New Excalibur #9

New Excalibur #9
Now that Claremont is gone for the time being (it's about damn time), Frank Tieri takes over as the regular writer on New Excalibur. You may remember Tieri from the Weapon X series, which most people either hated or loved, but very few were in the middle. I actually didn't much like it...I only read it because it had some characters I liked, especially Chamber. And whaddaya know, Tieri does what many new writers often do when taking over a title, and brings him back (in a way that only makes sense if you're delusional)! I guess he liked Chamber too.
Tieri's dialogue in this issue isn't as good as Yost's was last time around. Take, for example this exchange between Jono's "shrink" and Pete Wisdom:"Jonothan Starsmore...you have options./I don't know about you, doc...but the BOY certainly does." Ummm Pete, that's what he just said...he wasn't talking about himself. That's why it's rude to interrupt in the middle of a conversation. Plus, you make an ass of yourself. Perhaps Tieri was writing it like this because he already knew that the Doc was a bad guy, but since we didn't, why ruin it for us? These types of problems plagued Weapon X. Often, the dialogue therein made one feel as if he was missing half of the conversation. And that's just not good writing. Maybe Tieri can partner with Yost for dialogue in the future.
Here's a massive retcon, where Tieri makes Chamber a descendant of Apocalypse! The character soooo didn't need that. If I were Jono, I'd sue Frank Tieri. Yet another problem which plagued the Weapon X book. Massive retcons for no comprehensible reason. Tieri just doesn't understand how to slowly develop a plotline so that by the time the retcon is fully revealed it doesn't feel like a betrayal of the character, but rather a logical progression. And I really liked Jono better when he didn't have any face at all! Maybe he'll go back to wearing a scarf. What an awful editorial decision to let this slide. The editors need to stop pandering to Tieri. He's not so good that he can't take a bit of constructive criticism every so often, or just a flat-out "no". But maybe he's a real prima donna. I don't know. I'm sure plenty of other writers are yearning for the chance to write an X book, even one so far afield as this. Why Tieri? Marvel should really have gotten the message when they were forced to cancel Weapon X before Tieri had reached his planned conclusion, due to low - and constantly dropping - sales figures on the book. I really won't be too sorry if the same thing ends up happening here, but maybe Marvel will, so they had better start pairing Tieri with a real editor!
Why does Pete Wisdom need a search warrant? He and his team were willing to go in guns blazing when Chamber came out, so why not do so anyways as soon as he left? And still, another example of one of the problems with Tieri's writing - rationality and logical thought are utterly and completely sacrificed for the purposes of furthering his desired plotlines. If he can't think of a logical way to get to where he wants to go, then he doesn't even bother himself trying. It's like saying that I would want to get from Chicago to New York, but had no car, nor money to pay for the trip, so I found a scientist building a transporter beam and let him experiment on me to send me there. Sure, it's not as ridiculous an example as Tieri's, but let's face it, I'm more creative than he is. Whatever. I had originally pegged this issue at good, but really it's more of an EH. I love Chamber and I wish this book did him justice, but it doesn't even come close.
[Edit: Upon rereading this post, I really, really want to change the rating to ASS, but I just can't bring myself to do so...maybe you can?]
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