Comic Books, part 2

[Nephrite]

Weren't there such collars in the days before HoM?

Well, the warden speaks like it's a new thing. Who the heck knows.

Not to mention that it clashes with Cyke's prison in Uncanny Avengers - so, what? He was kidnapped from SHIELD by someone? Or will they even bother solving that continuity issue?

His helmet is different from artist to artist. Prison is the least of our worries. Maybe the ruby quartz room is just the place where Avengers come to talk shit to Cyclops.

Also getting worried about Eisma's art. It's not so much that he's a bad artist, but he's very much a One Figure One Face kinda guy when it comes to women in MG. There've been a few variations and the (original) three girls have different faces, but... eh.

He's not a good artist either. He's better than that DeviantArt guy doing Hawkgirl porn, but not by much. I mean storytelling isn't the best and his perspective needs work. Latest issue has a character hanging from a ceiling in a hallway by spreading her legs so she's using the opposing walls as support. But there's another character walking down that hallway, and by her size you can tell that there can be like 3 more people standing next to her in that hallway. So either it's one asymmetrical hallway, or the walking character is a hobbit, or the girl on the ceiling is a giant.

And where did that giant stairway on the temple come from?

I will give him points for fashion sense. Most artists are like 2 decades behind on fashion. He is only 7-10 years.

Put me in the WTF category of Morning Glories. I like the book, but I don't get the rave reviews anymore. It's be[en] about two years and it might be time for the book to start making more sense.

If this was a TV show we'd be like the 5 episode. It is moving too slow. Like the last issue has the characters walking through the woods for like half an issue talking a lot, but not really telling anything. This could've been done in 3-4 pages max. Maybe cut down on the cinematic widescreen panels (you are not Bryan Hitch) and get a move on.

This thing is moving so slowly and my attention span ain't what it used to be. I keep forgetting characters. Like the whole Jin/Hisao thing. I have to reread their origin issue every time they appear in the book. There was like a scientist that appeared in an early issue. I don't think we ever saw her again. Then again she looks exactly like the headmistress, so who knows?

I just figured that the character that tries to escape in issue #1 is the same one that gets killed in issue #20. But is still alive in #22.

I need a flowchart for this thing.

Also, they killed like the most interesting character next to Ike a few issues back and that burned some of my good will.

I'm thinking of waiting and reading this in larger chunks.

The big thing is how many people suffered because of the Scarlet Witch? It just seems like if you are going to lock up Cyke you need stash her off world in a tight cell?

It's funny that she's allowed redemption because Hawkeye magically returned to life....which we know Xavier will do.

The Scarlet Witch thing isn't really about how many people she killed. If any. She committed a cultural genocide. If mutants are a stand in for minorities imagine if she said: "No more black people." And everybody except Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the 90's Chicago Bulls got bleached. I bet some people would be pissed.

And even in Uncanny Avengers she doesn't seem to get it. She's all "why does it matter if new mutants are born?" Cause when you are on the brink of extinction it matters to you.

It's just shitty characterization.

I don't think she should go to prison, but neither should Cyclops. It's just that Captain America said in Children's Crusade that Wanda is going to have to answer for what she did. And unless he meant that she's gonna get a job on the Avengers 5 minutes later, he lied.

I mean we can talk about this forever. Joe Quesada wanted mutants gone and for that reason she said those words. As unnatural as they seemed then and still seem now. And Cyclops needs to be the villain now and logic be damned.

I think it's amusing how Scott gave up on cohabitation to live on "Magneto Island", according to Alex, which I guess is the Marvel reinterpretation of how Utopia came about. What's funny is that they had a whole event based around defending it from Nimrod, not more than 2 years ago. At the time people celebrated Scott for "saving his people", though apparently now he's the "delusional egoist"?

Havok was so full of shit in that scene. I mean everybody talks about Xavier's dream like it's something they have to follow like the scripture. God forbid for children to make their own way in the world. It's his way or you get snark from assholes in a room with shitty Feng shui.

And honestly having a dream is fine and dandy when there's millions of mutants around. You know, when there's a mutant shopping channel on cable and stuff. But when you drop to 198, screw the dream and get some bulletproof vests. I mean, even huddling on Utopia seems like a bad idea. A well placed bomb (like the one Wolverine planted for some dumb reason) could take out half of them.

[red snow]

The Scarlet Witch thing isn't really about how many people she killed. If any. She committed a cultural genocide. If mutants are a stand in for minorities imagine if she said: "No more black people." And everybody except Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the 90's Chicago Bulls got bleached. I bet some people would be pissed.

And even in Uncanny Avengers she doesn't seem to get it. She's all "why does it matter if new mutants are born?" Cause when you are on the brink of extinction it matters to you.

That is a very good analogy. It does make Scarlet witches comment sounfd even worse from that perspective. I

[haLobEnder]

He's not a good artist either. He's better than that DeviantArt guy doing Hawkgirl porn, but not by much. I mean storytelling isn't the best and his perspective needs work. Latest issue has a character hanging from a ceiling in a hallway by spreading her legs so she's using the opposing walls as support. But there's another character walking down that hallway, and by her size you can tell that there can be like 3 more people standing next to her in that hallway. So either it's one asymmetrical hallway, or the walking character is a hobbit, or the girl on the ceiling is a giant.

And where did that giant stairway on the temple come from?

I'm sort of surprised Spencer didn't get Rodin Esquejo to do the interiors as well as the covers -- he's doing an amazing job on Mind the Gap right now.

This thing is moving so slowly and my attention span ain't what it used to be. I keep forgetting characters. Like the whole Jin/Hisao thing. I have to reread their origin issue every time they appear in the book. There was like a scientist that appeared in an early issue. I don't think we ever saw her again. Then again she looks exactly like the headmistress, so who knows?

I just figured that the character that tries to escape in issue #1 is the same one that gets killed in issue #20. But is still alive in #22.

I need a flowchart for this thing.

That's my big problem with Eisma's art. Zoe, looks the same as olive toned, straight dark haired girl #1, looks the same as olive toned, straight dark haired girl #2, so on and so on. There have been entire scenes in the series where I'm not exactly sure if I'm supposed to recognize the characters involved or not -- case and point, I didn't make the connection between the girl Hunter sees on the TV in his mom's hospital room and the girl leading the group that saves Hunter's life at the end of that same issue.

Oh, which brings me to the other big problem with Eisma's art. It seems like characters rapidly age and deage at a moments notice. I had no idea that the group Hunter encounters in the woods were supposed to be fellow students, as they looked much older. The one guy looked like adult version of Hunter to me... I thought we were seeing future characters much like we've seen future Jade.

I'm thinking of waiting and reading this in larger chunks.

Join the club. I'm switching to trades as of this most recent arc.

Havok was so full of shit in that scene. I mean everybody talks about Xavier's dream like it's something they have to follow like the scripture. God forbid for children to make their own way in the world. It's his way or you get snark from assholes in a room with shitty Feng shui.

And honestly having a dream is fine and dandy when there's millions of mutants around. You know, when there's a mutant shopping channel on cable and stuff. But when you drop to 198, screw the dream and get some bulletproof vests. I mean, even huddling on Utopia seems like a bad idea. A well placed bomb (like the one Wolverine planted for some dumb reason) could take out half of them.

Am the only one who actually likes Xavier? Before they retconned all this morally-dubious shit into his back history I mean. I liked there being a big vision behind the X-Men and someone there to steer the group towards that goal. All the truly deplorable things that Xavier has done --being a shit father aside-- just seems to comes from poor handling of the character in the last 10-15 years.

[Sci-2]

I like Xavier as well. I thought some of the [questionable] stuff they had him do was kinda corny, and deviated from the character.

I try to not think of X-men as minorities [anymore], as then the point of AvX is minorities should never question their steroid pumped Aryan messiah, for whom reality and memory rewrite themselves so Cap can be right about everything.

[Winterfell is Burning]

The Scarlet Witch thing isn't really about how many people she killed. If any. She committed a cultural genocide. If mutants are a stand in for minorities imagine if she said: "No more black people." And everybody except Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and the 90's Chicago Bulls got bleached. I bet some people would be pissed.

That, if the effect of this was having the KKK numbers reach all time high and they begin to round up and kill the last black guys around (which probably would happen in real life too).

Or, to use a comic book analogy: if Wanda said "no more Spidey", with Peter losing his powers, and one week later Osborn or Octopus kills him because he can't fight back, would Wanda be responsible? Of course she would. She knew, or should know, this kinda crap would happen.

AoA Jean still has the Phoenix, and Hope has been showing signs of Phoenix-ness since she came back to the present. Scott may have been betting on faith, but there was a point to it. In fact, all the signs in the X-books, IIRC, made us believe that the mutant race would be returned to the world via Hope.

And Rachel successfuly held the Phoenix for a long time. The event only makes sense if you pretend none of the Phoenix stories except DPS ever happened, and even then, that Jean went Dark Phoenix on her own, nothing to do with the Hellfire Club.

[Nephrite]

I didn't make the connection between the girl Hunter sees on the TV in his mom's hospital room and the girl leading the group that saves Hunter's life at the end of that same issue.

I got that from an interview.

Join the club. I'm switching to trades as of this most recent arc.

First you have to figure out where the arc ends. :D

I try to not think of X-men as minorities [anymore], as then the point of AvX is minorities should never question their steroid pumped Aryan messiah, for whom reality and memory rewrite themselves so Cap can be right about everything.

Hey, man. Of course the white man comes and saves them from themselves. It's a burden, but someone's gotta do it.

[haLobEnder]

First you have to figure out where the arc ends. :D

I assume it ends where vol. 3 ('P.E.') ends... at least that's where I'm picking it up from.

I agree that it's more than time for Spencer to start resolving some of the mysteries of the series, preferably in the book itself. At this point I can't even say if I'm enjoying the series because I don't even know what the book is about. He keeps tossing new elements into the mix --character deaths, militant youth groups, a whole new group of kids-- without properly resolving any of the old stuff. All that is fine if you know what you're doing, but I can't help but feel that much like Lost, all this mystery is just covering up for what will ultimately be a pretty hokey premise.

[Nephrite]

I assume it ends where vol. 3 ('P.E.') ends... at least that's where I'm picking it up from.

I agree that it's more than time for Spencer to start resolving some of the mysteries of the series, preferably in the book itself. At this point I can't even say if I'm enjoying the series because I don't even know what the book is about. He keeps tossing new elements into the mix --character deaths, militant youth groups, a whole new group of kids-- without properly resolving any of the old stuff. All that is fine if you know what you're doing, but I can't help but feel that much like Lost, all this mystery is just covering up for what will ultimately be a pretty hokey premise.

Well, there's time travel. Speaking of which, isn't miss Hodge now caught in a time-loop or something? She goes back in time with Casey, only to return like a week earlier which has to result in going back again and again and again...

Spencer said that the first season of the book is coming to a close in issue #25. So they have me till then. After that I'm back when issue #50 hits the stands.

[Sci-2]

Over on Planewalker someone suggested Forming, from one of the dudes who makes Adventure Time.

Interesting comic.

[Nephrite]

Spoilers

Scot did what now?

Well, now they are just making crap up.

Also, horrible dialogue, Bendis.

[Lady Octarina]

Am the only one who actually likes Xavier? Before they retconned all this morally-dubious shit into his back history I mean. I liked there being a big vision behind the X-Men and someone there to steer the group towards that goal. All the truly deplorable things that Xavier has done --being a shit father aside-- just seems to comes from poor handling of the character in the last 10-15 years.

I never liked Xavier; I always thought Magneto was right, and Xavier was so blasé that I could never bring myself to try and change my mind about him. Not to mention that he looked kind of creepy in the 90's. Anyway, I did like Cyclops when Xavier was in charge - I'm starting to think I just can't bring myself to like the main leader of the X-Men. Ever. Except on the rare occasions it's Storm, and I'm just indifferent to Wolverine ^.^

[Winterfell is Burning]

Am the only one who actually likes Xavier? Before they retconned all this morally-dubious shit into his back history I mean. I liked there being a big vision behind the X-Men and someone there to steer the group towards that goal. All the truly deplorable things that Xavier has done --being a shit father aside-- just seems to comes from poor handling of the character in the last 10-15 years.

Xavier was doing shady, creepy things back in the 60's- having the Vanisher frozen, mind-wiping people left and right, going into their students minds without permission every other issue, faking his death and not bothering telling anyone, and so on. The "saint Chuck" only came much later.

And the antipathy towards the characters comes from the fact that his role as grand leader of the X-men was outdated- even in the 60's, you already had stories about the X-men out growing him, and it came up again in the DPS. He could have other roles- maybe a political leader, maybe a contact in SHIELD, but they never bothered, so of course he became irrelevant and annoying.

[Sci-2]

Flipped through Rex Mundi at Barnes - anyone reading this? I feel like someone mentioned a ways back?