New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial [Paperback]

Grant Morrison (Author), Frank Quitley (Illustrator), Ethan Van Sciver (Illustrator), Igor Kordey (Illustrator)

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (January 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785108874
• ISBN-13: 978-0785108870
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #764,253 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Morrison's great as usual, but the art hurt's this volume..., August 31, 2002

By 

Batfink (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial (Paperback)

Grant Morrison's writing in this book is up to his usual great standards but, this time out the inconsistant art really hurt's the overall enjoyment. As many know, Frank Quitely, the book's "regular artist" can't keep a deadline to save his life, so we have Ethan Van Sciver as his back-up, Sciver, while having a style that dosen't really mesh with Quitely's still look's good on the X-Men and during the issues in this book, he really started to come into his own. Then, he start's having trouble keeping up, so Marvel does the worst move they have done in recent year's by bringing Igor Kordey in to become the book's main artist. Kordeys art is just plain ugly. Totally clashes with Morrison's style of writing and Kordey draws a couple of the pivotal issues of this storyline killing the flow of the story. Still, through all the ups and downs of the art, you still have Morrison's awsome writing injecting these characters with excitement and life for the first time in many years, however watered down it is.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "I can heal you!", October 4, 2002

By 

Sam Thursday (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial (Paperback)

First, the good news: Morrison's apocalyptic storytelling just shines here. The climax to Imperial is absolutely first-rate, and the plot twists are perfect (there's some great foreshadowing here as well - the phoenix force casts a long, fiery shadow over the proceedings). This book is actually the long, long conclusion to E is for Extinction, so the one volume doesn't really make sense without the other. Quitely's sections are unsurprisingly brilliant - his lines and layouts are clean and inventive, exhibiting a great eye for detail and sense of pacing. Ethan Van Sciver is also a pretty solid contender, though perhaps not in the same league as Quitely.
Now the bad news: Igor Kordey's sections are very bad. Very, very bad. Good Lord, are they awful. The layouts are cluttered, the pacing is off, and the character depictions are downright lazy. Memo to Marvel: Please, please kick this loser off the book before he ruins your sales. People will stop reading if they can't figure out what's going on.
Final assessment: Marvel exhibits business acumen, if nothing else. Climactic issues are always pencilled by Quitely, and Van Sciver gets his licks in. Morrison's writing miraculously transcends Kordey's godforsaken art, so the book is certainly worth reading. Pick it up just to read the great writing and to see the occasional beauty, and write a letter to Marvel protesting bulk-rate comic art.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Morrison's Run Continues To Impress, But..., June 3, 2006

By 

Andrew "Radaar" (Chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial (Paperback)

The first volume of Grant Morrison's New X-Men was very good. Though it isn't the best X-Men book around (go read Astonishing!), it had a great story, introduced a powerful new villain, and found a new way to show how mutants can be persecuted. Imperial directly continues the events of E if for Extinction, with Prof. Xavier leaving Earth to contact the Shi'ar after revealing to the media that he's really a mutant and his school for the gifted means a school for mutants. Unable to understand why he would do such a thing, the X-Men, who include Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Wolverine, and Emma Frost, are left to deal with the protestors who are outside the school. If that weren't bad enough, a creepy cult has surfaced. They are humans who desire to be mutants, so they harvest mutant organs in order to implant in their own bodies to give themselves superpowers. While dealing with these crises, the entire X-team finds themselves coming down with a mysterious flu, and, eventually, they begin to wonder if the threat posed by Cassandra Nova is really as finished as they thought.
In addition to the X-Men, some more of the studnets are featured. Emma Frost's new protoges, the Stepford Cuckoos, are introduced in this trade, Beak gets a part to play, and a new character, a girl with some physiology reminiscent of a fly, is brought to the school after she is thrown out of her house. All of these characters contribute to the story at some point, and it seems that Morrison is setting them up for bigger things to come.
Imperial is definitely good and is a worthy read, but there are a few things that I must say. It seemed like there was almost too much going on to keep track of. There were numerous plots interwoven in these issues, which isn't a problem as long as the reader can keep them straight. I had a somewhat hard time remembering who was involved in which story. Still, this is a good read for any X-Men fan.