Uncanny X-Men #500
Review by NealAppeal:
WRITER: ED BRUBAKER
MATT FRACTION
PENCILS: GREG LAND, TERRY DODSON
COLORED BY: JUSTIN PONSOR
Price: $3.99
I thought this was a little dull. I didn't care much for Land's art,
but I think those pages with the Transamerica Pyramid spread looked
pretty cool, layout wise, and I liked seeing the SF MOMA. But that doesn't make up for annoying references to "going
green". My biggest problem with this was that the X-Men seemed too much like frivolous rich people. Too much Warren Worthington and Emma I guess, and a
lack of characterization for Cyclops, and no other strong personalities to provide a different tone. The whole book felt a little frivoulous. There were plenty of interesting plot points in this, but no character moments to give this book any weight. I was expecting more from Brubaker and Fraction. Hopefully comining issues improve, because I'm not ready to give up on a book with these characters and these writers.
Also here's something you shouldn't do in comic books anymore:
Characer 1 "(Something intended to be humorous.)"
Character 2 "(Hey, you can make attempts at humor!)"
477
pulls
Avg Rating: 3.4
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Maybe frivious is not the right word. Just lacking anykind of impact.
Posted by NealAppeal on 07/23/08 at 11:18 PM
Oops. Meant to type frivolous.
Posted by NealAppeal on 07/24/08 at 02:09 AM
I'd say frivolous sounds about right. I didn't hate the issue but couldn't take it very serious, especially when it wanted me to. Example 1: the supposed "social importance" of what they're "doing" (and that needs to be in quotes) in San Francisco is represented by... a starry-eyed schoolgirl of a mayor who walks around their theme park house and flirts with Angel. Example 2: I liked the "X-Men costume party", but it's hard to make the X-Men's greatest villain seem all that menacing when you've set the stage with that... fivolous of an atmosphere.
Don't get me wrong, I didn't hate anything about this. I didn't even dislike anything. But it just didn't seem all that interesting to me, just a continuation of "Ed Brubaker, I know you can do better."
Posted by flapjaxx on 07/24/08 at 04:02 AM
something about this issue did not work for me the way Ellis's first issue of Astonishing did. The concept of a Sentinel art show with people dressing in their old costumes is a great new idea but in reading it, thinking about all these characters have seen and done, I couldn't help but find the Magneto fight a little silly and totally out of character for Mags.
Plus, for the first time, I get people's complaints about Land's art. It contradicted the script in a lot of the quiet moments and during the fights it was almost the same poses reversed or tilted slightly on every page. When next to Dodson's clean lines and style the weaknesses just became glaring.
Posted by Kimbo on 07/24/08 at 07:35 AM
I wouldn't have called it frivolous. It seemed like there was a lot of emphasis on the social importance of what they were trying to do, green references included.
But I would be happy with a moratorium on people commenting on Cyclops' sense of humor.
The last time that was amusing was in X-men #1 when he threatened to drop a truck on Gambit. "A big big truck."
Posted by ohcaroline on 07/23/08 at 10:45 PM