On the Phoenix Force

You’re probably aware that the first issue of Avengers vs. X-Men came out this week.  Technically the second issue since they had an issue #0, but you know what I mean.  And if you are aware of that, you’re also probably aware that the big deal is about the Phoenix Force and how it relates to one Hope Summers.

Subtle.

What bothered me about the first issue (which I will get to when I finish up my eXaminations) was when Captain America went to Wolverine asking about the Phoenix Force.  Wolverine gave a description about how it used Jean Grey as a host and she ended up having to kill herself to stop it.  Besides being pretty mistaken on the facts of the original Phoenix Saga (again, wait for eXclamations on that note), I thought about how the usage of the descriptions of the Phoenix Force around this point have been inconsistent with what we’ve learned about it in the three decades since Jean first rose from Jamaica Bay all fiery and whatnot.

But then I realized that I didn’t really have a handle on just what exactly the Phoenix Force was.  And I’m not a dumb comic nerd.  I can explain Psylocke.  I know the deal with BOTH Xorns.  Hell, I could even tell you about post-Crisis Hawkman.  Yet still I struggle with just what the deal is with Phoenix.

So for my sake, as well as yours, I’m going to go over what I know about the Phoenix.  Sure, I could look it all up, but this is where I am coming from in my thoughts on the matter, so you, fair reader, will understand my AvX thoughts.

Panel of the month

The featured panel for the month of February comes from X-Factor #232 (written by Peter David, art by Emanuela Lupacchino).

Context after the break.

Adventures in order and continuity

My big project that I’ve been spending way more time than I’d care to admit on is making an ultimate reading guide to the X-Men line.  In theory, once complete, I will have a reading order completed that allows an X-Men reader with the time (and resources) to read straight through most of the X-Men story.  I say most because I’m leaving out solo series/minis that move away from the teams (Wolverine, Cable, Gambit, etc).  Trying to fit them in would be an effort of maddening futility (like trying to enjoy Chuck Austen’s X-Men).

Or justifying the merits of Psylocke's identity crisis.

It was quite simple at first – there was only one X-Men title.  The only thing that had to be determined was at what point the annuals should be tossed in to not break up an ongoing storyline with the usually unimportant story.  Upon the launch of New Mutants and further down X-Factor, the titles had to be more carefully organized for better reading.  To do so, I follow three main guidelines in determining the order:

1. Characters – The X-Books have characters showing up in each other’s books all the time.  Finding openings for these appearances are the most helpful aspect in figuring out where stories relate to one another.  For example, if Wolverine pops in to visit the younger team in an issue of New Mutants, then the story would fall between issues that would allow Wolverine an opening to do so.  If an issue of Uncanny ended on a cliffhanger with Wolverine laying bloody before a villain, chances are that he’s not going to get up and visit the junior team back home before coming back for the start of the next issue.
   
2. Events - Characters’ dialogue often references events that happen in other titles and thus shows relation in timescale.  If Cannonball mentions that Magneto has been acting weird since the X-Men returned from a certain mission, then that appearance falls after the issue in which that mission took place.  Crossover events are especially helpful, as they serve as starting/stopping points for different titles.  The Mutant Massacre wrapped up in issues 214, 46 and 11, respectively, of Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants and X-Factor.  Fall of the Mutants began in issues 229, 59 and 24.  Thus, even if the exact number of issues don’t match up for each title, all of the issues between the three books must have played out between the two events (in this case, 15 for Uncanny and 13 for both New Mutants and X-Factor).
   
3. Readability – The biggest point of this entire project is that I want the whole experience to be enjoyable (or at least as enjoyable as the story allows).  Thus, I try to switch between the various titles at story breaks.  If a story goes for three issues in Uncanny then wraps, I will then switch over to one of the other titles for its next story before getting back to Uncanny.  This attempts to keep the stories fresh, as you don’t get overloaded with any one title before switching to another, and keeping the stints short prevents forgetting what happened in another title by the time the reader gets back to it.
   

With just three X-Books to deal with, the operation has thus far gone smoothly.  I’m two issues away from kicking off the Mutant Massacre (one issue each of New Mutants and X-Factor) and so far I’ve only had to make one correction (X-Factor has a two-part story that leads directly into the Massacre that I had initially split up).

But there is one issue that breaks two of the rules on its own and there’s simply no good way of getting around it.  And it frustrates the hell out of me.

X-Factor won a GLAAD award

Peter David posted on his site that his book X-Factor won a GLAAD media award for positive portrayal of gay and lesbian characters.  Unless you’ve been living under a B-list rock, you know that X-Factor shocked readers by reintroducing longtime X-Force member Shatterstar by having him lock lips with Rictor.  Since that happened, the two have had one of the more interesting angst-filled relationships around the mutant world without resorting to homosexual stereotypes and cliches.

Congratulations to Peter David!  It’s a shame Rob Liefeld’s just going to undo it first chance he gets.

New comic day hangover

Welcome back, friends.  With the brand new X-Men event launching this week, I would feel just terrible if I slacked another week, so we’ll play catchup.  For this edition, we’ll be looking at…

• Age of X: Alpha in which we get a new present in which there were never X-Men…except for the X-Men gathered.
• Justice League: Generation Lost #17 & 18 in which a new threat shows up to replace the threat just beaten.
• New Mutants #21 in which Zeb Wells’ run on the title ends well.
• Uncanny X-Men #532 in which the X-Men still have the sniffles.
• X-Factor #213 & 214 in which a member quits the team, but not the book.
• X-Men #7 in which the X-Men become heroes.
• X-Men Legacy #244 in which we get a Blindfold adventure.  How fun.

There will be a jump, and then there will be SPOILERS.  I’ll even tell you which member of the Fantastic Four died.  Let’s do this.

New Comic Day hangover

It’s been several weeks since I’ve picked up my new comics, so I’ll be going through the backlog on this, my 20th edition of the New Comic Day hangover.  20?  Really?  Where does the time go?

Anyway, this edition we’ll be looking at…

• Booster Gold #38 in which we get a trip to the past to set up a continuity issue.
• Justice League: Generation Lost #13-14 in which we get a whole lot of Captain Atom.
• New Mutants #19 in which we get more torture.
• Uncanny X-Force #2 in which Wolverine pisses off Angel.
• Uncanny X-Men #530 in which the mutants get the sniffles.
• X-Factor #211 in which we get back to Las Vegas.
• X-Men #5 in which we are still fighting vampires.
• X-Men Legacy #242 in which the rebuilding of San Francisco gets underway.

As a side note, I know I said I would be dropping both Uncanny X-Force and Booster Gold but since my comic shop had already ordered  me copies of these issues before I dropped them from my pull list, I did the decent thing and went ahead and picked them up.  The same will happen with next month’s issues.

Anyway – reviews (with SPOILERS) after the jump.  Let’s get to it!

New Comic Day hangover

Light haul this week.

• New Mutants #18 in which our heroes face an unlikely blast from the past.
• And X-Factor #210 in which we go to something completely different.

There is a lot of stuff past the jump, and it’s got SPOILERS in it.  Beware.

New Comic Day hangover

Yeah, I know that three weeks ago I said “hiatus complete” but I had some extenuating circumstances over the past couple weeks.  Two weeks ago I was too lazy – my bad.  Last week, Casey and I travelled to Chicago for the Wizard World Comic Con and the hotel I was staying in charged $12 for internet access.

But enough excuses.  Let’s make up for the lost time and hit the big list!  This week we have…

Astonishing X-Men #35 in which the story that took forever ends with a disappointing whimper.

Booster Gold #35 in which Booster realizes his trip in the past is not as innocent as he believes.

Justice League: Generation Lost #7 & 8 in which the JLI attacks Checkmate.

New Mutants #16 in which we get the back story of the hellish soldiers.

Uncanny X-Men #527 in which Hope goes after another new mutant.

X-Factor #208 in which Wolfsbane finds out her bf is shacking with a dude.

X-Men #2 in which Blade pops up for the vampire story.

And finally, X-Men Legacy #239 in which we meet Indra’s fiancée.

Please be warned there will be SPOILERS in the reviews following the jump.  I no longer feel bad.

Hiatus complete and the New Comic Day hangover

Hello, there.  It certainly has been a while, hasn’t it?  I took a much-needed break to get my thoughts together and to avoid bitching and moaning about the lack of X-News at Comic Con (all the new X-stuff came at C2E2).  With that break, I’m about two weeks behind on my comic day reports, but since I had zero books this week, I am not taking a moment to get caught up.  So let’s take a look back.

• Justice League: Generation Lost #6 in which the story takes a break to hop to the future.
• Uncanny X-Men #526 in which the X-Men start looking for new mutants.
• X-Men: Legacy #238 in which Rogue and Magneto head for India.
• New Mutants #15 in which the team takes a beer break.
• X-Factor #207 in which the cover gives away something not in the story.

Even though these stories are a week or two old, I’m still obligated to toss up a SPOILERS warning for the content behind the jump.  Let’s begin.

Investigating Polaris

Occasionally when I receive a notification that someone has linked to this site, I will follow it back and see what’s being said. Doing so on my recent Chuck Austen post led me to a forum of Polaris fans where someone quite sarcastically explained that I had no idea as to what I was talking about, about the abysmal characterization of her during that run of Uncanny X-Men, nor apparently about the character herself.

This had me thinking about a couple things.  First, how could anyone defending Chuck Austen’s writing accuse me of not knowing what I was talking about?  Second, why would someone take off for a message board to bash something I had written, rather than simply putting it into the comments section?  The answer to the second one is simple – the boards were full of people who agreed starting out with what that person said.

But perhaps you are right, my non-commenting friend.  Perhaps I simply don’t understand.  Despite putting her as #22 on my Top 100 X-Men list (that’s the top 1/4th), I obviously don’t appreciate the character like you do.  So I’m going to take a minute and go through the history of our fair green-haired damsel and see just what the hulabaloo is about.  And who knows?  By the time I get to the conclusion at the bottom of the entry, maybe you’ll be right.

So here it is – the history, both publication and character, of Lorna Dane.