Onslaught saga, Star Trek/X-Men

Let’s see if I can knock this post out before the end of the year…

X-Men Prime 1

This might be the first time I bought one of those “extra-length issues that devotes a few pages to each title in the universe.”  Here, each of the X-books shows a glimpse of what’s in store post-AoA.  Meh.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Uncanny X-Men 322-326, 328-331

I did not realize until this readthrough just now much I like Joe Madureira’s run on Uncanny.  His art makes the experience an absolutely joyous breeze.  It’s a shame that he’s so slow; four of these issues needed fill-in artists.  The stories themselves are fine; Onslaught gets teased, Marrow shows up for the first time, and the consequences of Sabretooth’s stay at the X-Mansion are dealt with.  

A nice homage to Storm's first battle for Morlock leadership...

...way back when.

Heh, Joe Mad is well aware of Roger Cruz's tendencies...

Nice M pinup pose.

Such a clean, simple page, what a joy to look at.

Psychic knife 13.

Psychic knife 14.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes (No for 331)

Would read again: Yes 

Rating: Pretty good (Nice for 322-324, 331)

Sabretooth Special 1

Surprisingly meh art from Gary Frank, who’s capable of wonderous things.  Wraps up the stupid “let’s try to rehabilitate Creed” plotline.

An encyclopedia of lame Jean poses.

Also, no way Jean is having trouble lifting Sabretooth.  Lame.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

X-Men 46-52

One of the better X-Baby appearances, and a nifty fight against Post (what a stupid name and generic baddie).  The rest of it’s kind of lame, with a bunch of fill in artists.  (Andy Kubert taking a break with Joe Mad?)

Luke Ross ripping off Jim Lee...

...from X-Men 1

No way Wolvie's bone claws don't snap.  

Why bother to cover your eyes?  It's not like cloth stops the blasts.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice (Didn’t suck for 48, 49, 51, 52)

Uncanny X-Men 333-336

X-Men 53-56

Cable 34-35

Fantastic Four 415-416

Onslaught: X-Men

Onslaught: Marvel Universe

Such a great build up to such a meh climax.  I’m all for Professor X being the X-Traitor that was set up all the way back when Bishop was first introduced in Uncanny 281.  Seeing the full, ungarbled message from Jean was chill inducing.  But then the writers wussed out by making Onslaught an entity separate from both Xavier and Magneto.  If you’re going to pull a heel turn, have the guts to commit to it.  

On top of that, the conflict itself is a muddled mess.  Onslaught suffers from Undefined Power Syndrome, alternately as strong or weak as the particular issue calls for.  The final fight is a total mess, with the Avengers and Fantastic Four running into some glowing energy, followed by the X-Men attacking that energy.  Somehow, that leads to Heroes Reborn.  Okaaayyy…

Joe Bennett ripping off Jim Lee...

...coincidentally from the same page as before.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice, deteriorates to Fine.

Uncanny X-Men 337

X-Men Unlimited 14

Scott Lobdell really knows how to do post-event epilogue issues.  This one’s centered around a breakfast, which I found charming.

Love Joe Mad's Cyclops.

Family feelings reinforced.

The Unlimited issue dealing with the trauma inflicted on Franklin Richards with the ‘death’ of his parents and friends is well done too.  Bonus is the art by Jim Cheung, who does children really nicely.

So cute.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Star Trek/X-Men 1

An amusing crossover with Top Cow art.  Perfectly fine for what it’s trying to do, with some nice character moments.

Of course Kirk would hit on Jean.

Hee.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Age of Apocalypse

Here we go with the Age of Apocalypse!  For some reason, I’m missing Amazing X-Men in my collection, so I’m looking for those 4 issues.  I know I bought them when they first came out, somehow got lost over the years…

X-Men Alpha 1

X-Men Chronicles 1-2

A fine set up for this new universe.  Basically setting up all the different quests that have to take place in each title.  The costume designs are pretty sweet, with some particular standouts:

Sweet swashbuckling look.

I like the samurai inspired look.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Factor X 1-4

X-Calibre 1-4

Gambit and the X-Ternals 1-4

The lowest tier of the titles, through a combination of uninteresting stories and art that fails to stand out. And I've never seen lettering this inconsistent or horrible:

What's going on in the last panel?

And the "Sorry" in the last balloon?

And everything here.  Heck, I could letter better than this.

But there’s a sweet Monty Python reference in Factor-X!

Are You Embarrassed Easily? (youtube.com)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Fine

Weapon X 1-4

X-Man 1-4

Adam Kubert and Steve Skroce art place these up a level.  (I still don’t think X-Man justified a spin off title.)

Nice storytelling here.

Same here.  A little battle completed in four panels.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes (No for X-Man)

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Generation Next 1-4

Astonishing X-Men 1-4

These issues are so damn good.  Primarily through the efforts of Chris Bachalo and Joe Madureira drawing the crap out of this dystopian world.

This abandonment is heartbreaking.

And here.  The aching futility of Paige's final moments.

One of my favorite character designs ever.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

X-Men Omega 1

Tying up all the various story threads.  I can’t believe Roger Cruz was the best person Marvel could find to draw the bookends for this saga.  I caught a blatant ripoff of the far superior Bachalo:

Cruz.

Bachalo.

It’s also ridiculous that out of all the cool reimaginings here, X-Man, Sugar Man, and Dark Beast are the ones the powers that be opted to bring over to the 616.  (I’m clearly looking at Blink.  Sure, she shows up in Exiles, but she really should be in the main titles.  She’s sooo cool!)

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

Tales of the Age of Apocalypse 1

I think this came out years later.  It’s basically like X-Men Chronicles, telling a story from the past.  Only it’s completely boring.  Keeping...but I’m not sure why.  Completionism?

Regret buying: Yes

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Boring

X-Men Box 4 is complete!

Box summary

Time spent reading: 20 hours 13 minutes

Issues read: 168

Issues cut: 0

Highlights (Good or better): Uncanny X-Men 270-277, X-Cutioner’s Song, Wolverine 75, Uncanny X-Men 308-311, Wild Storm 13-24, Generation Next 1-4, Astonishing X-Men 1-4

Project Summary:

Time spent reading: 32 days, 1 hours, 38 minutes

Issues read: 6573

Issues cut: 815

Wild Storm, New Comics

New comics!

Rorschach 3

Again, a solid one-issue story that doesn’t do much to explain the overall course of the series.  

Taskmaster 2

Not as funny as the first issue, it’s mostly a protracted fight between Taskmaster and Hyperion.  Eh.

Solid Blood 17

My LCS threw this in for free.  It’s a gag issue from Robert Kirkman, playing as if Walking Dead never hit it big, and this is what he did next.  It’s a high concept that failed to amuse me, but apparently its rareness makes it worth something for now, so it won’t get thrown into the cut bin for now.

Doctor Doom 1-5

I’ve been hearing a lot about writer Christopher Cantwell and this title, so I thought I’d give the first trade a try.  It starts off strong, where Doom has just the right mix of arrogance, intelligence, snark, and power.  But I don’t like Doom on the run, the role of the underdog doesn’t suit him.  I’ve already ordered the second trade, so I’m committed for at least another five issues.

Heh, the meta 2099 dig.

Wild Storm 13-24

Man, am I glad that I followed through with this series after the re-read.  It gets better and better as it progresses, building up at a rapid pace into a breathtaking final issue.  It definitely reads best in one sitting, instead of spread out over two years.  

Ellis manages to mix in so many callbacks to the original Wildstorm universe, many of which went completely over my head for far too long.  (I can’t believe it took me until the very last issue to realize that Jackie King was Battalion.  Ingrained sexism?)  I would have loved to see what Ellis was going to do with Gen13, the Authority, WildCATS, and all the rest, but it looks like that’s never going to happen.  (The spinoff that did get published, Michael Cray, wasn’t all that.)

Great setup for the page turn reveal...

Stunning work by Jon Davis-Hunt and Steve Buccellato

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Really good

Uncanny X-Men, X-Men, Wild Storm

Wild Storm 4-12

I liked the first three issues well enough on the re-read to pick up the first two trades used.  The first two trades are good enough that I’ve purchased the next (and last) two.  This is basically the Ultimate version of the original Wildstorm universe; Everyone is just far enough from their original incarnations to be uncanny and fun to figure out.  Pretty art by Jon Davis-Hunt:

Nice body language here.

Sublime colors by Steve Buccalleto

Stunning.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Uncanny X-Men 308-311

The last John Romita Jr issues on Uncanny.  These are flat out good, mostly eschewing action to focus on the interpersonal relationships within the team.  Scott Lobdell does a wonderful job of making the characters feel like family with a long, storied history.  (And he throws in a great fight between Bishop and Sabretooth in 311.)  Lobdell is underrated at writing humor, by the way.  Tons of moments in these issues made me smile:

Bishop's brand of fish out of water works for me.

He's right about the football...

I've added "It's the same answer" to my own lexicon.

Heh, Jubilee.

This feels real.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Good

X-Men 30

Scott and Jean get married.  For some reasons, this issue plus Uncanny 308 and 310 were missing from my collection, and I’m positive I owned them at some point.  I tracked down the back issues last week because I remembered them as good enough to merit rebuying.  I wasn’t wrong.  This isn’t as good as the Uncanny issues, but it’s still a milestone that I enjoy reading.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice

X-Men 31-35

On re-read, this is where I’m starting to realize that writer Fabian Nicieza isn’t that good.  X-Men just isn’t as fun to read as Uncanny, and it’s not close.  Nicieza tries to imitate Claremont with his catchphrases and florid prose, but his stories fail to stand out in any way.  (The Psylocke/Revanche disaster continues to bore and confuse.  At least he cleans it up.)

Psychic knife 11

Early Andy Kubert art doesn’t help - it looks muddy and messy, and that feeling doesn’t help Nicieza’s scripts.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Doesn’t suck

Uncanny X-Men 312-314

Woots, Joe Madureira shows up to start his epic run (with a ton of fill-in help; this guy was never the fastest of pencillers…).  Plus, Emma Frost possesses Iceman’s body for an issue, starting the process of a major level up for his powers.  Pretty cool. 

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Uncanny X-Men 315 

Horrible fill in issue that tries to justify Colossus ditching the X-Men for Magneto.  A trainwreck with depressing Jim Lee-clone art by Roger Cruz.  Only keeping to maintain the run.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: No

Rating: Boring

Uncanny X-Men 316-317

X-Men 36-37

The Phalanx Covenant crossover, setting up the launch of Generation X.  The Phalanx are a blatantly obvious rip off of the Borg from Star Trek, and completely uninteresting as villains.  This arc is notable for the introductions of Skin, Monet, Synch, and best of all, Blink.  She dies in this story, but will come back better than ever (this version was a sad sack anyway) when Age of Apocalypse comes around in a few issues.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good.  (Fine for X-Men, the difference between Joe Mad and Kubert’s art is that stark.)

Wolverine 85

Cable 16

The Phalanx Covenant issues that actually detail their defeat.  While the bad guys are fairly generic, Larry Hama writes a great adventure for Wolverine, Cable, Cyclops, and Jean Grey.  Their teamwork, interpersonal conflicts, and methods of overcoming obstacles is really fun to read.  The art by Adam Kubert and Steve Skroce is great as well.  Super fun.

Yes, that's really a shoulder mounted gun.

That swivels up when not in use.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Uncanny X-Men 318-321

X-Men 38-41

Cable 20

Legion Quest and the issues leading up to it.  Adam X shows up again, and I still wish the original plans to make him the third Summers brother came through.  Something about his 90’s-ness reminds me of Gambit; I just think he’s really cool.  I may have to get his original appearance in X-Force Annual 2, I no longer have it in my collection.  

Legion Quest is a fine setup to Age of Apocalypse.  Surprisingly, it’s Cable that does the best job of selling the finality of it all, that the universe for these X-Men is really ending.  I don’t think, even as a high schooler, that I ever thought this was a permanent thing, but the writers did a good job of making me second guess myself.

A sweet moment as Jubilee leaves to join Gen X.

Psychic knife 12.

Another cool Storm costume.

I'd forgotten...

...about the "time travel to rape your mother before you were conceived" part.

Nice illustration of despondency.

Finally.

A sentimental but nice bit of writing by Jeph Loeb these last three pages.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice.  (Pretty good for Cable)

Age of Apocalypse: The Chosen 1

One of those Who’s Who comics, for AoA.  It’s fine for what it’s trying to be.  Some nice pinup art by Ian Churchill, Tim Sale, and some others.  

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: No

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Nice