"X-Men Blue"
"X-Men Blue" continues with it's own tie-in issues to the Marvel-wide "Secret Empire" crossover, but goes about it a little differently than Gold. Then, Beast's dabbling in the dark arts gets the rest of the OG X-Men in deep.
 |
| Art by Cory Smith |
"X-Men Blue" #7-9 - X-Men Blue contributes their own three tie-in issues to "Secret Empire." It turns out that Steve Rogers has given mutants their own kingdom called New Tian. In the capital, Utopia, it is ruled by Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Beast (OG version) and Havok. It's far from Utopia. Humans are cowed and live their lives in the same fear that mutants normally do. Mutants who won't fall in line are also imprisoned. The Blue team (mainly Jean and Jimmy) attempt to stop the tyranny head on, while Magneto goes about things in his own way.
If you read my review of "X-Men Gold"s contribution to the "Secret Empire", or read the arc, you know that they took a more fit this crossover into our ongoing stories road. "X-Men Blue" goes the complete opposite route. They take a deep dive into what's going on and if you're not reading "Secret Empire" or if you aren't familiar with what's been going on with the X-Men prior to the start of "Blue" then you are probably mightily confused.
If you thought Emma was a good guy, well she was until the Inhuman's terrigen mist killed Cyclops and the X-Men went to war with them. Check out out "Inhumans Vs X-Men" for the full story. You also probably thought Havok was a good guy, an Avenger even. Well, it turns out that something happened a while ago that inverted his personality and now he's letting his darker impulses have free reign. Check out "Avengers & X-Men: AXIS." As far as Briar, she was a big part of Magneto's most recent solo series. Whew. That was a lot and it explains why these tie-in issues fall short. The story is predicated on readers having this backstory and if you don't then you're going to be confused and this story isn't going to mean that much to you.
 |
| Art by Arthur Adams |
It also illustrates a larger problem with modern comics. This idea that the only way to make characters interesting is to invert their personalities. To make them behave in ways that are counter productive to the way that other writers have been writing them for years, decades even. It's a clear example of story dictating character behavior when it should be the exact opposite.
There are some decent things in this. It's nice to see Jean and Jimmy build a relationship that isn't grounded in romantics. It's interesting that Magneto hasn't given up his double dealing ways and Havok and Emma meeting up with Bastion and Miss Sinister at the end of the arc foreshadows things to come. This is really what I wish this arc would have focused on. The meeting of these villains and how they would eventually impact the Blue team with Secret Empire kind of running in the background. It's even more disappointing because I'm a fan of Cullen Bunn's writing and I know he can do better than this.
Art can oftentimes elevate a mediocre story, but sadly, this arc's art by Cory Smith is merely serviceable. There is nothing special about his art, panel layout, etc. The fact that the covers for Blue are provided by comics legend Arthur Adams doesn't do the lackluster interiors any favors.
Grade: C
 |
| Art by Giovanni Valletta |
"X-Men Blue" #10-12 - Beast's dabbling in the black arts finally comes to a head in this arc as we learn who has been teaching him magic. It turns out to be the X-Men's old foe, the Goblin Queen. Shockingly, she wants something in return. She wants Beast to free her Hex Men. At the same time, Angel and Jimmy return to the north to further investigate where Jimmy comes from along with Sheriff Kira Lee and encounter the Blob.
This three issue arc suffers from some of the same problems that the previous one did. It does lean somewhat heavily on story threads began in the previous volume of "All-New X-Men." After seemingly exhausting all the scientific ways to get back to their own times, Beast turns to magic. Things don't go great and he promises to stop. The arc does a better job of communicating that, so even if you hadn't read the last volume of "All-New X-Men," you're not hindered when it comes to enjoying this arc.
Beast's portion of this story I really enjoy. It's nice to see this new shade of Hank and I like how they are slightly tweaking the OG X-Men to differentiate them from their present day counterparts. It's always nice to see the return of the Goblin Queen and giving Hank's mysterious dark arts teacher a deep X-Men connection immediately raises the stakes. Another reason I have a soft spot for this arc is the inclusion of Bloodstorm. Back in the later '90's, Havok got stuck in an alternate reality that featured Storm as vampire. She was the standout character and for me these three issues would be successful based solely on bringing her back and making her a new member of the team.
Jimmy and Angel's side trip is not as successful. It reads as filler and a way to remind readers that there are other things happening they need to be thinking of. To be fair, it's difficult to make these sort of things seem original and important, but Bunn could have done a better job.
Two different artists, Giovanni Valletta and Douglas Franchin, handle art duties for these three issues and the biggest praise I can give them is that it's pretty seamless. I didn't know until I double checked the credits for the issues. A lot of times multiple artists can make arcs jarring, which detracts from the reading experience but that is not the case here. I really enjoyed how they had kind of an old school, almost painted vibe, which I felt really worked with the arcane story. My biggest complaint, what is with Jimmy's hair? I get it, he's Wolverine, but come on.
The second volume of "X-Men Blue" struggles in the first half, but regains it's balance in the second half. Next up the Blue team joins forces with Gold to take on Mojo. If you want to pick up the trade featuring this issues head to Mayhem in Des Moines (or Amazon) and purchase, "X-Men Blue, Volume Two: Toil & Trouble."
Thoughts on X-Men Blue or these arcs in general? Hit the comments.
This three issue arc suffers from some of the same problems that the previous one did. It does lean somewhat heavily on story threads began in the previous volume of "All-New X-Men." After seemingly exhausting all the scientific ways to get back to their own times, Beast turns to magic. Things don't go great and he promises to stop. The arc does a better job of communicating that, so even if you hadn't read the last volume of "All-New X-Men," you're not hindered when it comes to enjoying this arc.
Beast's portion of this story I really enjoy. It's nice to see this new shade of Hank and I like how they are slightly tweaking the OG X-Men to differentiate them from their present day counterparts. It's always nice to see the return of the Goblin Queen and giving Hank's mysterious dark arts teacher a deep X-Men connection immediately raises the stakes. Another reason I have a soft spot for this arc is the inclusion of Bloodstorm. Back in the later '90's, Havok got stuck in an alternate reality that featured Storm as vampire. She was the standout character and for me these three issues would be successful based solely on bringing her back and making her a new member of the team.
Jimmy and Angel's side trip is not as successful. It reads as filler and a way to remind readers that there are other things happening they need to be thinking of. To be fair, it's difficult to make these sort of things seem original and important, but Bunn could have done a better job.
Two different artists, Giovanni Valletta and Douglas Franchin, handle art duties for these three issues and the biggest praise I can give them is that it's pretty seamless. I didn't know until I double checked the credits for the issues. A lot of times multiple artists can make arcs jarring, which detracts from the reading experience but that is not the case here. I really enjoyed how they had kind of an old school, almost painted vibe, which I felt really worked with the arcane story. My biggest complaint, what is with Jimmy's hair? I get it, he's Wolverine, but come on.
The second volume of "X-Men Blue" struggles in the first half, but regains it's balance in the second half. Next up the Blue team joins forces with Gold to take on Mojo. If you want to pick up the trade featuring this issues head to Mayhem in Des Moines (or Amazon) and purchase, "X-Men Blue, Volume Two: Toil & Trouble."
Thoughts on X-Men Blue or these arcs in general? Hit the comments.
No comments:
Post a Comment