Stephanie Kay
Oct 14, 2007, 11:12 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/4images/details.php?image_id=10279"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/xmenv2-193t.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="X-Men (2nd series) #193"></a>Reviewer: Andrew Jastrzembski, adjastrzem@msn.com
Story Title: Supernovas: Part 6
Surprise, they cheated
Writer: Mike Carey
Penciler: Chris Bachalo
Inker: Tim Townsend, Jamie Mendoza, Victor Olazaba, Chris Bachalo, Mark Irwin, and Al Vey
Colorist: Studio F’s Antonio Fabela
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Assistant Editors: Sean Ryan
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
Warning: Spoilers ahead
Supernovas started off treading on way too familiar ground for me. There was going to be a new team of X-Men, a standard for a new writer. Then a mysterious group of super powered bad guys, the Children, popped up out of nowhere and were going to threaten the X-Men. At first glance, the Children were way too similar to the Neo in my mind. A lot of writers over the years try to establish new super villains for the X-Men. Most of them just become bad ideas we would all like to forget especially the poorly executed Neo. Next, Sabertooth was locked up in the mansion’s basement, again, and is now a member of Rogue’s team, as he was in X-Factor years ago. Throw in some mind controlled mutants attacking the X-Men and the ultimate kiss of death, the promise that this story arc will change the X-Men forever.
Taken all together was enough to make any long-time reader nervous. It has been so long since a good storyline in X-Men. For all we knew, Mike Carey was another writer destined to ruin his career by embarking on an unsuccessful run on X-Men. Writers who take over X-Men or even Uncanny X-Men face an uphill battle. First they have the unfortunate task of creating a formidable threat for the X-Men to square off against. Most of the big name villains have been neutered or killed off by a variety of writers over the years which has created a lack of credible threats.
Carey needed to create a threat, and he did a great job in Supernovas by creating two threats. The obvious first threat is the Children but he also gracefully weaved in the introduction of Pan, the villain in the next arc, at the opening of Supernovas. Throughout the rest of Supernovas, a few pages here and there have been dedicated to setting the ground work the next arc. It has been awhile since we have seen this level of masterful story telling in X-Men. Now as far as the Children go, Carey gets a slight ding for creating a Neo-esque group of bad guys with the Children. I still find the entire concept of the Children to be clichéd but I understand he had to create something. What Carey really excelled at with the Children was his execution. The Children are a sufficiently powerful enough to be a real threat to the X-Men but not so much that it takes an act of divine intervention to stop them, just a crafty mutant or two. Carey also left most of the mystery surrounding the creation and development of the Children intact. Hopefully, Carey gets a chance to expound upon their society and culture in his future arcs.
Second, every writer has the challenge to put together a dynamic and interesting new X-team. Most writers choose their favorite X-Men and throw in either a brand new character, an established character who has never been an X-Man, a villain, or some combination to create conflict. For his run, Carey has thrown out the old rule book and created a rapid response mutant strike force unlike none other. There are some classic X-staples like Cannonball, Iceman, and Rogue who Carey seems to be just having a ball with. In many ways, Supernovas was about re-establishing who Rogue as a strong character. Carey has smartly decided to focus on how resourceful, cunning, and witty she can be instead of focusing on her lack of control of her powers and her relationship with Gambit. What we get is a strong female leader that rivals Storm versus a whiney and hapless liability.
That is pretty much where the similarities end between Carey’s X-team and every other X-team out there. Most readers knew that Sabertooth, Mystique, and Cable were going to be included on the team for a long time but not many saw the additions of two of Claremont castoffs, Karima Shapandar and Lady Mastermind. That brings the total of former villains up to three on Carey’s team, plus one Omega Sentential for good measures. Another aspect that I found interesting about Carey’s team is the reliance weapons. Cable, Mystique, Lady Mastermind, and Karima to an extent all carry and use guns in the battle with the Children. This definitely is not your mama’s X-Men.
As far as the art goes, people either love or hate Chris Bachalo’s art. He has a style that is all his own that is hard to pin down to any one style. Personally, I love his artwork. It reminds me of a very busy and loud cartoon. There is always a lot going on each panel in both the foreground and background that it takes a few moments of actively viewing to fully grasp and appreciate what is exactly going on. Also, he does one of the best renditions of Rogue, dark and very sexy. That is not to say his work is not without fault. There is a lot going on in every panel and sometimes objects tend to jumble together or blend together into one huge mess. Plus some of his character drawings, such as Beast, do not work, and my largest pet peeve about Bachalo’s work is the cud that is super-glued to Cannonball’s mouth. We all know he is a hick. We can do without the visual cue.
Supernovas was engaging and satisfying storyline, with plenty of very witty moments. Carey threw a lot of piece on the board, his new eclectic team, the Children, Northstar and Aurora, Pan, the Children, and conflict between Rogue and Cyclops throughout Supernovas, and it all turned out for the best. I look forward to his next arc to see what he has planned for our merry little mutants.
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xhalf.jpg
‘Buy this X-Men online now from X-WORLD and save!’ ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1321&cat=X%2DMEN+157%2DPRESENT)
Story Title: Supernovas: Part 6
Surprise, they cheated
Writer: Mike Carey
Penciler: Chris Bachalo
Inker: Tim Townsend, Jamie Mendoza, Victor Olazaba, Chris Bachalo, Mark Irwin, and Al Vey
Colorist: Studio F’s Antonio Fabela
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Assistant Editors: Sean Ryan
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
Warning: Spoilers ahead
Supernovas started off treading on way too familiar ground for me. There was going to be a new team of X-Men, a standard for a new writer. Then a mysterious group of super powered bad guys, the Children, popped up out of nowhere and were going to threaten the X-Men. At first glance, the Children were way too similar to the Neo in my mind. A lot of writers over the years try to establish new super villains for the X-Men. Most of them just become bad ideas we would all like to forget especially the poorly executed Neo. Next, Sabertooth was locked up in the mansion’s basement, again, and is now a member of Rogue’s team, as he was in X-Factor years ago. Throw in some mind controlled mutants attacking the X-Men and the ultimate kiss of death, the promise that this story arc will change the X-Men forever.
Taken all together was enough to make any long-time reader nervous. It has been so long since a good storyline in X-Men. For all we knew, Mike Carey was another writer destined to ruin his career by embarking on an unsuccessful run on X-Men. Writers who take over X-Men or even Uncanny X-Men face an uphill battle. First they have the unfortunate task of creating a formidable threat for the X-Men to square off against. Most of the big name villains have been neutered or killed off by a variety of writers over the years which has created a lack of credible threats.
Carey needed to create a threat, and he did a great job in Supernovas by creating two threats. The obvious first threat is the Children but he also gracefully weaved in the introduction of Pan, the villain in the next arc, at the opening of Supernovas. Throughout the rest of Supernovas, a few pages here and there have been dedicated to setting the ground work the next arc. It has been awhile since we have seen this level of masterful story telling in X-Men. Now as far as the Children go, Carey gets a slight ding for creating a Neo-esque group of bad guys with the Children. I still find the entire concept of the Children to be clichéd but I understand he had to create something. What Carey really excelled at with the Children was his execution. The Children are a sufficiently powerful enough to be a real threat to the X-Men but not so much that it takes an act of divine intervention to stop them, just a crafty mutant or two. Carey also left most of the mystery surrounding the creation and development of the Children intact. Hopefully, Carey gets a chance to expound upon their society and culture in his future arcs.
Second, every writer has the challenge to put together a dynamic and interesting new X-team. Most writers choose their favorite X-Men and throw in either a brand new character, an established character who has never been an X-Man, a villain, or some combination to create conflict. For his run, Carey has thrown out the old rule book and created a rapid response mutant strike force unlike none other. There are some classic X-staples like Cannonball, Iceman, and Rogue who Carey seems to be just having a ball with. In many ways, Supernovas was about re-establishing who Rogue as a strong character. Carey has smartly decided to focus on how resourceful, cunning, and witty she can be instead of focusing on her lack of control of her powers and her relationship with Gambit. What we get is a strong female leader that rivals Storm versus a whiney and hapless liability.
That is pretty much where the similarities end between Carey’s X-team and every other X-team out there. Most readers knew that Sabertooth, Mystique, and Cable were going to be included on the team for a long time but not many saw the additions of two of Claremont castoffs, Karima Shapandar and Lady Mastermind. That brings the total of former villains up to three on Carey’s team, plus one Omega Sentential for good measures. Another aspect that I found interesting about Carey’s team is the reliance weapons. Cable, Mystique, Lady Mastermind, and Karima to an extent all carry and use guns in the battle with the Children. This definitely is not your mama’s X-Men.
As far as the art goes, people either love or hate Chris Bachalo’s art. He has a style that is all his own that is hard to pin down to any one style. Personally, I love his artwork. It reminds me of a very busy and loud cartoon. There is always a lot going on each panel in both the foreground and background that it takes a few moments of actively viewing to fully grasp and appreciate what is exactly going on. Also, he does one of the best renditions of Rogue, dark and very sexy. That is not to say his work is not without fault. There is a lot going on in every panel and sometimes objects tend to jumble together or blend together into one huge mess. Plus some of his character drawings, such as Beast, do not work, and my largest pet peeve about Bachalo’s work is the cud that is super-glued to Cannonball’s mouth. We all know he is a hick. We can do without the visual cue.
Supernovas was engaging and satisfying storyline, with plenty of very witty moments. Carey threw a lot of piece on the board, his new eclectic team, the Children, Northstar and Aurora, Pan, the Children, and conflict between Rogue and Cyclops throughout Supernovas, and it all turned out for the best. I look forward to his next arc to see what he has planned for our merry little mutants.
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xhalf.jpg
‘Buy this X-Men online now from X-WORLD and save!’ ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=1321&cat=X%2DMEN+157%2DPRESENT)