|
Rating:  -
I am writing to comment on the persistent complaint that the "Essentials" series is in black and white on "cheap newsprint." While true (and there is no excuse for the shoddy binding of these reissues), it's important to remember that ALL comic books were, at that time, printed on very cheap paper. The colors available to comic artists were also far inferior to what is standard today. I actually found the black and white presentation crisp, clean and revealing. The reissues do preserve the often haphazard editing. Spelling errors abound: the "Assination" of Sen. Kelly is mentioned in the "Days of Future Past" storyline; "Definite" is sometimes misspelled "definate." Storm experiences "Atatistic" horror when confronted by the brood. Commas, periods and entire words just drop out of sentences. This was a disposable media. To have looked for immortal storytelling in comic books would have been considered pointless. But the same was said about the fanatics who preserved Shakespeare's plays in cheap "quarto" editions. The stories here will last as long as the comic genre last. They're that good and that "essential".
Rating:  -
This is probally the biggest book in the X-men essentials and probally the best. I felt that it was slow towards the beggining but really got into it pretty quick, and was sad when it finished. Many great villians, but i was upset when not seeing magneto or juggernaut. but still great fights with arcade, hellfire, phoinex, and wendigo, this will get make you want to watch the movies all over again
Rating: -
This graphic novel gets five stars. That is a little unfair. Why? This series of graphic novels should have got a Nebula award in 1980. Yes, it's that good. For this reviewer to give this comic five stars is like saying a Corvette is a fast car. That is an understatement.
The 1980 era X-men was the stuff of legends. To comic collectors and readers this was as good as it could get. The X-men movies can directly trace their lines to these simply great comic series. This reviewer sees the present X-men is still sold in stores with a fair amount of the same line up as in 1980. Amazing, it's a quarter century later and the original Uncanny X-men are going strong.
To any comic fan this is an inexpensive way to expand your knowledge of the X-men. You will get the Phoenix saga, the first time Mystique is introduced, the "new" brotherhood of evil mutants, and Kitty Pryde. Also, we are introduced to a batch of Canadian superheros. It's a shame the spin offs of the X-men all passed by the mid-1990s.
The writing of this comic is masterful. John Bryne was a perfect artist during this time. The only fault is John can't draw aircraft like Dave Cockrum. Chris Claremont's writing is fantastic.
I will not give away much about this series of comics in this graphic novel. Why? Amazon.com wants you to buy the book and my job is to convince you that this graphic novel is worth the money. Trust me, it's worth every penny.
The Phoenix saga is ended in this novel. Also, the "days of future past" series begins and ends. Kitty Pyrde establishes herself as "Sprite" and the new X-men get their connection with the teenagers of the early 1980s.
John Byrne's artwork concludes in this series of X-men comics. I quit reading comics after he was done on this series of X-men.
Now it's years later and I was very happy to buy these excellent comics and give them to my son's for their reading pleasure. It's great to be a kid on a summer day and reading an X-men by the swimming pool.
I loved these graphic novels. Marvel gave an excellent way for a person to get an introduction to the retooled X-men. These novels make great presents for early teenagers. At about $15 you can't go bad.
And I've re-read these amazingly good comics. At around $14 each plus shipping this is one of the best deals you'll find in the comic world.
Rating: -
Holy cripes, I'm not going to waste time giving you a synopsis- if you're looking at this page, chances are you already know what you're in for; for those who may not, however, just stop reading and buy this. This book, this single collection of stories, is what made the X-Men truly outstanding, back in the days where comic books didn't GET movies. The art is considered by many to be some of the best EVER PUBLISHED, any where and any time, period. So yeah, its excellent. If you're not familiar with the X-Men, don't worry, you will be by the time you're done reading this book. JUST BUY IT - if you've never read these stories, I envy you, you're about to have your eyes opened about just how truly wonderful some "funny books" can be.
Rating: -
This volume contains some of the all-time classic X-Men storylines, including the Dark Phoenix saga, and my personal favorite, "Days of Future Past". Both of these stories are epic and moving (at least to me). You shouldn't have much trouble figuring out where you stand plot- and character-wise, because at the time extensive recaps and internal monologue explaining everybody's powers was par for the course.
I don't want to make it sound like I'm trashing the writing, here. Some people probably have trouble with this style -- very word-heavy, paragraph-heavy even, and not very conversational at times. ("Malefic destiny"? Dude, Scott, it was cheesy when the narrator said it, so you had to pick it out of the ether?) I admit if you have a headache it's not the comic book to head for. But the plot is engaging, the action is quick, and the intense verbiage can be thought of as opera arias -- certainly not realistic, but an important part of the art form.
The characters are well-defined but not shallow -- each of them has problems and quirks that play into non-fight interaction, as well as the personality and style that is obvious in fights. Storm is claustrophobic, still grieving for her parents, and really alien to mainstream American culture; as well as being "dignified and moral." Colossus misses his family and farming, thinks it would be wrong to act on his and Kitty's mutual attraction (she's 14 or so, he's 17), and questions why he's a hero and whether it's disloyal to the USSR to be an X-Man; as well as being "stalwart and kind." You get to know these characters very quickly -- there's not much subtlety at play -- but you can't help but care about them.
The art is really great. Of course it's dated, and some people's costumes (especially the bit players -- Havoc and Polaris need a re-draw STAT) are just a bit weird, but Byrne draws action-packed fights that are easy to understand; clear, realistic emotions; and well-proportioned human figures (leaving aside the comic-book pretty-people issue -- I mean that their eyes, heads, legs, always look comfortable and graceful, and in the right place. Don't scoff, I've seen some really gifted comic book artists put eyes too high or forearms too short.) My only real beef is that a lot of the white girls look the same. Jean Grey is "pretty white girl with medium-length curly red hair." Amanda Sefton is "pretty white girl with medium-length wavy blonde hair" et cetera. That, frankly, is still common (Ultimate Spider-man, I'm looking at you!), and at least these are really pretty 'pretty white girls'!
In short? If you hate four-color superheroes...why are you reading this? If you can take a bit of camp and still care about the characters, this is a great thing to pick up. It has great characters, twisted plots, pretty pictures, the occasional funny, and, I'll admit it, the first time I read it I cried at least twice. ("Once upon a time, there was a woman named Jean Grey, a man named Scott Summers. They were young. They were in love. They were heroes." I get misty just quoting that.) Time travel, gods, alien empires, love, betrayal, racism, pinball, roller skates, disco, and sweet sweet continuity. Can't beat that for the low low Amazon price.
Television Show
Collectibles
Movie Searches
|
|
|
Search for posters,
art prints, photos, collectables, merchandise, toys, t-shirts
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TV Guide
Program listings, celebrity profiles, industry
gossip, movie reviews, puzzle.
More
Entertainment
& TV Magazines
This site is
Hosted
by Bluehost
Read
my Bluehost Review
Most Popular TV collectibles
|
|
Home
Articles
Images
Forum
Search
Shopping
TV Trivia
Watch TV
Wallpaper
