Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Uncanny X-Men (Spoilers!)

well...the story line with betts is looking up. the part where she's in her mind and wondering why things don't look right got me curious. we will see i guess.


uncanny x-men 456.

for #458

I'm liking Betsy's budding relationship to X-23. I'm glad she's back. I'm curious what they're doing with Jamie Braddock -but Claremont is back in his bad habit of having plots on the backburners for months or years.

I kind of liked this issue. I usually enjoy what stories I've read that are set in the Savage Land-- I tend to like Marvels' fictional settings like SL or Attilan or Wakanda.

For the first time, I took Brainchild seriously. He makes a fun opponent. Does Vertigo *ever* speak?

The whole dino-Rachel thing is kind of interesting, but at the same time quite annoying. Maybe she'll keep some aspect of the transformation once the whole shebang's over?

I like the way Psylocke's written so far. You can tell she's a favorite of Claremont. Though I *still* can't quite get over the body-switch thing from years and years ago...

I don't like Bishop's dialogue for some reason. Something else else about it just doesn't ring true.

I've read somewhere on the board that Cannonball and Magma are going to be featured in this X-title sometime soon. Hopefully, that won't be only in a pretend reality from HOUSE OF M. With any luck they'll be taking the place of X-23... who ain't doing a thing for me.

A couple of X-Men clips I think you'd get a chuckle out of.

For those over 30 years of age....
For those under 30 years of age....

Prefer X-23 to Sam -he never really appealed to me at all. I'm liking X-23 better with her blossoming friendship with Betsy.

I wouldn't mind seeing the return of Cerise or Lifeguard. Their powers are more interesting than Magma's.

Hysterical! The best part has to be Wolverine's Canadian accent!

Those were great cartoons. My favorite part was Emma and Jean's confrontation. Now that's what I'd like to see in the comic. A good old fashioned (Dynasty -Alexis and Crystal) cat-fight.

UNCANNY XMEN 460... spoilers

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...in keeping with the title of this thread, Juggernaut and Nocturne make their return, joining Psylocke on the comeback squad. The other recent X-prodigal, Colossus guest stars here, too.

The reunion scenes were welcome, if somewhat curiously timed. If I were more of a Rachel fan, I'd be more excited about her extensive POV scenes.

In fact, Rachel, Bishop and X-23 bore me. Storm, Nightcrawler and Sage getting more emphasis would make me happier.

Ah, well-- with rumored post HOUSE OF ME membership shake-ups, it's all moot.

Ooooh, stuff with Rachel?

YAY!

Want my last two weeks of comics...

J

I care about Psylocke coming back about as much as I did about her dying -- zero. And is it me, or is Claremont referencing so many of his past stories starting to seem like, I dunno ... bumping up all your old threads that nobody's been posting in for a long time?

#461--

No real spoilers... fans of Mojo and the XBabies will love this. There's good use of JUGGERNAUT, but that's about it.

Though I kind of enjoy some of Mojo's lines in his appearances-- and his general whackoness-- I've never liked mojoworld or Spiral, etc.

A little if this goes a loooonnngg way.

There're other old stories I'd rather they revisit if they're going to-- the X-characters on Asgard-- Oops, guess they can't (for awhile-- HEY! Why not a detailed tour of the Marvel Universe OLYMPUS!!) or Krakatoa-- or the Imperial Guard (this time with a clearer artist)...

#466 is out-- and CANNONBALL's back!!! Yay! WITH superpowers intact! AND he flirts with Psylocke!

If you're a Rachel/MARVEL GIRL fan, this is the issue for you. I'm not, so I was more excited by Sam's two pages. And I kind of like Psylocke (though I prefer the earlier Betsy).

I'm enjoying the giant Sentinels parked around X-Mansion. They're looming creepiness, but are also providing some humor. I don't much like the demutanted-thing-- though there seems to be a surge of energy accompanying it (and I don't mean the floating energy from the end of HOM).

Early Betsy rocked! I was very suprised they brought the ninja back. I've always liked Sam.

SAM IS MY FAVORITE EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*coughs* Except, y'know, Wally... yeah...

But definitely favorite X-Man. Yay. He's not dead or powerless or on X-Force or with Cable or... yeah. I'll stop rambling now.

And yes. Early Betsy did rock. Hardcore. Ninja was neat too. w00t Hand~

I prefer alive betsy to dead limboy one so, yeah! he didn't do much in that one x-force mini so glad sam's doing something. i was glad bobby didn't turn into a puddle when he was de-powered. or wait, was that the other book?

I've been checking in on this book, but Claremont hasn't grabbed me at all with it. It's a shame he's got Cannonball, I thought the kid outgrew the X-mansion when he hung out with the Xtreme team. At least he's getting air time tho' so that's good.

UNCANNY X-MEN #467 is out with a story that is presented in an interesting, gripping manner. I admired it-- the conceit of it happening in a matter of seconds was a nice structure to aim for. Don't think it was quite pulled off, as several sequences and actions would've taken longer than the time allotted.

Fundamentally, though, it was a story I didn't want to read. At all. It did foster a bit more empathy for Rachel, a character who's convulted back-story keeps her at a distance from me as a reader. But the fate of a whole extended family was just too much. Especially since it's a family that's sort of been around the edges of things for decades.

Well-done, but did this story have to be told?

UNCANNY X-MEN #468

More Rachel. Apparently she's going to be a big focus for awhile. Didn't care much for the Shi'ar Death Guard, or whatever they were. At least they're named, but even that doesn't rescue them from being instantly forgettable. Why wouldn't Marvel utilize the Imperial Guard here? Copyrights on some of those characters must be due to lapse sometime soon.

LOVED seeing Cannonball actually cannonball into the forcefield/shield/dome/whatever it was.

The larger issue of the murder of the whole Grey family doesn't seem real yet. Too grim for the X-men, maybe?

I'm a long-time Claremont fan, and I believe no one has ever captured the X-Men like him--not even Stan Lee or Roy Thomas. But I have to say...I can barely read these issues. They haven't been my cup of tea at all.

The *entire* Grey family massacred at one time--what the terrible early 1990's over the top in your face crappy Image artist shitty X-universe bloody grim and gritty bye bye supporting character nonsense is this?

Love that Sam is around (apparently about to leave for another title). I like Bishop too, even if the "Bishop's different. Bishop's a cop" bit is a little overdone. Is Sage gone for good, or returning? And Nightcrawler is in my top three favorite X-characters of all time.

I prefer Jean stay dead and gone so I like having Rachel around, confusing as her history is. I have a fondness for the character that I can't quite explain. Apparently, she'll be sticking around in Uncanny once Brubaker takes over from Claremont. Betsy, on the other hand, is leaving for Excalibur, FYI.

Brubaker is a great writer and I eagerly await his stories. Like I said, I'm a longtime Claremont fan, but I don't think I can take anymore of this run. Looking forward to a change with Brubaker, with what appears to be an exciting continuation of X-Men Deadly Genesis (and thus, the Third Summers Brother). Maybe this title will feature Havok then, since its going that route? Wouldn't mind seeing Silvestri art either if he could do a monthly for a long period of time without being late.

Does Claremont hold the record for longest X-MAN scribe (not counting his break from the writing chores around 1991-1992)?

Yup! Can't for the life of me tell you off-hand what it is though

For being the deviser of the most extended and/or convoluted/unresolved plot-lines ever?

I have defended Claremont innumerable times on these boards. As much as I love the Legion, Claremont's run up to the debut of the second title is to my mind the greatest writing achievement in comic book history.

But I can't even read X-Men anymore. It's crap--not just Claremont, but the whole damn thing. House of M? Indecipherable. I just don't care. I have every Uncanny X-Men comic book in one form or another from the Giant Size through the last issue, and will not buy any more until quality improves. Immensely. Marvel just depresses the hell out of me. How can you have so many great characters, such a rich imaginary universe, and be so shitty? Or have I, at 34, finally outgrown Marvel comics?

I think the X-Men franchise has just suffered from what so many other comics franchises have suffered from: overexposure.

Back in the day, you had a single team title to look to for your monthly fix: Uncanny X-Men. The roster rotated from time to time, but there was a single storyline to follow at any given time.

Then, due to their popularity, there came a second X-Title. Well, now they could feature even more X-Men a time, so they split up into teams within the team.

Then there was also the splinter titles, like X-Factor and Excalibur. Even more of the X-Men, stretched out over even more titles and storylines.

Then there was specials, one-shots, limited series, solo series, and all the while the cast of characters was growing and growing, and there were crossovers, and characters appearing in multiple titles (and appearing in simultaneous missions to different places).

It just reached the point where the X-Men became a company all it's own, but unfortunately as they say, too many cooks spoil the soup. There were so many different creators involved, with so many different visions, that the franchise kinda capsized. It's become such a chore to wade through the X-Universe to figure out what's going on that it's no longer fun to read them.

The same thing has happened at DC, I think, what with the multiple Batman, Superman, Justice League, etc titles out there over the years. They take a good, solid concept, and try to wring as much out of it as possible, as quickly as possible, that they suffer over the long term.

More does not necessarily mean better, which I think is a lesson that is slowly being learned.