Customer Reviews

X-men: Misfits 1

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

 

 

I'm a huge long-time fan of both X-Men and shojo manga, so I was extremely excited when I heard this book was coming out!

I knew from the recent Wolverine manga that it would be a reimagining, so I wanted to go into it and not dwell too much on thoughts like, "He wouldn't act like this!" or "This is so wrong!" But I didn't even have those thoughts when I read this one! It was remarkable how most of the characters seemed true to their mainstream selves to a point; the changes that were evident were still really interesting and not too out of left field. (I'm a bit worried that one classic couple won't end up together due to an age difference [?], but they're not together in the comics anymore, either. And then there's Kitty and her classic comic love... Not happening here! My jaw kind of dropped when I saw him in his new form...)

The art was beautiful, unlike a lot of OEL manga I've read. (Which usually have great stories but the manga art seems a little "off.") And the art inside matched the gorgeous cover!

Shojo fans who don't even know about the X-Men will like this and I think X-Men fans who are willing to read it with an open mind may like it, too. Like one of the authors said his sister kind of said, X-Men has always been full of "bishounen" to me--'bout time someone treated the story that way!

I can't wait for the next volume! I want to see what other X-Men are joining the school.

A fresh take on the X-Men, mixing Xavier's School with Shojo manga (a la Ouran). Like a love letter to everyone who loves both.

We follow Kitty Pryde as the only current female student at Xavier's in her first months at the school. It's so fun to pick out each character in their new manga form (Beast is Totoro-like, Cyclops is still sanctimonious, except in teenage version, which means straight edge, ah, beautiful).
I can't wait for volume 2, I hear there will be more female students!

the title says it all. As a girl, big x-men fan, and otaku I just could not say no. And I waited for so long with multiple publishing dates that were always changed. Anyway,I figured I'd have my fun laughing at it or maybe even hate it but as a manga it was very well written and the art was very VERY good. I rate it a four out of five all because of Marvel. Why do you create so many different realities Marvel?! Jean Grey is a teacher but Scott Summer's is a student? The robot colossus was on the line of good and bad, the sight of it turned me off but the laugh that followed allowed me to accept it. I wil buy the next volume for sure.
So if you're an x-men fan I suggest this manga. Even for guys who want a good laugh. And the powers/action is pretty good too. The shojo didn't overpower the manga which was good. I liked it a lot

Take the desperate plight of an emerging branch of the evolutionary path of Mankind and add in the Hana-Kimi/Ouran High School overtones of a girl in an all boy school and a club of "elite" students, and well--it's a strangely enjoyable (though trite and a frankly overtold sort of story) product to put in the hands of the next generation of X-Men fans. The art is very good and the take on the story is decent--but the mixing of the X-Men and shojo manga is just way too darn weird to me.

Though--you might take my dismay at finding Nightcrawler on no more than a handful of pages into consideration here as well.

I enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. I actually scoffed when I saw it announced many months ago. But I saw some previews and had a change of heart.

First of all, this is *NOT* like the X-men comics you are used to. If you are expecting that, you should pass on this book. It's unfair to compare this to it's American styled counterpart because they are just two way different approaches to storytelling and art.

This is a shojo manga, which means it's targeted at a female audience. The guys are drawn to be "pretty boys". The story focuses on Kitty what she's going through at this new school and dealing with her powers. It's a high school drama basically. The artist was very creative in some of their re-imagings of the characters - I found Beast to be particularly amusing. I'm looking forward to the next volume to see what they did with other mutants.

If you like manga and don't mind some high school drama, then pick this up. You might find it to be pretty entertaining. ;)

Perhaps you recognize those words and where they originated. Somehow, though they were said with a heaping dose of sarcasm, they are an entirely accurate description of this amemanga. Kitty Pryde is in love with pretty much every single guy in the school, and they are all transformed into exactly the same kind of willowy, shiny-haired, sparkly bishounen. The only way you can tell them apart is from their eyes and hair (or in Warren's case, wings), and if they hadn't gone to the trouble to personally name and introduce every single one, I wouldn't have been able to recognize half of them.

I'm not sure why they felt the need to make X-Men into a reverse harem shoujo manga with social issues briefly pasted on, because in the process, they seemed to have lost everything that X-Men was about, good or bad. Kitty is a vapid, dojikko shell who quickly gets into a borderline-abusive relationship with Pyro while she ~*secretly pines*~ for Iceman. Yeah. Chew on that one for a while. It's kind of like Ouran Host Club, minus the endearing characters, humor, or art skills.

You should know exactly what this comic is: a blatant attempt to cash in on manga's popularity by churning out yet another shallow caricature consisting of what the people at Marvel think manga looks like and devoid of any underlying meaning, significance, or heart. If you're still cool with that, read away.

Having grown up in one of the eras of the Marvel heroes I had a few miss-givings about reading this specific version of my favorites, the X-men. Getting it used for under five bucks was what got me to read it in the first place. I'll admit it does not follow any story of the x-men I've run into so far, and is from Kitty's point of view, but the art is on par with some of my favorite shojo, they got the mutant powers to look good, and left me on a cliff hanger.

If there's a second, I will buy and read it.

Falling through walls. Teleportation. Transformation. Some powers that mutants have that humans don't. The main character in X-Men: Misfits is Kitty, a mutant who isn't used to her mutant power of going through walls, and goes to a special school for mutants to learn about it.

The chibi parts are funny and made me laugh (chibis are super-cartoony versions of the characters), and I like that there are so many chibi moments . Like when Kitty gets confused and gets those question marks over her head. Or when she has a funny, stunned chibi reaction when Beast, one of her teachers, roars in class. And later, a mutant name Quicksilver races Kitty across the school and that's funny because that's basically all chibis. And there are lots of funny little moments, like when Kitty sees fondue for the first time and wonders if it is like nacho cheese (they are equally good, Kitty, but way different things), or when Jamie Madrox multiplies himself to carry Kitty's bags and all his selves get in a fight.

Kitty gets all nervous around the boys. But then she gets to know them and she finds out that some of them are really nice. Especially in the case of Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler is a mutant with the power of teleportation, but I don't get why he has a metal tail and three clawed toes on each foot, and I'd like to learn why. Pyro, a fire-using mutant, will do anything to get a kiss out of Kitty, including yanking her out of class!

I don't really get why the humans are so scared of the mutants. Like, they're terrified that they're going to get some disease and become mutants too. Why? Because basically I think it would be cool to be a mutant. Magneto makes a point about why the humans are so scared, but I'd like to have more explanation. Toward the end of the book, the mutants are on a trip in New York city, and they see three humans making a speech about how mutants don't deserve rights, how they are evil, how they are freaks, and of course the mutants get really mad. Longshot throws some acorns and that begins a big fight. Some mutants are mad at the humans, but some are trying to protect the humans. The police turn up and Pyro throws fire at the police and becomes evil, and Kitty realizes she doesn't want to date him. I could see how the mutants would get really mad at the racist things humans were saying, but the result of that fight leaves three mutants very seriously injured, showing how bad fighting is. I wonder if there are any humans in the story that aren't actually terrified of mutants? I hope I get to find out some day.

Overall, great art, and the story was great. I really like the book and I have read it a bunch of times. I give it five stars.

In yet another attempt to get girls hooked on comics, one of Marvel's most beloved superhero teams gets the Japanese `shojo' manga treatment. This entry in the X-Men multiverse stars Kitty Pryde as the only girl in Charles Xavier's all-male mutant school. All the male X-Men characters get a prettyboy makeover, while the Beast is a big teddy bear, Colossus resembles Gigantor, and Storm is in her street-punk phase. It's almost a relief that writers Raina Telgemeier and Dave Roman left a certain `runt' out of this. At least they both do a remarkable job of playing a teen drama against the backdrop of the mutant phenomenon, and Kitty's `catgirl' outtakes make her even cuter than Beast. Included are a few words from the writers and the artistic team of Anzu.

This comic is rated T (Ages 13+): Violence, Mild Language.

Have you ever dreamed of an X-Men comic drawn in shoujo style where all the characters are teens, the boys are pretty, and one girl is caught up in the whirlwind of it all? If you haven't started vomiting by now, then you're in luck, because X-Men Misfits is just that! Please stop laughing. This is a real book.

Kitty Pride is a teen with one big issue. She has a tendency to fall through solid objects. Her power alienates her from her schoolmates, who think she's nothing but a freak. Then one day, professor Lehnsherr, a.k.a. "Magneto," approaches her parents with the offer of a full scholarship to Xavier's Academy for Gifted Youngsters. And by gifted, he obviously means "mutant." Although a bit terrified of being among strangers, Kitty decides to take up the opportunity for a chance at finding someplace she can belong.

The academy is beautiful, but Kitty quickly notices something strange...she's the only girl there. Cue the love triangle. Kitty finds herself instantly attracted to Bobby the "Iceman" but is quickly swept up by an exclusive group of boys known as The Hellfire Club. The club has special privileges, but Kitty feels less and less comfortable as time passes when she realizes that they seem to lack morals. Even her new boyfriend, John ("Pyro"), has become intensely controlling. She starts to wonder if she truly belongs in The Hellfire Club, or even at the academy at all. When an incident in New York City turns the school upside down, things may never be right again.

Frankly, it's a little difficult to take X-Men Misfits seriously. So make it easy on yourself and don't even try to. This series is a completely different take on the iconic X-Men franchise. First off, the art style is rooted in shoujo manga, which means the look is more Japanese and all the boys are eye candy. Is that fuzzy bear professor supposed to be Beast? Secondly, the story focuses more on Kitty's awkwardness of being placed in a situation where she's surrounded by handsome boys. This series can be compared to a "harem" story, but it's meant to be more of a drama than a comedy, kind of like Boys over Flowers meets Vampire Knight...emphasis on "kind of."

Although the series is rated 13+, it would still be suitable for slightly younger readers. Most likely, this will only appeal to girls. There is a little action, but generally, the art and conflict are geared toward a female audience. It might be a little too "girly" for males. It is also unlikely to appeal to hardcore X-Men fans because it's far from canon. The same story could have been told without the X-Men branding. Nonetheless, X-Man Misfits is a surprisingly refreshing take on a franchise that has been passed on from writer to writer for decades.

-- Courtney Kraft