What I’ve Been Reading 3/18/09
Back to the old format for this week. Three reviews below the break…
X-Men: Legacy vol. 2 — Sins of the Father After the end of the “Messiah Complex” crossover, the “adjectiveless” X-Men title mutated into a Professor X solo book where he travels the world meeting with old friends and enemies in order to regain the memories he lost after being shot in the head. If your eyes glazed over while reading that last sentence, then rest assured, this is not the book for you. However, people who have been following the saga of the X-Men for years (like myself) will find most of this volume pretty entertaining. The first two-thirds of it continue the main story of Xavier’s travels as he comes mind-to-mind with Mr. Sinister’s plans to take over his body, and tries to make peace with Cyclops, but winds up being dragged through the darkest recesses of his past by Emma Frost instead. Mike Carey wrote the stories here, and as I said in the “continuity” podcast about one of his earlier volumes “Supernovas,” he does a good job of writing a smarter version of the “people hitting each other while philosophising” style that was the driving force of the series’ stories in the 80’s and 90’s. That said, even the most hardcore X-fan will probably have trouble recalling some of the continuity references Carey digs up, but they’re not absolutely necessary to the understanding of the core story, and there are even footnotes by the writer at the end of the volume. As for the art, with the exception of the flashback scenes, it’s good enough, but nothing spectacular courtesy of Scot Eaton and Phil Briones. The last 1/3 of the book, however, has fallen victim to one of Marvel’s most annoying practices in recent months: padding out the length of a trade paperback with reprints. In all honesty, I’d rather have paid $11 for these four issues instead of the $15 for these two extra ones. The first one “Odd Man Out” was a collection of two inventory stories illustrated by classic X-Men artist Dave Cockrum. While his art in these stories is nice, the stories are utterly forgettable. The other one, “The Unlikely Saga of Xavier, Magneto, and Stan” has Stan Lee being confronted by Xavier and Magneto and taken on a tour of some of the most memorable moments in X-history. It’s amusing in parts and has some nice art, but not something you’ll want to bother re-reading.
Emma vol. 8 I can’t say whether this series is the “Best Maid Manga Ever!” because I really don’t read any other “maid-related” titles. (Well, none that you’ll find on the shelves of your local bookstore anyway…) Even so, this is still a fantastic series that nails the subtle social interaction of the Victorian era and the drama that ensues when two people pursue a romance that defies the time’s class structure. If you need any more encouragement, know that Alan Moore shows up in volume six to kidnap the title character. That being said, the main story wrapped up well (if a little quickly) in the last volume and this one is the first of three that will explore the world of the series’ supporting cast in greater detail. In this volume we finally get to see the late husband of Emma’s mistress, Kelly Stownar, share a memorable trip to the Great Exhibition, Elanor Campbell receive what looks to be a happy ending, and other amusing and interesting shorts that reveal what the cast has been up to since the end of the series. While we didn’t get the two stories I wanted to see in this volume (that’d be ones showing what butler Hans, he of the sour disposition and Wolverine sideburns, is up to; along with whatever happened to William and Emma), these are all up to the series’ high standards. Obviously not a good starting point, but fans of the series won’t be disappointed.
The Invincible Iron Man vol. 1: The Five Nightmares The newest Iron Man series, which debuted just as the movie came out last year, written by Matt Fraction and illustrated by Salvador Larroca, finally arrives in softcover. It’s not bad, but I’m starting to lose hope that I’ll ever read an Iron Man story that makes me stop wishing that Warren Ellis wrote more than six issues with the character. This story features Tony Stark facing off with the terrorist son of Obadiah Stane, Ezekiel. Naturally he’s out for revenge against Tony for killing his dad all these years ago, and he’s managed to really get under the man’s skin by repurposing old Iron Man tech to turn humans into living bombs. As the series was designed to appeal to people who have seen the movie, the story is pretty straightforward and has some callbacks to elements of the movie (like Obadiah), but isn’t worse off for it. Fraction writes a good, smart Tony Stark along with plenty of witty dialogue, and a story that unfolds well over the course of the seven issues here (six for the main, and one featuring an entertaining team-up with Spider-Man). That said, the story doesn’t break any new ground with the character (not that it has to) and Ezekiel comes across as more insuffurably annoying than actually threatening. Larroca’s art is on good form here with his eye for detail and ability to clearly convey the story, though the realism and photo-referencing he brings to the characters can be distracting at times. Overall, it’s worth a look if you like Iron Man, or if you enjoyed the movie and are looking for a comic that’s along the same lines.