Uncanny X-Men Volume 3: Hope It Survives The Experience

Growing up, I built up my vocabulary of adjectives by reading comic books:  Amazing. Astonish. Impossible. Incredible. Invincible. Fantastic. Mighty. Savage. Sensational. Uncanny.  

The strangest one being, of course, uncanny.  Which, ironically, means strange.  Did that mean it was the opposite of canny?  And what did canny mean?  Apparently, it means clever or shrewd, so I'm not sure how something strange, eerie, or mysterious is the opposite of clever or shrewd. 

Anyway, remember when only one superhero team was uncanny?  And remember when there was only ONE X-Men comic?  It's hard to conceive of now.  Now, there are three uncanny teams: Avengers, X-Force, and X-Men.  It kind of lessens the uniqueness and impact of the word, the team, and the comic, doesn't it?

The original Uncanny X-Men series ran for an -- get ready for it -- astonishing 544 issues.  That's pretty long for a comic book series.  Of course, following DC's restart of all their long-running series (including Action Comics, Detective Comics, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman), Marvel decided it was time to restart their long-running series as well.  Following the "schism" between Cyclops and Wolverine seemed like the perfect opportunity.   It also allowed for the entry of another X-Men comic (Wolverine and the X-Men).  And not only another X-Men comic, but an X-Men comic starring Wolverine.  (He's one busy fella!)

Sadly, volume two of The Uncanny X-Men only lasted for 20 issues.  Then along comes
Brian Michael Bendis and the Marvel NOW! initiative.  I'm sure the conversation went down something like this:

Marvel: "We'd like you to write the X-Men." 
Bendis: "Okay, but only if I can start with a #1 issue."
Marvel: "But we just restarted the Uncanny X-Men after 50 years."
Bendis: "I don't care.  Take it or leave it." 
Marvel: "Sigh... Okay.  Let's axe volume two and start all over again."
Bendis: "Deal." 

Now came volume three in 2013.  Hopefully this one will last significantly longer than volume two.  Unless, of course, Bendis leaves and Marvel wants another high-profile writer to take over who has high demands. 

The current Uncanny X-Men features Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magneto, Magik, and a bunch of new young "students."  Cyclops sports a new costume with a headpiece that really reinforces his codename's namesake (although his costume looks too similar to DC's new Superboy costume, which itself is too Tron-like for my taste).  Emma Frost sports a new, all-black costume, thus reinforcing the idea that she is no longer the Hellfire Club's White Queen (but how about a new codename?).  And I'm not sure what's up with Magneto's new look.  Wearing a white and black costume that resembles the Punisher's?  Bald?  I'm not loving Emma's or Magneto's new costumes.  

Now let's talk about artwork.  Chris Bachalo's art is a bit unflattering to the characters.  It's very rough-looking, and it certainly doesn't bring out Emma Frost's sexiness in the least.  And because nobody's costume is very distinguishable and the artwork is a bit sloppy, I sometimes can't tell if the woman in a panel is Emma, Magik, or one of the Stepford Cuckoos without some additional clues.  And don't even get me started on the new characters.  Who's who?  Who knows? They all look too similar.  Is that Rogue?  No, it's a new student who also has a white streak of hair.  Really?  The entire book is very dark, too.  There's no real color to it; just shades of black and gold, which makes it doubly difficult to decipher between characters.  Visually, the entire book just isn't very appealing to me.

I'm still reading the book, though, because Cyclops and Emma Frost are two of my favorite characters (even though they've gone through some pretty drastic changes over the years).  And Bendis does provide good dialogue between the characters, even though the characterization isn't optimal.  Are those the personalities we know?  Are these people always in costume and running around?  Do they ever do anything else? What about their private lives? 

A great, new recent addition to the comic is the underutilized Dazzler.  She's now an agent for S.H.I.E.L.D., but her costume is very new Fantastic Four and Magneto-esque.  Unfortunately, she, too, is pretty indistinguishable from the blond-haired Emma, Magik, and the Stepford Cuckoos.  In fact, when she first appeared, I didn't even know who she was until someone spoke her name.  Why not make characters more recognizable?   Isn't that the point of distinguishable costumes?  Readers should be able to instantly recognize their favorite heroes or villains, no matter which artist is drawing them.  She, too, doesn't seem to be very Dazzler-like in her characterization.  Does Bendis need some Cliff Notes on each of the team's members?

Let's hope that Marvel can one day bring its flagship X-Men title up to the level in which it was in the 1980s, quality-wise.  It has a lot to live up to.  Welcome to Uncanny X-Men, Volume 3, hope you survive the experience.

 

Painting the Town Scarlet

I just read the first three issues of Brian Michael Bendis' creator-owned Scarlet back-to-back and, I have to admit, it is fantastic.  Scarlet is a vigilante formed after the killing of her boyfriend by a corrupt cop.  She's out for vengeance.  But not just anybody.  She's out for vengeance against the whole corrupt system within the police department.  For now, she's focusing on her own city, Portland, Oregon, but I can see her branching out eventually in her attempt to right the wrongs in the world.  To quote her, "If this world has to burn to the ground before all the fuckers learn to stop being fuckers, then that's what its going to do."  Love it. 

Bendis writes Scarlet like John Byrne used to write The Sensational She-Hulk: the main character talks to the reader.  She tells the reader a story...her story.  That's one of the best aspects about this comic.  When it's done right.  And Bendis does it right with Scarlet.  

I never found myself bored with any of the story.  Bendis kept it moving along.  We, the readers, feel like we're right there along with Scarlet.  We feel her pain.  We understand why she's upset and why she becomes what she's been forced to become.  

Alex Maleev is the artist on Scarlet.  He also worked with Bendis on the short-lived 2009-2010 Spider-Woman series.  His style of art is different.  It's dark with rough edges/lines, which suits Scarlet perfectly since it's a dark-themed story.  There are bright spots (or highlights), though, in all the darkness, such as Scarlet's red hair.  It stands out, much like the red that stood out in Sin City.  Or Batwoman. 

My only disappointment?  I'm paying $3.95 for $2.95 of story.  Like the new Avengers comics (that I've dropped for pricing and poor story reasons), the rest of Scarlet is just words on a page.  The "filler" contains interview questions and answers from Bendis, as well as letters from readers and the responses to them.  Not just one page, but pages and pages and pages.  I was literally surprised in issue #3 when the story stopped about halfway through the comic I was holding.   

I'm looking forward to reading Scarlet for many years to come, continuing down the same intriguing path.  I only hope they can cut down on all the "chatter."