Stephanie Kay
Oct 13, 2007, 11:47 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/4images/details.php?image_id=10423" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/axmv3-19t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="Astonishing X-Men #19"></a> Reviewer: Mike Sangregorio, darquehex@gmail.com
Story Title: Unstoppable (Part 1)
I didn’t kidnap you all for giggles, or even for the time I’ll buy. I did it because right now, I need superheroes.
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassady
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com)
<hr width=75%>
Story Title: Born Again
And Roy…you of everyone should appreciate the value of rehabilitation.
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Penciller: Ed Benes
Add. Inker: Sandra Hope
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Assoc. Editor: Jeannie Schaffer
Published by: DC Comics (http://www.DCcomics.com)
I’ve never really been a fan of Roy Harper and even less so of Kitty Pryde. Not their faults, even if one can place blame on fictional characters, but they aren’t exactly the most marketable of properties. Or should I say characters, because it seems that when we start treating these characters as iconic money makers they begin on a new path. They grow sacred and eventually stale. I started reading comics when Todd McFarlane was God and I didn’t even know who Jack Kirby was.
The last decade and a half or so has been weird, hasn’t it? For those of you a bit older than me maybe you remember with the same sort of fondness the idyllic setting of the Silver Age that Mr. Meltzer and Mr. Whedon are trying to invoke in their current stories. Maybe Grant Morrison, who had lengthy tenures on both properties was just a little too forthcoming with some of his ideas. Some ideas such as Zauriel and Xorn have yet to find their places in the grander scheme of things (though I doubt the latter ever will). Maybe all the black leather and dark demeanors really did scare everyone, as Cyclops said in Whedon’s first issue. Morrison had nothing but high hopes for his tenured stories and he did his job well, as these stories could not have been told as well in a fictional landscape untouched by such a great mind. The question is, do enough fans view such deviated stories as mere fanfic when compared to the “glory days?”
How much did stories of Electric Blue Superman and shirtless, leathery Wolverine make readers pine for what had gone before? My first exposure to the JLA included Kyle Rayner and my first X-Men were drawn by Jim Lee. I wouldn’t give these memories up for anything, but after reading Whedon and Meltzer’s work I am curious about what others think of when they picture these teams. What is each reader’s ideal.
Reading these two issues in a row was more fun than I thought it should be. Each carried their stories with an even hand, rarely giving into overdramatic splash pages or faulty characterization. There is reverence, especially with junior members such as Roy and Kitty, but there is also structure. And pacing. And just a hint of respectability. Sure, Wonder Woman fights crime in high heels and Black Lightening makes me think of Soul Power from the Static Shock cartoon, but when you peel back all the eccentricities involved with such sci-fi heavy stories what you see isn’t all that ridiculous.
The Astonishing X-Men have finally embarked on a journey to the Breakworld, which would seem ridiculous if any of what master planner Ord has said is true. Really though does the statement “Colossus will destroy my home world” sound any better than “powers from the bite of a radioactive spider?” I mention the Silver Age because it seems that somewhere along the way from there a good many storytellers forgot that comic book super heroes have succeeded by being inherently great at doing foolish things.
<a href="http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6883/justiceleagueofamerica5hm1.jpg
" target="_blank"><img src="http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7601/justiceleagueofamerica5is9.jpg" hspace=10 align=right alt="Justice League Of America #5"></a> Issue five of the inaugural Tornado’s Path storyline has the new Justice League of America finally come together and face off against the revealed menace of a super smart, super suave Solomon Grundy. Meltzer is quick to acknowledge the characters legacy and varied history while never missing a beat as far as making this new group of heroes work. I say new because this league is made up mostly of your second stringers. The new Red Arrow being thrust into the spotlight by a writer who has loved the character longer than anyone else stands alongside Hawkgirl, Black Canary and the newly forgiven Hal Jordan to make a team that actually looks like they could carry a story we haven’t seen before.
If Keith Giffen gave us laughter and Morrison gave us everything old as something radically new, then Meltzer is giving the latest generation of fans what they may have only read about in trades and Wikipedia. His penchant for novelized arcs, literally fitting an entire story into a set amount of issues makes for some awkward transitions. I still haven’t forgiven him for the “big reveal” of Identity Crisis, but the logic was there and the talent backing it up makes me want to stay on the ride for a bit longer.
As is true with Meltzer and Ed Benes, Joss Whedon owes a great deal to John Cassady, whose skill on Planetary made me want to be Elijah Snow. Here, in between the first decent cover he’s produced in over a dozen issues and a page of tribute to the late, great Dave Cockrum is a story filled with jabs at its own history and enough mystique to perpetuate it’s own press. Where is the threat, really? Will there be anything left of Ord’s people to destroy? What is it that makes the X-Men the premiere fighting force of a planet filled with people who hate them when it comes to defending Earth from otherworldly threats? Maybe their sci-fi nature just fits in a little bit better than that of Thor, Cap and a drunken ex-carnival archer (kidding…I got nothing but love for Clint).
Either way, the only thing that could have made this issue any more engrossing would have been if the Serenity had flown across the bow of the SWORD ship. There is a strange balance that the story manages without going off to far into the black (of muddled continuity) or to far into the irreverent (Lockheed as a double agent?). As with Justice League, Astonishing X-Men seems to coax the reader into turning the page. Obviously the stories are different and they are trying to accomplish different things, but for the most part they are going about it in similar ways. These characters have been laid bare by overly simplistic attacks that fit with the character’s legacy while pushing ahead and giving readers what they haven’t seen before. Emma’s Hellfire Club and Professor Ivo’s Red Tornado Army? Not exactly Cassandra Nova or Mageddon in terms of threat levels, but that’s ok because it seems like we’re finally ready to take a step back and enjoy these characters for what they are. Again.
Books such as Mark Millar’s Ultimates or Brian K. Vaughan’s Ex Machina are akin to fine novels, each brimming with social commentary and yards of current cultural references. As they are they can be enjoyed by fans today and those who will become fans once they discover them, be it tomorrow or years from now. Even Grant Morrison, who can tell complicated semi-meta stories such as The Invisibles and The Filth shows us that a good story can sometimes come from a monkey in a Superman shirt, as in his All-Star book.
Both the X-Men and the League have had their time in the sun and times when they have been overshadowed by the parts that make up their whole, but for all the skillful art and writing and boundary breaking scope that has been utilized many times in the past few incarnations of these teams, it finally seems as if both creators and fans have started to work on where exactly the ideal versions of these teams lie. Maybe these are fluke anachronisms not fit for our grim and gritty world which seems to be fostered on the shoulders of every property trying to either be the next Watchmen or picked up by Hollywood. Maybe not. Either way, please treat yourselves to these two damn fine entertaining stories.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xhalf.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlahalf.jpg
Buy both of these issues from X-WORLD and SAVE! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplaycategories.asp?id=2529&cat=00+ITEMS+FOR+DEC+2006)
Story Title: Unstoppable (Part 1)
I didn’t kidnap you all for giggles, or even for the time I’ll buy. I did it because right now, I need superheroes.
Writer: Joss Whedon
Artist: John Cassady
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com)
<hr width=75%>
Story Title: Born Again
And Roy…you of everyone should appreciate the value of rehabilitation.
Writer: Brad Meltzer
Penciller: Ed Benes
Add. Inker: Sandra Hope
Colorist: Alex Sinclair
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor: Eddie Berganza
Assoc. Editor: Jeannie Schaffer
Published by: DC Comics (http://www.DCcomics.com)
I’ve never really been a fan of Roy Harper and even less so of Kitty Pryde. Not their faults, even if one can place blame on fictional characters, but they aren’t exactly the most marketable of properties. Or should I say characters, because it seems that when we start treating these characters as iconic money makers they begin on a new path. They grow sacred and eventually stale. I started reading comics when Todd McFarlane was God and I didn’t even know who Jack Kirby was.
The last decade and a half or so has been weird, hasn’t it? For those of you a bit older than me maybe you remember with the same sort of fondness the idyllic setting of the Silver Age that Mr. Meltzer and Mr. Whedon are trying to invoke in their current stories. Maybe Grant Morrison, who had lengthy tenures on both properties was just a little too forthcoming with some of his ideas. Some ideas such as Zauriel and Xorn have yet to find their places in the grander scheme of things (though I doubt the latter ever will). Maybe all the black leather and dark demeanors really did scare everyone, as Cyclops said in Whedon’s first issue. Morrison had nothing but high hopes for his tenured stories and he did his job well, as these stories could not have been told as well in a fictional landscape untouched by such a great mind. The question is, do enough fans view such deviated stories as mere fanfic when compared to the “glory days?”
How much did stories of Electric Blue Superman and shirtless, leathery Wolverine make readers pine for what had gone before? My first exposure to the JLA included Kyle Rayner and my first X-Men were drawn by Jim Lee. I wouldn’t give these memories up for anything, but after reading Whedon and Meltzer’s work I am curious about what others think of when they picture these teams. What is each reader’s ideal.
Reading these two issues in a row was more fun than I thought it should be. Each carried their stories with an even hand, rarely giving into overdramatic splash pages or faulty characterization. There is reverence, especially with junior members such as Roy and Kitty, but there is also structure. And pacing. And just a hint of respectability. Sure, Wonder Woman fights crime in high heels and Black Lightening makes me think of Soul Power from the Static Shock cartoon, but when you peel back all the eccentricities involved with such sci-fi heavy stories what you see isn’t all that ridiculous.
The Astonishing X-Men have finally embarked on a journey to the Breakworld, which would seem ridiculous if any of what master planner Ord has said is true. Really though does the statement “Colossus will destroy my home world” sound any better than “powers from the bite of a radioactive spider?” I mention the Silver Age because it seems that somewhere along the way from there a good many storytellers forgot that comic book super heroes have succeeded by being inherently great at doing foolish things.
<a href="http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/6883/justiceleagueofamerica5hm1.jpg
" target="_blank"><img src="http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/7601/justiceleagueofamerica5is9.jpg" hspace=10 align=right alt="Justice League Of America #5"></a> Issue five of the inaugural Tornado’s Path storyline has the new Justice League of America finally come together and face off against the revealed menace of a super smart, super suave Solomon Grundy. Meltzer is quick to acknowledge the characters legacy and varied history while never missing a beat as far as making this new group of heroes work. I say new because this league is made up mostly of your second stringers. The new Red Arrow being thrust into the spotlight by a writer who has loved the character longer than anyone else stands alongside Hawkgirl, Black Canary and the newly forgiven Hal Jordan to make a team that actually looks like they could carry a story we haven’t seen before.
If Keith Giffen gave us laughter and Morrison gave us everything old as something radically new, then Meltzer is giving the latest generation of fans what they may have only read about in trades and Wikipedia. His penchant for novelized arcs, literally fitting an entire story into a set amount of issues makes for some awkward transitions. I still haven’t forgiven him for the “big reveal” of Identity Crisis, but the logic was there and the talent backing it up makes me want to stay on the ride for a bit longer.
As is true with Meltzer and Ed Benes, Joss Whedon owes a great deal to John Cassady, whose skill on Planetary made me want to be Elijah Snow. Here, in between the first decent cover he’s produced in over a dozen issues and a page of tribute to the late, great Dave Cockrum is a story filled with jabs at its own history and enough mystique to perpetuate it’s own press. Where is the threat, really? Will there be anything left of Ord’s people to destroy? What is it that makes the X-Men the premiere fighting force of a planet filled with people who hate them when it comes to defending Earth from otherworldly threats? Maybe their sci-fi nature just fits in a little bit better than that of Thor, Cap and a drunken ex-carnival archer (kidding…I got nothing but love for Clint).
Either way, the only thing that could have made this issue any more engrossing would have been if the Serenity had flown across the bow of the SWORD ship. There is a strange balance that the story manages without going off to far into the black (of muddled continuity) or to far into the irreverent (Lockheed as a double agent?). As with Justice League, Astonishing X-Men seems to coax the reader into turning the page. Obviously the stories are different and they are trying to accomplish different things, but for the most part they are going about it in similar ways. These characters have been laid bare by overly simplistic attacks that fit with the character’s legacy while pushing ahead and giving readers what they haven’t seen before. Emma’s Hellfire Club and Professor Ivo’s Red Tornado Army? Not exactly Cassandra Nova or Mageddon in terms of threat levels, but that’s ok because it seems like we’re finally ready to take a step back and enjoy these characters for what they are. Again.
Books such as Mark Millar’s Ultimates or Brian K. Vaughan’s Ex Machina are akin to fine novels, each brimming with social commentary and yards of current cultural references. As they are they can be enjoyed by fans today and those who will become fans once they discover them, be it tomorrow or years from now. Even Grant Morrison, who can tell complicated semi-meta stories such as The Invisibles and The Filth shows us that a good story can sometimes come from a monkey in a Superman shirt, as in his All-Star book.
Both the X-Men and the League have had their time in the sun and times when they have been overshadowed by the parts that make up their whole, but for all the skillful art and writing and boundary breaking scope that has been utilized many times in the past few incarnations of these teams, it finally seems as if both creators and fans have started to work on where exactly the ideal versions of these teams lie. Maybe these are fluke anachronisms not fit for our grim and gritty world which seems to be fostered on the shoulders of every property trying to either be the next Watchmen or picked up by Hollywood. Maybe not. Either way, please treat yourselves to these two damn fine entertaining stories.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xhalf.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/jlahalf.jpg
Buy both of these issues from X-WORLD and SAVE! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplaycategories.asp?id=2529&cat=00+ITEMS+FOR+DEC+2006)