X-Men: Blue #1 (June, 2017)
Writer - Cullen Bunn
Art - Jorge Molina & Matteo Buffagni
Colors - Matt Milla
Letters - VC's Joe Caramagna
Assistant Editor - Christina Harrington
Editor - Mark Paniccia
Editor in Chief - Axel Alonso
Cover Price: $4.99
Something a little bit different today. Still got the Blogger-image woes, and am not really in the right head space to reflect on some Chris and Reggie stuff at the moment... so, we're dipping back over into the From Claremont to Claremont project... where I had the intentions of writing semi-regular "capsule" reviews of some of the X-Books from around the time that I decided to drop the property. I didn't get all that far... guess that might've been the step too far that made me realize I'm not just a blogging machine, or whatever. Anyhoo... I started with X-Men: Blue #1 from 2017, and here is what I had to say about it.
It's formatted a little differently than how I usually do things... but, it was meant to be quite a bit "breezier" (if only I had the ability to make it breezy and concise!). Enjoy... or, ya know... don't.
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(Originally written March 29, 2020)
As the official launch of From Claremont to Claremont: An X-Men Podcast draws ever closer, I am trying my darnedest to "get into" the current batch of books. While, for the most part, I've enjoyed everything I've read... I can't help but to feel a little bit (okay, a lot-bit) lost. After being an X-Men fanatic for over 30 years, it's a very strange sensation to suddenly feel like you're a "new reader".
And so, I decided to try and catch myself up on everything I'd missed over the past few years... starting with the books that drove me away from the franchise in the first place! Those crazy "color" books... X-Men: Blue, X-Men: Gold... eventually X-Men: Red and that series of X-Men: Black books as well!
When these books first launched, even still being an avid X-Men reader at the time... I swear, I barely recognized any of the characters! I probably read the first six issues of both Blue and Gold before finally pulling the plug... well, I stopped reading them anyway... it took me quite a bit longer to drop them from my pull-list. Old habits, and all'at.
These "reviews", if we can call them that, are going to be pretty short... and, so long as I can help it: concise. This is basically a means to an end... where writing about these books gives me more of a reason to actually read them.
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Before I get started, I want to preface with the fact that I'm going into this a little bit biased. I know this probably isn't a popular opinion, but, I find the writer of this title to be... rather dull. I can only think of one Cullen Bunn book that I enjoyed even a little bit, and that was a Green Lantern Corps miniseries before Rebirth over at DC. I've read my fair share of his work... in fairness it couldn't really be avoided, for a while there he was writing about 80% of mainstream comics' output. I'm sure he's a nice dude... and, I'm hoping in revisiting these issues, I'll come out of this with a more favorable opinion.
Now, X-Men: Blue features the time-displaced Original Five... ya know, the ones Bendis brought from the past... which, wasn't the actual past, but a different past... but, still they were the same people... or something? Yeah, them. There are some differences between these and the originals... Warren's got glowing wings, Hank's taken up mysticism, and Jean looks as though she's developed the secondary mutation to give herself really bad haircuts.
The team has been tracking a Cerebro ping all the way to a sea vessel in the Mediterranean. Jean immediately picks up some frantic psychic hoodoo. One thing that catches me right off the bat is the pretty incessant "sass" in this dialogue. I get that these are kids... and kids these days be sassy, but this is actually making me root against them.
Also, the "Fraptions"... I was hoping we were done with them when Matt Fraction left the book. You remember those, right? Those silly little add-ons in the introductory captions for each character? Here's one from this very issue for Jean.
Turns out the baddie they're tracking is Black Tom Cassidy... who, after a bit of a skirmish, introduces his partner in crime... duh, Juggernaut (with wacky "fraption"!). Now, I appreciate the attempt at making this feel "old school" by using some classic X-Villains, just the way we remember them... but, this feels more like the bad guys have been "frozen in amber", like plucked out of a comic from the early 90's, rather than having lived an actual life in the interim. I mean, Juggernaut was an X-Man for awhile... I'm pretty sure Black Tom was on X-Force for a bit!
Juggernaut actually manages to prove that he is from "current year" by pouncing toward Cyclops for killing Charles Xavier. They fight... and, outside the sassy banter, this is pretty well done. The Blue team comes out on top after Beast uses his mystic abilities to open a portal, which sends Juggs to Siberia. This ticks off Cyclops, suggesting that there might be a rift in the ranks oncoming.
The main portion of the story ends with, what I'm guessing is supposed to be a suspenseful scene where the team is checking in with their "boss". It's... Magneto. Which, ya know... maybe a little bit underwhelming, considering Magneto's been playing the hokey-pokey with the X-Men for the better part of five decades at this point?
The issue actually manages to pick up a bit with an epilogue which introduces Jimmy Hudson from the Ultimate Universe (Ultimate Comics: X) into the mainstream post-Secret Wars (2015) Marvel Universe. Jimmy whups him a Wendigo... and a lot of people wind up dead.
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In revisiting this for the first time in like three years, I really can't figure out why this was the "straw that broke me", so to speak. It's certainly not my favorite take on the X-Men (time-displaced or otherwise), but there's nothing quite so bad here that I would actually end my three-decade long obsession with the property, ya know? Maybe it'll become more evident as we move forward... or, maybe I'll wind up realizing that I was just way overdue for a break from the franchise? Stranger things have happened...
I did not like the "sassy" dialogue, however, when he was able to rein that in, I thought Bunn did some great work here. The post-fight argument between Scott and Hank was especially strong... and actually makes me want to read further, just to see if this does lead to an actual schism.
The Magneto reveal... as mentioned, was underwhelming. Not that this issue was touted as having a "big reveal" or anything, but the way it was presented I get the feeling like I was supposed to have to pick my jaw up off the floor after seeing it.
Now, the epilogue... that was a lot fun. I was never really a fan of bringing the Ultimate characters over... but, I can totally see why they did it. The Ultimate books had been on life-support for years... no matter what sort of stunt Marvel pulled, it just never got back to the level of those exciting first few years of the line. Seeing Jimmy Hudson here... it worked, and honestly... if not for the contrived nature of Marvel cramming all the notable characters from the Ultimate Universe into the 616 at once, may have actually resulted in my having to pick my jaw up off the floor!
The art here, and I feel like artists these days (maybe especially at Marvel?) don't get near enough credit, is really good. Outside of Jean's very ugly haircut, I really dug the way this book looked. The Art Adams cover, well... it should go without saying, but it's really very nice.
Lobo (vol.2) #1 (December, 2014)
"Targets"
Writer - Cullen Bunn
Penciller - Reilly Brown
Inker - Nelson DeCastro
Colorist - Pete Pantazis
Letterer - Travis Lanham
Assistant Editors - Anthony Marques & Jeremy Bent
Editor - Mike Cotton
Group Editor - Eddie Berganza
Cover Price: $2.99
One of the best parts... okay, the best part about this whole blogging endeavor, is the friendships I've made (it's one of my "Two F's" for doing this at all... friends and fun). I never would have imagined, the first time I put digital ink to screen that I'd meet such nice folks. People who I can see myself being friends with "in real life". One such pal is Mike Carlyle from The Crapbox of Son of Cthulhu. Not only does he run one of the most interesting and entertaining comics blogs around, he's one of the nicest fellas you'd ever wanna meet. He's helped my fledgling site out tremendously, and introduced me to several new friends as well.
Well, about a week or so back I received a care package from the deepest, darkest recesses of the crapbox. Among the bevy of issues was this copy of Lobo #1 (2014). We're gonna take a look at some "true" 'box finds... directly from the real-deal-crapbox! In addition to Lobo, there were a few more DC titles... one of which is going to have to wait until November... because... reason(s).
Before we pop into the synopsis... I really want to extend a sincere Thank You to Mike. You've helped this humble blog out so much, and I wish there was a way I could return the favor. Until then... I'm picking, digging, and arranging a "care package" myself that will be Crapbox-bound in due time!
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We open in the middle of a conversation with our titular hero... and the Main Man...'s head. The more polished and slender Lobo implies that the other has been impersonating him. After a few unsuccessful attempts at offing my Lobo, new-Lobo is finally successful. He fries the poor head... and momentarily blacks out. As he passes out, he mutters "Sorry. Not..." and I swear, when I first read this I was hoping-against-hope that new-Lobo wouldn't have the catchphrase of "Sorry, Not Sorry"... because, that would be lame, and the worst. Instead I convinced myself that he said "Sorry... NOT!" a la, Wayne's World... perhaps a commentary on old-Lobo's innate 90's-ness.
We shift to a flashback in which Lobo is finishing up a painting of a Czarnian Princess, who is acting as his model. Passion gets the better of both of them, and they embrace. Lobo turns his back for a moment... and when he looks back at his lady-love, she appears to be a bleeding zombified corpse. Outside the window, the streets are flooded with similarly decomposed pedestrians.
Lobo awakens from his nightmare. We learn that on a monthly basis he gets part of his brain stem cauterized in order to prevent ever entering into a REM state... yet, his Czarnian blood causes it to heal. He is joined in his room by a crew of aliens of varying humanoid appearance. He is given a contract for eight of the deadliest assassins in the universe... and the intel that these killers are all converging on the same world... Earth.
Lobo arrives on a barren desert on Earth, and hops into his (admittedly) pretty damn cool motorcycle. This is one thing I'll give new-Lobo over the old... this cycle is pretty sweet!
We get a look at the desert base where one of the assassins is holed up. Lobo cases the joint, and plans his approach. We get a look at his... pretty bad-ass gear. Okay, there's another point for new-Lobo... his weaponry is fairly awesome.
He starts his unsubtle infiltration by blowing away a crew of fools. As he renders these geeks into bite-sized pieces, Lobo carries on an internal monologue wherein he reveals that his weapons were meant to be ceremonial, rather than utilitarian. We also learn about his moral code when he is confronted by alien dogs. Lobo will not kill dogs... he'll kill most anything else... but dogs are innocent and off-limits.
He enters the base, and confronts his contract. They have a brief battle, resulting in Lobo chopping off one of the creeps four hands. He demands to know who he's working for... to which he is pointed at a computer terminal that should have all the info. Lobo decides that the fella's outlived his usefulness and decapitates him with the swiftness... it is here where he finally utters the words that brought forth cringiest cringe I've cringed in awhile... "Sorry. Not Sorry." Bleccchhhh
Lobo gets the info, finds that this guy wasn't an assassin at all... just a demolitions guy. Now knowing who his true target is, Lobo burns down the compound and heads out on his bad-ass bike.
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Well... okay, how to begin?
This is Lobo for a new generation? I kind of feel bad saying anything negative about it... I'm not even sure he's still in continuity in our new post-Rebirth landscape. I remember the (relative) uproar when it was announced that this would be the real Lobo... and any version we'd met previously was an imposter. I wasn't happy with the direction, though, I stayed far outside the newz sites comments sections... knowing that the arguments wouldn't have anything to do with character and story.
What I don't understand is why did we need a new "handsome" Lobo? This whole story could have been told (minus the first few page "middle finger" to longtime readers) with the original-recipe Main Man! You can give the old Lobo a sensitive side! You can introduce an internal conflict to him! Perhaps the most valid complaint we'd often hear about the old Lobo... was that he was a fairly shallow character. That could have been rectified in this volume!
If DC was so high on this new character design... why not just make him a new character? We haven't had one of those in... jeez, when did Harley Quinn first show up? This was an opportunity to create something completely new... and it feels like it was squandered on getting a few hot minutes of internet controversy by flipping off the longtime reader base. That's probably my main problem with the entire thing... this character appears to me (and I concede that I may just be projecting) as an antagonistic thumbing of the nose toward the folks who have supported this industry (and DC Comics) for decades... and I feel ridiculous saying so. Because, I mean... is Lobo really the hill any of us want to die on???
With all this said... how was the story? Not bad. If I can separate my initial reservations... this is a perfectly serviceable story. I enjoyed the inner conflict Lobo had during his assault... and appreciated that he had a code. We get the feeling that he may be a tortured assassin, perhaps in the vain of Crying Freeman. That's an interesting approach, and one I would have dug a ton more had they given it to the original-recipe Lobo... but, that's neither here nor there. The art and coloring were also fantastic. I loved the... er, highlights (?) on Lobo's face.
The character design? I actually quite like it. Not for Lobo, mind you... but it's a striking and dynamic design, that I cannot deny. There's a certain DeviantArt-ness about it... but, I still dig it. As mentioned above, I really like his gear. The cycle looks awesome, and I really dig his weapons. Broken record time... if he was a NEW character (or perhaps Lobo's other-brother Lobo), this could have been a lot more fun. This book could have been a blast had it been called Lobos... and had the two characters constantly bump-heads, but comedy was clearly not the direction DC was going with this one.
If I'm being fair... I honestly think the Lobo name did this fella a grand disservice... there's a lot of baggage that comes along with a name like that, and preconceptions to boot. He entered the market with two-strikes already against him. Quite frankly, I'm surprised this book lasted as long as it did (and that is not an indictment on the creative team!) It's sad, because... this one did have potential.
I must admit... I almost tossed the book across the room when he said "Sorry, not sorry"... I mean, really? I suppose I can take solace in the fact that he didn't say the word "hashtag" first... but still... soooooo damn lame. Don't want a sassy Lobo.
Anyhoo... I feel like I've hit that point where I'm talking in circles... the more I write, the less of a point I make, so I'll try and sum it all up. This book deserved better than being called Lobo. It's not a bad book, honestly, and giving it the Lobo name just triggered a knee-jerk reaction for me to dislike it. The character design is good... the story is good... I just think this should have been his own thing. Overall, I'm glad I read this.
Before I go, I just want to thank my good pal Mike Carlyle once more for sending this one my way! Be sure to check him out at The Crapbox of Son of Cthulhu.
There's new content every week, and a wonderful back catalog to keep you occupied and entertained between posts!
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