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46 reviews

Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 4 by Werner Roth, Roy Thomas, Ross Andru, Dan Adkins, Don Heck

adventurous sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

The Problematic
Still WASP central. However, less racism and sexism which was good.

The Bad
Not as much bad this time around. Some pretty kooky and wild villains though that just made things feel cheesy and unnecessary. Grotesk the Sub-Human? Frankenstein’s Monster? Tyrannus the Subterranean Emperor? Pretty weaksauce.

The Good
In no particular order, the new costumes are pretty great and make panels much more fun to look at since the X-Men all look different now. The Factor Three saga was pretty darn good too with some really high World-vs-Mutant types of stakes. The cringe-y love drama of Scott and Jean is toned down heavily. The death of Professor X was sad to see, especially with Angel carrying his limp body. The back issue flashback story of Cyclops’ origin was solid the whole way through. My favorite issue though was the X-Men trying to make enough money to fly to Europe and rescue the Professor. The villain Mekano, though incredibly cheesy, at least had some more nuanced motivations of just trying to impress his estranged father, and it was fun seeing the X-Men try to interact in the workaday world for some scratch. Also, some good little quotable moments here from issue #42 such as “But one should never underestimate the power of a woman..especially when she has telekinetic abilities”, or the sad lines written after Professor X’s death.

Overall
A noticeable improvement and probably the best collection of issues so far. There are a couple of unnecessary villains and plot points, but overall this is pretty enjoyable.

Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 3 by Roy Thomas

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adventurous lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

The Problematic
As usual, WASP city, Marvel Girl Harem country, and now with the added bonus of the series’ first Mexican character (though he’s villainous) who literally goes to New York with his lackeys dressed in sombreros.. So.. yeah.

The Bad
New costumes with the red accents for everyone look a little bit cooler, but aren’t too big of a change so the opportunity feels a little wasted. Some issues in here were particularly chattier than most, with some panels being taken up by far more text than art. Stan starts some of these issues right in the middle of some action, probably to make the issues more interesting right out of the gate. While I appreciate the sentiment, some issues that tried this very technique wound up reading like molasses with its clunky and frequent narration. Also, the Cyclops / Marvel Girl / Angel love triangle is played up so much in these issues with very little development ever occurring.

The Good
There are some good issues here, but just less frequent than the previous trades. I like that The Mimic briefly joined the team; he added a neat dynamic and even got a cool heroic moment before leaving. Surprisingly, issue #31—which features an Iron Man ripoff villain (Cobalt Man)—was probably the best issue overall. The pacing was solid, the narration was tolerable, and we get to see the X-Men have a little fun and unwind a bit at dance clubs and whatnot.

Overall
This collection is definitely weaker than the first two. Much more episodic and formulaic with very little being built upon between issues. Doesn’t play to the strengths of the world and characters that have been established thus far. Also some of the villains are just plain stupid. A Locust Man?? Come on.

Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 2 by Werner Roth, Roy Thomas, Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, Alex Toth

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adventurous lighthearted tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Problematic
Still all WASP cast, still some love object syndrome for Jean Grey, however Jeanie does prove herself several times and does some cool things of her own (i.e. levitates herself with telekinesis!).

The Bad
Despite the first few issues here being better paced with less chattiness, a majority of them still heavily rely on constant narration and dialogue. The return of Magneto and Return of Lucifer stories were both pretty weak unfortunately. Particularly in Lucifer’s case: threats from space simply aren’t that engaging, these stories are at their best when they’re about mutants, mutant kind, or familial drama like The Juggernaut story.

The Good
The art is improved in a couple of places, namely that there are more detailed backgrounds behind the characters. Stories now span multiple issues which helps increase the stakes. The 2-part Juggernaut story and the 3-part Trask/Sentinel/Master Mold story were both pretty good. Characterization is a little stronger in here for Cyclops as he gets broodier/gloomier, but largely remains the same for everyone else. Bobby Drake got a cool moment in trying to singlehandedly save the team from Magneto, though. The Mimic debut issue was pretty good too. The politics behind mutants in society is briefly touched upon in the Trask story which helps flesh the world out a little more and makes it feel more believable.

Overall
A definite improvement over the first 10 issues, but still held down by a lot of the same trappings like incessant narration, art that isn’t too engaging, and plots/villains that just aren’t that interesting.

Marvel Masterworks: The X-Men, Vol. 1 by Jack Kirby, Chic Stone, Stan Lee

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adventurous funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The Problematic:
Exclusively white cast. Misogynistic / patriarchal vibes toward Marvel Girl and The Scarlet Witch are pretty common place in every issue. These women are love objects first, people and heroes second. That said, Jean Grey does get some cool moments in here that might have been considered controversial for a female character at the time (i.e. she learns how to disassemble and reassemble a rifle with her telekinesis)

The Bad:
The art is hardly ever engaging. Occasionally there’s a larger panel with some cool stuff going on, but not a lot can be gleaned from the art itself. This unfortunately means that everything must be explained to the reader by way of ceaseless, corny narration. These issues read incredibly slow compared to modern standards because of how wordy they are. Finally, the crossover issues, especially the one with The Avengers, were really unnecessary. These crossover issues felt the most formulaic and superficial; the crossover characters (e.g. Sub-Mariner, Ka-Zar, etc) never made a lasting impact in the X-Men world.

The Good:
The adventures are fun, simple, and have a classic feel to them. This is not a complex soap opera of mutant against mutant. The villains are very clearly evil (minus Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch which is a nice little nuance) and the heroes always do the right thing. I was genuinely surprised at the continuity (albeit minuscule) in these first 10 issues of X-Men. The X-Men actually graduate Professor Xavier’s tests, Cyclops becomes the interim leader, and Beast briefly leaves the X-Men for half an issue. Coolest villain was actually The Blob in my opinion. In the end, The Blob chose not to be an X-Men nor a part of Magneto’s evil mutants and instead went back to his life in the carnival. Neat to have a character break the binary.

Overall:
A slow-going but enjoyable read. I don’t feel like my time was wasted, but I wouldn’t say too much of this holds up to today’s standards. If anything, it’s more fun to read these with a “history-of-comics” lens. Most importantly, it feels really cool to get to know the origins of these characters and it will be interesting to see how many of their personality traits continue into future series and runs.

Aquaman, Volume 1: The Trench by Jo Prado, Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced