Book Review: X-Men Marvel Epic Collection Vol. 12 by C. Claremont et al.

X-Men Marvel Epic Collection Volume 12: The Gift written by Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum, pencilled by John Romita, Jr., Steve Leialoha, Paul Smith, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Dave Cockrum

This omnibus edition covers X-Men publications mostly from 1985, including Uncanny X-Men 189 to 198, X-Men Annual 8, X-Men and Alpha Flight 1-2, and Nightcrawler 1-4. 

A lot of these are episodic one-offs, showcasing two or three of the X-Men on an adventure. Claremont is a good writer but has a lot of dialogue in his stories. Even Wolverine talks a lot. The highlight of the collection are a two-parter called "The Gift" featuring most of the X-Men and the Canadian superhero group Alpha Flight. They all wind up in a wintery, isolated Canadian location where an amazing city has sprung up in a bubble of warm weather. Unbelievable healing has happened in the city--Cyclops can control his eye-blasts without any tech, Rogue is free from her absorbing powers (so she can touch people), Wolverine no longer has berserker rage, etc. Loki has given this "gift" to them in hopes of appeasing some even higher-up gods, though things do not work out for him. The very promising cover image of Doctor Doom fighting the X-Men is a later story and a bit of a disappointment to me. 

Woven through the stories is Storm's tragic situation--she has lost her power and returns to Africa to find out what to do. Another ongoing plot is Colossus and Kitty having relationship problems. And 1985 was the year the Beyonder showed up and had an epic story line that involved all of the Marvel universe, so he shows up in a few stories.

The collection ends with a four-part adventure for Nightcrawler, who gets sucked into other dimensions where he encounters a lot of whimsical situations and action. He fights a shark-man who is also a magician bent on gaining Nightcrawler's teleportation powers. It is very silly but also very fun.

This set is a mixed bag. Some stories I liked, some I didn't. The cover promises more than the content delivers which was disappointing for me. Otherwise this is a fine if less famous bit of the Chris Claremont X-Men era.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: World War Hulk by G. Pak et al.

World War Hulk written by Greg Pak and pencilled by John Romita Jr.

This story follows directly from Planet Hulk, so discussing it naturally involves spoilers for the ending of the previous story. If you want or plan to read Planet Hulk, it would be better to go read that before reading this review. If you don't mind, keep on reading to the next paragraph.

At the end of the previous story, the Hulk was headed back to Earth to get revenge on the group who sent him there, i.e. the Illuminati, i.e. Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, Black Bolt of the Inhumans, Tony Stark (i.e. Iron Man), and Doctor Strange. So far, still no real spoiler because the big tragedy at the end of the last story (and here's your last chance to bail out before reading the spoiler) was when the shuttle that delivered Hulk to the planet Sakaar blew up, destroying the capital city along with a million lives, including the Hulk's pregnant wife. The blast does not kill the Hulk, of course. Losing everything just makes the Hulk angrier and more powerful. 

On his return to Earth, Hulk's first stop is on the moon, where the Inhumans live. Black Bolt is their leader but not for much longer as the Hulk has the first of many epic fights. He brings the battered body of Black Bolt to Manhattan. Hulk demands the other three come there in twenty-four hours or he'll destroy the whole planet. He gets the sympathy of the rest of the Earth by showing the video where the Illuminati banish him and give a half-hearted apology. The stage is set for an epic battle between the Hulk with his few friends from Sakaar and the Illuminati with a lot of other Marvel characters.

The story is epic and told in an epic style. The book has a lot of full-page images and splash pages (and image that crosses both pages of the comic book). The action is over-the-top and Romita draws it very well, though occasionally the epic sound effects were just strings of letters that didn't seem like they would make an impressive sound effect (they gave up on sounds that end with "-ooommmmm!"). The story is straightforward with some minor twists. Wallowing in vengeance does not ultimately work out for the Hulk. The relentless search for compassionless justice makes more misery and evil for everyone. A final image suggests more to come from the storymakers.

Recommended for Hulk fans, less so if you are not.

Book Review: X-Men: From the Ashes by C. Claremont et al.

X-Men: From the Ashes written by Chris Claremont, penciled by Paul Smith, Walter Simonson, and John Romita Jr., and inked by Bob Wiacek

The volume of classic X-Men stories covers a lot of ground. Kitty Pryde is upset that she's been put on the New Mutants, the junior mutant team. She's mad at Professor Xavier and wants to upgrade. Meanwhile, Logan, aka Wolverine, has gone to Japan and is about to marry a woman who is inheriting leadership in a shady organization. If that wasn't bad enough, her half-brother wants control of the organization, which means offing her. Also meanwhile, Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, is in Alaska dating a woman who has a striking resemblance to Jean Grey, the former X-Men who died as Dark Phoenix, a powerful entity that nearly destroyed the universe. Additionally meanwhile, Storm and a handful of X-Men (by this point, Kitty has made the grade so she joins in) confront the underground mutants who call themselves Morlocks, led by the mutant female Callisto. Storm discovers her powers are getting out of control and she adopts a new look (the mohawk) to go with her newly discovered attitude. Finally meanwhile, Professor X is struggling with a new body that should be able to walk but something is wrong. His space princess girlfriend helps out.

Reading this volume out of context with the rest of Claremont's run will cause a lot of confusion. I knew about most things going on (except for Professor X's clone body) from other reading I've done. The story telling comes off choppy. Claremont also got a lot wordier in his later years, making the plots sound a bit like a soap opera (is Cyclops' girlfriend really Jean Grey reincarnated? The girlfriend did miraculously survive a plane crash just when Jean died...). I enjoyed this for the most part but it's not the best stories from the mutants' history.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: The Avengers Vol. 2 by B. M. Bendis et al.

The Avengers Volume 2 written by Brian Michael Bendis, art by John Romita Jr. and Bryan Hitch

Formerly defeated villain the Hood (aka Parker Robbins) has escaped jail and decided to restore his power by collecting all of the Infinity Stones. A secret cabal made up of Iron Man, Reed Richards, Charles Xavier, Prince Namor, Stephen Strange, and Black Bolt thought they had securely hidden the stones on Earth, each member in charge of one stone. Robbins collects two of them and has a run in with the Red Hulk (aka General Thunderbolt Ross), who goes to the Avengers and alerts them of the situation (Stark's stone hasn't been stolen (yet)). The Avengers begin to investigate and Steve Rogers gets mad at Tony Stark for hiding the information about the stones from him. Joining up with the Secret Avengers and the New Avengers, the three groups go after the other stones before Robbins can reach them.

The final story has Spider-Woman investigating a strange occurrence for S.W.O.R.D., the Sentient World Observation and Response Department. They deal with extraterrestrial problems and also have been off Steve Rogers's radar. Spider-Woman disappears during the mission, so a group of Avengers goes to rescue her, only to stumble on a secret cabal of super-intelligent villains who unwittingly bring a new problem back to Earth.

While the main story has an interesting premise, the execution was just mediocre. There were no clever strategies or "wow" moments. The story is so overstuffed with heroes that no one really shines out other than Red Hulk who is clearly looking for some redemption from whatever bad stuff he did before. The Steve Rogers/Tony Stark conflict reads like a re-run of previous conflicts between them.

Mildly recommended--I think I might be done with this run...there's too many other books out there that are more interesting to me.

Book Review: The Avengers Vol. 1 by B. M. Bendis et al.

The Avengers Volume 1 written by Brian Michael Bendis and illustrated by John Romita, Jr.

Steve Rogers re-assembles a team of Avengers in the aftermath of the Civil War and Secret Invasion storylines. He's passed the Captain America shield on to Bucky Barnes, so Tony Stark as Iron Man has an easier time joining the team (considering the bad blood between Tony and Steve after Civil War). Thor is on board, as is Spider-man, Spider-Woman, Wolverine, and Hawkeye. They aren't together for long before time traveler Kang the Conqueror comes with a dire threat--the children of the Avengers have teamed up with a future iteration of Ultron and turned the Earth into a wasteland. If that wasn't bad enough, the space-time continuum has been disrupted and different villains from different periods keep showing up for short periods of intense battle with the current day Avengers. A small group of the Avengers travel to the future to set things right.

As with most time travel stories, the plot is a little more convoluted and unbelievable than it needs to be. The frequent random battles are a nice distraction as is Bendis's knack for good dialogue. Romita's art has a nice, classical feel that doesn't look dated and captures the action well. I'm not entirely sold on the series but will try another volume.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 5 by C. Claremont et al.

Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 5 written by Chris Claremont, penciled and co-plotted by John Byrne, penciled by John Romita, Jr., and inked by Terry Austin and Bob McLeod

This book includes the finale of the Hellfire Club plotline (which introduces Kitty Pryde and Dazzler) and leads directly into the famous Dark Phoenix saga. I reviewed that storyline here, and it was just as enjoyable to re-read it. The book also has the aftermath, where Cyclops leaves the group and Storm is put in charge. The group has some smaller, single or double issue adventures afterward. Wolverine finally sorts out his relationship with the Canadian government; Nightcrawler faces his past in an interesting story involving Dante's Inferno; Kitty Pryde starts to gel with the team.

The book ends with some interesting bonus material. The original ending to the Dark Phoenix saga, where Jean Grey doesn't die but is only depowered, thus forcing the Phoenix entity out of her, is given. It's less satisfying than the published version. Another bonus story has Jean's older sister trying to connect with her younger sister while facing the possibility that Jean's nieces and nephews might have mutant powers. The story is in black and white and a little hard to read but interesting. There's also text from an interview with the X-Men creative team discussing the decision to switch the ending of the Dark Phoenix saga which had some nice insights but ran a little long.

Recommended.

Book Review: Avengers vs. X-Men by J. Aaron et al.

Avengers vs. X-Men written by Jason Aaron, Brian Michael Bendis, Ed Brubaker, Jonathan Hickman, Matt Fraction, and others; art by John Romita Jr., Olivier Coipel, Adam Kubert, and others

The comics industry is always looking for two things--a big epic storyline and an excuse for the heroes to fight each other. Fans are always debating who could beat whom if the heroes ever faced off against each other. Companies want a hook that keeps readers coming back for more. Have they pulled it off with this storyline?

The story starts with the discovery that the Phoenix entity (the one that drove Jean Grey crazy and to eventual death way back in the day) is coming to Earth. Presumably the entity is coming for Hope Summers (who apparently is no relations to Scott Summers a.k.a. Cyclopes). She's a mutant whose destiny for greatness has been predicted since her discovery. She was the first mutant born after Scarlet Witch did something to reduce the number of mutants on Earth below 200. The X-Men and a bunch of the mutants (including Hope) live on an island called Utopia off the United States west coast. Once everyone knows about the Phoenix entity, Captain America and the Avengers want to take Hope into protective custody; Scott Summers and his X-Men want hope to embrace the Phoenix entity in the hopes that she will bring back the mutants. As the entity approaches, battle lines are drawn and the mayhem begins.

So the set-up is a little convoluted but this book contains enough explanation that it works as a stand-alone story. Back story is explained to get readers ready for the epic battle of epic epicness that ensues. The writers shoe-horn in a lot of characters (clearly hoping to please the fans) and have lots of battles all over the globe with all sorts of match-ups that are interesting and handled well. The main story keeps moving forward at a good pace and comes to a satisfying conclusion.

The book also contains six issues of a companion series to the A vs. X main storyline. In the companion, various battles between individuals are given in detail, though with a lot of humor thrown in for good measure. The companion stories are clearly fan service, the more outlandish being the more fun (like the Cyclopes vs. Captain America verbal abuse battle where they argue about who is a lamer character, or the Toad vs. Jarvis battle where Toad (who acts as a butler in one of the mutant schools) comes into conflict with the Avengers' master butler). Unfortunately there is a "Spider-woman vs. X-Women" that confirms a sexist attitude toward the female characters. Deliberate pandering to adolescent male attitudes is not good.

Recommended, except for that one page.