New X-Men/Ultimate X-Men

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

I stopped in Barnes & Noble on Monday and had to kill some time so I picked up the Ultimate X-Men TPB. A few quick thoughts:

 

I think the group came together much too quickly. They would have been better off being joined in progress than showing the group being formed.

 

The flip-flopping allegiances were kind of confusing. Was Wolverine really down with the X-Men? Did Cyclops really join the Brotherhood or was he just infiltrating the group? I don't feel these things were adequately explained.

 

Why is Beast always getting his ass kicked? In the FOX cartoon, Beast got caught in like the first or second episode. In Ultimate X-Men, he goes down in battle. In the New X-Men, he gets beat into a coma. Why is he always getting his ass kicked?

 

Was Magneto killed? Or should I say, will he be appearing in the book anymore? I can't say that I have read many X-Men comic books, but I was wondering how they have made him use his powers in the past.

 

I liked the Wolverine/Sabretooth battle, even though I thought it was kind of stupid to give Sabretooth the same claws that Wolverine has.

 

 

 

I stopped in Barnes & Noble today and read some New X-Men. What I read was a bunch of Cassandra Nova stuff. Some thoughts:

 

I really liked the new Sentinels. I thought it was cool seeing one of them actually having a handgun as part of its composition. I liked them even more at the end when it was revealed that they had actually gone inside of the X-Men and begun attacking their immune systems and stuff. Far-fetched? Maybe. I still think it was cool that they were small and inside of the X-Men as opposed to being towering giants to run from.

 

I started to like Emma Frost's character as the story progressed and I liked the telepath girls that she was mentoring.

 

I actually found myself cheering for Cyclops by the end of the story. Go figure.

 

It seems like Wolverine is always taking some teenage chick under his wing.

 

I don't know if I care for Cassandra Nova's origin too much, but I still think she was a good character.

[Guest Kahran Ramsus]

Was Magneto killed? Or should I say, will he be appearing in the book anymore? I can't say that I have read many X-Men comic books, but I was wondering how they have made him use his powers in the past.

 

No, Magneto was not killed. Xavier wiped his mind, and now he just thinks he's human. The public does think he's dead though.

[Guest Sassquatch]

"I think the group came together much too quickly. They would have been better off being joined in progress than showing the group being formed."

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

The pacing that Millar took in regards to the group being formed is on par with his writing. Go read the first several issues of the Authority to see what I am talking about.

 

"Was Wolverine really down with the X-Men?"

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

When the X-Men rescued Wolverine from the Weapon X program goons that had captured and tortured him, that sealed the deal with Wolverine and his loyalty to the X-Men after Magneto had left Wolverine to rot in his cell. Wolverine was going to kill the X-Men but when he attacked Magneto that was in response to the X-Men saving him and finally seeing how big of a threat Magneto was to the world to humans and mutants alike.

 

"Did Cyclops really join the Brotherhood or was he just infiltrating the group?"

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

Cyclops was infiltrating the Brotherhood for Professor X to stop Magneto from killing off mankind.

 

"I liked the Wolverine/Sabretooth battle, even though I thought it was kind of stupid to give Sabretooth the same claws that Wolverine has."

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

Agreed.

 

It defeats the purpose of why the two are different from one another and looks like a cheap rip-off (which it is). Tooth was/is unique because his hands epitomized the wild and evilness that inhabited him and how uncontrollable he can be. He is an animal while Wolverine is more of a man than he could ever hope to be.

 

"I really liked the new Sentinels."

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

The miniature Sentinels have a different look but are still the same version.

 

They are the Hunter Prey Sentinels version which can regenerate lost limbs and lose outside objects to build back any lost extremities along with building upon their own bodies. They can make themselves to be small or big depending on the materials around them that they can use to complete this task.

 

"I liked them even more at the end when it was revealed that they had actually gone inside of the X-Men and begun attacking their immune systems and stuff. Far-fetched? Maybe. I still think it was cool that they were small and inside of the X-Men as opposed to being towering giants to run from."

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

In a world where men can shrink themselves down to the size of an ant or travel to different dimensions, nothing is "far-fetched" in comic books within reasons. The Virus Prey Sentinels are easily conceivable due to the advanced technology that the Sentinels use now.

 

"I started to like Emma Frost's character as the story progressed and I liked the telepath girls that she was mentoring."

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

Emma has always been a treat to read over the years (well, most of them anyways). Emma is very Amandaish (TV show Merose Place character) in the way that she interacts with everyone and how she is ruthless in getting what she wants but also having a side that is insecure and unsure about herself. Heather Locklear as Emma in an X-Men movie would be the perfect fit.

 

"I actually found myself cheering for Cyclops by the end of the story. Go figure."

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

Grant Morrison has stated in past interviews that he wants to make Cyclops "cool again" and to have him be easy for fans to relate to who are like him in various ways. The guy who acts cool and calm out in public but is a wreck when he isn't around other people and has just as many problems as some of the villains that he has faced over the years.

 

Cyke has always been a guy that I have liked and I like what I have seen so far with him in Morrison's new line-up.

 

"It seems like Wolverine is always taking some teenage chick under his wing."

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

Chicks dig the claws man.

 

 

"I don't know if I care for Cassandra Nova's origin too much, but I still think she was a good character."

 

- pinnacleofallthingsmanly

 

 

Cassandra was given the God Push right off the bat and it came off too forced with killing off Genosha along with nearly kicking the crap out of the X-Men and getting the upper-hand on Professor X. I did not find her to be an offensive characters in the sense that she was a loser being made to look like some uber bitch but I felt that she was nothing to write home about like some people did *coughWizardcough* when she made her debut.

 

But overall, she could have been worse than what she was and for that she is fine with me (Vargas anyone?).

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

Speaking of god-like pushes, I read the JLA with Prometheus in it and boy did he ever suck. "I've planned everything out! I've planned everything out! I've planned everything out! I've planned everything out! I've planned everything out! I've planned everything out! I've planned everything out! etc., etc.," well did he think he was just gonna go up to the Watchtower and wing everything? They tried so hard to make the character seem like he was worthwhile, but he just sucked ass.

[Guest Vyce]

Cassandra was given the God Push right off the bat and it came off too forced with killing off Genosha along with nearly kicking the crap out of the X-Men and getting the upper-hand on Professor X. I did not find her to be an offensive characters in the sense that she was a loser being made to look like some uber bitch but I felt that she was nothing to write home about like some people did *coughWizardcough* when she made her debut.

 

But overall, she could have been worse than what she was and for that she is fine with me (Vargas anyone?).

I still don't get the Nova hate.

 

Yeah, yeah, so she was given the God push.

 

This is the best compliment I can give: after reading X-Men for YEARS....not just a few issues, YEARS of issues.....she was the first villain in AGES in those books that made me sit up and take notice. That actually made me care in the least.

 

I haven't felt that way about Magneto in God knows how long. Say what you will about Morrison on X-Men, but I think his work has brought a much needed freshness back to the franchise.

[Guest Goodear]

Nova has problems since she's just another riff on the evil twin/Charles has a darkside cliche. Man, if you think about it, Xavier's psyche has racked up the largest mutant head count in history. Anyway, after she stuck her hand through that Trask guy, it was all pretty much downhill in my opinion. Morrison really isn't doing anything new, just presenting old ideas in a different way.

[Guest Sassquatch]

Goodear and I must have been separated at birth.

 

 

Goodear pretty much summed up everything that was wrong with Nova's character and why she will hopefully never be used again in any way in an X-Men book.

 

"Morrison really isn't doing anything new, just presenting old ideas in a different way."

 

- Goodear

 

 

And so are 2/3's of today's Marvel writers.

 

"Same old crap, just a different color."

[Guest pinnacleofallthingsmanly]

The artwork from new X-Men looked like the artwork from JLA: Earth 2. Was it done by the same guy?

[Guest Sassquatch]

You are right in thinking that pinnacle.

 

The artist in question is former Authority artist (and current on and off again New X-Men artist) Frank Quietly.

 

Quietly and Morrison did do JLA: Earth 2 so they were not strangers when they joined up on New X-Men.