Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decwrl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxl!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!hplabs!intelca!qantel!dual!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian From: boyajian@akov68.DEC (Jerry Boyajian) Newsgroups: net.comics Subject: The Uncanny X-Reviews Message-ID: <3540@decwrl.UUCP> Date: Fri, 7-Sep-84 09:48:07 EDT Article-I.D.: decwrl.3540 Posted: Fri Sep 7 09:48:07 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 14-Sep-84 04:16:34 EDT Sender: daemon@decwrl.UUCP Organization: DEC Engineering Network Lines: 72 And here are reviews of the three recent X-comics (I suppose I could've waited until this weekend so that I could've added THE NEW MUTANTS, but c'est la vie. Rating system is Jeff Meyer's, used with permission: **************************************************************************** |==>A< One of the best of the year. Example: Byrne/Claremont's Starlord | |==>B< A very good issue, one of the best of the month (usually 6/month) | |==>C< A well done, entertaining issue. Satisfying. Example: Jon Sable | |==>D< Rather boring, or a few good spots mixed with more bad ones. Ex:Mars| |==>F< Boring AND stupid or childish. Example: Secret Wars. | |==>Z< Actually offensive. Example: Several of Haney's UNKNOWN SOLDIERs | **************************************************************************** THE UNCANNY X-MEN #188 C- This is about an average issue of the X-Men, which is still better than a lot of others. The least aspect of it for me was the art; the last few issues have left me with the impression that JRJr and Green are slipping a bit. (And I *still* don't like Colossus' new outfit.) The story was merely adequate, though it did contain some good moments: (1) the wraith that had taken over Naze (when did this happen, by the way?) being foiled by the "Great Spirit" or whatever it was; (2) Amanda finally seeing some *real* action with the X-Men; (3) the scene where Nightcrawler argues against the X-Men continuing really added some charac- ter to Kurt, as well as the Prof. And I wondered what became of Magneto after Warlock blasted his asteroid apart. There's only one thing that's confusing, and that is: just how old is Rachel? The earliest scenes in her flashforward put Illyana at 14, which means about 7 years from now (if Illyana hadn't spent that time in Limbo, that is). Rachel looks to be about the same age. I suppose she could have been as young as 10, but not really much younger than that. The Future scenes X-MEN #141-142 took place in 2013, so Rachel should have been about 30 by then (and thus, now (isn't time travel wonderful?)). She sure as hell doesn't seem to be that old now (even Scott is only in his mid-20's). I somehow do not think that Claremont had really thought this through. And I still think Storm's being a real schmuck about Forge. THE X-MEN ANNUAL #8 C- This might have gotten a higher rating if it wasn't for the fact that I am a little tired of the "fairy tale" business already. What made it for me, though was the nice development in some of the characters: Wolverine, Storm, and Kitty & Peter (which, unfortunately, didn't turn out as I'd hoped). I even appreciated some of the small touches, like Amanda trying to help/comfort Peter. And it was nice to see the X-Men, Newties, and "groupies" (Amanda & Stevie) all gathered together like one big happy family. But the best thing of all, in my opinion, was that the story actually affected the development of the characters and situations from the regular title, without it being just a continuation of the storyline from the regular title (as in all three of the TEEN TITANS ANNUALS and the forthcoming SWAMP THING ANNUAL). I'm especially curious as to where Storm will go from here. It'd be nice if she ends up as Dr. Strange's disciple, so that she can learn the magic that she's supposed to know (anyone remember the scene in MAGIK #3 in which Belasco is fighting a *mohawked* Storm?). And, as I said before, I liked the artwork. I can see why others may not like it --- many of the characters are almost unrecognizable, but I think that Leialoha really brought a distinctive style to the book. I'd rather see him do the regular title than JRJr, to be honest. I especially liked the way he drew Kitty, Illyana, and Logan. If there was anything about the art that could've been improved, it was that Leialoha could've used a better inker than himself. There were not a few panels that looked a bit too muddy. KITTY PRYDE AND WOLVERINE #2 C- [I'm nothing if not consistent] This, too, might have gotten a higher rating if it wasn't for the fact that I'm also getting tired of the whole conditioning-the-hero-to-fight-the- other-hero business. Other than having this tired, old cliche, I thought the issue was rather well-done, much better than the first issue. I still have prob- lems with Milgrom's art (again, I wish there was a better inker than ol' Al him- self), but at least he found a way to get Kitty's hair back to its proper length I get the feeling that Kitty is going to be doing some fast growing up due to this series. --- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, Maynard, MA) UUCP: {decvax|ihnp4|allegra|ucbvax|...}!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-akov68!boyajian ARPA: boyajian%akov68.DEC@DECWRL.ARPA