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Underground > Comic Books >

New X-Men #151 (Spoilers...WTF!?)

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Matthew Fluxington

20:10 / 29.11.03

I am so weak! I bought that issue of Wizard today, even though a big part of me didn't quite want to.

It didn't give away very much about how 150 ends, so I'm okay. I was kinda nervous.

Anyway, I'm not sure if I'm quite into it yet. I wonder if I'm missing some crucial stuff from 150, or if I just need to get my head into this story. I'm not sure how to intepret this story without the previous issue.

That may be the "Beast" but I really don't think it's Henry McCoy. I'm curious about how this gets resolved.

I'm glad that Scott and Emma are in this story, and I hope that future writers keep them together, as Grant hopes.

Love the humor in this ish. "Bad News Cassie"

See, I just think of that as Logan taking her name very literally, as maybe we should too. I've been thinking for a while now about what things Cassandra said earlier in the run which may be more than what we could have expected.

14:05 / 30.11.03

Wonder if Fantomex has become this Apollyn the Destroyer character?

Having flicked through the run I can't see any sign of Beast being the host of Apocalypse. Perhaps this happens in 150, or is revealed in Here Comes Tomorrow? Makes sense that Apocalypse would use the foremost expert on mutant genetics - who discovers the human extinction gene - as his new host though. Maybe it's all been widely hinted in the subplots and I'm missing something obvious.

On a second reading the Cuckoos do seem older. I wonder why no one appears to have aged much.

Matthew Fluxington

17:45 / 30.11.03

I can't imagine that the insecure, neurotic and utterly sympathetic Henry McCoy that we've known through this run has been up to no good. I think that this Beast Of Revelations may be connected to Henry (or may even be a future version of him), but it is unlikely that ol' Hank has been a secret bad guy. And there's no good reason for it to be that way - Grant's already played the "X-Men is secretly a bad guy" card, and it would tarnish all of the good Grant has accomplished in fleshing out Henry as a character.

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

18:26 / 30.11.03

Also, whoever the Beast is, if he can make Crawlers, he can easily alter his own DNA to look like Hank just for a larf.

Matthew Fluxington

18:44 / 30.11.03

Well, that one guy says something like "The Beast knows the remnants of the Xavier school like the back of his hand," so there is the implication that this is indeed a future version of Henry McCoy, but it could just be misdirection.

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

18:47 / 30.11.03

I felt I had to buy this as well. If anything, it's made me more intrigued to see exactly what happens in #150 though.

Still, I've got a couple problems with the art. I mean, sure, the style seems kinda fitting for the future somehow. I don't mind that, but a couple of the page compositions really get on my nerves. There seems to be a habit of giant panels for poses, and then teeny little panels that are supposed to depict all the action.

Case in point is the last page: Start with a massive panel showing Emma (and seriously, wouldn't even she do her coat up on what looks like a windy Autumn evening? Still, I don't even mind that) behind Scott. Fair enough. I think this panel has the least dialogue on the page (I realise it's a "reveal" of Emma, but I don't think that warrants this). My main problem is that that panel takes up so much room... by the time we get to the last one - there's hardly any space left! This is the last page of the issue - and I really feel the cliff hanger should be given more room. All we get is this little silohette! It just seems very lazy, and kinda amateur-ish I guess, to not think about that first.

I mean, you could cut that first panel in half, and it would still read ok, and free up about a third of the page! So yeah, I have a couple issues with the art, and these problems seem to crop up a little. It just doesn't seem to be designed to flow very nicely, and thus what should be a real moment at the end of the ish - falls a little flat for me. I don't mind the style as a whole though, the dramatic change seems fitting for the future. An 80s future.

But still, an intriguing issue. Nice how it works as a preview to #150 as well. Look foward to working out what's actually going on! Also: the beak in this ish? Does he look anything like the beak we've seen in the preview images? I love the "history" of Beak that Morrisson tells us in the interview.

18:51 / 30.11.03

I like the idea of the Beast being the big bad for Grant's last arc, but something tells me it's not Hank.

That being said, if indeed it is, I actually think it would be in keeping with a major theme from Grant's run (the real enemy is always within), not a rehash. Could serve to give Hank some depth too, seeing as how he's been the most underused of all the core X-Men at Grant's command. And Hank's never really dealt with his dark side before, right? Not like his teammates have.

I love the futuristic sci-fi concepts, the new (interspecies)New X-Men, MegAmerica, TransAtlantis, and all the rest. Best of all, Grant doesn't leave the present behind as he looks to the future. I can't wait to see how it'll all connect.

19:06 / 30.11.03

I broke down and bought it.

I see no reason to think that the "Phoenix Egg" rewrites continuity... but it may yet, so keep talking. Apollyon the Destoryer might just be another random bad guy that occurs in the futureverse.

This all feels very Invisible Kingdom-y and Glitterdamrung. Which makes sense. I think Beast may actually BE the good guy and we just don't know it yet. He's been smart and prescient enough to attack ideology before and now he might be ushering in the final kiss goodnight. There's too much right now to process without more info, but I think we're all just programmed to read Beast's dialogue as Evil Rant™, and the integration as something that we should all aspire to... I mean, the Cool New Character™ "Rover and I" is motivated by revenge, for god's sake. How boring and old-fashioned.

Here's what my intuition's telling me: in 150 Jean hesitates and prevents some colossal Phoenix thing from happening, and the result is a barbelith(I mean egg) hidden on the Moon. This creates a flaw in the world that 150 years in the future, Beast and the Three in One are hip to. Both realize that the Egg has to be cracked, but the super-heroing goodguys think Beast HAS to be a badguy.

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

19:47 / 30.11.03

The beast is clearly diabolicaly evil.

Matthew Fluxington

21:32 / 30.11.03

Um, nevermind that last post. It's getting deleted because there's something very wrong with my brain.

Anyway, I was going through the old issues this morning, and I'm really looking foward to the explanation of exactly who/what Cassandra is, and what her alleged connection to the U-Men was (it was mentioned by Beast in 122, but never mentioned again), and how this connects to Magneto's Xorn scheme and the Weapon Plus program. I have no clue what the connection could be.

Did the rest of you read any of the Wizard issue itself? Ugh. Oh my.

21:59 / 30.11.03

I thought the good being bad here referred to the Sentinels now working with the X-Men. I wonder if the other species fighting for world dominance mentioned by the Beast include the U-Men?

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

22:13 / 30.11.03

Ah, I thought the beak we saw in the previews looked kinda different, but looking back (I didn't have time earlier) I see it's the same guy.

Off topic: I've never really read an issue of Wizard... it's kinda weird. I have a really morbid fascination with it, in fact. I kinda pick it up, but feel guilty for looking at it/reading it. Also: I feel like it is tainting my comic innocence! I mean - the photos of all the top comic creators? Wow, those guys are borecore. That's the only way to describe it. Having said that - it's not as bad as I thought it would be. But also: makes me wish someone could should comics dead so we could resurrect it to be what it should be.

More off topic: (I got someone to read a story from Summer Blonde today, after bugging her all day and her moaning about not liking comics. Eventually I persuaded her... and after she'd read it I asked if she liked it but I could already tell by the smile on her face. Comics should be a force for good.)

22:28 / 30.11.03

A random thought - Beast secondary mutation left him with cloven hooves.

The Beast in the Book of revelations, which sounds like an mix of leopard, bear and lion certainly sounds like Hank. There are three angels in Revellations - I wonder whether there's a link with the Cuckoos.

I'm Rick Jones, bitch

22:41 / 30.11.03

Whore of Babylon = Emma?

23:50 / 30.11.03

Not Emma - JEAN. As The Phoenix, she is revelation/the world's destruction - the Understanding wherein all things are concluded. The Whore of Babylon.

Or maybe I just want her and Logan to finally go at it like wild beasts...

Suedey! SHOT FOR MEAT!

23:56 / 30.11.03

Finally?

10:32 / 01.12.03

What am I talking about - Hank doesn't have cloven hooves, it just looks like he does in his new outfit.

Matthew Fluxington

10:39 / 01.12.03

I think the one thing that mystifies me more than anything else in that issue of Wizard is the worship/praise of Geoff Johns. Huh? Wha?

11:05 / 01.12.03

yeah, and there's nothing funnier or cooler than packing yr mag full of homo gags as well [did like the jimenez gaylactus though]

no ads boys! woo, not read a morrison comic in years where there's been no ads. better that way ida reckon

gotham island fae

23:15 / 01.12.03

Art critique

Silvestri's clarity has gone since the days I remember. The clear lines combined with some stellar colors in the Cyberforce books I glanced at are brilliance bottled compared to what I'm seeing here.

I've learned recently that is largely a cost of Marvel production policies. I've gleaned this assertion from reading about all the crunch-art issues that are a consequence of trying to do a monthly schedule.

But it doesn't change my level of apathy to the visuals of this pseudo-Apocalyptic future. Luckily, "I'm not buying it for the pictures" as much of the market for a vast dearth of the Image work was. And I suppose the visual story-telling done in this issue "doesn't suck", either, to give the artist some recognition. Considering the pacing issue that I'm still formulating my take on aside from, "I LUV GM", the big panel stuff works. As always, final judgement is reserved til far after owning the whole work.

Unless and until someone wants to direct me a to a general comicbook art thread, I will say the following. Neither Silvestri nor Jimenez live in beautiful world, perse. I'm never sure if I'm more bothered by the anarexic arms of Phil's women or the balloons of Marc's. Either way, it's a highly sujective world of aesthetics. Much like most all comic worldz.

Ah, it's feels nice to post when not five drinks down...

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

23:41 / 01.12.03

This is honestly so dang refreshing to read, thread-rot or not. It clued me into what exactly bugs me the most about Jimenez. Those dang arms. I actually like the particalia (word?) of Silvestri the most, which is a totally different appeal than he had when Green was behind the India. Now it's all about those little hairs on the Crawlers' chins and the myriad rays of Optic Blast hitting Rover and I. Very different from the thick style of back in the way back.

gotham island fae

05:39 / 02.12.03

Now, Jimenez does do so many things well that I would never say that his world isn't beautiful. I just am glad that Angel ain't taken that jacket off yet. Once she does that glorious pooch should be there and I don't know many artists that could do that exact.

[Yes, this is a tiny comment on the worse-than-Oprah, back-n-forth that our girl, Angel has gone through with our various artists and my preference for the sexiest.]

"See me for what I am, OK?"

22:46 / 04.12.03

Now, I've not read 151 (I refuse. Until tomorrow, when I'll nip out and buy Wizard), but a quick note on the Ernst/Cassandra thang:

someone mentioned that Cassie is now head of the Institute?
"Little Ernst...she needed someone to be reponsible for." What? Like a school full of people?

Now as I say, I've not read it and may be wildly off-base, but it was a random thought that occurred.

01:27 / 05.12.03

If the Lith-Collective idea about Ernst being Cassie pans out, that statement from Xorn takes on a lot more significance for me - Cassandra, as the ultimate violent child was re-educated through Emma's program and by Xorn - so theoretically she needed to learn responsibility for somone else, to grow beyond her sense of self.

So it'd be amusing if Magneto (as Xorn) actually made the biggest steps to rehabilitate the most dangerous mutant on the planet. Fun, if it's true.

02:25 / 05.12.03

I'm just curious about this - why on earth would anyone want to read this issue before issue 150? I know some people like to peek ahead a bit, but...doesn't it fuck things up to read it out of sequence?

03:23 / 05.12.03

Which is why I am wondering what the hell makes Marvel think running a "full issue" preview is a good idea, at any rate? I read u CS, man. It fucks up the flow of the story to know what's coming... the suspence of it all.. but when it is right there, available... it's very tempting too...

05:45 / 05.12.03

Cameron:
It really reads like a completely different story, something wholly other. I held off for a week, but picked it up yesterday.

It really doesn't effect my reading of Planet X - there are two things they mention that might seem spoiler-ish, and one character's appearance that can be construed that way - but we knew all of this already from interviews and preview images.

It's odd skipping an issue in concept, but it seems perfectly natural now, not like reading ahead at all - it's a Bizarro preview. If anything, it really excites me for #150 - more so than I was before reading it.

14:20 / 05.12.03

We're just hungry for more Grant NXM, Cameron -- plus, some of us don't mind being spoiled (I'm one of those fans who wants to read all the spoilers - even though I like to be surprised, if the info. is there and I'm excited about the story, I'm just dying to read it and be spoiled)

Yotsuba & Benjamin!

14:46 / 05.12.03

I had the most fucked up dream last night. I clearly remember nearly all of the pages of some kind of alternate reality New X-Men #154 I read in the dream, drawn by Frank Quitely. It took place almost a thousand years after 151-153, with a new class of students, Xaviers is now a school again, kind of an SVA vibe. It ended with a fight with Beast. I wish I could rememeber more of it, because lucidly I kept telling myself to reread it so I could remember it, and I did reread at least once or twice.

I vividly remember its awesomeness. The best stuff Quitely has ever/never done.

End rot.

Matthew Fluxington

15:34 / 05.12.03

Cameron, I read it because I am weak and impatient.

It really gives almost nothing away about 150, and I'm still as curious/in the dark about what's going to happen as I ever was. Maybe even more so now.

The one thing that sucks for me is that after 150 comes out, it means two months without a new NXM issue because I cheated.

Professor Silly

15:43 / 05.12.03

I just wanted to throw in a thought regarding Jiminez's renderings of female arms. Yes, I think they look thin and very not sculpted...but I am reminded of the full page ads that ran for the last Tomb Raider film. This ad was a photo of what's-her-name...Angelina Jolie or whatever...and I remember commenting at the time on her arms and their lack-of-definition.

Perhaps Jiminez is just deplicting women how those in the limelight look....

14:41 / 07.12.03

Well I didn't read it Cameron. Applaude me. Congratulate me. Send me some art.

Your Kill Bill desktop just dominated me. Raw Domination.
(Post rot be damned)

21:29 / 07.12.03

I wonder if the title of the arc comes from the Monkees' song Look Out (Here Comes Tomorrow) ...

Look out, here comes tomorrow,
That's when I'll have to choose.
How I wish I could borrow,
Someone else's shoes.
Mary, oh what a sweet girl,
Lips like strawberry pie.
Sandra, the long hair and pig tails,
Can't make up my mind.
I see all kinds of sorrow,
Wish I only loved one.
Look out, here comes tomorrow,
Oh how I wish tomorrow would never come
Told them both that I loved them,
Said it, and it was true.
But I can't have both of them
Don't know what to do.
I see all kinds of sorrow,
Wish I only loved one.
Look out, here comes tomorrow,
Oh how I wish tomorrow would never come
I see all kinds of sorrow,
Wish I only loved one.
Look out, here comes tomorrow,
Oh how I wish tomorrow would never come

15:24 / 11.12.03

Does anyone know of the Russian legend of the Firebird? I know people know plenty about Phoenix, but the Russian version is the only legend that makes a big deal out of there being an egg. Anyway, there's this evil sorceror named Kostchei (sp?) and he's got a princess kept in a castle. Turns out he's foiled time and time again by a kid who made friends with the Firebird. Finally, the wizard gets pissed and the Firebird shows up and in true fairytale dues ex machina style, tells the kid that the secret of Kostchei's immortality. Apparently, the Wizard keeps his soul inside of the Firebird's egg, which is still inside the Firebird(it's big and gold and thus can't be laid properly). So the kid has to slice through the Firebird to break the egg and kill Kostchei. Then the kid and the princess run off happily ever after...

Normal mutants are alive one hundred and fifty years in the future, what's keeping them alive? Does the egg contain death?

15:47 / 11.12.03

Interesting, that does seem close to the set up here. Anyway, I wonder if the plane Jean creates from Asteroid M in NXM150 (see previews) becomes her egg. It seems to be made of the same material.

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