniserie de Colossus recopilada en un solo tomo. No se especifica colección, pero el formato coincide con la que luego sería nombrada "Héroes Marvel".

[Patrick]

R-man!!! The story weaves real history with X-men with varying degrees of credulity, but... R-man!!!!!!

[ReyReyPod]

A good twist on the history of Rasputin, and the ties to Colossus' family

[Kapitol Tank]

5 capítulos para algo que se podría haber contado en un anual de la vieja usanza.