Stephanie Kay
Oct 11, 2007, 05:16 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0906/XPHWSONG001_col.jpg"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/0906/XPHWSONG001_colt.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="X-men Phoenix Warsong #1"></a>Reviewer: Andrew Jastrzembski, adjastrzem@msn.com
Story Title: Warsong
The Phoenix returns. It really was just a question of when. . . So where is Jean?
Writer: Greg Pak
Art by: TOP COW Productions, Inc.
Artist: Tyler Kirkham
Letterer: Sela Regla
Colorist: John Starr
Letters: Troy Peteri
Production: Kate Levin and Rob Levin
Cover: Marc Silvestri
Assistant Editor: Sean Ryan
Associate Editor: Nick Lowe
Editor: Mike Marts
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
The Phoenix. I would venture to say that the word alone could spark (no pun intended) an endless debate amongst comic book fans everywhere. It is one of the perennial X-Men storylines. Some people just love it and others who are just tired of it. Either way the Phoenix/Jean Grey storyline will make its way back into the lives of the X-Men whether you like it or not. X-Men Phoenix: Warsong does just that. Is another limited series that aims to add to the mythos surrounding the Phoenix and, I assume, by extension, Jean Grey. The story itself picks up the teasers left at the end X-Men Phoenix: Endsong.
I will start off with some disappointing news. Greg Land is not doing pencils for this series. I would have liked to seen him doing the artwork again for this series. In his place, we get the art team from Top Cow Productions. This is not a slam against this art team. Their artwork throughout the issue is solid and consistent. I think Tyler Kirkham’s style is appropriate for this book. It has a very slick 90’s action adventure feel to it complete with a complete set classic comic book hero posing. The heavy use of dark blues and greens helped enhance the dark and ominous mood of the issue and set off the phoenix flames.
The good news about this book is that Greg Pak returns to weave his latest Phoenix tale. Pak’s writing on X-Men Phoenix: Endsong and now X-men Phoenix: Warsong really impresses me. There is not a lot of superfluous wording in his stories, and his characterizations of the big name X-Men are spot on. Large ensemble casts can be difficult when you have to juggle several different personalities. Pak shows us again that he can deftly handle large casts without hindering the story and not cheating any of the characters.
Surprisingly, the X-Men actually take a back seat in this issue. Their involvement in X-Men Phoenix: Warsong so far has been to help move and develop the storyline. The Stepford Cuckoos instead take center stage. In my humble opinion, they were the more memorable characters Grant Morrison created during his run on New X-Men. They are an interesting take on the classic telepath, but until now, I have never really given much thought to the Cuckoos’ status as X-men. Apparently Greg Pak has. When you stop to think about it, these girls have been on the periphery of the X-Men stories for over five years. They pop up in various storylines in a variety of X-books to push the story ahead in some fashion and then fade away back into the background until needed again or die. We know a few details like that they are the three in one telepathic siblings, the off and on protégés of Emma Frost, but that is all we really know.
They seemed destined to just hang around the X-Men and filling in when a telepath is needed. It looks like Greg Pak is ready to remedy that problem. The girls are really a blank slate. We have the broad strokes but Pak takes the time to define who these girls really are. The cuckoos have personality but usually it has just been one personality modeled after Emma Frost’s haughty attitude. Pak decides to give each girl a separate voice by using the phoenix essence to cause inner conflict amongst them. The second half of the book then focuses on each girl separately as they struggle to cope with phoenix essence speaking to them. This gives Pak a chance to set some ground work for flushing out each girl’s character. Pak also makes good use of Emma, Wolverine, and Beast as sounding boards for each of the Cuckoos. Each of these X-Men has a separate and distinct way of handling problems and they relay that information to the girls. The inner conflict the Cuckoos are experiencing has to escalate and by the end of issue, we see just that.
That brings me to the big question that was running through my head at the end of this issue. I am perplexed to where X-Men Phoenix: Warsong is heading. X-men Phoenix: Endsong was part homage, part eulogy, and part resolution to Jean Grey as the Phoenix story. That was easy to figure out from the title alone. From the looks of it, X-Men Phoenix: Warsong is not necessarily about Jean Grey, and I hope it does not go that route. We all know she will be back, but I think it is a little to early for Jean to be waking up from her dirt nap. The story and timing does not feel right. Now I think we might see her pop up out of her grave but by the end of the series, I think she will be right back where she stared: dead.
If you ask me now, I think the book is about the Cuckoos and the Phoenix. Are these girls going to become the next Phoenix? Maybe they will be joining their sisters in the grave by the end of the series? Maybe they will become five-in-one again. Quentin Quire also pops up in a panel during the first issue. Are we to assume he is going to make an appearance? There are a lot of questions hovering around this series. The Phoenix mythos has become convoluted over the decades, but it seems to have been untangled over the past few years. This series has gotten me thinking about where the Phoenix mythos is heading. On one hand you have X-Men Phoenix: Warsong which is dealing with Jean Grey’s legacy, but you also have Marvel Girl over in Uncanny X-Men. Really it is food for thought, but it also reinforces the fact that the Phoenix mythos still has some knots.
As uncertain as I am about where the series is ultimately heading, I like this element of mystery in this series. It makes for a better read by keeping the reader on his feet. Pak has proven that with X-Men Phoenix: Endsong he is able to create an interesting and fresh take on an idea that has been around the block once or twice. I am not ready to pass final judgment on the story. I am simply going to place my faith in Greg Pak and hope for the best.
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xnone.jpg
‘Buy this X-men Phoenix Warsong online now from X-WORLD and save!’ (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2441&cat=X%2DMEN+PHOENIX+WARSONG)
Story Title: Warsong
The Phoenix returns. It really was just a question of when. . . So where is Jean?
Writer: Greg Pak
Art by: TOP COW Productions, Inc.
Artist: Tyler Kirkham
Letterer: Sela Regla
Colorist: John Starr
Letters: Troy Peteri
Production: Kate Levin and Rob Levin
Cover: Marc Silvestri
Assistant Editor: Sean Ryan
Associate Editor: Nick Lowe
Editor: Mike Marts
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
The Phoenix. I would venture to say that the word alone could spark (no pun intended) an endless debate amongst comic book fans everywhere. It is one of the perennial X-Men storylines. Some people just love it and others who are just tired of it. Either way the Phoenix/Jean Grey storyline will make its way back into the lives of the X-Men whether you like it or not. X-Men Phoenix: Warsong does just that. Is another limited series that aims to add to the mythos surrounding the Phoenix and, I assume, by extension, Jean Grey. The story itself picks up the teasers left at the end X-Men Phoenix: Endsong.
I will start off with some disappointing news. Greg Land is not doing pencils for this series. I would have liked to seen him doing the artwork again for this series. In his place, we get the art team from Top Cow Productions. This is not a slam against this art team. Their artwork throughout the issue is solid and consistent. I think Tyler Kirkham’s style is appropriate for this book. It has a very slick 90’s action adventure feel to it complete with a complete set classic comic book hero posing. The heavy use of dark blues and greens helped enhance the dark and ominous mood of the issue and set off the phoenix flames.
The good news about this book is that Greg Pak returns to weave his latest Phoenix tale. Pak’s writing on X-Men Phoenix: Endsong and now X-men Phoenix: Warsong really impresses me. There is not a lot of superfluous wording in his stories, and his characterizations of the big name X-Men are spot on. Large ensemble casts can be difficult when you have to juggle several different personalities. Pak shows us again that he can deftly handle large casts without hindering the story and not cheating any of the characters.
Surprisingly, the X-Men actually take a back seat in this issue. Their involvement in X-Men Phoenix: Warsong so far has been to help move and develop the storyline. The Stepford Cuckoos instead take center stage. In my humble opinion, they were the more memorable characters Grant Morrison created during his run on New X-Men. They are an interesting take on the classic telepath, but until now, I have never really given much thought to the Cuckoos’ status as X-men. Apparently Greg Pak has. When you stop to think about it, these girls have been on the periphery of the X-Men stories for over five years. They pop up in various storylines in a variety of X-books to push the story ahead in some fashion and then fade away back into the background until needed again or die. We know a few details like that they are the three in one telepathic siblings, the off and on protégés of Emma Frost, but that is all we really know.
They seemed destined to just hang around the X-Men and filling in when a telepath is needed. It looks like Greg Pak is ready to remedy that problem. The girls are really a blank slate. We have the broad strokes but Pak takes the time to define who these girls really are. The cuckoos have personality but usually it has just been one personality modeled after Emma Frost’s haughty attitude. Pak decides to give each girl a separate voice by using the phoenix essence to cause inner conflict amongst them. The second half of the book then focuses on each girl separately as they struggle to cope with phoenix essence speaking to them. This gives Pak a chance to set some ground work for flushing out each girl’s character. Pak also makes good use of Emma, Wolverine, and Beast as sounding boards for each of the Cuckoos. Each of these X-Men has a separate and distinct way of handling problems and they relay that information to the girls. The inner conflict the Cuckoos are experiencing has to escalate and by the end of issue, we see just that.
That brings me to the big question that was running through my head at the end of this issue. I am perplexed to where X-Men Phoenix: Warsong is heading. X-men Phoenix: Endsong was part homage, part eulogy, and part resolution to Jean Grey as the Phoenix story. That was easy to figure out from the title alone. From the looks of it, X-Men Phoenix: Warsong is not necessarily about Jean Grey, and I hope it does not go that route. We all know she will be back, but I think it is a little to early for Jean to be waking up from her dirt nap. The story and timing does not feel right. Now I think we might see her pop up out of her grave but by the end of the series, I think she will be right back where she stared: dead.
If you ask me now, I think the book is about the Cuckoos and the Phoenix. Are these girls going to become the next Phoenix? Maybe they will be joining their sisters in the grave by the end of the series? Maybe they will become five-in-one again. Quentin Quire also pops up in a panel during the first issue. Are we to assume he is going to make an appearance? There are a lot of questions hovering around this series. The Phoenix mythos has become convoluted over the decades, but it seems to have been untangled over the past few years. This series has gotten me thinking about where the Phoenix mythos is heading. On one hand you have X-Men Phoenix: Warsong which is dealing with Jean Grey’s legacy, but you also have Marvel Girl over in Uncanny X-Men. Really it is food for thought, but it also reinforces the fact that the Phoenix mythos still has some knots.
As uncertain as I am about where the series is ultimately heading, I like this element of mystery in this series. It makes for a better read by keeping the reader on his feet. Pak has proven that with X-Men Phoenix: Endsong he is able to create an interesting and fresh take on an idea that has been around the block once or twice. I am not ready to pass final judgment on the story. I am simply going to place my faith in Greg Pak and hope for the best.
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xnone.jpg
‘Buy this X-men Phoenix Warsong online now from X-WORLD and save!’ (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2441&cat=X%2DMEN+PHOENIX+WARSONG)