X-Men: First Class

A while ago, I was talking to a friend and mentioned that I would love to see an X-Men book plotted that went back to the basics of the original team, but wasn't mucked up with continuity. He responded asking wasn't that what Ultimate X-Men's purpose was? Sort of - but Ultimate X-Men started a brand new story with same old angst that the X-World has built up over the past 40+ years.

What I meant was taking the team - Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, Angel and Marvel Girl - and putting them back into the happy world that was the dawn of the Marvel Universe. No anti-mutant races nuking Genosha, no Civil War ending with the death of Captain America - just five students being taught by a single teacher and exploring a world still enormous to them. But make it a little more interesting than it was back in 1963.

Sing your praises for Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Lord knows they've earned it. But in amazing creations that came in the period - Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Incredible Hulk, the Avengers - X-Men has to be the one less-than-shining example in which they dropped the ball. The only character that ever got some sort of characterization was Professor X. All the others were pretty much simple creations filling a specific role. Cyclops was the sulky, angst-ridden leader who couldn't make it two pages without mentioning the curse of his eyes. Beast was the smart one who would always be reading a large book and speaking with unneccessary large words. Iceman was the young one who would ask a silly question and be promptly told to be quiet. Angel was the playboy who everyone mentioned how attractive he was. Marvel Girl was the girl - she served food and responded to whistles (hey, it was the 60s).

Put these characterizations in pretty much the same story every issue, and it's easy to see why the book didn't sell terribly well. Not to mention Jack Kirby's art didn't work for the book (teenagers always wearing suits?). It's easy to forget in the old days that the X-Men were teenagers if you happened to miss the tagline about them being the strangest teens ever. Whatever the book's purpose, it was lost in the repetitive, character-lacking, overly dull stories. By the time Werner Roth and Neal Adams began their stellar run on the book, it was a standard superhero book. It lacked what had made Spider-Man so special. It lacked what made most of the books at the time special.

So it's funny when a book came out that did exactly what I had been thinking of, I almost missed it. I had decided not to buy X-Men First Class, but after flipping through the fourth issue, quickly changed my mind. Here was what the X-Men should have been like back then, adjusted to a more common era. It's not rewriting continuity, but instead it's pushing it forward and giving the characters the personalities they've been waiting 40 years for. Now you can see how the characters developed into what they are today. This is where they started. They're finally able to be kids. Forget the angst of the X-World. It turns out that there was actually a time in which they were all happy to be there.

X-Men First Class has been a good (albeit jumpy) mini, and I'm very much looking forward to the upcoming regular series. I just hope it keeps what's made it so good thus far.

New X-Men: Mercury Falling (33-36)

I wanted to congratulate Craig Kyle and Chris Yost for making it through an entire story without killing anybody, but then I remembered Mammomax. I'm sure someone's going to miss him.

After making it through a series of depressing stories meant to pull the new team together, we're treated to a story about X-23. Sure, it's got Mercury's name in the title, but this is the X-23 show. Surprisingly, I've grown to like X-23 (something I never would have said when Claremont had her in Uncanny), but that's largely because her creators are writing her. I've heard both of her mini-series (also written by Yost and Kyle) are also quite good. Good thing to get a character with a very shaky premise (a Wolverine clone, for crying out loud) over in the minds of fans.

However, it can't be forgotten that this is not a book about X-23. It's about the New X-Men. While Hellion gets a featured role in the story (setting up to be X-23's main man probably had something to do with it) and Mercury plays the damsel in distress, Rockslide, Surge, Elixir, and Dust do practically nothing through the entire story. Of course, this is just one story. As long as the X-23 and Friends show doesn't continue on, the book will be fine.

The tie-in to William Stryker seemed to be weak. If scientists are going to breed horrible monsters using a mutant's power, and they just happen to be in X-23's origin, then run with that. No need to tie it in to the previous story. Again, I hope this doesn't lead to a habit in this title. If it does, it may have been a better plan to keep Stryker alive at the close of the previous story.

Since all my complaints are about the possible future, I'd have to say this book is doing quite well right now. Of course, the next story looks to be bringing back the long-dead Illyana Rasputin (see my earlier rant on death in comics), so we'll see how that one goes. As for now, though, good stuff.

Rant: Give it a rest!

When the smoke settles, nothing will ever be the same!

How many times have we heard this catchphrase, or a variation of it? If you've been keeping up with comics over the past couple years, then more often than you probably should have. Marvel readers have been following House of M, then into Civil War, keeping a side look on Annihilation, and are now preparing for World War Hulk. DC fans followed the entire lead up to Infinite Crisis, the event itself, then jumped ahead a year with the characters, but still kept up with 52 to bridge the gap, and gearing up for Countdown to keep the story going.

Both companies have been featuring a ridiculous amount of "major events" and show no signs of slowing. Sure, the events are major, but in the process, they may be overwhelming the fans who they're bombarded upon week upon week. Both companies have their own way of doing such, but both take a toll on the readers.

The mega-crossover is nothing new for Marvel. The company that brought us Secret Wars, Secret Wars II, the Acts of Vengeance and many others have largely followed a uniform process. The main story is presented in a mini-series, while some regular monthly titles will tie in to flesh out the event. It was extra, but not too much of a burden. After all, it was a special event.

House of M strayed a bit. Besides the regular books and self-titled mini-series, the event spawned numerous other minis to keep some regular titles from sacrificing their issues to contribute. Fans of Spider-Man found a new four-issue mini on their buy list, which really added nothing to the story or the character. Aftermath minis (Son of M, X-Men: the 198) came as well, showing the changes that the event caused since, of course, the regular books couldn't be bothered with such trivial matters.

If you haven't caught it yet, the changes hyped so heavily in the extra books didn't do a whole lot to the big picture.

Of course, the effects didn't have very long to take root, since Marvel immediately jumped into Civil War, again promising that everything would change. Again, side minis were solicited along with the main one, but this time Marvel promoted that most books were important to get the entire story. Civil War stretched out for almost a full year, but at least did change certain aspects of the Marvel Universe.

So, of course, they're immediately gearing up for World War Hulk, with the same promises of mass change coming forth.

If that wasn't enough for fans, side-mega events also have been popping up. Along Civil War came Annihilation, which featured many of Marvel's cosmic characters. Next to World War Hulk will be Endangered Species, an X-Men crossover that will deal with the fallout of House of M, as well as an Annihilation follow up series.

Unlike Marvel, DC chose to spend a lot of time on a single event. Before their major event, Infinite Crisis, DC launched four mini series leading up to the main story. When it was taking place, nearly every DC book was drawn into it. Unlike Marvel's tactics, though, this meant that it was a fair bet that readers would be missing at least a part of the story if they didn't pick up most of the main DC books to follow the story.

It was the aftermath, though, that really made Infinite Crisis feel important. After the final issue of the mini series, every DC book's story jumped forward one year. Mass changes were widespread, and a new direction was being traveled. To cover the gap in space, DC put out a truly unique concept. A limited series, 52, that would be released weekly for an entire year. Fans were willing to drop the extra three bucks a week to follow it, and it's been quite successful.

However, at the close of 52 (47 is being released this week), DC announced that they would immediately start another 52 issues of an event called Countdown that would, you guessed it, change everything. That's 104 issues, coming out every week for two straight years. They're pushing their luck.

The problem with these repetitive 'mega-events' is that it's just too much, too fast. Sure, an event that changes everything breathes fresh air into a setting that can occasionally become somewhat stale. But once those changes have been done, readers want to take a little while and get used to them. To change them so soon after being done takes away from the event itself, and it makes future ones seem less important that creators are trying to make them out to be. If the after effects of Civil War are washed over by the effects of World War Hulk, why did I spend so much money picking up all the extra issues to follow it?

So let's get through Countdown, World War Hulk and all the other upcoming events, then let's take a break and get the whole picture back together before rushing out to shake it up again. I, for one, could use the break on my wallet.

Civil War: Front Line

One week after the close of Civil War comes the close of the sidelines book. So many different stories took place in this run, I'm going to have to break them up by individual storylines. Bear with me.

EMBEDDED (Issues 1-11)
This is the main story of Front Line, following longtime Marvel reporter Ben Urich and Sally Floyd, fresh off her story in the post-House of M Generation M mini. The two basically float around for 11 issues, talking to random figures in the Civil War, and come to the big revelation that Tony Stark was pulling strings for some purpose. That purpose was to get the whole registration process to work by planning the Atlantean assassination attempt (see Sleeper Cell below). It works when explained in the final issue, but unfortunately not really when looking at the whole story.

A major problem here, as with most of Civil War, is that Tony Stark is made to be the bad guy. Throughout the first 10 parts of Embedded, Urich and Floyd's efforts point towards Tony Stark being a shady figure behind the scenes, as well as a king douche bag in the forefront. That's all well and good, but then with his side winning the war and Stark becoming a prime force of the new Marvel U, suddenly he has to be seen in a bright light, so part 11 features a massive turnaround, where Floyd and Urich see the wisdom of his plan, so they won't tell anyone.

So all is right with the world, except for me, who had to wait months and months for this non-resolution. Nothing was quite as bad as issue 10, where Floyd and Urich keep trying to tell each other Stark's secret, but are distracted each time. With all of the other stories done by issue 10, was there really a need for 11? If nothing else, D-list heroes Bantam and Typeface get killed during this storyline. Sad day.


THE ACCUSED (Issues 1-10)
This story features Speedball, who is the sole survivor of the New Warriors after their fateful Stamford mission that started this whole mess. Devoid of his powers and quickly arrested, he's offered amnesty by registering, by again and again refuses to do so. When he's given his day in court, he's shot by a man in the crowd. He comes to, decides to register, and creates the identity of Penance, wearing a costume with spikes on the inside, so he can use his powers (now activated by pain).

This is another story that goes one way for over half its run, then suddenly turns towards the end. The entire series runs on Speedball maintaining that the New Warriors did nothing wrong and should not be treated as criminals. Even when he agrees to register, it seems to be more out of personal motives, rather than seeing the good in doing so. But in the last chapter, suddenly he's angst ridden about the deaths of the people of Stamford, and creates the new identity as a way to atone for his crimes. This ending came directly out of the blue, and didn't fit with the rest of the story at all.

Another thing this story featured were the inhumane conditions of the 42 prison facility. With Iron Man, Mr. Fantastic, and Yellowjacket in charge, and Captain Marvel running it, these conditions are completely out of place. It's somewhat explained as a part of Stark's plan to get heroes to register, but still, when heroes are killing themselves, something's wrong with the story.


BACK-UP STORIES (Issues 1-9)
These were no more than three pages at the end of each issue, showing scenes from Civil War next to similar scenes from American history, with voice overs giving commentary. Not really even worth mentioning.

THE PROGRAM (Issue 2)
This was a couple pages showing Norman Osbourne's reaction to Spider-Man unmasking. I guess it would be a setup to his inclusion in the Thunderbolts, but not really important.

SLEEPER CELL (Issues 3-9)
This story, featuring agents of Atlantis disguised as regular humans, spanned three seperate storylines. The first was a signal being sent out for the sleeper agents to shed their disguises...which largely went nowhere. Why couldn't they have just been Atlanteans sneaking above the water that day? There was no point to the hiding...at least not at this point in time.

The second saw SHIELD draft a reluctant Wonder Man to investigate. The story I picked up here was SHIELD forcing a registered super-hero into action against their will, but this was a point quickly dropped when Wonder Man was taken down. The agents he was fighting? I really don't know what happened to them. Don't worry about it, I guess.

The third saw an Atlantean diplomat shot by a gun-toting Norman Osbourne. This act apparently was part of a master plan (see Embedded), but at this point, it served really only to justify Namor's rage against the humans, and hinting at his appearance in Civil War #7. This story really could have only had this part, and nothing would really have suffered for it.

Front Line was not a bad read, but it suffered a great lack of importance. Nothing substantial took place in it, and what did was swept away at the story's close. Though Penance is set to be featured in Thunderbolts, I doubt he will serve any significant purpose in the grand scheme. The sleeper agents are an interesting concept which may be picked up in upcoming stories. Rather bland, but somewhat neat for what it was.

Rant: Delay, delay, delay!

I remember back in mid-July when I picked up my copy of Civil War #3 and was shocked to see Thor standing tall on the final page. Wow, I thought, this story is getting really good! I couldn't wait for the next issue of Civil War to see how Cap's team was going to deal with that. So I waited. And I waited. And I waited.

This story comes to mind because in less than 24 hours, I'll be posting my review of the Civil War mini-series. That's right, the same one who's third issue caused me to walk to a comic shop in the sweltering mid-July heat. And this issue will be only the fourth one to come out since that time. A seven issue mini-series. It launched back on May 3rd, 2006. Depending on who you talk to, this extended scheduling may have been purposely done by Marvel. I don't think three months past a monthly format was the intent, but it did allow all the stories around the Marvel Universe to be told in their own ways. Problem is, most of those stories wrapped up a few months ago. Much of the Marvel Universe has gone past the Civil War, making the final issue slightly lackluster. Even major tie-ins like New Avengers and Spider-Man have begun their post Civil War stories, leaving everyone else scratching their heads.

Marvel is the major example of the declining importance of regular schedules in high-profile books. As shown of late, the higher profile the comic, the less likely it is to actually come out on time. While rank and file titles, in no means lacking in quality, crank out an issue a month (or more), the highly advertised books will make their debut date, then whenever they feel like it. It's gotten to where many fans have come to expect hyped-up mini series to vanish before they end their stories.

A big part has become the popularity of getting writers from other fields to write comics. Kevin Smith, once a highly praised comic writer, has gotten a lot of flack over this. Two of his mini-series, Daredevil: The Target and Spider-Man/Black Cat, came to an unexpected halt in 2002, after one and three issues, respectively. The latter was finished three years later, with an obvious shift in tone over the lull, and the former has yet to have a second issue. The ridiculous delays have damaged Smith's prestige in the eyes of comic fans, and few people are actually expecting him to finish his Daredevil book.

A more recent example would be Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk, a mini-series written by David Lindelof (co-creator of Lost). The book had two issues, then nothing. Marvel continued to solicit, then push back the release date of the third issue, until finally at the end of 2006, it cancelled the book until further notice. While they assure it will eventually be finished, skeptical readers are not holding their breaths. Another highly-anticipated story gone due to inability to put out stories.

The trend is not limited to mini-series, either. After Grant Morrison left New X-Men for a DC-exclusive deal, it was announced that the retooled X-Men would be headed up with a new flagship title called Astonishing X-Men, written by Joss Whedon (creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, amongst other things). The first story arc (issues 1-6) came out in a timely manner, and was highly praised by X-Men fans. However, the second storyline (issues 7-12) started meeting delays that the other X-Men titles (Uncanny written by Chris Claremont and X-Men written by Peter Milligan) did not suffer. Therefore, the flagship title began falling behind the other books. Six main characters (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Kitty Pryde, Beast, Colossus, Wolverine) found themselves in something of a limbo, awaiting the next issue. When the storyline completed, Whedon and penciller John Cassaday announced they would be returning for 12 more issues, but with a more spaced out pace (bi-monthly issues). However, the second issue, even with two months between, was still delayed. The book is now on issue 20, where other books launched at the same time are in the mid-30s. It's still promoted as the flagship X-Title, though. That should say something about the X-World.

Finally, I have to say that it's not simply guest writers from other industries causing problems. Take NYX, the supposedly regular series by Marvel editor-in-chief Joe Quesada. After four issues, the book simply vanished. Missing so long, high-profile artist Josh Middleton left for DC and the book was eventually retooled as a mini and finished with little cheer after seven issues...two years after it began.

DC isn't completely innocent of this either. Mainstream books like Teen Titans and Justice League of America often miss their regular weeks due to delays, but are usually followed by two issues released within two weeks of one another to make up. It is rare that a DC book will simply vanish. For a shining example of DC's dedication, their 52 mini-series, set to be released once a week for 52 weeks, has not missed a single week (as of issue 41). In this field, DC is a much better example of making deadlines.

So should we sacrifice timely comics in exchange for high-profile creators? I say no, no, a thousand times no. What's the use of an exceptional comic if it doesn't come out at all? Hopefully the fling of such creators will die down and we'll enjoy our better titles at a more regular pace. If I wanted to see the work of the creator of Lost, I'd watch Lost.

NOTE: Is Bryan Singer ever going to do a run on Ultimate X-Men? It was announced like two years ago. God, I hope not.

Rant: Return of...

Death in comics has become an almost laughed-about topic. What used to be an incredibly important event that often changed the course of a title, death has become an overly used and mainly ignored regular in today's comics. The reason is that characters don't stay dead. Sure, in comics anything can happen.

A very long time ago, I made a list of deceased characters who established by belief that death was still somewhat important in comics. As long as these characters stayed dead, I was a believer. They were:

• Gwen Stacy - Spider-Man's first love, killed when a save by Spidey went awry, snapping her neck.
• Robin (Jason Todd) - Hot-headed replacement for Dick Grayson, he was blown up by the Joker after fans voted for his death.
• Ben Parker - Spider-Man's beloved Uncle Ben's death at the hands of a robber he could have stopped is the focal point of Spidey's origin.
• Bucky - Captain America's WWII sidekick was blowed up real good during the same mission that Cap was frozen in a block of ice.
• Captain Marvel (Mar-Vell) - In one of Marvel Comics' most touching stories ever, this hero was diagnosed with cancer and died surrounded by friends and enemies alike.
• Thunderbird - One of the second wave of X-Men, he was the first ever killed in action, when he detonated a plane he was on in mid-air.
  

Some notable deaths were left off my list for various reasons. For example, Barry Allen, the longtime Flash didn't make it because he was pretty much exactly replaced by the former Kid Flash, Wally West. If you didn't know that there were two of them, you'd never have guessed. In fact, that's why there is only one DC character to five Marvel characters. DC will recreate it's characters, almost identically, just with a new origin. With little difference in the characters, there's little reason to bring them back. Jason Todd was the exception because his death still affects Batman's character, even after almost two decades later.

Gwen Stacy was eliminated early when I learned there had been a clone of her made. Sure, it's not exactly her, but it's really close...and the clone's still alive. Jason Todd's return was hinted during the acclaimed Hush storyline (it was actually Clayface in disguise), but then he was brought back for real as the mysterious Red Hood. Bucky, it turns out, never really died, but was instead captured by the Soviets and transformed into Winter Soldier. Captain Marvel was inexplicably brought back during the Civil War story with no reason other than...because.

And with Marvel's return, the list passed the halfway point and my faith was gone. Sure when a big name hero like Thor or Colossus dies, you expect their return. However, these deaths were all important parts of the big picture, and being done away with, it's like what they had achieved in death (legacies and whatnot) were utter rubbish. It really takes the fun out of death...or something.

So next time I see a character die, even in a major way (like Goliath in Civil War), I'm not going to think another thing of it. No doubt they'll be back in a matter of time.

Ultimate X-Men: Cable (75-78)

The storyline Cable was four issues that are going to completely change Ultimate X-Men. First, Cable shows up, kicks the X-Men's collective asses, then escapes with Marvel Girl. The X-Men go off to save her and fight off the Six Pack, then Cyclops and Professor X attack Cable himself. Cable gets away and...holy crap, Professor X is dead. That's the spoiler right there. Charles Xavier was reduced to a bare skeleton...which of course opens the door for his eventual return. For the here and now, though, that's big.

Let's look at the little things, though. Kitty Pryde, who's planning on leaving the school anyway, gets stabbed in the gut, giving her the definite reason to take off next issue. Rogue, bummed out by the return of her powers (and a reset from the previous idea of making her Rogue/Gambit), gets her frickin' arm blown off, opening her to leave the team. Bishop shows up to stop Cable and is stranded in the future, making him an apparent new cast member of the book. Cable is actually Wolverine from the future, minus the healing factor, which turned out to mean absolutely nothing in this storyline, except a shock value moment.

And that's really what this storyline was. Without the death of Professor X, this story would be nothing more than a "Whoa" storyline. Cable is Wolverine, Rogue loses an arm (which grows back, with help from Wolverine), and there you are. We're still on the fence as to whether Marvel Girl has the Phoenix powers (yes, she does), so there's plenty of room for development forthcoming.

It's been announced that the team will have a major shakedown forthccoming, so here's what I see happening - Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Wolverine, Iceman, and Storm will be hanging around, while the others shove off to obscurity. It's already been solicited that Beast will shortly be returning, so you have your original lineup back (minus Colossus who has been greatly overlooked since Millar left) under the tutelage of Bishop. A breakdown like this might pull the book back to what made it good in the first place. It's felt like it's been hunting for an identity ever since Millar's departure. Bendis jammed a crapload of characters in and then blew the whole thing up. Vaughan set up his own stage, but left before he could really do anything with it. Kirkman has certainly shook the entire thing up, and hopefully he gets it going in a better direction. Ultimate Spider-Man has an identity. The Ultimates (when it comes out) has an identity. This book needs one badly.

The next step for Ultimate X-Men is a crucial one if the book seeks to regain any of the momentum it had back when it started. A major shakedown may be exactly what can bring this book back to the level it was once at. A consistent artist wouldn't really hurt either.

Ultimate Spider-Man: Clone Saga (97-104)

One of my biggest criticisms of the entire Ultimate line has always been that it seems the book is plowing through the famous storylines of the original characters far too quickly. Case in point, the final chapter of The Clone Saga has arrived, and we've just passed the 100 issues mark. That in itself is something worth mentioning about the odd timing of this story. Usually, highly marketable numbers (multiples of 50, usually) are used for big honking stories. Often either the first or last part of a storyline. That gives reason to double size the issue and bump the price up a dollar or two. Ultimate Spider-Man had the bonus sized issue, but it was part four of an eight part storyline. The bonus? A complete sum-up of everything that had happened in Ultimate Spider-Man to that point. Which, of course, would have fit a lot better had it shown up at the first or last part of a storyline, rather than smack dab in the middle.

As for the story itself, this would have been a huge turning point for the book had the 'abort' button not been hit in the final two parts, putting everything nicely back into place. For starters, Peter finally tells Aunt May that he's Spider-Man after Gwen Stacy shows back up alive and well. May promptly kicks him out, which opens up for Peter's father Richard to show up, which doesn't surprise Aunt May at all. Turns out she's known the whole time, but there's no time for further explanations, because Nick Fury shows up and tells Peter he doesn't get to be Spider-Man anymore - a decision that he announced waaaaaaay back in issue 77 at the close of the Hobgoblin story.

The story is that the government used Peter's DNA (gained at the close of the Carnage storyline) to clone him several times. The clones escaped, one kidnapped MJ and as a means of protecting her, injected her with the Oz formula (creator of the Green Goblin), transforming her into a monster. She goes nuts, calms down, goes nuts again, then is cured by the Fantastic Four. Yay. All but two of the clones are killed - the survivors being Spider-Woman (a female clone with all of Peter's memories...weird) and Scorpion (who will no doubt show up as a villain).

Towards the end of this storyline it looked like no outcome was planned in advance, because everything kind of just happened. Dr. Octopus was the head of the cloning project for no particular reason. Richard Parker turns out to be dead after all, with the one that showed up being another clone of Peter...which contradicts Aunt May's reaction as well as not making any sense. Anyway, he kind of ages really fast in the issue and dies for no particular reason. Gwen Stacy becomes Carnage for six pages, then is taken away with no further mention of her anywhere. And finally, Reed Richards offers Peter a chance to cure his spider abilities...which for some reason comes as a big shock, after Nick Fury already told him it was going to happen. The book is called Ultimate Spider-Man for a reason. He ain't losing his powers.

This story was really a victim of missing identity. The pieces were there, but there was simply too much crammed in, even in an eight part story. There's an epilogue coming up next issue that looks to break up Spidey and Kitty, and everything will be good as new. Well...good as old, really. Hopefully the book can rebound from this mess, especially with longtime penciller Mark Bagley set to leave the book.