Extraordinary X-Men #8-12 – “Apocalypse Wars”
If the three “Apocalypse Wars” storylines are supposed to share any broader theme, over and above just having something to do with Apocalypse, then it’s far from clear what that might be. All-New X-Men had Apocalypse in the past, and could at least play off having Evan in the cast. Uncanny did the present (even though Apocalypse wasn’t actually there), and it had Angel to work with. Extraordinary gets the future, but it doesn’t have any characters with any particularly close link to Apocalypse. I suppose one of them gets one here.
Jeff Lemire and Humberto Ramos’s story has fairly clear goals in mind, at least when it comes to changing the status quo of various characters. Quite why it wants to do those things is less clear.
Charts – 29 July 2016
Last time, Drake’s “One Dance” had reached its fifteenth week at number one, just one week short of matching the all-time record held by Bryan Adams. And…
1. Major Lazer featuring Justin Bieber & MØ – “Cold Water”
…it’s a bit of an anticlimax. Because as I also pointed out last time, Drake only made it to fifteen weeks thanks to the boost from cutting the price on iTunes. That was always going to make sixteen weeks a struggle, and so after all that time at number one, “One Dance” drops straight to number five.
Uncanny X-Men #6-10 – “Apocalypse Wars”
For the second part of the “Apocalypse Wars” trilogy, Uncanny X-Men has a problem. The idea of this event is past, present and future – one story dealing with each. Uncanny gets the present. But Apocalypse isn’t around in the present. That’s kind of the point of Evan, who may or may not be his reincarnation. So Cullen Bunn and Ken Lashley end up giving us an Apocalypse story without Apocalypse.
What we have instead is… well. There’s a lot going on in these five issues; there’s a lot of stuff trying to build to some kind of climax; there are changes of status quo for both Warren and Monet; and Fantomex and Mystique are drawn into contact with the rest of the cast. So it’s certainly trying to pay stuff off.
But.
Charts – 22 July 2016
So, I’ve been out of town, which is why I haven’t got around to reviewing the Uncanny arc that finished last week. I’ll get to it in the next couple of days. But first, let’s see what’s happened in the chart while I was away…
Oh.
1. Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla – “One Dance”
Another challenger is seen off, as the Chainsmokers’ “Don’t Let Me Down” falls back to number 3 this week, and Drake’s seemingly eternal run at the top drones on. We’re getting to crunch time, because this matches the fifteen week run of Wet Wet Wet’s “Love Is All Around” in 1994, and one more week will match the all-time record for the longest single stay at number one, set by Bryan Adams’ “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” in 1991.
All-New X-Men #9-11 – “Apocalypse Wars”
“Apocalypse Wars” may for once be better described as an “event”, because it isn’t a “crossover” in any real sense. In fact – and as Marvel made clear from the outset – it harks back to the structure of 1988’s “Fall of the Mutants”, which was simply a banner slapped on three storylines that shook up the status quo but were otherwise unrelated.
“Apocalypse Wars” doesn’t shake up the status quo. Instead, it consists of the three X-Men titles each doing an unrelated Apocalypse story. Why Apocalypse? Because there was a movie out when this whole thing started.
House to Astonish Episode 147
There’s absolutely loads to get through this episode, as we run through the Marvel NOW! announcements, take a look at the most recent Direct Market sales figures, look at Spell on Wheels, Ether, Hawkman and Adam Strange: Out of Time and the Lost Boys sequel comic, have a quick chat about the new artist on Black Panther, discuss Plutona‘s potential move to the big screen, dig into the upcoming Marvel/Fox co-produced TV show and sigh wearily at the Wonder Woman cover thing. We’ve also got reviews of Horizon and New Super-Man, and the Official Handbook of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe is a real gem. All this plus Mhor Thor, Superman with an elephant head for an arm and the brief return of a much-missed cockney.
The podcast is here, or here on Mixcloud, or available via the embedded player below. Let us know what you think, in the comments, on Twitter, via email or on our Facebook fan page.
Don’t forget that we’ve got some fab shirts for sale on our Redbubble store – just the thing for the summer months.
And if you want to check out my appearance on Into It with Elle Collins, talking about ChikaraPro, it’s here, and if you want to revisit the anguished screams that were our Phantom Stranger review, well, then that episode can be found here.
Charts – 15 July 2016
It. Will. Not. Die.
1. Drake featuring WizKid & Kyla – “One Dance”
The eternal number one just won’t go away. Kungs’ “This Girl” spent four weeks at number 2, but this week it drops to number 5. So Drake sees off another challenger. And that’s fourteen weeks – matching the combined total of “Bohemian Rhapsody” across both its runs. One more week and it ties with “Love Is All Around”. Sales and streams are both dropping, so it has to stop some time…
Old Man Logan #8
Following from the “Bordertown” three-parter, Old Man Logan gives us a one-shot story. And it’s time, yet once more, to contemplate the imminent collapse of society.
Now, these are apocalyptic times indeed. Pop culture – hell, culture generally – is not exactly going through one of its optimistic phases. Not that it particularly should be. And so sure, there ought to be something to work with in the hook of Old Man Logan, the thing that makes him different from the original Wolverine – which is not so much that he’s old, or even specifically that he was tricked into killing his version of the X-Men, but that he’s already lived through the collapse of the society around him.
Charts – 7 July 2016
Okay, so… yes, I was going to do a Watch With Father post before this, but it’s been a busy week, plus there’s been a lot of mesmerisingly distracting stuff on the news, plus there haven’t been any storylines wrapping up in the X-books. But we’re settling down again now, so we really should be getting back into a more regular schedule.
Meanwhile… in a terrifying and uncertain world, one thing is immutable.
1. Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla – “One Dance”
Thirteen weeks. Thirteen. On a pure sales chart it wouldn’t even be in the top 10 any more, but it’s just not shifting from the streaming charts. The sales number one would be “This Girl” by Kungs vs Cookin’ on 3 Burners, which is stuck at number 2 on the combined chart for the fourth week.
So let’s take a step back to consider what on earth is going on here.
Charts – 1 July 2016
We’re going through another of those phases when all the X-books are in mid-storyline (not least because the three core X-Men titles are in the middle of a supposed crossover that isn’t actually crossing over), and with one thing or another I’ve been distracted from following up some of the other regulars, but we should be getting back to a more normal posting schedule over the next week or so. In the meantime, on the singles chart, all is quiet – three new entries, all outside the top 30.
1. Drake featuring Wizkid and Kyla – “One Dance”
And that’s twelve weeks. This is entirely due to continued streaming popularity – at this point, “One Dance” is number 9 on the pure sales chart – and there are starting to be murmurings that the chart compilers may be looking again at the weighting of sales to streams. Time will tell whether these sorts of extended runs are going to be the new normal in the current era, but it does seem to be something of a fluke, given more normal turnover of records at number 2 over the same period: “Cheap Thrills” by Sia (3 weeks), “This is What You Came For” by Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna (2 weeks), “Can’t Stop The Feeling” by Justin Timberlake (4 weeks) and “This Girl” by Kungs vs Cookin’ on Three Burners (3 weeks).
