Customer Reviews

New X-Men Vol. 1: E is for Extinction (v. 1)

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Despite their status as perennial mega-sellers, Marvel's two series featuring the superpowered mutants, the X-men, Uncanny X-men and X-men, have been prone to continuous revamping in the past few years. In the summer of 1997, two parallel events, Operation Zero Tolerance and The Trial of Gambit, ousted such popular X-men as Bishop, Cyclops and Gambit and replaced them with newcomers, Maggott, Cecelia Reyes and Marrow. In August of 1998, most of those characters were written out, making room for the return of Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Colossus who augmented a line-up similar to the X-men's classic years in the late nineteen-seventies and early eighties. In April of 2000, another fixture from the team's golden era, writer, Chris Claremont returned, on the condition that he be given complete creative jurisdiction. He oversaw a massive reformation of the X-books, implementing a "time jump," in which the events of April's issues would occur six months after those of March's. Apparently, within this time window the X-men were dramatically changed as the team's line-up was completed altered and each character was redesigned visually.

After every supposedly crucial reformation, though, the books settled back into the mediocrity that had been apparent since Mr. Claremont left in 1991, like vinegar returning to the top of Italian dressing a while after it is shaken. Soon the dangling subplots, ultimate predictability and the relative one-sidedness of each character returned and another epic reformatting was needed to keep the reader's interest.

The cycle may have ended when Joe Quesada became Marvel's editor in chief in 2000. Mr. Quesada was bent on waking Marvel from its creative slumber, eliminating the boring and ultimately inconsequential storylines from its more historied titles, lessening the importance of retroactive continuity and gearing Marvel's titles towards the general young adult audience, not just obsessive comic book devotees or "fanboys." One of the first targets of his renovation was the X-men. Writer, Grant Morrison, who was renowned for his work on dark, edgy titles such as The New Adventures of Hitler and The Invisibles but who had also proven his ability to revitalize long-standing titles on DC Comics' JLA, was tapped to script the new storylines and Frank Quitely, who had worked with Mr. Morrison on a JLA mini-series, was hired to redesign the X-men and their headquarters, the X-Mansion, to better parallel the recent hit X-men film.

So once again Marvel completely altered the X-books, reformatting the titles' covers, changing characters' uniforms, and chopping down the team's line-up (This time to Beast, Emma Frost, Phoenix, Cyclops, Professor Xavier and Wolverine). But alterations had been made to this variation of the X-men that had always been too risky for other reformers. The code of avoiding political hotspots had been broken, as Cyclops contributed to an assisted suicide and the X-men debated over employing capital punishment to reprimand a horrific supervillian. Topics such as Cyclops' and Phoenix's lovelife (including their sexuality) and Beast's insecurity about his monstrous appearance were tackled from new, more psychological angles. And, as a tragedy occurred on an enormous scale when the mutant-hunting Sentinels invaded Genosha and Professor Xavier made a seemingly unthinkable PR decision, readers were assured that this time, there would be no return to the ordinary that had followed other "reformations." Not since the X-men's golden years, when Jean Grey appeared to perish and Wolverine proposed to Japanese aristocratic matriarch, Mariko Yashinda, have readers been given such reassurance that every issue was too important to miss. Mr. Morrison likely completed extensive study on what had been missing from the X-men throughout the nineteen nineties. In his adaptation, the characters seem more complex and fascinating, the plot lines more surprising and the books in general more realistic and adult-orientated than they have in years. It is still too soon to tell but X-men: E is for Extinction, which reprints the first four issues of this latest incarnation of the X-men, may portray an actual revolution of the X-books. Finally.

First and foremost: this is probably not for the casual comic reader or those unfamiliar with the genre, specifically the X-Men. This is not to say it is a difficult comic to understand, or that the concepts and/or art are too different than one might expect. It's that the story is best enjoyed by those who already know the characters and appreciate the situations they are put in.
That said, to put it simply: this is one of the best modern stories of the X-Men. I recommend you pick up previous issues to catch up on the action (a LOT has happened, from secondary mutations to super-sentinels to changes with Beast to the White Queen joining the good guys). It's a good idea to get this story along with the rest as the story-telling is best when view with the "big picture" - the fun comes with the build-up and anticipation.
The story is a grand epic written by Grant Morrison of JLA and Invisibles fame and with art by the very talented (although somewhat unreliable) Frank Quietly. Their run on "New X-Men" (with breaks from Quietly on regular occasion, especially as of late) has been heralded by fans and critics alike, as the New X-Men don a slightly renovated attitude and style.
Dramatic, action-packed, and with plenty of interesting twists, "E is for Extinction" brings great writing and great art together to produce an incredibly enjoyable story. Professor Charles Xavier has a twin sister who's bent on - what else - the destruction of mutantkind. Journey from the recesses of Professor X's mind to the depths of space with the Shi'iar kingdom on an adventure that is definitive Grant Morrison - holds no punches.
I'll leave it at that, as I don't want to give away too much of your fun.
"To me, my X-Men."

Grant Morrison and Frank Quietly's interpretation of the X-Men is wonderfully strange and intelligent. Morrison's storyline is complex and layered with a level of subtlety and nuance that is rare in superhero comics. Married to this narrative, is Quietly's stylized and unique artwork which renders the X-Men as something more interesting than muscle-bound superheroes in brightly-colored lycra costumes. Together, they have created a refreshingly new interpretation of the X-Men that is unique and well-rendered. Under their direction, the new team consists of Prof. Xavier, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Emma Frost, The Beast and Wolverine. As the story opens, a new villain, Ms. Nova, is introduced who plans to wipe out the human race and create a new world comprised solely of "homo sapiens superior" (aka mutants). The evolution of her plans and the fate of human race unfold in a story that is interesting and exciting. Moreover, the pacing of the story, the visual perspective, and the layout of panels are superbly executed. Longtime readers will witness some uncharacteristically sensitive moments between Cyclops and Wolverine and learn of several new events that will effect familiar characters and places like Prof. X, the Sentinels and Genosha. Arguably one of the most interesting interpretations of the X-Men to have appeared in print, "E for Extinction" is highly recommended and worth reading more than once.

After a series of convolted and plain old lame storylines (The Twelve, Operation: Zero Tolerance), Marvel finally had the good sense to get an acclaimed and truly gifted writer to take on everyone's favorite merry mutants. The great Grant Morrison, along with artist Frank Quitely began they're now classic run on X-Men (re-titled New X-Men) with E is for Extinction. Introducing us to Professor Xavier's evil twin sister Cassandra Nova and the mass genocide of the mutant populated island of Genosha was just the beginning of Morrison's brilliant run as the X-Men themselves are given a makeover. The spandex multi-colored suits are gone in place of practical black leather, and the attitude and tone of the book has become more adult as well. Many different themes are presented in this first collected volume: Cyclops and Jean Grey's marriage is under strain now more than ever, with Emma "White Queen" Frost in the middle of it. Beast grows more disenchanted, and Wolverine is at his berserker, claw popping best. We are also introduced to the mysterious mutant healer called Xorn; a character who would have a never even thought of impact before Morrison's run ended. Quitely's artwork is great and suits the book, no over muscled, cleavage busting (except for Emma that is) character models that were so apparent throughout various X-books during the 90's. All in all, if you were turned off by the X-Men a few years back after all the lame storylines, you should pick this book up and discover that Grant Morrison is the best writer to ever hit the X-Men since Chris Claremont.

As a long time comics reader but strangely enough never a huge X-men fan I undertook the news of Grant Morrison's immpending writing debut on this title with a little trepidition. There is no doubt that Mr. Morrison is the greatest living writer of popular comics fiction working today, but could he takle a team of characters that I loathe and make me care about them? BOY CAN HE. New X-men is Brilliant!! I still really dislike the other X-men books but he has given all of the characters their own human traits and foibles something that no other writer for me has done. Highly Reccommended!!! Oh yeah check out the movie too.

I had mixed feelings.

First, the good. Morrison's ideas were excellent. This felt like the kind of story that would have been told in the heyday of the new X-Men team; I could easily see Cockrum or Byrne having drawn this, with Claremont doing the writing. It had that "big concept" feel and a lot of energy. E Is For Extinction felt like a very traditional X-Men story, but with a modern feel, a mixture I quite liked. Morrison managed to walk that line very well.

His take on the X-Men universe and the status quo he creates here is very compelling and has me interested to read the next volume. A mutant genocide? Professor X revealing the mutants to the world? Xavier's school opening up to scores of mutants? All very cool; it felt like the X-Men stories I used to love. I want to go on with the story because it's very clear he wants to take the tale somewhere. You get a sense that things happening now will still matter 15 issues down the road. Again, well done.

But not all is love. Morrison's storytelling was a bit choppy at times; I felt like he was trying to capture the fast pace of classic stories, but instead of having a fast pace, things came out disjointed and awkward at times. He sometimes slipped (albeit briefly) into "weird for weird's sake" during the story; always glaring, that. And his scene transitions were often unclear.

Quietly's art was interesting. I could see myself liking his work in another context, but in a traditional story with established characters, it didn't always get the job done. I found his panel-to-panel storytelling abilities to be lacking at times, too. You didn't always get a sense for what was happening on the page ...

But the most glaring thing for me was that a genocide of tens of million of people was covered in, what, six panels? That should have been a sweeping, emotional, world-changing event. A entire issue. Instead it came and went in the blink of an eye. I never felt the impact. I never felt the loss. Disappointing.

So I'll be reading Volume 2 of his run because I want to see where the story goes, and I liked this more than any X-Men story I've read in years, but at the same time I wasn't as blown away as I expected I would be.

Grant Morrison is undeniably, unabashedly brilliant. In an age of super-decompressed story lines, Morrison throws out more jaw-dropping ideas in 22 pages than most can hopelessly string out into their 6-issue trades.

It's almost comic brilliance porn, and therein lies the problem. So many of the intriguing ideas are just thrown out and subsequently abandoned that they end up hurting the overall focus of the story. If Morrison could just pick a few and stick with them, while it might lose some of its frenetic edge, it would ultimately lead to a more satisfying experience.

In this, Morrison's first volume, we're introduced to the NEW X-men. While Morrison was given credit for re-inventing the team's image, it seems obvious (and is even acknowledged in the bonus material of the hard cover) that the black leather in place of the yellow spandex, and some of the other 'up dates' owe much to Bryan Singer's X-Men movie efforts.

Still, secondary mutations for Beast and Emma Frost, Wild Sentinels, Cassandra Nova, and other innovations are more than enough to make Morrison the most invigorating X-Scribe in decades. And, of course, Morrison's ear for dialog remains inspired.

The art is a mixed-bag throughout the run. Quitely is excellent (though his faces still tend towards the less than pleasant) but his slow pace forces many fill-in artists of varying levels of quality. For a trade paperback, this is jarring to say the least.

All in all, I very much enjoyed the first and last arcs of Morrison's run, not so much the middle ones, but for anyone looking for cutting edge sci-fi and hyper recompressed stories, this is the book to read!

Grant Morrison has mastered the team dynamic on nearly every book he's ever written (Doom Patrol, The Invisibles, JLA), and his New X-Men is a fabulous example. Cyclops is now the most interesting X-Man, new characters pop up every few pages, and the costumes are better than they have been in years. The overall feel of the book is a wonderful return to the inventiveness and wit of the Lee/Kirby days, and Frank Quitely's art is drop-dead gorgeous. Ethan Van Sciver pencils a serviceable coda to the main story, and begins his tenure as the "regular fill-in" artist on the book. Van Sciver is growing noticeably with each issue, so things look pretty good. Don't expect this story to self-contain, incidentally. Morrison won't wrap up anything until he's ready to leave the book, and the closest we come to a conclusion is the end of Imperial, the next story arc. These two books make a pretty good companion set.

At first glace, this seems like a miracle. Grant Morrison, one of mainstream comics' more creative thinkers and one of my personal favorites, on the X-Men, my absolute favorite comic as a child.

It starts off slowly enough; the first issue was anticlimactic for me. But it picks up after that, in fact, it picks up and falls hard enough to destroy one of Marvel's weirdest countries.

There's the standard Morrison twists, as his work is always in the details, like the devil. He pares down the X-Men into a manageable 5 members and focuses on them, which is a nice change in gears for Marvel's foremost title.

Frank Quitely being involved elevated this project into the stratosphere. Quitely unique style seems to mesh well with whatever Morrison comes up with, and his run on X-Men is no exception. There are some fantastic pages, of that there's no doubt.

If you like either Morrison, Quitely or the X-Men, you should definitely give this a shot if only to satisfy your burning curiosity.

This book represents the recent changing of the gaurd on the 'X-Men' title. Not only did a new creative team take over, but elements of the book changed as well. Gone is the old brightly coloured, spandex wearing superhero look. Now the X-Men are clad in black leather outfits, a new attitude for a new era. Also, the characters are portrayed far more realistically, no more over-proportioned bodies. And the story is quite good too, setting off a chain of events in the book that are still being felt. A good TPB to pick up for fans.