Customer Reviews

X-Men: Deadly Genesis

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I've over all enjoyed Brubakers Captain America, but have never found his writing to be as amazing as a lot of reviewers. It seems very workable in most cases, but not very memorable.

This started out good, but the problem that comes along is that the villians' motivations and actions don't play out very realisticly, his insertion into X-men lore seems too arbitrary, many scenes designed to build suspense wind up seeming completely disconnected from the plot, and the Xmen's actions and reactions to civil authorities and civil catastrophes left me disgusted with them -- which didn't seem to be the intent. Oh, and the major sin of Charles Xavier that sets the whole story in motion really doesn't make much sense at all on many different levels.

In the story, Xavier sends Vulcan and an new team of Xmen to rescue his old team of Xmen (including Cyclops) who are trapped on an island. Vulcan is Cyclops brother, but he doesn't know it until right before the start of his mission. Vulcan and his team manage to rescue Cyclops, who then leaves the island to get help. When Cyclops gets back to Xavier, Xavier tells Cyclops that Vulcan is his brother. Xavier then apparently recruits a third team of Xmen to rescue both previous teams -- the original Xmen team and Vulcans team. The first team is rescued, the second team ends up dead, and Cyclops can't live with the knowledge his brother got killed trying to rescue him. Of course the only three people who knew Vulcan was Cyclops brother are Vulcan, Xavier, and Cyclops -- and Vulcan is dead. So intead of just changing Cyclops recent memory and making him forget Vulcan was his brother, Xavier changes the memory of everyone who ever encounted Vulcan or his team, making each of them forget that the team ever existed. Excuse me, what?

So then, of course, Vulcan turns out to be alive. Strangely, he wakes up and instantly knows EXACTLY what Xavier has done. Excuse me again, but how? He's been dead since before it was done, and he wakes up in space already with a plan on how to get revenge? And another question -- revenge for what, exactly? Does he think Xavier got him killed? Because that's never said. The only thing that he seems to be angry about is that Xavier made people forget he existed (which again, is a plot device that doesn't make much sense the way it was carried out.) But if the only thing he's angry about is that Xavier made people forget about him, why does he come to Earth instantly trying to kill the people he once worshipped (the Xmen)? And what does that have to do with all the flashbacks people keep having about their troubled pasts (ie Nightcrawler remembering being hunted as a demon, Havok remembering Lorna cheating on him, etc.)

And when when Vulcan blows up an entire jetliner (killing hundreds of innocent people)to stop Banshee from bringing information about what Xavier did to the rest of the Xmen, the Xmen repeatedly brush off any responsibilty they might have in the accident, and even act like the only death that matters is Banshees'. Not only that, but Vulcan blows up the plane using the Xmen's blackbird, and when the government comes to find out what's going on and how the Xmen are involved, the Xmen act like uncooperative, petulant children, completely unable to see how or why the government would want to ask them questions. It was THEIR freaking plane, and they think the government has no right to ask them questions about it! I mean, the Xmen's plane crashes into a jetliner, killing hundreds of people, and when the government wants to know what's going on, the Xmen (instead of answering or cooperating) throw fits and get angry, and they act so self righteous and disgusting about it that I pretty much stopped rooting for them right there.

Of course, then that brings up the question; if Vulcan is so angry because Xavier made people forget about him -- again, Vulcan's motivations are not well established, nor are his plans, nor is how he even knows what Xavier did -- but, anyway, if he's so angry that Xavier made people forget about him, then why does he blow up the plane when Banshee has figured out what Xavier did and is bringing evidence to prove it to the other Xmen? Vulcan wants the Xmen to know. Banshee has evidence to show them. Why blow up Banshee and the evidence? Oh, I know, because then in order to get evidence later, Vulcan has to open his mind to Xavier and Rachel, which is what allows the Xmen to beat him in the end. Sorry, but that's weak plotting.

Overall, it was a moderately alright read, but it felt like it built to an anti-climax, and it certainly had several problems. The insertion of the second rescue team into continuity seemed forced, and how the third team succeeded where both the first and second teams failed isn't gone into -- other than to say the way it's shown in Giant Sized Xmen isn't accurate -- that's just how Xavier made people remember it, but not how it really happened. Vulcan's motivations were unclear, and how he even knew the things he knew was never explained. Xavier's actions in the first place made no sense -- he could have simply changed Cyclops memory of the one and only time he'd been told Vulcan was his brother rather than change dozens of peoples memories about months and months of their lives -- but then this whole story wouldn't have happened. And Vulcan's actions to stop Banshee which then lead to his downfall later seem to go against his best wishes even when he takes them, and therefore it seems like his actions exist more to serve the writer than himself.

The interior art is passable, but not as good as the cover, and definitely not art that in and of itself would entice me to buy the book. Some of the characters are barely recongnizable from their apearances in other books (other than their costumes) and none of the art in the book really made me take notice.

The story of X-Men Deadly Genesis is just that, the beginning of a completely new (and apparently deadly) saga in the X-Men's lives. The story revolves around a new character called Vulcan and ties in very well with the original giant size X-Men, which is essential to read before taking on this book. I don't want to give to much away since a great deal of this book has to do with finding out secrets, but I'll say this much Vulcan takes some X-Men prisoner and it becomes obvious he has ties to them somewhere in their past.

The story has a few neat twists and the artwork is decent at times, but this story is mainly a prequel. Vulcan, the main character introduced here, is set to play a major role in the future of the X-Men and so reading this story as a stand alone can be somewhat of a let down. At the same time the story flows right into Brubaker's current workings on Uncanny X-Men and as such is essential to pick up if you are a fan or would like to see what's happening with the X-Men

Other reviewers have commented on how this book is a big retroactive continuity mind-muck that shows a different version of what happened between the old X-Men series and the new (that murky period when the original book was running in reprints...) And while, yes, while on principle random retconning is kind of offensive, I still thought this was a pretty fun book, and definitely a "good read." I plowed through it, and even though I know it's leading towards some silly, overblown space opera with the Shi'ar Empire, I totally want to see what happens next.

This book was fun, and while there are some goofy plot holes, it's basically a pretty cool, pretty propulsive adventure story. I thought Brubaker handled it well, and came up with a few interesting new heros while he was at it. (Really, the only thing I found truly lame was a "secret origins"-style short story that showed a young Emma Frost working as a stripper at the Hellfire Club. A stripper? Seriously -- how lame is that? What a dumb, pointless and utterly hackneyed tweaking on the back-story of one of the most potent female characters in the Marvel Universe. Other than that, though, this book is totally worth checking out. Better than your average latter-day X-book. (Joe Sixpack, ReadThatAgain book reviews)

As I got back into comic books after a hiatus, I thought that picking up Deadly Genesis might be a good way to figure out what was happening with the X-men. I was met with what amounts to a decent amount of retconning (retroactive continuity if you're not up on the comic lingo) but an enjoyable story for the most part.

I won't spoil the entire story for you but the story more or less takes place in the current time frame of the X-men (post-House of M [another story entirely]) and prior to Giant Size X-men (written in 1975). Brubaker introduces a suite of new characters that are important to the story line. What we find out at the end of the story is that well, Charles Xavier was a bad man. Again. I really didn't like this part of the story as I feel that Marvel has beat the "Charles Xavier is a bad guy" angle to death (see the Onslaught crossover, Deadly Genesis TPB, and the Astonishing X-men arc "Danger"). Storyline aside, the art by Hairsine is pretty well done and the characters look really nice, more or less what you would expect for a good trade paperback collection. The slipcover is really quite nice too and Marvel does seem to do an excellent job on their "Premiere Edition" trades and I have been really pleased with the quality pages and book in general. I was a little disappointed that there were very few extras (sketches, interviews, etc) but they do showcase the various cover art between chapters.

Overall, a nice book that collects one of the more recent, important X-men stories and worth buying if you are an X-men enthusiast.

I'm not sure about the bulk of reviews that didn't see this story in a positive light. Deadly Genesis shakes up the X-Universe in a very potent way, making Professor X more "human" in more ways that one. Most characters in superhero books are flat one-dimensional devices that just exist as tools to drive the story. Deadly Genesis rewrites that concept and adds a depth of humanism and dimensionality to some of the most important people in the X-Universe....not all people are just straight-up "good". Everyone makes mistakes, even really bad ones, but they can still be heroes. Deadly Genesis challenges our notion of what we define as "hero" and "human". I love this book and to me represents some of X-men's recent best, as well as sets up a dynamic within the team and Marvel's cosmos for years after it. Good job Brubaker!

I purchased this book after reading House Of M, eagerly wanting to know what happens next. This book provided some information on that front but more than that it completely introduces you to a whole new team of x-men. I was at first apprehensive to the thought of more "new" x-men but it actually tide in pretty well. Two new characters in particular, Darwin & Vulcan have actually become new favorites for me. Overall an enjoyable read.

After reading Deadly Genesis, I bought The Rise & Fall Of The Shi'ar Empire, which is amazing. I'd recommend the purchase of all these books (House Of M, Deadly Genesis, and Rise & Fall Of Shi'ar Empire) to any x-men/marvel fan.

I honestly wonder if i read the same story as everyone else here. I think the idea that Xavier had sent in another team to Krakoa to save the xmen was really interesting. Especially in light of WHAT he did to cover it up. It sheds light on how manipulative Xavier can be and really leads into why Cyclops felt it necessary take the reigns of the Xmen from his hands.
The art is top notch and leaps off the page. The only problem i have is how Vulcan isn't really fleshed out as a character...he seems a little whiny.
I think this is a must have for anyone who follows the x-men, it redefines a lot of characters while paving the way for Scott Summers to quit being such a low self esteem b-tch.

The third Summers brother was a huge dangling plot thread from when I read the X-Titles religiously (1995-2002). The resolution of that here, after no one demanded it, was a little underwhelming. Professor X is retroactively changed for no other reason than to advance Cyclops. It seemed unnecessary. The villain, Vulcan is cheesy and one note. The art was also inconsistent. I am a big fan of a lot of Brubaker's other stuff but this is pretty stale.

Ed Brubaker has turned out some winners with his Sleeper series, and managed to coax one, cohesive groan out of fanboys with his first storyarc for Captain America to boot. X-Men: Deadly Genesis finds Brubaker trying to re-write some of the backstory set before the classic Giant Size X-Men #1, which saw the debut of the multi-national X-Men team. This time around, we find out that Cyclops had another brother named Vulcan who met a tragic end. Professor Xavier wiped everyone's memories clean, so everyone gets a big surprise when an old friend comes back to reap revenge. There are a few decent moments in Deadly Genesis, including an offing that can be seen miles away, but Brubaker's story is riddled with plot holes and enormous leaps in logic that are just unacceptable to come from a writer of Brubaker's caliber. Trevor Hairsine provides some pretty nice pencil work, but that's one of the few bright points of this TPB. Might be worth a look for X-Men fans, but older ones will probably scream blasphemy upon reading.

I haven't finished reading it. Anyway I ordered it just because I love the art of guys like Hairshine, Hitch, Hughes and Dodson. Spectacular panels with correct anatomy and perspective but also page layouts with great sense of action and storytelling. I'm only disappointed about two aspects of the book: first, the backup stories from each book are by others artists (i knew it) and second, the inking is not by Hairshine himself (so the art in certain sequences appears not "rough" as usual, too "clean").