angelophile | Comics for this last week... (Reply)

Finally getting round to posting my thoughts on my latest comic purchases. It's been a fairly quiet couple of weeks, but since my last reviews I've read:

ULTIMATE IRON MAN #1
X-MEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE ONE SHOT
X-MEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE #1
BLACK WIDOW #6
EXCALIBUR #10
MYSTIQUE #24
UNCANNY X-MEN #456
X-MEN PHOENIX ENDSONG #3

Also bought the Complete Bone volume by Jeff Smith that most creators seem to list on their all time fave list. I've read the first "book" but I'll post comments when I've completed it.

Reviews of the other books follow:

ULTIMATE IRON MAN #1 - apparently written by some famous sci-fi author who I've never heard of. Nice art but that's really all I can say. There's a whole Outbreak monkey thing going on, but the plot isn't much of anything really. I found it rather tedious and the fact that it conflicts with the Iron Man established in Ultimates does little for me. I'm beginning to resent the fact that the Ultimate Universe was created to avoid continuity problems, yet there's a load cropping up with this, the 'young' Fantastic Four, the Hulk and Iron Man both being entirely different in their Ultimate Team Up appearances along with Daredevil in costume or not in costume… or… whatever. I'm done with the Ultimate Universe now I think. After Carnage I'm not sure I can even stomach Ultimate Spider-man anymore.

X-MEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE ONE SHOT - mixing the good with the bad here. The 'origin of Generation Next' story is pretty good and gives some nice development to Piotr, who's been neglected of late since his reappearance in the real Marvel universe. Good to see someone can still write him well as a personality, rather than as a silent brooding guy. Disappointingly, no appearance of the kids themselves, but I didn't really expect one. The other stories are less impressive. The Weapon X story is just a Wolverine story transplanted to the AOA universe, although there's not even a mention of that. Throw the story into the Ultimate universe or the 616 universe and it wouldn't be out of place. It's not good, it's not bad, it just is. The final, post AOA story is better, the art style matches the 90s house style and it's a nice setup to the mini-series.

X-MEN AGE OF APOCALYPSE #1 - Reading this I had forgotten just how few memorable characters were left standing at the end of the AOA. The twists on the usual suspects was the fun part of the AOA, but the cast has been culled down to something barely different from the 616 universe. Gone are Banshee, Colossus, Shadowcat, Dark Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Chamber, Husk, Skin, Morph, Mondo, Vincente, Sugar Man, Havok, Holocaust, Abyss, Blink, Wildchild, Sabretooth, Angel, Juggernaut, X-man, Forge, Guido, Sunspot, Toad and others. What's left barely differs from the usual cast - Storm, Nightcrawler, Gambit, Rogue… with that and the decision to leap forwards to six months after Apocalypse has been defeated the book just didn't feel quite so different as the original series. I must admit I'd have much rather seen a prequel set during the AOA rather than after it when most of the protagonists are dead. The book's okay, the art's okay, but I'm not entirely decided whether to pick up the second issue.

BLACK WIDOW #6 - Now this was more like it. The rather convoluted plotlines of the past 5 issues come together here as novelist Richard K. Morgan's series comes to an end. And it's been an interesting ride. The plot resolves itself fairly neatly, but it's the revelations in the final issue that delight. Not giving too much away, but what is revealed brings into question Natasha's loyalties and just how much free will she's exhibited since her youth. As ever, Natasha's coldbloodedness and sexuality are deftly handled. Here you have this immensely tough and resourceful woman, and she always ends up being a pawn. This book has tried to redress why Natasha would act that way and to give her a life of her own, beyond that of the men who have used her. Much like Mystique, this is a spy genre thriller. But this is vastly superior. Bill Sienkiewicz's art is, as always, a delight this issue. I'd highly recommend picking this book up in trade form.

EXCALIBUR #10 - The "monster" beneath Genosha is revealed and it's not really a major surprise, although it's nice to see this character again, however briefly. I've always had a fondness for him and Dark Beast and there's a nice action scene beneath the island as Callisto and Karima confront him. There are a few problems with this issue. Once again Karima is proved to be a walking plot device, like Lifeguard before her. It seems Claremont can't manage these days without one character in each team with multiple powers to act as a patch for any plot holes. Another flaw is Callisto, much of which is down to the artist, who recently described her as a "hot chick with tentacles," which leads me to believe that he's never read a single appearance of her prior to working on the title. Unless Masque did some upgrades when he added the tentacles, the "hot chick" is entirely inaccurate. The other problem is Claremont rather too obviously channelling his own voice as he tries to have Callisto give approval to her tentacle upgrade. No-one like it but me, she says, rather too obviously giving voice to Claremont himself. But apart from those flaws, it's not a bad issue and continues to be enjoyable and hopefully more so with the addition of Dark Beast to the cast. It's nice to see Claremont pick up on other's characters for once.

MYSTIQUE #24 - The series ends on a high note with this issue, that sees Mystique confront the Quiet Man, his identity revealed, Shepard receiving some justice, Shortpack out of the frying pan, into the fire and some nice payoff for Forge and Fantomex. Looking back I've enjoyed this final arc. The identity of the Quiet Man wasn't overplayed and with this issue there are some hints that Mystique isn't entirely without redemption after all. The character has grown through the series and this last arc did its bit to perpetuate that growth. And Fantomex got some pay off to explain his awful characterisation earlier in the arc. Over all it leaves me satisfied. I've enjoyed the Mystique solo but I won't particularly miss it. It was rarely anymore than average.

UNCANNY X-MEN #456 - Dinosaur X-men. 'nuff said. The whole thing's utterly silly and Claremont's really hitting his stride with the gloriously stupid stuff. It's so infectiously daft it's hard to find anything to dislike here. It's just a giggle.

X-MEN PHOENIX ENDSONG #3 - Greg Land's art seems to have settled down in this issue, not distracting from the story when the characters looked like different supermodels in each panel. The story itself continues to entertain and pick up on Morrison's run to great affect. There's a nice moment with Colossus and Kitty, Emma gets the best line in her continuing catfight with Kitty, Wolverine and Jean have an entertaining splash of pages where the blood flows freely as Wolverine does what he does best - stab someone with his pig stickers. The only mild drawback with this issue was seeing the Quentin Quire subplot dropped for an entire issue, but I can see why it would detract from the other action. This is turning out to be the best X book out there at the moment.

That's all for now. I'm away over the weekend so there's no guarantee I'll get to the comic shop for my order, so it may be 2 weeks before there's anything else to report.