(no subject)
For some unfathomable reason, writing comic book reviews seems much easier that writing movie reviews, so here we are:
X-Men 201 'Blinded by the Light, part 2'
Not as good as #200, but still going strong. A decent middle issue, I think. Besides, it's back to the 24-page format, so it stands to reason that there's less packed into it that was in the super special anniversary edition last month.
Iceman and Cannonball get a lot of screentime this time and that's always a plus in my book. Give them some more, Carey. They play off each other perfectly. I love them together.
Another thing I love is that the theory of Mystique-delivered power-sucking crabs got validated. The whole concept is just wonderful. The downside is that it might scare poor Iceman off sex forever. The upside, though, is: 'I can't remember when I've enjoyed an ambush more'.
Oh, and the trick with Iceman exercising the good old suicidal bravery and jumps off the flying plane to jump-start his ice powers in the rush to Cannonball's side (to save his boyfriend, so sweet) must be mentioned. It was neat.
Another plus point goes for involving the X-Men Jugend - I'm all for the teams mingling together - but there's also a minus point for gratuitous mansion destruction. Seriously, how much damage can this building take. Just rebuild it next time with adamantium, vibranium or other made-up super-duper-durable substance and be done with it. Oh, there's also half a minus point for Emma's uppity 'I know all and you are all naught more than childish puppets just there for my never-ending entertainment' shtick, that I've actually more or less accepted as a part of her character, but which still irritates me now and then.
I'm pretty intrigued about the whole target list thing. The actual Sinister's agenda too, naturally. However, with the latter I'll probably have to wait for the final issue or even - the pessimistic option - the next story-arch, and with the former I hope for a more immediate gratification. Like, the next issue.
And I really really hope it all makes sense in the end. I know I've already expressed it quite clearly last time, but it bears repeating. Mike Carey taking over the book was like a breeze of fresh air for the franchise and I've got a lot of faith invested in him. I seriously want him to do well. At least I can be sure that, no matter what, he'll fare better than Peter Milligan, but, frankly, it would be quite hard to turn up worse than Peter Milligan tragic X-Men run (honestly, for what you did to Iceman, Milligan, you are on my shit list forever) so I hope Carey holds himself to some higher standard. Please, Carey, so far everything is going fine, I beg you, don't screw it up.
X-Men First Class 2 'Island X, part 2'
The book continues to be utterly adorable. And I don't just mean the art. Jean and Scott playing battleships. Hank advertising the many advantages of kilts. Bobby worrying about mixing colors in the laundry. X-Men dropping everything and rushing to battle at (fake!)Professor's simple 'X-Men! World in danger! Get to the other hemisphere! Chop-Chop!'. The Bobbyland. Bobby's first instinct in the face of danger being running fast and screaming loudly ('Bobby, don't you have a power, or is my memory going?'). Warren getting fed up with the whole situation and their need-to-know status and throwing a hissy fit. (fake!)Professor responding immediately and griping that the team isn't moving fast enough when The Safety of the Whole World Hangs In Balance. Really, it's all freaking cute. I love this book.
New X-Men 40 'The Quest For Magic, part 4'
The plot moves forward another inch. The kids overpowered Ilyana (go, Anole! - really, I think the lizard kid is my favorite one), Helion and Surge managed to find themselves a ride to the Limbo and X-23 is not dead anymore (a shocker, I know) and-- well, that's it. Ok, so perhaps, I'm exaggerating a bit, some things do actually happen there and, really, there's only so much you can fit into 24 pages, but I'm just quite annoyed that it's already part 4 and, while we got a lot of cool details on the way, the bigger picture practically hasn't changed at all from part 2.
I like this book. Skottie Young's art continues to be inspired, the kids are quickly growing on me (except for Surge, she keeps on getting on my nerves), the supporting cast is finally getting more limelight (go, Anole!), but, since we have to wait a whole month for every issue, I would really like to find that said issue actually makes a step forward. The story arch is hitting the finish line next month, and it really looks like they are things are going to be quite rushed there with so little time left. Yost, you seriously should have paced yourself better.
Cable & Deadpool 43 'With Friends Like These'
The book is fun. Sure the plot hook with Cyclops showing up out of the blue and, for no discernible reason, asking Deadpool to do damage control when Wolverine goes on a 'claw-about' in Hydra headquarters doesn't make a snidge of sense but, hey, it generates buckets of amusement later (not the least one being Deadpool giving Cyclops grief for not being a more attentive daddy) so I'm not going to complain too much.
Deadpool, Bob the Hydra and Weasel with his pet Penetrator make for the most entertaining trio in recent Marvel history. I really hope the apparent Wolverine-inflicted Deadpool decapitation won't put a cramp in this dynamic.
The sample lovelies from the issue: 'I've been keeping up with my blog, but mostly it's just like a diary. After I got kidnapped-- uhm, liberated - Hydra shut down my url link to their server. I can't even e-mail my cousin.' 'An international butt party.' 'Can't hear Bob above the din. I think he's encouraging me to press on. He is brave. Note to self: din is a cool word.' And my favorite: 'But it is Deadpool - he is, like, our fourth or fifth biggest threat. Or sixth.'
Uncanny X-Men 489 'The Extremists, part 3'
I'm not exactly sure why everyone, and especially Xavier, is actually looking for Magneto but I'm willing to give Brubaker a benefit of doubt here. At least the search gives Xavier a chance to exercise his any-means-necessary side, that is my absolute favorite.
I like the interaction between Warpath, Hepzibah and Caliban, the Fantastic Four guest appearances play out quite nicely (and thankfully are left at cameos - I really don't think the full crossover would have worked here), the Morlocks so far are a believable bunch, with credible motives, Storm does annoy me a bit but not as much as I expected (good job, there, Brubaker) and love the twist with Skids turning out to be a O*N*E agent. A good issue.
I'm certainly happy that the whole M-Day thing is finally addressed properly. So far the 'Uncanny' book has skirted around the issue completely. It's high time for some reaction.
As for the 'Endangered Species' strip (part 6, I believe?), I'm afraid I'm actually starting to lose interest in it, especially that the whole Beast/Dark Beast confrontation didn't strike me as particularly convincing and mostly established that Beast is kind of a whiner. I will keep reading it, that's sure, but the perspective of 11 more issues seems a bit disheartening.
.
X-Men 201 'Blinded by the Light, part 2'
Not as good as #200, but still going strong. A decent middle issue, I think. Besides, it's back to the 24-page format, so it stands to reason that there's less packed into it that was in the super special anniversary edition last month.
Iceman and Cannonball get a lot of screentime this time and that's always a plus in my book. Give them some more, Carey. They play off each other perfectly. I love them together.
Another thing I love is that the theory of Mystique-delivered power-sucking crabs got validated. The whole concept is just wonderful. The downside is that it might scare poor Iceman off sex forever. The upside, though, is: 'I can't remember when I've enjoyed an ambush more'.
Oh, and the trick with Iceman exercising the good old suicidal bravery and jumps off the flying plane to jump-start his ice powers in the rush to Cannonball's side (to save his boyfriend, so sweet) must be mentioned. It was neat.
Another plus point goes for involving the X-Men Jugend - I'm all for the teams mingling together - but there's also a minus point for gratuitous mansion destruction. Seriously, how much damage can this building take. Just rebuild it next time with adamantium, vibranium or other made-up super-duper-durable substance and be done with it. Oh, there's also half a minus point for Emma's uppity 'I know all and you are all naught more than childish puppets just there for my never-ending entertainment' shtick, that I've actually more or less accepted as a part of her character, but which still irritates me now and then.
I'm pretty intrigued about the whole target list thing. The actual Sinister's agenda too, naturally. However, with the latter I'll probably have to wait for the final issue or even - the pessimistic option - the next story-arch, and with the former I hope for a more immediate gratification. Like, the next issue.
And I really really hope it all makes sense in the end. I know I've already expressed it quite clearly last time, but it bears repeating. Mike Carey taking over the book was like a breeze of fresh air for the franchise and I've got a lot of faith invested in him. I seriously want him to do well. At least I can be sure that, no matter what, he'll fare better than Peter Milligan, but, frankly, it would be quite hard to turn up worse than Peter Milligan tragic X-Men run (honestly, for what you did to Iceman, Milligan, you are on my shit list forever) so I hope Carey holds himself to some higher standard. Please, Carey, so far everything is going fine, I beg you, don't screw it up.
X-Men First Class 2 'Island X, part 2'
The book continues to be utterly adorable. And I don't just mean the art. Jean and Scott playing battleships. Hank advertising the many advantages of kilts. Bobby worrying about mixing colors in the laundry. X-Men dropping everything and rushing to battle at (fake!)Professor's simple 'X-Men! World in danger! Get to the other hemisphere! Chop-Chop!'. The Bobbyland. Bobby's first instinct in the face of danger being running fast and screaming loudly ('Bobby, don't you have a power, or is my memory going?'). Warren getting fed up with the whole situation and their need-to-know status and throwing a hissy fit. (fake!)Professor responding immediately and griping that the team isn't moving fast enough when The Safety of the Whole World Hangs In Balance. Really, it's all freaking cute. I love this book.
New X-Men 40 'The Quest For Magic, part 4'
The plot moves forward another inch. The kids overpowered Ilyana (go, Anole! - really, I think the lizard kid is my favorite one), Helion and Surge managed to find themselves a ride to the Limbo and X-23 is not dead anymore (a shocker, I know) and-- well, that's it. Ok, so perhaps, I'm exaggerating a bit, some things do actually happen there and, really, there's only so much you can fit into 24 pages, but I'm just quite annoyed that it's already part 4 and, while we got a lot of cool details on the way, the bigger picture practically hasn't changed at all from part 2.
I like this book. Skottie Young's art continues to be inspired, the kids are quickly growing on me (except for Surge, she keeps on getting on my nerves), the supporting cast is finally getting more limelight (go, Anole!), but, since we have to wait a whole month for every issue, I would really like to find that said issue actually makes a step forward. The story arch is hitting the finish line next month, and it really looks like they are things are going to be quite rushed there with so little time left. Yost, you seriously should have paced yourself better.
Cable & Deadpool 43 'With Friends Like These'
The book is fun. Sure the plot hook with Cyclops showing up out of the blue and, for no discernible reason, asking Deadpool to do damage control when Wolverine goes on a 'claw-about' in Hydra headquarters doesn't make a snidge of sense but, hey, it generates buckets of amusement later (not the least one being Deadpool giving Cyclops grief for not being a more attentive daddy) so I'm not going to complain too much.
Deadpool, Bob the Hydra and Weasel with his pet Penetrator make for the most entertaining trio in recent Marvel history. I really hope the apparent Wolverine-inflicted Deadpool decapitation won't put a cramp in this dynamic.
The sample lovelies from the issue: 'I've been keeping up with my blog, but mostly it's just like a diary. After I got kidnapped-- uhm, liberated - Hydra shut down my url link to their server. I can't even e-mail my cousin.' 'An international butt party.' 'Can't hear Bob above the din. I think he's encouraging me to press on. He is brave. Note to self: din is a cool word.' And my favorite: 'But it is Deadpool - he is, like, our fourth or fifth biggest threat. Or sixth.'
Uncanny X-Men 489 'The Extremists, part 3'
I'm not exactly sure why everyone, and especially Xavier, is actually looking for Magneto but I'm willing to give Brubaker a benefit of doubt here. At least the search gives Xavier a chance to exercise his any-means-necessary side, that is my absolute favorite.
I like the interaction between Warpath, Hepzibah and Caliban, the Fantastic Four guest appearances play out quite nicely (and thankfully are left at cameos - I really don't think the full crossover would have worked here), the Morlocks so far are a believable bunch, with credible motives, Storm does annoy me a bit but not as much as I expected (good job, there, Brubaker) and love the twist with Skids turning out to be a O*N*E agent. A good issue.
I'm certainly happy that the whole M-Day thing is finally addressed properly. So far the 'Uncanny' book has skirted around the issue completely. It's high time for some reaction.
As for the 'Endangered Species' strip (part 6, I believe?), I'm afraid I'm actually starting to lose interest in it, especially that the whole Beast/Dark Beast confrontation didn't strike me as particularly convincing and mostly established that Beast is kind of a whiner. I will keep reading it, that's sure, but the perspective of 11 more issues seems a bit disheartening.
.