New X-Men #43

New X-Men #43
Explain to me again why I should care about the identity of the youngest mutant at the Xavier Institute? At least it's been specified on the recap page that Indra (whoever that is) is not the youngest mutant on the planet, but merely the youngest at the Institute. Unfortunately for my flagging interest, it's still not been sufficiently explained just why being the youngest mutant at the Institute means that he's going to die, or is even a target. I can't imagine that the X-Men's enemies know who he (?) is any more than I do, nor can I figure out why they'd care either.
Note that as of the recap page, I remain unfamiliar with the character named Indra who is supposedly important to the kids. Let's see if, off the top of my head, without reading this issue, I can recall the names of some of the characters: Surge (Noriko?), Julian/Hellion, Josh Foley/Elixir, David Alleyne/Prodigy, Santo/Rockslide, Cessily Kinkaid/Mercury, Sooraya Qadir/Dust, The Stepford Cuckoos, Laura/X-23. That's all that I can remember. What does it say about the quality of the writing when new characters have been introduced and are featured in this book, and I don't even know who they are? It's not a good indication. I can't even identify two of the characters on the front cover! Whereas this may make it seem that yes, there are too many mutants at the school, I feel that were the background characters given as much depth and care for as the feature characters, I'd probably know them all. And care for them all. And, although I definitely don't want to see them slaughtered, something which has become a defining feature of this book since the last reboot...a car alarm just went off and I forgot what the point I'd had in mind at the beginning of this sentence was. Oh, well.

Why do two of the kids have Mister Sinister type gems on their foreheads? Are those gems? Or birthmarks? Or what? Whatever.

Interesting character development, making Laura a cutter - especially since it caan't damage her at all, yet is indicative of a troubled psyche.

If she is really as religious as she is portrayed, Sooraya Qadir should be extremely uncomfortable with being touched by a male, even more so that the average teenaged girl. And I can't believe that past characterization aside, Julian would be so insensitive to this fact. He's gone through a tremendous amount of character development since he was first introduces, because originally? Well, saying that he was a bit of a dick might be an understatement.

At least Santo realizes that IT DOESN'T MATTER who the youngest mutant is, they're all targets, by virtue of their being mutants...and X-Men. How much longer before Kyle and Yost figure this out as well? And realize that we couldn't care less either?

Good quote...in fact, Quote of the Week!

Finally, the ever versatile Skottie Young turns out a book which matches his talents. The issues of the New X-Men in hell, or limbo, or whatever, sucked. But this is good. I guess he's best (using this particular style) when not having to draw battle scenes. Unfortunately, this also seems to be his final issue. And if the pinup at the end of the book is any indication, the new artists have decided to age all of the female characters by ten years or so, and to turn them into overly muscled sluts. And to make Noriko not Asian.

Next month, Crossover!!

OKAY.

New X-Men #42

New X-Men #42
Well, now. That's really really bad. Besides the fact that this issue makes no sense, IT MAKES NO FUCKING SENSE! I read it and had NO IDEA WHAT THE FUCK WAS GOING ON!! Why should the kids care about which of them is the youngest? (Why should anyone care?) And why don't some of them count? The Cuckoos? Beak's kid? Mollie Hayes? Franklin Richards? What the FUCK does this matter anyways? The only good thing about this issue is Skottie Young's cover. So here's a scan. Now you don't have to waste your money. AWFUL.

New X-Men #41

New X-Men #41
Gawd, that was AWFUL. What was the point? Santo turns into a limbo rock monster. Hey, wasn't Limbo Rock a sixties song? By Chubby Checker?
An unnamed boy comes back with no name. And a new arm. Pixie (what are her powers exactly?) loses a piece of her soul. A pointless reunion between Ilyana Rasputin and Colossus. Is it her? Isn't it? If it is, then why doesn't Belasco recognize her as the one he's been searching for? If it isn't, then why does her reunion with her brother go like it does?
An entirely pointless issue of an entirely pointless story in what has become an entirely pointless series. And I can't stand the art. It's cute for a story of some kids just sitting around and talking, but when it tries to portray action sequences, it fails miserably. I've become aware of Skottie Young recently, and I've seen him to be an extremely talented and versatile artist. So why can't he just change styles depending on what he's trying to portray? Why did he decide to go with the cutesy manga look for this series anyways? Why not the Sienkiewicz style? Or something else?
AWFUL.

Ultimate Spider-Man #111

Ultimate Spider-Man #111
Stuart Immonen takes over for Mark Bagley on half of this issue, and will fully supplant him in the next. I think he's a good choice, because, while it's important that artists have their own particular styles, one of the reasons that Ultimate Spider-Man has survived this long and succeeded as the flagship for the Ultimate line is largely due to the consistency of its art from month to month. With Bagley drawing this book for the past more than nine years, fans knew that they could come back and find the same beautiful artwork every month.
Bad art pisses me off. I dropped X-Men several months ago because reading it gave me a headache. I'm seriously considering dropping New X-Men. I haven't read the last several issues of Superman/Batman, though that's largely due to the fact that Verheiden fucking sucks. Then again, an artist can only interpret the story by way of the descriptions given him by the writer's script, so in some instances it's the writer who's to blame for the bad art. Carey's a great writer. That's why I blame Bachalo. I hated every issue of Ultimate X-Men that Bachalo drew. In fact, he's one of the reasons I stopped reading that title until recent issues. And I'm not the only one who made a similar decision. Marvel's sales on UXM must have dropped measurably after Bachalo took over for Kubert. So their not wanting to make a similar mistake with the departure of Bagley is a very smart decision.
From the few pages that were drawn by him in this issue, Immonen's style seems similar enough to Bagley's that readership on this title should remain strong. Plus, I know his work, and he's really good. Plus, he'll bring a number of loyal fans with him to this title. So it's a good move.
And Bendis turns in his "The Talk" issue. Not bad.
Overall, this issue was VERY GOOD. I'm looking forward to Immonen's first complete issue.

New X-Men #39

New X-Men #39
Skottie Young is extremely versatile. However, as far as his work on this title, which has been all action and no respite for this and last issues, I think that the style he's chosen is horribly mismatched.
Sure, it's cute and all, but it doesn't work well for action sequences. For dialogue sequences where no crazy shit is going on it's perfect, but not for this.

It seems that this title is once again devolving into a death fest. People seem to be dying left and right, either at the hands of Belasco, or at the hands of Magik. It's weird, I thought she was a hero!

I have no idea who half of these kids are supposed to be. Have we ever seem them before? And why don't we even get little caption boxes telling us who they are? Perhaps it's the art, but I really don't recognize them.

The art in this book isn't half as bad as Bachalo's work on X-Men, but it's still difficult to read.

Fortunately, the action sequences don't really make much of a difference. In fact, they could probably be omitted entirely and merely referenced in dialogue and the story would work just as well. Not that I like where the story seems to be going, but at least it's competent. A very low OKAY.

[Edit: On further rumination, it pisses me off that this issue is EXACTLY the same as last issue, yet nothing happens. And with the supposed "death" of X-23, it's patently obvious that none of these "deaths" are going to stick, which robs the story of any dramatic tension whatsoever, not that there was that much to begin with. New rating: CRAP.]

New X-Men #38

New X-Men #38
I know, last issue, I said that I really enjoyed the art. It's true, I did. Of course, nothing really happened last issue, and half of it was comprised of "storybook" pages. In this next issue though, we get a look at what Skottie Young's style for illustrating this book is going to be. Unfortunately, the art really doesn't match with the tone of the story. In fact, characters look so markedly different that unless they're referred to by name, they're nearly unidentifiable. Action sequences are nearly impossible to decipher. The lack of captions for locations and characters makes it even more difficult to enjoy the art - basically, because apart from their obvious physiological dissimilarities, every single one of the kids has nearly the same face. Additionally, we haven't seen many of these characters in nearly a year. A recap page with pictures and brief bios would be helpful.
I had some hopes for this arc. However, the story seems to be taking a macabre turn once again, with senseless death again characterizing the tone of the book. Not uplifting in the slightest. And you know, it really should be. This is a book about children, for god's sake, and I don't particularly like to read about children being slaughtered.
Not good. In fact, I'm going to have to go with AWFUL.

What to buy on 5/09

Countdown - Maybe...they don't have the same level of talent writing it as they did 52, but if they learn from the mistakes of 52 and don't repeat them, it could turn out to be a good series. I'd wait though, before recommending it.

Green Lantern Corps - One of the worst titles being produced by DC right now. A title with zero sense of direction, no feeling for the characters, and ludicrous plots. I really don't like this book.

Hulk and Power Pack - Only if you enjoy the Marvel Adventures series would I recommend this.

Invincible - Absolutely! Highly recommended.

Jack of Fables - This current arc is seriously EH. Overall, a good title, but if you haven't been reading it, I can't say as I'd recommend starting with this issue.

Marvel Zombies Dead Days - looks interesting. It might be worth picking this one up. At least you wouldn't have to worry about potentially adding another continuing series to your pull list.

New Avengers - I'll read it, but the fact that Bendis has been jumping back and forth in time is really jarring to the reading. I wouldn't recommend it.

New X-Men - This new arc could be good. And Skottie Young's art on this title is very cute.

Nova - I wasn't sure how to feel about last issue. And in this issue, Marvel editorial imposes Iron Man upon Nova in order to tie in the events of Civil War. I think it's a mistake to do something like that in such an early issue of a new title.

Punisher War Journal - If every issue of this title were as good as last week's Spidey annual, I'd say no question. As it is, last issue was pretty EH, and the title has really been hit or miss for me as a whole. It's not that it's particularly bad writing. It's just that Fraction's Punisher isn't someone I really care to read about.

Spidey/FF is definitely worth keeping on your list. Because even if every other single book you buy is utter shite, this book will leave you with a pleasant taste in your mouth.

Thunderbolts - An odd title. I'll read it, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it...especially to someone who hasn't been reading it.

Y The Last Man - This title is in the homestretch. If you've enjoyed it thus far, I'd say definitely pick it up. Otherwise, wait for the trade.

New X-Men #37

New X-Men #37
I really like the new Manga feel to this book. Skottie Young is extremely talented. Last month he did the cover to Cable & Deadpool in a Sinkiewicz style, and now, this! And the storybook pages by Niko Henrichon are beautiful. They give the complete history of Magik - both of them - in a matter of fourteen pages. And manage to condense Claremont's AWFUL Black Sun miniseries into something comprehensible in two of those. I also like the inclusion of more characters than just Julian's team.
But does Craig Kyle's ego really need the "X-23 Created by" credit on even the issues she doesn't appear in?
VERY GOOD. I'm hoping for more of the same next month.

New X-Men #31

New X-Men #31
I was satisfied with this story until I read the second epilogue. In the second epilogue, it implies that the Nimrod from this issue was cast into the ethers of time and emerged in Uncanny X-Men #191 (mistakenly referred to on the letters page as Uncanny X-Men #192). However, that cannot be the case. It was established years ago that when Nimrod arrived in our time, he followed Rachel Grey from her Days of Future Past timeline, with assistance from Dr. Strange (see Excalibur vol.1 #66 - I think...I couldn't find a copy to confirm this piece of information). So by trying to link this story to the stories from UXM#191, 193-194, 208-209, and, finally, UXM#246-247 (supplemented by the Machine Man/Bastion 1998 annual), the writers of New X-Men have screwed up continuity. My recommendation is to read the issue but omit the last page, or possibly the last two pages. Otherwise, continuity is damaged.
See, Nimrod was shoved through the Siege Perilous, and therein combined with Master Mold, to become Bastion, who, although he hasn't been seen in a while, still exists in the Marvel Universe, and should anyone decide to use him in the future, this second epilogue may prove problematic. Man, I really hate it when writers don't give a shit about continuity.

Otherwise, this issue is OKAY. We finally get some character development, the New X-Men finally work together as a team, and the death-fest of this past year ends - hopefully for good.

So, in the final analysis, the first 34 pages of the book are OKAY, followed by an odd, nearly unrelated epilogue which is EH, followed by the second epilogue which is ASS.
Make of that what you will.

New X-Men #30

New X-Men #30
A very fast read. Not much to say about this issue, except that as a penultimate chapter to this arc it is sufficient, with a classic Deus Ex Machina gone severely, but predictably, awry. I am so glad that Duncan Rouleau is gone. Man, that's the second title recently I'd have to say that about. Fortunately for New X-Men, his stint as guest artist didn't affect the momentum or development of the plot very much. That's not the case with Blue Beetle which was battered into near incomprehensibility by his guest spot and subsequent departure, and now seems to have lost my interest. Too bad.
But this title is OKAY.

On another note, I apologize for being incommunicado since Saturday night/Sunday morning. I've been out of town on a business trip, and stupidly forgot to bring my laptop charger with me, so all battery power (all 2:08 of it!!) had to be saved for essential activities such as navigation, and everything else, including blogging and email had to take a rest. And what a restful rest it was! Not really...I value the time I spend online much more than having nothing better to do than watch reruns on the telly. Next time I'll remember.

New X-Men #28

New X-Men #28
A pretty good issue. I'm still not okay with all the death though, seriously, haven't enough died already? It seems that Emma Frost agrees, as she makes that exact same point to Carol Danvers who comes to the mansion to encourage her to register everyone. One by one, she goes over the tragedies that the X-Men have faced in recent weeks, asks why the Avengers weren't there to help, and points out that if everyone knows where to find each and every mutant, then how will that make them any safer? And she compares the tragedy in Stamford to that which occurred at the mansion when Stryker blew up the bus, killing forty-two students. A very valid point. Why should Stamford be more important? Why the national outcry over that, but not over what happened at the institute? Obviously, it's because the world still doesn't care about mutants, despite all their protestations to the contrary. And throwaway dialogue in this issue bears that theory out. Medical and forensic examiners are shown making anti-mutant comments within earshot of some of the students, without caring about the work they were called in to do. It's a very chilling reminder of the state of affairs within the mutant world in the Marvel U, one that has been pushed to the sidelines of late by the whole "Civil War" business. (This issue is not labelled as a Civil War crossover, and it does stand on its own very well, but the themes herein definitely tie in to the Civil War event.)
The remaining students are really pulling together and functioning as a team, or at least as friends. Julian is really taking charge, and has sublimated his ego sufficiently, to the point where he actually begins to resemble a true team leader (even though he isn't). And everyone accepts David as he is, even though he's been depowered. He's still one of the smartest people at the institute, and is acknowledged as such by the kids.
The subplot with Nimrod and Forge is not given very much play, and really doesn't affect the plot of this issue very much. It's not about that. It's about Laurie's, Max's, and Josh's death, Elixir's transformation, Cannonball's near death, and the survivor's guilt that the remaining students are experiencing. There's even a scene in which Emma, once alone, collapses on the floor and cries. Very poignant stuff. And it rings true.
A VERY GOOD issue. There isn't even the obligatory fight scene in this issue - no overt instances of anyone using their powers at all, except for Emma Frost, and she's pretty much always using them. And if you can make that work, then you've put together a very fine issue. Every once in a while it's useful to take a step back and focus on what makes the characters work, and the authors do that very well in this issue.
And I, for one, am glad that Stryker is dead. His hypocrisy always annoyed me.