Comics Phase Fourteen

[Red Tiger]

8 hours ago, Nictarion said:

 

So I’m hearing this was pretty good? I really wasn’t planning on buying all the non-Hickman X titles, but I’m already curious...

Eh, im with Winterfell on this. I didn't care for it too much, Iceman is still just a gay stereotype, Storm is not very interesting, we're not seeing the best of Emma. It seems like it's just gonna be the Kate Pryde show.

[red snow]

34 minutes ago, Red Tiger said:

Eh, im with Winterfell on this. I didn't care for it too much, Iceman is still just a gay stereotype, Storm is not very interesting, we're not seeing the best of Emma. It seems like it's just gonna be the Kate Pryde show.

If the first issue is anything to go by it's definitely the kitty/kate pryde show. That said it's the most entertaining she's been in a while. I think Bishop may have an interesting storyline but they barely scratched the surface. For me it all depends on how they play the mutant rescue/smuggler angle as well as developing why Kitty can't use Krakoa teleportation.

So, is adult Iceman openly Gay now? Or Bi? I know there was that iffy storyline where Jean outed young Iceman (which seemed a shitty move for a telepath) but never read far enough to see what the implications were for the older Iceman. X-men continuity is complicated!

I'm also finding it tenuous to believe Xavier had an up to date memory back-up of everyone. Pyro for example. Also, the more i think about it the more I feel like one of the resurrection 5 should have been a brand new mutant. Otherwise I'm still left wondering why they waited until now to do the whole dawn of X (besides it just being the point where Hickman came on board). Also I'm still waiting for these mutants to be very high on the anti-mutant hit list. Although I wouldn't put it past Xavier to have back-ups ready to go for the five as they are too integral to the new scheme.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Iceman is openly gay for a while. 

Pyro is a curious case since he died in the 90's, in the stupid mutant AIDS story, then was used a few years ago because writers and editors forgot that he was dead. 

Also, pretty much every dead character was resurrected temporarily in Necrosha, so they have an easy out there for everyone.

[red snow]

6 hours ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

Iceman is openly gay for a while. 

Pyro is a curious case since he died in the 90's, in the stupid mutant AIDS story, then was used a few years ago because writers and editors forgot that he was dead. 

Also, pretty much every dead character was resurrected temporarily in Necrosha, so they have an easy out there for everyone.

I was still an avid reader back when pyro first died.

So Xavier maybe downloaded a copy while necrosha was happening.

I suspect Hickman is going to find it hard to resist not having multiple wolverines with the new set up given how it's been a ling running joke it's the only way he could be on so many teams.

I've been reading saga of the swamp thing and it really is the essential reading everyone says it is. I'm surprised by how much the Sandman series emulates it.

Also working my way through the wild storm. It's impressive how Ellis is weaving the whole of the wildstorm universe into a cohesive single narrative. It's probably just my own bias but I'm loving how the authority cast are being worked in. Shame it's so slow as to be impossible to read in monthly installments for me.

[Red Tiger]

Yeh gawds, the Marvel site is horrible.

 

https://i.imgtc.ws/0FMZ0sL.png

I hope Excalibur and X-Force are better.

[red snow]

Trying to get into habit of reading comics on the day rather than accidentally winding up just collecting most of them. Some solid efforts from DC Black label. Last God #1 was a bit GOT/conan with some nice art and a bit of a change from superheroes. Joker:killer smile was OK (the woodrue joke was the highlight for me) - definitely better than the Harley quinn black label book. Hellblazer was very good - I'm familiar with the character but never read his main series so this was a great introduction and I'll be checking out the new series next month. Reminds me I need to catch up on some of the other Sandman universe books.

Dark Universe: Death of superman was a weird mix of old school and grimdark. I guess there was an argument for why Superman doesn't use his power to permanently tackle humanity's problems in there but it's subtle.  Not really my cup of tea.

I didn't like Excalibur at all - it's main crime was being dull/tedious. I've never been a fan of the otherworld and captain Britain mythology and this title is as much about that as it is Krakoa. Feels like it's been made to fit in with Dawn of X. I also really dislike Apocalypse as a sorcerer (guess my bias to the character was when he was all celestial tech) and the character is nowhere near as cool as the way Hickman was depicting him. And what's with everyone wanting new names of sudden? Kitty, Psylocke and now Apocalypse. I guess it's good for my wallet that there's already one Dawn of X book I can give up on. Hopefully New mutants will be stronger as it's co-written by Hickman.

I still have Silver Surfer and Chrononauts to check out.

 

[Red Tiger]

I agree with you guys on multiple books. So far im not impressed with X-men, Marauders or Excalibur. I believe things will pick up eventually, but im not a fan of any of the teams right now.

I have hope for X-men, I think Excalibur has potential, but I have almost no hope for Marauders.

Also Kitty wants a new name? I don't think it's odd that a grown ass woman doesn't want to be called "Kitty" anymore.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Well, X-men is a rotating roster, so no chance of getting stuck with a cast you think it's boring for too long.

I thought Excalibur had potential, and I liked X-men, particularly the idea to begin with the exact opposite of you'd expect from a first issue.

I'll give Marauders a shot because they look like they'll move to more interesting things, particularly Emma's story.

That said, Psylocke's name change is a cynical move- they finally realized that keeping Betsy in an Asian body doesn't look good, but since the look it's very popular, they gave it and the name to the character  that's actually Asian.

 

[red snow]

10 hours ago, Red Tiger said:

I agree with you guys on multiple books. So far im not impressed with X-men, Marauders or Excalibur. I believe things will pick up eventually, but im not a fan of any of the teams right now.

I have hope for X-men, I think Excalibur has potential, but I have almost no hope for Marauders.

Also Kitty wants a new name? I don't think it's odd that a grown ass woman doesn't want to be called "Kitty" anymore.

I just think it's odd that several characters in the same franchise are wanting to change how they are called. Must be a krakoa thing but felt it's already been done years ago when Magneto and his acolytes were using their codenames as their real names as a way of dismissing their human given names.

Excalibur is one of those books that'll be absolutely fine for folk who like the magic side of Marvel - I'm not. I do give the title credit for being different from any of the other X-books currently out though.

9 hours ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

 

That said, Psylocke's name change is a cynical move- they finally realized that keeping Betsy in an Asian body doesn't look good, but since the look it's very popular, they gave it and the name to the character  that's actually Asian.

 

I also hope they do something interesting with this change. It's going to be confusing though as the character and image are inseparable to me so my concern is kwannon will behave just like Betsy or she'll feel "off" in the sense she's no longer familiar. That said Psylocke in X-force was a ninja assassin which is exactly what kwannon is. I don't know whether they addressed the splitting of the characters when it happened but I imagine Kwannon would not be happy with Betsy.

[Red Tiger]

I prefer the ninja assassin over the british knight, so i'll probably end up liking Kwannon more.

[Jaxom 1974]

Cleaning and reorganizing some stuff today and pulled out an old Eternals King Sized Annual...I don't remember how I got it, I know haven't read it in easily 20 years...but the main point is that it was written and drawn by Jack Kirby...

[Red Tiger]

On 11/3/2019 at 4:49 AM, Jaxom 1974 said:

Cleaning and reorganizing some stuff today and pulled out an old Eternals King Sized Annual...I don't remember how I got it, I know haven't read it in easily 20 years...but the main point is that it was written and drawn by Jack Kirby...

She-Hulk is getting an omnibus next year, i'll probably end up getting that. Reading the classics can be a lot of fun.

[GallowKnight]

I can't believe they made a Marauders book without any actual Marauders in it.

[Bastard of Boston]

RE: The Dawn of X books. Weirdly enough, I was not crazy about X-Men #1...weird, because it's Hickman's book, and I absolutely loved HoXPoX and I'm completely on board with his take. I found X-Men #1 to be a little bit too exposition heavy, especially during the opening mission...did not feel like Hickman wrote it, as I find he's a little bit more stylish with weaving in exposition without it feeling like characters are reciting lines from wikipedia. The most intriguing part of the book was honestly the map of the Summers base, because ya know...connecting rooms. I do not like Yu's art. It's almost unbearable at this point. And I used to be a fan. Cannot wait until he's replaced. It all just looks so haphazard, harsh, and sketchy.

Marauders was "okay." I wasn't offended by it, but I wasn't blown away. I agree that it's the most interesting Kitty/Kate we've gotten in forever. I've grown so bored with the character, but she felt fun here. She actually had a personality. And, beyond that, I appreciate the fact that this book is taking a more "fast, loose, fun" approach. I do think it's important to diversify the line, and I don't want writers to try and write like Hickman. Only Hickman can Hickman. Even if this book may eventually evolve into "not for me" territory, I'm glad it exists...? If that makes sense. Art was nice -- I especially liked how movement in the issue felt so kinetic. The fight scenes made up for any mundane aspects of the issue.

I loved Excalibur. But I'm an Excalibur mark. The OG series was huge for me as a kid. The book was so weird and ridiculous, but in the best possible sense. I thought the DoX version seemed like a worthy successor, harkening back to the Otherworld stuff, while still tying back to Krakoa. I am very much a fan of Betsy back in her original body and taking on the role of Cap Britain. I love the design. And further, the art on this book is such a breath of fresh air. Just very clean and "pretty." Perfect style for the content. The data pages were especially nice. They felt like they belonged, unlike the data in Marauders.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Busy week. Immortal Hulk had a fantastic issue, pushing the story in a new direction. Daredevil was excellent as usual.  New Mutants was solid (the voices for the entire cast are great) and seemingly hints at the return of...someone.  Undiscovered Country felt like a poor man's East of West. X-force was just dumb, and requires every character in Krakoa act like an idiot for the plot to work. 

Edited November 7, 2019 by Winterfell is Burning

[Red Tiger]

I agree with the Murray on X-Force. It was horrible overall and it especially makes Xavier look like an utter moron, unfit to be on Krakoa's council, let alone lead all of mutantkind. It was insulting to read.

The only thing I like about X-Force, is that it's true to the underlying idea of the original book, that Xavier's dream is heavily flawed and that mutantkind needs a more brutal hand to make sure it survives in a vicious world, as opposed to the kinder and more diplomatic X-Men.

I like that New Mutants is getting away from politics on Earth and just focusing on having a space adventure right now. The team is young and full of dreams, do something with that.

[Winterfell is Burning]

Yeah, but Krakoa hás Magneto, Exodus, Shaw, Emma, Mystique and freakin' Sinister and Apocalypse. The idea they need X-force because they are too soft makes no sense.

[Bastard of Boston]

X-Force was comparable to Mauraders for me. Didn't love it, but willing to see where it goes. I'm not willing to concede that everything in this issue should be taken at face value. Something is going on.

I loved New Mutants. So great to see the actual NM and Gen X mingling. I just wish more Gen X members were included on the roster. Monet and Synch were name-dropped, so I'm hoping they'll play a bigger role in future issues.

[Red Tiger]

9 hours ago, Winterfell is Burning said:

Yeah, but Krakoa hás Magneto, Exodus, Shaw, Emma, Mystique and freakin' Sinister and Apocalypse. The idea they need X-force because they are too soft makes no sense.

One of many, many, MANY problems I have with the book.

[red snow]

Silver surfer wound up a book i could only love for the artwork which was amazing. The story paled in comparison.

New Mutants is my favourite dawn of x-book so far. The stand out was the book was fun and had characters in it as opposed to mouthpieces for speeches and plot. I liked the amost painted style of artwork too. I liked that krakoa seems to be terraforming and using mutants in much the same way plants use insects, birds and animals to spread seeds. Also interesting that mondo was uncomfortable with krakoa.

X-Force felt a bit rushed and agree how it seemed pretty stupid how they were so easily attacked. Poor Black Tom Cassidy was seemingly the only person with his shit together. There was also a complete lack of X-force. And i don't buy the "death" at all.

Undiscovered country nowhere met the hype. The structure is very similar to that of letter 44 (which i think was also by soule) and like others said it feels like east of west and manifest destiny are comics that execute the same idea more effectively. I have to hope that there's a reason for the mad max and Mortal engines rip offs bring intentional otherwise it feels like a lot of clichés. Maybe this is a concept that should have just stuck to being a TV show as it already feels like that's what it was designed for?