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Rating:  -
From start to finish, New X-men: Imperial is overly ambitious and overly melodramatic. The themes, for the most part, are the same tried ideas of tolerance and prejudice. All X-men comics revolve around these same ideas, but the hard part is putting a new spin on them, and unfortunately their use in Imperial felt stale, generic, and overblown.
Imperial (New X-men #118-#126) continues the saga of the struggle against Cassandra Nova, an immensely powerful being who has hijacked Xavier's body, trapped his mind, and then left to sabotage the Shi-ar empire. Meanwhile, the X-men must deal with an organization that is harvesting mutants for their organs and face increasing public scrutiny since Xavier revealed his mutant identity.
The outcome and revelation of Cassandra, her identity, her past, and eventually her defeat, came off as very B-movie-ish. There was a barrage of newer characters, and although I had read volume 1 (E is for extinction), they didn't seem adequatly explained, making me wonder if I was supposed to read another series in conjunction.
The weak plot would be acceptable, were it not for the bizarre art that accompanies it. I respect the editors for trying to lend diversity to X-men's looks by bringing in different artists, but the end-result is just not very pleasing in Imperial. X-mens' faces are so dowsed in character lines that they are downright ugly and deformed at times, and their faces completely change appearance from frame to frame.
The final blow is that the layout of the action in the frames is so cluttered that I had no idea what was going on most of the time. I had to repeatedly examine some frames to try to figure out what was trying to be conveyed. Is that Wolverine or Beast? Is that supposed to be a head? What just happened here?
I have been trying to get into the newer incarnations of our favourite gene-freaks. I must confess that I really don't care for the general direction in the New X-men series. I don't like their costumes, I don't like their "second-mutations," and I'm not even a big fan of the roster in New X-men. But it's not that I'm just a stubborn old fart who refuses to accept change. I had vastly enjoyed the Uncanny X-men novels (circa issue #400), but I can't say the same about New X-men Imperial.
Rating:  -
Note: this review refers to New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial. Grant Morrison's earth shaking run on New X-Men continues in this collected volume following the shattering events of E is for Extinction. Professor X, whose mind and body is under the control of his evil twin sister Cassandra Nova, is attempting to manipulate the Shi'ar empire to destroy all the mutants on Earth. Meanwhile, the X-Men are in dissary. Beast is in a coma, while Cyclops and Emma uncover even more about the mysterious John Sublime and his U-Men. Wolverine helps out a young girl named Angel who discovers she is a mutant, while Jean scrambles amidst the mayhem. Morrison really weaves an awesome story, undoubtadly the best to hit the X-Men in years. The story is loaded with twists and turns and rich in character, and he even manages to make Cyclops and Emma the most interesting characters in the book and doesn't focus primarily on Wolverine like so many X-books have in the past. The only downside of this collection is the art. While the art in various issues by Frank Quitely and Ethan Van Sciver is great, Igor Kordey's art is nearly atrocious. I mean come on, I've seen this guy's art in Cable and X-Treme X-Men and it was solid, but here it looks plain old sloppy and rushed. That aside though, this volume is worth picking up as it continues Grant Morrison's now legendary run, and it sure beats out any X-Men material to come out before it or recently since Morrison's departure.
Rating:  -
The second volume of Grant Morrisons X-men run cranks up the action and the drama. Morrisons storytelling skills are astounding, when Cassandra was coming back to destroy the Xmen i could feel the desperation and fear of the characters. Clever plot twists are around every corner. The only reason i gave the book 4 stars is due to the fluctuating quality of the art, sometimes its good and sometimes its bad. A good follow up to "E IS FOR EXTICTION". EP
Rating: -
The quality keeps going on here. The X-Men are still very fresh and interesting in this volume. The story still great. The art still good. The New X-Men stories are much more character driven than what I remember.
Rating:  -
It's hard to figure out which review point to what... Why doesn't Amazon.com simply leave reviews for this volume instead of linking to other books in the series. It makes it confusing to figure out if this hardcover edition is worth buying over the paperbacks....
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