Extraordinary X-Men #17-19: IVX
So that’s that, then. The Terrigen cloud is done with, and the attempt with shoehorning the Inhumans into the mutants’ role seems to have run its course. There are still Inhumans titles to come in 2017, but they won’t be squatting in the X-Men’s spot. This is all for the best. It was driven by considerations of corporate synergy more than anything else, and placed the Inhumans and the X-Men alike in roles that did no favours to either, not least because it sent the X-Men back to the “no more mutants” set-up which had only just been resolved.
Now, as for how we get to this eminently desirable outcome, well, that’s the IVX crossover, and in particular the IVX miniseries. And we’ll get to that. Oh, we’ll get to that.
But first, I’ll finish up the tie-in issues from the core titles. Just like All-New and Uncanny, Extraordinary X-Men finds itself working in the margins of a story being told elsewhere, and offers three essentially unrelated spotlight issues. Yes, sure, they’re related by using the IVX crossover as backdrop, but that’s window dressing – it’s other stories that are really being advanced here. It’s a choppy way of doing things and a messy compromise, but while none of these stories could be called a home run, they do have things going for them.
Charts – 3 March 2017
Okay… so, I was planning to review the Extraordinary X-Men tie-in issues of Inhumans vs X-Men last week, but with one thing or another I haven’t got to that yet. So we’d best do the chart post before it gets completely out of date. Reviews soon.
1. Ed Sheeran – “Shape Of You”
Eight weeks. Since the previous number one, “Rockabye”, also managed eight (nine, in fact), this matches the all-time record for chart slowness. We haven’t had two eight-week number ones in a row since the 50s, which is practically chart prehistory.
Charts – 24 February 2017
By today’s standards, it’s a busy week!
1. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
That’s seven weeks. This seems like a good time to remind you that the previous number one was “Rockabye” by Clean Bandit, which lasted nine. Anyway, it’s been seven weeks, so it feels like time for another single from the album…
2. Ed Sheeran – “How Would You Feel (Paean)”
Uncanny X-Men #16-18: Inhumans vs X-Men
So, more tie-in issues, then. I’ve done All-New, I’ve still got Extraordinary to go after this. That’s a lot of Inhumans vs X-Men. And what could be more exciting than a lot of Inhumans vs X-Men?
But of course, this is a Marvel crossover in 2016/7, which means it’s not as if these stories actually serve to answer the wider plot. The now-standard crossover format is to have the entire story confined in a miniseries, and for the tie-ins to be stories written in the margins of that plot. That’s what we have here.
Charts – 17 February 2017
This is a gloriously uneventful chart, so let’s bang through it.
1. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
That’s six weeks, though with the rest of the chart pretty much dead, it’s not exactly a surprise. The logjam in the top 2 is broken, at least, as “Castle on the Hill” finally drops to 3, with “Human” by Rag’N’Bone Man returning to number 2. That’s thanks to the release of the parent album. But wait – Ed Sheeran has just released another single! So he could be at the top for some time to come, in one form or another.
5. Zayn & Taylor Swift – “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades)”
Up four.
7. Katy Perry featuring Skip Marley – “Chained to the Rhythm”
Charts – 10 February 2017
Not much happening, but let’s run through it.
1. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
You amaze me. That’s five weeks, and “Castle on the Hill” remains at number 2. This is a new record for the longest run at numbers 1 and 2 for a single artist… but it’s one of those records which is going to be broken more routinely as the digital era allows for multiple tracks to be available at once, and as the charts slow down. The previous record holder was Justin Bieber, who managed four straight weeks at the tail end of 2015 (and was only stopped by Christmas); before that, the record had been stuck at three since the Beatles.
8. Stormzy – “Big For Your Boots”
All-New X-Men #1.MU
Completism ahoy!
All-New X-Men #1.MU is a one-shot tying in to the Monsters Unleashed crossover, because where would we be if All-New X-Men didn’t tie in to two crossovers in one week? I haven’t been reading Monsters Unleashed, you’ll be astonished to learn, but according to the recap page the high concept is that giant monsters are falling from the sky and people have to fight them.
Really. That’s the hook. There are giant monsters. People have to fight them.
All-New X-Men #17-18: Inhumans vs X-Men
The crossover is upon us. All-New X-Men has two issues tying in to Inhumans vs X-Men, a crossover which is welcome only in the sense that it might finally draw a line under a direction that didn’t work at all. It’s not the sort of thing that All-New X-Men, a book about teenagers on an endless road trip in a magic bus, particularly lends itself to.
But the biggest problems here stem, not surprisingly, from the fact that Inhumans vs X-Men itself is just a dud premise. I’ve been through this before, but let’s recap briefly. The story is driven by the Terrigen clouds which are floating around the world empowering latent Inhumans and killing mutants. The X-Men, having bent over backwards to try to find some other way of solving the problem, have now exhausted their options and are getting rid of the cloud. This, apparently, is supposed to be some sort of moral dilemma.
Charts – 3 February 2017
Hey, we did a podcast, and it’s one post down! Meanwhile, it’s Dua Lipa Week on the UK top 40.
1. Ed Sheeran – “Shape of You”
Fourth week, and “Castle on the Hill” is still at number 2. Nothing else is particularly close, so this could last a while yet. The album “x” rebounds to number 4, and “+” is back up to 21, because people really really like Ed Sheeran. Maybe he’s an oasis of calm in uncertain times. (more…)
House to Astonish Episode 152
Hot on the heels of our chat with Mike Quackenbush, we’re back with another regular House to Astonish, talking about the New York Times dropping its comics bestseller charts, the lack of an Image Expo in 2017, December’s sales estimates, the retirement of Bernie Wrightson, the relaunching of Rocket Raccoon, Valiant’s upcoming Secret Weapons miniseries and the casting of Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger and Runaways TV series. We’ve also got reviews of Bullseye and The Spirit: The Corpse Makers, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is a poor workman. All this plus the re-dubbed American House to Astonish, Scott Lobdell killing and eating a homeless person and a potter in a Jacobean tragedy.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, either in the comments below, via Twitter, by email or on our Facebook fan page. And hey, it’s February, the month of love – and you know what else we love? How good the t-shirts from our Redbubble store look on you!
