My NYCC Experience

On my second day of New York Comic Con, I headed straight to the Empire Stage for my first really big panel: Marvel’s Amazing X-Men & the Marvel Universe.

Ushered into the room, I found myself surprised by the sheer scope of it. None of the other panels had warranted much more than a large classroom, this was more like a well-funded lecture hall. As we sat down a series of screens announcing the day’s panels sprung to life and subjected us to a loop of one of the most life-draining advertisements I’ve had the displeasure to view. I won’t go into the specifics too much, but, as the panel was sponsored by a certain drink company, we had to see their latest attempt at uncomfortable pandering: a lengthy commercial advertizing their “big cans”.

Amidst this sea of fandom, it was both uncomfortable and disheartening to see such corporate schlock on the screens. I couldn’t help wonder if this was just what they thought was funny or if it was trying to appeal to the con-going community specifically. If it was the later, I’m deeply saddened to know that this is what companies think of us, but I’m happy to say that, for the most part, there was universal mockery and scorn for the ad.

Thankfully, that only lasted a few minutes, and soon Marvel Senior Editor, Nick Lowe, took the stage to introduce our panelists. Though the architects of the current X-Men line, Jason Aaron and Brian Michael Bendis, were not in attendance, it was still quite impressive. The panel featured Gerry Duggan, the co-writer of Deadpool; Marjorie Liu, an acclaimed novelist who is just ending her run on Astonishing X-Men; Brian Wood, the writer of Marvel’s new X-Men; Dennis Hopeless, the aptly named scribe of Cable and X-Force and Avengers Arena; Charles Soule, the man behind Thunderbolts; Simon Spurrier, who writes X-Men: Legacy; and Peter David, who is finishing his lengthy run on X-Factor. The panel also included three editors: Jeanine Schafer, Jordan D. White, and Daniel Ketchem.

Uncanny X-Force #5.1 – Review

by Rick Remender (writer), Rafael Albuquerque (art), Dean White (colors), and Cory Petit (letters)

The Story: X-Force races to stop Lady Deathstrike and the Reavers from destroying Utopia.

Review: Out of all the .1  issues thus far, Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force may very well have come the closest to accomplishing what the .1 initiative is meant to.  It provides a perfectly accurate representation of what readers can expect from the series month in and month out in both tone and narrative.

As such, this is a brutal comic book.  It pulls no punches and it’s violence and gore are uncompromising, but never remotely close to exaggerated or slapstick.  Instead, it’s an X-Men comic of gritty realism and it feels like X-Men MAX, a MAX title without swearing, essentially.  The book thus carries a harsh and dark tone that is as alluring as ever.

This month, Remender does his best character work on Wolverine.  He manages to accomplish that fine balance of making it clear that Logan is an intelligent and well-read guy, while also maintaining that gruff, beer-swilling surface demeanor.  It’s always a tough job for any writer tackling the character, but Remender definitely succeeds.  Moreover, he gives some wince-inducing narration from Wolverine as well.

As far as villains go, Lady Deathstrike gives a solid performance.  She’s as crazed and ruthless as ever but, more than that, thanks to Wolverine, Remender makes her look as legitimate as possible.  Rafael Albuquerque’s depiction of her is also solid, reminding me quite a bit of the American vampires of that title.

There are problems though.  Psylocke’s fretting and navel-gazing over whether she enjoys killing her enemies too much is, at this point, a fairly tired internal struggle for comics in general and it’s one we’ve seen way too many times, with Remender not adding anything new to it.  In fact, the whole thing makes Betsy even come across a tad melodramatic.

Worse still, this whole inner turmoil spirals out of Remender’s use of X-continuity relating to Betsy and the Reavers.  Especially for a .1 issue, it was surprising to see Remender lean so heavily on X-Men continuity, particularly that which lies outside of his own series.  Uncanny X-Force has, to me, been particularly strong due to its independence so it’s a weird choice by Remender, particularly given that this issue is meant to bring in new readers.

Uncanny X-Men #508 – Review

By Matt Fraction (Writer), Greg Land (Pencils), Jay Leisten (Inks), and Justin Ponsor (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: It seems like nearly every month I wonder why I continue to purchase Uncanny X-Men. It’s as if I face the same irritations every time I read an issue. The story threads are too chopped up, the artwork is in a divisive style, and the arcs as a whole feel somewhat scattershot. While I don’t find the series to be bad or anything, I’ll be the first to admit that there are better comics I could be spending my money on.

The Story: Madelyn Pryor, Cyclops’ former lover, is back and looking to make good use of a captured “X” character. With the help of Spiral, Chimera, and Lady Deathstrike, she raids a cemetery to get just the body she needs. Meanwhile, Beast introduces the final member of his science team and lays out the current situation of mutantkind. Also, Wolverine does some recruiting and Emma attempts to teach the recently rescued Russian women.

What’s Good: You have to give Matt Fraction credit for being able to successfully cram so much of the “X” universe into one issue without too much confusion. He makes good use of the powers, personalities, and storylines that make up the mutant ‘verse and the series is all the better for it. Even those unfamiliar with the characters (or confused by Greg Land’s artwork) will feel sufficiently in the loop thanks to Fraction’s clever (occasionally annoying) information boxes. I mention that because Uncannny X-Men #508 is definitely juggling a whole hell of a lot at once….

What’s Not So Good: …And, unfortunately, the entire issue suffers because of it. Quite frankly, the whole thing is just incredibly frustrating to read and look at. That said, in truth, I like the storylines in play for the most part. What I don’t like is the way they are being chopped up into tiny little pieces that rarely feel satisfying. While the latest Uncanny moves plot threads forward more successfully than some of the previous issues, every one of them still feels incredibly stunted when left dangling for next month. In other words, from a story perspective I was left wanting more, but more because things felt incomplete and unsatisfying as opposed to them being genuinely compelling. Allow me to share an example…

During one scene, Wolverine learns of something over the phone and reacts by yelling out and unsheathing his claws. The next time we see Wolvie, he’s totally cool with everything and busy doing some recruiting for the team. Now what bothers me is that there was absolutely zero explanation about (or even mention of) his outburst at any other time in the issue. While it’s easy to draw a conclusion to what caused his reaction, there is no reason given in the book for why the reaction was warranted. I presume it is being left for next month, but for the time being I have to react with a big old “WTF?”

Want to know something else that is not so good? The artwork. While I think Uncanny is one of the better fits for Greg Land’s style considering how “talky” it can be, it would be nice to see the work manage to keep things consistent or appropriately detailed for more than a few pages at a time. The inks and colors do little to help matters either, as I think they definitely contribute to the consistency and detailing problems.

Conclusion: Uncanny X-Men #508 scores points for personality and effort, but ultimately winds up being far more frustrating than fun.

Grade: C-

-Kyle Posluszny