Weeks of 1/13/2016 and 1/20/2016:
In which Miles flies solo and reviews two weeks’ worth of comics, Secret Wars sticks the landing, and All-New X-Men remains basically perfect.
REVIEWED:
- Secret Wars #9 (00:46)
- Uncanny X-Men #2 (02:56)
- Extraordinary X-Men #5 (05:26)
- All-New Wolverine #4 (07:52)
- *All-New X-Men #3 (09:48
- X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever #2 & 3 (12:25)
*Pick of the Week (15:25)
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I found myself distracted by Land’s awful, awful, offensively awful art. I hate his work, the way he just recycles the exact same photo-referenced faces constantly. I couldn’t even say if the writing’s good, because the art kept me from getting invested.
EXM was much better this week. I like that Storm actually addressed cameras! She talked to the public! I want more of that. There was nothing in this issue that made me angry, and a couple things that made me happy. Best issue yet. (Also, the Cyclone blasted Logan, and that always makes me happy.)
Yeah, I have to agree about Land’s art. I wish I could enjoy this book cos I like all these characters on an X team together. But when I look at these pages my brain screams “NO!”. I understand I’m not the audience for his gross, unimaginative, head scratching work, but I do find it troubling enough to comment on before I walk away.
***Spoiler for Uncanny X-men***
My main concern with Uncanny was the death of Elixir. As a big fan of the “Academy X” era the continued executions of its cast is starting to get a little disheartening. I understand they wanted a recognizable B or C lister to bite it to show the “stakes” of the story…but it seemed highly unnecessary.
I know the Academy X survivors have likely been permanently relegated to the backgrounds of fight scenes…but do we have to kill them off so that the old school characters have a reason to feel sad.
What I find ridiculous is that this is the second time Elixir was used in that role. He was seemingly killed at the end of The Logan Legacy, too, which was December 2014. So in just over a year, he was killed TWICE as C-list fodder to prop up bad guys.
Yep. All in all, Elixir appeared three times in the past 14 months. On two of those three occasions, he dies.
Then again, the third – or rather, middle one – was his famous ‘standing in line with the Utopians’ role in Bendis’ run. After an apparent off-panel resurrection. So I’m not worried – if he managed to do it once, he might just as well do it again… 😉
I find myself really digging the X-Men: the Worst X-Man, with each issue. It’s such a light hearted and fun series, as was X-Men 92 before that. With no relation to current continuity and convulted storylines. I missed reading X-Men just for fun.
I didn’t realise jay was a member of the Murdock family.
…still waiting on my pre-ordered Uncanny #2 to arrive… bi-weekly shipping is really hard to cope with sometimes… skipping over other folks comments for now…
But I really enjoyed the other reviews! I have to agree that All-New is the stand out of the team books… hopefully the other two can hone into this level of awesome. Overall, I’m digging the current state of X-line. I’m really looking forward to the Extraordinary Team heading to Weirdworld….
And Secret Wars… just… wow… it’s nice to hear some positive reviews. It seems that a lot of folks on the net were really turned off by the delays. I for one am glad Marvel did what they had to do to keep Esad Ribic on every issue and maintain the integrity of this story. I’m just as enthusiastic as Miles. This may be my favorite event ever.
My only complaint with Secret Wars’ ending was that I wish it had been a Hostess Fruit Pie that Miles had in his pocket to give to Molecule Man rather than a cheeseburger.
Two questions! The foam hand is mysterious, and the laser-bubble-sculpture is too far away to see what it contains. What’s the deal with those?
Nightcrawler of X-Calibur is my preferred one, so traumatized Kurt is not. I mean, being in the care of Sinister for however long is no fun, but he oughta rebound pretty quick. Hopefully via surgery rather than a cybernetic nanotoxin-flechette-shooting tail.
The (middle finger) foam hand with the “NC” letters is from the comic “Bitch Planet” created by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentin Leandro. At the end of each issue there are advertisements (as ol comics used to have) where you can order real things, like the foam hand or posters. The other I’m not sure.
Late to the party, but I just got to listening to the show.
Uncanny, I have no interest in these characters, so I’m skipping this one.
Extraordinary, I am more interested in these guys, particularly since I really do love Magyk, but I just can’t get into the art. I dont’ know what it is, but to me it’s like nails on a chalk board. I couldn’t keep up with Spider-Man because of the double hit with Dan Slott writing and Roberto’s art. If the artist changes, I’ll check it out, but until then, Pass.
Wolverine: I’m loving this so far. I’m right there with you on the praise.
all new: i have little interest in most of the original guys, (I like Bobby only since he came out), but your continuous high praise is starting to get to me. I’ll definitely check it out when it gets on Marvel unlimited.