Book Review: X-Men: Battle of the Atom

X-Men: Battle of the Atom is the kind of time-travel mess you can only get in comic books. Hank McCoy has brought the past X-Men forward to meet the current group and encourage them to regain their idealism. Unfortunately for him, instead of inspiring their older selves and going home, the group promptly split up, with Angel going to join Evil Cyclops and others opting to stay in the current school. Now, the X-Men from the future come back and claim that their younger selves have to go home at once. Current X-Men argue about whether or not the past folk should have a say in matters, past X-Men doing some more splitting up, and Future X-Men chasing everyone. Marie Hill gets to rant about Hank McCoy being the real loose canon among the mutants, all sorts of chaos and mayhem ensues, and there is great confusion amidst the ranks. It's crazy, it's fun, and this kind of merry mayhem one of the reasons I read comic books.

It's not perfect, but it is great fun, with tons of chronal chaos, misunderstandings, and mix-ups going on. Watching three Beasts interact, or seeing younger Iceman face not one, but ultimately three, versions of his future self makes for some fun character moments. And did I mention Hill's tirade? Just the sheer, unadulterated ridiculousness of the situation alone is worth reading for.

The various artists and writers between them do an excellent job of keeping the individuals distinctive. There were a lot of people to track, but they were easy to track: I never found myself stopping and wondering "Now who was that again?" Ok, I did, but only for some of the really, really minor bystanders in the back--and one of them asks the same question, so that's ok.

The not perfect part? I am afraid I'm getting a little tired of "the-world-that-hates-and-fears-them," which is pretty much the X-Men's primary characteristic, and while that was not the central point of the issue, which focused primarily on the aforementioned chronal troubles, it did come up more than once. Unfortunately, this means I may have to bow out of the X-books entirely fairly soon, which would be sad. I may be intermittent in my following now, but the X-books were my first entry into comic books. Also, I'm still not really buying Evil Cyclops, especially because I've read the whole story, which involved more contrivances than I can swallow. Still and all, I enjoyed the volume, and I'm glad Beast brought the past people forward, even if Maria Hill is not.

The book will primarily appeal to people who already have some working knowledge of the X-verse, I think. There are a few to many versions of a few too many people running around for it to be an easy entry point.

Publication Information
Writers: Brian Michael Bendis, Brian Wood, Jason Aaaron
Artists: Frank Cho ,Stuart Immonen , David López , Chris Bachalo, Esad Ribic, Giuseppe Camuncoli , Arthur Adams
Published: January 21st 2014 by Marvel
ISBN: 0785189068 (ISBN13: 9780785189060)

Book Review:Uncanny Avengers Vol. 1: The Red Shadow

Sometimes, I expect to enjoy a book, and then I just don't. Uncanny Avengers: The Red Shadow is one of those times. In an attempt to change the world's view of mutants, Captain America has put together a new team of Avengers, one that mixes mutants and "regular" Avengers. Their first foe in this issue is the Red Skull who has grafted Xavier's brain onto his own and is using his new ability to whip up anti-mutant frenzy and rioting as—I guess—a step toward taking over. Essentially, the new team is faced with their worst nightmare: Captain America's long-time foe, Xavier gone bad (again), and anti-mutant rioting. Rick Remender has written some really good stuff in the past₍₁₎, and the Uncanny Avengers holds the potential to take the X-folk off into some new territory, so I was ready to enjoy the book.

Sadly, I spent most of it wishing everyone would just shut up. Alex Summers makes a speech. Rogue and the Scarlet Witch snipe at each other. The Red Skull talks. And talks. And talks. He now has the power to influence people's minds directly, and while he does that, he apparently cannot resist making endless speeches. I ended up skimming a lot of his verbiage which left the rest of the book rather slim pickings: oodles of fight scenes as waves of rioters turn on the Avengers, the X-Men, and each other.

I was disappointed with the main plot as a whole: The team mixup also provides an opportunity to do something new with the X-Men. Instead, they're still facing the same old "World-that-hates-and-fears-them."

So, no go here. X-Men enthusiasts might want to read the first bit where Alex makes his infamous "Don't call me a mutant" speech. Otherwise, read X-Men: Battle of the Atom instead.

₍₁₎The not too distant past: I cannot begin to say how much I loved Black Science, though I do try over onFanboyNation. Seriously, that book is incredible.

Publication Information
Hardcover, 136 pages
Published April 24th 2013 by Marvel
ISBN 0785168443 (ISBN13: 9780785168447)
Uncanny Avengers (Marvel NOW!) Vol. 1: 1-5

Book Review: Uncanny X-men : The Complete Collection. Volume 3 by Matt Fraction (writer), Kieron Gillen (writer), Greg Land (art), Whilce Portacio (art), Phil Jimenez (art), Steve Sanders (art), Jamie McKelvie(art)

On reading this, I found out it took place just before Avengers vs. X-men. I'd probably have read it first if I'd known. I do wish Marvel and DC would think to include chronological lists of the recent publications inside each volume--they do on some, but not on others.

There's going to be a middling spoiler in here; I'll post a warning, but if you're like me, you're past warnings almost before you see them, so here's a heads-up.

There are two major plots in this one: Hope, the "mutant messiah" is settling in on Utopia and is asked to help a handful of emerging mutants figure out how to cope with their new powers. Meanwhile, an entrepreneur is to copy & sell mutant powers, but on the side, he's trying to blackmail the X-men into selling the right to copyright their genome in return for curing them of a plague. Oh and Emma has to deal with Shaw once and for all (or until the next writer gets bored). Also, the mutants finally get around to hiring a PR specialist. It's only taken them--how long?

Two of the plots--Hope's miraculous ability to help new mutants figure out their power and the confrontation between Emma and Shaw were fairly standard stuff. In fact, the Hope line annoyed me a bit because it threw in the tiresome "God won't help you" line that various writers keep shoving into the different X-books (or at least the ones I'm reading lately). On the plus side, there, though, at least one of the emerging mutants had parents who were concerned about him and just wanted someone to help their son. After reading so many "turn mutant and everyone hates you" books, it's nice to see that someone realizes this isn't a universal truth.

The more interesting line was the mutant powers as drug line.

Spoiler starts here:




I loved the idea of mutant power being cool. Who wouldn't want to fly? If you could buy wings for, say, a day or a week, wouldn't you? What would that do to the mutants if their power could be easily copied and spread? If they were trademarked rather than evil? How would that change their view of themselves? Their view of the world? The world's view of them?

I really wish this had been a longer-running story with more twists and turns to it, with all the mutants having a say in what happened and maybe even considering the offer. Instead, of course, the corporation turns out to be standard-issue Evil, making the drug addictive and customizing a plague to kill the mutants if they don't cooperate. It's all over fairly quickly, all things considered.


Spoiler ends here.

However, the plot was left somewhat open-ended, and overall, the book was a reminder of why I spent a few years reading the X-men obsessively, and they were my gateway to superhero comics and, ultimately, through a long, slow road to comics in general. I also appreciated the publicist. Finally, the X-Men are thinking about how to manage their image, and paying someone who does her job and does it well and to the best of her ability. I wonder where, when, and why she disappeared?

Also, this collection made sense: All the relevant bits to each story were included. That may sound like faint praise, but I'm slowly learning that this is not always the case.

So, overall: Not a book that will addict you to the X-men or to comic books if you aren't already a reader, but an entertaining way to spend the time if you are.

Reviews
Uncanny X-Men: The Complete Collection on Goodreads.
Anyone got links to others? I kept finding bits and pieces, but not the whole. I admit, I didn't search very far, so if you wrote one, send me the link and I'll put it up!

Mervi's Book Reviews has a reviewof Quarantine, one of the tales in this collection.

Links of Interest
Whilce Portacio on Facebook. He tends to show work-in-progress and talk about how and why he makes decisions. Definitely worth following!

Uncanny X-Men: The Complete Collection Volume 3 on Amazon.

Book Review: All-new X-Men. Vol. 1, Yesterday's X-Men by by Brian Michael Bendis (Author), and Stuart Immonen (Illustrations)

During Avengers vs. X-Men,Cyclops, leader of various teams of the X-Men for, oh, forever, possessed/was possessed by the Phoenix force. He went from slightly obsessed with preserving the remaining mutants to flat-out crazy dark in no time flat. After the Phoenix force was dealt with, he was briefly penitent, but because the world hates-and-fears mutants, he was pushed back into darkness in record time.

Now he's teamed up with Magneto, who is back to being evil again, and is declaring a mutant revolution. In order to stop him, Beast imports the past X-Men with the idea that the young, idealistic Scott will be able stop cynical, evil Scott, or at least make him feel good and guilty.

It's an interesting idea, but there's not much room for it to grow here. Yesterday's X-Men is very much a stage-setting volume and what comes after might or might not develop into something character-driven and fun, but for the moment, I'm left wondering. I have liked X-Men stories in the past--devoured them in fact--but I'm starting to wonder if the series and I are going to get along very well this time around. Maybe I should go back to the independents again.

As with the whole Avengers vs. X-Men series (or at least, all I've read of it; there seem to be an uncountable number of side books) a good many things happen "because plot." I know the "hates and fears" thing is part of the whole X-Men schtick and has been from the beginning, but there's very little refinement here. Three different teens, two with completely non-scary power manifestations (one is a healer), are surrounded by the authorities the moment their powers show. Their parents disown them. Their friends don't like them any more. Really? Come on. I know people are weird, scary, and unpredictable. They're also disorganized, prone to letting things go, and actually capable of loving their children, friends, and relations. It's been years since "the mutant gene" first manifested, and I have a hard time thinking that most of the world still panics at the thought of non-explody mutants. See what I mean about me and the series?

Also, I have to take a moment to whine about Cyclops: I rather liked the idealistic version, and I've been frustrated by various writers working over the years to make him more interesting, usually by adding a lot of angst and anger to his character and subtracting any and all thought and planning from his skill set.

As I mentioned earlier, the bulk of this volume is spent setting the scene and bringing the old team forward. There's not much time for present X-men to interact with their past selves, or for the past selves to see the world and try to cope with how it has changed and how they--their future selves--have responded. It'll be interesting to see how that develops, and whether the various writers can handle the oversized team(s?) that will result.

Until next time!

Links:
Yesterday's X-Men on Goodreads
Yesterday's X-Men on Amazon

Did you write a review I should add? Know of one? If so, contact me and let me know!

Book Review: Avengers vs. X-men: It's Coming by Allan Heinberg (Author), Jason Aaron (Author), Brian Michael Bendis (Author), Jeph Loeb (Author), Jim Cheung (Illustrator), Adam Kubert (Illustrator), Olivier Coipel (Illustrator), Ed McGuinness (Illustrator)

Essentially, this is a mismatched collection of teaser titles that came just before the Avengers vs. X-Men got started properly. All of them are parts of larger arcs that eventually fed into the whole huge Avengers vs. X-Men battle. Individually, none of them stand up well on its own. Few, in fact, make any sense in isolation.

If you can get hold of it at the library, it's worth looking at it to reread the end of the House of M storyline (which I'm kind of wanting to reread now). I vaguely remembered it, but I did appreciate the refresher. Otherwise, It's Coming is only worth it for the completist, and that only so this hypothetical individual can jot down the arc-titles of all the other books in order to go find out where those are collected in their entirety, always assuming they are collected in full somewhere.

Links:
Avengers vs. X-Men: It's Coming on Amazon.
Reviewed on Fantasy & SciFi Lovin Reviews

Got any other links or reviews I should include? Drop me a line and let me know!

Book Review Avengers vs. X-Men: Legacy by Christos Gage (writer), Rafa Sandoval (Illustrations), & David Baldeón (Illustrations)

I found this more interesting than the main title in the Avengers vs. X-Men series₍₁₎, mostly for the side story where Rogue ends up trying to mediate a conflict on another planet after she angers Illyana and gets herself exiled. In the bulk of the book, everyone is continuing to demonstrate the magnificent negotiating skills they displayed when the fight first began, which is to say toddlers in a playground manage better.

In the main story arc here, the Avengers send a group of B-listers to the Jean Grey School to keep an eye on the mutants there to ensure that none of them decide to sneak out and fight--or something. I'm not really clear on what, precisely, they hoped to accomplish, but they did make sure to include at least one hothead on the team, so fireworks quickly followed.

As with the core title, it was amusing enough. I enjoyed it on a certain brainless level, and I got to see She Hulk in action--I'm starting to get more and more curious about her--and the eventual trigger for this battle is more believable than that of the big starting battle in the core title, but all the same, one would prefer the Earth's Mightiest Heroes & co. to be able to think somewhat more clearly than they do here. I mean, really, why would Captain America send anyone at all, and if he did, why not make sure the people involved were actually capable of keeping their mouths shut and their fists down when verbally provoked? But, hey, I don't think one is supposed to think too much about these things.

There were segments here--Rogue's and Frenzy's in particular--that showed how seductive the mutant utopia was. That part really helped. It makes the initial battle no easier to understand, but does show why more mutants joined the cause after the Phoenix five took over running the earth. They got to be heroes, unambiguous and beloved for the first time. That's pretty potent stuff.

I enjoyed the side story most, though. Rogue's B-story, where she is sent offworld by an angered Illyana and finds herself trying to resolve a conflict there has a clear beginning, middle, and end and Rogue gets to build something that will last₂. There were a couple of after-the-Phoenix tales as well, but I find I'm already forgetting them.

I did like the art. I find I prefer the more detailed, finished faces that Sandoval and Beldeon provided than the less-finished, more emoting versions the big guns gave in the core collection.

In short, I haven't given up on the big superheroes yet--for one thing, I still have a pile of books waiting for me--but I'm sticking to my initial conclusion on this Summer of the Graphic Novel: I prefer the shorter, more contained series to the big, sprawling, emotions-off-the-scale stuff that I keep finding in Marvel and DC. I'll revisit the thought more later (probably).

---

(1) At least, I'm assuming the book with the unadorned Avengers vs. X-men title is the "main" title with the others being optional(?) side-titles. I'd rather like Marvel to include some sort of easily accessible diagram in the back showing what happens where and when in the timeline so that readers who either never read it during its original run or who have forgotten can look back and say "Yes, there!" Wikipedia helps, but I always take a certain number of points off mentally for books or TV shows that require outside aid for the basics.

No, I don't actually have a point system as such. One day I might write a post explaining why, but all the same--if I have to look outside the text for no special reason, it's a mark on the negative side.

(2) I admit, my cynical self says that was waaay to easy, but hey, it worked, and it's unlikely Rogue will revisit the planet, so we can all pretend it lasts, unlike all the "permanent" changes in various comic books that keep sort of unhappening themselves (Magneto's a villain, no , he's a hero, no...; Jean is dead, alive, dead... Superman is married to Lois Lane, no he's not...)

Links:
Avengers vs. X-Men: Legacy on Amazon
Reviews on Goodreads

Got a link you think I should include? Did you write a review I should add? Contact me and let me know!

Book Review: Avengers vs. X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis, Jason Aaron, Frank Cho, John Romita, Ed Brubaker

Basically this was an excuse to work through all those "Who would beat whom in a battle?" questions.

Minor spoilers follow, though I doubt anyone will be much surprised.

The X-Men and Avengers, displaying all the conflict resolution skills of toddlers, decide to argue over the best way to deal with the coming Phoenix and its potential host. After about five minutes of talking, they start fighting. It's actually quite hilarious at that point: Scott goes out to talk with Captain America, and the rest of his team stands back and chats about how cranky he's been lately and how unlikely he is to negotiate. Once the fighting starts, they shrug and join in.

Eventually, the Phoenix comes and renders all the smashing moot, and it all comes down to Hope.

The second half of the book has a collection of individual A vs. X fights, some of which are funny and some of which are indulgences of various fantasies.

The collection actually kind of fun in its own colorful, brainless way, but one would hope that Earth's Mightiest Heroes and the world's scariest and mostly-benign-except-when-they're not mutants would have a somewhat better grasp on diplomacy. I found Storm and Black Panther's divorce particularly egregious. I mean, it's not that I have anything in particular invested in their marriage--the last time I was regularly reading X-Men, Storm was breaking Forge's heart by taking a little to long to say "yes"--but presumably they had a friendship, a courtship, some love, some reason to marry. Here, they side with their respective teams without so much as a second thought. There's a certain amount of pathos in the "Storm vs. Black Panther" fight in the second half of the book, but, like much of the rest of the book, things happen "Because plot" not because the characters are really showing any signs of moving events along.

I will say I appreciate the Marvel writers (or the collection's editors?) opting to provide short annotations about significant items and characters in the book. Some things I know from "back when," others, I had either forgotten or never new, so the one- to two-line inserts were quite helpful.

Reviews:
Goodreads Reviews
Got a review I missed? Let me know, and I'll include it!

Links of interest

Avengers vs. X-Men on Amazon

That's either too few or too many. Got a link you think I should include? Contact me and let me know! I'm especially interested in any list of how the multiple collections of A v. X are meant to be read! This is only the main plot.