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Post by Erik-El on Jan 29, 2011 18:35:34 GMT -5
Age of X: Alpha  Written by Mike Carey Art by Mirco Pierfederici, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Carlo Barberi, Walden Wong, Antonio Fabela, Paco Diaz, Matt Milla, Paul Davidson and Brian Reber. Okay, this was quite the little book. It was dark and gritty. Throughout the entire read, I had a sense of hopelessness. There is no way that the mutants were going to win this war. They already lost, they just have not died yet. The campfire stories were well done and the mutant military chatter felt realistic. Scott Summer's story I felt was particularly gruesome. The art jumps around a bit but I did not feel like it pulled me out of the story. Each recap had its own artist. The Guthries had the cleanest and brightest art along with Wolverine's but their story was anything but. I found myself agreeing with Husk rather than Cannonball. Wolverine and Dr. Rao's story was also a favorite for me for obvious reasons. He knew what he was getting out of it but went with it anyway. It was the best way to remove Wolverine from the board in my opinion. That was through and through, a well written but short Wolverine story. We get to see some of my other favorites such as Magneto and Mystique. Other characters that we get to see mostly go unnamed but if you paid attention to the promos, you know most of them already. Jubilee, Hellion, Storm, Chamber, Namor, Gambit, Toad, Phoenix and a few others. I felt like I was given a lot of story, even though it was only little snippets of several stories that matter to the whole. I was given just enough that I was left wanting more. As far as the story is concerned, I loved it. I really cannot wait to see how it will affect the 616 continuity. As far as the art goes, I was not really blown away with any art but I felt that it was all appropriate to the feel and atmosphere of the story. Overall I would give this a 4 out of 5. Great story with the potential to really blow me away if they can keep the momentum going. |
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Post by Supreme Marvel on Jan 29, 2011 18:40:57 GMT -5
The only good thing of this is that it is written by a fellow Scouser,
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Post by Power NeXus on Jan 29, 2011 23:43:39 GMT -5
Question: any idea on the identity of that dude from the promo pics with the flamey black and purple aura?  |
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Post by cm24 on Jan 30, 2011 5:00:01 GMT -5
Read and even though I agree that the story has a lot of potential, I wasn't really impressed by the issue itself. But still a very nice review.
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Post by cm24 on Jan 30, 2011 5:00:35 GMT -5
Power Nexus: Sunspot I think.
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Post by scipioafricanus on Jan 30, 2011 17:51:30 GMT -5
Wolverine will surely reappear. We didn't actually see him die and its unlikely Marvel will do a huge X-Men event without the most popular X-Man.
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Post by Power NeXus on Jan 30, 2011 21:09:34 GMT -5
Power Nexus: Sunspot I think. Is there any mention of Nightcrawler yet? There was nobody else in those promo pics that could have been him... |
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Vance Astro
The Unstoppable Ledgernaut
You Just Mad Cuz i'm Stylin On you!
Posts: 5,732
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Post by Vance Astro on Jan 31, 2011 1:01:39 GMT -5
That cover sucks ass....
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Post by cm24 on Jan 31, 2011 4:51:01 GMT -5
Wolverine will surely reappear. We didn't actually see him die and its unlikely Marvel will do a huge X-Men event without the most popular X-Man. Yeah, I also get the feeling that we will see him again there. |
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Post by cm24 on Jan 31, 2011 4:51:41 GMT -5
Power Nexus: Sunspot I think. Is there any mention of Nightcrawler yet? There was nobody else in those promo pics that could have been him... I don't think I have heard anything about him. |
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Post by Erik-El on Jan 31, 2011 12:33:18 GMT -5
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Post by Erik-El on Jan 31, 2011 12:40:07 GMT -5
I actually never really cared for Chris Bachalo's art.
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Post by Erik-El on Feb 27, 2011 14:24:15 GMT -5
Age of X chapter 1  Mike Carey - Story Clay Mann - Pencils Jay Leisten - Inks Brian Reber - Colors Chapter One starts in the middle of a war. Day 1000 of an ongoing war actually. A war where the last remaining mutants on the planet are forced to fight for their lives. They are forced to kill hundreds of people every day just to live to see their tomorrow. We see so many familiar faces in this issue alone and a few that I personally do not recognize. One mutant I found particularly cool was Remy LeBeau. He has this insanely large rifle that shoots kinetically charged bullets. Even though he did not have a huge part in the first chapter, I thought he was still pretty cool looking. Cyclops, or Basilisk as he is known in the AoX universe, is nothing at all like he is in the 616 universe. He just does not care about anything. Kitty Pryde apparently is a mutant too dangerous and unstable to be in regular population and sits in a prison cell on the island with the other mutants. She somehow escaped and when she returned, she had a camera with some photos on it that are quite shocking to Legacy. It is obvious that whatever is on that camera is going to be a major plot point in the future issues. Some of these mutants have the power to end this war single handedly, so I am curious about the explanations to why they do not. They have Jean, who is Phoenix in this universe, Iceman, Magneto and Rogue. I mention Rogue because she is Legacy in this universe and has absorbed quite a bit of mutants on their deathbeds. Hell, Storm could probably wipe out most of humanity is she wanted to. Plus Legion. David Haller. The guy could easily end the war. Though in this universe, he seems to be still unstable to some degree. Anyway, the story was actually pretty awesome. It is kind of sad actually. Every mutant is jaded and do not seem to have much left. We do get to see Wolverine as well, though not as we would expect. The art was fantastic. I am really liking Clay Mann's work. My one gripe is the parallel between 616 Danger and AoX Danger. My problem is that she would even exist in this universe since she is a product of Shi'ar technology in the 616 universe and created by Magneto here. It just hits on that too convenient note a little with me. She even has the same role as she does in the 616 universe now. Warden of the brig. Overall this is a great issue and it tells a whole lot about a lot of characters in just a standard issue size. I really look forward to the next issue and highly recommend it to be picked up. I give this a 9.5 out of 10. That Danger thing just nagged at me. |
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Post by cm24 on Feb 27, 2011 14:40:19 GMT -5
Nice review. Good to hear that it is good. And why am I not surprised that Wolverine is alive? lol
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Post by cm24 on Feb 27, 2011 17:22:12 GMT -5
Just read it. I liked it. Very nice issue. I also read New Mutants #22 chapter 2. Also good. As for the thing with Danger, can't say it bothered me since I haven't been a reader of X-Men in the past. The art was very good and the story is also very good.
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Post by Erik-El on Feb 27, 2011 17:27:07 GMT -5
I also finished New Mutants 22. I am writing up the review for it now actually.
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Post by cm24 on Feb 27, 2011 17:39:24 GMT -5
Looking forward to it.
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Post by Erik-El on Feb 27, 2011 21:07:31 GMT -5
Age of X chapter 2  Mike Carey - Story Steve Kurth - Pencils Allen Martinez - Inks Brian Reber - Colors This issue was most certainly Lecacy (A.K.A. Rogue) focused. It still had a few side scenes of other characters though. We see Jubilee and Chamber, Basilisk (Cyclops) and his wife Frenzy. In fact, Basilisk even has a really confusing short story to tell about his dog tag collecting. I hope they actually clear that up soon. I have a theory about it but I will address that after I publish the review. Magneto seems to be extremely young for a man who is approximately 77 years old but that could be explained away as mutants age better than us X-geneless meatbags. The camera that Kitty brought back with her is still a mystery. Legacy tried to get some answers for it but only ended up with more questions. So she goes directly to the source, Kitty. Apparently this is a big no-no for Magneto though and she ends up on the run. Which makes me wonder, what is Magneto hiding? Legacy is considered a threat and Danger engages her with force and Legacy stumbles into a room with a very special prisoner. I will give you a hint: He is about as old as Magneto and he aint got no hair! So Legacy feels compelled to touch him for some reason and she absorbs his power, nearly wiping out all the mutants on the island with the sudden power surge. I wonder if that is because she does not know how to control her power or if something is wrong with Xavier. Anyway, she goes on the run and Magneto sends a squad of mutants to get her back. The art was good but not really that good this time around. Kurth is a decent artist but I felt like everyone was just a little off in appearance. The story was great. Magneto very likely is doing something that all the mutants would not agree with. I am still excited to see the next issue. Things are just getting fired up. Overall I give this an 8 out of 10 for art issues. |
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Post by cm24 on Feb 28, 2011 4:22:24 GMT -5
Pretty much agree with what you said Erik. I also have a theory about the dog tag thing but it may be a bit silly lol And I haven't thought that about Magneto.
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