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A review by bmaackreadscomics
Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 6 by Roy Thomas, Neal Adams, Tom Palmer
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The Problematic
Honestly nothing outside of the all-WASP protagonists. But issue #55 had a great DBZ “Lend me your power” moment and we get to see people of all sorts of different ethnic backgrounds. Very refreshing.
The Bad
The main bad things about this trade were the unnecessary Hulk crossover issue (#66), the fact that Lorna was heavily underutilized, and the classic over-chattiness of some characters. Other than the Hulk crossover, the weakest story in here was the Sauron story. It ended sadly and the villain got a lot more screen time than most, but the fact that his powers turned him into a pterodactyl was a little weird and I wasn’t a fan of the problematic Princess/Pauper romance.
The Good
2-page spreads make their first appearance in X-Men within the later chunk of these issues. Art occasionally gets stylized or trippy when mind powers are in use. Really nuanced panelling and page layouts as the issues increase in number. The plots are more grandiose and complex in a good way:
The return of the Sentinels story really steals the show here with some all-time high stakes regarding mutantkind and their future—and even gives us the birth of Havok! Larry Trask (Bolivar’s son) turning out to be a mutant himself was some classic poetic justice. The Sunfire one-off issue was pretty good too with a heartbreaking ending. And I was even surprised by the Ka-Zar story in that Magneto turned out to be behind everything.
Overall
It had all started coming together right up to the bitter end unfortunately. You can really feel how the storytelling has greatly evolved since 1963. It’s not yet perfect, and the art could certainly be better at times, but a lot of cool things were done in these issues.
Honestly nothing outside of the all-WASP protagonists. But issue #55 had a great DBZ “Lend me your power” moment and we get to see people of all sorts of different ethnic backgrounds. Very refreshing.
The Bad
The main bad things about this trade were the unnecessary Hulk crossover issue (#66), the fact that Lorna was heavily underutilized, and the classic over-chattiness of some characters. Other than the Hulk crossover, the weakest story in here was the Sauron story. It ended sadly and the villain got a lot more screen time than most, but the fact that his powers turned him into a pterodactyl was a little weird and I wasn’t a fan of the problematic Princess/Pauper romance.
The Good
2-page spreads make their first appearance in X-Men within the later chunk of these issues. Art occasionally gets stylized or trippy when mind powers are in use. Really nuanced panelling and page layouts as the issues increase in number. The plots are more grandiose and complex in a good way:
The return of the Sentinels story really steals the show here with some all-time high stakes regarding mutantkind and their future—and even gives us the birth of Havok! Larry Trask (Bolivar’s son) turning out to be a mutant himself was some classic poetic justice. The Sunfire one-off issue was pretty good too with a heartbreaking ending. And I was even surprised by the Ka-Zar story in that Magneto turned out to be behind everything.
Overall
It had all started coming together right up to the bitter end unfortunately. You can really feel how the storytelling has greatly evolved since 1963. It’s not yet perfect, and the art could certainly be better at times, but a lot of cool things were done in these issues.