X-Men -1

X-Men –1
Writing: Scott Lobdell
Art: Carlos Pacheco

What Went Down: We are greeted initially by the last page of the preceding issue, followed by some exposition from Stan Lee in an exaggerated fantasy Marvel office.  He discusses how the X-Men have continuously multiplied from the original five, and points out Xavier as the foundation to it all. 

We find Xavier, prior to starting his school, floating in his pool and contemplating his place in the world.  His reverie is interrupted by Amelia Voght: the nurse who helped him after he was paralyzed and became his girlfriend.  Amelia joins him in the pool and tries to get him to see how futile his goal is.  Charles cannot stand to live in his mansion comfortably while knowing there are threats to humanity, both human and mutant. 

Up in space, Magneto is busy constructing his space station Asteroid M.  Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch, founding members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants before both turned hero, observe him from inside the base.  Wanda is amazed that Magneto can hold the base together with the strength of his will.  Quicksilver dismisses him as mad, but Scarlet Witch worries if he is reacting in a sane manner to an insane world.  Magneto tells the twins to prepare to travel to Earth.  Pietro does not appreciate being ordered around, and Magneto essentially tells him that under his house, it is his rules. 

Xavier and Amelia wait for Magneto in the ruins of a Nazi concentration camp.  Magneto and the twins show up.  He and Xavier debate over whether humanity can be trusted and over the necessity of subjugating them.  Both men agree they should kill the other to ensure their goals, but neither one can.  Magneto reveals that he knows Amelia’s name and that he and Charles have been watching potential mutants for a long time.  Amelia tries to make Magneto realize how similar the two men are and how they should be working together. 

Outside Asteroid M, Magneto struggles with the decisions he will have to make.  Stan Lee ends the issue, talking over a sleeping Carlos Pacheco on a drawing table.

How It Was:  Poor Scott Lobdell had to do a bunch of these flashback issues: this one, one for Uncanny, and I think one for Generation X.  Since most of the X-Men are just normal kids before the school is opened, Lobdell makes the wise choice to focus on Xavier and Magneto and the forming of their dreams.  This also gives Lobdell a chance to fill in some info on his retcon of creating the character of Amelia Voght and tying her to Xavier personally after the loss of his legs; previously we had only really seen it in the Uncanny #309 flashback.  Their dynamic works well; Lobdell makes the characters playful, but only as a means of diffusing the tensions looming over them, and all the while Xavier’s passion can’t help but surface.  Magneto and the Brotherhood’s scenes are okay; mostly they just “foreshadow” events that happen later in continuity.  While Quicksilver is, as usual, a one-dimensional hot-head, I like Wanda’s sympathy for Magneto as she successfully figures out what drives him.

Since this whole issue is devoid of any action, its success rests on the debate the two characters have.  Surprisingly, Lobdell manages to pull it off, even though it is a discussion we’ve seen these two characters have dozens and dozens of times.  Yes the setting of a concentration camp is a bit of an emotional grab, but it doesn’t come off as too indelicate because both characters are able to use it to support their sides; Magneto for the inevitability of man’s fall and Xavier for the need to proactively go after such ignorance before it breeds this type of hate.  Somehow Lobdell manages to make it feel like the first time these characters have had this talk, post-Israel anyways. 

Honestly, Pacheco’s art here looks like his art in a normal issue, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing.  The colorist’s use of brighter colors does sell the throwback illusion a little, but nobody would ever mistake this for coming from the sixties.  What really matters in an issue like this is the expressions of the characters and the way they conduct themselves, since there is absolutely no action; Pacheco succeeds on that front.  Overall, this is a great issue that doesn’t really do anything new, but works because the characters’ voices are so thoughtful and true to the characters.

A

Avengers #401

Avengers #401
Writing: Mark Waid
Art: Mike Deodato and Tom Palmer

What Went Down: A group of Avengers, plus Gambit, are assigned to search for Magneto since he may be a key to stopping Onslaught (at least right now in the story). The Avengers also debut a new Quinjet that looks a lot like a paper airplane. After Iron Man almost leaves the door to the hanger shut, the team is on its way.

In case you’re wondering how they are going to find Magneto when he’s been missing for months, Cerebro has picked up some electromagnetic energy in South Carolina and Virginia… so there you go. Hank Pym also takes time to show off his team of Avengers and X-Men that are going to be appearing in Fantastic Four this month.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver share flashbacks of having to work for Magneto; they resent the fact that Magneto was cruel and often abusive to his henchmen. A particular scene shows Magneto gripping Wanda with his magnetic powers to intimidate her. Quicksilver asserts that he will always protect his sister.

In Virginia, Rogue and Joseph are at a garage getting their car fixed. The mechanic complains that the lift is broken, so he can’t fix the car. Joseph uses his magnetic powers to make it work while Rogue distracts the mechanic. They go off to get lunch when the Quinjet lands right in front of them. Quicksilver hurries ahead of the rest of the Avengers and attacks Joseph, assuming that he is Magneto. Gambit and Quicksilver are both shocked to find Rogue accompanying him.

Quicksilver assumes that Joseph is controlling Rogue somehow, so he presses his attack. Rogue keeps trying to explain, but the Avengers keep interrupting her, so she just attacks the Vision instead. Iron Man tries to defuse the situation, but he shows that he might attack, so Joseph throws him through a cruise ship.

Gambit throws some charged cards to break up Vision, Thor, and Rogue, while Joseph fights the rest of the Avengers. When he grips Wanda with his powers, as he did in the flashback, she freaks out and breaks free with her powers. Joseph tries to apologize and help her up. Behind him, Quicksilver is charging with a giant wooden post to kill Joseph with. The Scarlet Witch contemplates letting her brother do it, but knocks both Quicksilver and Joseph away with her powers instead.

Wanda yells at her brother, telling him that she can take care of herself. Captain America finishes telling Rogue about Onslaught and everyone gets on the Quinjet to leave. Gambit demonstrates jealousy at the relationship Joseph and Rogue appear to share.

How It Was: First up, Mike Deodato’s artwork=sooo gooood. I’m a really big fan of his current work on Secret Avengers, and his stuff on Dark Avengers was great as well. His characters are gorgeous, and his fight scenes are so well posed. A highlight includes the page where Joseph takes on Captain America and the Maximoffs single handedly. My only complaint is the “new” Quinjet design. I can’t see what the point of this is because A: Avengers is being canceled in one more issue, so we’ll never see it again, and B: It is a really dumb looking design. Since Tom Palmer is credited with finishes, I get the feeling that deadlines may’ve become an issue, hence the simple looking Quinjet, but who knows?

As for the story, well the big question is why the heck is this taking place in the Avengers book? Since Joseph is a future X-Man, and Rogue has been missing from the book for months, wouldn’t it make more sense to put this in an X-Men book?

Besides the soliciting of the story, the real problem is that this story is a bunch of super heroes mistakenly attacking one and other, and we just had that in Uncanny #335. Waid does do a good job of setting up the precedent for Wanda and Pietro’s negative feelings toward Magneto, but it’s still absurd that it would take an entire issue to resolve this fight; much of the issue is padded with unnecessary sequences like Gambit arguing about using an elevator, or Iron Man not opening the door at the end of the plane ramp. One ridiculous sequence has Rogue trying to explain the situation, while the Vision keeps interrupting her by asking her to explain the situation. The Avengers just come off as really stupid this entire issue. Plus Gambit should theoretically have a bigger role in this story, since he knows Rogue better than anyone there, but all he gets to do is throw some cards to get some of the heroes’ attention.

The central theme of the story seems to be having the Scarlet Witch show her brother, and herself, that she can take care of herself. There’s nothing wrong with this other than the fact that it has been done to death in Avengers comics since the sixties. I can buy Quicksilver’s reaction to seeing his father, but at this point the Scarlet Witch has already been established as one of the most powerful Avengers. Also, any time you have a story with Wanda, you have writers trying to interpret her vague, plot convenient mutant power. While she’s basically supposed to create unlikely situations, I think it’s stretching the definition to have a pier spontaneously exploding and calling it highly improbable. If there is no chance of something ever happening at all, than she really shouldn’t be able to do it, otherwise there is nothing she can’t do. Of course Avengers’ writers eventually figured this out and Bendis shuffled her off in Avengers Disassembled.

Whoah, that was quite a tangent. Anyways, I think this issue would have worked a lot better without the big three tagging along. Captain America, Iron Man, Vision, and Thor really have nothing to do this issue, and their presence makes it even harder to understand why this fight takes so long. Focusing on the Maximoffs and Gambit definitely would’ve given this story a tighter center and allowed for more development of all the characters involved, as opposed to just hitting a note that’s been hit a dozen times before. Also, if finding Magneto was this easy, why have the X-Men waited this long? This is an unnecessary detour for the story that winds up having little effect on Onslaught. While Joseph does get some good character moments in the coming issues, the fact that he doesn’t actually do a lot raises questions as to why Onslaught’s resemblance to Magneto was even necessary to point out in the first place.

C-