Week of March 30, 2016:
In which Jay draws a line in the sand, Rogue hits someone with a bear, Toad develops nuance, and you should totally come see us at ECCC!
REVIEWED:
- Uncanny X-Men #5 (01:48)
- *X-Men ’92 #1 (05:30)
- All-New X-Men #7 (10:19)
*Pick of the Week (15:05)
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UXM just kinda bored me. It’s nice that Land has gotten more photos to reference/trace, so it’s less obnoxious than usual, but I still don’t like his art. The writing was fine, but there wasn’t that much there, I found. So I just didn’t particularly care about this issue.
X-Men ’92 also did little for me. I didn’t read the whole Secret Wars series, because I kept forgetting about it, and honestly, this didn’t really change my mind. Yes, Rogue throwing Ursa Major at Omega Red was great. But by and large, I didn’t get into this issue. And I did find the art a little too cartoony, and while I get why it’s so cartoony, it didn’t appeal to me the way her work in the Star-Lord and Kitty Pryde series did.
On a side-note, am I the only one who thinks it’d be pretty great if this series drops the Upstarts plot out of nowehre and never resolves it? It’d be a hilarious homage to the comics.
I totally got into ANXM, though! Great issue. Bagley/Hennessy/Woodard pretty much sold it. Toad’s brutal beat-down of Scott was excellent, and his messed-up face was so well-drawn. Toad was pathetic, but not in the usual way, and it’s so great.
Alti Firmansyah art also did not worked for me the same way it worked on Star Lord & Kitty Pryde, but that’s okay, I expected the quality of the art to drop a little considering how many characters the artist is juggling on the page. I did not enjoy this issue as much as the previous series neither, despite some great moments, but I suspect it’s because I lack the context of the cartoon and 90’s comics history to get some of the jokes and references and to get excited about the villains.
All-New X-Men was really graphic, was not expecting that. an interesting issue.
I don’t think the quality of Firmansyah’s art dipped. I think she just changed it a bit to better suit the title. Her style is normally cartoony, and this is a comic based on a cartoon. So of course, it’s going to be more exaggerated. It’s still high-quality work, even if it doesn’t appeal to me.
I think I should have been more clear in my previous post: I think some character poses and anatomy are weird. Said that, I understand the change in style to better suit the book, maybe my impression comes from not being used to that yet. But I found the art a little bit distracting at times. I agree her art is still high-quality work.
I guess it’s pretty late in the Uncanny arc to expect any kind of information on the villains, but after reading it I’m still unclear on their names and powers, which makes the whole thing even less memorable.
I’m really burned out on alternate continuities, and I never watched the cartoons, so ’92 is going to be the first X-title in a while that I’m not reading.
I do appreciate that the Toad’s stupid tongue isn’t in the issue despite its insane size and prominence on the cover. Did I mention that I think it’s stupid? Especially when he’s shown in a panel lolling it out 2-3 feet and talking at the same time.
The Dark Riders have been around for a while (at least since X-Cutioner’s Song, I think), but honestly, they weren’t memorable then either. They were just sort of 90s-shaped.
I only read all new x-men out of these, and I was surprised at how tense it was. Definitely impressed with it compared to Extraordinary x-men, which is the other x book I read. Will have to give X-men 92 a look at some point.
Hey, I have the same Hawkguy t-shirt. We should be friends!
X-Men 92: I loved Firmansyah’s art for exactly the same Disneyfied reasons in Star Lord & Kitty Pryde. It was great here as well, but one thing threw me off a little: the persistent boob-socking. It’s very 90s, but even in the throwback homage book I’m so ready to be done with that trend. I love the era for the characterization (honestly), it’s actually my favorite period for the X-books, but that particular quirk was always an issue.
All-New: I can see Jay’s beef, the style clearly doesn’t land for everyone, but I was totally down with the Phantom of the Operatic nature of Toad’s hideout.
WE MAKE IT WEIRD!