X-men Noir TPB
resolute wrote a fabulous discussion of X-men Noir #1 over on xmen_on_lj, covering a lot of the historical background included the book, specifically eugenics and how it plays into the X-men. There are some nice discussion questions at the end that are useful while you're reading along.
X-men Noir is an odd book. The X-men are reimagined as a crack crew of thieves from Xavier's School for Wayward Students. And in one sense - Van Lente's decision makes sense - it feeds into the usual distrust of mutants and abnormal. It also uses the 1930s and 1940s fascination with eugenics in creepy fashion. But these X-men aren't symbols of hope or anything positive and uplifting, these kids are scrappy survivors, getting by however they can. When they turn to vigilantism, they're a little closer to their old selves, fighting Magnus and the Brotherhood, but it's short-lived.
For a series with "X-men" in the title, the protagonist isn't one of them. He isn't even a regular X-men supporting characters. Thomas Halloway "The Angel" is an old Golden Age hero that appeared in Marvel's Timely days. Between this and "Marvels Project", the old Timely hero is seeing a resurgence of sorts. The Angel has an awful costume, but he's an interesting character, much more in the vein of the old mystery men than the modern super heroes, so he's a natural fit in this universe, more so than the X-men themselves.
I do recognize the noir tropes they're using. "Laura" recast with the X-men characters would be just perfect - isn't everyone usually obsessed over Jean Grey anyway? There are two twists at the end, one you can see coming if you know X-men history. The frustrating thing if you're an X-men fan may be the body count. I would not get too attached to your favorites in this universe, X-men or Brotherhood.
Dennis Calero certainly captures the mood of this universe with his art and colors. The world feels timeless, rather than a pure period piece, though. The artwork is a little too photo-referencey for my tastes, but I eventually got used to the art style. What really set more of the mood for me were the colors, a mix of the black and white and muted colors. (And an airship labeled "Pyro"!)
The backmatter will appeal to those who love the old science fiction pulp magazines. The references will also appeal to longtime X-men fans who'll spy familiar names.
I would be remiss if I didn't go into format a little. X-men: Noir was originally published as a four issue mini-series in the regular floppy format. Marvel has switched to what they "Premiere Hardcovers" that look slightly longer and narrower than regular hardcovers. If that wasn't enough, when they reprinted X-men Noir as a trade, they made book a smaller format TPB. I also think the paper and colors looks not as shiny in this format, so you might want to keep that in mind, if things like that matter to you.
Taking a hopeful group and twisting them into something else is a chancy thing to try. As much as I love both noir and the X-men, I'm not sure they fit so well together. Maybe if the X-men had been reimagined differently it might have worked better for me.
X-men Noir is an odd book. The X-men are reimagined as a crack crew of thieves from Xavier's School for Wayward Students. And in one sense - Van Lente's decision makes sense - it feeds into the usual distrust of mutants and abnormal. It also uses the 1930s and 1940s fascination with eugenics in creepy fashion. But these X-men aren't symbols of hope or anything positive and uplifting, these kids are scrappy survivors, getting by however they can. When they turn to vigilantism, they're a little closer to their old selves, fighting Magnus and the Brotherhood, but it's short-lived.
For a series with "X-men" in the title, the protagonist isn't one of them. He isn't even a regular X-men supporting characters. Thomas Halloway "The Angel" is an old Golden Age hero that appeared in Marvel's Timely days. Between this and "Marvels Project", the old Timely hero is seeing a resurgence of sorts. The Angel has an awful costume, but he's an interesting character, much more in the vein of the old mystery men than the modern super heroes, so he's a natural fit in this universe, more so than the X-men themselves.
I do recognize the noir tropes they're using. "Laura" recast with the X-men characters would be just perfect - isn't everyone usually obsessed over Jean Grey anyway? There are two twists at the end, one you can see coming if you know X-men history. The frustrating thing if you're an X-men fan may be the body count. I would not get too attached to your favorites in this universe, X-men or Brotherhood.
Dennis Calero certainly captures the mood of this universe with his art and colors. The world feels timeless, rather than a pure period piece, though. The artwork is a little too photo-referencey for my tastes, but I eventually got used to the art style. What really set more of the mood for me were the colors, a mix of the black and white and muted colors. (And an airship labeled "Pyro"!)
The backmatter will appeal to those who love the old science fiction pulp magazines. The references will also appeal to longtime X-men fans who'll spy familiar names.
I would be remiss if I didn't go into format a little. X-men: Noir was originally published as a four issue mini-series in the regular floppy format. Marvel has switched to what they "Premiere Hardcovers" that look slightly longer and narrower than regular hardcovers. If that wasn't enough, when they reprinted X-men Noir as a trade, they made book a smaller format TPB. I also think the paper and colors looks not as shiny in this format, so you might want to keep that in mind, if things like that matter to you.
Taking a hopeful group and twisting them into something else is a chancy thing to try. As much as I love both noir and the X-men, I'm not sure they fit so well together. Maybe if the X-men had been reimagined differently it might have worked better for me.