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The final issue for one of my favorite series will be arriving
shortly.
No, Im not talking about Impulse, that series has been dead for a while,
its just now realizing it. Im talking about Deadpool. Yes, the merc with
a mouth will finally be hanging up his sword and tongue. Or will he?
Now, without going into too much detail I can tell you that while
Deadpool may be going the way of the Dodo, and Leelee Sobieskis
ability to choose a decent movie script, the man behind the mask may not
be leaving. Wade Wilson, who we all know and love as Deadpool, may
be continuing his life with a new name in the pages of Agent X, which
will hit the shelves after the end of the Deadpool series.
Why dont I know for sure what will be happening to Wade?
Simple, I couldnt take reading the various Internet boards due to the
idiocy of many of the posters. They were really beginning to get on my
nerves. Kudos to Gail Simone to dealing with a number of these people
in a respectful manner back during the time I was reading the boards. I
dont know if she was able to continue keeping her composure, or
responding at all, but if she did then extra kudos. So who is Gail Simone?
Gail is the writer of the last few issues of Deadpool and the writer that
will be starting us off on Agent X. Other than that, I dont have that
much information on Agent-X.
After sorting through that first batch of postings regarding
Agent-X for a few days I came to a revelation. That revelation is that
Ive really become fed up with readers ability to so easily make their
choices on what writers/series are bad before checking them out, or only
reading one or two issues. Sometimes a writer/series doesnt hit full
stride until after the fourth or fifth issue because of the setup that has
to happen. If you need your entertainment faster thats fine, but dont pass
judgment on a book just because you have little, or no, attention span. If
you dont put the time into reading a series you really cant take the time
to tell others WHY you believe a book is bad or good. Well, you can
actually, but be ready for some ridicule. Let me show you how judging a
series can work.
Lets begin with the upcoming Agent X series. It may be taking
a character I like and changing them, but I dont know to what degree. It
may also be a whole new character similar to the one I like. I definitely
need information before I pass judgment on the main character. The best
way to get that information will be to read a few issues. Now, lets look at
who will be writing the book. Gail Simone is currently ending the series
that Agent X will be spawning from, and in my opinion she is doing a
great job of it. Its not often that you get to have a real preview of
how a writer will handle a character until they are actually in writers hands.
Simone is putting an element of humor back into Wade Wilson that I
havent seen since the series originally started. Its a good bet that she
will do a good job with the same character, or a similar one, in the pages
of Agent X, but I will still have to see. I dont care how good you think a
writer is, you really do need to grade their work as it stands for each
individual series they do. Overall they may be an awesome writer, but
when they handle certain characters/concepts we could be talking an oil
and water mixture. An example of such a case in my eyes is Grant
Morrison.
I think Grant Morrisons work on JLA was great, and choosing
him to get the series kicked off was a good decision on DCs part. He did
more with one of my favorite characters, Green Lantern, in the pages of
JLA than was being done in the characters own title. Now while he did
have a few stories that just didnt quite feel right to me, overall he
turned out quality work when he was working on JLA. So, when I heard
Morrison would be taking on New X-Men I had a serious decision to
make. I cant stand the various X-series right now. I used to be an X-fan
a few years back but all the series I collected back then really started to
irritate me, so I dropped them. I would still check them out at times, but
never saw anything to bring me back. Would Morrison coming on as a
writer of one of the X-series be enough to bring me back into the fold? I
wagered not and chose to pass on his take on the New X-Men.
Am I a hypocrite to pass on checking out the title before
judging it? I would be if I had judged it immediately. I was content with
my distaste for the books from my previous experience, and understood I
was working only with a bias. I wasnt turning people against any of the
X-titles or spouting of my opinion of the books as they currently stood.
After a while I decided it was time to take a look at New X-Men and what
it had become. I could have lived with my bias, but that would have
turned me into the thing I hate. So, I borrowed the first years run of
Morrison issues from a friend and decided it was time to see how the
series was doing under him. Much to my shock this was not the great
writer of JLA. This was a writer changing characters on their personality
levels and creating ridiculous story lines and situations.
While I could excuse MOST of the personality changes,
because people do change, I couldnt stomach many of the story
elements. Cyclops having emergency contacts to control his optic
blasts? That defines his blasts as emanating from the pupil or iris of his
eye and gives the character MUCH more control of his power than had
ever been established in the past. The U-Men? BAD, BAD, BAD! Graft
all the mutant parts you want, it doesnt mean the host body has the
necessary elements in it to utilize them. Were talking a necessity to
alter the body and the brain in order to utilize these parts effectively folks.
If they were able to do that then they should have been able to actually
alter the original body of the person so that grafting wasnt even
necessary to give these U-Men powers. Then, we have a guy named
Xorn with a sun in his head. A SUN! I was quickly realizing that
Morrison was getting more into his fantasy-science than remembering
some basics of science. Its a comic, but lets keep the basics straight.
Im not even going to touch the Cassandra Nova concept. At this point
I figured my head was hurting about as much as Xorns did on his best
days and called my reading of New X-Men under Morrison done. The
verdict? Just because a writer can handle one series well it doesnt mean
that they can handle another well. So, lets bring this full circle shall
we?
We will always have series that will change hands, thats pretty
much a fact for a continuing series. However, we need to be ready to
watch the characters and concepts we care about change. If they
change too much for you then move on. However, dont be so hasty as
to say a series will work or not just because of a writer. Check it out to
be certain, and after actually spending some time checking out the series
THEN give your opinion. You can give it before, but youre not giving
your opinion as much as your bias. Learn to tell the difference. My
views on the X-titles are very much bias based on my past experience,
and I am honest about that. I can argue with an X-fan, but I know that
for most of the current series my words dont hold much weight because
I dont read the series they do.
Now for Agent-X. I can tell you that I am pleased with Gail
Simones writing on Deadpool and because of that I would recommend
checking out Agent-X, but I wont say anything more than that. The
series may be horrible, but only time will tell. Me, Im going to invest
the time and money to find out what the series is like. If you have the extra
time and money I would say take the risk of doing the same. If you dont
want to take the risk, dont worry because Ill be reporting back in a few
months on how the series is doing. You know, with actual facts and
details to back up my opinions. I know its a scary concept, but it can
happen.
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