6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Teens at risk..., July 16, 2002
This review is from: X-Men: Children of the Atom #1 (Paperback)
Joe Casey and Steve "The Dude" Rude set out to tell the story of how those uncanny franchise-builders, the X-Men got together in the first place. Set just a few years ago, "Children of the Atom" features Professor Xavier setting up shop in a troubled high school, thanks to a helpful FBI agent. Anti-mutant gangs are on the rise, and a number of familiar youngsters are in danger. Shadows of Columbine definitely drape this book in darkness, but so, too, do other teen issues.
First, the flaws. In true comic book fashion, there's little subtlety to the villians this go around. Viewing an episode of "Jerry Springer" about racists would have sufficed for research. It would've added some depth if Casey had done more to indicate his young skinheads were as much at risk from their own hate as the young mutants are. The X-teens encounter skinheads who speak in a kind of adult-writer-attempts-youthful patois, and both Casey and Rude indulge in pop culture referencing and caricaturing in an attempt to layer the story, but only distract from the central players. In other words, Frank Miller already covered this territory way too often; give us something we've never seen before, go deeper into all the characters. Although in his defense, the always-amazing Rude gives some of the bit players some facial expressions that suggests he gets it.
Where the book succeeds is in adding a new layer of metaphor to its mutant mythology. The X-Books have long relied on the "anti-mutant hysteria" theme, usually depicted as a commentary on racism. Here, it's most evocative of teen homosexuality. After all, this is a story about seemingly average-looking people who hide their true natures in the face of a disapproving public. And while most of the demogogic antagonist Metzger's rhetoric is borrowed heavy-handedly from white supremacists (and his name!), it's readily apparent that's only part of what this story's addressing. Or looting for effect.
Not that any of the heroes in this story are shown as overtly gay (and Marvel history would suggest they aren't), but bits of dialogue between Professor X and the FBI agent seem to indicate the G-man might have a hidden, personal motivation for helping the Professor. Also, Hank McCoy, the Beast, has his mutant identity stripped bare in public, followed by the kind of reaction sexually confused young people have to face; McCoy is effectively "outted." It's during these scenes the story gains emotional resonance.
Eventually, as the story winds down, The Dude's wonderful "Dr. Seuss-meets-Jack Kirby" artwork gives way to some surprisingly disappointing pages from Paul Smith, and the story loses its racial/sexual subtext to become standard fare. By the time Essad Divac comes on board with some obviously rushed and frankly, bland art, we're involved in a cliched superhero battle, rendering something that began with much promise only average.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Erratic, anachronistic, inconsistent, still a fair effort, June 27, 2005
This review is from: X-Men: Children of the Atom #1 (Paperback)
Firstly, if this is indeed supposed to be set in the 1960's, then *WHY* do so many people possess home PC's? Furthermore, why are "modern-day" celebrities, et. al. highlighted on the cover of the teen magazine?
With that gripe over, I can move on to my legitimate criticism.
First of all, I have to say it was a fair, if not great, effort.
As CotA was intended as a retcon,(retrofit continuity, or "backstory" created later) I feel that the authors could have kept significantly better to what we as readers already knew of the 5 original characters, particularly in the case of Scott and Bobby.
The Scott we know is so upstanding that he would *never* have fallen in with the lowlifes he did, for instance.
And *what* was up with Bobby? So--introverted, when we already know he's the class clown.
Jean seemed to me to be almost autistic through the whole novel, like the Professor was dampening her. We already know he had to put up blocks to prevent her going mad from her telepathy, but still...
And it didn't feel like she had nearly enough to do. They treated her story very poorly in terms of both quality and quantity.
And Professor X appeared to me to be more manipulative than his original, genuinely altruistic motives would have bespoken.
His 1960's counterpart seems to be far more idealistic and lofty, less--gritty, I suppose. Less likely to want the students to get their hands dirty with actual, open conflict.
This Professor seems to be a darker shadow of his "original" self here, and I don't think we're seeing the real individual. It's not the representation Lee, et. al. would have wanted, I think.
For that matter, *no one* seems like themselves, and yet readers are supposed to believe these were the "original" original characters we'd come to know and love?
Three stars for effort, and I'll also for balance list a few of the things I *did* like.
One: the thinly-veiled reference to Aryan Pride groups was a nice touch. Horrible people accurately represented. A good way to teach readers of the dangers of assuming sociocultural superiority. Therein lies only pain.
Two: the interaction between Professor X and Magneto was just phenomenal. Powerful, perfect and knife-edge, as all their meetings during this time of their lives should have been.
Three: Magneto's destruction of Metzger. Not as long as he drew breath would he permit another such leader to rise.
Lovely, if dark, unspoken introspection, and a good contrast between himself and the Professor. He's right--He was the only one with the courage to have destroyed the madman. I do not advocate murder, nor do I consider it honorable, but this is more a question of diffusing a dangerous situation before it got worse. Metzger was just collateral damage.
So, for those three reasons alone, I bumped my opinion of this TPB up to four stars. Still think you could do better in terms of reading X-Men TPB's, though, and that they could have done *far* better with the material they had to work with to craft a well-thought-out origin story of the Fabulous First Five.
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