Dawn of X – Mini Reviews!

Note: Reviews are in order that I read them, not recommended reading of the Dawn of X titles ( a combination of the fact that the order isn’t in Marvel Unlimited for some reason; I’m biased towards Kate Pryde and wanted to read her stuff first; I am lazy and unable to read 6 different titles at once.)

X-Men: Marauders
by Gerry Duggan, Matteo Lolli, Michele Bandini, Lucas Werneck
collects Marauders #1-6
This is my first Dawn of X book since HOX/POX, and it’s out of order but I don’t care – Kate Pryde’s the lead and that means it’s the top of my pile. This is a fun romp that makes Kate the captain of the Marauders, keeping the shipping lanes open for Hellfire Club and rescuing mutants from hostile countries (though why she can’t get into Krakoa is convoluted and not explained – hopefully a setup for Hickman’s long game). This Kate is a bit rough around the edges, more drunk and tattooed, but frankly I love it. She’s joined by some favorites including Iceman, Storm, and a hilarious OG Pyro. I don’t care much for Sebastian Shaw, the art is run of the mill and the page-long prose excerpts are annoying AF…but I’m enjoying this. (And good thing I know spoilers for the end, otherwise I’d be writing a very different review.)

X-Men: Marauders, vol 2
by Gerry Duggan, Stefano Caselli, Matteo Lolli, Edgar Delgado
collects Marauders #7-12
** spoilers** Loved binge reading this after finishing Marauders volume 1. Five stars for Duggan’s perfect depiction of Kate and Kurt’s relationship, and the way he weaved in some great Jewish symbolism (the number 18) and that Kurt recognized it and also gave Kate back her Star of David, and thank God finally made her queer into canon. Some emotional beats were off, sorry, why would Kate be cremated if she’s Jewish (assuming she’s more traditional even though some progressive Jews are cremated)? Didn’t Kate deserve Xavier’s eulogy in-comic, because we know it would be resolved in the next issue? But I’ll overlook it for how significant this arc is for Kate’s character after decades of queer baiting, it’s about goddamn time. I wish it had happened with Rachel Summers, but we have time, don’t we? Caselli’s art is phenomenal. Lolli’s was a bit disappointing in the last issue, but I think he made Kate resemble her earliest look on purpose after she was resurrected.

X-Men
by Jonathan Hickman, Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, RB Silva
collects X-Men #1-6
Not as much fun as Marauders but still great, even if a little disjointed. “Table setting” doesn’t do this volume justice – Hickman is basically setting up entire banquets in each issue. I’m sure the payoff will be great but at times it feels like a little much to keep in the air all at once. While a few concepts were confusing (the Vault), the fourth issue was a fascinating study into Magneto and Xavier’s evolved philosophies. I also still have a love-hate relationship with the prose pages – sometimes it provides eerie foreshadowing (#5) or amusement (the menu in #4) and other times it feels clunky…or, to continue extending the metaphor, table setting in another room altogether. The art is also great. I loved Silva & Gracia’s art in issue five with the Vault. Yu & Alanguilan’s work feels like classic X-Men but it’s a bit too rough for me.

X-Men: Excalibur
by Tini Howard, Marcus To, Erick Arciniega, VC Cory Petit
collects X-Men Excalibur #1-6
I thought this was a lot of fun, even though Marvel’s magical corner of the universe is unfamiliar to me – I always associated Morgan Le Fey with Etrigan and Zatanna (mostly thanks to the DCAU). The new Excalibur team is a fun group and Apocalypse continues to be an interesting wildcard compared to some of the other mutant villains like Shaw. I’m happy to see Rogue and Gambit’s story continue as a married couple post their disappointing solo series, even though Rogue spent most of this arc as Snow White. And while I’m not familiar with the Braddock twins their relationship as siblings feels unique and Betsy is such a solid character. Marcus To’s art is just phenomenal and his art along with Arciniega and Petit created a strong fantasy and magic aura.

New Mutants
by Jonathan Hickman & Rod Reis
collects New Mutants (2019) #1-2, 5, 7
Hickman and Reis’ New Mutants arc was honestly way better than I expected it to be, because I usually don’t associate Hickman’s writing with upbeat, humorous, 20’s superheroes fare – and yet he completely pulls it off. I’m not familiar with a lot of these characters (I haven’t read much New Mutants) but loved getting to know them during their space romp gone sideways, and Roberto da Costa is a hilarious, self centered lead with excellent recaps. I think the writer is a bit in love with him too however, and I would have liked to see more Magick and Mirage.

Reis’ art is extraordinary, and I love the funky colors and multimedia feel to his work. But his style is so work intensive that they needed to include a completely separate arc (at least I assume that’s what happened) for issues 3, 4 and 6. This arc isn’t terrible, but it also isn’t great, and it completely throws off the pacing. (Reviewing this arc separately.) This only happened to me because I read on Marvel Unlimited; the collected editions separate the arcs out. If you’re in the same boat as me, I would highly recommend reading the arcs separately. It also meant some of the main arc needed to be truncated – and while the recaps are funny, it also covers ground that clearly would have been those missing issues.

New Mutants is a great first volume, but it would have been a home run if every issue was dedicated to the main arc.

New Mutants
by Ed Brisson, Flaviano, Marco Failla, Carlos Lopez
collects New Mutants (2019) #3-4, 6, 8-12

Man, Brisson’s New Mutants is a completely different turn from Hickman. It’s darker and way more violent. The first arc took a violent turn that surprised me, followed by a new mission to Russia (with heroes from both missions), where a new mutant’s nightmares are creating a new reality. The final, shorter arc involves the heroes tracking down the creators of a website doxxing mutants, whose actions have led to violence and murders – while a good tie in to current events, and certainly (sadly) a realistic development post-Krakoa, it was still a bit depressing. (Also depressing: their HQ is in my hometown.)
The stories themselves aren’t bad, and I really like the cast and how diverse they are, but it’s certainly a 180 from Hickman’s tone. Also a gaffe I rarely see in comics – a line of dialogue is accidentally repeated on the same page. Flaviano, Failla and Lopez’s art was fine but nothing to write home about. Finally, I loved the development for Glob most of all – what a great character. He should just be in everything.

Mini Reviews 4 [POC & LGBTQ edition, part one]

June has been an exhausting month to say the least. Most of my free time has been spent out on the streets protesting with the Black Lives Matter movement in my community, and reading/watching resources to better educate myself on systemic racism, my white privilege, and police brutality. It has been exhausting and completely necessary. I am willing and fully committed to being an ally long after the hashtag stops trending. It is also Pride Month, but the month feels less celebratory as we continue to mourn black trans sisters lost to violence, and as the Trump administration rolls back healthcare protections for transgender Americans.

This month I am committed to only reading comic books about BIPOC and/or LGBTQ characters, and/or created by BIPOC a/o LGBTQ writers and artists. Unfortunately my accessibility is rather limited due to COVID-19, so a majority of these books will be from Marvel, since I have their online subscription. However, whenever I make trips to my LCS, I’m also purchasing some of these books to support them as well.

Part one:

Invincible Iron Man: Ironheart vol 1: Riri Williams
by Brian Michael Bendis & Stefano Caselli
Collects Invincible Iron Man #1-5

I really enjoyed this introduction to Ironheart aka Riri Williams, 15 year old super genius from Chicago! Brian Michael Bendis is *so* talented at introducing new characters with strong personalities and an emotional backstory, and Stefano Casselli’s work is fantastically polished and consistent. Although I still would have preferred a Black female writer and/or artist (…actually, let’s stick with “and”) on this title.

It’s easy to get invested in Riri quick and root for her all the way. Aside from AI Tony, this book is almost fully centered on women – Riri, her mother and best friend Natalie, Pepper Potts, MJ, Amanda Armstrong, Friday (okay, a female-identifying hologram, but she also has the best line in the book) and others. Only real downside is that the villain (also a woman) is very one dimensional – but it’s kind of necessary to fully focus on Riri’s development. Excited for volume 2.

Invincible Iron Man: Ironheart vol 2: Choices
by Brian Michael Bendis & Stefano Caselli
collects Invincible Iron Man #6-11

Hm. Well, I didn’t hate this second volume of Ironheart, but I wasn’t crazy about it either – definitely not as much as the first one. After building a lot of foundation with Riri’s past and setting up major characters and more than one conflict, this felt pretty…blah. Riri’s personal issue of where to go – teaming up with the Champions, re-enrolling at MIT, or full time at Tony’s lab – is continually distracted by other issues, instead of those issues informing her decision, so it felt less character based and more plot muddling. (This is even more confusing, since a huge choice she makes would derail said decision.)

There’s a whole lot of time spent on minor villains (and quickly wrapping up who I thought would be the series villain, too), a strong reminder of Miles’ second volume. Caselli’s art remains a gorgeous choice for this book, I truly have no complaints, and his phenomenal work is all the more striking when he switches off with other artists for the final issue, and wow is it jarring. This is a stepping stone to more Riri, so I won’t complain – but not my favorite book.

March volume 1
John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell
volume one | two

This is a reread from several years ago, and it remains just as timely as it did then. This isn’t a real review, because as far as I’m concerned this book is perfect, weaving Rep. John Lewis’ experiences in the Civil Rights Movement with the morning of Obama’s inauguration; the black and white (of course) art is spectacular, visceral.

This is required reading for all Americans. If you think the Civil Rights Movement was just Rosa Parks sitting on a bus and peaceful marches – you are wrong.

Totally Awesome Hulk vol 1: Cho Time
Greg Pak, Frank Cho, and Mike Choi
collects Totally Awesome Hulk #1-6

This first volume introducing Amadeus Cho as the new Hulk was a  big scoop of fun, even though I wasn’t crazy about the villain. While Cho was originally introduced in Champions team book (which I have yet to read), Greg Pak does a great job in his first solo series. He introduces us to Cho, his sister Maddy (they have great banter), with flashbacks about what happened to the “old” Hulk, Bruce Banner, and how Cho became Hulk (though not fully revealed yet). Cho and Choi’s artwork is beautifully done and saturated with color, emphasizing some fun humorous moments too. I always am impressed by artists’ ability to show such a huge character’s size while still managing other characters, surroundings and word bubbles. With some fun Miles and She-Hulk cameos, this first volume is a very strong and enjoyable start. I’m loving all the diversity Marvel is bringing to the table.

West Coast Avengers: Best Coast

by Kelly Thompson, Stefano Caselli, Triona Farrell
collects WCA #1-4 (plus Unbelievable Gwenpool #1 and Young Avengers Presents #6)
volume one | two [complete]

West Coast Avengers’ first volume is a whole lot of fun. After moving out west to Los Angeles, Kate Bishop realizes that an entire coast is pretty much defenseless, so she less assembles, more cobbles together a superhero team that, like her, is a mess that somehow makes it through.

Kelly Thompson and her team accomplish several things at once in this debut team book. The Hawkeyes stay together, always a good thing for the Marvel Universe (and she has their witty banter down). And even though it’s a team book, Thompson continues major threads left hanging from Kate’s solo series, which she also authored. (You might want to at least catch up on Kate Bishop Hawkeye’s series, though everyone’s got great solo titles.)

WCA is a reboot of the original 80’s team, also founded by Hawkeye (Clint, not Kate). In a nice callback, Tigra, an original member, also makes an appearance in this volume. But it still feels like a fresh concept because of the characters themselves and the bittersweet timing that brought them all together. Bittersweet, because not only was Kate’s series cancelled, but Thompson also brings in Gwenpool and America Chavez, whose respective titles were also recently canned, and they fit in the group dynamic seamlessly. If these great (female, queer, hmmmm) heroes lost their solo runs, at least they can have a second chance together.

The result is a team that has a “stars aligned” feeling even as Kate holds hilarious auditions for team members. Once the six are formed, they have to learn to work together even when their personalities clash and there’s great character development to be had here. Clint and Kate are forced to grow up a little bit; Clint in a mentor/big brother role is really fantastic, along with Kate learning to be a team leader. America, also Kate’s bestie, is the only person on the team with their shit together; Gwenpool is a reckless wildcard. That leaves Kid Omega, the tank with lots of obnoxious snark, and Fuse, who still has very little personality, and at some point I would like to know how he’s good enough for MY KATE.

You might be wondering how a team headquartered in LA pays rent without any income or a billionaire member. In a unique, silly yet realistic twist, the team gets their funding by filming a reality show documentary (without the permission of Captain America), and the “talking heads” style to invisible crewmen, like The Office or Parks & Rec, seamlessly adds to the humor and narrative.

The plot, similar to the tone of Thompson’s Hawkeye, was ridiculous and ultimately forgettable, but still a fun ride. This arc’s villain is MODOK, who built himself a blond six-pack bod and accurately named himself BRODOK. I was expecting bit more snark from Gwenpool with MODOK as the villain from [book:her first volume|29467805], which seemed like a pretty obvious oversight.

Casselli and Farrell’s art also feels West Coast inspired, with a warm color tone and clear “on location” scenes. There’s also a roughness evoking Hawkeye artists David Aja (Clint) and Leonardo Romero (Kate), but still with their own spin, are some nice visual callbacks too. I hope we’ll see the Avengers visit other big cities, like Portland, San Francisco and Seattle. (update: we won’t, huge missed opportunity. Sob!)

West Coast Avengers’ biggest challenge moving forward is to grow each team member’s relationship with each other, while also evolving the overall team dynamic. It’s not easy to accomplish, but in a team comic like Runaways, characters have distinct relationships with every other team member. Here we have a few dynamics, the strongest of which carry over from previous series, especially Kate with Clint and America. But I’d love to see what kind of relationships, say, Kate and Gwen have together, or America and Fuse (though I think we’ll be getting more America with someone *else*).

And finally, we still need MORE Lucky, who makes an all too brief appearance at WCA’s under-construction headquarters (who’s walking my good boy?) – I think the time is right for another Lucky focused issue like the all around perfect Hawkeye #11 – Thompson and Casselli could have some real fun with it especially with the larger cast. And also, Lucky.