Uncanny X-Men #508
W: Matt Fraction
P: Greg Land
I: Jay Leisten
C: Justin Ponsor
Mighty Avengers #24
W: Dan Slott
P: Rafa Sandoval
I: Roger Martinez
C: John Rauch
I've always been a big fan of the X-Men, originally from the 90's animated series and then the films, and some of my favourite comics characters are X-Men and some of my favourite story lines. On the other hand, I've never really had any interest in the Avengers. I like that the X-Men are always a team, and have to be because of their various powers, whereas the Avengers are superheroes in their right. The X-Men also have to deal with being hated and feared while still trying to be heroes.
I'm naturally therefore more interested in what's going on in the X-books than in the Avengers titles, but buying Uncanny X-Men #508 last week led me to begin to reconsider. This issue is the start of a story arc involving the Red Queen and her plans against the X-Men. However, this issue left me wondering what the hell is going on, rather than anticipating what will happen next.
It seems Psylocke is coming back, but while I think she can be an interesting character, her back story really doesn't make much sense. I know that she swapped bodies at some point, but is this Kwannon her original body? And where did Red Queen get Psylocke's current body from, seeing as she's been reality-hopping with the Exiles? None of this is given any explanation and I can't say I'm too bothered about trying to work it all out.
The secondary strands in this issue are not given enough space, so it is hard to tell whether they will become interesting in future.
One thing I did like is the little character intro boxes, particularly "Logan - Wolverine: Healing Factor. Claws. Hirsute." though of course Wolverine needs no introduction.
I've heard a lot of criticism of Greg Land's art, specifically about it being photo-referenced. Though that didn't really strike me that much, I just didn't like the art in general in this issue, which doesn't help my disinterest in this arc.
C - I very much doubt I will buy the rest of this arc, maybe I will try Uncanny again with the Utopia crossover
On the other hand is Mighty Avengers #24. I decided to try this series this week as it sounded good, part of Dark Reign but not too focused on it like Dark Avengers, which doesn't really seem for me. This was not a team, concept or story I had a previous interest in, so I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed reading it.
Hank Pym's team went hopping around the world fighting huge monsters and subterranean invasions, putting a spanner in Norman Osborn's nefarious scheme and threatening the credibility of his official Avengers. Loki's duplicity and meddling is brilliant to see, particularly the suggestion to hold meetings via Emma Frost's telepathy, with Osborn's facade briefly slipping.
The art is also very good, I much preferred it Greg Land's work in Uncanny, so Mighty Avengers #24 wins on both story and art.
A - I will collect Mighty Avengers from now on, it taking the place I had intended for Uncanny X-Men.
The most important difference between these two issues was that while Uncanny X-Men #508 didn't leave me with much interest in the rest of the story arc or the series in general, Mighty Avengers #24 did, and I'm looking forward to following the Mighty Avengers team for the near future.
No comments:
Post a Comment