Read All the Comics!: Uncanny X-Men, New Comics

New Comics!

Seven Secrets 4

Not much to say; Tom Taylor’s tale continues with beautiful art from Daniele Di Nicuolo. Will continue reading.

Marvel Action: Chillers 1

I bought this all-ages comic solely for Jeremy Whitley’s writing credit; I’m still following him around after Wasp, even though his follow up Future Force (? or something. I can’t remember, it was so boring). This is a pretty by-the-numbers issue, but I’ll keep it up since...I might as well, I guess. Not the most ringing of endorsements.

I didn’t buy it, but the cover for Hawkman 29 is gorgeous. Why Mikel Janin is drawing covers instead of drawing Wonder Woman is beyond me.

Uncanny X-Men Annual 10, 11, 12

Man, it must be nice to have Art Adams and Alan Davis to draw your annuals…

Those tiny claws are so cute.

Giant doggie!

Storm always looks awesome, regardless of the era.

Issue 11 is a surprising standout, showcasing Wolverine’s heroism along with an unexpected kiss:

Completely out of nowhere.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes (No for 10)

Rating: Nice (Fine for 10)

Uncanny X-Men 214-219

A bulk of the issues I’m reviewing today are from an Essential X-Men trade. On the one hand, it’s amazing value; twenty issues of classic X-Men for sixteen bucks. On the other, it’s in black in white. This is the fourth Essential trade I’ve read for this project, and thank God it’s the last. These really prove just how important colors are to comic art that’s meant to be colored. Without them, backgrounds and foregrounds get jumbled up into a mess of lines. It takes just a touch more mental strain to decipher what to focus on, like playing a VR game where everything is in focus. No fun at all. It may be the reason why the issues that I don’t have the individual color comics for are generally rated Fine, while the others are Nice. Color matters just that much.

It’s the first sighting I can remember of Chris Claremont’s “greater than the sum of the parts” old chestnut. (I kind of wish now that I kept track of the number of times Rogue describes her powers with the exact same phrasing. It might very well be every issue in which she appears.)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Fantastic Four vs X-Men 1-4

Better than I expected it to be. I’m mostly affected by the genuine anguish from Franklin Richards and the rare moment of true fatherhood from Reed Richards. Claremont nails them in a way that touched this new parent. I was surprised to see Jon Bogdanove on the pencilling credits, this is before he developed his distinctive style on Superman.

I really felt his pain and fear here.

This would crush me too.

Bogdanove's unmistakable Superman.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Uncanny X-Men 220-227, 232-234

My admiration for Chris Claremont’s character development increases with every issue that I read. Every one of his X-Men grow with each passing month, such that each one of them is clearly different now from when they first appeared - Wolverine has gained significant depth with his samurai spirit, Storm has gone through significant from her initial goddess mentality to her punk phase to her powerless stage. Nowadays, a loss of powers would be seen as a clear stunt to be reversed in a couple of months. But with Claremont, it felt like a legitimate, permanent change. And while Ororo does get her powers back, it would have been just fine if she didn’t. The character would have remained viable under Claremont’s direction.

The same can be said for any other number of X-Men - Rogue, Havok, Cyclops, etc. There’s so much actual character growth that isn’t seen in most other mainstream superhero comics - the very nature of their existence prohibits it. John Byrne’s Fantastic Four, Simonson’s Thor, Stern’s Avengers - All of these characters end up the way they started. (WIth the exception of Wasp, who grows into an amazing leader, but I digress.) Here, though, there’s true evolution. (Let’s not forget what happens to Psylocke, too!)

It’s all most impressive.

Having said that, I really wish he had done more with Dazzler and Forge - Two characters with awesome power sets who have loads of potential that were never truly tapped. Sound-fueled light powers? The ability to invent anything? Come on! (Also, why is Forge never mentioned along with Tony Stark, Reed Richards, Hank Pym, and all the rest when it comes to the most brilliant minds in the Marvel Universe? If I had any kind of writing ability, Forge is the C-list character that I’d pitch to my editor.)

Her powers always felt so different from everyone else's.

Kerry Gammill has to be an influence on Tom Grummett, right?

Gammill.

Grummett. Such similar faces and bodies.

Love the Fall of the Mutants house ad. I remember seeing this in my Transformers comics as a kid and being haunted by the image, not knowing anything about the X-Men.

The Fall of the Mutants arc itself is one of the classics, though there really isn’t much of a fall. No X-Men actually die, only Cypher over in New Mutants. It does have one of the most memorable fight moments ever, between Blob and Wolverine: