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: Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser: The Cloud of Hate and Other Stories by F. Leiber et al.

Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser: The Cloud of Hate and Other Stories based on characters by Fritz Leiber, written by Denis O'Neil, and art by Howard Chaykin and Walter Simonson and others

In 1973, DC Comics started a new series called "Sword of Sorcery." The first issues were about Fritz Leiber's fantasy action duo, beefy barbarian Fafhrd and scampish rouge The Gray Mouser. They live in Nehwon, "a timeless land, a placeless place, which may--or may not--be of the planet Earth." They are the greatest swordsman of the land and are always in search of great adventures, strong drink, and soft women. Issues 1 through 5 are gathered in this volume.

The stories blend fun action with fantasy plots, mostly based on stories by Leiber. In the titular "The Cloud of Hate," the boys follow a foggy mist that has pulled a dagger out of a dead body and is carrying it across the town of Lankhmar. It's Mouser's blade, so naturally they have to get it back. Also, doubtless the fog has stolen more valuable things that they can plunder. My favorite story was probably "Revenge of the Skull of Jewels" with its fun fight scenes and good dialogue. The jewel-encrusted skull of a thief wants to get back to Lankhmar's theives' guild, causing all sorts of complications and horrors.

An imaginative diversion, perfect light summer reading!