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Post by Cheswick on Feb 1, 2018 13:27:56 GMT -5
Ugh! Just when I liked Superman again it will all be revamped/rebooted. He has stated that he is not rebooting Superman, and that he is following up on things that Tomasi and Jurgens have done during their runs. The only thing I know that he is changing is that he is bringing back the red trunks.
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 27, 2018 3:41:01 GMT -5
It's from the Ellis/Simone Bianchi arc of Astonishing X-Men ("Ghost Boxes"). I need to do a reread of that soon.
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 23, 2018 21:34:57 GMT -5
They decided to make Emma a villain again during the Inhumans Vs. X-men series. I did not read that series, but have read issues featuring her since it ended. There is a few frustrating things about her being a villain again. First, they didn't just make her a villain. They made her an over-the-top cartoony villain, completely ignoring any complexities of the character. And, secondly, they have completely undone more than 20 years of character development. And, lastly, the motivation for her villain-turn is pretty insulting: Basically, emotional woman loses her man and goes crazy. To me, comics-wise, there is not much worse than a great character written poorly. The fact that she is one of my favorite characters makes it even more annoying.
Havok was made a villain during the forgettable AXIS series a few years ago, where he was "inverted".
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 20, 2018 23:30:57 GMT -5
Mike Carey's initial run on X-Men Vol. 2 (#188-206 & An. 1) I also liked Mike Carey's run, especially when it was drawn by Chris Bachalo (collected in the hardcover Supernovas.) And when Claremont returned to the book with Bachalo, and Alan Davis, I enjoyed as well. Yeah, it would have been great if Bachalo could have done the entire run.
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 20, 2018 13:13:27 GMT -5
Morrison took several years off his age, and where he had previously been a world-famous surgeon, Morrison relegated him to basically being the Chief's butler. At one point a character is having a medical issue and Tempest literally goes running to the Chief for help rather than administering basic first aid! I had no problem with Tempest choosing not to be a full-time superhero. However, there were times his refusal to use his powers seemed almost neurotic, and when he did use them they were treated as ineffectual. Thanks for the reply. I wasn't aware of Tempest's background. Those are odd choices to make with the character and it does make me curious as to why they were made.
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 20, 2018 10:55:13 GMT -5
My favorite X-Men eras/runs/storylines are: X-Men #1-66 X-Men/Uncanny X-Men #98-178 Morrison's New X-Men run Ellis' Astonishing X-Men run X-23 & X-23: Target X by Kyle and Yost Mike Carey's initial run on X-Men Vol. 2 (#188-206 & An. 1) Compiling this list made me feel kind of depressed because, while I was making a point of only listing pre-2008 books in order to keep with the spirit of these boards, I realized that wasn't very difficult because there hasn't really been any X-Men books I have liked in the last ten years. Did you read the 2013 adjectiveless X-Men, written by Brian Wood, Marc Guggenheim, and G. Willow Wilson? It's the one with the all-female team. I actually really liked it. The initial roster is very reminiscent of the mid-80s team, plus Jubilee. It's a shame they dropped Kitty and Rogue off the book early, though. I did read the Brian Wood issues and I think they were pretty good, but clearly didn't leave an impression, since I forgot about the run until you mentioned it. Since posting, I also remembered I liked some of Bendis' run (mainly Uncanny X-Men), as well as Spurrier's run on Legion.
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 20, 2018 3:27:59 GMT -5
My favorite X-Men eras/runs/storylines are:
X-Men #1-66 X-Men/Uncanny X-Men #98-178 Morrison's New X-Men run Ellis' Astonishing X-Men run X-23 & X-23: Target X by Kyle and Yost Mike Carey's initial run on X-Men Vol. 2 (#188-206 & An. 1)
Compiling this list made me feel kind of depressed because, while I was making a point of only listing pre-2008 books in order to keep with the spirit of these boards, I realized that wasn't very difficult because there hasn't really been any X-Men books I have liked in the last ten years.
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 20, 2018 2:56:46 GMT -5
But my experience is that Morrison's run is NOT one great story after another. It's sort of hit and miss. And sometimes, when it's bad, it's pretty bad. I rate the series higher than you do, and consider maybe 80% one of my favorite superhero team titles of all time, but agree that it has its share of spectacular fails (among them the second arc being tedious and too similar to the first, the banal and uninspiring endings of his two longest non-Dada story arcs, and the surprisingly implicitly racist treatment of Tempest). I only read the first half of Morrison's run. I'm a huge fan of him, but DP was one of the few works of his that didn't really hold my interest. In the issues that I read, I don't remember any racist treatment of Tempest. Could you please point out a few specific instances? I find this to be really surprising, considering he is usually good when it comes to writing PoC (Calvin Ellis, Nix Uotan, Boy, Angel Salvadore, and Manhattan Guardian being just a short list of positive examples).
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Post by Cheswick on Jan 15, 2018 0:34:34 GMT -5
I'm 37 and its been a long time since I bought and read comics since 1996. These days it's the new stuff that amazes me, whatever. Comics like Walking Dead, Manifest Destiny, Snotgirl, New x Men, New and old characters of Mighty Thor etc. Even the so called comics for kids have adult humor such as the Rick and Morty comic. Back in my teen days in the mid 1990s it was just Spawn, x Men, spider man, batman, superman and bone. Things sure have changed with comics these days Much like the TV show, I don't think anyone considers the Rick & Morty comic for kids.
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Post by Cheswick on Dec 22, 2017 9:47:10 GMT -5
X-Men Grand Design #1 Written by Ed Piskor Art by Ed Piskor Summary: The Watcher recounts the story of mutantkind to a Recorder, going back to the fight between Namor and the original Human Torch and ending this episode at the formation of the original X-Men with Jean Grey joining the team. Plot: Been a while since I did this, but this one was interesting. It's printed on the old newspaper (or rather a facimile I think?) and deals with a lot of the original backstory. There is no overarching story, it's connecting the stories of the various mutants together. It changes some of the smaller plotpoints, but as an old school X-Men fan, I was really enjoying the comic. Art: Ed Piskor is an underground comic artist and it shows. For fans of classic superhero art, the art may be offputting, but I'm loving it. Grade:8/10 (note it's pretty expensive at $5.99, so give it a look before you buy it. It's 46 pages though, so per page it's not more expensive than regular comics). I really enjoyed this issue. I'll definitely be getting #2. I really liked Piskor's art style. It kind of reminds me of the Super Powers back-ups that Tom Scioli did for Cave Carson.
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Post by Cheswick on Nov 27, 2017 21:24:37 GMT -5
I don't think these two have been listed: Madame .44 Mademoiselle Marie (The modern-day one that appeared in Checkmate)
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Post by Cheswick on Nov 27, 2017 7:41:37 GMT -5
I agree that "Gothic", and its ending weren't very good, but I think Morrison stories usually have solid endings (Invisibles, New X-Men, All-Star Superman, Seven Soldiers, The Multiversity) and, at times, incredible ones (We3, Final Crisis, Annihilator, The Filth). Seven Soldiers was the story where I first realized Morrison repeatedly pulled this stunt on his readers. So much of what appeared to be building throughout that story simply dropped out by the close. And didn't Final Crisis' outcome hinge entirely upon a wish machine that let Superman fix everything via deus et machina? I will admit I haven't read any of the others you've mentioned. I thought Seven Soldiers had a pretty straightforward ending and was very satisfied with how he brought all of the story threads together. It was an abrupt wrap-up, but I didn't mind because I looked at it as being more about the journey than the destination. That said, I realize that, for that latter reason, maybe I should have left it off the list. But, I do defend the use of a deus ex machina in Final Crisis. I don't mind them as a convention as long as they are used creatively, and I think Morrison did that. I loved the fact that he had to sing to activate the machine, essentially using weaponized art to win.
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Post by Cheswick on Nov 26, 2017 22:02:44 GMT -5
Actually this is the only time I've felt that way about something he wrote. Getting away with lazy endings because he comes off smarter than his reader is pretty much his go-to shtick. Here's one other example. I agree that "Gothic", and its ending weren't very good, but I think Morrison stories usually have solid endings (Invisibles, New X-Men, All-Star Superman, Seven Soldiers, The Multiversity) and, at times, incredible ones (We3, Final Crisis, Annihilator, The Filth).
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Post by Cheswick on Nov 24, 2017 7:47:21 GMT -5
Can I use a character who, while a criminal, is actually the protagonist (for lack of a better word) in his own books?
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Post by Cheswick on Nov 23, 2017 21:23:40 GMT -5
Velocity from Cyberforce Ragged Robin from The Invisibles
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