All-New Guardians of the Galaxy #1 - The Guardians pull a heist for the Grandmaster, who forces them to plan a second one. Story by Gerry Duggan, art by Aaron Kuder.

Hmm. These weren't characters I was that interested in prior to the movie, and in all honesty I'm not that interested in them now. The style is kind of glib to me, lots of bantering and one-liners, and that sort of took the edge off of things. I just couldn't get interested in this.

Black Bolt #1 - Black Bolt is tricked into being imprisoned where he planned to imprison Maximus. Story by Saladin Ahmed, art by Christian Ward,

I'm likely not the best person to review this as I'm not a big Inhumans fan, but I'll do my best. It's professionally executed, although sadly the art suffers from over-coloring, particularly in the fight scenes (can anyone draw a proper fight scene anymore?). I was also a little disappointed at one of the developments by the end of the issue, as one of the things I was looking forward to seeing was how the creators would deal with some of the limitations of the character.

Jean Grey #1 - Jean runs into the Wrecking Crew in Japan, but fails to capture them because the Phoenix interrupts her. Story by Dennis Hopeless, Art by Victor Ibanez.

So, this is the time-displaced Jean, not the one who's already died and come back to life umpteen times. The story is professionally executed (although I do get tired of once mighty villains being treated like the Brooklyn Brawler, but hey, Marvel has plenty of super heroes it can turn into villains, right?), but it seemed to be lacking something. It's a reasonable hook, but I don't see myself continuing to read this title.

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  • A common theme runs through these titles, perhaps moreso for me than for you, in that none of these are the versions of the characters I'm interested in. (An argument could be made that Black Bolt is, but after AVX the Inhumans are almost unregognizable to me.) I bought X-Men Gold #3 yesterday but haven't read it yet. I liked the first two issues and expect to enjoy #3 as well, but I don't anticipate continuing to buy this title indefinitely.

  • I have continued reading X-Men Gold as well. Issue #3 was...okay. I'm finding it a tad jarring seeing Kitty not just as an adult but also as a mature adult--not that she wouldn't be, it's just not what I'm used to. Also, there was a scene that was supposed to be tense that anyone who's familiar with the characters involved would anticipate the outcome, and that just fell flat.

    I'm also a tad curious why Marvel is launching all of these titles during this event. Is it so they can easily retcon them all when the reset button is pushed? Or do they plan to completely ignore Secret Empire?

    Jeff of Earth-J said:

    A common theme runs through these titles, perhaps moreso for me than for you, in that none of these are the versions of the characters I'm interested in. (An argument could be made that Black Bolt is, but after AVX the Inhumans are almost unregognizable to me.) I bought X-Men Gold #3 yesterday but haven't read it yet. I liked the first two issues and expect to enjoy #3 as well, but I don't anticipate continuing to buy this title indefinitely.

  • It's weird to read reviews of Marvels and not know what's going on. But it's been seven years since I stopped reading Marvel comprehensively, and then almost completely -- I think the last Marvel I read was the first Vision trade. So I'm not surprised that everything's moved on. It's just -- weird.

    But I do have thoughts:

    * The only Inhumans I have any interest in are the royal family -- and even there, only in small doses. That hasn't changed, nor is it likely to. If you make up new ones, they could just as easily be mutants, and I'd rather read about the X-Men.

    * I'm actually not that interested in reading about the X-Men. My favorites, and the most interesting, are mostly dead. When you have an X-Men lineup that doesn't include the original Cyclops, Prof. X, Wolverine or Jean Grey, is it even the X-Men? (Hint: Not to me it isn't.)

    * In every solicitation I read, Black Bolt keeps doing bad things. Is he a bad guy now? Is that why Medusa is dating Johnny Storm?

    * Is there any plausible reason for Medusa to be dating Johnny Storm? Isn't she, like, 10 years older than he is? She was an adult when she first appeared, and he was a teenager. Also, she's a queen and he's an idiot. I can't swallow that one, unless he's just a sex toy for her.

    * Jean Grey #1: The Phoenix? I think that's happened before a few times. Even the new kid went through a trial with the Shi'Ar over it (which I read and don't remember). Hey, maybe she'll die and come back to life! Has that ever been done before?

    * I can't imagine Kitty Pryde as an adult. Wait, not true. I just can't imagine being interested in Kitty Pryde as an adult. It was fun watching her grow up, but if that story's over, so is my interest.

    * I didn't read AvX, Jeff. What made the Inhumans unrecognizable to you?

    * Randy, you're pondering the "why" of all these titles, and I don't have all the answers, but I'm guessing most of them aren't aimed at us. I haven't read Iceman (nor do I intend to), but I suspect it exists to appeal to millennials, for whom sexual identity (and its fluidity) is a major preoccupation. Seriously, the ones I meet are just consumed with it. One girl at the newspaper thought we ought to be using the gender-neutral pronouns (zis and zer and other Pepe le Pew words).

    I don't know how the other titles play into millennial fever, but I'd bet they did in the elevator pitch.

  • The story is professionally executed (although I do get tired of once mighty villains being treated like the Brooklyn Brawler, 

    Ah, Steve Lombardi...

  • Not to be pedantic, but it's Steve Lombard, and Vince Lombardi.

    Oh, wait, I'm a pedant! Never mind.



  • Captain Comics said:

    Not to be pedantic, but it's Steve Lombard, and Vince Lombardi.

    Oh, wait, I'm a pedant! Never mind.

    Steve Lombardi was a jobber in the WWF (now the WWE) more than a few years ago, who had a brief flirtation with (very) low level stardom, with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as his manager.  He worked for Vince McMahon, on-camera and off for over thirty years.

  • “I didn't read AvX, Jeff. What made the Inhumans unrecognizable to you?”

    It wasn’t AvX per se, but rather what the Inhumans have slowly morphed into over the years, especially post-FF. (For the record, I did read the first three issues.) It’s like you said: “In every solicitation I read, Black Bolt keeps doing bad things. Is he a bad guy now?” If "they could just as easily be mutants," what's the point?

  • My apologies. Do you think DC's Steve Lombard was named for him?

    The Baron said:



    Captain Comics said:

    Not to be pedantic, but it's Steve Lombard, and Vince Lombardi.

    Oh, wait, I'm a pedant! Never mind.

    Steve Lombardi was a jobber in the WWF (now the WWE) more than a few years ago, who had a brief flirtation with (very) low level stardom, with Bobby "The Brain" Heenan as his manager.  He worked for Vince McMahon, on-camera and off for over thirty years.

  • Yeah, the "they could just as well be mutants" is a sticking point with me as well. Not from a fanboy point of view -- I'm not hanging on to outdated dogma which perpetuates an aristocracy. And I understand why they're subbing Inhumans for mutants everywhere they can. It's just, as you say, what's the point? I've read all these stories before, with characters I actually cared about. Now I"m reading them again, with Phlegm Boy and Captain Toejam instead of Cyclops and Wolverine. It's boring.


    Jeff of Earth-J said:

    “I didn't read AvX, Jeff. What made the Inhumans unrecognizable to you?”

    It wasn’t AvX per se, but rather what the Inhumans have slowly morphed into over the years, especially post-FF. (For the record, I did read the first three issues.) It’s like you said: “In every solicitation I read, Black Bolt keeps doing bad things. Is he a bad guy now?” If "they could just as easily be mutants," what's the point?

  • “I can't imagine Kitty Pryde as an adult. Wait, not true. I just can't imagine being interested in Kitty Pryde as an adult. It was fun watching her grow up, but if that story's over, so is my interest.”

    I’ll take the opportunity to disagree with that assessment. Kitty Pryde as adult leader of the team is the main draw for me. If I were EIC of Marvel Comics (sh’yeah, right!), I’d do a Crisis-style series which would establish a set timeline from 1939 to the present and issue an edict that all characters age in real time (or close to it) from that point forward.

    I like to see characters change (not just the illusion of change) and progress, but I like to “see” it happen. What I don’t like about the current Spider-Man, for example, is that Peter Parker’s success was “thrust upon him” rather than the end result of moths of story development. I haven’t been reading X-Men for a long time, but after having read X-Men Prime and the first two issues of Gold, I looked up Kitty’s recent character history online. I’m not motivated to seek it out, but I know it’s there if I choose to read it.

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