Ben Hutton
Mar 7, 2002, 03:18 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/newxmen121.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/newxmen122t.jpg" align=left alt="New X-Men #122"></a>Reviewer: Ben Hutton bhutton@froggy.com.au
Quick Rating: Great!
Story Title: Imperial.
Cassandra Nova makes her move while Jean Grey organises the X-Men’s resistance.
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: Frank Quitely
Lettered by: Richard Starkings
Colored by: Hi-Fi Design
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I’m going to try something a little different this month. I feel like I’ve been recapping the books a little too much instead of reviewing, so I’ll have a shot at remedying that. Also, due to time constraints this review will probably be a little shorter. Which is probably good, because there are only so many good things you can say before it gets boring.
Want to hear the good first?
Jean Grey. This is maybe the best characterization I’ve seen of her in a while. Not only is she smart, confident, and sensitive, she does something I’ve been wanting to do for ages. Jean Grey tells off Scott Summers. And she does it in no uncertain terms.
Of course he deserves it. In the midst of the latest X-crisis Scott is more concerned with browbeating Jean into subservience than he is over Xavier’s situation or the threat of a Shiar invasion. Are some of his points justified? Yes, in a way. Jean manifesting Phoenix energy might be a cause for concern… If she hadn’t done it every issue of the revolution. I think we’ve established that Jean’s Phoenix-ness (I’m a reviewer, I can make up terms) is more an evolution of the character than a danger. Every other X-Man seems to understand this, but not Scott.
His diatribe just makes him come off as bitter, overbearing, and a little misogynistic. What, Jean is using lots of power? Displaying the Phoenix raptor? But she’s just Scott’s tiny little woman, and she didn’t ask permission!
If Scott isn’t secure enough to handle a powerful, confident, decision-making wife then bring on the divorce!
Also worth a mention is a touching scene with Jean and Hank. Morrison’s characters are finally starting to feel like the real X-Men to me, and Jean Grey supporting Hank McCoy in his hour of doubt is spot on.
The art is again amazing. The splash page of the Shiar space wreck is beautiful, and the cover shot is one of the best renditions of Lilandra I’ve seen since John Romita Jnr. Just don’t ask me how her metallic helmet meshes with her lips.
Story wise this is a nicely written issue, without being outstanding. This is the first issue of an arc, and they tend to be a bit slow where Morrison is concerned. I enjoyed this, but got the ‘setting up’ feeling a little too much. Still a lot of good stuff here though, including an explanation of how Beast knew Xavier was in Cassandra’s body. Charles reached out and took control of him telepathically, directing him to the morgue. Nice continuity touch there.
Now the bad. Mainly some niggling things, but…
In the space wreck sequence a lot of the characters look very human, especially considering this was a Shiar vessel. The only Shiar I counted was Lilandra. The ship too was a little too human. It looked more like an earthbound home than a Shiar cruiser, and wasn’t consistent with what I’ve seen of their technology before.
The sequence itself was a little confusing. In one panel Lilandra dispatches Smasher to Earth, telling him to forget her, but two panels later they are running away together. In the same panel an energy wave of some kind vaporizes the crew to the bones, but there is no indication of where this came from. Are we meant to believe this is some power that Cassandra has while in Charles’ body?
Which brings me to my next question. Cassandra manifests an energy exoskeleton in Charles’ body. The only possibilities I can think of for this are that the energy shell is the true form of the “Cassandra entity”, which Jean identifies here as “living emotional energy”. That’s the best case scenario. The other option is that Morrison has resurrected the ludicrous idea that gave birth to the Onslaught fiasco: that Charles is somehow able to draw energy from the astral plane to make physical constructs.
I’m against this for a few reasons. Firstly telepaths are powerful enough as it is. Not many writers have come up with believable stories in which a telepath effectively using their abilities wouldn’t prevail, and prevail easily. Secondly telepathy is a mental ability. Giving it a physical component makes it ridiculously powerful, and nigh unbeatable. Thirdly it implies that the power of telepathy isn’t terrifying enough as it is. Someone who can read your mind, control your thoughts, kill you instantly without even a touch is an extremely dangerous foe. Adding something to this to make the bad guy threatening is insulting to us as readers.
Phew! That was my little personal rant, and now it’s over.
Xorn. What exactly are his powers? Towards the end of the issue he is described as a healer, and resurrects a bird from death. What? When was this established? If I’ve missed something let me know, but last time I saw Xorn he was a living weapon with a black hole for a head.
Smasher’s crash to Earth at the end of the issue, while funny, was a little jarring in such a serious issue. I can see the humorous effect they were going for, but I just don’t think it should have been used here. Just because you have a good idea doesn’t mean you have to shoehorn it into your issue Mr Morrison.
Not much Emma in this month’s issue… But what kind of review would it be if we didn’t have our patented ‘Priceless Emma Moment’. This month it’s her speech to the students. Though the speech itself is classic Emma, it’s her last line that is the highlight: “The whole world is watching us now. We must be nothing less than fabulous”.
A solid issue, a lot of setup, and some bad points. I just hope this arc doesn’t suffer like the last one. Oh, and before I forget, thank the powers that be that there hasn’t been much use of the Angel!
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!
Quick Rating: Great!
Story Title: Imperial.
Cassandra Nova makes her move while Jean Grey organises the X-Men’s resistance.
Written by: Grant Morrison
Art by: Frank Quitely
Lettered by: Richard Starkings
Colored by: Hi-Fi Design
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I’m going to try something a little different this month. I feel like I’ve been recapping the books a little too much instead of reviewing, so I’ll have a shot at remedying that. Also, due to time constraints this review will probably be a little shorter. Which is probably good, because there are only so many good things you can say before it gets boring.
Want to hear the good first?
Jean Grey. This is maybe the best characterization I’ve seen of her in a while. Not only is she smart, confident, and sensitive, she does something I’ve been wanting to do for ages. Jean Grey tells off Scott Summers. And she does it in no uncertain terms.
Of course he deserves it. In the midst of the latest X-crisis Scott is more concerned with browbeating Jean into subservience than he is over Xavier’s situation or the threat of a Shiar invasion. Are some of his points justified? Yes, in a way. Jean manifesting Phoenix energy might be a cause for concern… If she hadn’t done it every issue of the revolution. I think we’ve established that Jean’s Phoenix-ness (I’m a reviewer, I can make up terms) is more an evolution of the character than a danger. Every other X-Man seems to understand this, but not Scott.
His diatribe just makes him come off as bitter, overbearing, and a little misogynistic. What, Jean is using lots of power? Displaying the Phoenix raptor? But she’s just Scott’s tiny little woman, and she didn’t ask permission!
If Scott isn’t secure enough to handle a powerful, confident, decision-making wife then bring on the divorce!
Also worth a mention is a touching scene with Jean and Hank. Morrison’s characters are finally starting to feel like the real X-Men to me, and Jean Grey supporting Hank McCoy in his hour of doubt is spot on.
The art is again amazing. The splash page of the Shiar space wreck is beautiful, and the cover shot is one of the best renditions of Lilandra I’ve seen since John Romita Jnr. Just don’t ask me how her metallic helmet meshes with her lips.
Story wise this is a nicely written issue, without being outstanding. This is the first issue of an arc, and they tend to be a bit slow where Morrison is concerned. I enjoyed this, but got the ‘setting up’ feeling a little too much. Still a lot of good stuff here though, including an explanation of how Beast knew Xavier was in Cassandra’s body. Charles reached out and took control of him telepathically, directing him to the morgue. Nice continuity touch there.
Now the bad. Mainly some niggling things, but…
In the space wreck sequence a lot of the characters look very human, especially considering this was a Shiar vessel. The only Shiar I counted was Lilandra. The ship too was a little too human. It looked more like an earthbound home than a Shiar cruiser, and wasn’t consistent with what I’ve seen of their technology before.
The sequence itself was a little confusing. In one panel Lilandra dispatches Smasher to Earth, telling him to forget her, but two panels later they are running away together. In the same panel an energy wave of some kind vaporizes the crew to the bones, but there is no indication of where this came from. Are we meant to believe this is some power that Cassandra has while in Charles’ body?
Which brings me to my next question. Cassandra manifests an energy exoskeleton in Charles’ body. The only possibilities I can think of for this are that the energy shell is the true form of the “Cassandra entity”, which Jean identifies here as “living emotional energy”. That’s the best case scenario. The other option is that Morrison has resurrected the ludicrous idea that gave birth to the Onslaught fiasco: that Charles is somehow able to draw energy from the astral plane to make physical constructs.
I’m against this for a few reasons. Firstly telepaths are powerful enough as it is. Not many writers have come up with believable stories in which a telepath effectively using their abilities wouldn’t prevail, and prevail easily. Secondly telepathy is a mental ability. Giving it a physical component makes it ridiculously powerful, and nigh unbeatable. Thirdly it implies that the power of telepathy isn’t terrifying enough as it is. Someone who can read your mind, control your thoughts, kill you instantly without even a touch is an extremely dangerous foe. Adding something to this to make the bad guy threatening is insulting to us as readers.
Phew! That was my little personal rant, and now it’s over.
Xorn. What exactly are his powers? Towards the end of the issue he is described as a healer, and resurrects a bird from death. What? When was this established? If I’ve missed something let me know, but last time I saw Xorn he was a living weapon with a black hole for a head.
Smasher’s crash to Earth at the end of the issue, while funny, was a little jarring in such a serious issue. I can see the humorous effect they were going for, but I just don’t think it should have been used here. Just because you have a good idea doesn’t mean you have to shoehorn it into your issue Mr Morrison.
Not much Emma in this month’s issue… But what kind of review would it be if we didn’t have our patented ‘Priceless Emma Moment’. This month it’s her speech to the students. Though the speech itself is classic Emma, it’s her last line that is the highlight: “The whole world is watching us now. We must be nothing less than fabulous”.
A solid issue, a lot of setup, and some bad points. I just hope this arc doesn’t suffer like the last one. Oh, and before I forget, thank the powers that be that there hasn’t been much use of the Angel!
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!