X-TREME X-MEN: SAVAGE LAND #4 REVIEW

[Jim Lemoine]

{Originally posted on X-Fan v3.1 on 1/26/2002}

<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/xxmsl4.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/xxmsl4t.jpg" align=left alt="XXM: Savage Land #4"></a>Reviewer: Jim Lemoine, darkkelf@earthlink.net
Quick Rating: Poor
Story Title: What Price, Freedom? What Price, Humanity?

The X-Treme team fights a possessed Storm and the Savage Land Mutates as they seek to protect the new homeland of the Saurids.

Written by: Chris Claremont
Pencilled by: Kevin Sharpe
Inked by: Danny Miki
Lettered by: Tom Orzechowski
Colored by: Avalon Studio's Arsia Rozegar
Assistant Editor: Andrew Lis
Editors: Matt Hicks & Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas

I ended my review of the third issue of this series by saying, "I'm holding out for the last issue, which I hope will bring some closure and explain some of the things that don't make sense. It's not too late to fix this mess." Unfortunately, with the close of the fourth issue, the mess is even bigger.

Issue four ends the X-Treme X-Men: Savage Land mini, a series focusing on... ummm... well... it was promoted by Marvel as focusing on Rogue's quest for the truth about her powers and seizures, but Claremont forgot about that after the first issue. Then in the second issue, the series seemed to be about the Saurids' search for a homeland... but that got resolved in the same issue. I'm not quite sure what the theme of the third issue was, but I can tell you the theme of this final issue: X-Men have really corny dialog.

This mini-series as a whole, as well as the last issue, has been plagued with a general lack of direction, inconsistent art, and story concepts that make no sense. Chris Claremont is a good writer, and you usually get the feeling in his stories that everything is planned out, that there's a clear direction that all of his characters are moving in. It's not often that he seems to be making it up as he goes along, but that's the feeling you get from reading this series. Themes are quickly dreamed up and abandoned, comic-book clichés are used with alarming frequency, and many elements of the story require a heavy suspension of disbelief to enjoy.

This issue opens where the last one left off: with a chilling portrait of Storm emerging from Brainchild's genetic engineering. We're told that Storm has been regressed back down the evolutionary highway to the dawn of her race (which is odd, since she doesn't look anything like people did all the OTHER times super-villains regressed someone to the dawn of the human race). So here we learn that early mankind lacked body hair, used claws and fangs, enjoyed numerous natural piercings, and had cute pointed ears. Oh, and dreadlocks. Of course primitive man had dreadlocks. :rolleyes:

Meanwhile, Sage and Bishop finally arrive at the village with the refugee Saurids, and there is much rejoicing. The sight of his returned teammates makes the Beast confident that the dream of mutant/human coexistence might come true at last. While being oddly irrational for Hank, this isn't as silly as Thunderbird's thought last issue that two races might coexist because Rogue and Hank played soccer - and go read issue #3 if you think I'm making that up!

Suddenly, Storm and the Savage Land Mutates attack the X-Men, and all of the rejoicing humans and saurids strangely disappear. Rogue also seems to notice that everybody's missing, but how they vanished so quickly is never explained. Blinded and disoriented, the invulnerable Rogue crashes into a lake, and the caption tells us that it's "devastating". Funny, I never considered it devastating for a nigh invulnerable superhuman to get wet.

Many more X-Men clichés and general comic-book clichés follow, including some inspiring dialog by Bishop ("The more you blab, the easier it'll be to take you down!"), the usual villain-assumes-the-heroes-are-dead by Amphibius ("Look, a scrap of their uniform! That PROVES I've killed them!"), and the 'death' of Bishop after being hit by too much energy. Obviously, all of the Savage Land Mutates suddenly forgot what Bishop's mutant power was. Or then, maybe Bishop was, as he says, "so deeply unconscious that I appeared to be dead."

Okay, read that quote again and think about it. "I was so deeply unconscious that I appeared to be dead."

Chris, you're a much better writer than this!

As Brainchild torments Rogue in his sanctum, Lupa asks her hypnotized Beast to join the fight against Rogue. At that moment, Hank snaps out of it and attacks Lupa instead. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's seemed pretty clear to me for the past few issues that Hank was under Lupa's control. Now, suddenly, he's not. No explanation, no exposition, just one second he is under her control, the next he isn't.

Fighting the mutated Storm, Hank is bodily thrown into Rogue, and she absorbs his powers, knocks him out, and becomes a combination of the two of them. Then Brainchild smiles as if he had planned it.

Want to know what happens next? Too bad. There's an abrupt scene shift, and when we return to Brainchild's chamber, Hank's just fine and he's no longer merged with Rogue. In other words, the whole scene happens for no reason, and with no explanation.

A couple of pages later, three panels of close-ups of dinosaurs are accompanied by captions informing the reader that the Mutates' enslaved reptiles have broken free and destroyed their opposition. Obviously, a lot can happen in three panels of reptile faces.

In the end, the good guys are victorious, but the communities of humans and saurids in the village still distrust each other. Rogue and the X-Men give them their standard we-all-gotta-work-together motivational speech, and then leave. Way to go, X-Men. Great job of resolving that situation. Okay, kids, hands up if you think we'll come back here later and everyone will be fighting again?

That's how this issue and the mini-series at last mercifully come to an end. After saying so many nasty things about the writing, I sincerely wish I could add a few compliments for the art, at least... but I can't. Throughout this mini, Sharpe's art has bounced back and forth between good and bad, but this issue remained at the negative end of the spectrum. You get the impression that Sharpe was hurried to get the issue done, or that he didn't put as much time into his penciling as he did in the last few issues. Many of the panels, especially toward the end of the book, are drawn sparsely and messily.

X-Treme X-Men: Savage Land is over, and what are we left with? We have a story that probably won't leave much of a mark on the X-Men or their friends after it's done. We have lots of dangling plotlines that will probably never be resolved, like why Rogue was dreaming about the saurids in the first issue. We have a mixed bag of art, and a story filled with inconsistencies and mistakes.

If you're reading this book so that you can decide whether to pick up the individual issues or the undoubtedly-soon-to-come trade paperback, I have some even better advice for you: don't buy either. Altogether, X-Treme X-Men: Savage Land is one of the worst X-Men stories I've read in a long, long time.

ART:
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STORY:
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OVERALL:
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Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!

[Brian Wilkinson]

what price, this comic?


too expensive for what it is. I bought the first three issues, but not this one. I don't feel as though I've missed anything.

d'oh well.

:wolvie:

[SageFan]

I agree that it was not very good, but I really did like the part with Ororo and Hank talking about what had just happen to her, and how she feels. :)

[Michael Fisch]

Yup, the series sucked.

We all know that CC can do so much better than this. What happened?

[Amberman]

They're publishing this series as a TPB aren't they?
Why??

[zenith16]

Here's , what claremont said to a Fan on CinesCape.

quote:
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Originally posted by monolith:
I don't find this to be a continuity error. It's just typical villains returning to their original place once there last attempt to "take over the world" has failed along with the dissolution of the team she was with (Marauders)
I've never been under the impression the Marauders were free to leave Sinister's service. I've already grappled with Zenith over this in the XXSL #4 thread, though.

Can't argue. After absorbing the hundred's of people that she has, it gets difficult for someone (or writer) to keep track of them all. I know it's a weak argument, but this point though valid is IMO miniscule.

This is why we, the good people at http://www.uncannyxmen.net, have provided a complete listing of all Rogue's past imprintings in our Spotlight. (Chris, feel free to refer there is need be. )

That actually occurred before CC brought 'em back in the annual. With the way they came back previously and the open ended slaughter scene in Uncanny 281 (?), there is plenty of room to say they didn't "die." I for one am glad. I thought it was pretty pathetic the way for such a formidable group to get beat.

Actually, only Pierce and the original Skullbuster were brought back previously, and SB One didn't even appear. Also when Wolverine and Jubilee returned to Australia in Wolvie #72-74, we were treated to the still dead bodies of the Reavers littering the area.

I don't follow you on the continuity angle. Quality....I agree that it's not up to par with the main title or his other work.

Again, I mentioned this in the XXM:SL thread, but the final issue was seriously awkward. The build-up of Lupa's control over Beast is dropped, as he disappears during the Mutates' attack and later reappears at Brainchild's palace. In fact, Hank is never even mentioned as being under Lupa's control in #4. Bishop is about to be run down by human riders, cut/to and we return with him facing the Dino-riders. Despite the peace established last issue, Delage has to be threatened into making peace this issue. Etc, etc, etc....

That's been addressed by CC. He chose to not overdo the training scenes with Bishop. I agree that it would have been nice to have seen them. It would have added better flow to TBird's progression, but this IMO is not a continuity error.

I would agree if training was skipped over. My complaint is that Neal switches back and forth from these two extremes: fear -> special trix -> fear and back again.

Did the issue of him being African or Aboriginal come up prior to X-treme 4? If not, I don't see how it not being addressed is a problem. If it was brought up, then that is a problem.

My point was that people of African descent have different features, skin tone, etc. than people of Aboriginal descent. The impression I got from XXM #4 was that both Bishop's parents were Aborigine, making him fullblooded as well. It would have been a noticable difference, either in art or in text reference.

I can see your point, but he's been in the present long enough to evolve a new way of thinking especially with as many things as he has experienced. I myself in the last couple of years have changed opinions and ways I approach things.

Change is good. But where exactly would Bishop have picked up modern detective skills/attitudes/perceptions? The only contact he's had with our era's police is running from them!


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Dear Monolith:

First and foremost, my apologies for the Savage Land mini-series, especially yhe last issue. Therein lies the quintessential example of Murphy's Law: a series started under one editor, turned over to a second, then a third, with production problems from top to bottom. It was a nice idea, file it away, move on.

As for the Reavers, among other continuity glitches, there is unfortunately a structural reality in the modern industry that all of us have to deal with, namely the proliferation of material. The fact is, my collection has major holes in it, especially covering the last ten years. And the fact that there have been so many stories involving X-characters, ranging over the full spectrum of the Marvel Universe, only makes it that much harder to keep current. So -- when a proposal or a plot is submitted, it often falls to the editor to check on the status of the character, whether they're available, where they were last seen, what-have-you. The editor acts in good faith and reports back what he or she knows. Trouble is, since Marvel's in-house library also has holes in it, and there's no archivist to consult, the editor can just as easily be blind-sided by a character's past as the writer. By the same token, however, sometimes what appear to be gratuitous changes in a character are actually the result of a change in editorial policy toward that character -- ie, we don't like him or her as portrayed, we'd like a change.

We try our best. But if not for our occasional screw-up or what-have-you, think of how quiet and bland these forums would be, yes?

No?

Ah well ...

(I know you won't believe this, or at least find it hard to credit, but there really is a way to resolve all the apparent inconsistencies with Bishop's past, and if the mini-series gets a green light, I'll try my best to do so.)

Cordially,
Chris Claremont
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which can be found here.

http://messageboard.cinescape.com/x-men/ubb/Forum50/HTML/001862.html

[Dream2002]

I've been a fan of Claremont's work for years. During the 17 years he first worked on UNCANNY XMEN he never once let me down. He took me to the most unexpected places and even though he never got the chance to complete all hs subplots, the ride was still fun.

That's why it saddens me to say that the XTREME XMEN: SAVAGE LAND story is not only the worst XMEN story he's ever written, it's actually one of the worst comic books I've ever read.

I don't even understand why a monthly team book would need an additional limited series. Especially one done so poorly that didn't add to the mistique of the XMEN.

[blue]

I agree that CC can write better stories than x-treme x-men savage land but i do not hate the series just I do not find it as interesting as the regular x-treme x-men.

[giantpacoctopus]

I guess I didn't hate it as much as most, but that doesn';t mean I like it though. I had trouble finding the "point" to the story. Many have suggested that is was to make a $. Maybe. Regardless, I thought it a bit boring and all over the map. Not CC's best work, that's for sure. Oh well, one less thing to buy.