wolverine, you don't actually look very good in yellow
Read my first X-Men comics today--I bought the TPB of "Eve of Destruction." (I also bought "God Loves, Man Kills" and I've got some stuff on order from Amazon, but "Eve of Destruction" is what I've read so far.)
1) Why were different bits of this story originally told in two different series? I hate that--when they try to force you to buy more stuff.
2) There's exposition. Good lord, is there exposition. I'm a newbie to this 'verse, and even I was thinking "Enough with the exposition already! I get it!! I do not have some sort of short-term memory disorder that means I need reminding every other page that Magneto is a Holocaust survivor or that Jean and Scott are married."
3) I don't like exaggerated superhero bodies. Or superhero costumes. Wolverine, please rethink the yellow spandex. (And what's with his helmet? Is that why his hair looks like that? Or is it shaped that way to accommodate his crazy-ass hair?)
4) Scott Summers' dad is the who of the whatthehell?
Actually, I really enjoyed that issue--it was some nice character stuff and did a good job of walking the line between powerful emotion and godawful sentimental excess. But "Corsair of the Starjammers" is still the stupidest phrase I've ever heard.
5) Gay X-Man! Cool. Though I could have done without the "he saves the homophobe's life and this demonstrates that we really can all get along" part.
I wonder whether the gay dude will stick around or whether his gayness is the equivalent of a red shirt on Star Trek and he's DOOMED.
6) Why is the dialogue okay sometimes and breathtakingly clumsy at other times? Is it some kind of comic book law that during fight scenes, everyone loses their contractions? As well as their ability not to state the obvious, with an exclamation point at the end?
7) Magneto, stop ranting. No, really, stop ranting. And do something. Because otherwise, I'm going to think all this was just an excuse for some bondage fun with Charles.
8) Wolverine killed Magneto! Oh god. But, you know, I've figured out enough already to be pretty sure he isn't really dead, or won't be dead for long.
9) Charles's "Noooooo!" when Wolverine does it is really quite priceless. As is the whole "cradling Magneto's dead body" thing afterwards. (Is Charles able to walk in this scene? Because otherwise I'm at a loss for how he's doing that.) Anyway, I love Charles's apparent thought process here: "Yes, okay, he was trying to take over the world and demand absolute obedience from all humans (and all mutants too, really). Yes, he kidnapped and crucified tortured me. But I LOVE him, damn it, and when we get home I'm going to cry my eyes out and never speak to Wolverine again."
So, to sum up: lots of gay. Lots and lots and lots of gay, everywhere except where the writers were officially putting the gay (because Jean-Paul, though I like him, has no particular chemistry with anybody, whereas there was tons of Logan/Scott chemistry as well as the Charles/Erik stuff). Also, enough character development that I can see why people like the comics. On the other hand, crack-addled plot and dubious dialogue.
I remain undecided. I'll see how it goes with "God Loves, Man Kills" and with my stuff on order (the first two TPBs of Ultimate and the first two of Astonishing). But the Charles/Erik stuff really turns my crank, and that could be enough to keep me reading regardless of the less-good aspects.
1) Why were different bits of this story originally told in two different series? I hate that--when they try to force you to buy more stuff.
2) There's exposition. Good lord, is there exposition. I'm a newbie to this 'verse, and even I was thinking "Enough with the exposition already! I get it!! I do not have some sort of short-term memory disorder that means I need reminding every other page that Magneto is a Holocaust survivor or that Jean and Scott are married."
3) I don't like exaggerated superhero bodies. Or superhero costumes. Wolverine, please rethink the yellow spandex. (And what's with his helmet? Is that why his hair looks like that? Or is it shaped that way to accommodate his crazy-ass hair?)
4) Scott Summers' dad is the who of the whatthehell?
Actually, I really enjoyed that issue--it was some nice character stuff and did a good job of walking the line between powerful emotion and godawful sentimental excess. But "Corsair of the Starjammers" is still the stupidest phrase I've ever heard.
5) Gay X-Man! Cool. Though I could have done without the "he saves the homophobe's life and this demonstrates that we really can all get along" part.
I wonder whether the gay dude will stick around or whether his gayness is the equivalent of a red shirt on Star Trek and he's DOOMED.
6) Why is the dialogue okay sometimes and breathtakingly clumsy at other times? Is it some kind of comic book law that during fight scenes, everyone loses their contractions? As well as their ability not to state the obvious, with an exclamation point at the end?
7) Magneto, stop ranting. No, really, stop ranting. And do something. Because otherwise, I'm going to think all this was just an excuse for some bondage fun with Charles.
8) Wolverine killed Magneto! Oh god. But, you know, I've figured out enough already to be pretty sure he isn't really dead, or won't be dead for long.
9) Charles's "Noooooo!" when Wolverine does it is really quite priceless. As is the whole "cradling Magneto's dead body" thing afterwards. (Is Charles able to walk in this scene? Because otherwise I'm at a loss for how he's doing that.) Anyway, I love Charles's apparent thought process here: "Yes, okay, he was trying to take over the world and demand absolute obedience from all humans (and all mutants too, really). Yes, he kidnapped and crucified tortured me. But I LOVE him, damn it, and when we get home I'm going to cry my eyes out and never speak to Wolverine again."
So, to sum up: lots of gay. Lots and lots and lots of gay, everywhere except where the writers were officially putting the gay (because Jean-Paul, though I like him, has no particular chemistry with anybody, whereas there was tons of Logan/Scott chemistry as well as the Charles/Erik stuff). Also, enough character development that I can see why people like the comics. On the other hand, crack-addled plot and dubious dialogue.
I remain undecided. I'll see how it goes with "God Loves, Man Kills" and with my stuff on order (the first two TPBs of Ultimate and the first two of Astonishing). But the Charles/Erik stuff really turns my crank, and that could be enough to keep me reading regardless of the less-good aspects.