With the announcement of the new X-Men: Red series, set to release early next year and finally return the original Jean Grey to the Marvel universe, I thought maybe it was time to give the X-Men series another try. I’ve never really been much of a comic book reader apart from the Robert Kirkman stuff (The Walking Dead, Invincible and Outcast to be exact) but earlier this year I did ‘dip my toe’ into the wider Marvel universe. With the announcement of Secret Empire (an event which I thoroughly enjoyed, even with its relatively lacklustre climax) I decided it was time to jump in. I read the whole of Nick Spencer’s Captain America: Steve Rodgers run on the lead-up to this event and then week-by-week I began to read the tie-in issues as they came out. This was a bit of an ordeal at first as I tried to make sense of many different comics which were already several issues into their run, most of these were kind-of pointless to the overall Secret Empire story but it did help me discover some of my favourite comics going forward. This includes the likes of Deadpool (Despicable Deadpool in its current post-Marvel Legacy form), Doctor Strange (which was probably one of the better tie-ins) and Ultimates2 (which has now sadly concluded). Whoops, well that was a long tangent, basically all I was trying to say is that when I first tried to jump into the Marvel Universe at the time of such a major event it was like navigating a mine field of continuity and half-complete story arcs. That’s why the ResurrXion event was so enticing to me.
Before the events of Marvel Legacy (and even before the events of Secret Empire), Marvel essentially decided to hit the reset button on their Inhuman and X-Man franchises, starting a number of new titles from scratch and establishing a new status quo for many of their teams and characters. I’m going to be talking mostly about the X-Men books here as I had very little interest in the Inhuman side of the event - although on another tangent I did try out Saladin Ahmed’s Black Bolt solo series which I thoroughly enjoyed, it feels really cool to read a comic made by a genuinely complex, intelligent writer rather than the usual explosions and cliches present in most Marvel comics. Back to ResurrXion, as I mentioned earlier this was essentially a fresh start, an easy way for me to jump into the Marvel universe and more specifically the world of the X-Men. I’ll deal with the more inconsequential titles first, I didn’t even try Generation X as the idea of teenage mutants with very little consequence or threat in their stories just seemed boring to me, I read a couple of issues of Cable but eventually thanks to the lack of text and pages upon pages of action scenes it dawned on me that the creators were much more content with delivering a mindless, run-of-the mill story about the the time-travelling assassin rather than anything meaty or substantial and then there’s Weapon X. This started out promising enough with a couple of issues showing the strong bond between Old Man Logan and Sabretooth, but quite soon into its run the comic entered its Mutants of Mass Destruction phase. This was a crossover with the Totally Awesome Hulk which involved Weapon X creating a creature which was a cross between the Wolverine and the Hulk. Although this was an interesting premise at first the excecution was just plain horrible. The writing for the cross-over was just plain bad and the art for each issue was bland and boring, there was literally nothing to keep me coming back for 6-Part story (including another issue at the start and at the end, rounding it up to 8 overall), so I didn’t. I stopped Weapon X there and I don’t plan on going back. If that was the more mediocre offerings in the ResurrXion line-up then I guess it’s time to move onto the better options. Iceman is a very good solo series for a character I had little to no interest in prior to this. There are two main reasons for this: one this tells a much more character driven story than you find in superhero comics (especially more formulaic ones like those found in the Marvel universe) and two thanks to its creator Sina Grace. The story follows a more mature Iceman who is kind of experiencing a midlife crisis, stuck between being a member of the X-Men and having a normal life in order to let the next generation take his place, also he has recently come out as gay. Iceman exploring his homosexuality is the core idea behind the series which is refereshing in a world of by-the-numbers comics (like Cable), I think this is mostly down to its creator Sina Grace (an outspoken gay man himself), he gives such an interesting perspective on what Iceman is going through and the way some of his friends and family react to the news is both realistic and heartbreaking. It actually reminds me of Black Bolt which I mentioned earlier, the passion project of a very skilled writer (in that case Saladin Ahmed) who just happens to be working within the confines of the Marvel universe. Sadly the issues can’t just be filled with the interesting character stuff, each issue does have an antagonist or monster of the week to fight which although they look nice on the page can feel jammed in and repititive. Apart from this my only other real criticism is that after about seven issues there isn’t really a clear narrative going forward, it feels much more episodic and the interesting family dynamics have kind of been pushed to the side. Not that this is a bad thing, but I would just prefer a more overarching story. Another high quality comic from the ResurrXion line-up is the Jean Grey series. This is less due to the creative team (although they’re great as well) but instead the whole premise. This follows a younger version of Jean Grey who got removed from her time period and brought to the present along with the rest of her original X-Men team (as shown in X-Men: Blue which I will get to shortly), as she searches for a way to avoid her destiny of being claimed by the Phoenix force. Although I was very interested by this premise it does take a couple issues to get going. At first it was basically just Jean Grey going on a bunch of disparate, unconnected adventures with characters from the Marvel universe such as Odinson (the current version of the original Thor, who is now unworthy) and Namor but after a couple of issues a broader narrative begins to become clear. It becomes a whole lot more interesting when we discover that the mystery voice which has been plaguing her since the start is actually the adult version of Jean Grey. This made the whole comic a lot more interesting to me especially as this is likely how she is going to be able to come back to star in the X-Men: Red series. It also is the catalyst which turns the story much more connected and serialised than before, each issue after this has Jean striving towards a particular goal or issue which is much more interesting than the random misadventures earlier on. Jean Grey is a more regular, Marvel affair than Iceman, but it’s interesting premise and guest appearances from some very interesting characters keep it fresh and interesting. Now onto the main meat of the ResurrXion line-up, X-Men: Gold, X-Men: Blue and Astonishing X-Men. Starting with X-Men: Gold, I was sad to say at first I was a little disappointed by this, the main writer Marc Guggenheim, known for his work on the CW’s Arrow (Don’t worry your day is coming Arrowverse. I just can’t work up the courage to write anything about you because I hate you), didn’t seem to have a good story planned out. The team is perhaps the most interesting part with a mix of obscure and well-known X-Men and Guggenheim does seem to have a good handle on these characters and the relationships between them (something he’s pretty shit at on Arrow, no I’m not letting it go). But too me personally the team dynamics are just not enough to hold up a series with such a substandard story. The arcs involving the X-Men having to go to Washington and contest the new act being past against Mutants are when the series is at its best. The opposition is not simply painted as racist or bigoted but instead people who are just afraid for their safety and the safety of their country, ethically the whole conflict is in the grey area which is best place to operate to create more relatable, realistic characters. These political themes continue on throughout most of the ongoing series but some completely ridiculous arcs involving fighting Omega Red in Russia with a bunch of Bratva (the leader of which is called Anatoly, seriously Marc it’s not funny at this point. Arrow will be getting the shit kicked out of it in a later piece) and also one fighting Sentinels which can turn into airborn nanites (that’s really not a big enough change to make just another bog-standard Sentinel fight compelling) completely drag down the series. It does appear to be getting a little better as it enters the Mojoworldwide crossover (which I will get into more detail about after X-Men: Blue), so there is still hope; as long as Marc can pull his finger out. (Maybe that’s a bit too harsh, the character dynamics have been quite good but the ridiculous story arcs just drag it down). Onto X-Men: Blue; this comic fairs a lot better than its companion comic. Seeing the original X-Men team in the present day is just a fun dynamic (it also doesn’t hurt that I’m now a big fan of this version of Jean Grey from her solo series), seeing how they react with this new world as well as the present day versions of themselves is just so interesting. This gives it an instant advantage over Gold as it simply just has a more interesting presence and even though it is basically aping old X-Men comics it somehow feels less tedious and less formulaic than Gold. It also has another advantage over Gold in the fact that the majority of its story arcs are much more interesting. The first arc is a relatively by-the-numbers original X-Men story but is completely recontextualised by the reveal that they are working for Magneto (Gold does not have any interesting twists or even character additions when I think about it, it’s pretty boring and uneventful for most of the run), this changes the whole set-up drastically from what I originally thought. The introduction of Wolverine’s son from the Ultimate universe, Jimmy Hudson is also a very interesting arc as it adds a new member to the team (which could have gotten stale after a while), it also draws attention back to some of the fallout from the destruction of the Ultimate universe which is where I think Marvel is always at its best hence my appreciation for Ultimates2 (all those many words ago) and The Unworthy Thor (another compelling story which ties up threads left over from the Ultimate universe. He’s also a very interesting addition to the team, he starts off at first as essentially just a replacement for Wolverine but over time develops his own personality and dynamics with other characters which oppose this. The only arc which I think kind of falls short (like most of Gold did) is one involving the Goblin King and her army of hex-men, that’s already a silly premise as is but Beast exploring the consequences of his new magic powers could have been so much more compelling a story but we’re stuck with this chessy, kind of tongue-in-cheek affair. This is highlighted even more by the side story in these issues which involves Jimmy trying to find out more about his origin (which I’ve already mentioned I find very interesting) involving Miss Sinister. I would have rather just had a story focused instead on Jimmy or for the creative team to wait a while until they could deliver a more emotional story relating to Beast’s magic, this story beat can essentially not be used again and seems like such a waste to use it on such a stupid premise. Overall Blue is much more successful than Gold, it’s arcs are actually interesting and do things to mix up the formula from issue to issue (unlike Gold which’s story and feel stay relatively stagnant), it’s not perfect but it makes great strides towards reestablishing the X-Men to the level they once were. While I’m on the topic I’d also like to mention the crossover between Gold/Blue known as Mojoworldwide. This sees both teams being trapped in the Mojoverse, essentially an intergalactic reality show where they must face some of their greatest foes from the past. Although this is action-packed, popcorn fun the dynamic between the two teams is very good and although it relies heavily on nostalgia seeing some of the classic X-Men villains and iconography with these newer teams is a site to behold. Blue is obviously the superior comic, but when they are together it certainly brings the best out in Gold and its creative team. (Guggenheim channeling some Arrow Season 5 magic into this crossover. Sorry I couldn’t help myself. Its probably beyond annoying at his point. Let’s just call it foreshadowing for a future piece and move on). On to the final and most recent addition to the ResurrXion line-up, Astonishing X-Men. This is probably the most serialised out of all of the stories, it follows a traditional X-Men team (like Gold and Blue), but instead of telling its story in small, non-consequential arcs it tells one long serialised story over several issues (so far, this could change down the line). I also found it the most compelling story so far out of all these comics, the Shadow King manipulating several of the characters like Logan, Rogue and Mystique is so interesting as it gives us a more in depth look into their psyches. There is also the return of a certain major character (certain major Professor) who has been dead for several years within the Marvel universe, this in and of itself makes the series feel so much more important than the other X-Men titles overall. This may be hard to explain, but this series feels more artistic than the other titles like Blue and Gold which feel safe and formulaic (almost as if they’re specifically designed to appeal to the largest demographic and to go on for as long as possible, wink). Although I’m not very familiar with the writer Charles Soule, he has a great handle of these characters and seems to take real care in each page and scenario to make it as effective as possible. Overall I think I may even like this better than X-Men: Blue, although it is good in its own right, Astonishing X-Men is better because of its own reasons. It’s got a drastically different tone and approach to Blue, but this only makes it better. Luckily these two great X-Men comics can exist together. Thanks for joining me on this behemoth of an analysis, so if I had to condense this down into a few words I think ResurrXion has been very successful overall. Although some titles are severely lacking (Cable, Weapon X especially), with others being kind of mediocre (X-Men: Gold, sorry Guggenheim, it should be noted I have an obvious bias in this case) but this is actually salvaged by some very great comics such as Iceman, Astonishing X-Men and X-Men: Blue (and Jean Grey as well, they kind of lump together as one in my mind due to the similarities). They are all good in their own right, but I believe these series have managed to take back some of the reputation the X-Men franchise has lost over the last couple years. This has me looking forward to X-Men: Red when it comes out, perhaps I’ll have given up on this series again by then, but as of just now it’s shaping up to be another satisfying entry in this long-running saga.
0 Comments
With the fall television season finally kicking into gear, with the return of Network mainstays like the Arrowverse shows and The Walking Dead, the market is flooded with lots of options and us as viewers almost have too much to choose from. Each day about 3 or 4 new TV episodes is added to my ever-growing watchlist, although I did enjoy this at first eventually it just gets overwhelming and you need to become a bit more selective in your viewing habits. Goodbye Arrowverse (your better in binges anyway, well your moderately entertaining in binges, your actually near unbearable week-to-week). Goodbye Outlander (I’m sorry your just not as interesting on a weekly basis). But out of all these shows there’s one that I feel a compulsion to watch every week, as soon as it’s available, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. A bit of a mouthful yeah but it’s consistently one of the most complex, interesting shows on television. Not only does it have some really high concept fantasy/science fiction ideas, but it is also consistently charming with a large ensemble cast of likeable characters who are a joy to behold.
Before I get too much into why I love this show I should probably give some background as to how I originally found the show. I’ve been following Max Landis, the creator and executive producer on Dirk, for the last couple years now. It must have been around 2015 when American Ultra, a film he wrote the screenplay for, came out. Although I never saw the film due to some relatively mixed reviews, I remember seeing Landis talking about the film and being transfixed. There’s was something a little crazy about him, that unpredictable quality, but he was also very knowledgeable and seemed to have such an understanding and passion for his work. Although he didn’t have a web show or podcast that I could keep up to date on frequently like many other of my favourite ‘internet celebrities’ I still felt the need to try and find as much of him as I could. He made a few appearances on some shows which I liked, but the main place I could get my fix was his Twitter feed which has provided me with a lot of hilarity over the last couple years. After that I tried to stay up-to-date on his projects such as Victor Frankenstein and Mr. Right but I was sad to see that they just weren’t as good as I thought they’d be. Well-written yeah, but as films they just weren’t really hitting the mark. I realised in hindsight that this was likely due to the directors. One of Landis’ first films Chronicle which he worked on with director Josh Trank was good because the two worked well together, but I feel these other examples I have mentioned were cases of the directors basically just taking his script and not using it to it’s full potential. That’s why when it was announced that he would be the creator and EP behind Dirk I was so excited, this was his chance to essentially have full creative control over a project and the results were spectacular. So back to Dirk, I originally tried it out based on my love of Landis and his previous writing, but I was kind of shocked to find it was a genuine show with real production values. I probably shouldn’t have had such low expectations for the quality of production going in considering it was on BBC America which has had a couple hit shows like Orphan Black, but I was still surprised nonetheless. The show grabbed me almost immediately with its weird kind of quirky style, there’s tons of things happening every minute, many of which seem completely unrelated. For the first part of the first episode it almost seemed too much, how could any of these conflicting threads possibly be related. But the show begins to tie it all together relatively quickly, not to spoil much but the first season dives into time-travelling, body swapping, secret cults and ex-rockstars all under the same long-running mystery. It’s completely engrossing and keeps you guessing all the way up to the end, connecting these parts together was incredibly satisfying. It reminded me of Guy Ritchie’s early work such as Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Seeing all these disparate characters coming together through impossible odds just like it did in those films is one of the main reasons I love Dirk. We’re introduced to Dirk and his new partner Todd, an insane, Holistic detective and an obvious sceptic respectively. They (well more-so Dirk, Todd is pretty oblivious most of the time) lead us into this new world which grows more insane by the minute. Like most of the characters on this show the two have great chemistry, Elijah Wood and Samuel Barrnet seem like they’ve been friends for years after only a couple days. There not the only duo we follow along on their journey, we also get to see the computer savvy Ken and the killing machine Bart (who kills literally everyone she comes across, apart from Ken). Although there on the other side of the country and their story seems almost completely unrelated, the stories connect in interesting ways and Bart provides more insight onto how Dirk became the way he is. These strong character dynamics combined with the incredibly interesting story kept me hooked each week. That year I returned to it every week, prioritising it over the latest episode of Better Call Saul or Game of Thrones just because of how interesting it’s core concepts were. It all culminated in a last couple of episodes that somehow managed to tie everything back together, even things which seemed impossibly stupid before began to make sense. Sure, I loved Max Landis’ characters and dialogue but the bonkers, ever-unfolding story was what really kept me coming back. I could barely comprehend how he took something so insane and made it almost seem plausible, I genuinely cared about these characters and the situations they were stuck in. As I’m writing this Dirk Gently has just began its second season, and just like the last this one deals with some pretty bonkers fantastical concepts (this time in an actual fantasy land), which I’m truly excited to see how Landis and his creative team make into something that affects me and keeps me coming back week-after-week over all the other great television on at the moment. |
authorSo this is weird. I’ve made a website, I’m not expecting anyone to read it (actually I’d rather they didn’t.) Basically I’ve been struggling to write creative things recently, every idea I come up with, no matter how much I think I believe in it, leads me nowhere. I guess you could call it writer’s block, but it’s more so that I tend to overthink and second-guess myself down to the smallest details, this means it takes me forever to make anything and once I have I’m incredibly demotivated to continue it. So, after being inspired by an Australian writer, Gabriel Bergmoser, who’s blog and podcasts I’ve been reading and listening to for the past few years I decided this would be an interesting experiment to try out. Basically I have no idea what I’m going to write, it’s unlikely to be creative or short stories, more-so this kind of string-of-consciousness opinion piece based on the things I’m thinking about at the moment. From films to television or maybe books and music. Anyway I hope you find some of this stuff interesting. Let’s hope I don’t say anything too incriminating considering my name is plastered all over this. Granted, this is something I will probably only update about four times in my life, unless I really enjoy it. It’s more so to help me be more creative and actually produce something for once.
Archives
January 2021
CategoriesNot really sure? Opinions on the blog, mainly about entertainment. I'll also be posting some fiction or short stories eventually for your feedback and enjoyment.
|