X-Men: Wisdom - Rudiments of Wisdom (MAX Comics) [Paperback]

Paul Cornell (Author), Trevor Hairsine (Illustrator), Manuel Garcia (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 2007

Pete Wisdom has a lot of fairies to kill. Yes, fairies are supposed to be nice and magical and charming, but they are currently attacking England. Hugo Award nominee Paul Cornell (BBC's Dr. Who and Robin Hood) brings you a sci-fi mini-series unlike anything you've seen before! Collects Wisdom #1-6

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Marvel (August 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785121234
• ISBN-13: 978-0785121237
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 0.4 x 10.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #961,908 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An interesting piece of work., January 21, 2008

By 

Sean Curley (Charlottetown, PE, Canada) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: X-Men: Wisdom - Rudiments of Wisdom (MAX Comics) (Paperback)

Pete Wisdom was created in the mid-90s by Warren Ellis during his acclaimed run on "Excalibur v.1", one of several Ellis characters who function as versions of Ellis' own public persona (see also: Elijah Snow). Wisdom was an antisocial rogue, unpopular with his teammates but popular with readers. After the end of "Excalibur", he was included in Elllis' "Counter-X" revamp, and then, after a period in limbo, on Chris Claremont's revived "Excalibur" (Claremont's grasp of the character could be said to be equal to his grasp on most other characters these days). And then, for some reason, Marvel greenlit a MAX miniseries on Wisdom by British sci-fi author Paul Cornell, with art by Trevor Hairsine (issues 1 and 2) and Manuel Garcia (issues 3 through 6, after Hairsine was removed either for slowness or because of poor sales).

Cornell's story is initially primarily a series of standalone tales following Wisdom and his team a low-rent British superheroes investigating various mystical disturbances throughout the British Isles; along for the ride are Tink, a fairy dissident; Maureen, a clairvoyant; John the Skrull, a member of the "Skrull Beatles" who were assigned to take over the world, but decided not to ("Lads, I've found that I like money and power."); and Captain Midlands, a parody of Ultimate Captain America. Together, they raid the Otherworld to rescue a kidnapped baby, deal with awakened giants, a Welsh Dragon, an army of Jack the Rippers, and, finally, the Martians, those classic British sci-fi villains. Woven throught his are Cornell's ideas about British identity, and Wisdom's disdain for its trappings, trappings his villains often exemplify; and ideas about Wisdom's corrosive karma.

The art is excellent, from both artists, bringing a realistic feel to the proceedings. Cornell's writing is quite inventive, with an odd sense of humour, and very quirky ideas. It is especially interesting, as a Canadian, to read something so obviously written for a non-North American audience, unlike most North American comics (of course, this may have contributed to its poor American sales). Occasionally, Cornell gets a bit too obscure for my tastes (one issue has a bunch of British songs mentioned as being the soundtrack for particular scenes, but the bands in question are all utterly unknown to me, so it comes as rather pretentious), but on the whole it's a winning piece of work. Marvel was obviously interested enough to put Cornell in charge of a relaunched "Excalibur" title, where hopefully we will see Wisdom and his cohorts continue their adventures.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Goofy, yet enjoyable, September 2, 2007

By 

N. Durham "Big Evil" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: X-Men: Wisdom - Rudiments of Wisdom (MAX Comics) (Paperback)

Interesting to say the least, Wisdom: Rudiments of Wisdom stars lower-tier mutant and former Excalibur member Pete Wisdom as his beloved Britain is under siege. Between hordes of murderous fairies, insane telepaths, and invading martians (yes, you read that right); Pete has his hands full to say the least. In between all the mayhem, Pete and his team (including Captain Midlands, the British version of Captain America, and a shape changing Skrull in the guise of John Lennon) make for easy laughs and thrills as the carnage piles upward. British writer Paul Cornell (writer of BBC's Doctor Who) churns everything along with a goofy rhythm that will leave you laughing out loud at some spots, while Trevor Hairsine provides some solid pencil work. Wisdom is good for what it is (and more enjoyable than many MAX mini's usually turn out being) and doesn't try to be anything more than that either. All in all, Wisdom: Rudiments of Wisdom is one of the goofier, and enjoyable, MAX mini's to come along in a while; and is definitely worth checking out for X-Men fans and MAX fans alike.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good concept, but not well executed..., March 6, 2011

By 

Cozzster - See all my reviews

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This review is from: X-Men: Wisdom - Rudiments of Wisdom (MAX Comics) (Paperback)

For the most part, this is a series of stand alone stories following Pete Widsom, an agent of a secret British superhero team that responds to disturbances that include fairies, dragons, martians, and jack the ripper. Pete must dispose of these baddies with his corny gang of superheroes who range from a skrull beatle to a fairy. Cornell tries to make the book humorous along the way with Pete's exploits, but it does not catch with me. I found the concept of the story to be a neat idea, but did not feel the book was written well and fell flat after issue 1. It is definitely written with a British vibe and not Americanized at all, so for those who are not used to that type of comic, as I was not, I would not recommend this book.