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As many of you know for some reason Marvel has more cheap trades at used
book stores, comic shows and comic book stores than DC does. Not only that
but - love'em or hate'em - in the Marvel Universe mutants are everywhere. This
month due to the sheer overwhelming number of mutant books in my trade boxes, we
bring you Mutant Madness.
We interrupted this column for a special announcement:
Judging by the letters I get from the two friends and acquaintances I have
shown this column to, people seem to enjoy this column more when I do a theme.
Now I'm offering you the other readers, all three of you, a chance to
contribute. How does it work? Simple- - go to the Collector Times main page and
hit the email contact information. Leave an email with Sheryl marked 'Send this
to Jess' with the name of a graphic novel or trade. She can forward it along to
me. It is preferable that the trade came out within the last five years and isn't
that expensive. If I don't already own it and I find it cheap - you 'win'.
What do you win, pray tell? Actual 'winner' winners get a good fairly
extensive glance over but otherwise good review of their selection written by
yours truly printed in a future column. 'Loser' winners will receive a rather
thorough trashing of the garbage they told me to read and as an added bonus will
also receive my eternal condemnation. Can you think of a better prize than
that? I didn't think so. I already have three retroactive entries in mind.
(You know who you are.) So face front and hop to it, True Believers.
Remember, Collector Times fans - X-Men: The Manga Vol 2 need not apply. I don't
care how many requests I receive for it, I won't do it. Maybe if you sent a
copy with a $10 bill inside, but other than that, there is no way in hell.
And now - on with the column.
Exiles: The Timebreakers: This volume picks up right where the
disappointing 'Age of Apocalypse' book left off. The Exiles have found The
Timebroker's lair. They see the man in charge. They discover why their
missions have gotten all creepy all of a sudden. It is, in short, a bloody
massacre. It features a crossover of sorts with my favorite Marvel licensed
book that is still somehow part of continuity - Godzilla. By crossover I mean in
the sense that it features Red Ronin a character Marvel created for that
title. So you have mutants running a muck across alternate realities, you have
Mimic fighting for his life, you have giant monsters fighting giant robots and
the big explanation of why the Exiles exist. What more could you possibly
want? Did I mention Deadpool back when he was still funny? Well - he's there
too. At $7.5 I got what I paid for.
X-Men: Sins of the Father: Due to a misprinting on the back of this book
features three issues I already had and three that I didn't. The first story,
with Xavier and Gambit looking for the meaning of a mysterious list and their
ties to Mr. Sinister is a good wrap up to Divided He Stands. But I already
have those issues so they kind of strike against it. The next two issues -
featuring Scott confronting Xavier about the things revealed about the missing
Summers brother and what happened during Messiah Complex were a fairly strong
piece for Scott. 'The Odd Man Out' is a hard set of stories to review. They
were originally written for some X-Men and New Mutants annual or another only
they weren't finished on time. Then they were scheduled to be placed in Marvel
Super Heroes - a title where inventory stories and finished issues for cancelled
books like Speedball, Power Pack and even Mrs. Marvel went to die. In short,
the pieces themselves would be pretty forgettable if they weren't the last
chance to see new Cockrum X-men stories. Most of the positive review I could
give would come from a degree of sentimentality. Like many posthumous work, if
Marvel really thought they were up to Cockrum's regular standards of quality
they would have published them somewhere years ago instead of cashing in on them
after his death. Finally there was the Xavier and Magneto story written by
Stan Lee. Who the hell knew that Stan not only had a sense of humor but was
really good at poking fun of Stan Lee? I sure didn't. Worth it or not?
Simply because I had most of that stuff already and bought it because I thought
it had different issues in it - I'd have to say no.
Wolverine - Worst Day Ever: This book can be broken up in the two sections.
First is Bryan Lysa's prose novella set in Marvel's All Ages universe - told in
as a series of blog entries of a young boy named Eric who has the mutant power
to always be completely unnoticed. He's invisible and inaudible to almost
everyone. It's an intriguing look at mutant powers and being the ultimate
outsider. There are a few of the standard X-Men clichés, but seeing them from
the point of view of a character who is unaware of their meaning almost makes
them seem fresh. This section was well worth the hour or so I spent reading
it. The second section reprints parts of an All Ages verse Power Pack meets
Wolverine story. I love the original Power Pack particularly the
Simonson/Brigman and Simonson/Bogdanove issues. The Power Pack of the 80s and
early 90s worked as well as it did because they used actual Marvel continuity.
It was the first Marvel book one of my friends ever gave me. The new series
does not hold a candle to it. However since a dealer gave me this book for
free because he had so many of them and I bought about six trades from him - I
have to say I got what I paid for with the first story alone. Besides, the
Jack and Franklin meet Young James story was pretty funny.
Exiles: Fantastic Voyages: Yes, many volumes ahead of this one have been
reviewed but I just bought this one a few weeks ago. Overall, I've always
really liked this series. This volume starts with a gimmick that I have
generally grown tired of and never really cared much for to begin with. I am
talking about vampires. I hated most vampire stories before the age of Buffy and
have grown even more tired of them in the years since. What makes this story
very entertaining is that makes Captain America, paragon of the country's
virtue, and turns him into the greatest evil on the planet. It follows all the
beats you expect but is still better than it has a right to be. The stories of
the Exiles mysteriously separated from each other gave some great insight into the
characters - particularly the friendship between Nocturne and Sunfire. The
highlight however is the arc where the Exiles are forced to mentor the Fantastic
Four. Only a mindless Ben Grimm decides it clobberin' time twenty four seven.
Then there is the one issue Dark Mimic epic which is not to be missed for no
other reason than to show that Morph can be something other than a mouth piece
for bad jokes. At $7, I got my money's worth.
X-Men - Legacy: Salvage: This hardcover consists of three stories. First, a
quick one parter where Xavier tries to stop The Juggernaut. It's one of those
stories that attempts to throw an unobservant reader for a loop but the seeds
are there all along. A smart reader, like myself, will see it coming from
almost page one. If it weren't for the quality of the dialogue it's almost like
watching an M. Night Shyamalan movie. Once you're seen one, you know the trick
and can't be fooled again. It's a little jarring to see Charles Xavier acting
like a badass. The second arc with Xavier, Rogue, Gambit and Danger going
through a weird simulation in order to help Rogue control her powers was an
interesting story. It took Xavier into territory we're not used to seeing from
him - a point of total failure. A man force to turn every lesson he's given his
students on redemption toward himself. It was good to see Xavier take some
responsibility for lying to Rogue about her powers and for enslaving Danger.
The final story with Xavier reaching out toward Magneto's Acolytes seemed just
like what it was - they had an issue to fill between the end of the Danger arc
and the start of the next big mini-event. Over all - for $10 for a hardcover, I
got what I paid for.
Magneto Testament: There have been many attempts to tell the history of
Magneto. Never has the story been told this in depth. Only by witnessing his
childhood, almost as a companion at his side, can a portrait of Max Eisenhardt
(aka Erik Lehnsherr) can be drawn that is more clear. He became who he became
not simply out of the idea that it should never happen again but because he
himself was forced participate in the atrocities. He's trying to redeem himself
by trying to prevent the next time and he is sure there will be a next
time. His later actions, even at his most deranged become a lot more
understandable - even justifiable, when taken from that perspective. Is
Magneto a villain or just a well intentioned man, who in wake of one of the
greatest tragedies in human history, lost his way? If any of us discovered we
had the ability to seek vengeance against those who wronged us, would we take
it? How many of us are really that high minded? It also begs the question: if
Magneto's motives are as righteous as he claims, why didn't he get involved in
Yugoslavia or Darfur? In terms of quality, I think it would have packed a
slightly deeper punch if I hadn't read Maus earlier this year. Even without
looking at the bibliography, the influence of Speigelman's masterpiece is
unmistakable. Even so, the Magneto Testament was worth the $10 dollars I paid
for it.
Essential Avengers Vol 6: Why does a book that spends 2/3 of length giving
origins to Mantis, Vision and Kang the Conqueror get coverage in the column
called Mutant Madness? The other third puts the spotlight on Scarlet Witch,
Quicksilver and The Beast. More than that, Wanda Maximoff plays a more than
supporting role in many of The Vision stories to the point where she impacts
scenes she's not even in. The book includes the second of the three of
origins of Wanda and Pietro. In terms of story quality this is much better
than the other Englehart's Avengers volume I reviewed. The only real weak
points were issues co-plotted by Jim Starlin. Most of the
Thanos/Mar'vel/Warlock mythos reads like 70s Kirby on acid. Splitting the
Vision/Mantis origins into four issues was somewhat annoying but by the end it
becomes clear why Englehart structured his stories that way. Again, there are
some issues that feature crossovers that are not included. It finishes off
plots from Marvel Feature but it does not include them. Which is fine because
I don't really care about Ant-Man/Giant-Man/Yellowjacket or whatever he calls
himself this week. It's hard to go wrong with a phonebook - this $7 was worth
it.
Wolverine Classics Vol 1: Wolverine is far from my favorite character. A well
told Wolverine story - at least one without the X-Men or The Avengers - should be
a weird blend of action with the strictly defined morals of a Samurai movie and
the ambiguous moral netherworld of film noir. You need a writer who can write
him as a ferocious animal but also a man of peace. It's a hard balance to
maintain; one that few writers have ever really pulled off. So when the back
cover said it was written by Chris Claremont and set in the fictitious Asian
island nation of Madripoor with Logan operating out of a bar modeled off
Rick's Place from Casablanca, I knew what I was getting in for. This volume
of the series it is not a good starting point for new readers. Claremont is
never one to leave a plot dangling from a past book long enough for another
writer to grab it if he can help it. So he sets out of to resolve and
interweave plots he left hanging from Spider-Woman and The New Mutants. This a
smart move since Wolverine really needs some sort of supporting cast to humanize
him. It is particularly interesting to see Claremont back writing Jessica Drew
considering the directions other writers at Marvel have taken her in the time
between his leaving the book - or even her brief stint over in Uncanny X-Men - and
her joining Logan's supporting cast. Another Claremont favorite, The Silver
Samurai, shows up but in this instance is not quite a villain. There is also
mind control and vampires. Even though it literally breaks a story in half, it
is still a worth while read for six bucks.
Wolverine Classics Vol 2: This book is a rarity for Chris Claremont. It's
really funny. Well - once you get past the vampires. It starts off with a story
that closes off the vampire story from the previous volume. Most trades only
contain five to six issues and thus, as I have commented in the past, might not
be the best format to collect Claremont's work on just about anything. The
second story though, is a laugh riot as Patch - which is what Wolverine calls
himself because the world is supposed to believe he's dead - teams up with Joe
Fixit - which is what Hulk calls himself because the world is supposed to believe
he's dead. While Fixit is not 'Hulk smash' by any means, he is intellectually no
match for Logan. It's fun watching the pompous Fixit be made to look like a
fool. It's even more amusing to see Fixit's reaction to finding out that all the
people in Madripoor who he thinks are evil are the ones he's supposed to be
working for. Then there is Logan's prank on Fixit in the whorehouse. Next
comes a fill in story. The old tradition is that these usually suck eggs.
Here Logan is tracking a bunch of loser mercenaries who murdered their fellow
Americans during an op in Iraq five years prior. This story would be a
forgettable 'Wolverine kills everyone story' save for the fact that it is told
almost entirely from the perspective of the hunted. Only the big moralizing
speech by Logan, which seems oddly out of place given what else we know about
him, weakens an otherwise very strong piece by Peter David. Otherwise a very
good story and it is clear why David was chosen to be Claremont's immediate
successor as the book's regular writer at the start of Wolverine Classics Volume
3. That's right folks, I just gave one of my favorite writers a B-. I've seen
him do better even at that point in time. Finally comes the famous origin of
'The Wolverine/Sabretooth Birthday Surprise' by returning writer Chris
Claremont. It was nice to see Logan actually need support from his supporting
cast rather than having to rescue them from some trap or another. For six
bucks, I got what I paid for.
Ororo: Before the Storm: As a big fan of the Indiana Jones movies I was looking
forward to this old style pulp adventure. If you can see Indiana Jones and
Short Round team up with Belloq when they are hired to recover a lost artifact
then you have a pretty good idea of how Ororo and her friends interact. Only
over time, Ororo (our Indiana Jones stand in) and Nari (our substitute Belloq)
actually become friends. Well - sorta. Even with this being a Marvel All Ages
book the concept had potential. Where it fails is it that it tries to make En
Sabah Nur (aka Apocalypse) and his goons into a kid friendly villains.
Furthermore, future X-Men stories claim that none of the X-Men had ever heard of
him. To makes his inclusion even more bothersome, it has been long established
that Storm's first major foe was The Shadow King - it skirts around this by not
actually having Apocalypse wake up. Storm not remember Apocalypse's true name
is almost excusable since she was ten years old at the time. I don't remember
the names of everyone who beat the crap out me back then. Then again there
were a lot more people after me and I remembered the guys in charge. The
obligatory hieroglyphic prophecy throws in some nice touches with the images of
the 12 and hidden images of Cyclops and Xavier. At $3.5o this trade was just
about what I paid for. It was 50 cents less than I'd find the single issues in
the cheap box. I won't say it was good or bad but I wasn't overcharged.
X-Men: Dream's End: This story itself - concerning a plan by Mystique to
genetically modify the Legacy Virus to affect humans as a way to meddle with
Senator Kelly's presidential bid was, in and of itself, a rather interesting
idea. The execution is a little wobbly. The issues of Uncanny X-Men and X-Men
are a fairly solid. The tie ins just seemed thrown in there. It also contains
an obligatory Christmas special that served as a springboard for Claremont's
'Xtreme X-Men' and the two parter that killed Colossus. (He got better.) The
second part is a heartbreaking reflection on the life of Piotr as viewed by
Kitty Pryde. There is however, a catch. There are two pages where dialogue
repeats from other pages with the dialogue balloons in the weirdest places. In
some places this makes it look like rocks or even Storm's breasts are speaking.
I don't have the original printings of these issues but the original Comicraft
should have been sacked. Since the lettering was done using digital lettering,
thus could theoretically be fixed with a few clicks of a mouse, the reprint
editor should have been sacked. Since neither of those things were done
the head of human resources, who'd be in charge of hiring and firing, at Marvel
Comics should have been sacked. (Enough with The Holy Grail references
already.) Other than those two mistakes, I'd have to say overall this book was
worth my $9.
Mystique: Quiet: Another Collector Times writer recommended this one to me. The
basic concept is simple. Mystique is blackmailed by Charles Xavier to handle
missions not fit for the X-Men. Since Mystique is a genocidal super villain
things obviously go wrong. Now, setting aside just what resounding successes
Xavier's previous attempts at reforming villains like Magneto and Sabretooth
were, the concept could have been really cool. The result is a pretty standard
spy thriller. Only the twists and turns aren't all that exciting. They are so
obvious they can be seen from space. The dialogue is amusing at times but not
enough to keep one interested in the actual story for very long. If hadn't been
for the power outage keeping me from watching 'The Muppet Show' I don't think I
would have finished this one in an hour. Though my over active imagination did
occasionally place Statler and Waldorf just off panel to heckle the story. So
on this one, I have to say 'No, I did not get my seven dollars worth.'
That's about all the time I have for this month. Be here next time when I am
forced to call out: 'Avengers Assemble!'.
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