I've been following the series through the hardcovers.

Last night I read some spoilers for the next issue, #146, coming out this week. And I kind of wish I hadn't now...



Grant Morrison is an evil, evil bastard.

Have you heard when the 4th TPB comes out? I'm picking up most books that way now.

Unfortunately i've been reading it. I've been underwhelmed by Grant's run.

I'm glad he signed an exclusive contract with DC.

And, yeah Tuan Jim, I remember reading an interview with Quesada or Jemas and they're saying the majority of their sales are with TBs. I guess they're trying to push that by limiting the print runs of each book to what's ordered...

It sucks, if ya ask me..

Peter David's weekly "But I Digress.." column in this week's Comic Buyer's Guide talks about TPBs and their impact on monthly comics. A very interesting read and he makes many good points. Check it out if you can.

I've been reading it for a while, and I enjoyed what Grant Morrison did in the beginning of his run(E is for Extinction was amazing)but the latest story arc has been less than stellar. One of the biggest problems that I've had with the book is the revolving door of artists. It is really jarring reading a book then picking up the next issue and having it being drawn in a completely different style. Marvel is also having this problem on the Uncanny X-Men book right now. I just hope that before Grant goes to DC he finishes with a bang--as it is I'm not sure I'm going to continue reading it when he's done, so I guess I'll have to wait and see.

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Originally posted by PalmerJoss
One of the biggest problems that I've had with the book is the revolving door of artists. It is really jarring reading a book then picking up the next issue and having it being drawn in a completely different style. Marvel is also having this problem on the Uncanny X-Men book right now.

Man...this annoys me PERIOD. When I started reading comics, [for the most part] the artists &/or writers had lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng runs. I think it was right around the Image era that this stopped..

I have next week's issue & it is quite simply, probably the best X-men comic I've ever read. And I am a guy who has been reading the comic for nearly 20 years & am 16 issues away from a complete run of Uncanny X-men.

The X-men have quite simply NEVER been better than right now w/ Morrison's run on the book. Some may think it's a bit cheezy that net week he . But if they think that then they are not understanding how comic books work & how BRILLIANT Morrison's run has been. The last 4 pages of #146 are absolutely amazing. Morrison takes aminute plot detail from about 30 issues back & makes it have life altering ramifications.

I do agree that the rotating& constant fill-in artists have GREATLY hurt the momentum of the story. But that just shows how good the writing is. I too think, that #146 is just mind-blowing & we still have that entire story line to look forward to & then all culminating in a final story-arc drawn by someone I think we can all agree on is amazing. . . Marc Silvestri. You just know Morrison is going to do some major killing.

My biggest complaint w/ New X-men is that once Morrison leaves, the book is just going to go to hell. Marvel will not get a writer that can do what Morrison does.

like josh, i have been following this through the HC's. i have liked what i have read through the first two and am waiting for the third to come out. i do know what is supposed to happen in #146 but considering i haven't read any of the recent issues, i am gonna wait and see how it hits me after reading the next collection. as with everything else in comics nowadays, i am always behind as i don't buy many regualar monthly titles anymore. i like the hardcovers.

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Originally posted by Sessa17
I have next week's issue & it is quite simply, probably the best X-men comic I've ever read. And I am a guy who has been reading the comic for nearly 20 years & am 16 issues away from a complete run of Uncanny X-men.

The X-men have quite simply NEVER been better than right now w/ Morrison's run on the book. Some may think it's a bit cheezy that net week he

Spoiler:

brings back Magneto yet again

. But if they think that then they are not understanding how comic books work & how BRILLIANT Morrison's run has been. The last 4 pages of #146 are absolutely amazing. Morrison takes aminute plot detail from about 30 issues back & makes it have life altering ramifications.

I do agree that the rotating& constant fill-in artists have GREATLY hurt the momentum of the story. But that just shows how good the writing is. I too think, that #146 is just mind-blowing & we still have that entire story line to look forward to & then all culminating in a final story-arc drawn by someone I think we can all agree on is amazing. . . Marc Silvestri. You just know Morrison is going to do some major killing.

My biggest complaint w/ New X-men is that once Morrison leaves, the book is just going to go to hell. Marvel will not get a writer that can do what Morrison does.

First of all a big for Phil's art. I'm always glad to see it. His are is very Perez-ish and that's NOT a bad thing.

Second...I suppose, based on some of the comments here, I had some expectations built up...but after getting the issue and reading it, I was like:


I will give Grant props for taking his time unfolding many of the plots threads [sorta Claremont-esque in that regard], but I stand by my initial comment regarding his run on the X-Men.

And i'd have to disagree with most of Sessa17's comments above. I'm not going to nitpick because, besides the fact they're his opinions and I respect 'em for that reason, art is subjective and there's no right or wrong.

Regardless, i'm anticipating the next issue..

It's cool man, do you mean what I said about the art. I'm not saying the art is bad, well Kordey's run was just brutal. I'm a huge Jiminez fan. I'm just saying that Morrison has been building up to something larger. For that styly of story going on nearly 40 issues, when you have a constant rotation of artists, many of which were rushed to meet deadlines, IMO it really hurt the momentum & feel of this grand story Morrison is telling. They should have done what DC did w/ Jim Lee. And had the issues pencilled ahead of time, before they were solicited.

Nooooo...I just meant art as "cinema/literature/music"...most people [when someone thinks different than they do] get upset insisting that THEIR opinion is the right one. That's not the case with me. I KNOW i'm right...I just allow everyone their delusions. However, I think you were basking in the afterglow of #146 when you proclaimed

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I have next week's issue & it is quite simply, probably the best X-men comic I've ever read.

&

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The X-men have quite simply NEVER been better than right now w/ Morrison's run on the book.

or

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But if they think that then they are not understanding how comic books work & how BRILLIANT Morrison's run has been.

The last 4 pages of #146 are absolutely amazing.

My biggest complaint w/ New X-men is that once Morrison leaves, the book is just going to go to hell. Marvel will not get a writer that can do what Morrison does.

It's okay. I've been caught up like this before too. The most recent example I can think of was Avengers #21.

That issue knocked my off my feet. But the end, my adrenaline level was off the chart and I was shaking like a crack whore counting the days until issue 22. So, I know the feeling.

As for your art comment, I agree wholeheartedly. In fact, this was my response to PalmerJoss' reply about the rotating artists

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Man...this annoys me PERIOD. When I started reading comics, [for the most part] the artists &/or writers had lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng runs. I think it was right around the Image era that this stopped..

So, I think we all agree on that. I also agree with comments about Kordey. [though, his X-treme X-men "God Love, Man Kills II" run wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be..] In fact, i'm a BIG fan of Bachalo [i'm probably the ONLY one that collected Steampunk...even if I still haven't read it..], but this last run was bad.

And, I agree with the layered story line and the Jim Lee comment.

Kordey isn't a bad artist, but I got the idea that his NXM issues were rush-jobs -- that the editors needed fill-in artists to get the books out on time. Just looking at most his pages, I'd guess that they were hastily inked breakdowns.

Really, the inconsistent art needs to be laid at the feet of editorial. They hired "name" artists like Quitely, who can't put out books on anything resembling a monthly schedule, and then didn't have any plans in place when the pages don't come in. There was really no excuse for this considering Morrison was over a year ahead on his scripts.

And as for Bachalo, his artwork has taken a huge downswing into incomprehensibility since his "Death" days. I remember the layouts on his Cliffhanger series, "Steampunk" were a godawful, cluttered mess.

Rogue, I was indeed serious about my Morrison comment. Although perhaps I should use "favorite" instead of "best". Morrison's run has been my favorite X-run ever. And there isn't an X book I haven't read or don't own except for a select for Uncanny issues. He is definitely rehashing old ideas. But he is putting entirely new twists on them. I'm just diggin' the hell out of what he is doing & you just know in that final arc with Silvestri he is going to do some major killing off of characters. But at the same time, I think whoever takes over after Morrison, will never live up to what Morrison has done with the book.

Quote:

Originally posted by Sessa17
I'm just diggin' the hell out of what he is doing & you just know in that final arc with Silvestri he is going to do some major killing off of characters.

Mannnn...I REALLY hope not. I realize that it could be just a gimmick, and no one ['sized Uncle Ben & Bucky] stays dead ::COUGHmagnetoCOUGH::...but c'mon. Grant's been able to write VERY effective stories without resorting to killing characters.

I think it was John Byrne that said it was easier to kill a character as opposed to actually writing a character...and that it was the easy way out. Everytime a character is "killed" I always think about this..

But, nevertheless, i'll still be reading..