Review: Uncanny X-Men #477
*The Rise and Fall of Spoilers Below*
Uncanny X-Men #477
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Art by: Billy Tan
Story: The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire part 3
Ok, before I start...Let me say that I enjoy Ed Brubaker's work. I loved the first Sleeper series, and I am blown away by his ability to step in after Brian Michael Bendis in Daredevil. Not everybody can fill those shoes...
But...
Ugh...Ok, this is about the third Summers boy...Gabriel Summers...going to get his revenge on the Shi'ar Empire for what they did to his family. They kidnapped his father and mother leaving his 2 older brothers, Scott and Alex, behind and possibly dead. His mother was pregnant with him at the time and they ripped him out of her and put him in an incubator. Pretty bad stuff that was put into his memory so it's not like he heard what happened, in his mind he sees it. Bad stuff.
The general plot isn't bad...But there are some key details which cause serious problems. Did you know he was a member of the X-Men? Not like Sage, secretly working for Xavier to get closer to his enemies...Nope. An actual member. There was a panel of Professor X, Cyclops, Vulcan, and...Marvel Girl...Jean Grey. The reason I save her for last is that she joined the X-Men in X-Men #1. First X-Men comic ever, she joins. In that issue we see the 4 boys, Iceman, Beast, Angel, and Cyclops, being called to Prof. X to introduce them to Jean Grey, the newest member of the X-Men...So, Vulcan was also a member...But they were in their later costumes...Jean's green little skirt ensemble, so he joined later...But his membership wasn't shown in the series or in the Hidden Years series. I don't know if Alex, Havok, was a member at the time, but I'm going to assume he was, because if he wasn't, we have a bigger problem.
Anyway, yeah yeah...just cause we aren't shown it doesn't mean it can't happen, right? Except the three boys' father, Christopher Summers, Corsair, never once asked about him. Except it's been a long time since we learned there was a third Summers boy but no details about him. I don't know when the first reference to a third Summers came from, but it's been awhile. So all this time, there was no mystery....cause Xavier and Cyclops and the original X-Men knew who the third Summers was.
And this is where someone says something about how it doesn't really change continuity. So we didn't know, that doesn't really change anything. But it kinda does...who the Third Summers boy is was a big question...finding out the mystery was ours and not the characters is kind of a let down.
And of course, he's really, really powerful. Like all X-Men brothers who fight the X-Men have to be. Elizabeth Braddock's brother Jamie who has reality altering powers, and Colossus's brother Mikhail Rasputin also having reality altering powers. And know what else they all have in common...They're all crazy!
A lot of people seem to think the continuity is unimportant and a hindrance to good writing. Then I ask how they'll feel when a comic they've read for so long starts changing the history they know so well and in so doing creates anomalies in the continuity. Continuity is a hindrance to good writing? Bologna! If you can't come up with a good story with the toys you are provided, make your own toys. And, for the record, I'm all for change. I'm annoyed that we've had the same X-Men for thirty years. Time for a change Marvel. New members, new characters.
1 Worm... for the brief appearance of the Imperial Guard...who kick much ass.
Uncanny X-Men #477
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Art by: Billy Tan
Story: The Rise and Fall of the Shi'ar Empire part 3
Ok, before I start...Let me say that I enjoy Ed Brubaker's work. I loved the first Sleeper series, and I am blown away by his ability to step in after Brian Michael Bendis in Daredevil. Not everybody can fill those shoes...
But...
Ugh...Ok, this is about the third Summers boy...Gabriel Summers...going to get his revenge on the Shi'ar Empire for what they did to his family. They kidnapped his father and mother leaving his 2 older brothers, Scott and Alex, behind and possibly dead. His mother was pregnant with him at the time and they ripped him out of her and put him in an incubator. Pretty bad stuff that was put into his memory so it's not like he heard what happened, in his mind he sees it. Bad stuff.
The general plot isn't bad...But there are some key details which cause serious problems. Did you know he was a member of the X-Men? Not like Sage, secretly working for Xavier to get closer to his enemies...Nope. An actual member. There was a panel of Professor X, Cyclops, Vulcan, and...Marvel Girl...Jean Grey. The reason I save her for last is that she joined the X-Men in X-Men #1. First X-Men comic ever, she joins. In that issue we see the 4 boys, Iceman, Beast, Angel, and Cyclops, being called to Prof. X to introduce them to Jean Grey, the newest member of the X-Men...So, Vulcan was also a member...But they were in their later costumes...Jean's green little skirt ensemble, so he joined later...But his membership wasn't shown in the series or in the Hidden Years series. I don't know if Alex, Havok, was a member at the time, but I'm going to assume he was, because if he wasn't, we have a bigger problem.
Anyway, yeah yeah...just cause we aren't shown it doesn't mean it can't happen, right? Except the three boys' father, Christopher Summers, Corsair, never once asked about him. Except it's been a long time since we learned there was a third Summers boy but no details about him. I don't know when the first reference to a third Summers came from, but it's been awhile. So all this time, there was no mystery....cause Xavier and Cyclops and the original X-Men knew who the third Summers was.
And this is where someone says something about how it doesn't really change continuity. So we didn't know, that doesn't really change anything. But it kinda does...who the Third Summers boy is was a big question...finding out the mystery was ours and not the characters is kind of a let down.
And of course, he's really, really powerful. Like all X-Men brothers who fight the X-Men have to be. Elizabeth Braddock's brother Jamie who has reality altering powers, and Colossus's brother Mikhail Rasputin also having reality altering powers. And know what else they all have in common...They're all crazy!
A lot of people seem to think the continuity is unimportant and a hindrance to good writing. Then I ask how they'll feel when a comic they've read for so long starts changing the history they know so well and in so doing creates anomalies in the continuity. Continuity is a hindrance to good writing? Bologna! If you can't come up with a good story with the toys you are provided, make your own toys. And, for the record, I'm all for change. I'm annoyed that we've had the same X-Men for thirty years. Time for a change Marvel. New members, new characters.
1 Worm... for the brief appearance of the Imperial Guard...who kick much ass.
posted by Bodog at 6:17 PM
2 Comments:
one worm out of what?
i don't think they needed another summers anyway, they already had the other brother and Cable.
I do a five worm scale...
And consider the family tree...You have Corsair, father of Havok and Cyclops. Cyclops has a son, Cable, by Jean Grey clone Madelyne Pryor. Then, their's Rachel Summers, who now calls herself Rachel Grey, alternate universe daughter of Cyclops and Jean Grey...not throw in another Summers brother, Vulcan...
Oh oh, and if we also count Stryfe, clone of Cable...who-boy, it's a mess.
Heh...funny miniseries...Summers Family Reunion...They should do it!
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