This Week in X-Books - 31/01/2018

Disclaimer: Also out this week was All-New Wolverine #30 and Old Man Logan #34. I do not read All-New Wolverine or Old Man Logan in single issues, hence their absence from this list.

2. Jean Grey #11

Written by Dennis Hopeless. Art by Victor Ibanez.

This was kind of disappointing to me, but was by no means bad. Felt like an unfulfilling end to a series that has, overall, been very entertaining. It leaves a sour taste behind, yet almost every issue leading up to this was extremely enjoyable. It made me quite sad, actually, as I assumed this would have been the cathartic, emotional highlight of the week.

The plot doesn't really follow up on the key points of interest from both the previous issue and Phoenix Resurrection. There were questions that went unanswered and this makes my overall image of this book poorer. This is sad, as I have adored almost every issue leading up to this, but part of that enjoyment came from following this mystery. Without a good resolution to that, I can't see myself going out to buy the trades for this series despite my previous interest. This series will end up as a footnote of X-Men history, rather than something significant and beloved, I think.

The story follows Jean in what feels more like an epilogue than a finale, where very little takes place in any kind of home or tangible reality. There are good moments and characterisations, with Ibanez's art being as you would expect from his previous high quality work on this series, a highlight being Magik's small appearance. Hopeless has shown his capability in writing a lot of X-Characters that have become periphery of later years. Hope Summers, Emma Frost, Magik, Doctor Nemesis, Colossus and Domino have all been done right by his pen, so I'd like to see him given another chance on a team-based X-Book. All-New X-Men, his previous series, had too much baggage and little room to allow the story that Hopeless seemed more interested in; his post-Apocalypse Wars, pre-IvX issues being the only ones that seemed to deliver on his intended X-Men road-trip. I was not a fan of the All-New X-Men series, but Jean Grey (and his other work) has shown that Hopeless is a clear asset to the X-Office and should not be let go so easily.

The issue revisits previous Phoenix hosts, but gets muddled in that we have already revisited some of these characters in this series, making those who don't show up here feel missed, and that, with Jason Aaron's Legacy one-shot, there was a new Phoenix host retconned into history. These are minor appearances, but several minor appearances that come to form the majority of the book. They all feel wrong. But nothing quite feels so off as the final page.

Spoilers follow.

The resurrected Jean Grey welcomes young Jean back to Madripoor. It's nice to see Madripoor in the book again, as I'm a firm believer multiple books should be used to develop the context of the line, but this just doesn't feel like a finale. It very clearly isn't. Yet, where will this be picked up? In X-Men Red? It doesn't seem like it. Jean tells her younger self they need to talk, likely to explain the many missing pieces of information from this storyline, but we have no idea when and where that talk is going to happen.

It worked as an issue in and of itself, but failed within its wider context. This can be tolerable, but there was too much riding on this issue. Both the Jean Grey series and the Phoenix Resurrection event are weaker because of this book. The preceding issue 10 was a tour-de-force, the real pinnacle of the series. In many ways, that should have been the finale, rather than this decent, but unsatisfying close.


1. Phoenix Resurrection #5




















Written by Matthew Rosenberg. Art by Leinil Francis Yu.

This final chapter really did a lot of work in reconciling the slow pace of previous issues, making this one of the better instalments of the mini-series. I think part of that is to do with Yu's art, which feels of a higher class than the other creatives who worked on this book, but it is also due to Rosenberg's respectful approach to a reader's emotional investment in this series. While Old Man Logan being here dates the series and makes it feel less relevant to the grander X-Men franchise than it should (Old Man Logan is a character with a time limit), the focus on Jean, and her emotional relationship with the Phoenix, is good pay-off to the previous issues' slow burn.

Both books this week suffer from poor explanation, I don't understand what the Phoenix did in PR and I don't understand what the mirage of older Jean was in Jean Grey (though I can take some guesses). There is no liberating moment where the reader gets the solution to the mystery, leaving both books feeling emptier and shallower than I'd like. Where Phoenix Resurrection edges out though is in its emotional climax. We finally get Jean back and it feels good and there's another more resonant moment that I'll talk about below a spoiler warning. Jean is the star of the book, at long last, and her return, while explained in a less than satisfying way, is a welcome one.

This issue was both a highlight and a disappointment. It's one of the better issues of the series, but it also leans to heavily on audience expectations of what an X-Story should be. It raises the overall standard for Phoenix Resurrection though and is a fulfilling conclusion, emotionally, if not logistically.

Spoilers follow.

Scott Summers gets to return to life, briefly, as the Phoenix resurrects him to torment Jean, hoping she'll embrace the power offered in order to save her loved ones. It is a tender, heart-wrenching moment that, while situated in Jean, felt very satisfying as a Cyclops fan. It does, unfortunately, retread a classic X-Men moment, Jean holding back Scott's optic blasts, and the reruns of classic X-Men moments in this series does get somewhat tiresome.

Without a doubt, one of my biggest takes from this mini is Scott Summers new last words. "I'll always love you, Jean Grey." has far more of a kick than his M-Pox riddled begging to Emma Frost on Muir Island and hopefully this new Phoenix-gifted corpse will be allowed a more meaningful resting place, perhaps even a memorial at the institute. I have some problems with the depiction here, but this feels true to both the wider history of the franchise and the PR story itself, which has been fundamentally Jean's story.

Regardless, all of this has me incredibly excited for X-Men Red and I feel blessed that I only have to wait a week for that first issue.

This Week in X-Books - 24/01/2018

Dishonourable Mention: Legion #1

Written by Peter Milligan. Art by Wilfredo Torres.

It didn't have to be this way.

Legion enters the X-Line with a lot to live up to. The previous solos of ResurreXion, bar Cable, have all been stellar. Its mini-series counterpart, Rogue and Gambit, had a first issue where every page felt like a love-letter to the franchise. The previous series featuring Legion is perhaps the most important thing this book had to compete with. Si Spurrier wrote a smart, unconventional, emotional book that tapped into the experience of living with mental health problems with maturity and respect. It is, in my opinion, the greatest X-Men solo book ever written, rivalling the entire mutant pantheon. So, does the return of Legion compare to its peers? Does this new series honour the characters legacy? Does it break new ground with a characte

Did the creative team even try to?

This issue was felt phoned in, yet leans on its core concept so heavily that I can't help but feel that the entire series can't make its way back from this. What was the point of taking a character, beloved in book and on screen, bringing them back into publication and back into the X-Universe, if the end result was to be sloppy, underdeveloped and so detached from the qualities that made Legion resonate with people in the first place.

The book focuses more on new creation Hannah, psychiatrist to the rich and famous, than Legion himself, leaving us immediately unsure of David's mind-set, current status-quo or condition other than that we know from having a general knowledge about the character. This wouldn't be too bad, but Milligan does very little to make Hannah interesting or compelling.

There's a lot of Milligan's writing that I like. But this isn't X-Force Milligan, where he was trying out unconventional ideas and making dramatic statements, this is late-X-Statix Milligan, who has forgotten what made the characters and concepts work in the first place. As an experiment in first issues, compare the shock, drama and intensity of X-Force #116 to this one. You'd be forgiven for thinking they did not share a writer.

The art is nothing special, but much of that rests on a style that I find personally unimpressive and the fact that the artist wasn't given much to work with in the story. Perhaps this style will flourish as events in the story complicate and become more visually intricate, but, currently, I just felt bored looking at these pictures. This is particularly stinging, as Bill Sienkiewicz artwork graces the credits page.

A phoned-in cash-in, if the book carries on this way it will have absolutely no right to stand with the work that came before it.

And no, it doesn't address the Legacy ending, nor does it feature Blindfold. For those wondering.

3. X-Men Blue Annual #1

Written by Cullen Bunn. Art by Edgar Salazar

I want to say nicer things about this than I can, because this is by no means a bad book, but I struggle because it is such a play by numbers. For a series that is so often full of surprises and weirdness this is the classic first issue of a crossover. A lot of my issues here are rooted in the fact that I'm simply not a fan of Venom and this issue doesn't make me one. I know nothing of the character's backstory (other than him being a Spider-Man villain and was in Space once?) so I'm already behind. More than that though, I'm not caught up with his current mindset. This could be solved by reading his book, no doubt, but Bunn gives time to reference the Scott/Jean psychic rapport, why can't Venom have the same treatment?

Bunn, however, does well to make this feel truly integrated into the ongoing Blue series. Unlike Mojo Worldwide before it, this feels like it could just be another Blue story (ft. Venom), but, just another Blue story probably isn't the vibe you want to start your intergalactic crossover with. The art has a similar vibe, it is certainly not bad and it feels consistent with the book, but coming off of R.B. Silva's incredible four issues during the 'Cross-Time Capers', Salazar just doesn't do anything to wow me.

Using the Starjammers as a hook was probably Bunn's best idea, not only does it personally tie Scott into the narrative but past encounters between these X-Men and the Starjammers means that a future adventure involving them feels believable. The X-Men aren't just going into space because they are the 'good guys'.

I'm not too apprehensive about the rest of this story, but I'm not expecting much either. I mostly just want this over so I can read about the Jimmy/Bloodstorm mission and MotherVine in the upcoming 'Cry Havok' arc. I was glad for a Danger appearance in this Annual, but feel that she may have been better off saved for Bunn's home team.

2. Phoenix Resurrection #4

Written by Matthew Rosenberg. Art by Ramon Rosanas.

It's been done. 

This is perhaps the most annoying issue of Phoenix Resurrection yet, but there is some really good stuff in here. The transitions between Jean's world and the world the X-Men are exploring are brilliant, evocative and horrible. Seeing Tag burn up on his bicycle right behind Jean was an instant 

Sadly, the issue soon devolves into your more generic X-Men story, going so far as to rehash the Logan/Phoenix beats. He loves her. He has to kill her if she gets out of control. 

We've read this so many times.

It makes me grateful Hugh Jackman can't be involved with Simon Kinberg's upcoming Dark Phoenix move and we won't have to see remorseful stabbing all over again. But there is a serious flaw that bugs me with this issue and Logan, in that, this isn't Logan. He is sent in alone to communicate with Jean because he's supposedly the best candidate and he loved her. This character has no more connection to this Jean than young Scott does and characters like Storm, Hank and Bobby are all present, but we default to Logan and the story told countless times before. 

Also, Old Man Logan just looks ugly. Overall, the art is serviceable but the core aesthetic of an old Wolverine is not being pulled off by artists effectively and consistently. Sorrentino seems to be the only artist who can make him look like anything other than a scrunched up marshmallow. 

What I have enjoyed is how Rosenberg seems to delight in X-History. This issue saw a whole bunch of dead X-Students, being perhaps the biggest reference to the New X-Men we've had since the KYost X-Force run, alongside big names like Cyclops and Madrox, and other obscure picks. I know Rosenberg was obliged to throw in the acion, but I feel like I would have much preferred a story entirely focused on Jean navigating this world and her just popping out

Sadly, the book on the whole just feels like an unrefined product. Odd lettering issues, colouring errors and forgotten wings makes this feel like a rough first draft. I'd say that it was a sign that the weekly release schedule was too ambitious, but Rosenberg's story quite simply wouldn't work spread over five months. These are piecemeal chapters, not stories in and of themselves. No doubt this works better in trade, but this issue, particularly, falls apart by moving away from the interesting set-up Rosenberg had developed and degenerating into a standard Phoenix affair. That being said, there is a lot to enjoy here and overall the story has been good.

1. X-Men Blue #20

Written by Cullen Bunn. Art by R.B. Silva.

I was so incredibly nervous picking this book up. There were so many places it could go wrong and, I thought, so little ways it could surprise me. I'm not sure I've ever been so thankful for being wrong. This issue blew me away, not just in how it addresses the events of last issue but in how it reconciles the whole arc into one glorious finale.

Some elements are underdeveloped, the background of the villains particularly feeling like we needed more information (some of these characters were supposedly only along due to mind control, this isn't addressed in this story), but there aren't any plot holes and I don't see a way these elements could have been improved on without a whole extra issue.

The Bunn/Silva creative team has been a blessing and, as Silva is returning down the line, I can see it rivalling Bunn/Molina for the title of definitive 'Blue' team. Silva
But Bunn is the true strength. One of my favourite things about reading Bunn's work is he's particularly forward-thinking, always setting up plot elements to revisit them later on. This sadly means that his finale's often feel out of the blue and unfulfilling; both Magneto and Uncanny X-Men seemed to end long before Bunn intended them to. This issue is a micro-finale, completing the arc but setting-up future stories. These endings Bunn does well, but if all his set-up isn't given the chance to flourish I worry we may be in a situation where the run ends disappointingly again. That being said, the set-up here is good and some of it, particularly that featuring Magneto, we know are guaranteed to make it to print (in the upcoming 'Cry Havok' arc). In addition, Beast's future tech is already replacing his magic as his development quirk, as seen in the Blue Annual this week.

Fans of Blue have had a fantastic week, getting two stories and one of those stories bringing together its most significant arc in a fulfilling way.

Spoilers follow.

The development that the original X-Men must, at some point, return to their own time is music to my ears. I've long felt that these characters have stayed too long, out-fulfilling their purpose, but didn't want it to be throwaway or meaningless. This set-up ensures that, be it by Bunn or another writer, when the original X-Men return home it is precedented and feels a part of the wider story.

The reunion with Charles Xavier is poignant, but doesn't dwell. It's not unsweet, but I expect a full emotional reunion for the final return of the X-Men to their original time period. My personal favourite return was of the Generation X-era Emma Frost. Cyclops seems to be on a journey of slowly understanding what kind of person Emma is, getting a nuanced perspective to compare to his previous toxic encounters. In the face of 'Cry Havok', this is interesting. It may play out that this was just part of Bunn's narrative to show readers Emma isn't a moustache-twirling villain, but I hope that Cyclops gets a chance to reflect on this kind of transitional morality. Not only would it help him understand a woman he loves in the future, but it would give him a chance to further reconcile with the choices his older self made, perhaps even coming to peace with them before he returns to his original time.

Jon Malin - Outdated Art, Outdated Opinions.

Social media is currently alight with fierce discussion and debate surrounding Jon Malin, current artist on Marvel's Cable comic book series, and his questionable tweeting. Too often arguments around creators are frivolous disputes that soon descend into unwarranted abuse. Not so here. When I saw the tweet, I was genuinely shocked. It boggles the mind to think that anyone can rationalise the conclusions he came to, but, on reflection, perhaps I shouldn't have been as surprised as I am. Below is the tweet:



Here Malin makes the comparison between 'Social Justice Warriors', left-wing, progressive activists who are pro-democracy and pro-civil rights, and National Socialists, particularly the Nazis of 1930s Germany. It is a gratuitous comparison, letting him take a stab at the political group he despises, disguised as a legitimate counter-argument to the assertion that the X-Men work as combatants in favour of socially progressive politics (they, irrevocably, do).

This has to be one of the most ridiculous pieces of commentary that I have read on the X-Men. It seems particularly strange that I spend so much of my time academically unpacking the false Malcolm X/MLK comparison, only for some people to assert even more bizarre, and dangerous, comparisons. That the minority metaphor rooted into the X-Men franchise, problematic though it is, can be missed so direly is greatly disappointing. More than that though, it poses the question, what is someone who so fundamentally misunderstands the X-Men doing working on an X-Book? His run on Cable will be over soon regardless of this controversy, but Marvel will need to take decisive action to ensure that someone with such a reprehensible viewpoint never gets the same platform with which to spread their ideology. Anything less than a complete disavowal will be a signal that Marvel is supportive of this kind of comment and I'd like to see some reassurances from current creatives that this is not a viewpoint held by anyone else working on the X-Line.

The key to understanding the motivations of this tweet lie in his turn of phrase, "SJW Hitler". Not only does Malin seem to intentionally misinterpret the X-Men franchise, but he seems determined to misinterpret history and nationalist politic. The 'SJW' in this argument takes the place of the universal evil, detached from their actual philosophy and placed as the enemy, much like what has happened to the Nazis in contemporary Western culture. There is no critical response to progressive politics, merely the feeling that Malin is being attacked by them, nor has there been critical analysis of why we consider the eugenicist, nationalist politics of Hitler so entirely evil. The conflation between 'SJW' and Hitler reeks of previous attempts to besmirch progressive politics in popular culture; it was not long ago that any woman desiring fair treatment in gaming spaces was a "Feminazi".

Strictly speaking, what I just wrote there isn't 100% true. There has been some space where Malin chose to address the politics of Hitler, where he continued to perpetuate the idea that the National Socialist party held the values and beliefs of socialism. The justification for Malin's linking of 'SJW' and 'Nazi' seems to be in his misconception of what socialism is, which I think ties into a wider, more interesting contemporary issue in right-wing discourse. We have, ever since the days of McCarthyism, seen the universal evil of Nazism attributed, not to the Nationalistic politics the ideology professes, but to the socialism which was appropriated. Right-wing discourse will have you see no difference between Nazi Germany and countries such as the USSR on the basis that their flaws were born from socialist ideology. Why then is old and new Right alike so committed to the rehabilitation of nationalism in the face of socialism? I don't think it is too hard to guess.

Malin is clearly a nostalgic elitist terrorised by a victim complex, threatened by an influx of more diverse creators who are vastly more talented than he is. We can see, in this very public meltdown, his desperate clinging to old world, conservative power hierarchies. Even in his art we can see designs and styles that have long since been abandoned by most modern day comic book artists, he was even recently at the head of another controversy regarding his poor portrayal of female character 'Blink' in the Cable series. His rendering wasn't merely controversial because of the unrealistic proportions given to the character, but also because his designs in general look poorly envisioned, half-finished and not the kind of quality people expect from an increasingly expensive medium.

Most reprehensible here though is likely the depoliticisation of Jewishness in the context of the Holocaust. This is the kind of topic that deserves more space to discuss and a better writer than I am. I will merely state how utterly deplorable this is. Intentional or not, Malin is rewriting the history of Jewishness, suggesting that progressive politics had no relevance in the Holocaust and removing progressive politics from Judaism itself. Malin's enemy, social justice, is the same enemy the Nationalists had, not the same enemy that the X-Men have and certainly not the same enemy that Jewish people have.

This Week In X-Books - 17/01/2018

Disclaimer: Also out this week was All-New Wolverine #29. I do not read All-New Wolverine in single issues, hence its absence from this list.

This was a week full of surprises, both in the actual stories and in terms of quality. None of this weeks books had particularly strong starts to their series, but each of them is in the running for the best issue of their book so far.

3. Weapon X #13

Here is a book that has been utterly saved by the Legacy initiative. Previously the series had been too focused on setting up uninteresting stories, such as the 'Weapons of Mutant Destruction' crossover or the Weapon H solo series, but now we are finally getting into Weapon X's first real story arc. It's good. Real good, way better than I was expecting in fact. Weapon X had become one of the titles I loathed picking up, but this was a startlingly strong issue. It's still plagued by some of its longstanding issues, some of the team members still just feel wrong (Old Man Logan, who is the exact same character as original Logan just with an off-putting visual, and Lady Deathstrike, who just isn't given the time to justify the logic behind her staying with this team), but a lot has also been fixed up. Disagree though I do about the handling of Sabretooth in this book, particularly as a follow-up to Cullen Bunn's Uncanny X-Men run, he gets a good focus here. The upcoming Old Man Logan/Sabretooth conflict now truly feels inevitable, so Pak does well with this element.
Another success of the book is Warpath, who previously never felt important to the book. This was disappointing to me, as he was one of my most missed characters of those in disuse and one of my most anticipated for the book when the cast was announced. What we ended up with was, however, very little character, minimal story impact and no progression for him throughout the story. This, finally, changes here.

In a great interaction between Weapon X, with regards to how they solve the conflict long term, Warpath commits to effectively, revolutionarily taking action against the cyclical, structural issues that allow for such conflicts to manifest. It's a brave statement that I wouldn't expect from a hero in an X-Book and would be surprised at its inclusion if it wasn't immediately undercut by Old Man Logan. He plays the traditional role of scabbing X-Man and returns the story to its more conventional, superhero-genre conflict. This brief moment though gives Weapon X, and Warpath, a sense of gravitas and moral conflict that had previously been missing from the series.

This was the best issue of the book so far, but it was still deeply flawed. Most characters are still horribly two-dimensional or feel out of place and stories have yet to feel truly relevant to X-Canon. However, this issue does mean that, finally, I am no longer dreading picking up future issues of the series.

'To Be Nuketinued', however, is the single worst thing to have ever been written in a comic book and I'll burn any book that dares to repeat that horrible, horrible phrase.

2. X-Men Gold #20

As each (bi)week goes by this book gets less and less popular, but I found this issue to be quite pleasing. It may not be the best issue of Gold so far, but it has a nice done in one narrative that wraps up the Negative Zone War arc and moves forwards particular personal plot points. It does feel like it should have been referred to as a Negative Zone War epilogue, as it is a strong single issue, but a weak final chapter. The key conflict has been resolved, so there is less weight and purpose here than an arc finale. The arc on the whole has felt like a classic X-Tale, but the caveat is that it has felt largely inconsequential. The two things that mattered in the arc (Rachel's injury and the other discussed below) could have been covered in a three issue arc, rather than the six issues we have had devoted to this story.

I've mentioned before that Gold really hasn't done right by Storm, with the Annual back-up story being the first to curb that trend. This issue takes another stab at making Storm in this book meaningful, but, if this is Guggenheim's idea of Storm-focus, you have to wonder if he actually has the writing chops for an X-Men flagship. This is by no means a bad issue. This is also by no means a Storm issue. Storm gets perhaps a fraction more panel time than you'd expect from a book that balanced its cast fairly, she doesn't get anything special in this issue. Rather, as has been noted in forum discussions, Storm has her powers 'mansplained' to her by Logan to resolve the issue's conflict. Likewise on Logan, he is her first thought when she defeats the beast attacking her. It is clear that Guggenheim has no clear, long-term (or even immediate) plans for Storm's character. It seems that she was only included as part of his tribute to Claremont, which is a huge shame considering the inner turmoil she should have been grappling with in the face of her loss of leadership to Kitty. Guggenheim's unsatisfactory approach to his female characters really lets the book down.

The personal progression is not entirely done to the best of its potential in Gold, but it remains what is the most compelling about the book. It certainly feels that Rachel has been out of use in this book for too long, as she is one of few characters who gets this kind of treatment. Storm and Old Man Logan are, even at their best, just underdeveloped retreads of the Claremontian versions of the characters, but Rachel, Kurt, Kitty and Piotr all feel like they have a reason and destination in Gold. Ink has far too much of a presence in this arc, considering his obscurity and lack of explanation or introduction for his presence in this arc.

Despite the many negative things I have to say about this issue, it really is just fine. Many of its problems are tied up in the failings of previous issues, the core of #20 is a surprisingly enjoyable superhero story. It doesn't give Storm her dues, but puts the book on a path to treating her with some more respect. I cannot say that I regretted my experience reading this. In fact, as single issues go, it just might be one of Gold's best.

Spoilers follow.

Though not a massive surprise, as it had been all but confirmed by editorial and was spoiled in last week's Gold annual, Kitty Pryde and Colossus are now engaged. I'm, more or less, ambivalent to this. We all saw it coming. But this is the moment #20 hinges on. Your opinion on this engagement will greatly affect how much you enjoy this issue and, really, X-Men Gold in general. I may write about this in longer form at some point, but the key point of discussion for me is whether or not this is actually earned. It feels far too much like Guggenheim desperately trying to leave his mark on mutable continuity, without first rebuilding a relationship that went so terribly wrong, so terribly recently. It was not too long ago that Kitty Pryde was engaged to someone completely different (although, still called Peter). This was not without reason, her and Colossus had a seriously bad break-up. Guggenheim has, however, shown that he isn't concerned in organically rebuilding that relationship, instead relying on our preconceived notions of the couple to guide an audience through his story. This means that, like much of gold in general, this will be a book well recieved by the casual comic book reader, but derided by the fans.

1. Generation X #86

This was always going to take the number one spot. Generation X had a terribly rocky start, so rocky in fact that I'm still trepidatious about picking up the first trade, but since issue 6 this series has really realised its true potential. The creative team must have had a eureka moment (or, rather, the problems that plague the series opening are unique to stories at the start of a series and, as such, later issues don't have the same things holding them back) and this issue is just yet another success for Christina Strain's lovable-loser-themed X-Book.

This should not be the penultimate issue. This series deserved to make it to 16 issues at least. The cancellation of this series is a modern X-Book tragedy and editorial will be foolish to not find a way to bring Strain onto future books.

My cancellation bitterness aside, this is a great chapter in the wider story and likely the most important issue of the series (more on that below). The pacing here is fantastic, we get a lot of character for everyone who matters (I'm still not sold on Eye-Boy and Nature Girl, regrettably), and the OG-Gen Xers get some fun moments to do as well. Strain does well by grounding the story in Quentin's perspective. A character that felt quite out of place on the team (he is a battle-ready, future X-Man who has been one of the few consistently published X-Kids of recent years), Quentin finally brings a different kind of broken to the cast. His journey to find faith in people, to get over his issues with trust, bookends the issue, giving an added layer of depth to a pretty action-packed story.

Hindsight continues to be a fantastic achievement of a character, easily my favourite new creation of ResurreXion and possibly the best new character since Bendis' run. He and Ben Deeds get a great moment in their compelling ongoing romance and he gets another chance to show off his powers. Pinna knows how to show-off the cool visual of Hindsight's powers. There is a great moment that shows off the backstory of both Hindsight and Monet, which is a wonderful use of his powers, rendered stunningly. My issue with some boring, uninspired backgrounds remains, but the art is in a far better place now than it was at the start of the series. Part of it has been giving Pinna more interesting characters and moments to work with, but I think you can also track his growth into the book, its cast and the creative team. Chamber and Husk, particularly, look amazing in their action shots.

There really is just an incredible amount of good in this issue and very little to criticise. There's also so much going on that it feels very difficult to write up all my thoughts about this single issue in a concise, compelling way, without leaving out many of the smaller details that have made this story so enjoyable. Safe to say, this is easily the best X-Book of the week.

Spoilers follow.

Quentin cured Jubilee of her vampirism and gave her her powers back, by sacrificing his Phoenix shard. It is very difficult to take about this issue without discussing this spoiler. That last panel is, without a doubt, the most significant contribution to X-Canon this series has had. Her powers have been missing since 2006 and she's been a vampire since 2010, so it is cool enough in and of itself that Jubilee is back to a recognisable point. Beyond this though, it makes the Generation X series more meaningful in the context of the title itself. I'm sure it's no coincidence that this re-powering took place during the renumbered Legacy arc as, while previously the series had felt more like a spiritual successor to the original Generation X, this one panel retroactively makes the series feel like a true continuation and readdressing of the series' most significant, surviving characters.

On Final Fantasy XV's Royal Edition

'Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition' was announced today as the 'Game of the Year' style collection of the main game, all previously released downloadable content and a wealth of additional extras. In addition to the already impressive amount of post-launch content and updates, there are exclusive features such as quests, an expanded map locale and new mechanics that are included in this new edition or with a 'Pack' that can upgrade your base game into the new edition. Quests to improve the implementation of the Regalia Type-D, an off-road vehicle introduced somewhat clumsily in a previous update, are really welcome and, whilst it being tied to an accessory is somewhat disappointing, the new 'Armiger Unleashed' update looks fantastic. There is also a first-person mode, coming across to the console editions from the forthcoming Windows Edition. There will also be some new lore details and trophies included, however, the main appealing content here is the Royal Vessel and Expanded Insomnia Ruins map.

Below is the trailer for the 'Royal Edition':

https://youtu.be/lPHypsuXNKs


The Royal Vessel is a much more low-key exciting feature than the other things included, particularly in the face of a much more realised city of Insomnia, but has an incredible amount of potential. More so than the expanded Insomnia, this new feature will add to the core appeal of the game. The road trip with your bros feeling that permeates the majority of the game's content is fully focused on here. Including new fishes, new dishes and expanded exploration out on the world's sea. I may be being somewhat optimistic here, but this could be a gateway to a Niflheim expansion later down the line. This is unlikely, as I expect Niflheim to remain a mostly linear experience even after the post-launch work is complete, but I think this is the kind of world most fans are invested in. The game's world map is huge, but it isn't all encompassing, rather it often feels like you're exploring a much smaller area than you actually are because of how little scope there is. It's an interesting duality between that scope and the value of detail, FFXV, at launch, focused on the detail, leaving some fan's disappointed that the exploration of a fully-fledged game world never manifested. The Royal Vessel, using a boat to explore the waters between Caem and Altissia, is also exciting to me because it was something I had asked a question about in a survey about FFXV way back in early-2017. My idea for it, however, was nowhere near as ambitious as what this iteration appears to be; I merely wanted to be able to take the boat on its guided track at will.

Expanded Insomnia Ruins is clearly the most exciting content here though. It is the content that is spurring up the most discussion and seems to be where a lot of effort has been invested in by the developers. Chapter 14 was already my favourite chapter in the game, having no personal qualms with the amount of time you spend in the 'World of Ruin', but now it's set to become even more dense. I must confess to some nerves with the developers going back and messing with one of my favourite parts of the game, frankly the entire chapter is one of my favourite game finale's of all time and I have some concerns with regards to the pacing and how this expansion will affect the game from after you go through the citadel gates, but this is overall exciting. More story content, featuring an older Cor, the nefarious Ardyn and what appears to be an apparition of Lunafreya is inherently exciting. Whilst I never felt Ch.14 needed more, the chance to explore Insomnia at large is just tantalising. The small glimpse of it we had in the main game actually had a fair bit of depth to it, featuring a lot of easter eggs and unique party dialogues that really rewarded exploration. The level of detail is something that, no doubt, will be given up in exchange for a much larger area to explore. Losing a comprehensively detailed moment in the story in exchange for a less detailed, but more expansive version of that same moment feels like a fair, if unfortunate change. I have no doubt that the portion of Insomnia explored will remain, my fear is more that, in relation to the other areas, what was once comprehensive will be unable to make up for a wider sense of lacking. Despite this concern, just the idea of an increase of content in XV's coolest, most definitive location is driving me wild.

The new boss fights featured look incredible. Both visually amazing and lore-friendly, Cerberus, Omega and the Rulers of Yore promise to really give players, (like me) who have long since seen everything the game has to offer, a reason to return in force. For new players, I can only envy the journey they are about to go on. Whilst I wouldn't give up the year I've spent in the FFXV community, experiencing all the highs and lows that came with it, new players, particularly on PC, will be able to experience one of my most beloved games in a glorious new state. The Rulers of Yore section shown though is where my concerns for pacing have manifested, yet there's a lot to unpack in the very short clip we saw. Straight away, we see the added boss fights taking place inside the Citadel. This is an area only accessible after the Ifrit fight, providing a slow, sombre walk-up to the final encounter with Ardyn. It is a marvellously well done segment and not something I'd like to see thrown away for the sake of these boss fights. Whilst it initially seems like I just need to deal with the fact that this is how the game is now, there is a small detail that gives me some semblance of hope.

Noctis' cape.

While this may seem the nitpickiest of nitpicks, in the Ifrit boss battle Noctis' cape very noticeably catches fire. The majority of the cape is no longer there when the party ascends through the citadel, posing the question: how come it is there in full in the Rulers of Yore fight? This could imply a few things. My reading is that this is an optional sidequest, either taking place in a similar looking area or the same area through some reality-bending magic (we see the world start to break down in the background. However, we do still see the main quest "The Cure For Insomnia" in the upper-right corner. So this is clearly very confusing, it's certainly unclear just how this fight will manifest in the game itself. It's possible that, of what we see in the trailer, more is part of Comrades than we'd like to think. As Noctis, Gladiolus, Prompto and Ignis have all been confirmed to become playable in the multiplayer expansion, it's possible that Insomnia could be opened up as part of that expansion and not the main game. Certainly the character-creator-styled Kingsglaive we see in the trailer hint to this. That is a key question in the run-up to the release, as the debate over pricing will certainly transform if we learn that much of the content will manifest in Comrades, and not the main game. I do think it's unlikely, as the story content we've previewed seems much more in line with FFXV (the UI particularly looks exactly like the main game) rather than Comrades, but, the problem lingers; returning players just don't really know what they're paying for.

This is currently one of, if not the, biggest discussion points surrounding this edition. The 'Royal Pack', that will allow owners of the game to upgrade to the 'Royal Edition', is supposedly around £20. Now, Square Enix have since come out and said that the pricing of the pack is still in flux, but for the short amount of time before that there was some really intense debate around forums and social media on whether the pack had been priced fairly. There was a sense that comitted fans are being made worse off for purchasing and playing the launch version because the game at launch, season pass dlc and 'Royal Pack' would add up to around £100, compared to the 'Royal Edition's about £60. It was clear that there would have been a 'complete' edition, compiling the main game and dlc, somewhere along the line from the season pass announcement, but, because this edition doesn't seem to mark the final piece of post-launch dlc (Director Hajime Tabata having mentioned a desire to produce Ardyn and Luna themed content pieces) and features exclusive content beyond the season pass, fan nerves are being tested.

From what we can see in the trailer, it's hard to tell whether the 'Royal Pack' is priced fairly at the £20 mark or not. The collective response has been that it is too much, but I do think there are ways it could justify that price, even if these ways seem to be particularly unlikely. For one, the bosses we've seen already exceed the standard for the episode dlc format, indicating that the map expansion could be an expansion comparable to Comrades. With sufficient story backing and the openness of the ocean, this could justify that price tag. It could also be that the pack will serve as the second season pass, allowing purchasers of the pack access to newly released episode dlc. Yet, if more dlc is produced and charged for, will this not undermine the very nature of this riff on a 'complete' edition?

There are many questions as we move forwards to release, but much of this discussion is undermined by what seems to be a Square Enix backpedal on the pricing. When we know the final price, we'll be able to resume discussions on value and whether the content is worth the price. I'm uncharacteristically optimistic that the final price will reflect the content included, based on how the previous season pass dlc pricing was very fair. Overall, I think this new content looks incredible and I'm very excited about it. Critical as I am about the seemingly high price tag, when I first saw the announcement trailer my eyes lit up and I was ready to pay full price to get to explore more of Insomnia, to get more story content and ride in a boat with my bros. Final Fantasy XV remains one of my favourite games of this generation and the post-launch support has me falling in love with it over and over again.


'Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition' launches 6th March, 2018.

This Week In X-Books - 10/01/2018

Honourable Mention: Secret Warriors #12

This issue really shouldn't be here. It's connections to the X-Universe are barely represented, having resolved the Mister Sinister plot line last issue and Magik appearing in a very small capacity, but I just couldn't resist. This is a masterclass in finale issues. 

Taking the setting of a games night, the Secret Warriors face not a villain or machiavellian plot, but each other. It is such a bizarre way to wrap up a superhero book and that is precisely why it works so well. It's not just cool seeing a Marvel Universe version of risk, it's cool seeing long-running interpersonal strife come to the forefront and have a chance to be resolved. The issue does well in not dwelling on the sombreness of the books own ending and this humility let's a reader experience that feeling on their own accord. There are the never-ending story platitudes, as everyone leaves games night suggesting they'll be there when needed, but the ending is felt in every great character interaction or comedic moment. 

You do get the feeling Magik only turned up here because the X-Office editorial had no place for her in actual X-Books, she leaves quickly and makes a point of saying that she never really belonged. Her seeming emotional confession is undermined by Quake, one of the book's actual cast members, to humorous effect. Whilst I'm not usually one for seeing a favourite character undermined or made the butt of a joke, Rosenberg makes it work (as he did with the X-Men's appearance in the Secret Empire tie-ins also). Even as an X-Fan, I'm completely aware that a Magik solo isn't what this book was.

What this book was though, was an underrated, sleeper hit that I have no doubt will be fondly remembered in years to come. 

3: X-Men Gold Annual #1

The main story here really isn’t that appealing. It has one or two moments where it tries (and fails) to have some character exploration, but is mainly just a generic, one-off superhero romp. This isn't all bad, one of Gold's strengths is that it has really felt that the X-Men are one of the Marvel Universe's premiere superhero teams and stories like this reaffirm that. Yet, as an Excalibur reunion, it fails to recognise what made that book successful; its unconventionality. Brian says nothing of value, Meggan's characterisation is reverted by a decade or so and Kitty Pryde doesn't even get to wear her classic Shadowcat costume. Boo!

Possibly the biggest problem here is the handling of Brian and Meggan's baby, an underdeveloped, mystical (?) super-genius. I really don't know why the baby is so smart, it isn't developed in this story. It's more or less presented as fact, something I should know going into this story. Beyond some seemingly missing information though, the baby is just an annoying gimmick that doesn't really provide any compelling drama. There is a moment with Meggan where she is in turmoil over the baby being smarter than her, but this isn't given the time or the weight that it needed to be emotionally affecting. I will say though that it was almost worth it, just for the opening sequence of a stork landing at the X-Mansion (Oddly, it would appear Brian and Meggan informed their former teammates of their baby, but not Psylocke, Brian's sister).

The back-up story is what you really want to read. It's a bit cheesy and has some less than stellar dialogue in places, but this is the story Storm fans have been dying to see for some years now. Despite being one of the most recognisable and important X-Men, not to mention superheroes in general, Storm has been receiving the short end of the stick for some time now. Her poor characterisation in Extraordinary X-Men got her demoted from leader and saviour of mutantkind to a character who is lucky if she gets to shoot a single bolt of lightning in an issue. Guggenheim's complete disregard for Ororo since the X-Men Prime one-shot is a shadow that looms heavy over the series as a whole, but this story does some work to resolve that.

Storm may be the subject of the story, but we see her through the perspective of a X-Men-loving child and her aunt. This works on multiple levels, as it gives us both a grounded story and a backdrop of classic super-heroics. The super-heroics help reaffirm the girl's mission to meet her favourite superhero, whilst also doing what I previously mentioned as a Gold standard, building up the X-Men as a premiere super team.

It's a nice mark for how far the X-Men as a franchise have come since the last flagship annual. There are no death mists or prisons or under-explained status-quo elements, both stories are a lot more hopeful. They are also both heavily nostalgic, drawing on elements very much in tune with the wider Marvel Legacy initiative. A harken back to an old team, to an older, more optimistic view of super-heroics. This annual doesn't have a lot of depth, but it is a fun time nonetheless.

2: Phoenix Resurrection #3

Minor spoilers ahead.

Phoenix Resurrection will, more than likely, be more enjoyable when read as a trade. Each
issue feels more like a chapter in a book than it's own comic book, so it has felt like we took more
time to arrive at this destination than we usually would have. Now we are here though, Rosenberg
pulls out a lot of fantastic stuff. It's clear now that the core of this book is not in a super powered
conflict between X-Men and the Phoenix, but rather is heavily leaning into the mystery of Jean's
return. The X-Men are more detectives than they are a super-team and this pays off with how
uncomfortable and disconcerting Jean's alternate reality makes you feel. The great trick established
in previous issues of having known mutants appear in this uncanny valley styled town continues
here, meaning the reader always knows there is something more disturbing going on than it seems.

Possibly the most interesting addition to the mystery may just be the presence of an open casket. While everyone knows Jean is returning, this shows us that her resurrection won't be a standard retcon, where Jean had never died in the first place. Jean was buried and then she was unearthed. We are left with the X-Men standing on the precipice of discovery and can only wait to see how the mystery unfolds.

Emma Frost’s appearance is probably the greatest missed opportunity of the issue. She isn't as biting as we'd expect her to be, there is no hint at the special relationship between her and Kitty (particularly as this is their first interaction since Emma's actions in Inhumans Vs X-Men) and she doesn't seem to actually deliver that much to the story. If this creates continuity conflict with the character's appearance in the Jean Grey solo series, then it really isn't justified. We will have to wait until that series' final issue to find out though.

Despite Jean’s occasional Mr. Blobby face, the art is more or less serviceable. It doesn’t really compare to the previous issues, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it is the series’ art low-point, but it certainly isn’t enough to detract from the good here.

And the good far outweighs the other slight I have with the issue. I'd have liked to have seen more of Rosenberg's wide X-Roster, but as the story narrows in scope so must the cast. It was good while it lasted, my beloved Team Yellow. The world and story Rosenberg has built is a testament to his strengths as a writer, it is no wonder he makes this list twice in one week.

1. X-Men Blue #19

Far and away, this was my favourite book this week. I've always rated Blue highly, as I'm a massive fan of Cullen Bunn's work on the X-Books, but issues like this are where I truly feel justified in supporting a book. The Cross-Time Capers storyline is now four issues in, with this being far and away the most significant issue so far. Having previously destroyed reality and sent the X-Men on a quest through an alternate history, Bunn now finally brings us to the inception of the team's problems. This is the issue that justifies the whole arc. Where as the previous issues dealt primarily with fan service and developing the effects of the deteriorating timeline, #19 finally gives us the X-Men at their destination. As a whole, perhaps the Cross-Time Capers can be criticised for wasting a lot of time with those previous issues, but that is not a mark on this issue, which uses its page count wisely. The final page will be somewhat predictable to those who have been following the series, but will blow you away nonetheless.

It is difficult to discuss this without spoiling its most compelling reveal, but even before that moment you have a great concept and execution. The time-displaced X-Men reconciling with their own time's version of Magneto works. The humorous build-up to Jean's confrontation with said Magneto works. There is urgency, there is a sense that we are finally addressing the core conflict of the arc. There is very little to fault here. Bloodstorm and Jimmy take a backseat, but not unexpectedly so, as this is the original five X-Men seeing the time from which they were displaced.

R.B. Silva's art goes to show he is one of the most significant artists working on the X-Books today. His arc on X-Men Gold, his Generations: Phoenix one-shot and, now, the majority of the Cross-Time Capers arc, have all rendered the stories beautifully. There's a kinetic energy to his work that really pays off in action sequences, but his quiet moments often feel just as impressive. His Magneto is glorious and helps lend him the gravitas this particular, more unhinged version of the character requires.

Last issue's Generation X story may edge ahead slightly in my own personal rankings, but that is simply because it was an issue that felt so entirely tailored to me and my own nostalgia for the Generation X team. This issue is much stronger in the wider terms of the storyline, of Blue and of the time-displaced X-Men themselves. The plot twist is the biggest shake to their core status-quo since Dennis Hopeless' All-New X-Men finale. Issue #20 will have a lot to do, being the last issue in the story and having a lot of elements to address before bringing reality back to normal. I question whether Bunn will have the page space to adequately address everything, leaving me somewhat anxious of how the story will wrap up. Regardless, this has been an overall entertaining story, so I'm interested to see how Bunn ends it.

That next issue really cannot come quickly enough, thankfully, it is only a two week wait.

Writing Is Horrible

Writing is Horrible.

Am I wrong? The process of writing is arduous torture, where you put your soul on

the line and receive very little in return. With every piece of writing I do, I feel that I

lose more and more of myself. It takes your dignity, it revels in your fear, it is

fundamentally humiliating. You take your thoughts out of the infinite expanse of your

own mind and render them naked and vulnerable on the page. Not only do those once

private thoughts become open to every criticism and interrogation that can be placed upon them, but you are forced into convincing yourself that there is some inherent merit to what you have to say. You must come to believe that your senseless screaming into the void matters.

I am terrified of writing. The idea of being narcissistic enough to sit for a period of time

and unfurl the incongruous ideas and opinions that rattle around my skull is terrifying. It

feels antithesis to how I should be and is that not the crux of this issue? That writing, sending out thoughts with certainty and confidence, does feel so unnatural. Sending tweets out into the void is one thing, but putting your thoughts and ideas into a much more direct firing line is a dangerous, intimidating business.

Why then do we write? Why do we do something that so many of us hate and fear?

Certainly, it isn’t because it is easy. I think many of us write because we are no one

without the written word. Writing is fear inspiring, and rightly so, but it is also what

we love and part of who we are. There is a burden to creation, that that which you

dedicate yourself to may, in the end, never be good enough. There is a sense that

what you are doing is futile, as it has been done countless times before you. But

there is hope also. What we write encourages us to be and do better, be that in the realm of creating fiction or in re-evaluating previous attitudes, values and beliefs. There is a faith in the form, a trust that through writing we may find clarity or liberation.

This is something I struggle with as someone who feels like a writer, but in turn does

very little writing. The fear of the blank page, the horrid aftertaste of writing thoughts onto

paper, are the demons that must be slain on my journey towards becoming a writer. Yet

they are only rewarded with further burden of creation. A prime interest of mine, however, is how this burden manifests itself in people other than myself. This blog will be somewhat about my journey to becoming a consistent, proficient writer, but it will be by looking at the creations that come from popular culture. In my view, there is no difference in the burden of creation between the novelist and the comic book writer, and, as such, I desire to analyse and encourage discussion around popular culture on the same terms as we do with high culture.

Writing remains horrible to me, even as I begin to feel more skilled or more accomplished

in it. Every time I sit down to face this challenge I am barraged by the same fears and

doubts that have assaulted me a thousand times. Yet, I think I also forget how fun it can

be, how blessed the sensation of flowing prose is and how it feels to see an idea from inception to execution. That is what I need to hold close to me, as I move forwards: the great love I have for writing.