NOTE: The individual opinions of each Roundtable contributor are their own, and is not representative of anybody but that contributor.
Marvel.com launches Cover of the Year Contest [Details: Here]
NICK “HAKUNA MATATA” PIERS: Meh, color me un-intrigued. I find a lot of Marvel covers these days (and since the beginning of the Ultimate line or earlier) are generic. They’re mostly character shots, etc. It doesn’t tell you much of anything about the story within. There are some, such as the most recent issue of ULTIMATES, that gives you an idea, but for the most part, I can’t tell one cover apart from the rest. A good chunk of the ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN covers are generic Spidey shots. Sure, they look pretty, but a load of good it does telling me
what’s going on inside.
IAIN “THE HOST” BURNSIDE: The SUPREME POWER covers have been really good lately, plus they tend to actually reflect the story inside the book. Still, I know what you mean. By and large Marvel covers are bleh with a capital yawn. Anyway, Vertigo’s WE3 had the best covers of 2004 by a long shot.
JAMIE “JAMES” HATTON: This actually intrigues me… why? Because for awhile (both of you who read my reviews) I was reviewing the covers too, since they are the initial hook into the book. What did it teach me? To stop doing that – the covers of books, Marvel’s Ultimate line being the god awful worst, have stopped being intriguing. They’ve stopped being interesting, and only when I see a cover that does something worth noting (i.e. FADE FROM GRACE #4’s near solid blue over, or ALPHA FLIGHT #12’s ‘Death of Guardian’ remake) do I point it out. Sadly, this contest will be won by dreck… but at least I voted. *shrug*
PAUL “SHARP DRESSED MAN” SEBERT: I have to wonder if we’d have a similar discussion about DC comic covers if this site existed in the Silver Age.
What?! A third Purple Gorilla Cover This Month? *Yawns* This Month’s Lois Lane Featuring the Marriage between Superman and Lois that’s most assuredly not a dream or imaginary story… yeah right. :p
Anyway my favorite Marvel Cover for 2004 is a tie between the awesome pin-up used for SENTINEL #12 (buy the digest) and the hilarious cover for SPIDER-GIRL #81, which
makes me smile every time I see it. And I’m a guy who normally can’t stand anything Spider-Girl related.
MANOLIS “NOT WITHOUT MY SPANDEX” VAMVOUNIS: Some of Marvel’s covers are truly beautiful. We’ve got the X-STATIX covers and Cassaday’s covers to ASTONISHING X-MEN, Greg Land’s PHOENIX cover, the 1602 masterpiece covers and even some gorgeous pinup covers from Hitch and Kubert in the Ultimate Universe… It’s not as bad as it used to be at Marvel, although most of the Ultimate covers do tend to veer towards the generic (hello Mr. Bagley).
As for DC’s covers, my favourite from last year are surely the covers
to BOOKS OF MAGICK by Frank Quitely and the Cameron Stewart covers to SEAGUY!
JAMIE HATTON: I give you 50/50 on that list. Yes, the X-STATIX covers were perfect, the 1602 covers were indeed some of the most beautiful I’ve seen… but! For as much as I like Greg Land’s PHOENIX, I will never be attracted to a comic book by a pin-up cover – and the Ultimate line is the worst of the lot. It gives me no feedback into what’s in the book. Sometimes it doesn’t even relate at all. Remember the Ultimate Venom arc where we saw him on the cover for 5 months before we saw Venom himself? I want my covers to have a bit of substance or at least a bit of originality. Pin-ups are a dime a dozen these days.
Scott McDaniel to be regular ROBIN artist as of #139 [Credit: Newsarama]
NICK PIERS: Nice! Anyone want to predict which Bat-Title that DC will give McDaniel next? He’s gone from NIGHTWING to BATMAN, took a Bat-break on SUPERMAN, then NIGHTWING: YEAR ONE and now this. Hester on NIGHTWING and McDaniel on ROBIN? Damn. I may have to start adding them to my pull list. Or just borrow them from my buddy that buys them both.
News on PUNISHER 2 and 30 DAYS OF NIGHT movies [News: AICN]
NICK PIERS: Ooh. Jigsaw. Would Tommy Lee Jones be told old to play ol’ Ugly Mug? Wouldn’t be the first time he played a psycho comic villain with a fricked up face.
JAMIE HATTON: I don’t like that 30 Days is getting ‘Rushed’. When does that ever sound like a good idea? “Let’s rush it” No… No, no, no, no. The horror genre’s been back in chic for a while, and it’s not going away anytime soon – make a good product, not a quick buck one… especially when you are dealing with comics. Please! Do it for the fan boy.
RUMOUR – An unauthorised biography of John Byrne’s life is in the works [Credit: All the Rage]
NICK PIERS: Meh. Byrne has dragged his own name through the mud over the years. And what’s with this whole “paying his dues” crap? Does that make Byrne the Bob Holly of comic books? Sorry, don’t mean to make another wrestling reference. But seriously, who in their right mind thinks they’re “owed” anything.
He made the Fantastic Four interesting twenty years ago.
He re-invented Superman twenty years ago.
He re-invented the X-Men with Chris Claremont twenty years ago.
Look, I can respect what Byrne accomplished before but he seems to think that his past accomplishments mean he gets special treatment. Why not take all that egotistical energy, deflate your head and prove to us why you need this special treatment. Neil Gaiman has proved that SANDMAN wasn’t just luck. His 1602 story was great from what I hear.
But people haven’t respected Byrne for years because he feels he needs special treatment. Jim Lee has proved to people he’s still got it. So have dozens of people in the industry I don’t feel like naming right now due to being overtired.
So,John Byrne? Don’t tell us you’re a great writer. Prove it.
RUMOUR – Joss Whedon to stay on ASTONISHING X-MEN past #12, with rotating artists [More: Millarworld]
NICK PIERS: I wonder if the quality will remain the same without Cassady as artist? I won’t make any judgements until I hear what artists may be on tap.
IAIN BURNSIDE: The most popular stand-in choices appear to be Bryan Hitch, Jae Lee and Steve McNiven. Personally, as long as Whedon was around to keep up the high standard of writing, I wouldn’t be at all bothered who drew it. Hell let Liefeld draw it. I’ll draw the damn thing for free, whatever, just keep Whedon around!!!
JAMIE HATTON: Gotta disagree with the ‘Nick World Order’ – Cassaday is amazing, yes, but Whedon’s storytelling on this book is the best thing to happen to X-Men since god knows when. Artist be damned, it’s going to be good storytelling.
JESSE “ANGRY AND TIRED” BAKER: Ugh…
Whedon’s AXM run has been shite; he’s ruined Kitty Pryde (who should have stayed with Claremont since Kitty (and to a lesser extent Rogue) were the only characters Claremont could write properly anymore, brought back Colossus, gave us another villain that’s up there with the Neo in terms of genericness, and doing yet another traitor storyline that no one cares about since the X-Books are so ghettoized at the moment that events in one book never affect the other book, especially given how you would think Marvel would f**king do an X-Men X-Over to shake up the franchise and the characters.
I mean, couldn’t have Marvel have sacrificed the C**t Annie up as the dead person in Whedon’s current X-Men arc? Or worked Sat-Yr-9 and the new Hellfire Club in as the big bad in Whedon’s first arc? F**k, would it have killed Marvel to have had Iceman be the one in Whedon’s X-Men arc to be rushing to get the “Cure” to undo his transformation into pure ice? Or even having Sammy die at the hands of Not-Gauntlet? Not to mention having ENDSONG be written as an arc in adjective-less X-MEN since god knows that would have made a better first X-Men story to do if Milligan was writing it as opposed to the shit first arc he’s working on; not to mention it would have given the adjective-less X-MEN a big ass push that they desperately need right now by having them be the ones who bring Dark Phoenix down/bring Jean Grey back into the fold…
IAIN BURNSIDE: I gotta agree with the theory that ENDSONG should have been an arc in X-MEN, but then I don’t really understand why JLA CLASSIFIED couldn’t have been folded into the main JLA title either…
But events in one X-book never affecting another one anymore? That’s just simply not true. Hell, even non-X-Books are referencing them. Look at MARVEL TEAM-UP, which already nailed X-23’s infatuation with Wolverine (as seen in UNCANNY X-MEN) and Wolverine’s disgruntled viewpoint on Cyclops’ “we have to astonish them” spiel from ASTONISHING X-MEN. Then there’s X-MEN: THE END, which Claremont is basically using as a soundboard for ideas for future UNCANNY storylines. Then there’s WOLVERINE, which will apparently feature the death of an X-Man at the hands of Logan in the next issue – something
that simply has to be addressed in the rest of the books he appears in. Then there’s MYSTIQUE, which recently used some of the EXCALIBUR developments to tie into the book’s Xavier/Callisto what-the-hell ‘romance’. Then there is the latest issue of EXCALIBUR itself, which provided some fall-out from AVENGERS DISASSEMBLED, not to mention the series itself being (shoddily) built on NEW X-MEN: E FOR EXTINCTION…
I am in no way, shape or form claiming that all of these developments have been handled perfectly. All I’m saying is that Quesada’s claims that 2005 would begin to see a more coherent Marvel Universe taking place does slowly begin to be falling together. The X-books are at the forefront of this slow shift back to interaction, what with ASTONISHING and EXCALIBUR being the main titles to tie into HOUSE OF M alongside NEW AVENGERS, which in turn will presumably have a knock-on effect for IRON MAN, CAPTAIN AMERICA, YOUNG AVENGERS, WOLVERINE, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN and one or two others…
It’s not perfect and it’s not as tight as what’s happening at DC right now, but they are getting there.
MANOLIS VAMVOUNIS: Would you prefer all three core X-titles to share the same 18-member cast and all characters appearing everywhere? How would you possibly get character development that way? I think its better when each writer has his own niche of characters to work with and develop, but also be allowed to borrow characters from other writers. Claremont used the whole cast in his first issue and the Xmas issue which made for a nice segue, but if he was running around with over 30 mutants each issue it would be a disaster. I don’t see how they are completely ghetto-ised when Wolverine is shared by all, Elixir has shown up in almost all titles so far, and Emma is slowly turning into the new Wolvie-esque village bicycle that every writer wants to use. As for PHOENIX: ENDSONG taking place in Milligan’s run: the current story we’re getting features Jean coming back to her husband and the man she cheated on him with, her best friend, and her husband’s new lover. (The absence of her daughter from the equation is of course an atrocious negligence but let’s skip that part for now). If it had taken place in adjective-less she would have been welcomed by her brother-in-law, his murderous deranged ex-wife, an old original team-mate she was never really close to, a woman she never actually ever interacted with, and two guys who courted with her but nothing ever happened. Where do you see the potential for a more dramatic and emotional story?
JAMIE HATTON: Milligan’s been on the book for one issue! He has to work what he’s given, and Polaris who is probably my least favorite character right due to her last two or so years of personality shake-ups actually has a voice that Milligan seems to be using. I know you have this strange vendetta against Nurse Annie – but that’s not what we’re talking about.
You’ve completely derailed your own topic, Jesse; Whedon’s story is the clearest most concise X-Voice in years! Not since PRE-REVOLUTION
(the dreaded return of Claremont) has all of the characters felt more real and concise. We finally have a Beast with a character, we have an Emma who is written like a domineering wench who does not wish to relent control (See: Gen X), and finally we have Kitty…
Now let’s look back at books Kitty’s been in as a character in the last, oh… 5 years. Mostly Claremont’s little miniseries. MEKANIX being the only one of note, which – of note – was bloody horrendous. By all rights and theories, the last time we saw Kitty as a full on character was the end of EXCALIBUR VOL. 1 and that was 8 years ago or so… this is a Kitty Pryde who comes back to her family to see it being run by the person that she despises because of the amount of grief that has been caused in her life by Emma Frost. (ref: NEW
MUTANTS)
ASTONISHING has been the best thing to happen to the X-Franchise in years, writing and stylistically. Give Milligan hell… another flippin’ issue before you go crapping down his throat, and try reading a comic you enjoy.
And really, is c**t the only nice word in your vocabulary?
NICK PIERS: Tell him, Steve-Dave!
MANOLIS VAMVOUNIS: MEKANIX and TRUE FRIENDS were both excellent mini-series starring Kitty, IMO, and they showed that CC is still the man when it comes to writing Ms. Pryde. How can you not love MEKANIX? If not for the absence of Lockheed I would have given it at least an 8/10…
And Morrison had laid the ground for the characterisation of Beast and Emma that Whedon is following. Apart from some great character interaction, I can’t really say that this is the most concise X-Men vision, like you. It’s certainly a more nostalgic look at the characters, and apart from the inclusion of Emma, a step back in terms of characterisation (the self-loathing Beast, Kitty as the newbie in the academy, the good old Cyke-Wolvie enmity, the Kitty-Pyotr romance that had been long buried for 20 years now…)
JAMIE HATTON: Eh, MEKANIX just did little for me. To each his own… maybe it needs a reread.
But I think that nostalgic touchback is exactly what the X-Men need right now. We’ve had Morrison who was trying for something new and, arguably, failed. We have Austin who just plain old failed, and we have Claremont whose stagnation as a writer is so utterly apparent it’s sad. Here we have Whedon who is re-establishing these characters’ voices and motives. Give Milligan a few months and (I pray) I hope that his run will fill in the fun action stuff we need with a plot development chaser. My main point though, is he’s doing it with a strong voice. Telling strong stories. Art be damned – but his run is far from ‘shite’ as Jesse so put it.
JESSE BAKER: Screw nostalgia and screw Marvel trying to pretend the Morrison run never happened…
I want violent chaos in my core X-Book and a f**king end to the whole “Each X-Book is an Island” format; I want to see each core X-Book irreversibly tied to each other to the point that not only do you have to read both books to get the whole story but if someone sneezes in one X-Book characters from the other X-Book are accused of causing the sneezing. Also I want to see the current “cast” system destroyed and characters from each X-Book running around in every other book; Rip all of the X-Men Joss Whedon is having and have him write the bastard stepchild X-Men in Adjectiveless (which would be the best thing to do with making Joss write good and non-shit stories, i.e. give Joss a bunch of outcast characters no one wants to write and let him do his magic to them ala Buffy and Angel in terms of making people like Iceman, Beast, Havok, Polaris, and company be the cool X-Men; give Claremont the movie/icon characters: Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine (who will only be written by Claremont), Gambit, Rogue, Kitty, and Emma and do old-school stories with them.
It would give the books purpose and give the books an edge in regards to the “popular” X-Men versus the “cult following” X-Men who editorial hates but the fans love.
And as for Milligan; seriously, do we really need him? After all, if you kill ASTONISHING and move Whedon to Adjectiveless, everything balances out with Claremont writing UNCANNY (which should be the flagship X-Book at all times). And for the sake of avoiding delays, put Larroca on Whedon’s book to help Cassaday with delays.
MANOLIS VAMVOUNIS: Sooooo – force Whedon to abandon the characters he chose to write and force him to write characters he has no emotional connection with. There’s your recipe for success right there…
The X-books followed the “sneeze” continuity approach back in the late ’90s with Alan Davis, and we all know it caused the domino “yawn” response in all readers.
Milligan brings a mature and gritty vision to the X-Men world, as well as a deeper characterisation probe. Milligan is legendary for his ability to really connect with characters and turn them into independent “self-writing” entities. From the CC-Whedon-Milligan triangle of current X-scribes, his is the most diverse voice, as Whedon is purely CC: the next generation, following the same writing approach to the X-Men, but with more refinement.
JOHN “READ BREACH” BABOS: While it’s been a long time since I read X-books with any regularity, I would have to agree with much of (but not all of) Jesse’s sentiments at least about the “core” X-Men books in particular. I assume those are the UNCANNY, Adjectiveless, NEW and ASTONISHING (its 4 right?).
I remember the old “blue” and “gold” team days with the Adjectiveless book launched. The teams were different, but you saw that they were in the same world, heck they were living in the same house.
Both teams’ members would interact in the “off” moments by the pool, in the living room, etc. The books should go back to those days.
Where I disagree with Jesse is on his views that more violence is needed in the books. I also don’t think that tying each book together so tight (“sneeze” continuity) that fans are forced to get all of them is a good move. However, there should be some more visible connections though – most of the teams are under the same roof, right?
However, 4 distinct X-Men teams (not including EXCALIBUR, X-FORCE and others) seem excessive. At least with the Superman, Batman, and Spider-Man books you’re focusing on one hero. It’s easier to care.
Perhaps focusing on 2 X-Men teams that that have 2 books dedicated to each team? UNCANNY & Adjectiveless follows the “blue” team’s adventures while ASTONISHING and NEW follows the “gold” team.
With fewer characters to follow and more “off” time interactions the humanity at the core of the X-books can be recaptured. The X-Universe just seems so impenetrable nowadays. I don’t know how new readers would choose which X-Men book to pick up and read. A little clarity and a focus on fewer teams could help.
This is basically a call for better editorial leadership and direction. Yes, each writer wants their “own” team (sharing Wolverine though), but these aren’t the writer’s teams. They are the fan’s teams and sometimes less is more in terms of teams. 4 X-Men books. 2 teams with 2 books each. The mechanics are debatable, e.g. should the “gold” team books have stories flow into each book or be virtually stand alone? Regardless of which story mechanics are chosen, at the very least if a “gold” team member has a black eye in one book they should a black eye in the other. A little continuity and more editorial leadership would be good, makes sense, and appears to be needed.
JAMIE HATTON: Right now there are 3 main titles. (UNCANNY, Adj’less [Formerly NEW], and ASTONISHING)
I’m perfectly fine with the 3 teams – and I have to say, Jesse – your
points, when clearly posted… weren’t disagreeable entirely, but I have to side with Babos on the all books should be tied together. No, no, no, no, no! For these reasons:
1) You can’t expect two writers to want to cohabitate storylines each
and every month. The three writers now all have different voices. Whedon writes a very different Wolvie than Claremont does, for
example.
2) That limits the number of characters they are going to be able to
showcase, and with a universe of umpteen thousand mutants, all of whom have fans – you want to diversify a bit.
3) By forcing people to read 3 titles for one story, you are in essence, creating the same crap market we had in the mid ’90s where to understand anything you had to be trailing book to book, and hope and pray that the books all came out on time… In essence just doing one long crossover.
Right now, the books are in a prime position – and the writing is there on ASTONISHING (your opinion on it be what it is, majority
consensus on this is Whedon’s doing it well), Milligan has yet to
prove himself, and Claremont is the weak link. All the books have
distinct teams (sadly, they don’t all have distinct purposes) and are trudging through. All we need is a bit of editorial unity between the three, and we’re set for another beautiful period of X-Books… something that’s been missing for years.
JESSE BAKER: Jesse Says: I’m saying play to Whedon’s strengths, which is to write “outcast” characters extremely well; why let him write characters who everyone knows are long-standing X-Men when it would be more interesting (and in line with his standards as a writer) to give him the proverbial “bastard step-children” characters to write and revitalize them instead?
That being said, Whedon would be more adept to writing characters like Iceman, Polaris, Havok, and Rogue who are on the fringes of the X-Men universe these days than to let him write Morrison’s leftovers and the only character outside of Rogue who Claremont can still write properly. Whedon writing the Morrison X-Men team with Colossus and Shadowcat tossed in for no good reason is akin to Whedon writing Saved by the Bell and doing so totally straight and devoid of the things that make Whedon’s writing stand out… Milligan also legendary for his habit of killing off the interesting characters in all of the books he writes and railroading all attention to the really shitty characters in the book, which basically results in every book he writes going into the toilet sales wise and ultimately leading to the books being cancelled. He did this to SHADE THE CHANGING MAN, he did this to X-FORCE/X-STATIX; that being said, I seriously think we should start a dead-pool for how long it will take for Milligan to kill Havok and Polaris given they are the only real “draw” characters in the book at the moment that people care for (Gambit and Rogue don’t count since the only times they are worth anything is when Gambit is paired up with Storm and Rogue is written by Claremont, who is the only writer these days who doesn’t write Rogue like a whiney bitch who constantly complains about her powers).
JOHN BABOS: I figured there were 3, but I was using 4 because I think there should be a kid team not called the X-Men.
The “New” X-Men should not be a Gen-X book. The whole appeal of Gen-X and other kid team type books is that the kids are striving to be on the “big team”. When the book and team are called X-Men (new or otherwise) it undercuts the premise that makes the concept of a kid X-team book appealing.
So, I still think 2 true X-Men teams with 2 books dedicated to each team is the way to go. There are your 4 core X-men books. Then you can bring back a kid X-team book not called X-Men that is true to its
premise.
Also, James, I think we need the model I propose because the “voices” are too different in the X-Men books. We need some editorial leadership. There should be some degree of familiarity with the team if I choose to try one of the other books. Varied voices by writers isn’t necessarily bad, but if the characters’ voices are different in each book (e.g. Wolvie sounds and feels different in all the books) that’s a prob.
I also don’t think that Marvel should try to shoehorn the thousands of mutants who are someone’s favorite in the team books. Plus, I understand they are going the other way with a new Mutant Massacre type event on the horizon.
MICHAEL “MIGHTY MOUSE” MAILLARO: Claremont is never a weak link?
Have you been reading X-Men lately??? His X-TREME X-MEN was unreadable, especially when compared to Morrison’s awesome work on NEW X-MEN and Austen’s UNCANNY (which I also enjoyed). And Claremont’s UNCANNY is even worse. Let’s try finishing some storylines here.
Sadly, I dropped both UNCANNY and X-MEN. These books are pale shadows of the X-Men I remember and love.
JAMIE HATTON: Sadly, I would want to agree with you – but I just finished reading the Wizard hardcover ‘GREATEST X-STORIES’ and got to reread the Phoenix Saga as well as the Proteus story – and compared to what he is writing lately (since X-Revolution) it is just not the same. Those characters had distinct voices and actions, and where the dialogue is a bit outdated, the story was cohesive.
The stuff he’s writing now doesn’t even have the same innocent voice as it did back then… and his stories are exceptionally convoluted,
bordering on nonsensical. I’d suggest grabbing the X-TREME X-MEN first trade, but it’s not worth the money.
MANOLIS VAMVOUNIS: The X-TREME X-MEN became more focused and interesting once the Destiny Diaries crap was tied up and the X.S.E. concept was introduced. Say what you want, I actually enjoyed “God Loves Man Kills 2”, not as much as the original, but it was still a worthwhile read. Sadly the book fell again to disrepair near the end with the confusing Bogan wrap-up. (but he looked so promising!)
Well, again, all I can say is that Whedon chose these characters. He wasn’t given Morrison’s cast, he got to choose all his characters, and he specifically asked for Kitty and he’s the reason CC can’t use her regularly in his title. I don’t see how Havok and Polaris (former government agents!) are more “outcasts” than Emma (the recovering villainess) and Cyclops or Beast or so on. They’re all mutants; they’re all hated and feared and so on. It’s worthy to note BTW that Whedon’s team only has two X-Men that are featured in the movie, while Milligan’s team has three and also three members that carry their own ongoing titles. I think Milligan’s team is actually more mainstream!
PAUL SEBERT: Not to dip too deeply into this debate but… well I found Milligan’s debut issue on X-MEN to be perfectly serviceable, and I think it’s flat-out idiotic to write-off his run after one issue anyway.
Oh and I know it sounds Blasphemous to say, but it simply has to be asked: has Claremont done anything worth reading since MEKANIX?
JESSE BAKER: INTIFADA, which was probably the best Rogue story I’ve seen in ages and showed Claremont finally correcting one of his biggest mistakes from his first run by way of hooking Storm and Gambit up (granted only temporarily) and proving that Gambit can actually be a likable character if you put him and Storm together since they have great chemistry and cover up the other character’s severe character flaws… Also, TRIAL BY FIRE and the final issue of X-TREME X-MEN were pretty good…
PAUL SEBERT: You know… I think it’s time for a little SAT preparation question for our high school readers.
“God Loves Man Kills 2” is to “God Loves Man Kills” as…
A. “Dark Knight Strikes Again” is to “Dark Knight Strikes Back.”
B. “Batman & Robin” is to “Batman”
C. “Son of the Mask” is to “The Mask”
D. “Aliens vs. Predator: Deadliest of Species” is to “Aliens vs. Predator” (the Dark Horse comics mini-series.)
TIM STEVENS: As a guy who never really got into the X-Men the way 95% of comic fans did, here are my opinions. Because I know you care.
1) Claremont has lost a step. It doesn’t take anything away from his past greatness to say that. He just isn’t at the top of his game anymore.
2) It is too early to judge Milligan’s X-MEN. And given that he wrote HUMAN TARGET (which is damn good) I am inclined to give him a pretty wide berth.
3) ASTONISHING X-MEN is written very well and looks great too. Whedon/Cassaday is a hell of a team. That said I trust that if the two are separated, Whedon will continue to deliver quality writing and Cassaday will continue to deliver quality art (on whatever project). It’s just nicer if they stay together. Like Mom and Dad. And remember, if they do separate, it isn’t because they don’t love and it certainly isn’t your fault.
4) I give Morrison props for trying to push the X-Men into a new arena, even if I do believe he was ultimately outdone by very inconsistent art and a few “big” ideas too many. The way Marvel handled the events of NEW X-MEN was a damn shame, particularly the Magneto/Xorn thing, which I still don’t get.
5) A highly interconnected X-verse sounds good in theory, but then I realize that was a big reason I steered clear of X books (and the triangle Superman books) when I was younger. Some references to other events in other books are fine, but too much connection/crossover would be a mistake that would lead to people like me taking an all or nothing approach. That is, “If I have to get all the titles to really get what’s going on, I’d just as soon get none of them.”
6) I just think of different approaches to characters (like Wolverine) as variations on a theme. He acts basically the same in all appearances and any variance I chalk up to him being in different situations/scenarios. It makes sense to me that he’d acted slightly different with, say, Cyclops, than he would with Storm.
7) I am entirely too long winded.
That’s all for now.
WILL “WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, JOE DIMAGGIO?” COOLING: The problem with the X-Books is they’re all the f*cking same!!! There simply isn’t any difference in style, target audience or scenario. All three are basically a bunch of mutants who are based in the X-Mansion dealing with superhero problems. This then means that any preference is based simply of the quality of the writing/art and the statue of the characters – personally anyone who prefers UNCANNY to ASTONISHING is insane because ASTONISHING is doing the same style as UNCANNY with
more established characters and better writing/art.
What Marvel should do if they actually believed in editing beyond making Shanna wear a bra would be to give each title its own identity. Okay, so ASTONISHING is the AAA title with the “best” characters, best writers/artist and it delivers a traditional superhero book. Fine, but then let UNCANNY be say a JLI style comedy book with the more comedic characters (Iceman, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, Gambit, Rogue) bouncing off the straight laced leader (Storm). Then let X-MEN be the weird, Vertigo style book which is way off the beaten track. Then each book has a purpose beyond just being a money maker for Marvel.
As for integrating the universe, I’d lay the stress more on rationalising it than necessarily integrating it. I have no problem with the casts not mixing that much if at all but it has to make sense in the context of the situation they’re. If they want to have the characters not mix then they should have the lesser teams move out of the mansion but if they want to keep them then there should be more interaction. Not too much though, its s**t like that nearly killed the line.
But at the end of the day, none of these problems are going to be addressed any time soon because Marvel can continue to put out the current diabolical product (save ASTONISHING) and still sell shitloads of comics… for the time being at least.
Another problem with the X-books is the choice of artists; they’re all basically traditional superhero artists and so stop the writers truly expressing themselves. I severely doubt that Milligan’s run is going to be anything special just because he’s going to be stifled by the overly traditional artwork of Larroca. Artistic variety would greatly add to the standard of the titles.
BTW, Manolis whilst you’re technically correct about the different cast Rogue/Iceman are at totally different points in their life to the characters in the movie whilst Beast and Colossus were heavily
featured in the ’90s cartoon.
SHAUN OF THE DEAD to be adapted into four-issue mini from IDW [Credit: Newsarama]
WILL COOLING: SHAUN OF THE DEAD is a great movie that I love dearly and it’s perfect for a comic adaptation. IDW is a good place for them to go what with its emphasis on horror although personally I was hoping for Si Fraser on art, a true master of the balance between straight drama and comedy.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Make mine Pegg.
May solicitations: DC [List: Comics Continuum]
JOHN BABOS: YEAR ONE: BATMAN/SCARECROW #1 – I’m glad DC is doing more Year One type books. With NIGHTWING: YEAR ONE and BATMAN: THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, DC has had some solid retrospective winners recently.
BATMAN: DARK DETECTIVE #1 & 2 – A book by the classic ’70s duo of writer Steve Englehart and penciller Marshall Rogers who reintroduced the modern age Deadshot (cool costume and all). Sweet! Plus, ’80s inker extraordinaire Terry Austin. Wow. This is definitely on my pull list!
BATGIRL #64 – Deathstroke and his daughter, the Ravager, vs. Batgirl. Explosive action guaranteed.
ACTION COMICS #827 – John Byrne returns to pencil Superman! Christmas comes early in 2005.
BLOOD OF THE DEMON #3 – More Byrne plus a Batman appearance! John Byrne pencils DC’s World’s Finest in May 2005.
DOOM PATROL #12 – “…one team member returns to an old look…” Negative Man ‘going back’ to the bandaged look isn’t actually happening that way since this is DC’s ‘new’ DP with all previous incarnations wiped out. So, Negative Man is donning a new look for the first time… Sorta. I’m so confused, but it’s at least more Byrne pencils in May! Oooo, plus Metamorpho.
BREACH #5 – The best new book of 2005 continues.
THE FLASH #222 – The much anticipated Rogue War heads into part 3 of 6. Can’t wait.
GREEN LANTERN #1 – I feel variant reprints in this book’s future. I don’t like the new icon. I preferred the older more angular lantern symbol. Oh well. It’s a Geoff Johns book!
JLA #114 – The Crime Syndicate arc concludes. Busiek at his finest, but Garney’s art has disappointed.
JSA: THE GOLDEN AGE TP — NEW EDITION – So is this “in continuity” now? Hmmm. This is one of the greatest stories ever written. Plus it features “a” Manhunter quite prominently. Very cool!
JSA #73 – Captain Marvel returns to the JSA in the sequel to last year’s Black Reign! Shazam!
MANHUNTER #10 – A stalker of ex-Manhunters is on the loose? Oooo… I hope I’ll see Mark Shaw soon! MANHUNTER was the best new book of 2004 and continues with a full head of steam in 2005!
TEEN TITANS #24 & OUTSIDERS #24 – 2 parts of a new 4 part cross-over. Ugh. More revelations about Superboy and Lex Luthor (the good), but I wish the titles didn’t intersect (the bad).
THE RANN/THANAGAR WAR #1 – Very cool.
VILLAINS UNITED #1 – Deathstroke. Black Adam. On the same team? Excellent!!! The heroes of the DCU should beware.
A SIDE NOTE – DC is delivering way too many good books in 2005! Damn. What a complaint! 2005 will be an expensive year. However, the intriguing concepts aside, I feel that DC is a little too event/cross-over/mini-series focused in 2005. Heck, we haven’t event
gotten to 2005’s “Crisis” yet.
There are 4 COUNTDOWN spin-off mini-series that have tentacles in some of the monthlies. I just hope these aren’t too linked. Readers should have the choice to not read the minis and not be expected to leap from JSA or whatever monthly they are into if they don’t want to.
IAIN BURNSIDE: Damn, that’s a lot of Batbooks…
ACTION COMICS #827 – Oh, I ain’t buying it. I just wanted to laugh at that awful cover. Tee hee lol suxxorz roftlchairmanmao wtf teh w00t~1
DAY OF VENGEANCE #2 – I’m still not entirely sold on this one. Out of all the mega-minis DC is peddling this year, this one has grabbed my attention the least. I may drop it if the first issue isn’t convincing.
GREEN LANTERN #1 – Meh. Maybe.
JLA #114 – Why was this an 8-part story when Morrison managed to turn in a vastly more compelling JLA tale in just 3-parts over in CLASSIFIED? Still, this would appear to be one of those books that’s building to… something, and heading towards… somewhere, according to the latest issue. We shall see. If not, then away to eBay with ye!
JLA CLASSIFIED #7 – I just have one question: Why can’t I read this book now? Also, why can’t DC release a TPB series of the ’80s Giffen/DeMatteis League? That was two questions, but I can do that as I can believe it’s the Justice League, baby!!
JSA #73 – Operation: Get Captain Marvel Over continues. In yet another wrestling analogy, this guy is getting the Hulk Hogan 2002 Nostalgia Push. Still, it would appear that I am going to be Geoff Johns bitch for much of the rest of the year, so what the hell…
LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES #6 – Seriously, read this book. It’s only been going for two issues but I’m already confident that it’s equally, if not more, enjoyable than JSA or TEEN TITANS.
THE OMAC PROJECT #2 – I have no idea who Sasha Bordeaux is, but that’s a pretty damn sexy name by any stretch of the imagination.
THE RANN/THANAGAR WAR #1 – At the opposite end of the spectrum from DAY OF VENGEANCE, this is the series I’m most looking forward to. Hopefully, you’re all reading ADAM STRANGE. Right? Right? C’mon, seriously… you gotta be, right? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Shame on you all. And now we get a full-on chubby intergalactic war to ogle at, plus we get some new Dave Gibbons material!! Note to self: hurry up and buy THE ORIGINALS already… Also, that cover… Damn. I hereby nominate that as the cover of the month.
SEVEN SOLDIERS: SHINING KNIGHT #2
SEVEN SOLDIERS: GUARDIAN #2 – As if I wasn’t looking forward to SEVEN
SOLDIERS enough; they go and release solicitations with some of my favourite words in existence: “trusty steed” and “nefarious ways”! They should be the names of punk rock bands.
VILLAINS UNITED #1 – Seriously, Didio, how much of my money do you need?
EX MACHINA #11 – Nothing to do with this, but I finally read the third volume of RUNAWAYS last night and was suitably impressed. I really do hope that Marvel sees fit to actually continue to use these younger characters. They’ve already got a foothold with the Avengers, so there’s no reason why they shouldn’t.
THE INTIMATES #7 – Meh, this title is fading with me now. The ending to #4 in particular was totally out of the blue and didn’t really follow any sort of cohesive narrative either. Much like this rant.
THE LOSERS: TRIFECTA TPB – Jock is back!! Rejoice!! I really hope this series is continuing past #25…
TRIGGER #6 – I don’t know why I love you but I do. Doo-doo-be-doo-doo-doo.
May solicitations: Dark Horse [List: Comics Continuum]
IAIN BURNSIDE: CONCRETE: THE HUMAN DILEMMA #6 – Okay, I know that Jamie’s getting this mini and I’ve managed to pester Will into getting it, but I hope that a lot more of you out there are reading it too! Each issue could more aptly be described as a tome. I just can’t believe I hadn’t even heard of Concrete before this one… Must rectify that with some TPBs, STAT…
MAN WITH THE SCREAMING BRAIN #1 – Meh, maybe. Oh, who am I kidding? Who am I to resist The Chin?!?
TOO MUCH COFFEE MAN: HOW TO BE HAPPY TPB – Like Concrete, here’s another interesting character that I had never previously heard of. I get a feeling this one is going to be of a “love it or hate it” variety, but after checking out TMCM’s LiveJournal, I think I’m gonna love it…
May solicitations: Marvel [List: Hero Realm]
PAUL SEBERT: MACHINE TEEN #1 (of 5)
Let’s talk about the titular character in this book. I mean he’s a Machine and a Teen… what’s not to like?
Anyway Marc Summerac impressed me with his ability to write likeable characters in the short-lived, highly underrated GUARDIANS so I’m hoping his new project doesn’t fly under the mainstream public’s radar.
TIM “HE’S A FAMILY GUY” STEVENS: Hear, hear for GUARDIANS!
PAUL SEBERT: MARVEL NEMESIS: THE IMPERFECTS #1 (of 6)
Oh-kay a comic tie-in to that upcoming Marvel vs. EA game which makes me wonder… how come we never got a tie-in mini-series to any of those Marvel vs. Capcom games?
TOXIN #2 (OF 6)
It should be noted that Razor-Fist is on the cover of this comic, and for those who don’t know who Razor-Fist is, well he’s one of my favorite ill-conceived characters ever. He’s a Shang-Chi villain who cut-off his hands and replaced them with swords… something that takes serious dedication to your cause.
MARVEL KNIGHTS SPIDER-MAN #14
It should be noted that in the cover solicitation completely ignored the changes to Betty Brant’s character made during Terry Kavanagh’s run on WEB OF SPIDER-MAN. I mean look at this image for an example of the dynamic growth that Kavanagh allowed the character to undergo.
Where’s the continuity people?!
TIM STEVENS: Wow… That sure is… Something…
PAUL SEBERT: POWER PACK #3 (of 4)
We need more books by GURIHIRU on the market. Really we do. Say it with me… GURIHIRU!
MARVEL MILESTONES: WOLVERINE, X-MEN AND TUK THE CAVE BOY
*Singing* One of these things is not like the others… one of these things is not quite the same. Can you guess which one of these things is not like the others… now it’s time to play our game…
MARVEL TEAM-UP #8
This solicitation is the greatest ever…
“Master of the Ring.” One kills vampires. One kills mobsters. The Punisher isn’t a vampire, Blade isn’t a mobster–it seems like these two would get along swimmingly. But will they? And how does this all tie in with the Ringmaster’s plans for world domination? Part 2 of 6.”
The Punisher + Blade + The Ringmaster = Genius.
MARVEL ADVENTURES FANTASTIC FOUR #0
It saddens me when the capitalistic collectors market for #0 issues taints the proud name of the Marvel Adventures imprint.
TIM STEVENS: In THUNDERBOLTS solicitation – sweet shocker!!! Oh… that didn’t really come out right. Anyway, nice to see the Blanketed One getting some face time. Don’t know why I love him like I do, but I do.
And who is this Mike Raicht fella writing the SECRET WAR companion piece? Anybody got a previous works list for him. Also, that’s just a one shot, right?
IAIN BURNSIDE: He’s worked on MARVEL AGE HULK and MARVEL AGE SPIDER-MAN, plus he’s had a couple of stories in X-MEN UNLIMITED… Doesn’t exactly feel like the body of work that would lend itself well to a SECRET WAR tie-in, but what the hey, I’ll buy it anyway… Now if only they would hurry up and get #4 out…
I’ll also be after…
MARVEL TEAM-UP #8 – You gotta read this book. Kirkman has proven himself to be a great writer everywhere else and this title has finally let him do that at Marvel after the disappointment of JUBILLE, MARVEL 2099, etc. I mean, where else can we see Spider-Man yell “Oh, no… Wolverine!! Good lord, what did they do to you???” when he meets X-23 for the first time? Genius.
GIANT SIZED X-MEN #3 – What? Where was #2? Regardless, the chance to read a couple of ’60s tales, one of which I haven’t read before, and get a brand spanking new Joss Whedon story with artwork by Dave Cockrum is too delicious to resist…
ASTONISHING X-MEN #11 – An interesting choice of words in this solicitation… “The penultimate chapter to Whedon & Cassaday’s first year of ASTONISHING.” First year, huh? Let’s hope for a sexy second…
May solicitations: Image [List: Comics Continuum]
IAIN BURNSIDE: I’ve never really been a huge follower of Image books, but a couple of these new titles intrigue me – namely GIRLS #1 and THE STARDUST KID #1. I’ve heard nothing but good things about ABADAZAD, so I think I’ll give DeMatteis & Ploog’s new title a shot. As for Joshua & Jonathan Luna’s GIRLS book… well, the solicitation text certainly rings true…
X-Men: Dark Phoenix Rising [Download: Here]
PAUL SEBERT: Here’s a little flash-animated X-Men parody… Well worth downloading if anything for the Team A, B, & C gag.
NICK PIERS: “Don’t worry; she’ll be back before the next movie.”
That was the greatest thing since Satan in your cup…
