X-Men Messiah Complex One-Shot
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Marc Silvestri
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Hey Doc, fire up the flux capacitor, and set course for 1992. We’ve got an epic-sized X-Men crossover that spans several books, creative teams, and months. It’s the first big X-Crossover in quite some time if you don’t count the abortive Endangered Species crossover that was really only a series of back-up stories. I feel reminded of the near constant X-Crossovers of the 90’s, and I’ve got to admit that I’m both exceptionally excited and nervous all at the same time. This could very well be what the X-Franchise needs to get kicked back into high gear and return to prominence, or it could very well be the latest installment in a long running pattern of overly hyped X-Crossovers that deliver little more than flashy covers. After reading an advance copy of the one-shot kicking off the event, I have more reason to feel confident… and more reason to be nervous.
Let’s just start out by saying that this isn’t the most accessible comic I’ve read recently. If you haven’t been keeping up with Carey’s adjectiveless X-Men or Kyle & Yost’s New X-Men, you may feel a little lost as the story spins nearly directly out of the Carey book and heavily references the New X-Men. Strangely enough, this may not be such a detriment as one might think. The X-Books have long been steeped in complex continuity, and that seems to be the way that a sizable chunk of X-Readers like it. Readers like myself that really would like to be enjoying the X-Titles but have found them to range from unreadable to barely tolerable in the last few years may, unfortunately, need to go back and read the previous few arcs of X-Men and New X-Men or at the very least keep Wikipedia handy.
There’s an element of the concept here that gives me a lot of hope for both the crossover and for the X-Franchise in general. Basically we’ve got a three way race between the X-Men, Sinister’s Marauders, and Stryker’s Purifiers to find the first new mutant manifestation since the “No more mutants” line in House of M. It hearkens back to a very old-school X-Men theme; the good mutants and the evil mutants trying to snatch up the rare new manifestations before the other side can, and the anti-mutant hate-mongers trying to kill them all. It isn’t a terribly original concept, but it works, and it speaks well to what the X-Men are and what they stand for. This may be another case of an event leading us to an interesting place to tell stories despite being a poor read itself. Civil War birthed The Initiative, and House of M birthed Messiah Complex.
X-Geeks, like myself, have another reason to be excited about this book. Brubaker does a great job finding the character’s personalities and voices. His Cyclops, Wolverine, and Professor Xavier are especially spot-on. I haven’t read a Cyclops this good since the last Essential X-Men I picked up. He’s not an easy character to write, but Brubaker does quite well. He’s definitely the leader of the pack without any doubt at all. He’s doling out orders in a confident fashion to maintain tactical control over the situation right from the start, but he never appears to just be a dick. Most writers portray the character as either an overbearing stoic asshole or a self pitying crybaby, but here he’s a confident leader that truly cares about the people around him, team member or bystander. Brubaker’s Prof X is both hopeful and reserved simultaneously, and his Wolverine is a tough guy with a heart. This one-shot has character.
The weakest point of the issue is, without a doubt, the art. The art is overly sketchy with hyper-exaggerated angles, and the story telling is mediocre. There are panels of facial expression that are just plain comedic and examples of story telling that are mostly nonsensical. For instance, Beast’s freaky surprised face almost made me rofl-copter right out of my chair. Don’t forget Cyclops feeling the need to shoot his optics into what appears to be either nothing at all or the burning ruins of a home. Angel is flying around rescuing people, Nightcrawler is “bamfing” people to safety, even Emma Frost is carrying limp bodies out of the flames. Cyclops is doing what? That’s right, shooting his optics into a burning building of all things. I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, but if it needs explaining, the artist didn’t do his job. Not to mention, the art features the prettiest and most feminine Wolverine this side of Silvestri’s own X-Men Deadly Genesis #6 cover.
Here’s the short of it. The overall concept works well thematically for the X-Franchise. It feels much more genuine and old-school than the X-Books of late, and Brubaker nails the characters, but the art is a bit extreme and hard to follow. The complex continuity, while potentially confusing for casual readers, really seems to fit the mold that the X-Books have maintained for decades. Marvel’s intention of a large scale event to bring the X-Men back into the forefront is likely to be a success, and the event, if anything like the one-shot, should be an entertaining ride and worth your time.
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I forgot to mention, this book hits the shelves on Oct 31; this is an advance review.
25 Oct 2007 at 5:56 pm
Quotei think i’ll steer clear of this one, the only x-books i read right now are first class and astonishing (which has pretty damn good characterisation…) and what with warren ellis coming onto astonishing soon (rule, britannia!) i’m pretty sure this will be a damp squib.
ps. - how was HoM a poor read? best thing bendis has written at marvel other than ult spidey methinks - nice, action packed story as far as i remember, and unlike WWHulk it’s alt universe so a lot/ most of what happened is null. *grrrr* alien gladiator-king babyfather hulk
26 Oct 2007 at 3:31 am
QuoteI’ve been completely disinterested in the X-books for a few years now, but I actually like the concept the way you’ve spun it. Do you really need to know what went on in Carey’s X-Men and New X-Men? Or is it enough to just know that the X-Men are in a race against the Marauders and Stryker?
“Messiah Complex” sounds fun enough, and yeah, I get what you mean by a bit of old school returning to it. Of course, the strong negative part of me is thinking that once this starts crossing over with every X-book, the story will just screw itself up big time. We really need an X-Men event that’s just contained to X-Men and Uncanny.
26 Oct 2007 at 7:51 am
QuoteI like Brubaker’s work in general, but I couldn’t get into his Uncanny X-Men run, and as far as this book goes, the Marc Silvestri art alone is enough to keep me away (I couldn’t stand his art back in the 80s, either).
And that is indeed the most feminine Wolverine I’ve probably ever seen; he looks like one of those pretty-boy twentysomethings from The CW network. Not exactly my idea of a badass.
26 Oct 2007 at 7:55 am
QuoteWhat I wouldn’t give for X-Men to be a top tier title again. But I don’t know of that’s even possible.
26 Oct 2007 at 8:47 am
QuoteI don’t know in my mind the X-men are just too big a group too full of charcters I don’t care about.
The ONLY thing new Avengers gets right is being a small group
26 Oct 2007 at 10:01 am
QuoteHaven’t been reading X-men of late, least not for the last year or more, based on the review I’ll probably give the first issue a try.
Haven’t looked at the rest of the issue obviously, but from eying that panel, it looks to me like Cyclops is using his optic beams to blast a path out through the burning building for Emma and child.
26 Oct 2007 at 10:02 am
QuoteI’d say Alias is the best thing Bendis has written at Marvel, but as to why HoM was a poor read, here goes.
It really wasn’t action packed. In fact, I specifically remember that it took several issues in the core mini just for the heroes to blast a hole through a wall and look menacing, and that bit of action only lasted maybe a page or two.
Secondly, it was incredibly contrived. Wanda loses her mind and reshapes the world. Why? Mostly because Bendis wanted her to lose her mind and needed to get to Decimation and New Avengers. Not only that, but the decision really damaged the character for years to come. A few mutants managed to keep their powers. Why? Not because they were under some sort of scientific protection engineered by Hank Pym or the Beast. Not because they were under some sort of mystical protection provided by Doc Strange. No, they kept their powers because Marvel still needs to publish a small mountain of X-Titles every month, HoM or no HoM.
Thirdly, it was not an alternate universe story. Wanda actually altered the way the 616 existed.
Without reading Carey’s book, I didn’t know why Sinister was in the race, but I’m sure it will get rehashed in the crossover at some point. Without reading New X-Men, I didn’t personally know who the Purifiers were or that they had anything to do with Stryker. It’s just one of those weird holes in my continuity knowledge. I’m sure X-Veterans will be able to just jump right into the event, but more casual readers might get a little lost.
That makes a lot of sense actually. If there had been some sort of indication that they had ever entered a building in the first place, I might have been able to figure that one out. Trust me, the background on said panel looks just like the backgrounds when things are obviously taking place outdoors, and those outdoor panels occupy spots on each side of said panel.
Maybe Emma could have said “Get us out of here before the roof falls on top of us!” Or maybe we could have seen the pair rush into the burning building after hearing a psychic scream.
Like I said, there’s probably a good explanation, but if it needs explaining, it wasn’t done well enough.
I love me some Fist Class, and Ellis on Astonishing is indeed exciting. Whedon’s done a lot of characterization, but I wouldn’t call it good. Prof X is a douche bag that imprisons and tortures new life forms that he creates, Cyke is dependent on a woman once again to define his identity, Kitty is a spoiled brat, Colossus is an empty shell, and Lockheed is a traitor.
Whew… that’s the end of my Randy-sized comment.
26 Oct 2007 at 10:27 am
Quote1. as a wheelchair user myself i’d like a year without prof x having a serect that makes him worse. I want the White Queen dead AND…
2 I want Wolverine’s solo book to be really REALLY GOOD other than that their doing fine if World War Hulk X-MEN is a yardstick
26 Oct 2007 at 11:40 am
QuoteWell, I’m waiting ofr the hardcover lol I’ve been x-men free some years now and don’t want to go head first. D3, I really liked your remark about “…end of my Randy-sized comment.”, nice touch! I think everybody at comic pants should do a “Randy-sized comment” once and awhile.
26 Oct 2007 at 11:49 am
QuoteCyclops is doing what? That’s right, shooting his optics into a burning building of all things. I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for it, but if it needs explaining, the artist didn’t do his job.
I remember in the 90s X-Men cartoon, Cyclops would use his optic blasts to put out fires. Since his beams are basically a combo of light and kinetic energy (and not heat… usually), I guess shooting them at the fire is the same as patting it down.
You’re right, though, that should have been explained. Especially since Cyclops’ force beams have sometimes been portrayed as lasers. Which just ain’t right.
Love the art-critique image, btw. Rofl-copter… hehehe
26 Oct 2007 at 12:06 pm
QuoteIncidentally, that whole “Lockheed as a traitor” thing does *not* sit well with me. I have too many fond memories of Alan Davis’ Excalibur run for that to be okay.
26 Oct 2007 at 1:06 pm
QuoteEh, I don’t have too many problems with Lockheed as a “traitor”. He wasn’t really a traitor, since S.W.O.R.D. essentially had the X-Men’s best interests at heart.
I also thought it was giving credit to the fact that Lockheed is actually intelligent, something that a lot of writers forgot.
26 Oct 2007 at 5:28 pm
QuoteI don’t have a problem with Lockheed being intelligent. That’s actually cool and seeing him get the drop on some baddies during a battle is always a fun thing to watch. Having him be a spy for S.W.O.R.D. instead of the fun loving, dragon sidekick of Kitty Pryde just felt inexplicably wrong to me.
I don’t know, I just liked the character as he was and felt that we didn’t really need yet another shocking revelation..Can’t he just be a pet dragon and that be it?
26 Oct 2007 at 10:31 pm
QuoteThis event looks pretty exciting. I am very much looking forward to skipping all the comics and reading the spoilers on the internet.
26 Oct 2007 at 10:32 pm
QuoteWait, Lockheed is a traitor?
On the one hand, I’m glad Whedon didn’t go the easy route and make Emma Frost the traitor.
On the other… I gotta ask, is Astonishing X-Men written for ANYONE other than Joss Whedon? Seriously. Who is that book for? And don’t say Cassaday fanboys. WE KNOW THAT.
It’s like he’s turned into Geoff Johns, only without the obsessive attention to continuity yet feeling like it’s still up its own ass.
26 Oct 2007 at 11:33 pm
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