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: Uncanny X-Men: House of M by C. Claremont et al.

Uncanny X-Men: House of M written by Chris Claremont, pencils by Alan Davis and Chris Bachalo, and inks by Mark Farmer and others

Rachel Summers and Betsy Braddock travel between realities and wind up in one where Magneto, the mutant master of magnetism, has become the ruler of that particular Earth (thus the title "House of M" since he is the ruler, British-monarch style). The only problem is a "rift in causality" that is wreaking havoc with other different realities, threatening to destroy them all. Brian Braddock (Betsy's twin brother) is the ruler of one of these alternate realities where they realize the problem and his people threaten to destroy his home reality. Brian goes to the House of M reality where he will work with Rachel and Betsy to seal the rift.

The story is very convoluted and borrows a lot of technical jargon from science (there's a sidereal something or other), trying to paper over the dubious mechanics of what's going on. A lot of other mutant characters are brought in, which is fun if you know the roster but even I was unsure of a couple of them. I found the story hard to follow, especially when characters started possessing each other or speaking through each other. It's a bit of a mess and not up to Claremont's usual standards.

Not recommended unless you are up on your X-Men lore.

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: X-Men Milestones: The Fall of the Mutants by C. Claremont et al.

X-Men Milestones: The Fall of the Mutants written by Chris Claremont and Louise Simonson, pencils by Mark Silvestri, Walter Simonson, and Bret Blevins, and inked by Dan Green, Bob Wiacek, and Terry Austin

In a late 1980s semi-crossover event, The Fall of the Mutants story appeared in Uncanny X-Men, X-Factor, and The New Mutants. While thematically tied together as earth-shaking events for each group of mutants, the stories did not intertwine (though events in each are mentioned in the others). They could be read separately without loosing the continuity of storytelling but they are offered as a group in a trade paperback.

In Uncanny X-Men, the X-Men (led by Wolverine and featuring Colossus, Havok, Rogue, Psylocke, Dazzler, and Longshot) go to Dallas, Texas, where they search for their missing leader Storm. They go to Eagle Tower, a building that's home to Forge, a mutant whose ability is to construct technology. He and Storm have escaped to another dimension where they hope to get Storm's powers back. But in the normal world, Dallas is falling into chaos. Dinosaurs, prehistoric men, Native Americans, and humans from the future are pouring in and fight with each other and with the current-day Texans. If that was not enough, another group of mutants called the Freedom Force have shown up to arrest the X-Men. Freedom Force is led by Mystique and includes a lot of former Brotherhood of Evil Mutants members. So the two teams are natural opponents until they realize the bigger problems they all face. Then they cooperate to fix things. The story is fairly epic but suffers from the excessive verbosity of Claremont and the retreading of the same themes (X-Men as oppressed, misunderstood outsiders) with nothing new to show. I found it only mildly interesting, more like reading a re-run than a new story.

In The New Mutants, Magneto is in charge of Xavier's School, though the children are quite rebellious even though at this point in the story Magneto is a good guy. Most of the mutant children head off with Bird Brain, a half-human/half-bird that wants to return to his home and free the other animal-hybrids living there. They have all been created by a mad scientist who wants to build a slave race to menial work, freeing regular humans for the good life. The battle is very hard and costs one of the Mutants' lives. The roster of mutants was mostly unfamiliar to me so the story wasn't as impactful. Otherwise it was a fine adventure.

In X-Factor, the classic X-Men (Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman) face off against Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen who are about to wipe out Manhattan. Apocalypse has a surprise fourth Horseman--former X-man Angel, whom he has refashioned with new metal wings and named Death. The mutants spend their time fighting and getting angsty over whether mutants and humans can live together in peace. Apocalypse doesn't think they can live in peace so he is making war on humans to drive the two groups farther apart. The X-Men make the argument that mutants are humans too, though they have a hard time convincing the humans of the X-Men's humanity. Things work out in the end without any really earthshaking changes, other than the return of Angel and an upbeat ending for the downtrodden group.

The group I knew the least about, the New Mutants, had the most interesting story. They play hooky to help a friend and get embroiled in a plot that is almost too big for them. The story had some suspense and a different, more fatherly take on Magneto. The other stories are fine but did not have the substance I was looking for. They were more like typical stories than milestones.

Mildly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 6 by C. Claremont et al.

Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 6 written by Chris Claremont, penciled and co-plotted by John Byrne, penciled by Dave Cockrum, Brent Anderson, and Bob Wiacek, and inked by Terry Austin and Josef Rubinstein

This book starts with the famous Days of Future Past storyline, which I have reviewed as a Dual/Duel review comparing it with the movie. The story is a classic time-travel thrill ride with an adult Kitty Pride traveling from a dystopian future to try and stop the dystopia from happening. It follows the usual line but in an enjoyable way.

The second story is a self-conscious imitation of the movie Alien. Kitty Pride is left alone in Xavier's mansion and has to fight an ancient and horrible monster while everyone else is off celebrating the Christmas holidays. It works as a story on its own but is not particularly outstanding.

The next story follows Scott Summers, AKA Cyclops, who is on a leave of absence from the X-Men. He's in Florida and has been working anonymously on a fishing boat. He's still trying to deal with the loss of his beloved Jean Grey who died as Dark Phoenix. Scott gets drawn into a trap when the demon D'Spayre, who thrives on other intelligent beings' despair, has been tormenting some local people, including Man-Thing, the Marvel Comics version of Swamp Thing. The story is okay though it is very obvious about what it's trying to do. A little more creativity would have given it at least some subtly. 

Next, Doctor Doom has kidnapped X-Men villain Arcade and threatens to kill him. Arcade's henchwoman, Miss Locke, kidnaps some of the X-Men's loved ones to blackmail them into saving Arcade. Professor X sends one team of X-Men to Doom's castle to free Arcade while another team goes to Arcade's Murderworld amusement park to free the hostages. Lots of action ensues. The Doctor Doom half of the story is more interesting and enjoyable.

The X-Men have an uninteresting encounter with a subterranean mutant named Caliban while Scott is shipwrecked with Aletys, the female captain of the fishing boat. He loses his glasses and can't open his eyes lest his optic blasts destroy things, so she has to lead him around. They struggle with romantic feelings and then a big, mysterious island rises out of the ocean. They go to investigate, hoping for food and water. They discover Magneto. Scott has been reduced to rags so Magneto does not recognize him (the girl is also scantily clad, in case you were wondering). 

The other X-Men go to Antarctica to investigate Magneto's old lair, which has been excavated a bit. They have a run-in with some bad guys there. They fly back north when Magneto unleashes his big plan. He demands the entire world disarm and submit to his rule or he will destroy them. He wants to pacify all the homo sapiens so the mutants, which he refers to as "homo superior," will be safe from fear and oppression. A Soviet sub fires nuclear weapons at Magneto's island. He handily dispatches the nukes and punishes the sub. The X-Men's jet comes flying over and he downs it, forcing a confrontation. Meanwhile, Professor Xavier has come on a yacht and contributes to the battle from a distance. After a long conflict, Magneto's plan is defeated. In the course of the fight, Magneto thinks he's killed Kitty Pryde, which causes him to rethink his attitudes. He flees, leaving the X-Men victorious.

This book is bookended by the best stories, Days of Future Past and the confrontation with Magneto. The rest is okay, more like filler episodes between the big story arcs.

Recommended.

 

Book Review: Black Widow: Marvel Team-Up by C. Claremont et al.

Black Widow: Marvel Team-Up written by Chris Claremont and others with art by Sal Buscema and others

This is another anthology of Black Widow adventures, this time featuring her working with other Marvel superheroes:

Marvel Two-in-One #10 (The Thing and Black Widow)--Black Widow is in a car chase through Central Park and almost crashes in to Ben Grimm (aka The Thing) whose on a date with his blind girlfriend Alicia Masters. Ben knocks the car out of the way and tosses Alicia to safety, but he and Black Widow are captured by her pursuers. They take the two heroes to their evil lair in the middle of the Atlantic. The bad guys plan to drop the biggest nuclear bomb ever to the bottom of the ocean, causing a radioactive tidal wave that will wipe out the American east coast. The Widow and the Thing work together to thwart the plan. The story is a fairly standard action yarn. Black Widow and the Thing make an unlikely but fun team.

Marvel Team-up #57 featuring Spider-man and Black Widow--Spider-man thwarts a gang of thieves in the post-Christmas lull in crime. They are working for the Sliver Samurai, who has some bigger, unidentified scheme. Meanwhile, Black Widow has returned to New York at the summons of Nick Fury, only to find the safe house seemingly abandoned. As she goes in search of Fury, she sees the energy blasts from the Samurai's sword. She investigates and the team-up begins. It's a fun action story but it's just the start of some other arcs in other comics.

Marvel Team-up #82-85 featuring Spider-man and Black Widow (and Nick Fury and Shang Chi)--Spider-man discovers a red-headed woman about to be mugged in an alleyway. She sure looks like the Black Widow but she claims she's Nancy Rushman, a New York school teacher. She can't remember her address or what school she teaches at, so there's a mystery to solve. Unfortunately, they are attacked by a S.H.I.E.L.D. taskforce before they can get more clues. The story spins into a larger conspiracy...pretty typical for a story from the 1970s! It's another entertaining story that moves at a good pace.

Marvel Team-up #98 featuring Spider-man and Black Widow--They are back together, this time fighting gun runners in New York City. Nothing too special about this story, other than it seemed a little short.

Marvel Team-up #140-141 featuring Spider-man, Black Widow, and Daredevil--A New York City blackout leads to rioting. Spider-man is just short of preventing a pawn shop owner from being killed by the neighborhood gang. The gang points the finger at an innocent man who is being represented by Daredevil's regular identity, lawyer Matt Murdock. Matt needs help finding proof of innocence (other than his ability to listen to someone's heartbeat and detect if they are lying). Ex-girlfriend Black Widow steps up to help Matt. Spider-man wants to investigate because he feels guilty about not saving the pawn broker. So they work together, though a bigger conspiracy is at hand. Also, Spider-man is snatched mid-story for the Secret Wars crossover, when he got the black suit that turned out to be the symbiote Venom, a whole other story. He returns to this story, which comes to a satisfactory conclusion.

Marvel Comics Presents #53--Black Widow and Silver Sable hunt the same villain in Paris, France, eventually fighting over him at the Eiffel Tower. The story is very short and fairly entertaining. It even manages to avoid the fight between the two females looking like some sexist cat fight. It's just a fun showdown between two evenly-matched fighters.

Marvel Comics Presents #70--Black Widow teams up with Soviet superhero Darkstar (A Russian mutant with Darkforce energy, whatever that is) and Starlight (another Russian hero who is under the mind-control of the Presence, an overpowered Russian who got his power from exposure to nuclear radiation). They manage to free Starlight from the mind-control so she can talk some sense into the Presence. The story is very short and feels like it serves some other ongoing narrative.

Marvel Comics Presents #93--Black Widow and Daredevil infiltrate a secret Hydra base and take it out. Another quick, fun story, especially when the Widow has to talk blind Daredevil through disarming the self-destruct bomb.

Mildly recommended--the stories vary in quality but most are fine. Nothing is a must-read; nothing made me sorry I read it.

Book Review: X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills by C. Claremont et al.

 X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills written by Chis Claremont and art by Brent Anderson

The X-Men face off against a new sort of challenge: An evangelical preacher named Stryker is advocating a campaign against mutants since they are "the spawn of the Devil." While Stryker's rhetoric for the cameras is vitriolic, he also has a clandestine organization called "The Purists" who run around killing mutants. The story opens with Magneto, typically the villain, trying to save some young mutants from the misguided vigilantes. He teams up with the X-Men after Professor X, Cyclops, and Storm are apparently killed (really they were kidnapped by the bad guys). They work to uncover Stryker's plans and find out the true fate of their comrades.

Like most of Claremont's work, this is a very wordy story. Characters argue a lot about the issues of humanity and justice. Unfortunately Stryker comes across as a one-note villain. The backstory of his motivation is not particularly convincing but it does generate the conflict and shows how his self-centeredness creates his hatred for mutants. He winds up selectively quoting the New Testament to justify his actions. While Claremont has the X-Men argue from the other side, he also shows a lot of the regular people who have a hard time figuring out which side is right, or even caring about which side is right. The bigger context is interesting and gives a grounding to the story. The ending certainly is a satisfying wrap-up.

This book inspired the plot of X2, the second X-Men film by Bryan Singer. You'll get my opinion on that in the next post.

Recommended.

Book Review: Star Trek: Debt of Honor by C. Claremont et al.

Star Trek: Debt of Honor written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by Adam Hughes and Karl Story

Captain Kirk is off on a holiday with Gillian (the cetacean biologist from Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home). He's a bit preoccupied with sad and angry memories from the fallout of the Genesis Project. His memories go farther back, to previous encounters with a Romulan commander, T'Cel, a past both romantic and full of peril. Kirk and T'Cel are teaming up with a Klingon (also from Kirk's past, but no romance there) to fight a threat that has endangered every species that's gone near it. 

This classic graphic novel from 1992 is chock full of references from the history of the original crew of the Enterprise. Claremont knows his Trek history and uses it well throughout the story. The easter egg extravaganza is just a side highlight, though, because the plot is well-paced and full of fun moments. Claremont's penchant for lots of dialogue (just look at any X-men book he has written) relegates action to the background. The most dramatic fights are verbal, not fisticuffs.

Claremont also knows the Trek ethos, where villains have often turned into allies and heroes. Star Trek looks to a brighter future where people have a better understanding of each other and work together. A fan of the original show will have a lot of fun reading this.

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: Marvel Masterworks X-Men Vol. 4 by C. Claremont et al.

Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 4 written by Chris Claremont, penciled and co-plotted by John Byrne, art by George Perez

The X-Men face a variety of enemies in this collection. They also get reunited with Professor X and other associates. Moira MacTaggert summons the X-Men to her island lab just off Scotland's shores. A powerful mutant (who happens to be her son) manages to escape confinement. The X-Men reunite with Jean Grey, who came to Scotland after the volcano erupted in Antarctica. Jean is being stalked by Jason Wyngarde, who psychically makes Jean have odd flashbacks to a life in the 1800s. In the fantasy he's created, she's enamored with him and plans to marry him. Jean becomes more confused as readers' understanding becomes more clear--Wyngarde is a member of the Hellfire Club, a gentleman's club in New York City full of powerful people who want more power. They are behind a lot of shenanigans and are clearly on their way to being the next big problem for the X-Men.

This series also sees the introduction of Kitty Pryde, Dazzler, and Emma Frost as well as the exit of Banshee, who seems to have permanently lost his powers. He stays behind in Scotland to comfort Moira after that story ends. The story is exciting, especially the ongoing Jean Grey plot. Her powers are only growing while her mind is deteriorating. Dark Phoenix is on the horizon!

Highly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 3 by C. Claremont et al.

Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 3 written by Chris Claremont, penciled and co-plotted by John Byrne

Magneto attacks again, this time kidnapping the X-Men and taking them to his Antarctic base underneath a volcano. While they are trapped, he works on his orbiting base. The X-Men just barely manage to escape, though they are split up and each group think the other has died. Beast and Jean Grey make it to the Antarctic surface where they are discovered by a search plane. They return to New York where Jean tells Professor X the others are dead. Xavier closes up the school and leaves with the new love of his life, the space queen Lilandra. He leaves for her kingdom while Jean goes to Scotland. Beast goes back to the Avengers.

Meanwhile, Cyclops, Storm, Banshee, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Wolverine have escaped by tunneling away from the base. They wind up in the Savage Land, an Antarctic pre-historic jungle heated by geothermal sources. They have adventures with the local inhabitants, finally escaping to the sea where they wind up on a Japanese science vessel that's in lockdown until they return to Japan. Six weeks later, in Japan they try to contact Xavier only to find no one answering. That's just as well, because a supervillain threatens Japan. The X-Men team up with Japanese superhero Sunfire to take out the threat. They almost make it back to America--the Canadian government detours their plane so they can get Wolverine back. He was a multi-million dollar experiment and part of a plan to develop a Canadian superhero team.

The world-travelling nature of the story keeps things interesting, as does the human drama of dealing with the supposed deaths of their comrades (even by the end, no one finds out the others survived). The plotting is fantastic and fun, making this a very enjoyable read.

Highly recommended.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol. 2 by C. Claremont et al.

Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Volume 2 written by Chris Claremont, art by Dave Cockrum and John Byrne

Jean Grey pilots the X-Men's shuttlecraft to safety, exposing her to the most intense solar storm in centuries. The exposure kills her, but in true comic book fashion, she doesn't die. She comes back as Phoenix, an extremely powerful mutant. So powerful, in fact, that Jean is afraid of these new abilities. She can kill almost at whim, which delights and disgusts her. She hides this truth from the other X-Men as they have various adventures against various foes. Often, they are taking a break from action only to be interrupted by by an enemy. They visit Shaun Cassidy's ancestral Scottish home for a little vacation. They are attacked by his evil brother. During a picnic at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, they are attacked by a Canadian superhero who wants to bring Wolverine back to the homeland. Heroes don't get any time off!

The stories are exciting if a bit repetitive. The real interest is Jean's character arc as she deals with what's happening to her. Her parents come to visit, creating more drama. Also, Scott (aka Cyclops) is wondering about their relationship, especially as Wolverine, the inveterate loner, starts showing interest in Jean. Cyclops and Wolverine are at odds usually (leaders and loners don't mix well). The new situation only ratchets up the tension.

Recommended.

Book Review: Marvel Masterworks X-Men Vol. 1 by C. Claremont et al.

Marvel Masterworks The Uncanny X-Men Volume 1 written by Chris Claremont and Len Wein, pencilled by Dave Cockrum

This volume of classic X-Men comics from 1975 starts with the introduction of a new team. Professor X recruits Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, Banshee, and Wolverine to go on a rescue mission with Cyclops. The original X-Men went to recruit a mutant on a Pacific Island only to mysteriously disappear. The new crew trains and goes back to the island, only to discover the island itself is the mutant! The new crew saves the old crew. Once everyone is back at Xavier's school, most of the old class heads off on their own as the new roster takes over. They aren't gone for long as future adventures draw them back in. The final issue (#100) leaves a big cliffhanger...in space!

I'll admit the island-is-the-mutant is a weird idea, even for comic books, and sometimes the book has more dialog than it needs. That being said, the new roster of X-Men become very iconic very quickly. They have a lot of friendly and not so friendly interaction with each other, giving them a family feel. I enjoyed this step back into the past and will definitely read more.

Recommended.

Book Review: Wolverine by C. Claremont et al.

Wolverine written by Chris Claremont, penciled by Frank Miller and Paul Smith, and inked by Josef Rubinstein and Bob Wiacek

This graphic novel collects the early 1980s limited series Wolverine (four issues) and two follow-up issues from Uncanny X-Men. The story follows Wolverine as he goes to Japan to find the love of his life, Mariko Yashida. She has mysteriously cut off contact with Wolverine and has returned to her family home. Turns out she's been given in marriage by her father, a wealthy and well-connect man who incurred some sort of debt, to some jerk who treats her poorly. Wolverine has more than a culture clash when he tries to find out why Mariko is choosing duty and honor over him.

The plot is more complicated than the average comic book. In the brief introduction, Chris Claremont  describes how he and artist Frank Miller discussed Wolverine as a character and how they'd like to see him develop from the berserker killer into something different--maybe better, maybe worse. They wanted him to have a character-altering experience. This book does a great job with that. Wolverine is more thoughtful and set in contrast to another character, Yukio, a female assassin who lives life to its fullest because she might die at any minute. She's vicious and feral like Wolverine. Wolverine realizes he needs to be more if he's going to be worthy enough to marry Mariko.

The story is very well-told, with good action and nice twists. Wolverine is given more depth and humanity without turning him into a sappy, angst-ridden hero. He becomes a more three-dimensional character and, if possible, more beloved by the fans.

Highly recommended.

TV Review: Legion Season One (2017)

Legion Season One (2017) created by Noah Hawley based on characters by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz

David Haller (Dan Stevens) has suffered from mental illness all his life. He was adopted as a baby and grew up in a house that wasn't haunted until he showed up. The show starts with him as an adult in the Clockworks Psychiatric Hospital. He has the monotonous but safe existence of eating meals, taking drugs, attending therapy sessions, and having odd conversations with the other patients. This comfortable routine is broken by a new patient, Syd (Rachel Keller), with whom he falls in love. She's there because she doesn't like people touching her, though she does agree to be his girlfriend. Their relationship pushes him out of his comfort zone and into a path of discovery. It turns out he may not be schizophrenic--he's really a mutant with off-the-chart powers. But he still hears voices, has unreliable memories, and sees a "Devil with the Yellow Eyes" all the time. What if he's an all-powerful mutant and mentally ill? He escapes the hospital and a group of good mutants help him to sort out his problems, hopefully before the bad guys catch up with them.

This intriguing premise, where no one really knows if he's mentally ill (they are sure about the psychic powers), is reflected in the style of the series. The images and narrative are mixed up in a deliberately semi-coherent mishmash. Actual reality blends in with David's mental world which also blends into an astral plane where characters have a bodiless existence. The dividing lines between these three states aren't always clear to the characters or the viewers, creating an interesting experiential puzzle. Unfortunately, the pacing is very uneven. One whole episode feels like an exploration of visual amazingness with little actual coherent story going on, followed by a five minute exposition dump to explain what's going on. A couple of other sequences are unnecessary and self-indulgent. The shifts are jarring, and not in a good way.

The performances are universally excellent. Stevens does a great job playing the wide range of mood shifts and sanity of Haller. Other stand outs are Jemaine Clement as a guy stuck in the astral plane (and in the 1960s) and Aubrey Plaza as Haller's druggy/boozy mental unhealth friend who is also a patient at Clockworks.

Guarded recommendation--as a viewer, you have to pay attention to get a lot of the details but the whole picture is not quite narratively coherent. The show doesn't lack substance but there is definitely an emphasis on style over substance. The ending is very satisfactory except for a dopey "after the credits" style scene.

Parental Advisory-this is rated TV-MA, and is definitely only for mature audiences.While there's only one or two bare bottoms, the show has many discreet but obvious sexual encounters, lots of recreational and medicinal drug consumption, hard violence, a bit of gore, and the occasional swearing.

Book Review: Spider-Man/Doctor Strange: The Way to Dusty Death by S. Lee et al.

Spider-Man/Doctor Strange: The Way to Dusty Death written by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Chris Claremont, et al., with art by Steve Ditko, Frank Miller, et al.

This anthology of team-up tales featuring Spider-Man and Doctor Strange ranges from 1965 to 1999. The stories start with Spidey and Strange fighting the sorcerer Xandu, who gathers powerful mystical artifacts (and steals them from Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum) in a effort to bring his beloved Melinda back from death. In later stories, they face foes famous (Doctor Doom, Dormammu) and not so famous (Silver Dagger, The Wraith).

An anthology like this has lots of advantages. The thematic core, Spider-Man helping out Doctor Strange, makes a great blend of contrasts--Spidey's wisecracking street smarts and brawn with Strange's esoteric magical abilities. Many battles happen in a mystical dimension, putting Spider-Man out of his comfort zone and enabling exposition about the bizarre mystical mumbo-jumbo that the writers make up. The anthology also cherry-picks stories from thirty years' worth of comics, so the reader gets the best ones.

Recommended.

Parental Advisory--the book is rated T+ on the Marvel Rating System, which may be for the occultish elements of Doctor Strange's life or also for an unusual amount of scantily-clad women (Melinda's outfit gets skimpier and skimpier from story to story, eventually down to a Princess Leia bikini). The violence is pretty standard and not particularly gory.

Book Review: X-Men The Dark Phoenix Saga by C. Claremont et al.

X-Men The Dark Phoenix Saga written by Chris Claremont, co-plotted and penciled by John Byrne, inked by Terry Austin

The X-Men are returning from another adventure when Jean Grey experiences yet another seeming time slip where she inhabits an ancestor of hers from the 18th century. The 1700s Jean Grey is head-over-heals in love with Jason Wyngarde. Unbeknownst to her there's a modern-day Jason Wyngarde who is a member of the inner circle of the Hellfire Club. The overall club is populated by the rich and powerful of America. The inner circle is a bunch of mutants with world-domination ambitions. They want to bring other mutants into the fold, especially Jean Grey. Her telekinetic and telepathic powers recently went off the chart when she became the Phoenix. When the X-Men get back to headquarters, Professor X sends them to check on two new mutants detected by Cerebro (Kitty Pryde in Chicago and Dazzler in New York City). The Hellfire Club has secretly hacked into Cerebro so they are after the two new mutants and they know all the powers of the X-Men. A hard fight is in store.

This book is a far ranging and focuses on Jean Grey's psychological turmoil. At first she can't figure out what's going on with the time slips; the earlier Grey is more dangerous and cruel. But that's just a side of her personality she keeps under wraps. Keeping that undercover is harder and harder as her powers grow and the corrupting influence of Wyngarde deepens.

The story is also loaded with lots of action which occasionally go over the top, especially at the end. The drama goes to eleven, but in a satisfying way.