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Post by wildfire2099 on May 10, 2019 10:40:26 GMT -5
Even if it wasn't Steranko's best en toto, there were some great individual pages. But, yeah, shame about the writing. I'm trying to think if there was anything I liked about this era of X-men, storywise, but not coming up with much. The shame of it is, this is ALMOST a good story... having an heir to Magneto be a villain is something that happens several times, as is setting up a mutant city/colony to have them separated from humans instead of integrating. I think the lack of Professor X at this point probably makes both (which deal with the greater purpose of the team, rather just a fight with a villain) probably hurts it. There's no excuse or time to have issues when it's just a slug fest, but hey, maybe it's coming.
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 10, 2019 10:42:33 GMT -5
X-Men #50 Meanwhile, the rest of the team tracks the henchment to a cool looking gothic building which seems to be bad guy HQ, but is not where we see Iceman and Polaris go. They are mopping up the henchmen nicely when Jean senses that the only way to find their friends to to pretend to lose and get captured, which they do. This is a page from early Wonder Woman stories. Letting herself be captured in order to rescue her captured friends was very common. I agree that is certainly true.. the weird part was there are two different locations.. this one and the futuristic one in the desert.. why? Did Steranko just want t draw them (Which is fine, even if it's weird).. do the secret mutant conquest group have a embassy in NYC? (or wait, are we in San Fran still?.. whatever). That was what I thought was odd.
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Post by Cei-U! on May 10, 2019 10:47:58 GMT -5
I don't think Arnold Drake, good as he usually was, ever got the hang of writing Marvel-style. The only title I remember him handling well was Captain Savage but even that never came within a light year of his work on Doom Patrol over at DC.
Cei-U! I summon the square peg!
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 29, 2019 7:57:13 GMT -5
X-Men #51 'The Devil has a Daughter' Drake/Steranko/Tartaglione Plot: The X-Men confront Magneto, with Lorna Dane in the middle. Most of the issue is a big fight scene, that ends in a draw... the X-Men escape without Lorna, who stays behind to help free Magneto and clean up. Back at the X-Mansion, Cyclops has a plan, but doesn't want to bring Iceman, since he's too emotionally attached to Lorna. The two almost come to blows before Jean delivers a lecture and Bobby storms out. Then, we get 'Several Days Later...' Eric the Red is coming! Notes: - This issue felt really off, after last one was quite good. There was alot of posturing, and not alot of mutant powers going around. It makes NO sense that Magneto just stood there and let Cyclops punch him, as cool a visual as it is. At first I thought they were going for making it obvious that this is a fake Magneto in some way, but he does use his powers later, including Scott talking about how he can sense he massive mutant energy. - There's also a legit error later, where the dialogue talks about Iceman needing a break, and shows someone kneeling and defrosted on the ground, but it's Beast, not Iceman. Bobby is then gone for a good 5 pages. - I think the modern writers who decided Bobby has always been gay and repressing need to review this storyline... it makes that really silly. - The art is much worse on this one.. no cool Steranko wide shots or anything, and the combat uses far more hand to hand and not much mutant power...as if they weren't sure about how to use them. The power levels were wildly inconsistent, too. Plot: C- Art: C- History B (Lorna Dane confirmed as Magneto's daughter for now) And there's still a back up... 'The Lure of the Beast-nappers' Drake/Roth/Tartaglione Plot: After being the hero at his football game, Hank McCoy gets notices by the Conquistador, who wants to kidnaps him and use his 'power' to take over the world. He's ready to refuse, of course, but they have his parents, too!. The X-Men (so far Angel, Iceman and Cyclops, though Angel hasn't gotten this recruitment back story yet) seem poised to save him. To be Continued! Notes: -Totally vanilla, with a mustache twirling villain with no clear goal. Why Beast isn't 'outed' as a mutant I don't get... do they think he's just that amazing? Or are we going with his powers aren't really any different that a great human athlete? The story SHOWS he far exceeds usual human capacity, it just doesn't make alot of sense.
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Post by wildfire2099 on May 31, 2019 10:02:44 GMT -5
X-Men #52 'Twilight of the Mutants' Drake/Heck/Roth/Tartaglione Plot: Erik the Red (seen at the end of last issue) barrels into Magneto's hideout like a bull in a china shop and sent Mesmero and his cronies running, trapping them with a cave in. He gets to the inner sanctum where Magneto is resting (he's 'incapacitated' from last time) and Lorna is protecting him. Erik announces to Lorna he's there to join them, as long as he can be Magneto's second in command. Magneto decides he can't fight back, so he agrees. Meanwhile, Jean puts 'operation Twilight' into effect, and the team (sans Iceman, who's still AWOL/brooding) heads to the desert. The plan is that Erik the Red is really Cyclops in disguise, so he sends the bad guys out to look for the X-Men while they set a trap. Bobby blunders into said trap instead, so the fight is on. The X-Men hold their own, but are getting overwhelmed by numbers while Iceman convinces Lorna she's NOT actually Magneto's daughter, and she should really just be a good guy. She buys it, and saves the day just as the X-Men are about to get overwhelmed. Magneto, naturally, escapes, but the day is won for now! Notes: - It's a pretty huge power downgrade for Magneto that he can't have one quick fight with the X-Men without needing weeks to recover. He's still got 'mutant power' that lets him read minds, though, as he warns Lorna not to think bad thoughts about him at one point. - Bobby is clearly infatuated.. poor Zelda, who gets nary a mention or thought balloon. It was fun to have Lorna be turned with legal affidavits instead of fighting. That's changed back and forth over the years... I THINK the last word was Magneto WAS her dad, but I'm not sure if it's come up since PAD set up the 'new' version in X-Factor #243, where Lorna actually killed her parents when her power manifested too early, and Magneto (her birth father) arrives on the scene just after and has Mastermind make her forget about it. - I'd love to have Cyke keep the Erik the Red gear.. he looks awesome as a viking, and it apparently allows his blasts to come out of his hands, which seems way more accurate. Also, they're not red, standard 'electricity' colored. - I guess Steranko got bored? weird he didn't finish the storyline at least. Heck and Roth do a fine job finishing, but nothing extraordinary. I've always found Heck to be passable... he's never BAD, but not usually good enough to be the attraction. Looks like it's a mismash until Adams arrives. - For reasons not stated, Magneto has a blue helmet with red trim instead of his usual red helmet... maybe he likes blue better, and doesn't need the psychic blocking one with Xavier out o the picture? - I HATE Lorna's early costume... that head piece (both with Magneto crown and without) is terrible. Plot: C Art: B- History: C- In the Beast origin story, he steals some sort of portable generator from a government installation (Why not Stark Enterprises, I ask? clearly a blown cross over opportunity!) and, big surprise, the bad guy doesn't actually free his parents. To be continued!
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jun 2, 2019 9:26:01 GMT -5
Lorna was definitely established not to be Magneto’s daughter after this storyline, and then retconned again (in the early 2000s, I think) into being his child. Meanwhile, Pietro and Wanda were not only removed from Magneto’s family tree, but were also said not to be mutants at all, decades of continuity be damned!
I like a good plot twist, but not when such twists accumulate to the point of tying a storyline into a gordian knot.
It’s particularly annoying when a lot of people associated with these characters (Xavier, Moira, Magneto himself, the Inhumans) are all extremely proficient geneticists. It seems pretty obvious that all of these characters had their entire genomes sequenced a long time ago, and in fact most of them underwent genetic modifications, as in X-Men #1-4, in the early 90s. Any surprising revelation concerning their assumed parentage should have come up years and years ago.
“Well, Pietro and Wanda can’t be mutants or connected to Magneto, because we sold the rights to Fox”, said the voice of Those Who Sit Above In Shadows.
Sigh!
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Post by rberman on Jun 2, 2019 20:19:40 GMT -5
Would such a retcon behold up in federal court?
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 2, 2019 20:41:32 GMT -5
Lorna was definitely established not to be Magneto’s daughter after this storyline, and then retconned again (in the early 2000s, I think) into being his child. Meanwhile, Pietro and Wanda were not only removed from Magneto’s family tree, but were also said not to be mutants at all, decades of continuity be damned! I like a good plot twist, but not when such twists accumulate to the point of tying a storyline into a gordian knot. It’s particularly annoying when a lot of people associated with these characters (Xavier, Moira, Magneto himself, the Inhumans) are all extremely proficient geneticists. It seems pretty obvious that all of these characters had their entire genomes sequenced a long time ago, and in fact most of them underwent genetic modifications, as in X-Men #1-4, in the early 90s. Any surprising revelation concerning their assumed parentage should have come up years and years ago. “Well, Pietro and Wanda can’t be mutants or connected to Magneto, because we sold the rights to Fox”, said the voice of Those Who Sit Above In Shadows. Sigh! While there are some retcons that can make for a good single story or two, I find it rare that they help contribute to the overall tapestry of the universe... there are just too many of them. Back in the day (like when the Crossing happened) I was furious at how they 'ruined' Iron Man with the retcon... how little I knew then that that would only be the beginning. There have been so many now, though, they don't faze me anymore, you just have to wait until the next writer arrives and ignores it or changes it back. I kinda feel that way about the Quicksilver/Scarlet witch thing (that'll change back after the movie rights thing is settled), and the Iceman thing. Never mind the 'wait 5 minutes and they'll be back alive' thing. I think it kinda cheapens the impact of alot of the big stories, which, perhaps, is why it's so much harder to enjoy events these days.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jun 2, 2019 21:57:47 GMT -5
Alright...alright...alright... confession time. I didn't hate this whole storyline.
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Post by wildfire2099 on Jun 14, 2019 9:47:07 GMT -5
X-Men #53 'The Rage of Blaastar' Drake/Smith/Dee Plot: The team is fiddling with 'one of Professor Xavier's Mind Machines' when they accidently free Blaastar from the Negative zone. A fight ensues, which is about a draw until Iceman creates 'Ice Mannequins' for Jean to control to try to turn the tables. They slow Blaastar up enough to force him to got back to the lab/basement where the machine is, where the melting mannequins cause a short and send him back. The End. Notes: - There is some debate in various places whether or not this is, in fact, a fill in, but it seems completely clear to me. While it's Barry (Windsor) Smith's first Marvel work, it makes sense that it's a bit of a 'tryout'.. there's no mention of any previous story or Lorna, and the next issue box is the same as the issue before. -Smith's art is pretty rough, and the costumes are a bit off... Angel has a Lone Ranger blindfold mask instead of the usual mantle, and Jean's mask is super big and pointy. Then there's Iceman's giant head. I wouldn't call the art bad, because it's pretty dynamic, but it's definitely rough. - The fight here makes very little sense if you try to reason it out.. Blaastar is a BIG threat, and fights the Thing, yet Angel, who is just a regular dude with wings, can take a beating from him and not be dead? Since when can Jean control multiple life size 'mannequins' at once, not just to work, but in a hand to hand fight? - Cyclops gets another corny illogical monologue at the end 'wherever men lives with hate in their hears, Blaastar lives there too'. I guess Cyke thought he was some kinda of evil demon, not an alien looking to conquer Earth. -The X-Men think he's dead, which is clearly not true... He comes back a few years later in Marvel Team Up to fight Johnny Storm. - I commented on this briefly with Lucifer, but it's funny how Silver Age villains seem to lose power as they get recycled... Lucifer went from being the cause of Professor X's disability and potential world conquered, to 'You have one more chance' in getting defeated by Iron Man.. then turns up in Daredevil later. Seems similar here.. where Blaastar goes from need the whole FF to defeat him to having a bit of electricity and water defeating him. - I wasn't able to find it online, but apparently Mark Gruenwald has a letter in this one. - We get Jean and Scott clearly acting as a couple now... perhaps for the first time.. and no one bats and eye at it. - The 'Ice Mannequins' are a new trick, as is 'frozen Oxygen'... probably never to be seen again. Drake defnitely writes Jean as more powerful. Also, Bobby acts like Spider-Man, cracking wise throughout the fight, and has more lines than any issue before. Overall, just a fill-in action issue with no real relevance. Plot: D History: B (Barry Windsor-Smith's first Marvel Art) 'Welcome to the Club, Beast' Drake/Roth/Tartaglione Plot: Beast wakes up and tries to stop the Conquistador.. he is about to fail when the X-Men save the day and recruit him. Notes: - Apparently, they skipped Angel's origin, but we're going back and doing that next. Based on the index, no origin for Jean. - Roth tries to draw Iceman as the Snowman of Kirby, but doesn't really succeed. Next up, a story I'm looking forward too.. the Living Pharaoh!
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Post by Cei-U! on Jun 14, 2019 11:42:55 GMT -5
Just checked my copy of X-Men #53 and yes, Mark Gruenwald has a letter in this issue. In fact, it may well be the highlight of what is easily the worst issue of the original run.
Cei-U! I summon the mutant mediocrity!
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Post by dbutler69 on Jun 14, 2019 13:46:48 GMT -5
X-Men #53 - The fight here makes very little sense if you try to reason it out.. Blaastar is a BIG threat, and fights the Thing, yet Angel, who is just a regular dude with wings, can take a beating from him and not be dead? Since when can Jean control multiple life size 'mannequins' at once, not just to work, but in a hand to hand fight? Yeah, this sort of thing happens countless times in comics. Somebody with "class 100" strength swats somebody with no superpowers (or at least no super strength/invulnerability) and survives, when in reality that one blow would have killed them. That's just one of the things we have to accept in comics.
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Post by Reptisaurus! on Jun 14, 2019 15:06:48 GMT -5
So how did Barry Smith get a job with Marvel? There weren't a lot of new guys moving into the industry at this point and he's SO MUCH WORSE than everybody else working for Stan at this point.
I mean, good call hiring him, Smith turned into a great artist in just a couple years, but at this early juncture he's obviously not ready for prime time. What gives?
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Post by Farrar on Jun 14, 2019 16:12:02 GMT -5
X-Men #53 'The Rage of Blaastar' Drake/Smith/ Dee... And of course the credited inker "Michael Dee" is yet another pseudonym for Mike Esposito (who has said he wasn't crazy about the pencils here...but I guess a job's a job )
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Post by chaykinstevens on Jun 14, 2019 16:17:41 GMT -5
I commented on this briefly with Lucifer, but it's funny how Silver Age villains seem to lose power as they get recycled... Lucifer went from being the cause of Professor X's disability and potential world conquered, to 'You have one more chance' in getting defeated by Iron Man.. then turns up in Daredevil later. I don't remember Lucifer fighting Daredevil, but he fought Steve Rogers and the Falcon during Steve Englehart's run on Captain America,
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