X-MEN: DIVIDED WE STAND, BOOK #1 REVIEW

[Jason Grasso]

<a href=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/xmendws/XMENDWSBK001_col.jpg"><img src=" http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/xmendws/XMENDWSBK001_colt.jpg" hspace=10 align=left alt="X-Men: Divided We Stand, Book 1 (of 2)"></a>Reviewer: Jason Grasso, Desperad07@aol.com

Because Cyclops said so…

Cover by: Brandon Peterson
Letterer: Cory Petit
Assistant Editor: Will Panzo
Editor: Nick Lowe
Executive Editor Axel Alonso
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)

BEWARE SPOILERS!

In the aftermath of Messiah Complex, the X-Men as we know it have disbanded so as to give their inevitable reformation some extra buzz. While the X-titles continue focusing on the exploits of X-men young, old, savage or eccentric, there were still a large number of mutants who inexplicably “face the world alone.” Such is the purpose of this two-part limited series. The writers strive to do their best with the minimal space to tell their stories (detailed individually below) while the art differs enough to offer contrast between each story.

Story Title: Danger Room
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Brandon Peterson
Color Artist: Justin Ponsor

Cannonball returns home and promptly gets into a fight with some ubiquitous anti-mutant rednecks. He utilizes this opportunity to let out some aggression, Danger Room-style. Unfortunately, Sam gets to pay the price for some poor editorial decisions in the X-universe. I don’t know what’s more annoying, Cyclops’ sudden ill-characterized surrender or the petulant reaction by many of the characters in this title. The former was simply never fleshed out. We were forcefed a ridiculous macguffin at the end of Messiah Complex to give it some resonance but more importantly to support the creation of some edgier titles and stories. Then everything we’ve ever known about the X-Men gets put on the shelf when no mutant chimes in and says “Hey Scott, I’m not ready to quit” despite a long history of exactly that type of division in the ranks. Instead, we are subjected to a bunch of mutants who seem unable to assemble with each other, in the interests of pensive detachment.

Story Title: Home
Writers: Craig Kyle and Chris Yost
Artist: Sana Takeda

The second story picks up on a similar theme, when a native son returns home to Wakanda. The young mutant ultimately longs for the companionship of his comrades, thus making his homecoming a little bittersweet. This story may have been a little more compelling if fleshed out over an entire issue. (A problem throughout this title.) Additionally, it falls prey to stupid comic book contrivances like the reaction of the woman whose child Nehzno saves from a massive truck. In typical form, the woman chastises the young mutant savior for touching her son despite having just seen the man save the boy from certain death. The boy could very well be Nehzno’s son or brother, depending in how you interpret his reaction and her reaction is incredibly baffling. All very indicative of sloppy rushed storytelling, trying too hard to fit in too much before the last frame.

Story Title: Blend In
Words & Art: Skottie Young
Color Assist: Jean-Francois Beaulieu

Anole’s story has the harshest conclusion to it, proving that betrayal runs deeper here than with others. Clearly, this goes beyond the X-Men’s disbandment to include some issues the young mutant had during his time at the school. His mentor Northstar visits him in response to a startling event involving Anole and his father but Anole pushes him away, an intent he has for all of his friends and mentors.

All this story does for me is question why they even bothered canceling New X-Men. Clearly there were still some threads to tie up and many of these show up here in compacted form. With some space and time, those stories could have made for great stories in that title, which itself would have had more usefulness than the misguided Young X-Men.

Story Title: Belong
Writer: Chris Yost
Artist: David LaFuente
Color Art: GuruEfx

Hellion’s story seems best designed for the anthology format of this title as it gets to its point more efficiently and utilizes flashback storytelling effectively as an overlap to its present plot. Ultimately, Hellion is like his comrades in his feeling betrayed that the X-Men are no more, except that his telekinesis makes for a more dangerous temper tantrum. Here, the voice of reason comes from a more effective source: Magneto. He implores Hellion to appreciate the time he’s been given. Though the means are still left open for debate, the result is best delivered in this story.

Story Title: Migas
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Jamie McKelvie
Color Art: GuruEfx

The final story features an elf and a clone. Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings? Nope. It’s Scalphunter serving migas and Nightcrawler serving him back some religion. The latter appears (in preacher disguise) to the former, who’s now working the counters at a diner. The “preacher” innocently probes at Scalphunter or specifically his true nature. When the ruse is up and Nightcrawler goes on the attack, he ultimately pulls back, offering further religious guidance. He notes Scalphunter’s notoriously recopied cloning and makes the observation that the Marauder is a soulless entity. Nightcrawler forgives him and heads off, apparently leaving behind a better man for it.

It’s an inspiring story though a little unbelievable. Scalphunter was last seen injuring Nightcrawler as part of his continuing villainy in the service of Mr. Sinister. It’s interesting to have a character actually reference the immorality of this constant cloning. But the ease at which Scalphunter sees the light, at the hands of one X-Man, when he’s done his damage to larger numbers in the past, is wholly unbelievable. And one day this little story will get thrown out when the next writer decides to bring back the Marauders and Scalphunter leads the charge. We’ve seen it in the past with his numerous deaths. After all, cloning is really just a gift of the retcon gods.

The characters in this title suffer from the empty denouement of Messiah Complex that is Divided We Stand. All along we were told that the day of the important crossover was back. But they forgot to bring the impetus and ramifications with them. Cyclops’ actions are inconsistent and baffling; and are now being used to drive almost the entire mutant universe! A lot of the voices here have some good things to say, but not enough space to say them in. And ultimately, no valid motivation to say anything at all.

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‘Buy this issue online now from X-WORLD and save!’ ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=27044)

[JD Francesco]

All this story does for me is question why they even bothered canceling New X-Men. Clearly there were still some threads to tie up and many of these show up here in compacted form. With some space and time, those stories could have made for great stories in that title, which itself would have had more usefulness than the misguided Young X-Men.

Bleah, no! Since House Of M, New X-Men was a never ending carousel of stories about incompetent adults failing their teenage students who turned out to know better all along (as we know all teenagers do). :frust: This mini showcases the end result, a collection of messed up youngsters with super powers and anti-social tendencies. This is not the recipe for future super heroes. It is the making of super villains. They need therapy, not spandex. If there were no writers willing to deal with these problems then I say it's best to wipe the slate clean and start over.

[bruddamush]

Things just aren't making sense.....why would Emma abandon her students, especially Hellion, knowing how volatile he can be (he's the kind of guy you want on the "good guys" team for sure)?

Maybe this Skrull rumor isn't just a rumor after all............

[Ann Nichols]

Note: Sam is actually fighting members of the family that has a feud with the Guthries. We met the Cabots in Mr. Austen's "She Lies With Angels," the story that gave Joshua "Jay" Guthrie (Icarus) wings. (see "Uncanny X-Men" #437-441)

Nehzno's story showcases the bigotry of Wakandans, a bigotry that is directed at Gentle for the "crime" of having an outsider for his father. We know that Nehzno is a royal ward. We also know that he's been away from his mother long enough that he didn't know that he had a little half-brother. I strongly suspect that Nehzno & N'Baku's mother's reaction to the return of her shamefully-begotten (by Wakandan standards) elder son may have been indirectly communicated to N'Baku, giving the child another reason to come up to the painted stranger when their mother wasn't watching. We did see their mother's reaction to seeing Nehzno with the king and queen in panel two of the third page of the story.

That crumpled photo of Nehzno's parents, with most of his mother's face torn away, made me sad. I wish she didn't want to pretend that her youthful affair (?) that produced Nehzno had never happened. I'm also sorry that Nehzno didn't realize the value of his fellow students' companionship while he had it.

We don't know how deeply Scalphunter's new-found religion runs. It may be just a beginning. It's possible that the next Scalphunter to attack the X-Men will be a different clone.

I am surprised most by Emma's behavior. I had thought that she genuinely cared about the students.

I'm really hoping that Cyclops deciding to not let every X-Man & student know that the disbanding of the X-Men was a ruse to keep Iron Twit and his Initiative at bay comes back to haunt him.

If it leads to Xavier gathering the X-Men who don't know and the students together again (once he finishes putting his head together), that's fine by me.

[emesem]

[QUOTE=Ann Nichols]

I am surprised most by Emma's behavior. I had thought that she genuinely cared about the students.

QUOTE]


Thats no Emma, thats a SKRULL baby....

[baltiroo]

If it leads to Xavier gathering the X-Men who don't know and the students together again (once he finishes putting his head together), that's fine by me.

I agree completely with you on this! I really hope that after X-Men: Legacy is over that Xavier will recruit X-Men to his side after Scott's disbanding. I feel that this is the place for Rogue, Gambit, Cannonball, and most likely Hellion.

[Rcdino1]

I'm not sure I would agree with this reviewer's assessment of the book.

I thought the book was brilliant. The book was set up as a series of vignettes designed to explore/ touch-on the mythos of some of these characters since the conclusion of the Messiah Complex.....and it did just that. I don't think the collection was set up to be a series of "short stories"...just "snipets" of what is going on in the x-world. The reader is left to ponder how these small storylines may relate to their future as X-men. That's good storytelling! I would go so far as to say that this format of storytelling ....X-Men Vignettes....would be very attractive to the X-men universe. It keeps the reader guessing..............

The Cannonball story: How invested is Sam in the fight? Sam's growth as a character parallels that of Cyclops. Who truly is the better leader?

The Gentle story: I find it amazing how so many fans, so many readers are in awe of these new "X-characters" to have received some recent character development. Kudo's to Yost, Kyle and Young and their "Quest for Magik" storyline that helped usher in a whole new set of interesting "future" X-Men : Pixie, Anole, Match, Loa, Trance, etc....including Gentle. What is Gentle's place in the X-Verse?

The Anole story: Kids need to be kids......It's nice to have such a new and interesting character...."put the X-men in their place".....Shame on you Summers! How will Anole react when "the war" come knocking on his door (or treehouse for that matter)?

The Hellion story: Julian "Magento-in-the-making" Keller. What an interesting diachotomy?

The Nightcrawler story: In my opinion..the best vignette. Matt Fraction truly explores Nightcrawler's soul and gives a voice to Scalphunter. I started collecting comics during the Mutant Massacre storyline many ages ago and was memerized by both the heroic qualities of the X-Men and the brutality of the Mararuders. It was nice to see an author give a Marauder a voice...a perspective....something that hasn't been explored too much in the past. Nightcrawler's strength is his faith and it was brilliantly portrayed. What does the future behold for Scalphunter? Has he been given back some of his soul?

All in all ...a great read and I look forward to the second book

:cball: :gentle: :anole: :hellion: :ncrawler:

[phoenixfyre2k4]

I'm really surprised that this got a bad review ... I thought the storytelling was inspiring and actually a balm to the horrible ending of Messiah Complex. Magneto said it all ... we need to be reminded that many of these "X-Men" are kids, and NEED to be kids for as long as they can. After all, they were thrust into a world of death by these writers issue after issue, making us wish they could experience our more jovial lives at 15 years old. "Divided We Stand" is clearly providing that opportunity.

As for the Nightcrawler/Scalphunter story -- easily one of the best X-Men stories ever written. My jaw dropped when I realized Nightcrawler was actually the priest (yeah, I'm a lil slow lol), and I love the fact that we're reminded that supervillains are humans. Why should it be "unbelievable" that Nightcrawler made Scalphunter "see the light?" No character should be THAT one-dimensional where they can't be shown to be emotional creatures ... Emma, Magneto and Mystique are just a few examples of characters who are shown to have reasons and history behind their villainy. Does that make it right? No, but it provides for some damn good writing. Good job, Fraction.

Oh yeah, Anole elbowing Northstar in the face? Priceless. :yeah:

[emesem]

As someone who gave up on the "New Xmen" kids quite early (I couldnt tell one kid with ambigous powers from another) this book was a nice (re) introduction to characters like Hellion, Anole (worst code name ever) and Nehzo...

I found the "Sam gets gritty" and "yet another religious Nightcrawler story" stories boring and pointless.

[Kizmet]

After all, they were thrust into a world of death by these writers issue after issue, making us wish they could experience our more jovial lives at 15 years old. "Divided We Stand" is clearly providing that opportunity.

I don't think it really provided an opportunity for the kids to be normal teens so much as it highlighted the damage that has been done to them as a result of issue after issue of death and bloodshed.

[Jason Grasso]

Note...the review was 2 1/2 out of 5, not 1 out of 5. So technically it wasn't a bad review. I made some good points about some of the stories, some of which I felt would have done even better as fuller length stories. The repetition of plot and some of the lesser stories brought the good ones down. That's what I call "an average story." And thus an average review. Not bad, but not fantastic by any means.

Another problem is this thing flies under the banner of a faulty product: Divided We Stand. It's hard to buy into the emotions when we're not so sure why these individuals are in the place they are now. The X-Men have fought much tougher odds in the past, lost teammates and then got together for softball the following issue. Cyclops' decision at the end of Messiah Complex was not a natural progression of his character. It was contrived and literally felt like he was spewing editorial direction via dialogue. Now that's being used to drive most of the mutant universe, and titles like this, showcasing these characters, seem way too overdramatized and unnatural.

[Kizmet]

Another problem is this thing flies under the banner of a faulty product: Divided We Stand. It's hard to buy into the emotions when we're not so sure why these individuals are in the place they are now. The X-Men have fought much tougher odds in the past, lost teammates and then got together for softball the following issue. Cyclops' decision at the end of Messiah Complex was not a natural progression of his character. It was contrived and literally felt like he was spewing editorial direction via dialogue. Now that's being used to drive most of the mutant universe, and titles like this, showcasing these characters, seem way too overdramatized and unnatural.

Actually I find it easy to believe that their reactions would be quite strong given that Scott had no rational reason to disband the team. From this issue and the first issue of YXM it is clear that Scott hasn't shared the fact that the team's disbanding was merely a ruse to get Stark out of their business.

So as far as Cannonball knows there isn't a good reason for Scott to be making a decision like that and as far as he knows Scott really did disband the X-Men. IMO it makes sense for him to be MORE angry BECAUSE Scott's decision makes no sense. Same goes for Anole and Hellion's feelings of abandonment.

I agree that Scott's decision makes very, very little sense. Especially when couple with his decision to not explain his reasoning to anyone. However the reactions of the characters in THIS book do make sense given what Scott did.

[Ann Nichols]

<snip>I'm not sure I would agree with this reviewer's assessment of the book.The Gentle story: I find it amazing how so many fans, so many readers are in awe of these new "X-characters" to have received some recent character development. Kudo's to Yost, Kyle and Young and their "Quest for Magik" storyline that helped usher in a whole new set of interesting "future" X-Men : Pixie, Anole, Match, Loa, Trance, etc....including Gentle. What is Gentle's place in the X-Verse?
<snip>

The kudos for the creation of Anole, Indra, Loa, Match, Pixie, & Trance belong to Mr. DeFilippis & Ms. Weir. However, I do believe that Mr. Kyle & Mr. Yost did create Gentle.

Were you aware that, back when the students were in squads, both Anole and Match were squad leaders?

Anole led the Alpha Squadron. Loa & Indra were also members.

Match led the Paragons Squadron. Pixie, Trance, & Wolf Cub were also members.

[emesem]

The kudos for the creation of Anole, Indra, Loa, Match, Pixie, & Trance belong to Mr. DeFilippis & Ms. Weir. However, I do believe that Mr. Kyle & Mr. Yost did create Gentle.

Were you aware that, back when the students were in squads, both Anole and Match were squad leaders?

Anole led the Alpha Squadron. Loa & Indra were also members.

Match led the Paragons Squadron. Pixie, Trance, & Wolf Cub were also members.


sure there seem to be a few "keepers" in that group but overall Defilippis, weir, kyle and yost just had waaaay too many characters plus they had to integrate people like dust and x-23. It just doesnt work. None of these kids ever seemed real the way the original new mutants and Gen X eventually became.

[Rcdino1]

...to each their own....to me 2 1/2 stars is a poor review.....

With that said, I am in complete agreement with the reviewer's reaction to the conclusion of the Messiah Complex. It did feel contrived, rushed and seemed to "deflate" the moment that the series had carried for the months prior. The characterization of Cyclops is being stretched. It will be interesting to see how it is played out by issue #500

Kudos go to the creative team (Kyle, Yost, Young) that "brought life into these characters --ie: Gentle, Pixie, Anole, etc... There is a difference between creating a character and developing a character. If the "Quest for Magik" storyline were not created in New X-men --- would there have been vignettes written about Gentle and Anole?

I tend to doubt it.....................

[Ann Nichols]

If you wish to give them kudos for further developing characters they didn't create, I won't dispute that. It was the implication -- in your original wording -- that they had created all of the characters you named except for Gentle that made me want to set the record straight.

Anole had his appearances and his fans before "Quest for Magic," so I don't know if he'd have been left out, but agree with you about Gentle.

[JD Francesco]

Actually I find it easy to believe that their reactions would be quite strong given that Scott had no rational reason to disband the team. From this issue and the first issue of YXM it is clear that Scott hasn't shared the fact that the team's disbanding was merely a ruse to get Stark out of their business.

So as far as Cannonball knows there isn't a good reason for Scott to be making a decision like that and as far as he knows Scott really did disband the X-Men. IMO it makes sense for him to be MORE angry BECAUSE Scott's decision makes no sense. Same goes for Anole and Hellion's feelings of abandonment.

I agree that Scott's decision makes very, very little sense. Especially when coupled with his decision to not explain his reasoning to anyone. However the reactions of the characters in THIS book do make sense given what Scott did.

Actually I'm going to have to side with Jason on this one. The conceit that there is no X-Men without Cyclops rings hollow given these past decades of continuity. Even if they didn't know it was all a ruse there is nothing stopping the rest of the team from continuing the fight without him.

However we know from reading the last page of Young X-Men that Sam hasn't given up and has already banded together with his fellow New Mutants. An intermittent moment of despair and frustration before getting back in the saddle works well enough for me in light of this knowledge.

As for the rest of the so-called New X-Men I find it simultaneously amusing and depressing that these kids are assaulting their former instructors and rushing to join Magneto after being sent home, while the Young Avengers and the Runaways seemed to manage just fine with maintaining a focus on fighting crime without any adult supervision.

How am I supposed to take them seriously as the next generation of X-Men if no one bothers to write them with any heroic qualities?

sure there seem to be a few "keepers" in that group but overall Defilippis, weir, kyle and yost just had waaaay too many characters plus they had to integrate people like dust and x-23. It just doesnt work. None of these kids ever seemed real the way the original new mutants and Gen X eventually became.

I mostly agree. There were too many characters and with the exception of X-23 there wasn't sufficient focus on character development. I have yet to grow an attachment to any of them. Where we differ is I don't see any of the kids as "keepers" yet. A story can hit the stands this Wednesday about all the students being successfully hunted down and killed by Purifiers and I wouldn't consider it as much of a loss. After 46 issues that's pretty sad.

[Jodoria]

I liked this issue. I especially liked the Scalphunter story. I can buy the idea of Scalphunter reconsidering his...life decisions. Assasin for hire or not, he is still human and living so many years in what can only be described as instability can take its toll on most people(especially knowing that you've been cloned about 90 times but you still have the memories of your old life) and maybe its starting to take its toll on Scalphunter. Scalphunter is a guy who has been through a whole lot. Maybe unlike, say Sabretooth, Scalphunter maybe has what could pass for a soul. I also want to add: WHY THE HELL DID THEY CANCEL NEW X-MEN? If they want to focus on what happens to the students afte MC, why not just use the book that starred the students???I really liked New X-Men...

[Jason Grasso]

Actually I'm going to have to side with Jason on this one. The conceit that there is no X-Men without Cyclops rings hollow given these past decades of continuity. Even if they didn't know it was all a ruse there is nothing stopping the rest of the team from continuing the fight without him.

Exactly. At numerous times, this team was led by Storm, Rogue, Cyclops and probably a few other I'm missing. The team is filled with strong personalities. Sure, Beast or Angel isn't likely to lead a team....but they inflated the roster with so many mutants who've led off-shoot teams or have strong personalities, I just don't see that they would all take his word as gospel, hang their heads, and walk away.

And don't forget, Professor Xavier has gone missing or has been presumed dead a number of times. Why did those teams get back on the horse? Because someone else took the reigns of leadership.

The dream only died in this circumstance to set up storylines. I prefer when stories flow naturally and progress as if they write themselves. Too much heavy-handed control in the titles these days. (X-Factor, to me, is a title that moves at a natural pace.)

[Kizmet]

Exactly. At numerous times, this team was led by Storm, Rogue, Cyclops and probably a few other I'm missing. The team is filled with strong personalities. Sure, Beast or Angel isn't likely to lead a team....but they inflated the roster with so many mutants who've led off-shoot teams or have strong personalities, I just don't see that they would all take his word as gospel, hang their heads, and walk away.

Rogue is off taking a time out. Storm is busy being Queen of Wakanda. Cable and Bishop are off in the future fighting over the brat. Xavier is busy recovering from a bullet to the brain. Jean is dead. Kitty is MIA. Psylocke and Sage are off with the Exiles. Remy is on the outs with the X-Men. Scott started this breaking apart nonsense. Wolverine, Kurt, Colossus, Emma, Angel and Beast are apparently in on Cyclops' plan so they all know that they aren't really breaking up. X-Force has their mission. X-Factor was off doing their own thing before MC started.

So who precisely isn't stepping up to the plate to reform the X-Men after Scott disbanded them?


And don't forget, Professor Xavier has gone missing or has been presumed dead a number of times. Why did those teams get back on the horse? Because someone else took the reigns of leadership.

Storm, Cyclops, Kitty, Kurt, Jean Grey, Cable, even Gambit once (I'm not counting Rogue because both times she's lead the X-Men it was because she was asked to take the roll, the rest of them have all assumed leadership on their own initiative, or helped to motivate the formation of an X-team)... all of whom are currently have some reason why they can't or wouldn't try to reform the X-Men right now.

The dream only died in this circumstance to set up storylines. I prefer when stories flow naturally and progress as if they write themselves. Too much heavy-handed control in the titles these days. (X-Factor, to me, is a title that moves at a natural pace.)

Too many "Everything you know will be changed FOREVER!!" events. I won't argue with that. But THIS issue isn't responsible for the mess it's clean-up which was sorely needed to the abrupt ending of MC.

As for the rest of the so-called New X-Men I find it simultaneously amusing and depressing that these kids are assaulting their former instructors and rushing to join Magneto after being sent home, while the Young Avengers and the Runaways seemed to manage just fine with maintaining a focus on fighting crime without any adult supervision.



The YA's still get to go home to their families after their done being heroes. They didn't have their home yanked away. And how active have they been as superheroes since the SRA passed?

The Runaways became heroes because they were rebelling against their evil adult figures. They were disappointed by what they learned about their parents and set out to become the exact opposite. Basically they did the exact same thing as Julian tried with Magneto; they chose the side opposite of their parental figures.

Also neither the YA's or the Runaways have been subject to death, distruction and torture on the scale of what Kyle and Yost put the NXM through. They generally win their fights, they haven't watched repeated or mass slaughters of their friends. I believe the Runaways have suffered two casualties and the YA none. In contrast the NXM have had over forty of their classmates murdered, and watched as their entire species went from thriving to the brink of extinction. I don't like what Kyle and Yost did with the title, but given that it happened I think it's reasonable that these kids are having more troubles than the two teams mentioned.

[JD Francesco]

The Runaways became heroes because they were rebelling against their evil adult figures. They were disappointed by what they learned about their parents and set out to become the exact opposite. Basically they did the exact same thing as Julian tried with Magneto; they chose the side opposite of their parental figures.

The Runaways did not become heroes merely to spite their parents. If that is what you're saying (wow, I hope it's not) then I'm really disappointed that this is what you got out of those stories. For me, those kids made a moral judgment between right and wrong after their parental figures failed them. The choice they made is why they deserve to be called heroes. Julian made the opposite choice which is why he is not superhero material. Had the story been about Julian attempting to become a solo crime fighter in New York I would be singing a much different tune.


Also neither the YA's or the Runaways have been subject to death, distruction and torture on the scale of what Kyle and Yost put the NXM through. They generally win their fights, they haven't watched repeated or mass slaughters of their friends. I believe the Runaways have suffered two casualties and the YA none. In contrast the NXM have had over forty of their classmates murdered, and watched as their entire species went from thriving to the brink of extinction. I don't like what Kyle and Yost did with the title, but given that it happened I think it's reasonable that these kids are having more troubles than the two teams mentioned.

Teddy had his life turned upside down toward the end of YA's first season including the death of the woman he thought was his mother. The team also saw its share of torture during their Civil War crossover with the Runaways. So far none have turned to a life of villainy. If nothing else I can at least agree that both the Young Avengers and the Runaways had the advantage (so far) of better writers handling their stories.

We can debate the importance of scale of suffering but everyone has their sad stories to tell. If Julian really thinks life has been so cruel to him that a life of villainy is all he has to turn to then maybe he should have a chat with Illyana Rasputin. Surviving ones past is great and all but it is the choices we make regarding our future that better define a true hero.

Sort of unrelated comment: I remember in the Hellions mini it was established Julian had an older brother living in New York. Why hasn't he bothered to look him up?

[Kizmet]

The Runaways did not become heroes merely to spite their parents.

And Julian didn't go to Magneto solely to spite Scott, but because he's always been written as having a leaning toward Magneto's way of thinking. Julian is interested in protecting his people, not being a general hero.

The version of Magneto whom Julian went to, and the one who he echoed back when he convinced everyone to go rescue Wither from the FBI, is Not some maw-haw villian. He's someone who honestly believes his path is the best the way to protect mutant-kind.



Teddy had his life turned upside down toward the end of YA's first season including the death of the woman he thought was his mother. The team also saw its share of torture during their Civil War crossover with the Runaways. So far none have turned to a life of villainy. If nothing else I can at least agree that both the Young Avengers and the Runaways had the advantage (so far) of better writers handling their stories.

No arguement that the writing on YA and Runaways has been better. But it's also had an intristically different tone. The YA's and Runaways choose to be heroes, they're primary goal is stopping the bad guys. Ever since M-Day the NXM's primary goal has been survival.

Even if the YA's and Runaways suffer some tradgey, it's balanced out by some victories. The NXM's have not had any balance in their stories (and this IS a fault of the writing on NXM). Every victory is a tainted one.

M-Day happens, the majority of the students loose their powers, several die because of the loss and there's Wither mutilating Laurie's arm. That's immediately followed with the school bus blowing up, then Laurie getting murdered, then Icarius getting murdered, and Elixer going catatonic. Then X-23 and Hellion nearly die. Then Mercury gets tortured. Then the whole team gets tortured. Then Hellion ends up in a coma and I believe several other students were injured as well. When they're NOT figthing or being tortured they're going to funerals or wondering about who's going to die next. Between M-Day and MC it's incrediably rare to find a moment where there isn't a member of the NXM in the hospital.

By contrast the Runaways have the intial shock of finding out the truth about their parents, but after that arc you've got six issues where no one is seriously damaged and there is an implication of time passing between the arcs as well were they're also not being tramatized. Then Alex dies. After that there's another time-skip. Then "True Believers", "Star-Crossed" & "East Coast/West Coast" with no serious injuries before Gert dies. Then an arc of coming to terms with Gert dying. There's some torture in the CW cross-over but Vaughn's last arc once again does not feature an excess of new trama.

Similarly the YA have breaks between arcs where nothing much is happening. And they have adventures which don't involved massive trama every now and then.

It's not about the scale of each individual trama, it's about the unrelenting nature of trama after trama that the NXM undergo, in a short period of time with very little chance to recover any sense of equilibrium before the next trama comes along. I think it's poor writing from Kyle and Yost that they can't do anything but pile trama upon trama on their characters to maintain excitement but given those circumstances it seems natural that the kids should be having nervous breakdowns.


We can debate the importance of scale of suffering but everyone has their sad stories to tell. If Julian really thinks life has been so cruel to him that a life of villainy is all he has to turn to then maybe he should have a chat with Illyana Rasputin. Surviving ones past is great and all but it is the choices we make regarding our future that better define a true hero.

Julian's always been written as having the potential to be the next Magneto. He isn't about being a hero, he's driven by protecting his friends. Since M-Day the NXM have been all about survival not heroics. It's not that Julian thinks his life is so hard, it's that he has an inclination to believe that Magento's methods are a better way to ensure his friends don't killed by mutant hating humans than staying with the X-Men and watching as Scott and Emma keep screwing up and getting the people he cares about killed.

And it's funny you should bring up the Rasputin family given that Colossus joined the Acolytes (Magneto's path) after Illyana's death.

[Ann Nichols]

Don't forget that Quill was murdered in the same issue that Icarus was.
Also, Wither accidentally maimed Wallflower -- he foolishly assumed he was depowered when he wasn't.

Northstar was Julian's first advisor and he was worried about Julian going down the wrong path.

I agree about the unrelenting trauma visited on these kids. Here's our Stephanie Kay's review of NXM v.2, #41:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=43603&highlight=NEW+X-MEN

X-Axis review of 2005, 2006, & 2007 for the title:

http://www.thexaxis.com/newxmen/2005.htm
http://www.thexaxis.com/newxmen/2006.htm
http://www.thexaxis.com/newxmen/2007.htm

[BlackSamurai]

The books are trying to give variety to readers and an ounce of realism (that admittedly often falls flat or is overwrought). YA is about someone seeking out the next Avengers to fulfill a mission, and it grows from there; idealistic kids (for the most part) trying specifically to be heroes. Runaways were raised morally (by implication) totally unaware their parents had such dark sides (some had a hint but not complete information) so the horror of seeing their parents sacrificing a girl scared them into running away and not turning out like them. After such a shock, those that endured with the team want to oppose evil where they see it. Those two recipes produce heroes once nothing significantly derails them afterwards. Neither of these books have had as long a running time or a setting comparative to the New X-Men academy students.

They are around the X-Men, but they weren't there all on the same accord trying to be the next generation of X-Men; their only uniting aspect is that they are all mutants. A bunch of children brought to the Academy, not to be crime fighters, to be taught how to use their powers and be safer from bigotry and other things. Regardless of the writers, the fact remains the characters became targets to a lot of pain, loss and trauma. That makes them scared, uneasy youth, in a place where powered peers is the norm. Among those you will find some personally inspired to be X-Men and some being molded by others to be heroic, but the majority were just trying to survive.

Now people's warranted problems are with (and I will address each to story):
Cannonball
- the good. We finally see where Husk has been and he at least reaches the conclusion of going out and seeking partners to continue a fight if not the fight, but that's it.
- the bad. He did not have to go all the way home to reach the conclusion that he needed to find a way to keep his edge for the future of mutant kind, especially only to blow off visiting his mother after that trip there. The fight with Guthrie haters really was pointless to the 'epic of the mutants' and was just cliche for the farm town to have a bar fight so action could be put in somewhere. If anyone should be seeking out another in a book, this story could have simply been a letter written by Sam to Husk saying "Dear Paige, I know mom was looking forward to seeing me after y'all heard the X-Men disbanded, but I need to do something else I feel is much needed in these times. I'm going to visit Roberto and see what we can do about the lack of an X-Men. Love, Sam" (alter to suit not letting on the reunion group as opponents in Young X-Men). It's also weird that he isn't one of the few let in on the secret that the X-Men haven't really permanently disbanded.

Hellion
- being forced out of the X-Mansion telepathically by his mentor. WHAT??? Disbanded or not, it looks like an act of stupidity, negligence and cruelty to say to a kid "Tons of people want all mutants dead" then turn around and force them out on their own to BE killed. Covering for a gambit by Cyclops to misdirect Stark is one thing, but to not pull some strings to still (at least try to) ensure ALL of their students' safety is in-story wrong of Emma, or creative team level hard to swallow, unrealistic characterization. It is stupid of the experienced X-Men leaders to risk their charges' lives to that extent to avoid SHRA/Initiative scrutiny, they could have come up with a better approach than that. It's also very grating to readers to see temper tantrums being thrown by characters nowadays.
- What is not unbelievable is that Julian did not seek out a heroic path. He was one being molded (against his nature) to serve actively in a hero role, and then abandoned/betrayed by those who chose such a life for him. Yeah, he's had a leader role, but never on a full time full authority level, so he's not ready to manage, direct and command a superhero team (since he can't find them anyway) or become a solo hero, since he was never written as motivated or having any reason to go out seeking crime to oppose. And as many have already said, he's interested in surviving and as a mutant, the only other game in town leading youth to be proactive in their own survival besides the X-Men, were all villains. Magneto is always considered this big kahuna of evil, but when has he last been written that way? He's actually one of the better choices, with Exodus as an immediate comparison, to do what is best for their charges' well being, despite the more militant possibility of hurting others. Had he been around the others and still done such would be different, but he actually wanted to know where they were and would have probably banded together, not necessarily to act as heroes, but to keep each other safe. His depiction, while petulant, was warranted and credible.

Gentle
- The good. Guided home by Storm, his own story is that he is under credible protection. Something that makes sense to arrange if Cyclops is only trying to misdirect Stark but knows better than to leave the kids on their own with Purifiers wanting to kill them first chance they get + the existence of things like Predator X. He has an interesting twist to his power and an understandably logical tragic story. Making his characterization spot on and making him interesting instead of just tragic for the sake of having a tragic character. I like how he is portrayed, AND the xenophobia of Wakandans is an established cultural depiction that was truthful to rendition.
- The bad. Despite the Wakandan way of nonacceptance, the mother seemed to be too far overboard with her behavior even though, she probably also resents him for his return and may think that is what put the child in harm's way to begin with. But COME ON, he just saved her son from a truck after she herself called for him, prompting him to be carelessly in harms way. She should/could have been shown as thankful for the rescue but then still insisting Gentle stay out of their lives, maintaining the intended emotional impact of being rejected by his mother. What also grated me is that of all the story choices, they had to make his father a Russian and then go and parallel Colossus's origin by having him save his sibling from a heavy vehicle by shielding him. Maybe it was meant as an homage, but to me it just felt like the unique 'enough' Nehzno didn't need a recycled storyline.

Anole
- The good. Interesting depiction of the traumatized aspect after all the kids went through. It was like the syndrome some vets have on hearing a loud bang and thinking they were still in the war being shot at. Anole at least originally came from a relatively safe and accepting town so it is acceptable that Cyclops's ruse involved returning him there. It sort of contradicts that he left in the first place because risks where suspected of coming to his town, but this is not as bad compared to the tossing out of the ones that may have actually had no place relatively safe to go. And the mansion is destroyed anyway so temporary relocation is easiest if the safe/safer students are allowed to go home, allowing the more at risk home situations to be avoided with what may be limited resources especially if the X-Men wanted to stay below radar. It's also a decent example of having a senior X-Man look out for the students while pretending that the school is disbanded.
- The bad. Northstar came off a little pathetic in trying to reach an obviously emotionally hurting teen mutant. Knowing what he did, his main concern should have been apologizing for his part in causing some of the kids' trauma even if unwilling, seeking forgiveness and maybe offering to be around keeping him safe from the shadows (as penance) and hoping to re-earn his trust and be there if he needed help talking, instead of assuming he could just run in and be all jovial just because they both have a couple things in common and a history as mentor/mentee.

Nightcrawler
- The good. Nightcrawler baited his prey and assessed before moving in.
- Neither here or there. Though some are tired of just having 'yet another religious Nightcrawler story' some things are going to be repeated/touched on occasionally to present particular character traits to newer readers. Not everyone particularly has to dig that aspect as one that is the most interesting/compelling about Nightcrawler, but for those out there all interested in the inclusion of aspects more reflective of real society in fictional media, keep in mind that the count of religious characters serves the same.
- The bad. Unfortuantely. Unlike Wolfsbane, Nightcrawler's religious aspects are still not well portrayed, like writers don't really know how to make it matter in a story without overdoing it. It is also not as credible that a hardened killing machine like Scalphunter would convert so quickly, but in the interest of the space of the story and with him honestly just being a side character, it was a condensed inference beyond the actual series of events. A hardened killer is given an opportunity to turn his life around.
- Personal projection. Sorry Kurt, maybe it would have been best (and an interesting story) to have offed this particular clone but then find the next one, who probably may be getting a download of memories via some device Sinister employs/ed and Kurt work on not letting that one go down the path of all the previous ones, allowing 'father Kurt' to remain as his counsel in prevention of being the killing machine again (and being close enough to terminate him if ever he falters and start again with a new one to help it attain a soul). But for all intents, it is the greater achievement to forgive on this scale: forgiving the very creature that maimed him near fatally, and since it turned out positively I can't say (yet) that Kurt was displaying the trademark stupidity of letting a threat to mutants and innocent humans remain free (although he could also carry out his reform/redemption from a jail cell for starters).

Overall there is the grating overtone that Cyclops's decision is faulty when compared to the history of the X-Men. It is not that temporarily pretending to disband is totally ridiculous and can never truly be, but rather that it feels poorly executed in this instance. The 'stink' or editorial is evident and the events leading to this book itself causes it to suffer even though it in itself is not that bad a book. It also has an air of X-Men Unlimited of the past. Maybe the X-Staff should look into bringing such a thing back (maybe as a quarterly anthology instead of a forced monthly) just to keep background or limbo characters and one-shot side stories around, instead of 7 flavors of Wolverine. What happened here is that they saw a new direction for the X-Line in the vein of Avengers Disassembled but couldn't wait the few months to build credible stories that would lead to such a move. This couldn't be explained away as Wanda's subliminal influence, or the disillusionment with having been a team that didn't truly protect one of their own feeling hypocritical to continue on as they were, so they sacrificed logical progression to have Scott do this.

What can still work though, is if the second Divided We Stand shows that there is a network of protectors (at least) trying to protect the more at risk students without them knowing yet (to which Hellion should qualify as in need of such protection) because they wouldn't want them to inadvertently tip off Stark and or exploitive others to the plan. That said, it is also questionable who knows this is just a feint besides Scott and Emma alone, since I would think Sam would qualify as close enough to warrant being in on it since he can both protect himself and also wouldn't want to be lost as an asset. Obviously Cyke and Em wouldn't assume everyone would just sit on their hands and do nothing until or in hopes of being recalled.

The other option is to go ahead and just write in that Scott was a Skrull for a while. Maybe even swapped during their visit to the Savage Land (which would allow for his poor characterization in Young X-Men but wouldn't qualify help his case for the disbanding decision in the first place). To that I can only suggest that with Apocalypse's past association with a Skrull strike force, at least one of those Skrulls knew of this plan to infiltrate teams, and the returned Scott since Apocalypse possession has been a Skrull all along. (Also meaning no psychic affair, no acting darker, not the true target of the psychic push to "Live!" that prompted a tasteless kiss over his wife's grave, etc. for all those who have still not accepted Scott&Emma :shhh: ) THEN the Savage Land 'vacation' could have been to switch out Emma too, you sly Scott impersonator, and have her back up his actions with telepathic powers including the acting so coldly to Hellion. I almost pray that Marvel would be wise enough to clean up story/characterization flaws by using this (and not worry that every change fans didn't approve of doesn't have to be retconned; some should, for the preservation and salvation of some characters' appeal and marketability).

Marvel is not oblivious to the slight damage risk to Iron Man's film numbers because of his unpopular controversial stance in Civil War and since; however, they can at least stick to their guns there and portray him as a different kind of hero; readers will get used to it, and probably already are understanding his position. Plus, the sweetness of the film is enough counter to his negative comic publicity. Plus the negative publicity is still at least publicity, 'cause they've been pimping him out around every Marvel comic ever since.

[Ann Nichols]

Being a superhero was Julian's wish in "X-Men: Hellions," though.

Here are summaries of those issues:

http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?t=44063

[BlackSamurai]

What Julian actually wished for was to get famous, and ended up in Cali where his 'heroism' gained him that. According to the wording in the summary you just put up a link to, he asked for fortune and fame. I'm not saying that the Kingmaker alone made it come about through a heroic act; after all, Julian's squad was tops in the Academy for a reason. But again, he shows aspects of selfishness and irreverence that imply that despite his pride in being a mutant and loyalty to his friends, he still has a way to go to actually be heroic for all the right reasons (and being booted out of the place of training by the very teacher that was molding him into the hero he's supposed to be isn't going to make him go perch on a gargoyle a survey the city. He's feeling betrayed, homeless and alone, and is used to a team structure, so he will still want direction OR to rebel against all who would be so-called mentors. He chose the former and may still hit the latter like Anole did.)

[Ann Nichols]

Dang! I should have reread my own summaries! :bag:

[BlackSamurai]

Don't even worry about it Ann. I know I read so many titles that with something like New X-Men, with so many characters, certain details (in a spin-off mini, at that) are easy to forget in light of the slew of creators and different treatments characters get. (Makes one almost understand how some writers/editors miss some details that cause extreme fan uproar in these forums - ALMOST, cause unlike us, they're getting paid to be accurate or at least logical with the changes)