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A review by thekarpuk
Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis by Kaare Kyle Andrews, Warren Ellis
3.0
Reading this book while in the middle of a Chimamanda Adichie book provided some uncomfortable contrasts. The way the imperialist English talk in Adichie's novel sounded awkwardly similar to ranty digression Wolverine gives about how messed up all of Africa is. The opinion of a white guy from the UK on Africa as a whole can't help but come off as a little cringey. It's especially troublesome because it seems like a needless injection into what's otherwise an entertaining but not particularly thoughtful story about the X-Men dealing with spontaneous mutant babies in Africa.
Ellis can always hold on to three stars with me because his dialogue generally keeps me engaged. It's fast paced, fun to read, and generally doesn't get weighed down by the often mammoth back stories that Marvel characters come with. Even a bad Warren Ellis story is still readable.
While I usually like exaggerated art styles, Kaare Andrews goes a bit overboard on the depictions of Emma Frost in this one. I know some cheesecake is unavoidable in mainstream comics, like bad dialogue in Kung Fu movies, and I acknowledge that Emma Frost usually looks like a fancy prostitute even at the best of times, but her hyper-sexualized depiction in Xenogenesis borders on ghoulish. It borders on Crumb-level excess of the female form, and is more distracting than aesthetically pleasing.
While fun and disposable, Xenogenesis has a few disconcerting features that make it hard to recommend.
Ellis can always hold on to three stars with me because his dialogue generally keeps me engaged. It's fast paced, fun to read, and generally doesn't get weighed down by the often mammoth back stories that Marvel characters come with. Even a bad Warren Ellis story is still readable.
While I usually like exaggerated art styles, Kaare Andrews goes a bit overboard on the depictions of Emma Frost in this one. I know some cheesecake is unavoidable in mainstream comics, like bad dialogue in Kung Fu movies, and I acknowledge that Emma Frost usually looks like a fancy prostitute even at the best of times, but her hyper-sexualized depiction in Xenogenesis borders on ghoulish. It borders on Crumb-level excess of the female form, and is more distracting than aesthetically pleasing.
While fun and disposable, Xenogenesis has a few disconcerting features that make it hard to recommend.