Too Often or Not Enough - Milking Events Without Offering Content

How can you enjoy your favorite superheroes in Marvel's latest mega-event? It's simple; don't buy any comics with an AvX banner on it. That way, you won't have to spend hundreds of dollars on comics that you can probably pick through after the event has ended and buy only what actually entertains you. As Marvel events go, this one is not being solicited across the board like, say, Fear Itself was last year. Fear Itself was a disaster and I am officially on event burnout this year.

Maybe it's because I have budgeted the hell out of my comic buying habits and just can't justify spending extra money on an event that is going to milk me for every penny. This is how it would go down; I would buy the first issue of AvX proper, then my completionist tendencies would prevent me from skipping the next 11 issues. Let's not forget that there is a six-issue 'just fights' series also being published, and really, that's what we want to see. It's like a celebrity deathmatch between our opposing counterparts on each team. Some of us want story, some of us want fights, you know, because we don't see enough pointless 'misunderstanding' fights in comics. So what does Marvel do for this big event? We get two batches of comics that feature either story or fights, and from what I have heard, thus far, the main AvX title has been nothing but an enormous fight scene. I'm sure we'll see our share of tie-ins, one-shots, and minis to go along with a story that could be delivered in one simple story arc.

What ever happens to crossovers? Do you remember those? They were stories that happened to multiple titles that didn't require extra titles to be completed. Second coming was a crossover that apparently didn't need an extra 12-issue series. Sure, we had a Second Coming #1 and #2, but they were a necessary a beginning and a final cap to the story. Yes, we had a couple one-shots and such, but they pissed me off too. Why can't you tell the story in the pages of the books that feature the characters involved in the story? Why put me through all this bullshit?

I know that an event like this involves pretty much every character that matters in the Marvel U, and it would piss me off if the books that featured those characters ignored the current events***coughSCHISMcough*** excuse me...but don't force me to buy extra comics. That means I have to cut other comics out of my pull list just to budget for all this extra crap, and since Marvel is double shippng on three of the comics I read monthly, I'm extra tapped out on cash. Well, guess what, guys? I'm not going to suffer a gap in my X-Factor, Wolverine and the X-Men, or Amazing Spider-Man collections, to buy your stupid event. If I hear good things about it when it's all said and over, I'll think about squeezing your event into my trade budget. As for the rest of you, take a good long look at you pile of Fear Itself tie-ins and resolve to wait until the smoke clears before you start on your 2012 stack of shame.

Too Often or Not Enough - Episode 3

Changes to creative teams.
So, the breakout hit if the New 52 is getting a new artist. Travel Foreman is leaving Animal Man and Steve Pugh is making his return to the character. Now, I hadn't seen Pugh's artwork, so I had to look him up. I like his art, but I feel that Foreman's unique style is a big part of what cemented this title as a frontrunner. Now, I have faith in Jeff Lemire as a writer and I am certain that the book will continue to intrigue, but I feel that we have lost an extremely dynamic writer/artist duo. I understand that Travel Foreman is dealing with some loss in his personal life, and I can't fault him for getting burnt out, but it brings to mind other series that have drastically changed tone with the transition between artists.

Different artists aren't always a bad thing, and there needs to be change sometimes in order to get those memorable titles, but I find that we get changes too often. I miss the days that we would have one consistant artist for years. Here's some notable changes that have happened over the years that I feel have affected a comic for better or worse.

X-Men Volume 2 and Uncanny X-men

Now here is an interesting transition. Jim Lee had been drawing Uncanny for a long time and really defined the type of X-Men stories we got to see in the late 80's and early 90's. Then when the new X-men book arrived, it was easy to read, because Jim Lee was the artist. However, where we gained a great new book with great familiar art, what happened to to the original book? Uncanny X-Men #281. You know the cover. I has Jean and Storm and Colossus battling sentinels with art by Whilce Portacio. I sorry if I offend anyone, but I HATE this art. I dropped Journey Into Mystery when he came onboard halfway through Fear Itself. I really just can't look at it. I read adjectiveless X-Men exclusively at this point. It's kind of like what's happening now with Regenesis. I hate the art on Uncanny, and love it on Wolverine and the X-Men. To the point of hating the stories. It was supposed to be a brand new era, but it just falls flat.

X-Force 1991

Those of us in my particular age range remember the speculative days of the early 90's. When Rob Liefeld took over New Mutants, I'm sure it was an exciting new change. I fell for it, and it made sense that Rob would be drawing the book that replaced it, X-Force. I know it's easy to jump on the Liefeld hate train, so i will. Comics readers are going to look back on this era and wonder what the hell we were thinking. In any case, I was reading through my old X-Force collection and getting ready to swallow a bottle of pills, when I realized that the art takes a distinct turn around issue 20. I recognize this! Like, it looks like something from recent memory. This can't be. This is 90's X-Force! It is not something that should be appreciated artistically. So who is this mystery artist that saved this book from fading into crappy obscurity along with parachute pants and grunge? Only one of the best artists of today, who is getting praised by everyone for a book that is on everyone's radar from the New 52. I'm talking about Batman artist Greg Capullo. It was a time warp seeing his name on my 1993 X-Force comic. This is an example of an excellent change of art.

So, artistic change is not always a bad thing. I just feel like it is not always well planned. In the case of Animal Man, it's something that is a special case. The artist has personal things that need his attention, I understand. It just reminded me of the times when changes in art are editorial in nature. You don't go from Jim Lee to Whilce Portacio, and you do go from Rob Liefeld to Greg Capullo. Unfortunately, I don't think you can go anywhere from Travel Foreman. His style is too unique and perfectly suited to Jeff Lemire's Animal Man to avoid anxiety with his departure from the title. We'll miss you, Buddy(pun intended). FYI, as you all probably have heard, Trav can be followed over to Birds of Prey, so show your support and pick up his new book, but don't stop buying Animal Man, because Jeff Lemire is killing on that book. Also, put in your preorders for Frankenstein to keep it around for awhile because this is another example of how Lemire is a wonderful writer and I want him to continue to get work.

X-Men: First Class or No Class?

Here it is, a few weeks later and I'm getting around to my thoughts about the X-Men movie that I almost boycotted.

There have been a total of five X-Men movies now, and the last two have left many of us wanting. X-Men: The Last Stand was a melancholy depress-fest that introduced too many characters that didn't get developed properly and left us feeling like slitting our wrists.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a joke with no punchline. It was impossible to take seriously and, again, suffered from poor character development and crowding.
I liked the first movie simply because it wasn't terrible and I was finally getting to see my favorite comic series on screen. This was before the comic book movie industry made an industrious comeback and the quality started declining.

X2: X-Men United was a good movie. It took alot of creative license in regards to the X-Men canon, but every comic movie does. At least it had the gall to be an enjoyable movie.

Being lifelong X-Fan, I obviously have alot of things to say about the newest movie movie. I'll keep it restricted to non-bulleted lists with a few key points.

Things that were handled incorrectly, in no particular order: *SPOILER*
1. Magneto and Xavier were supposed to meet in Israel.
2. The first class was supposed to consist of Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and Beast.
3. Sebastian Shaw appears to be a mixture of Sebastian Shaw, and Bishop. ( Sinister, his energy absorbing powers work to make him physically stronger in the comics. They do not give him the abilty to release energy. That is Bishop's power.)
4. Moira is supposed to be Scottish.

5. Xavier is supposed to lose his hair when his telepathic powers manifest.
6. Xavier first loses the use of his legs when an alien named Lucifer drops a boulder on him, not from a bullet that Magneto deflects.
7. Beast and Mystique have no romantic relationship in the comics.
8. Mystique and Xavier are not lifelong friends in the comics.
9. Riptide and Azazel are not in the Hellfire Club.
10. Riptide does not control wind, but can spin his body at high speeds and hurl flakes of his own skin that resemble shurikens.
11. Beast does not create a serum to look like a normal human, but creates a serum to kick-start latent mutant abilities. (This happens after he leaves the original X-Men and is somehow reversed when he joins X-Factor)
12. Emma Frost does not have her diamond ability until after she reforms and has her secondary mutation triggered by the destruction of Genosha.
13. Sebastian Shaw is not a part of Magneto's origin.
14. Havok does not join the X-Men until after Cyclops.
15. Darwin does not join the X-Men until after four of the original five are captured but Krakoa.
16. Banshee does not join the X-Men until after Xavier's first team is annihilated, with the exception of Darwin, who doesn't appear again for many years.
17. Angel Salvadore never officially joins the X-Men, but is rescued from U-Men by Wolverine much later and attends the institute for a short time. What ever happened to her, anyway? Not that I care.
18. Most of the ages are kind of screwed up.
19. There was no after-credits scene.
20. Banshee didn't have an Irish accent.
21. January Jones was terrible.
22. Hellfire Club...in a sub?

Things I liked:
1. It wasn't X-men: The Last Stand.
2. It wasn't X-Men Origins: Wolverine
3. Wolverine appeared for a brief cameo, and was not heard from for the rest of the movie.
4. Rebecca Romjin made a cameo.
5. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender put on a good performance and had plenty of screen time.

When I heard that Emma Frost and Banshee were being cast for this movie, I thought that maybe their history was going to be represented well. But no. Not a chance.

I will say that it was somewhat enjoyable and it sits right in the middle in relation to the other movie. I didn't like it as much as the first two, but I didn't hate it as much as the last.

I give this movie two pointless characters with no lines down, and one Hellfire Sub down, and one blue kitten to the right.

"I can't talk about it anymore. It's giving me a headache."

"Are you ok, Charles?"

"Yes. I'm just pressing the button on my temple that activates my Optic Blasts."

"You mean telepathy?"

"Yes. That's what I said."

Casting Call - Bishop

Dhani Jones as Lucas Bishop.

I caught a few episodes of "Dhani Tackles the Globe" on the Travel Channel a few months back, and I thought it was an interesting show. If you haven't seen it, let me explain the premise. Take a linebacker and place him into a sport that he has more-than-likely never heard of, let alone played. I'm not talking water polo, either. I'm talking sports in other countries that people probably get killed in.
He gets flown to Thailand, for instance, and observes a Muay Thai match, and has to train for a week to understand the culture and take part in the sport. Now, Dhani Jones is a giant of a man, but I can imagine feeling intimidated by the prospect of getting the shit kicked-boxed out of you, even by an amateur.
He had to wrestle in Switzerland. play Jai alai in Spain,  and cycle with Italians. Oh, and I stand corrected about the water polo thing. He did that in Croatia.
What I'm trying to say is that he is used to getting knocked around and can be resourceful when presented with almost any contingency. Like Bishop. Bishop is constantly traveling through time and having to adjust to any given situation.
Sorry, I keep having to stop writing this post and watch Super Bowl commercials, so I'm having trouble concentrating.
I suddenly want a Bud Lite and some Doritos. Also, a Chevy. A Pepsi Max, too.
Anyway, this guy is huge, and looks like Bishop. Except he smiles too much, and is dressed like Beast in this picture.
Doritos.

Wolverine is omnipotent

Sometimes, against my better judgment, I choose to think about Wolverine.

I think about all the adventures he has. He really gets around. Let's take a look at the scorecard:

-He is becoming a vampire in X-Men Volume 3.
-He is on quarantine on Utopia with Mutant Flu in Uncanny X-Men.
-He is on the moon, fighting the Four Horsemen and catching the plague.
-He is bouncing around alternate dimensions with the New Avengers
-He is in Hell

That's THIS month alone.

Now, if Jamie Madrox were in every comic, it could be believable, but Wolverine is not the Multiple Man. Why does Madrox get one mere comic? HE should be everywhere! No wonder Wolvie's got so many enemies and ex-girlfriends. You do not want to be Wolverine's bff. He's saving the world behind your back with someone else. I feel a parody coming along...