Been quite frustrated with comics lately so Im a bit behind on these reviews as Ive just not had the energy. Plus Im advance reading about 4 novels from new authors and giving assessments so Ive been in other worlds lately lol. But here goes:
Xmen 25- decent issue. not good art though. Im kind of stuck reserving judgement for the end of the arc.
Spiderman and the Xmen 2- please dont buy this. I'll leave it at that.
All new Xmen 37- Ehhh! Im not a fan of the idea of Emma and Jean being friends/teacher-student/mentor-pupil. I did like the training Emma was providing though. Thats the teaching aspect that I like that just shows how much of her character is wasted as Scotts carry around puppy-dog and eye candy. Just wish this was Emma training another telepath, this would have been cool if this was here teaching someone like Hope (when she first returned) how to use TK or go further with Hellion or anyone else but Jean. By the way I read this issue in the store and didnt buy.
Uncanny Xmen 32- Let me preface everything Im about to say with this admission: Im just really ready for this run to be over. Its not really much of anything that Bendis can do to salvage this thing at this point in my opinion. Just... Goodbye!! And I hope to never see you on an X-book again.
This was actually one of the better issues of the run in that Bendis chose to do what he does best in having an issue that was basically all dialogue. However i have to point out that Im not sure he can really take credit for this as it seems that he just skimmed the message boards and read all the talking points, post and comments criticising his entire run and threw it all into this issue. Its kind of interesting for those who love to defend him and uphold the idea that Bendis and Brevoort and the people at the X-offices are above criticism and that they have such a handle on everything, that one the issues that people seemed to like the best out of his run is inspired by all the fan criticism. Considering how he likes to troll the fans, this is quite interesting. I mean you have Scott admitting that he is partly responsible for xavier's death. Then Emma finally speaks and her and Havok are asking the same things as far as what the Mutant revolution is and what it's all about- which funny enough is the question on every x-board when it comes to Uncanny. Emma is basically talking about how she wasted her life- which is Bendis speak for living in Scott's shadow. and for some here I know they were particularly tickled with the echo of their sentiment toward Scott/Emma when Alex cheered that Scott is "free!!", which is interesting the thing that @hopesummersforthefuture and @time as well as others have been feeling about Scott being with Emma. This issue was only good because it highlights all the bullshit he's tried to pull over on us x-fans and the things we called him on.
Now for the inaccuracies.... Did Scott and Alex really watch their mother get killed in front of them? No. Not really. Not saying this was meant to be taken literally but sometimes I wonder if Bendis even knows. I know.. i know Im probably nitpicking but Bendis acts like...whatever. Seems to me a more accurate statement would have been to say that they were forced to jump out of a plane that was being shot down with their parents still in it. Then Emma, now she's begging Scott? Hmmm.... that looks pathetic and feels somewhat out of her character, the kids throwing a temper tantrum looks pathetic, are they really that broken up about Professor Scott? Wow when did that happen and again we saw a waste of page space with Goldballs crapping his pants and Scott playing dodgeball and getting knocked out, and then having to be healed from a knockout really- and dont tell a doodoo ball just killed him either because thats an even worse thought. Again pathetic, as is Scott falling on his sword and saying he's giving up. So everyone comes out looking pathetic now?
Amazing Xmen 18- I dont know what it is about this issue but it felt sort of anti-climactic and honestly a bit of a letdown. It was bascially reflection time and comedy hour and while some stuff was funny( love the Iceman line with Pixie), you would think that the comic relief is being taken to an extreme lately and after so many years Bobby would tone down a little 9coincidentally this is why I loved Liu's arc with iceman at the end of her run)But everybody sitting on a rock doing nothing just because Wolver.. um.. Storm decided she was tired all of a sudden, was not in my opinion very believable and just made it seem like we were watching storytime with Storm and her little minions. And did it really end, I know the issue said "Conclusion" but the story is still going on right? I guess it was just to show who the Juggernaut would be huh? I know that breakingdown and being tired of being a superhero could be entirely believable but to me its like being in the ring as a boxer, during the fight when you are getting punched in the face, you dont self-reflect on how tired you are while its happening to you, thats when you get killed in the ring. I mean really if Storm is that tired then pull a Scott Summers after the Phoenix stuff back in the day and go off and get on somebodies ship and then turn up married or whatever.
Storm 9- Seemed like a team-up filler issue. But Im ok with the one-shot. A one issue story and resolution is great for someone like me who is suffering from event and unnecessarily long story arc fatigue.
Magneto 16- This is hands down the best X-book in my opinion. Quite a bit of intrigue here and just when somethings get resolved more happens. I do agree with @koays about the lack of build up, though I think that could be easily rectified in a reflections/flashback/untold story type of issue. Still wondering about Briar Raleigh though. Wouldn't be cool if she was revealed to be someone audtioning for the role of Queen of a new Hellfire Club, by using/controlling Magneto somewhat? Or what if Briar is just revealed to be Mystique all along in disguise or even Maddie Pryor (you know the red hair and all) with some type of plot. Lol. Who knows this guy has kept me guessing about most things so just throwing stuff out there. I literally cant wait for each issue of this book.
All new Xmen 39- Skimmed this in the store, didnt buy it and glad I didnt waste my money. Yet another cosmic event and still the focus is on Teen Jean. Now she's the only one that can talk to others and get them straight, really? With Kitty there and Storm and others including the younger Beast who should be able to talk to his older self right? Of course not its all about Teenie. What a suprise this series is not living up to its potential! And now they team up with GOTG which is getting pushed down the x-fans throats all of a sudden... yeah... no thanks.
Wolverines- I'm behind on the last 3 issues and have to catch up. Dont know how well this book is doing. Its jumping around quite a bit and the development with Fang now coming and taking everybody one by one on a Wolverine annual nature walk is quite ridiculous in my opinion. It feel slike an interuption to regularly scheduled programming. Lets just get back to the story and stop with this random Shiar showing up to hangout with Logan, makes no sense to me. I thought the weekly format could work in terms of telling a different chapter of a story each week sort of like a weekly tv drama or a novel. It seems this weekly is just trying out a bunch of ideas and throwing things out there to tell stories from multiple perspectives, which is fine, but it lacks cohesion in my opinion. I think the cast may be a little too large and the characters are presented a bit too shallowly as kill machines rather than delving into the complexities, that make them interesting and that obviousy there's room to tell such stories being that its a weekly. With a weekly boook if each month ends up being a story arc then that would be great.
For just strictly speculation I came across an article with an interview of Remender talking about post Secret Wars. Here's a quote of something he said: "I'm working on the big post-'Secret Wars' project right now, and it allows me to give readers a very clear and true starting point with a beloved franchise," Remender said. "It enables me to pick and choose what I think are the most integral and exciting aspects of that property. Coming out of the other end of 'Secret Wars,' I'll have the opportunity to do things in a much cleaner fashion. "
Could he be the next Xmen flagship writer?
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