The X-Universe: Seasons gone and Seasons to come
You are so lucky, not one but two brand new posts in one day. Just when you thoughy this blog was dead. Hardcore fans may not agree with me, but I’ve read bad X-Men, and I’ve read decent X-Men and I can honestly say, their current team of writers is the best the X-World has ever had and on the eve of the Messiah Complex, here’s a small overview of all the titles.
The lead of the pack X-Men (although not featuring the main brass) is penned by Mike Carey (My Faith in Frankie, Hellblazer) and he’s been doing some of his best work on the title. Since M-Day, Cyclopes created a back-up team under Rogue, consisting of Cable. Iceman, Cannonball, Omega Sentinel, Lady Mastermind and Rogue’s mother, Mystique. The twists come sharp and they come deep and now every single member is dead, dying, recovering in the hospital or gone over to the other side (very nice twist supporting the initiation of the Endangered Species storyline). Without a team leader or the team, the only remaining member Iceman asks Cyclops if he’s going to disband the team and the reply he gets is a simple You’re talking as if the team still exists. It was a great team and a great run and it’s sad to see them in the end.
Astonishing X-Men penned by Whedon (do I need to say something here?) is surprisingly completely detached from the rest of the X-World and seems to be traveling in it’s own timeline. The team (Cyclops, Emma Frost, Beast, Kitty, Colossus and Wolverine) seems pretty standard and although the comic is gifted with Whedon’s pen, it’s greatest asset is also it’s most damaging liability. Whedon’s schedule leaves him with nothing more than one issue every three months and that is just too much wait. It’s a pity this wasn’t in the same lineup as the rest of them, I wouldn’t have minded seeing Whedon’s take on the Messiah Complex.
On the other hand, X-Factor is such an unlikely candidate for the X-World, one wonders if they were desperate for titles. Don’t get me wrong Peter David (Hulk) created a brilliant solution for variety in the mutant world. Going more towards mystery and noir than mutant war games, the series follows Madrox and his misfit team of humans, mutants and some people in between as they try to tackle the mysteries surrounding M-Day while taking on other jobs. The series is set in Mutanttown (instead of the academy) and it’s a treat to read. David’s writing is fantastic and the group feels more like family than any X-Team ever has. This is one title I hope doesn’t change ranks after Messiah Complex.
If these writers weren’t enough Brubaker (yes, the writer that made me want to read Catwoman, Iron Fist and Captain America again) takes on Uncanny X-Men, giving the X-Men one of their most interesting run in space, spawning off an excellent limted series (Emperor Vulcan) and a huge lead in into the Messiah Complex. Rather than having a standard team, he does the grownup thing and changes them around every arc, keeping one character constant. Who can blame him, Warpath is Wolverine and PoP combined.
When there are so many good titles led by excellent writers, one has to pick his or her favorite for completely personal reasons. New X-Men centers around the kids that the teams leave behind in the academy when they go off to do their missions, the students, their hopes and dreams, their fears and how it all ends when their killed off. In all honesty, killing long time X-Men is impossible so the burden of death falls on the little ones. Suffer the children and all that, Christopher Yost pens a dark, comedic and thoroughly enjoyable black tale about the kids that get left behind and often killed in violent manners or at least limbs torn apart, tortured etc. You can’t help but fall in love with cast, laugh with them when they go through their training sessions, cry with them when one of them dies and beam with pride as they sit around the campfire, ready to die for each other. They will become extraordinary men and women, and we will see them grow up, That is, if they survive school. I love this title for completely personal reasons, I love it because I love the team and I love it because any one of them could die at any moment. I wish Yost sticks around after the Messiah Complex.
The Messiah Factor
The first mutant birth since M-Day arrives, and the X-Men, the Acolytes, the Purifiers and the Marauders all race to get to him/her first. Some want to destroy the mutant while other’s realize that redemption for their dying species might come in the form of a one savior, one messiah. Teams will change, power will shift and mutants will die (most likely the poor kids) and Marvel promises the X-World will change again.
Tags: Astonishing, Brubaker, Carey, David, Messiah Complex, New X-Men, Uncanny, Whedon, X-Factor, X-Men, X-Titles, Yost
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