The X-Axis – 30 October 2011
Happy Hallowe’en. Never liked the holiday myself, but it’s a wonderfully cheap way of lending spurious topicality to an opening blurb. Insert random pop culture observation about zombies here.
It’s a podcast weekend, and you’ll find the new episode just one post down, with reviews of Incredible Hulk, Spaceman and Dead Man’s Run.
I didn’t get this week’s comics until Saturday, and since I haven’t had time to read most of them, and I’m also running low on time to write about them, I’m just going to stick to this week’s three X-books – which, of course, include the big launch of Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo’s Wolverine & The X-Men.
Astonishing X-Men #43 – But first! Astonishing X-Men is still being published! I know!
This is a fill-in issue before Greg Pak’s run starts in November. Heaven knows we wouldn’t want the X-Men’s D-title to just skip a month. Like it used to do all the time.
It’s written by James Asmus, with four credited artists (the main ones being David Yardin and Gabriel Hernandez Walta). No doubt casting around for some stray plot threads specific to this book, Asmus alights on Danger, who hasn’t had a great deal to do ever since she was brought into the X-Men fold. Since her character arc is meant to be “robot learning to be human”, Asmus plays on that with a “first love” story where she’s suckered into helping out another trapped digital intelligence, who turns out to be the old 80s villain Machinesmith. Said villain is being held prisoner by the Secret Avengers, so we’ve got Emma on one side of the story, reluctantly helping Danger to break in, and the Beast on the other, since he’s a regular in the Avengers’ series.
As a concept for a fill-in issue, that’s perfectly decent. It does result in a version of Danger who’s rather more naive and childlike than usual, but I think that’s fair enough given the direction of her character. It’s also a good use of an existing villain whose gimmick plays nicely against Danger. And I like the way Danger turns a blind eye to all the obvious signs that she’s about to rescue a villain, construing them all as evidence of prejudice against artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the story doesn’t do enough to justify Emma playing along with Danger’s raid, and the script seems to have thrown in some utterly pointless T&A in the first two pages (which Yardin, amusingly, chooses not to play up to).
The art is split between Yardin (and a couple of fill-ins) drawing the real world scenes, and Walta’s rougher style for the virtual reality stuff. Yardin is basically doing superhero house style here, but he does it decently – though at times he seems to struggle to avoid Danger’s unusual design looking silly. She’s a strange looking character, and in order to work, perhaps there needs to be a sense that she’s been welded together from spare parts as some sort of art object. Frankly, a lot of artists seem to have problems with Danger, and I wonder if it’s a design that needs tweaking to work for a broader range of styles.
Walta’s an interesting choice for the digital stuff, since instead of being slick and polished, his art has a rougher, more hand-made feel to it. Oddly, as a contrast with Yardin’s pages, this works rather well, perhaps because there’s a feeling of rough approximation which seems suitable for the “virtual” sequences.
Not an essential issue unless you’re a big fan of Danger, but as fill-in issues go, it’s fine.
Daken: Dark Wolverine #16 – The title page says this is part 1 of “Pride Comes…”, but the reality is that this is a straight continuation of Rob Williams’ Heat storyline. FBI agent Donna Kiel has found the man behind the Heat drug and, well, that hasn’t worked out too well for her. Meanwhile, Daken finds that the drug has messed up his healing factor to the point of no return, so that he’s now more or less an ordinary guy.
I see where Williams is going with this. Daken’s whole thing is that he wants to be in control of his life; that’s the fundamental reason why he wants power and control over others. Before this arc, the series was basically about Daken outwitting and manipulating other people, and generally having things go his way, which was not always especially dramatic. Williams is repositioning Daken, not by making him any less of a sociopath, but by pitting him against a villain who’s outwitted him, blindsided him, and generally run rings around him – thus turning Daken into an underdog, albeit an underdog psychopath. This is all good stuff, both because it gives us a reason to root for Daken, and because it plays off the character’s central obsession.
All that being said, there’s a shift to broad strokes in this issue that feels like it’s come a little out of nowhere. Suddenly we’ve got airstrikes on Daken’s house, a dismantling of his criminal empire (which never really got off the ground in the first place), and a behind-the-scenes villain suddenly showing his hand in a hard-to-miss way. It seems a bit hasty. But there are good sequences in here, such as Daken cutting himself in the hope that his healing factor will come back, or the taunting message that Marcus leaves in his office for Daken to find.
Matteo Buffagni, who previously drew issues #10-12, returns for the new arc. While he’s not quite as polished as some of the artists we’ve had on this book, his work is nice and clear, his characters are generally nice and expressive, and his style fits quite neatly with the other contributors to the overall storyline.
I have reservations about the sudden ramping up of scale, but generally it’s a decent issue.
Wolverine & The X-Men #1 – Because you demanded it: yet another monthly X-Men title! This brings the total to five, or six if you count Ultimate X-Men (which I don’t). Of course, Marvel have sent the message loud and clear that this book and Uncanny are the two that count, and that everything else is essentially completist fodder. The title seems to have been selected as much as anything because Marvel previously did a cartoon series under the same name; fundamentally, this book is about the new school.
For those wanting a definitive list of who’s on what team, there’s a complete list of the faculty and students at the back of the issue (comprising 35 characters in total, so it’s a pretty small school for now). The actual X-Men team operating from the school is Wolverine, Kitty, Beast, Gambit, Rachel, Rogue and Iceman, which is a nice enough range of characters.
I’m sure this first issue will spark arguments about whether enough happens. The plot pretty much comes down to this: it’s the first day of the school year, and a couple of very sceptical (and probably anti-mutant) school inspectors have come round to see whether they should be shutting the place down. They get a tour of the building which takes up literally most of the book, before Kade Kilgore drops by to taunt Wolverine near the end, and then a major villain attacks on the last page.
Is that enough? For me, yes it is – because Aaron and Bachalo are working hard, and largely successfully, to make sure that the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning strikes the right balance between returning the X-Men to their roots, and feeling like something new. Bachalo was a smart choice of artist for the first arc, since it’s important that the school design makes an impact. (This was one of the problems with Utopia, where none of the artists have ever been able to settle on a look for the interiors beyond “bland and utilitarian”.) Bachalo’s design for the building is stark raving mad, a demented fusion of old-school mansion and ludicrous Kirby extensions ploughed right through the middle, but by god, it makes an impact. I can imagine other artists who’ll have to draw the thing looking at that double-page spread and whimpering, and it may turn out to be a visual that doesn’t translate to other styles, but for now, I like the thing.
This being a talky issue, it also plays to Bachalo’s strengths. He can make this stuff visually interesting. The one-panel cutaway to Quentin Quire is a fabulous piece of design. I’m not quite sure why he’s suddenly changed the character design of the Toad, and there’s one moment of action near the end that isn’t really clear until the dialogue explains it, but these are trivial points in an issue which is pretty much a tour de force.
Professor X isn’t in the regular cast, but drops by in the opening pages to lend the place his blessing. This still doesn’t make quite clear what he’s doing after Schism – going into semi-retirement, from the look of it – but it’s nice to have him around, and equally wise to get him out of the way in order to play up the novelty of the new faculty. We’re obviously meant to hate the inspectors – and it’s not exactly subtle – but they do at least get to make some fair points along the way. Without Emma around, are any of these people actually qualified to teach?
Aside from playing the inspectors for laughs, the tour sets up the building, the school system, the roles of the new characters, and a ton of other details that will be useful in issues to come – and they’re promising enough that Aaron can get away with something that’s technically an extended infodump. There’s also some nice misdirection, with foreshadowing of the villain being mistaken by everyone for teething problems with the building. The book has a clear sense of its tone; it’s a playful comic, one that’s willing to embrace the insanity of the school instead of trying to explain it away. If there’s one thing Aaron and Bachalo want us to take away from this book, it’s that it’s going to be fun.
And I’m persuaded. This is a very strong first issue, and I’m really hoping now that they can keep up this standard.
Yes, nothing happens in Wolverine & the X-Men #1, but it’s the right kind of nothing happening. There’s a huge difference between taking an issue to establish in decent depth a location, a cast and the relationships between most involved vs. taking a double-page spread of Spider-Man approaching the Baxter Building, Hawkeye droning endlessly about Daredevil in Bendis-speak, or Cyborg playing high school football for several pages.
By all appearances, Jason Aaron seems to be the increasingly rare writer who understands how to write a satisfying single issue of a comic book, as opposed to filling a page count in order to stretch a single issue story out to six.
Didn’t Bachalo redesign the Toad over a decade ago in Generation X? During Onslaught.
Toad and Mystique had their designs rebooted a bit during X-Men Forever mini-series in the early 2000s to look more like the movie versions… and I just died a little inside for remembering that.
Poor Toad. His character is so little respected, he’s literally spent his last few appearances being insulted by Logan and then being made a janitor. If it weren’t so sad, it would be funny.
My first memory of him was when he was wheeled out at the beginning of Liefeld’s first go at X-Force, and every version of him I’ve discovered since (from both before and after that wafer-thin X-Force appearance) has been radically different from every other version. It’s like writers need some generic henchman so they just throw a guy out there and call him Toad. Some editor in the X-Office needs to assign him to Peter David or Mike Carey for some character rehabilitation.
Do they make it clear that Machinesmith is gay? It’s one of the few things that makes the character interesting.
I enjoyed the issue of New Mutants this week. The “desperate rallying” at the beginning set up a sense of danger, and the solution, though a little rough in execution, was a good fit with the “Fear Itself” theme–with a bit of tweaking, I think it may have been applied to the larger crossover in a way that would be more satisfying than the actual Fear Itself ending.
Bachelo can do some absolutely lovely individual panels, but I think his narrative flow is pretty crap, and he seems to be about 50/50 when it comes to picking the right expression to suit the mood. Not too fussed, though — he’s certainly a step up from Land, and when was the last time he was on a book for more than a 6-issue stretch anyway? Also, Xi’an actually went and got her degree way back in in new New Mutants and Sam has more leadership experience than Kitty and came to the spandex set at about the same time, so I’m a little annoyed about them both being junior staff. Other than that, I think this book was pretty much a perfect breath of fresh air. I’ll be staying with it.
There’s also that “New Toad” character introduced in Morrison’s “New” X-Men #132 as one of the guys mourning Magneto on Genosha. Possibly Bachalo used the wrong reference and based the original Toad on that guy?
Wolverine & the X-men seems off to a promising start. But still, they really need to trim the X-men line down. There are still too many titles.
I’m not sure how I feel about having Prof X pop in every once in a while to offer his blessing/sage advice. I’m more inclined they just write him out for good. I’d say ship him off to hook-up with Lilandra, but, oh well.
The Danger story seems like a promising idea that could have worked under a better writer.
That New Toad was called “Toad in Waiting”. Not sure if he ever popped up again.
Errr… It’d be kinda hard to set Xavier up with Lilandra right now… What with her having been murdered by Razor the evil Darkhawk. Who was mind-controlling the real DH at the time and using him as his surrogate body.
…Actually, in light of that, I’m kinda surprised the X-Men haven’t gone after Darkhawk to avenge her. Be a perfectly logical story and it’s not like anybody’s followed up on that plot since Nova got cancelled.
‘wolverine and the x-men’ is very enjoyable. however, im worried that the book is going to lose focus with so many characters around. random ramblings:
husk is teaching literature and art. i always thought of her as more of a math- and computer-nerd.
why is karma not teaching anything? isnt she one of the few teachers who are actually qualified?
toad has a history of constantly changing character design. i vaguely remember some half-assed in-universe explanation (‘genetically unstable’ or something), perhaps from ‘x-men forever’?
doop is back!
Wolverine and the X-Men felt for me like the first “real” X-Men comic in veritable ages.
I’m probably viewing it through highly rose-coloured glasses, but I hope they can keep up this tone of writing, instead of having it fall into the usual grimdark we had over the last years.
“My first memory of [Toad] was when he was wheeled out at the beginning of Liefeld’s first go at X-Force”
Well, they say first impressions are everything.
My first memory of Toad was from Amazing Adventures #7 (a ’70s reprint of X-Men #4), so Janitoad is perfectly acceptable to me whereas that X-Force story made me laugh (for the wrong reasons).
Given the way that Machinesmith told Danger “I should be explicit: you’re not my type,” I’m choosing to read that as “You’re not my type because you’re female and I’m gay.” It’s a slightly ambiguous comment, but easy enough to relate back to his past preferences.
doop is back!
What? Now no one mentioned that!
Wasn’t Wolverine the caretaker/groundskeeper in the aforementioned Wolverine & the X-Men cartoon?
I remember the X-men forever miniseries being quite good (and Paul contributed to it too as I recall). They immediatly seemed to ignore it – Mystique went back to her regular appearance almost immediatly and Toad, as you said, had no consistent character design.
Re: Qualified teachers
Hank has a PhD in genetics, and probably another in some other bioscience–he was, after all, considered for a tenure-track position in X-Factor #1. That’s different from teaching high school, but the chances of him failing the Praxis (or New York’s equivalent state exam) are basically nil. He also was explicitly an instructor in the pre-M-Day era.
Kitty was too, during Whedon’s AXM. I can’t remember who the teachers were in the DiFillipis/Weir New Mutants. I remember Rahne and Dani, but there was a third I know was female but can’t remember who.
Doop is a Russian superbrain in a giant lima bean. Of COURSE he can teach! At the very least he’s qualified to instruct on beginner’s cinematography. (And now I want badly to see what the School’s radio/TV/film program would look like.)
Did Logan teach any formal classes in the Morrison era? I can’t recall.
Likewise, Bobby is a CPA and a bright enough guy (however hard he may try to hide it at times) that there’s no reason he COULDN’T get certified to teach mathematics.
I’m gonna say it because I’ve been saying in person to anyone who will listen and on the internet: Call me crazy, but since Rob Williams took over the only Wolverine-centric comic I like to read is the one about his son, Daken. Yeah, I dropped all the Wolverine titles except for Daken: Dark Wolverine. You may say I am utterly weird now.
Though I might check out this new one with the whole school deal after ignoring Schism because I was too annoyed about paying 5 dollars for the first issue…
Sorry for the odd wording, I meant to say, “I too was annoyed about paying”
@Zach – Mirage, Karma, Northstar, Wolfsbane, and Emma Frost were the squad leaders we saw/heard the most of in the DeFilippis/Weir run, but I think just about everyone got a teaching cameo at some point or another — Beast teaching Algebra, Nightcrawler teaching Drama, Wolverine on self-defense, etc.
@David – Doesn’t seem so weird. The notion that Daken might be about to get the kicking he’s had coming for a while is about the only thing that could make him interesting. 😉
In support of the teaching discussion: I remember that Iceman came by in Generation X to teach some Accounting classes.
I thought Wolverine and the X-Men #1 was Aaron trying to have his cake and eat it too, and it backfired. There’s a lot of good ideas that I read, and he’s trying to capture some Morrison forward thinking, but you can’t make a big deal about Wolverine opening up the school again and then try and show how woefully unprepared he is, on top of trying to include some action. Aaron basically made his bed by wanting to write the school book, so write the school book. Don’t have those terrible Hellfire Kids show up, don’t have action happen right away that, from the last page alone, looks to crush Wolverine’s entire notion that Cyclops was wrong. Because if there is a monster appearing beneath the school, Wolverine should just blow up the school and run away. He wanted to do it a month ago, what changed his mind now? This type of stuff is crucial to Logan’s argument and when you are teetering with the idea of throwing it all away in the first issue it doesn’t work. It also doesn’t work when Logan is confronting Kade and saying that the kids would kill him. Even as a joke it doesn’t work.
Also, by making the antagonist your typical “evil yuppies” cliche, it doesn’t work when they shoot a hole through every reason why it is safe to teach kids at the school. You don’t jeer them at all simply because they’re dressed as typical WASPs
And would they stop including Idie as some borderline retarded girl?
The whole book is based on trying to be hip and fun and slightly ironic but at the same time try and be a serious direction as the second flagship X-Men book, and it’s simply not in a position to do that right now or at least how the first issue presented itself. Let Uncanny be the superhero book, let WatX be the mutants learning book.
And if there is some stupid scene in either series where Wolverine goes “Cyclops WAS right” (and vice versa) I’m going to be ticked off. That kind of stuff ruined the Civil War/Initiative line.
@Ken B: The mutants learning book? You expected a book titled “Wolverine & the X-Men” to read like a school drama with superpowers?
> I can’t remember who the teachers were in the DiFillipis/Weir New Mutants. I remember Rahne and Dani, but there was a third I know was female but can’t remember who.
Dani taught American History. Rahne was a TA, not a teacher. And Xi’an (who you’re probably thinking of for the third, since the three of them with Cyclops & Frost were the main “teaching” cast – although a bunch of others got cameos as mentioned) was the librarian rather than a teacher.
“I’m not sure how I feel about having Prof X pop in every once in a while to offer his blessing/sage advice. I’m more inclined they just write him out for good.”
Marvel definitely needs to settle on what to do with Xavier because they’ve inadvertently turned him into Jon Lovitz (Lovitz “quit” SNL back in 1990 but then proceeded to turn up frequently enough to suggest that he had nothing better to do, which was probably true. They even made fun of it on the show).
So, what do you do with a character that you’re neither ready to kill off, nor write out for good (assuming that’s how Marvel feels about him)? I suggest looking at his name for a clue. He’s Professor X. Perhaps he ought to profess again. I must profess that the professor hasn’t done a lot of professing in recent years, and now there’s a new school up and running (almost).
I think I’d like this. There’s potential in having Charles Xavier employed at “The Jean Grey School For Higher Learning” as a mere teacher. Not as the school’s headmaster. Not as leader of the X-Men. Not as the figurehead for the mutant race. Just as a teacher. Fiendishly enjoying both his reduced responsibilities as well as Logan’s misery from the sidelines. A lot of “Don’t look at me, Logan. I just work here.” moments.
“And if there is some stupid scene in either series where Wolverine goes “Cyclops WAS right” (and vice versa) I’m going to be ticked off. That kind of stuff ruined the Civil War/Initiative line.”
Cyclops when was the last time you updated your facebook status? what’s your favourite dubstep group? who is Kurt dating on Glee? How did Azrael last 100 issues? you don’t know anything about modern mutant America!
Toad needs to be green and evil Toad because comics are a visual medium that works best with exaggerated, easily-recognisable icons/symbols, even for (maybe especially for) villains.
I’d argue that that is also why the X-villain rogues gallery needs a Blob, too, but then these writers come on who are too elitist about their own “realistic” vision of what x-whatever should be, and obviously Blob is meant to be a joke and is dismissed out of hand.
What it doesn’t need is the little Hellfire Treehouse or whatever.
(I guess I just what Blob back so we can have a one-shot called “Blob and Toad Are Friends.”)
“Toad needs to be green and evil Toad because comics are a visual medium that works best with exaggerated, easily-recognisable icons/symbols, even for (maybe especially for) villains.”
He can’t be green and good? So, the exaggerated, easily-recognisable green icon that is the Incredible Hulk in this visual medium of ours ought to be evil as well?
I’m not sure the Toad actually IS evil in W&X, but that aside: Marvel’s standard practice back in the Silver Age was that heroes usually wore red, blue or yellow, and villains wore green, purple or orange. (This corresponds to primary and secondary colours for printing purposes.) The Hulk is an exception to the rule, because he was conceived as an monstrous antihero – essentially the character is Jekyll & Hyde filtered through the sensibility of a 1950s B-movie.
“I’m not sure the Toad actually IS evil in W&X”
I don’t think he is. My take on Toad is this (and I think this is what Aaron is shooting for, but I guess we’ll see): Toad is meant to be a depraved, wretched character motivated mostly by self-preservation. He’s not particularly good, nor is he particularly evil. He’s just pathetic. He lacks the courage to stand up on his own and would much rather take the easy route of shamelessly kow-towing to whichever authority figure he feels he’s better off with. In past, that person had been Magneto. Now it’s Wolverine.
That’s how you write Toad, IMO. Previous attempts to depict him as a serious villain just seemed to make him come off more like Mr. Burns from the Simpsons rather than someone to be taken seriously.
“I think I’d like this. There’s potential in having Charles Xavier employed at “The Jean Grey School For Higher Learning” as a mere teacher. Not as the school’s headmaster. Not as leader of the X-Men. Not as the figurehead for the mutant race. Just as a teacher. Fiendishly enjoying both his reduced responsibilities as well as Logan’s misery from the sidelines. A lot of “Don’t look at me, Logan. I just work here.” moments.”
Huh, that sounds pretty good to me. It is ridiculous to have him around but pushed nearly completely into the background. Surely one of the five x-books can find something for him to do?
Ken B.: you do realize that the objective of storytelling is to have a protagonist persue a goal, then to be confronted with obstacles as he attempts to achieve that goal.
To reiterate Brian’s point: did you think Marvel planned on doing an on-going book starring Wolverine in which perfect uninterrupted harmony was achieved? That would make a pretty lame comic if everytime the kids got attacked, Logan blew up his base and ran away.
On second thought, that might actually be a funny premise.
Wolverine on self-defense
Oh, that’s just boring. I’d love to see him in the background of a panel teaching woodwork or cooking.
That would make a pretty lame comic if everytime the kids got attacked, Logan blew up his base and ran away.
Smells like… nextwave! Gods, how I miss that comic.
“I’m not sure the Toad actually IS evil in W&X, but that aside: Marvel’s standard practice back in the Silver Age was that heroes usually wore red, blue or yellow, and villains wore green, purple or orange. (This corresponds to primary and secondary colours for printing purposes.) The Hulk is an exception to the rule, because he was conceived as an monstrous antihero – essentially the character is Jekyll & Hyde filtered through the sensibility of a 1950s B-movie.”
Ben Grimm presumably another exception to that rule.
@Kelvingreen
Better? 😉
http://thedinosaurman.tumblr.com/post/6572513687/lesson-plan-of-wolverine-funnnyyyy
Maxwell: I am simply saying that there was enough story in just dealing with the school getting up and running before it gets destroyed again by little boring villains.
And it’s not like there aren’t other places/titles to find Wolverine cutting things up, this would be a great change of pace to have him in a overseer role and realizing it’s not as easy as he thought it would be. You’re already bending belief by having Wolverine of all people open a school, and try and teach kids not to fight on the front lines, you might as well stick with that premise through and through.
I just read Wolverine & the X-Men, then came and read Paul’s review, wherein he makes it sound like it’s very clear who the villain of the piece is. I have no idea who the villain of the piece is. Am I dense, or was it really not clear. (I must confess, I have a really hard time following Bachalo’s artwork…)
I looks like Toad’s picking up Marrow’s old mantle as the X-character who can appear in two books the same month and be completely unrecognizable as the same person.
For some reason I thought that Xavier’s status quo was “stepping back from public life to spend more time with his family” as politicians say, and being a full-time father to David Haller. I could have sworn he said that in Legacy just before Rogue and the rest headed off into space.
I liked Wolverine and the X-Men in general, but I prefer my X-books a little more grounded, or at least less weird-for-the-sake-of-weird. It felt more like a young readers title than the co-flagship of the X-line. Like, the idea that there’s literally lava erupting from the ground and everyone just shrugs it off as unimportant would seem too silly to believe on the Venture Brothers; in a book that’s supposed to be carrying the narrative momentum of Schism featuring a character being used as an analogue of desensitized African child soldiers, it’s completely out of place.
Fun, but tonally off. Fortunately, it’s easier to get used to “off tone” than bad writing or dull plots, so if you have to pick one…
@KenB
1) It’s pretty clear that Logan is already realizing that it’s a tough gig the first issue. I also think we can expect to see more of “What have I gotten myself into?” moments from Logan as the series rolls on. You don’t need to make WXM not-a-superhero book just to get scenes of Logan pulling his hair out.
2) I don’t care if there’s a dozen other titles featuring Wolverine. I don’t read them. Not everyone is going to buy Wolverine & the X-Men just because Wolverine happens to be in it. For me, the real appeal of WXM is that it’s not in Utopia and it takes the X-Men back to familiar territory. They shouldn’t have left the school set-up in the first place, IMO, and I know there’s other readers who feel similarly.
But that doesn’t mean I want it to be Degrassi Jr. High. Basically, I’m glad to go back to something resembling what Morrison and later Whedon were doing. Using the school set-up but approaching it as an action-book.
3) I think they can do a book along the lines you’re suggesting, but you just can’t call that book “Wolverine & the X-Men.” You can’t, can’t, can’t, can’t do this. Even if there hadn’t been a recent round of layoffs at Marvel, and the remaining editors weren’t understandably concerned for their futures, I think you still couldn’t get an editor over there to suggest to the publisher, “Hey I think “Wolverine & the X-Men” should be a school drama, not an action book.” They may as well be saying, “Look, just fire me.”
Jerry Ray : I don’t know who the villain is either. If it’s supposed to be obvious it wasn’t to me. But it reads just fine to me without knowing who it is.
ZZZ: You are correct on Xavier’s status quo – and I like the analogy to the politicians.
However, I really liked the different tone of the book (and i didn’t like the Schism set-up at all.) It’s funny and different and it’s nice to have a comic with a different tone in the mix. (I am a sucker for the Bamfs, too.) It should balance out the presumably more serious Uncanny title. I think you are right that the shift from Schism serious to WXM weird is awkward, but now that we’re here, I really like it.
Rich
I assumed that the whole point of doing a schism in the first place was so Xavier could come in later an reunite the factions, repositioning himself as the leader. Surely Marvel will want to come full circle at some point. It’s what Marvel has been doing with the character since the 1960s.
Based on the cover of issue #2, I’m wondering if the giant monster is related to Krakoa somehow…?
(I must confess, I have a really hard time following Bachalo’s artwork…)
But that´s his trademark 🙂 Confusing art. Which is the reason why I don´t buy his work.
@Karl Hiller: Given that both Sinister and the N’Garai are apparently coming back in other books, I wouldn’t be at all surprised…
@Max:
All the foreshadowing seems to be that Jean will come back, or at least Phoenix.
While Idie and the giant Sentinel gave Logan an excuse to turn against Scott, it was Scott and Logan trading barbs about Jean that started the actual fight (while they ignored the Sentinel). It was Phoenix in the center of the two page spread in the “final” issue of Uncanny. Logan named his school after Jean. And we also have the Emma/Jean stuff, with the continued pushing of an Emma/Namor relationship while the Uncanny two-page splash has Scott kissing Jean. (I’d argue Hope as well is leading to some form of Phoenix return storyline. While Marvel teased a Jean/Phoenix connection from the very start with Hope, Hope currently has her mind control/influence storyline pushing forward pretty hard, and I wouldn’t be surprised for that to ultimately somehow tie in to Phoenix.)
Don’t forget, the phoenix has a meaning other than being to do with Jean Grey. One which is thematically relevant to the relaunch of the team(s).