Scott Summers vs. a dinosaur

Cyclops is a babe. I bet he works out. (art by Whilce Portacio)

From a Marvel One-Shot Uncanny X-Men: The Heroic Age, Sept. 2010.

IN REVIEW: Astonishing X-Men / Ghost Box

It's been a super long time since I did one of my "In Review" blogs for a graphic novel title (not really, since really I just make sure they more official sounding when I blog them on the library's site proper). Usually, official library blogs tend to be uber positive and I gush over just how much I really enjoyed reading a particular trade. But... always being happy with what you read? That's unrealistic. You can't like everything. And while I didn't hate Warren Ellis' take on Astonishing X-Men titled "Ghost Box" - I wasn't the biggest fan of it, either.

Following Joss Whedon's run on an immediate Eisner-award winning book must have been hard. Especially since people loved Whedon's X-Men so much. I enjoyed the fusion of taking two things I love - things written by Joss Whedon and X-Men comic books, and having them combined, but Whedon had a lot of problems when it came to writing the overall storyarcs. Both the Cassandra Nova and ultimate Ord homeplanet storylines made little sense, and while he returned Kitty Pryde to regular X-Men stories for the first time in years, he also effectively removed her by chucking her into the infinite vastness of space. Way to be cool and suck all at the same time.

Exodus

Wolverine vs. Archangel

This little gem is from Uncanny X-Men #272. Jim Lee is on pencils here, and it's his art that really made Wolverine famous. Look at him! He looks awesome! I'm slightly afraid, but who wouldn't be of a short hairy man with unbreakable claws? This took place during the X-Tinction Agenda crossover.

The OTHER Name for Murder

Check out this classic panel from X-Force #29. This is my man Arcade. He's so badass he was never even given a real name; just a bowtie and platform shoes. Pretty much the best villain in the history of villains. He should be used more.

Forgotten Comics: X-Men Unlimited #14

For a new series on this blog, I am going to be highlighting some of my favorite lesser known comic books, individual issue-style.

First up is X-Men Unlimited #14. For those unfamiliar with X-Men comics... they are basically my favorite. Many of the stores that are going to be dealt with this for this series are going to be X-Men, and they are going to be from the '90s when Marvel was over saturating the comic book market with 'em. In my opinion, it was also a creative high point in X-Men history. Many great stories took place. In 1997, this rare gem was published.

Without going too much into the convoluted history, the X-Men had just been more or less betrayed by their founder, Professor X. Tainted by Magneto's evil influence, Xavier had become an amalgam of himself and Magnus to form a villainous entity known as Onslaught. It also created what big comic companies love: a gigantic crossover, where you have to buy a lot of titles to understand what the heck is going on. Basically, Onslaught was such a threat pretty much the entire planet was in trouble. Hence, not only the X-Men banded together to stop him, but the Avengers and the Fantastic Four as well. Since this is an X-Men story, I'll skip to the end and tell you that our merry mutant band survived. Avengers? Fantastic Four? Not so lucky. Onslaught apparently kills them.

FALL OF THE MUTANTS: X-Factor

CLAREMONT, Chris. X-Men: Fall of the Mutants. Marvel Comics, 2001 (originally published in 1988). ISBN: 0785108254

It's part two of our Fall of Mutants series. This time, we are focusing on the original team of X-Factor. I actually briefly talked about their formation during the Phoenix Rising post since that included X-Factor #1 as the very last tale. This particular story took place over three issues from X-Factor #24 - X-Factor #26. It's not exactly the most finely crafted story, but it does introduce several elements that factored into the early nineties run of X-Men that I really loved. The first was Apocalypse as a villain. While Apocalypse had previously appeared in X-Factor #6, he's really introduced as a supervillain here. Why is that, you ask? Well, because Warren Worthington III is revealed as alive and as Death, one of Apocalypse's horsemen in the early pages of this story. Many interpretations of Warren becoming Death (and ultimately Archangel) show him as an unwilling participant in his own transformation. This story very clearly puts the blame on Warren; while Apocalypse goes to him and gives him the option to become one his servants - to "fly again." Totally not mind-controlled. Warren readily accepts his fate as he, at this point, literally had nothing else to loose.

FALL OF THE MUTANTS: Uncanny X-Men

CLAREMONT, Chris. X-Men: Fall of the Mutants. Marvel Comics, 2001 (originally published in 1988). ISBN: 0785108254

Let us harken back to the eighties... to a time when only nerds loved The X-Men.

In 1988, Marvel Comics ran a sort-of crossover between Uncanny X-Men, the New Mutants, and X-Factor. These were the only X-Men related titles at the time. There's now something like two dozen. Like I said, different times. One of the reasons I'm going to be tackling each "chapter" individually is because the titles don't really intersect. At all. While all of them have to do with the nation's growing concern over "the mutant menance" in general; the X-Men are fighting a mystical god-like being in Dallas, the New Mutants are confronting beast creatures on a weird island in the middle of nowhere, and X-Factor is fighting one of their own. Like I said, nothing really connecting them on any one particular point. The Uncanny story is my favorite, so I'm kind of glad to be talking about that one first.

VINTAGE - Phoenix Rising, The X-Men

STERN, Roger & Various Auth. X-Men: Phoenix Rising. 112p. MARVEL COMICS, May 1999. ISBN: 9780785107118

Jean Grey. She's a superhero who hasn't had a lot of luck with codenames. Originally, she was called "Marvel Girl." Pretty quickly she became a woman, so that name didn't stick. Then she got cosmic-powers in the eighties and started calling herself "Phoenix." Then she saved the universe. She was still cosmically powerful though, and an old enemy (Mastermind) with some new villains (The Hellfire Club) were able to warp her mind and turn her evil. The X-Men couldn't really stop her. The intergalactic Shi'Ar couldn't, either. While on the run with her main squeeze Cyclops, she watches helplessly as he gets shot with what she thinks is a mortal wound. She goes apeshit crazy, kicks everyone's ass, then sacrifices herself for the sake of the universe. It sounds corny, but it's still widely regarded as one of the great comic stories of... well, ever. Chris Claremont wrote the story. It was ballsy, because he essentially killed off one of the original X-Men forever.

CHARACTER SPOTLIGHT: Shatterstar

Okay, so let's talk about Shatterstar.

Originally created by Fabian Nicieza and Rob Liefeld when they were busy destroying everything I loved about The New Mutants (oh WAIT! Can you already tell how biased this is going to be? 'cause you should have picked up on that), Shatterstar is a genetically-bred warrior both from another dimension and from the future. I honestly think they wanted to create a character with such a complicated backstory future writers would probably be unable to handle him, but maybe I'm being too cynical. It was probably for the depth of storytelling that could take place. Let's face it, the early '90s X-Force stories were full of story elements. Not excessive violence or pointless mutant vs. mutant battling (why am I criticizing? I actually liked early X-Force stories). Anyway, 'star was a mainstay on the team, even as other characters such as Cable and Cannonball would leave for the X-Men team proper over the next several years and the rest of the X-Force team would eventually suck beyond the telling of it.

VINTAGE - Excalibur Visionaries [A. Davis]

DAVIS, Alan. Excalibur Visionaries, volume 1. 232p. MARVEL COMICS, July 2009. ISBN: 0785137408

So there was a time when Nightcrawler and Shadowcat got their butts kicked by an evil mutant team called the Marauders. This was during the Morlock Massacre storyline. Kitty wasn't even really hurt; she was just trapped in a phased state and couldn't resolidify. I'm pretty sure Kurt was in a coma though. He gets the prize. Anyway, they both were sent to Muir Isle to get better. Xavier's friend Moira MacTaggert (isn't that such a great name!?) made it her business for them to get better. But while they were recovering, the X-Men fought an evil creature in Dallas called "The Adversary" who apparently killed them on national television (he did, but this multiverse guardian named Roma resurrected them at the end of the Fall of the Mutants storyline). Obviously, the X-Men have lots of storylines.

Somehow, Rachel Summers had also been separated from the X-Men before they ended up in Texas. She later rejoined Kitty and Kurt in Scotland. They met with a UK superhero (and the brother of one of their fallen comrades Psylocke) named Captain Britain. The group also attracted the attention of a shapechanging empath named Meggan with a mysterious past. Together, the five formed a group known as Excalibur. While this trade isn't the origin of the team, it is arguably the twilight of the original series. With Alan Davis drawing and writing it, he tied up many of the dangling plotlines left open in the first several issues. I also learned that Rachel met up with the group while she was on the run from Mojo, which I guess is why she wasn't with the other X-Men when they were "killed." It also explains how Roma was the one who ultimately manipulates the team into forming to combat an unknown threat.

This collection includes the introduction of several characters who were intended to be new additions to the team. All of them were kind of unique and interesting. There was Kylun, a warrior who is from our world but was raised on an alternate one to be an extreme warrior. Cerise, an interdimensional alien who could create hard light constructs. Feron, a mystical descendant of a powerful sorcerer who is brash and impulsive. And finally, the mutant Micromax who could change his shape at will. The latter is introduced as more of an annoying obstacle for the team, as he is employed by the government and butts heads with them on a few early occasions. Ultimately, though he helps the team in their battle against the evil Necrom, who both Kylun and Feron are destined to defeat albeit because of much different reasons. Davis's departure from the book essentially meant the demise of these characters; I think only Micromax has been used in current continuity, and sparingly at that.

Excalibur originally had a cute, lighthearted tone that was preserved when Alan Davis wrote this series of issues. In a way, this is kind of their loss of innocence. When Scott Lobdell took over the book, he began writing them as a much darker team, focusing primarily on the original team members. I always found this kind of sad, because the team here had a lot of potential for being great. And Excalibur always had this kind of quirky otherworldly-ness that did set it apart from other X-Men books at the time. It's sad that it became just another X-Men title to Marvel Comics, then was eventually canceled. The series was sort of revived by Claremont again a few years ago, but lacked all the things that made this version of the team great. Unlike other vintage titles, this one is still available (ya know, if your best friend Scott B. isn't holding it hostage) so grab it while you can!

VINTAGE - X-Men, Days of Future Past

Taking advantage of my local library's Interlibrary Loan service, I was able to get my hands on a copy of the long out-of-print Days of Future Past trade paperback. While, as a teenager, I read a novelization of the story- which even quotes the comic, I remember some of the banter back and forth word for word- I still hadn't seen John Byrne's art in all it's glory. The collection features some odd surrounding material; while Cyclops's departure from the X-Men due to Jean Grey's recent death does indeed go with the story, the X-Men Annual storyline of Nightcrawler's mother trapping him in a magical version of Dante's Inferno, and the final story of Kitty Pryde home alone with an alien trying to kill her... these don't really go with the rest of the story. This collection was bound and printed long before Marvel started printing their 'epic' black and white collections of ALL issues of Uncanny X-Men. Even though the stories don't go together, I'm glad I got to read the X-Men Annual story. I doubt I would have gotten a chance to read it otherwise.

"Days of Future Past" actually only last for two issues in the Uncanny X-Men comic, despite being one of the most pivotal (and interesting) stories in the X-Men's history. The story begins 30 years in the future. In the "present" the year is 1980, and Kitty Pryde has just recently joined the X-Men. While in the "future" Kate Pryde is a middle-aged women running for her life, trying to meet up with an elderly Wolverine in a now-destroyed New York City. The future is bleak; an assassination of a presidential hopeful senator in 1980 led to a series of events that allowed the robotic Sentinels into taking over North America. The Sentinels are ready to move overseas to spread their control world-wide, but the rest of the world is ready to launch nuclear weapons to prevent that from happening. The surviving X-Men, who are very few, are Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, newcomer Rachel, and Kate herself. They are assisted by Rachel's lover, Franklin Richards the only surviving member of the Fantastic Four, and Magnus- Magneto, who ironically has been confined to a wheelchair.

The future X-Men, facing what they accurately predict to be the end of the world, hatch a two-fold plot. They escape from the south Bronx internment camp that they have been confined two and plan to destroy the Sentinels' Manhattan HQ located in the Baxter Building. Meanwhile, Rachel and Kate have an even more implausible plan; Rachel is going to telepathically send Kate's consciousness back in time to inhabit her younger self. This is kind of genuis because it gets away from the normal conventions involved in your typical time travel story. If people really do have crazy telepathic powers, why couldn't they shoot someone mind back 30 years? Kate is chosen to inhabit Kitty because, having just joined the X-Men, the youngest member of them won't be ready for a psychic assault. It's also worth noting that when Kate inhabits Kitty, it's not a switcheroo; the young Kitty's consciousness just becomes displaced for the rest of the story.

Fred Dukes, the criminal tub of goo known as the Blob, escapes from prison in the issue before "Days" begins. It's revealed that he's been recruited for a new "Brotherhood of Evil Mutants" - this lineup, led by Mystique, include the earth-shattering Avalanche, the flame-controlling Pyro, and the future-telling Destiny. I believe it's the first appearence for probably all of the new Brotherhood. The fight between the Brotherhood and X-Men is pretty evenly matched, even with the X-Men's superior numbers- the team consisted of Storm, Colossus, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Angel, and Sprite (Kitty Pryde's then-codename, not the lemon/lime delicious beverage as many assume). As a kid, I was confused as to why Angel was a part of this lineup; it's explained in the issue before that he's filling in for Cyclops, who left the team shortly after Jean's death. This is also Storm's first leadership gig post-Cyclops, so Mystique kind of banks on the fact that Ororo will be inexperienced to deal with her and her evil team. It's a good bet. While Storm douses Pyro's flames more than once, Blob is shown to be the bruiser of the team. Colossus, at first, really can't move the immovable. He eventually, with Wolverine's help, figures out that you can move the ground beneath Blob. Nightcrawler is initially doing well against Avalanche with a punch-teleport combo, but Destiny's prediction power allows her to tell Avalanche where he will appear next. While Nightcralwer recovers, Mystique morphs half her body into his form, taunting him with how similar they appear. She also knows his real name and the name of his gypsy adopted mother, which somewhat horrifies Nightcrawler. Her biological connection, though assumed for many many years after this, isn't actually confirmed until an X-Men annual story well over a decade later. Chris Claremont, who of course wrote Days, had an initial plan for Mystique's biological connection to Kurt... which would have been far, far cooler.

The dire situation for the future X-Men turns to be just as grim as they expected. Rachel stays behind to guard the unconscious Kate while Storm, Colossus, and Wolverine all storm the Baxter Building. Surprisingly, Wolverine is the first to die after trying to "fastball special" a Sentinel with a sneak attack. Turns out, the robot knew he was there. Storm fights valiantly, but is soon impaled. Colossus manages to toss a Sentinel from the building in a fit of rage, but Rachel later hears his death telepathically as she sadly reflects on the loss of her friends. In the past, Kate (still in young Kitty's body) stops Destiny from killing Senator Robert Kelly. Kate disappears, presumably to the future (later stories confirm this) and Kitty is back to her old self. The X-Men wonder if they've really averted the disaster. While it looks like maybe the have, Kelly later appoints Henry Peter Gyrich and Sebastian Shaw to head up Project Wideawake. The Project's goal? To build Sentinels. Hopefully this collection, or a similar one, will find it's way back in print. If not, you can always try to interlibrary loan it at your local library! I did, and I'm glad I did :-)

CURRENT: Annexed by Sharon Dogar

Before I even get started, I would just like to take a quick minute and thank the YA Book Blog Directory for listing me in their index. Y'all know I love tooting my own horn, but it's a quiet toot when no one is reading. I'm glad that I'm listed at this index, since it means more people will be able to find my little corner of the internet and read about my reading. I'm all about access, people.

I suppose we should take a time out to talk about what I'm reading. I did start a new young adult novel post Book Expo America 2010. The title, Annexed by Sharon Dogar, was one I had high hopes for. I'm over 50 pages into it now. It's kind of bumming me out. While that's not unexpected with the subject matter, I'm not a big fan of the protaganist. He's just not that interesting. While I do believe that some women can write men and vice versa, Ms. Doger is definitely having a problem with it in this book. Peter is just way too emotional. While it could be argued that it was a very emotional time, I think a switch from first to third person might have been a better decision for the early chapters of this novel. I think I'm going to put it down for a bit, let it sit in my head for awhile, then give it another chance. I'm just kind of disappointed I'm not liking the book as much as I thought I was going to.

My graphic novel re-reading has been moving in full-force, as you can see from the many, many updates my blog has already had this month. I'm focusing on two of the bigger works I have left, namely Marvel's X-Men: Fall of the Mutants and DC's New Teen Titans: The Judas Contract. I'm working a Sunday overtime shift on Staten Island today, so I brought the latter along for some light ferry reading. Some of the '80s dialogue is just atrocious, especially in the Titans where it borders on corny. I hope you guys are enjoying my 'vintage reviews' - I'm really enjoying writing them.

I'm also looking to expand the scope of my published review sphere. While I will still continue to write for School Library Journal as long as they will let me, I also recently submitted an application to review YA & Children's materials in Booklist. If you know of any source that is currently looking for reviews, please contact me through e-mail or through the comments section here. I am very interested and would be really appreciative. It does kind of limit what I can review and write here; if I do actually like a YA book, I'm usually reviewing it for SLJ or talking about it on my library's official blog. This has become more of a space for personal book reflection, out-of-print comics, and books I hate or dislike. Maybe that ultimately makes it more interesting to read.

Feedback, as always, is appreciated. Thanks for stopping by!

VINTAGE SERIES: Kitty Pryde & Wolverine

One of the few treats of being a librarian, and a librarian known for reading graphic novels in particular, is that when I request that the library get a trade paperback that I want, they usually follow through. Such was the case with today's In Review title, Kitty Pryde & Wolverine. This story, published in the mid-80s, is notorious in X-Men history for containing a pretty big moment in the life of Kitty Pryde. It's also noteworthy that, up until 2007, it was very difficult to find it as a collection you kind of had to scour comic book shops/comic book conventions and try to find the six original issues. Having waited to read this title since I was 16 or so, I can tell you... it was actually pretty much worth the wait.


The story opens with Kitty having just been dumped. X-Men powerhouse Peter Rasputin broke up with after returning from the Secret Wars crossover, convinced that his falling in love with an alien healing babe had forcibly removed his love/flirtation with Kitty. She packs up and heads home to Deerfield, Illinois that same afternoon. This is where our story begins. She's wearing a hideous '80s ice skating costume that's pink and black. She decides to surprise her dad at work, thinking to herself that he has seemed to be under a lot of stress lately. Using her ability to 'phase' through solid materials, she inadvertently eavesdrops on her father and his new business associates, Japanese gangsters who have purchased the bank her dad formerly owned. Her father, in an effort to protect her, sends her home. He has to go to Japan to sort out some more of the potentially illegal business venture, and Kitty decides to stowaway on the plane. As his daughter and as a trained X-Man she figures that she'll be able to get her dad out of any trouble he's in. By the end of the first issue (or 'chapter' in the collection), she realizes her dad isn't being coerced by the crooks; he's in face in league with them. One of the baddies, a ninja named Ogun, notices Kitty both by her phasing power and her strength of spirit. He wants Papa Pryde to hand his daughter over as a part of the deal. After using some sweet ninja moves on him, Ogun makes Papa Pryde reluctantly agree.

Ogun attacks Kitty. Weakened and exhausted from both her flight and her short Japanese adventure, the ninja easily overpowers her. While the next part is somewhat unclear, it seems that Ogun somehow psychically connects to her in an attempt to 'link' them together. Basically his mind and will become a part of her, and she becomes a badass ninja in a little under a week. He also uses a katana to cut most of her hair off, giving her a pretty sick '80s 'do. Before Ogun managed to nab her, she tried to call Professor Xavier in America. It's a good thing Wolverine picked up the phone, because at this point in the story he arrives in Japan. He eventually figures out that Ogun, a former teacher of his, has Kitty against her will. Using his animal instincts, he tracks Ogun down... only to get attacked by someone with all of Ogun's moves, but a girl and half his size. After an extended fight, the ninja's mask is removed to reveal Kitty Pryde. When Wolverine hesitates, Kitty slices the sword right through him in one of the more memorable panels in the book.


As Wolverine's healing powers slowly do their thing, Kitty slowly reverts to her old self. Yukio, a Japanese friend of Wolverine's, helps hide them out in one of the Clan Yashida safehouses. She also continually hits on Wolverine the whole time. He rebuffs her advances because he's in love with (and still dating) Mariko Yashida, Yukio's employer. For a short hairy dude, Wolverine has a lot of women trouble. Despite the fact that he should be taking it easy, he uses this time to push Kitty to her limits. His hope is to make her strong enough to resist Ogun's lingering influence. While Kitty initially acts like a complaining 15 year girl, she eventually rises to the challenge... surprising even herself in the process. She decides the only way to really get over Ogun's possession is to face him once and for all. It's a battle she might not win. Wolverine doesn't let her face their mutual foe alone, however, and by the end... the two X-Men prevail.

This story is sort of famous for Kitty's transformation from the young teenage superhero ingénue into the adult X-Man to reckon with that she is today. She also decides she's no longer a 'Kitty' but a 'Cat' ... and one who likes the shadows at that. So, she becomes 'Shadowcat' finally solidifying a codename (she'd previously taken the names 'Ariel' and 'Sprite' ... ick!). The story is surprisingly NOT as dated as you would think. You also don't need a wide knowledge of the X-Men to enjoy the story, since it focuses only on two characters and essentially tells you all that you need to know about them. Chris Claremont is at his peak here; you can tell he loves Kitty Pryde, and it shows in particular in this international graphic adventure.

IN REVIEW: X-Men Forever

As promised... here's my review of a certain comic book collection featuring a well-known mutant superhero team.

X-Men Forever picks up where Chris Claremont left off after his 30+ year run on the Uncanny X-Men comic book. Forever proves that his departure may not have been an entirely bad thing. In the first six issues of the book* (collected into this handy dandy trade paperback), Storm beings acting increasingly out of character (mostly by being belligerent and peeved at, well EVERYBODY) until she’s finally revealed… as EVIL! And not just your typical kind of evil, but she’s working with some weird evil organization we’ve never really heard of. And Jean Grey tries to read their minds, but obviously can’t. Speaking of Jean… she’s back to crushing on Wolverine, and the two share some awkwardly tender moments at the beginning of the story. This is weird, since Jean is still dating Scott. X-Men Forever takes place before Jean and Scott get married, but Jean suddenly desiring Logan kind of comes out of nowhere. Nightcrawler and Shadowcat have rejoined the X-Men, too… which kind of makes no sense. I guess the decided to quit Excalibur for… why? Are we even really given a reason? I think Kurt says they just left. The Gold and Blue teams have essentially been dissolved off-panel, and several of the X-Men (particularly ones from the Gold Team; Archangel, Colossus, Iceman, and newcomer Bishop… where you at?) have seemingly disappeared for no reason. Claremont’s excitement at pressing this new story forward doesn’t translate into a story the veers off from the original storyline. Every X-Man is so out of character, especially Jean Grey and, in particular Storm, that this almost reads like an X-Men story that takes place in the Bizarro World.


Oh, and Storm’s biggest evil act? Is killing Wolverine. With lightening. All that’s left is his adamantium bones. And if that isn’t confusing enough, the younger version of Storm that hung out with Gambit when he first appeared is suddenly back, casting doubt that the adult Storm, who’s all Wolverine-killing and being evil, is the Storm that we know and love. I guess she’s just… not. I can’t even pretend to be interested in this element of the story, as it’s more confusing than mysterious. Also, following Wolvie’s death, Kitty Pryde gets a “Wolverine Claw” appendage, but naturally it’s just one claw and it hurts every single time she “pops” it. This… makes absolutely no sense, but okay. Let’s go with it. In one of the few story elements that actually sort of makes sense, Nick Fury has set up shop with X-Men and is monitoring their activities. He also provides the X-Men with S.H.I.E.L.D. backup when necessary, which a lot of the X-Men resent. Nick Fury proves to be the voice of reason throughout the story, and makes a lot more sense than Charles Xavier does. I remember reading that Claremont wanted the “Shadow King Saga” to end with Xavier’s death (in fact, if you read it… it almost is as if Xavier dies at the end of story). Claremont’s inability to write Xavier shows a lot in Forever. Xavier would prove to be one of the most interesting X-Men in later years for me, especially with Scott Lobdell and other writers who followed Claremont up.

X-Men Forever proves to be ultimately disappointing (we didn't even GET TO Sabertooth's convoluted inclusion on the team). What happened in the Marvel Universe proper was what got me to fall in love with the X-Men. I can’t believe that what happens in Forever is how Claremont would have progressed with the title, since it essentially would have ruined the X-Men, if you’ll forgive the pun, … forever.

*a “book” is comic book nerd slang for an ongoing comic book title. Thus, X-Men Forever and Uncanny X-Men, two ongoing comic titles that are published monthly by Marvel Comics, are called “books” for short. Yeah, I don’t get it, either, but I’m used to calling it that so you should, too.