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Underground > Comic Books >

The Brubaker / Carey X-MEN

21:18 / 13.07.06

Since there was a designated thread for "Milligan's X-Men," and the "Geeky X-Men Thread" is more wide-ranging, I figure we might need a topic specific to the 953rd "new era" of the X-Men titles.

Snark aside, this is looking solid so far -- Carey's first issue of X-MEN (#188) is particularly impressive. It's tight, it's got strong dialogue, he does justice to all the characters (even Rogue, who's virtually impossible to write these days), and there's an honest-to-God plot in there. Bachalo also turns in his cleanest, strongest work in... well, years, honestly.

I'm less excited about Brubaker's UNCANNY, if only because the X-Men in space never, ever, ever works for me, but Warpath should be a fun addition to the team -- it warms my heart to see the "youngsters" I grew up reading about out graduating into the main books. (Gasp! Time passing in a mainstream superhero comic?)

And hurray for the biweekly start, which gives you a good feel for both teams without too much time invested...

Thoughts?

the credible hulk

01:17 / 14.07.06

I read an interview with Carey, yesterday, where he talked a lot about how he intends to do some interesting things with powers, specifically Iceman's powers.

I can't wait to see some of the stuff that's been hinted at get used. Supposedly, he's got the potential to be the most powerful member of the team, but it's squandered by writers.

And, c'mon, Iceman's my childhood fave, so I've still got a soft spot for him, even after a decade or more of awful, whiny-dude writing.

09:17 / 14.07.06

Bachalo, you say?

Damn, will have to take a look at that.

11:18 / 14.07.06

This is not the first time writers have stated that about Iceman. He seems to "reach his full potential" every few years, and then drop down into the midrange. (the last time was X-Men Forever, I think)

Matthew Fluxington

22:19 / 15.07.06

I am soooo impressed by Carey's X-Men -- if they keep it up, it will DEFINITELY be the best X-Men comic being published. He definitely seems invested in moving things forward and reinvigorating some characters who have been stuck in ruts, and I think he's just doing it solid. It's definitely a good call for the X-office to re-energize and re-focus more X-characters than who were in the Morrison and Whedon casts.

The Brubaker book seems like it will be alright - Warpath seems like he will be the breakout character, and I think Brubaker has a good handle on Rachel. There's even a chance that Havok may be written well for the first time since 1989. Best of all, though, is the promise of redemption for Charles Xavier, who has been dragged through the mud waaaaay too much in recent years and is in desperately in need of being made a heroic, inspiring figure again.

22:27 / 15.07.06

Has Warpath uttered anything about 'pale eyes' or being a 'brave' yet? I know it sounds paranoid, but it's comics, and there's not exactly a great track record here. Anticipatory whiffs of warpaint can already detected, but I want to believe they're imaginary and this'll actually turn out well.

22:57 / 15.07.06

Nah, he's playing the "badass outsider" not the "cliched Indian".

In fact, given his new costume design, (and reliance on knives), I wonder if Bru chose him to replace Wolverine....

Matthew Fluxington

19:03 / 16.07.06

Well, yeah, Warpath and Sabretooth are both playing the Wolverine role on their respective rosters, which is great because in different ways, they get more to the core of what made Wolverine so popular in the first place rather than the "respected elder statesman" role he's been in over the years, or worse, when writers write him as a commentary on his own popularity in the comics world.

19:07 / 16.07.06

In fact, given his new costume design, (and reliance on knives)

Aren't they throwing axes? Tomahawks, even?

20:07 / 16.07.06

Nah, can't find my copy right now, but I'm sure they're vibranium knives - a gift from Storm, via the Black Panther, one would imagine.

Matthew Fluxington

20:27 / 16.07.06

Not imagine - they explain that they were gifts from Storm in the text of the issue. I wonder what everyone else got -- I mean, are Storm and Warpath even friends? Maybe she just sent over a big crate of vibranium knives and everyone took a couple each.

20:49 / 16.07.06

Matthew, I meant I imagine they've come via T'Challa because they're made of Vibranium, which comes from his country, Wakanda. Like most people, however, I've not been reading about 'the wedding of the century' and have no idea if anyone else got special gifts from the couple.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

04:58 / 17.07.06

Looking forward Northstar and Aurora rocking the house, especially with Bachalo on pencils and the off chance that Jean-Paul's allowed to have something approaching a full-fledged personality.

And I'm still damned incredulous that somebody made me like reading about Rogue. I read up her wikipedia entry and her whole history sounds like a mess! But at least I know now that she's got Sunfire's powers rather than Ms. Marvel's, permanent-like. That came a bit out of left field.

14:24 / 17.07.06

I like to think everybody else took the cool vibranium stuff first -- cookie-cutters, waffle irons, a lovely vibranium bar set -- and Warpath just got stuck with the boring old knives. That's really why he's so sullen.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

15:11 / 17.07.06

"Profethor Eckth! Profethor Eckth! Why doeth Kurt get the vibranium napkin ringth? I wanted them! I wanted them!"

15:50 / 17.07.06

I mean, are Storm and Warpath even friends?

A million totally fake dollars to the first person to post a frame of any comic with Warpath and Storm together.

Huge uber-group shots do not count.

16:24 / 17.07.06

I can't find a pic, but she was prolly pals with his brother and that. Oh, and X-Force hung out at the mansion after 'The X-Cutioner's Song' for like a day or so.

19:42 / 17.07.06

I wouldn't mind if some writer decided to retcon in a big "Storm and Warpath were total fuckbuddies" subplot, that started when X-Force was bunking at the mansion and Storm needed to get over Forge. It'd be a fun Mrs. Robinson scenario, y'know?

20:24 / 17.07.06

Y'know, rather than have every black character have to hook up with every other black character... it'd be kinda funny if Storm was just slowly working her way through every Native character in the Marvel Universe. Dani Moonstar's still around, and Claremont likes to write her and Storm, so...

Makes more sense than her marrying the Black Panther. Okeh, it makes less sense, but at least the racial objectification is right out front.

And has an excuse for Polaris coming back been plugged into place, yet?

20:44 / 17.07.06

What do you mean by excuse, DD? She pissed off to Egypt at the end of Milligan's run, having sort of regained her mutant powers due to Apocalypse turning her into a horseman, and is found there at start of Bru's. Pretty clear, I'd think.

On the race tip, though, the %best% one is that Australian aboriginal Gateway is African-American Bishop's grandfather. Because, well. All black mutants are related.

21:56 / 17.07.06

I haven't had a chance to check out the new issue, in full, yet, hence the question about Polaris' return. If she's just back because they went and found her, that's fair enough. Odd, but fair.

15:49 / 18.07.06

On the Polaris thing -- the timing is a little odd, yeah (especially since I read the two relevant issues back-to-back, having not been into the store for a while), and there's a big shift in character motivation (End of Milligan's run: "I have to be away from you people. Especially you, Alex." Start of Brubaker's run: "Alex! Thank God you're here!"), but it basically is just "They went and found her," yes.

Matthew Fluxington

14:56 / 22.07.06

At this point, Lorna has been characterized so many times, and so many times over as being kinda insane, that I think you can get away with any abrupt shift in motivation fairly easily. I mean, it's not so hard to imagine that she kinda changed her mind after being hounded by those anti-Apocalypse culters for a while.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

23:33 / 26.07.06

#189 came out today, lovely in my hands, although Bachalo has a bit of a spotty problem vis-a-vis how he draws Aurora and Northstar.

The pacing's problemmatic, too many blank-slate villains been introduced with nary a thought to who the hell they are. We've got a couple names and I think the leader is a hydrokinetic, but that's a bit questionable. And the cyberpathic one apparently doesn't know her marks at all, if she thinks that virtual appearance is going to appeal to Northstar...

02:44 / 28.07.06

I found Brube's second issue so devoid of interesting content that I'm swearing off it entirely. Carey's second issue was MUCH better thatn Brube's. I'll stick with it for now.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

18:56 / 30.11.06

Did anyone read the rest of the first Carey/Bachalo arc? I stopped after four issues and then randomly bought the last two yesterday. Mostly because Bachalo = Pretty (usually).

I think they need to give in altogether, stick Emma on Rogue's team, and turn it into the "We used to be Bad Guys!" X-Men.

The story itself? Dull. Confusing. Bachalo's still looking for his old storytelling ability, which seems to have been culled as if it were a mutant power. Carey's vilains, the Children, have questionable motivations and I can't help but be confused - why are they after the X-Men again? Because they're "evolved" super-humans? I'm confused why they're not just considered artificial mutants. I like Sangre's design and powers, especially as a counterpoint to Iceman, but on the whole they don't make a lot of sense as an opponent. There's no oomph; they seem like a retread of the Marauders.

But Rogue is still aces, Iceman's the sex, and I keep forgetting that Cable's even there...

20:09 / 30.11.06

Yeah, I wish I hadn't bothered with Carey X after the fourth one either; the Clay Henry art fill-in certainly hammered home exactly why I'd been buying the book and it wasn't Mike 'the human equivalent of all those Sandman books not written by Gaiman' Carey. But I did - his Rogue was real spunky, and God knows, she's not been since... 'From the Ashes'? So it looked good at the outset. It flattered to deceive, and then the chops just werenae there.

It also seems a bit odd to use the artist on 'Assault on Weapon Plus', nano-sentinels and villains themed just a leetle like the Weapon Plus supersentinels without actually directly acknowledging it, unless that's going to be a big reveal later, but I won't know because I shan't be purchasing Mike Carey comics again anytime soon.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

04:54 / 24.04.07

Is there some function or purpose for the glow-stick tube jutting out of Cable's current costume? I keep getting distracted by the Bachalo and ending up reading the Carey/Bachalo X-Men but his costume is driving me nuts.

And for some reason they think Iceman/Mystique is a good idea, because you certainly wouldn't want to do anything with her queer leanings even when you talk about them directly in the text. I'm forced to reading them as gay best friends just to get over the brainstabby of being hit over the head with their "subconscious" desire for each other.

Imaginary Mongoose Solutions

20:54 / 24.04.07

I don't know, Iceman is one of the most Slashed characters in fanfic (and he used to have a thing for Rogue) Putting him in the unlikely coupling with a bi shapechanger who is his former crush's mom could be interesting.

Personally I just like the banter. I find Carey's X-Men to be the only readable X-book outside of x-factor.

Which is weird for me because I REALLY don't like Carey's Vertigo stuff.

21:14 / 24.04.07

I believe the glowy tubing is part of the tech that let's Cable simulate his old TK.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

03:32 / 25.04.07

Personally I just like the banter. I find Carey's X-Men to be the only readable X-book outside of x-factor...Which is weird for me because I REALLY don't like Carey's Vertigo stuff.

He certainly writes a really solid Rogue, without sliding backward into unbearable Nineties X-Angst -- I don't think I'd ever consider Rogue a character strong enough to work as a team leader or simply to have the iron will she displays in Carey's run; she's calculated without being unemotional. I liked the bit about Cyclops complimenting her on her "improvisation" with taking his and Emma's powers in the first issue. He's also let Cannonball age and I think this is the first time in quite a while that I even remembered that Sam was part of X-Force back in the day -- something I hope Carey plays up more with Cable around. Mystique and Iceman's thing is more annoying for its obviousness -- the tension is overplayed and it feels like Carey's going through the motions a bit with the X-Men Soap Opera elements.

I believe the glowy tubing is part of the tech that let's Cable simulate his old TK.

It's a really painful looking design element; on the front cover it looks more like a scribble someone's put on after the fact rather than something functional which is actually part of his uniform. Cable really need a Project Rooftop makeover to pull him screaming out of the Nineties.

19:10 / 03.11.07

Anyone else read the Messiah Complex one shot? It wasn't earth shattering, but it was a really solid X-Men story, giving the characters a sense of forward motion for the first time in a while. While I enjoyed Whedon's run for its character work, the goofy Ord of Breakworld stuff felt totally disconnected from the core of the X-Men concept. MCX, while not as well written, is more satisfying as an X-Men comic, and at least got me interested in the next issue. Plus, that Simone Bianchi pinup in the back is fantastic.

I got the hardcover of Carey's first thirteen issues out of the library, and maybe it's reading them for free, but I really enjoyed his run. The characters feel real and I get the sense that he's got an overaching narrative plan in place. The stuff with Rogue and Mystique is quite well done, and Bachalo's art is really nice.

That said, I can't stand Humberto Ramos who makes me feel like a dirty old man every time he draws Lady Mastermind. His characters all look like 12 year old girls with huge breast implants.