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joshpants101's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
daileyxplanet's review against another edition
4.0
I am a sucker for space opera and I am enjoying this thus far. Definitely better than Deadly Genesis.
crookedtreehouse's review
2.0
There are two main problems with this book, and they contradict each other.
First off, it's too long a story, given its plot. This might have been a fun six issue arc, but it goes on twelvever, and I kept losing interest.
Secondly, its consolidation of the plot of Deadly Genesis, during the issue where Vulcan is reintroduced wasn't enough. It depended too much on narration boxes, rather than letting it unfold during the natural plot of the book.
I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters in this book. It should have been such a relief after the Milligan/Claremont era, as Brubaker is generally an excellent writer, but I just couldn't stay invested in what was happening.
I recommend it for Summers Brothers enthusiasts, and people who wish the X-Men were more like the early 2000s era Guardians Of The Galaxy (not the fun ones from the movie, but the bleak ones from the comics).
First off, it's too long a story, given its plot. This might have been a fun six issue arc, but it goes on twelvever, and I kept losing interest.
Secondly, its consolidation of the plot of Deadly Genesis, during the issue where Vulcan is reintroduced wasn't enough. It depended too much on narration boxes, rather than letting it unfold during the natural plot of the book.
I had a hard time connecting to any of the characters in this book. It should have been such a relief after the Milligan/Claremont era, as Brubaker is generally an excellent writer, but I just couldn't stay invested in what was happening.
I recommend it for Summers Brothers enthusiasts, and people who wish the X-Men were more like the early 2000s era Guardians Of The Galaxy (not the fun ones from the movie, but the bleak ones from the comics).
trike's review against another edition
1.0
There are lots of reviews out there to give you detailed reasons why this book is not great, so I won't go to great lengths about it.
Suffice it to say this is a throwback to the space opera X-Men of yore, but unfortunately to all the worst aspects of it. It's clunky, stupidly exposition-heavy and the characters are thinner than the paper they're drawn on.
What's especially weird is that Brubaker over-explains so many tiny things but leaves large story items and background information completely untouched. he mentions stuff about these "apocalypse people" but never goes further on what that's about.
This also suffers from Star Wars Syndrome -- everything in the universe comes down to the failed relationships of a half-dozen people, most of whom are from the same family. That sort of thing really undercuts any epic feeling one might get from a galaxy-spanning tale. You could have just as easily told this story during a family reunion in Indiana.
The plot is bare bones but the thing that constantly irked me was that characters would literally find it impossible to proceed with their planned activity (whether that be revenge, justice or ordering dinner) if some random nobody didn't give them explicit details on how things work and why their plan will fail unless they do A, B and C in a specific order.
This is the lamest type of video game writing there is. In a comic book.
Comic books of my youth were ridiculous. No question. But they have managed to survive that and some of them are truly impressive examples of storytelling. This book is not one of those.
Suffice it to say this is a throwback to the space opera X-Men of yore, but unfortunately to all the worst aspects of it. It's clunky, stupidly exposition-heavy and the characters are thinner than the paper they're drawn on.
What's especially weird is that Brubaker over-explains so many tiny things but leaves large story items and background information completely untouched. he mentions stuff about these "apocalypse people" but never goes further on what that's about.
This also suffers from Star Wars Syndrome -- everything in the universe comes down to the failed relationships of a half-dozen people, most of whom are from the same family. That sort of thing really undercuts any epic feeling one might get from a galaxy-spanning tale. You could have just as easily told this story during a family reunion in Indiana.
The plot is bare bones but the thing that constantly irked me was that characters would literally find it impossible to proceed with their planned activity (whether that be revenge, justice or ordering dinner) if some random nobody didn't give them explicit details on how things work and why their plan will fail unless they do A, B and C in a specific order.
This is the lamest type of video game writing there is. In a comic book.
Comic books of my youth were ridiculous. No question. But they have managed to survive that and some of them are truly impressive examples of storytelling. This book is not one of those.
bloodravenlib's review against another edition
3.0
Find my short review of this here: https://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2013/05/short-booknotes-on-graphic-novels-17.html
cemeterygates's review
1.0
Even Brubaker couldn't save this one. Extremely continuity heavy, poor art, and what is it with aliens looking like humans with weird haircuts?
birdmanseven's review
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Turns out I didn't care much when it rose. I also didn't care when it fell, so that's a problem.
This is really a Shi'ar story with X-Men cameos.
For more on X-Men check out this deep dive we did on the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-198-x-men
This is really a Shi'ar story with X-Men cameos.
For more on X-Men check out this deep dive we did on the All the Books Show: https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/episode-198-x-men
loop's review
5.0
The follow-up to Deadly Genesis. I ended up really enjoying this arc. I would put it up there with Morrison's and Whedon's runs (fight me). While it's not Brubaker's best work by a mile, it's some of the best writing I've read on an X-Men book (especially after Claremont's mediocre run prior to this). The art by Billy Tan was also pretty good, though it has its awkward moments here and there.
The arc starts off a little slow and meanders a bit while the team is in space, but once the action kicks in it's in full force. The slow moments are necessary, however, as that's when we get some really good character development for Vulcan, Havok, Rachel, Korvus, and one of my new favorites Darwin. There's a good blend of space politics, stealth missions, all-out action, and even a bit of romance. And most importantly, the events in this story have actual repercussions going forward. Excited to read the two storylines spanning out of this next, as well as the entire War of Kings saga.
The arc starts off a little slow and meanders a bit while the team is in space, but once the action kicks in it's in full force. The slow moments are necessary, however, as that's when we get some really good character development for Vulcan, Havok, Rachel, Korvus, and one of my new favorites Darwin. There's a good blend of space politics, stealth missions, all-out action, and even a bit of romance. And most importantly, the events in this story have actual repercussions going forward. Excited to read the two storylines spanning out of this next, as well as the entire War of Kings saga.
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