Customer Reviews

X-Men: Golgotha

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

What you need to know: The island of Genosha used to breed mutants as slaves, using their powers to take the country to the heights of technology, agriculture and ultimately wealth. The X-Men toppled the government, and Genosha became a third world country, humans and mutants at war with each other. The Legacy Virus, a disease which only affected mutants spread quickly throughout Genosha's mutants. Magneto was declared ruler of Genosha by the UN after he threatened to destroy the world.

Then the Legacy Virus was cured and hundreds, possibly thousands of mutants were healthy, at full strength, and ready to follow Magneto.

This is where we enter. Magneto now has an army, and is ready to move upon the human population of the world. A number of X-Men aren't available, and Jean Grey rounds up a small team consisting of inactive X-Men, former villains, and brand new recruits.

Sounds interesting, right? The X-men manage to get in before Magneto's army can make it's move, thus depriving us of all kinds of potential battles. Lenil Yu's artwork seems rushed and not up to his usual standards.

The story has a dramatic and powerful climax. But it's completely ruined one issue after this story ends (see Grant Morrison's New X-Men Vol. 1)

This story had a lot of potential, but it just seems to fall short. Sorry.

I was initially put off of purchasing this story arc because of somewhat negative reviews but was eventually swayed by the presence of Polaris - an X-Man that I think is quite underused - and my two favourites, Remy LeBeau and Rogue. I'm glad I chose to buy Golgotha because I found it to be very intruiging! It's not perfect of course, few graphic novels are, but it's got some very interesting character arcs involving Rogue and Gambit's relationship and, the moment when a thousand fangirls rejoiced, a kiss between Rogue and Wolverine! Sadly, the emotions are never resolved and while the X-Men save the world as always, they're left to go home feeling sort of awkward and unsure of themselves and their relationships with each other. I would've liked to see Wolverine and Rogue's kiss & it's impact on the future of Gambit and Rogue adressed in more than just one lone panel but overall, this is a worthwhile read with some very nice art.

X-Men: Golgotha is a decent story. Nothing memorable whatsoever, but new writer Peter Milligan is taking the right steps to make up for Chuck Austen's weak run on the title. Golgotha is the story of these alien creatures that cause mass hysteria among mutants, making them go crazy. In the process of destroying it, the X-Men almost succumb to their irrational fears and accomplish their mission. Again, not the best story, but you can deal.

Why I keep buying this title is because of the characters. This X-Men team is by far my favorite. We have Havok, Polaris, Iceman, Wolverine, Rogue, Gambit, and the White Queen, who begins making regular appearences in this title (she also stars in Astonishing X-Men too). But yeah, best lineup ever. I love Polaris- she's my fave and her complexities (ie her instability lately) makes the book readable. I also love the love triangle between Iceman, Polaris, and Havok. And the relationship between Rogue and Gambit is also entertaining.

I guess what I like most about X-Men is these soap operatic qualities. Screw Golgotha, I just wanna see the trials and tribulations of these mutants baby!

But back to the point, this graphic novel is alright. I'd say buy it if you like the team lineup or Salvador Larocca's fabulous artwork, but be wary: the story is a tad weak/boring/confusing.

But it's got Polaris, so that alone gets a check mark in my book.

Oh god why did I buy this. X-Men eve of destruction it's not bad it's just poorly drawn and written that's all.

The basic overview is that Magneto is planning for Genosha to take over the world. Cyclop'and Wolverine go in as a stealth team to help and free Professor X who's been kidnapped by Magneto. Also Phoenix forms together a team off x-men who most of them just developed their mutant powers.

The Good--
The artwork by Salvador Larocca and Tom Raney is okay, its basic late nighties artwork. Cyclopses and Wolverine's stealth through the genoshan sewers is pretty good. Also there's an emotional father and son trip with Corsair(cyclop's dad) and cyclops.

The Bad--
Leinel Francis Yu's Artwork is god awful his artwork in Superman Birthright(which i highely reccomend)is much better than this crap. Also the idea of Phoenix assembling a new team of x-men was stupid. The only person who was on the team who was good was Northstar. The final fight with magneto vs the x-men was abruptly short and the way they resolved it was bland.

Ultimately i say skip this book , but if your a diehard x-men fan youll enjoy it. The good thing is these arc was rushed for Grant Morrison's explemary New X-Men.

Unusally gifted writer Peter Milligan seems to get nothing but lame work at Marvel since his brilliant X-Statix series was cancelled. Since then, he's done the Punisher movie adpation, a Wolverine/Punisher mini-series, and a Venom VS Carnage mini as well. They are definitely nothing to write home about, but now Milligan has the chance to prove his talents on X-Men. Taking over for departed scribe Chuck Austen (thankfully), Milligan crafts a story involving Havok, Polaris, Iceman, Rogue, and Gambit stumbling upon alien beings that can cause irrational feelings and fears to come out in mutants, leading them to go homicidal. Later joined by Wolverine (of course) and Emma Frost (who actually is a welcome supporting character here), Golgotha isn't the best X-Men arc you'll read or the best material by Milligan, but compared to the mellow-dramatic stories from Austen, this is a step in the right direction. The art by Salvador Larroca is excellently done as always, and is the best thing about this TPB. All in all, if you're an X-Men fan and you missed out on the single issues, this is worth a look, but with other and better X-Men TPB's out there (such as Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men and Grant Morrison's modern day classic New X-Men), this is better left on the shelf.

See the book is a lot of fun, kind of a summer blockbuster of x-men sories, lots of bang, funny one liners, fun characters but mostly is lacking in great story telling, it's a bit short and the new x-men are not fleshed out enough and then they are gone, but overall it's a fu nread, and sometimes thats all you need, i was just looking for a fun adventure with wolvie, cyclops and the rest and thats what i got.

Why am I thanking the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and current scribe of Astonishing X-Men? Because he helped make this ridiculous storyarc a thing of the past when he recently brought beloved X-Man Colossus back to life, that's why. Dream's End collects various X-issues, including Uncanny X-Men #390 in which the steel skinned mutant meets his maker when he sacrifices his life to put an end to the Legacy Virus. When this storyline appeared, I was completely turned off of Marvel and other mainstream comics, and when I heard of Scott Lobdell's "brilliant" idea, I found myself justified in my decision. The issues collected in this TPB really were the end of an era: comic master Grant Morrison would be recruited to put his own original spin on the X-Men, and any of his collected editions, as well as Whedon's current issues of Astonishing X-Men, are much more worth your time then this TPB. Most of the art is solid, but in the end, Dream's End is better left on the shelf.

This is about The Death of Colossus, right? So why's he brought in at the end? A slow, turgid ale, full of fits & starts, this doesn't really explain why Colossus dies, nor Why he Dies [if you get my drift]. His death is a mere bagatalle, an on-screen off-screen [i.e, unimportant] event.
Dull, dull, dull. For -X-men- completists only.

If you're a fan of Peter Milligan, as I am, you may want to skip this trade (and in fact his entire run on X-Men). It is nothing like X-Factor/X-Statix, and nothing like his Vertigo work. Quite frankly it's awefully similar to every other X-Men writer since Lobdell that can't really find their own voice and just try to take the Claremont formula and throw some EXTRA angst and in-fighting in. Granted, this story has a reason for more in-fighting than usual, but still... this is merely middle of the road, certainly not as bad as the Austen issues, but nowhere near the level of Morrison/Pak/Whedon and it's really a tame superheros as usual letdown from Milligan, a man who has used superhero metaphor so well in the past.

This story is in no way worth getting. The writing is hideous, the characters featured are given no depth. And the "team" Jean assembles don't even do anything until the last 20 pages. Also, Magneto is written as a totally generic bad guy, no shades of grey or interesting character development.