Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Uncanny X-Periment # 10: "The New Kids"

Uncanny X-Men # 94-108, Classic X-Men # 3, 6, 8, and 12

After a rocky start, the brand new X-Men team is out there kicking ass!

I'll be honest, the X-Men are rarely this great. With Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum running the show, the book is incredibly good. Very rarely did I want to stop reading - only when my eyelids were literally sagging over my eyes was I finally able to put it down.

It's interesting to see these characters in such early forms, when all of their flaws and character archs are so early. It's a lot like watching "Return of the Jedi" and then going back and watched "A New Hope." Luke's a newbie; Liea's stubborn and snotty; and Han Solo is a scoundrel. It's just like that. Wolverine gets in Scott's face and hits on Jean; Storm can't deal with her claustrophia at all; Banshee's unsure of himself, feeling his age; Colossus isn't sure the X-Men is right for him and longs for his family's farm.

These characters are in their prime and are interesting enough to maintain strong character moments despite the occassional weak point in the story.

The story (from Uncanny # 94 - 108) is very layered, starting with the death of one their own (Thunderbird), then bringing in the Sentinels, followed by Jean's transformation into the Phoenix, which leads to a huge arc featuring Eric the Red. Eric the Red, a code-name for an alein Shi'ar, is looking to kill both Professor X and the X-Men before Lilandria reaches them to enlist their help in stopping the mad Emperor D'Ken, who (in turn) seeks the power of the M'Kraan Crystal. Eric the Red's plan includes pitting Firelord, Juggernaut, Black Tom, a mind controlled Havoc and Polaris, and a fully restored Magneto against the muties. They eventually beat back these foes and move onto face D'Ken and meet the Starjammers. In the end, Phoenix saves the day (and John Bryne becomes artist!).

I'll tell you right now - 98% of all this is rather good. It's exciting, interesting and rather entertaining. A lot of great character development happens here, most esspecially for Cyclops. Storm, Wolverine and the others get some too.

But there are weak points. Two stories (Uncanny X-Men # 100 and 106) are almost identical to each other (X-Men versus X-Men). And Leprechauns show at some point. Besides that, though . . .

For good measure, I tossed four back-up stories from the Classic X-Men series. One features the funeral of Thunderbird. Another is a lead-up to Uncanny # 99, which has Jean getting ready for her date with Scott. The third is the Jean/Phoenix transformation/transition that takes place immediately after Uncanny # 100. The last one takes place after Magneto is transformed from a baby into a man again (that's an odd sentence). Each one adds deeper emotional layers to the stories being told here, Jean's date prep and Mangeto's flashback to his youth being the best. Magneto's, actually takes the cake, and transforms what once a dime-store super-villain into a flesh and blood character.

We're moving out of the early days of the new X-Men team and into the legendary Byrne/Claremont days, which I'm looking forward to. These stories were great and I can't wait to get into more.

~W~

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