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Welcome back to another month of me blabbing about
absolutely nothing of consequence! As I write this, Im staring
out the window, laughing, because the radio stations keep saying
we have a chance of snow, of all things, so Im rather amused.
That has nothing to do with the rant this month.
So, what is the rant this month? Why, New X-Men, of
course! Its only one issue in, but I feel like talking about it.
Alternately, Im lost on anything else worthwhile to discuss.
Well, I do, but I need to spread stuff out.
Lets get right into it. New X-Men 114. Written by Grant
Morrison, and with art by Frank Quitely. This is being heralded
as the start of a brand new era of X-Men. Innovation! Good
stories! Good art! Social relevance! How does it do? Not
bad. Not bad at all. In fact, this is one of the best X-Books in a
long time.
Most of the ideas here are nothing new. Mutants in danger,
Sentinels, a Trask, a megalomaniac bent on destroying lotsa
folks, Xavier being a bit of a bastard, etc. The difference is the
presentation. All of these things are presented in clear ways, so
everyone can understand it, and nothing like, "This is exactly like
something that happened way back when, remember that,
Cyclops? (Buy these issues theyre talking about! Dont be
confused! Spend!)" We are given all we need to know about
the Sentinels in a clear way, and in a very natural method of
speaking. You can actually picture a person giving most of these
lines. There are a few clunkers, but not many.
My favourite scene must be when Xaviers mind is invaded
by an unknown force, and he pulls a gun on himself. This is
something Xavier would do, but you would never see him do in
recent years, since he has been castrated and made a proper
father figure to the mutant family.
In fact, that is one minor quibble I have, and that is the
ignoring of past characterization. Its every writers right to use
characters the way they see fit, but usually we get at least some
transition, as the writer would take what is already there, and
build on it, making the character their own. Here, we get
Wolverine reverted back to his wild devil-may-care attitude, and
no trace of the honorable character weve had for something like
15 years or so.
Now, for the art. Mostly, I like it. Im not a huge Frank
Quitely fan, but he has a very distinct look, and most of the time
does some absolutely gorgeous art. But he has this tendency for
eerily lumpy heads, that make everyone look damn ugly. After
seeing a picture of Frank, I understand where his inspiration for
heads comes from. Jean used to be a model. She should not
look like someone smacked her around with the ugly stick.
Franks sense of proportion, design, layout, and panel flow,
almost makes me look past all that though, since this book, aside
from the strange heads, is gorgeous.
Now, some quick comments by me about some of the other
complaints surrounding the issue.
The new look of the Beast: I love it. Its a fun design,
definitely makes him unique, and so long as an explanation is
forthcoming, which from what Ive read there is one, then Im
willing to let this go and see what happens. I sometimes wish I
could have seen how the Beasts original change would have
played out over the internet. "Whats this crap with him turning
grey and furry? This is dumb! Hes looked human all this time!
And that stupid haircut!!" Sound familiar, complainers?
The new uniforms: Again, I like them. Ive always felt that a
team should have some kind of unifying team look, which the X-
Men originally had, but strayed away from. The Legion of
Superheroes is some of the best examples of a team look, but
each character having its own originality. Now, the X-Men just
need that originality back in the designs.
All in all, a fun book, a good book, and a book that leaves
me wanting more.
I have high hopes for the future of the X-Men.
When was the last time an X-Book made me say that?
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