Customer Reviews

New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Haven't read much later X-Men, so a little bit lost for some of this. Have to revisit it at a later date. It was not too bad, and had Jean Grey (yes, in one of her lives) still alive and front and centre, leading the band. If you don't like Frank Quitely's art, do avoid this, as it is very in your face here.

The word I thought of in reading Quitely and Morrison's version of the X-men was "dense." As in "the work exhibited some density": every frame and every sentence played an important role in the development of the story. There wasn't much, if any, creative waste, if i can phrase it that way. Another word I thought of was "beautiful": Quitely's lines and Morrison's words stand separately and work together both, forming a very clean, excitingly fluid story reminiscent of some of John Byrne's or Neal Adams's best work. Unfortunately, the duo's cooperation isn't seen throughout this book: fill-in artists serve on several pages. Regardless, Quitely's and Morrison's work make this worth noting if not buying.

Thank you.

Roland

As one of the characters says, the X-Men must be nothing less than fabolous. Grant Morrison has given them a vivid personality and an intelligent plot. I have not read the last decade of the X-Men and after read this book I know I did not lost anything. It is amazing how a good idea can be wasted during years and how it can be rescued with a little bit of smart.
I hope DC comics takes advantage of the growing number of Morrison's and publish his Animal Man and Doom Patrol.

The second volume of Grant Morrisons X-men run cranks up the action and the drama. Morrisons storytelling skills are astounding, when Cassandra was coming back to destroy the Xmen i could feel the desperation and fear of the characters. Clever plot twists are around every corner. The only reason i gave the book 4 stars is due to the fluctuating quality of the art, sometimes its good and sometimes its bad. A good follow up to "E IS FOR EXTICTION". EP

this continues the story that started in new xmen: e is for extinction. if you liked that, then you should read this as well, to see how it all turns out

Note: this review refers to New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial. Grant Morrison's earth shaking run on New X-Men continues in this collected volume following the shattering events of E is for Extinction. Professor X, whose mind and body is under the control of his evil twin sister Cassandra Nova, is attempting to manipulate the Shi'ar empire to destroy all the mutants on Earth. Meanwhile, the X-Men are in dissary. Beast is in a coma, while Cyclops and Emma uncover even more about the mysterious John Sublime and his U-Men. Wolverine helps out a young girl named Angel who discovers she is a mutant, while Jean scrambles amidst the mayhem. Morrison really weaves an awesome story, undoubtadly the best to hit the X-Men in years. The story is loaded with twists and turns and rich in character, and he even manages to make Cyclops and Emma the most interesting characters in the book and doesn't focus primarily on Wolverine like so many X-books have in the past. The only downside of this collection is the art. While the art in various issues by Frank Quitely and Ethan Van Sciver is great, Igor Kordey's art is nearly atrocious. I mean come on, I've seen this guy's art in Cable and X-Treme X-Men and it was solid, but here it looks plain old sloppy and rushed. That aside though, this volume is worth picking up as it continues Grant Morrison's now legendary run, and it sure beats out any X-Men material to come out before it or recently since Morrison's departure.

The quality keeps going on here. The X-Men are still very fresh and interesting in this volume. The story still great. The art still good. The New X-Men stories are much more character driven than what I remember.