tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post2677223995971958681..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: X-amining X-Men (vol. 2) #7Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-42160425771214412632016-12-20T00:03:06.190-06:002016-12-20T00:03:06.190-06:00@Teebore: @Teebore: Was Maverick's hint about ...@Teebore: @Teebore: Was Maverick's hint about the X-Men not being happy if they knew the real reason he was in Berlin because he was getting hold of the C-Synthesizer to bring back to Weapon X so it could be bonded to a mutant that could take out Omega Red? And did Jim Lee plan for that mutant to be Warblade before he ended up using him in his Wild C.A.T.s series? Nathan Adlerhttp://fanfix.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-26401578241748077632016-08-23T10:00:20.147-05:002016-08-23T10:00:20.147-05:00Also, some of the dialogue in the panel you posted...<i>Also, some of the dialogue in the panel you posted, specifically the part about the head shot being more dramatic, almost has a CC quality, in the sense of the dialogue covering up/commenting about the art, no?</i><br /><br />I can see that. Generally, I think Lobdell, at least early in his run, does a pretty good job aping Claremont, quipiness aside. It's never quite as good, and usually reads like someone aping Claremont, but the effort is appreciated. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-89145078464864175832016-08-23T09:58:30.399-05:002016-08-23T09:58:30.399-05:00Whereas that cross-dimensional Mikhail story in UN...Whereas that cross-dimensional Mikhail story in UNCANNY should have been a zero-parter. :) Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-43138488222075345742016-08-23T09:56:55.001-05:002016-08-23T09:56:55.001-05:00That sounds about right. I remember reading the fi...That sounds about right. I remember reading the first issue or two of that Death of Wolverine series, but I don't remember Cornelius' involvement. Oh well. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-63839180945080080532016-08-23T09:55:52.905-05:002016-08-23T09:55:52.905-05:00I didn’t even realize that Wolverine had sliced of...<i>I didn’t even realize that Wolverine had sliced off Matsuo’s hand until you brought it up.</i><br /><br />I missed it completely on my first read-through for the review. It wasn't until I was doing screen caps for the post that I noticed it, and was like, "oh yeah, this is the issue where he cuts off his hand, which comes up in that WOLVERINE arc later". Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-49295092180647404152016-08-23T09:50:08.908-05:002016-08-23T09:50:08.908-05:00In Lee's defense, it's not entirely a pin-...In Lee's defense, it's not entirely a pin-up, in that it's one panel on the page and not the full page. For another, he does make at least some effort to illustrate characterization via the image (ie the way Jubilee is standing). <br /><br />If anything, my biggest gripe with it is the awkward underhand way Cyclops is pointing. Who points like that? Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-82802076125720551092016-08-20T09:07:36.110-05:002016-08-20T09:07:36.110-05:00Well...I'd probably side with the "happy ...Well...I'd probably side with the "happy coincidence" theory myself, and Hama and others just ran with it after the fact lolwwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-18686169674895914112016-08-20T07:28:30.342-05:002016-08-20T07:28:30.342-05:00Pre-planned by Claremont, obviously. ;) Who possib...Pre-planned by Claremont, obviously. ;) Who possibly told of his pre-plan to Lee (or/and Hama). As wwk5d said, Hama will get mileage from the hand thing, and Hama also did pick up a lot of (other) cues from the Mandarin story.<br /><br />On the other hand, the hand cut is so haphazard and blink-and-you-miss here in small panels it feels like it may have been a last minute editorial mandate so that Matsu'o can show up next in Hama's WOLVERINE, because one would expect an Image guy milk everything of Wolverine meaninfully cutting someone's hand if it was plotted in in time to the issue.<br /><br />There is also the boring option that nothing was planned and it's Hama who's kind of awesome and goes over the top all by himself on Lee's random hand slice. In which case I feel bad for pre-empting for future X-aminations stuff.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-90958252542731304902016-08-20T06:30:25.967-05:002016-08-20T06:30:25.967-05:00I'd say it was neither, and just a lucky coinc...I'd say it was neither, and just a lucky coincidence at best. Given the plotting style the Image guys had displayed, I doubt any one of them would be that clever. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-27105384554937898252016-08-19T08:33:51.597-05:002016-08-19T08:33:51.597-05:00But as a counter-note, I just love the cover.But as a counter-note, I just love the cover.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-58677809227730073742016-08-18T18:55:22.776-05:002016-08-18T18:55:22.776-05:00However, in a later Avengers issue, issue 317, the...However, in a later Avengers issue, issue 317, the Vision is described as having complete control over his own DESTINY. Does he also have complete control over his own Blob, Pyro and Avalanche?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-69301630906385764522016-08-18T17:48:00.501-05:002016-08-18T17:48:00.501-05:00I wonder if Matsu'o losing a hand to Wolverine...I wonder if Matsu'o losing a hand to Wolverine was to some extent (pre-)planned already when he made his "whatever happens to one hand" speech to the Mandarin in UXM #256, or if it was all Jim Lee now harking back to one of his earliest X-Men job. It's hard to take as random thing just happening coincidentally to that context, because on general note the creators usually don't have the heroes just cut off appendixes from villains.<br /><br />(Yes there was the Absorbing Man in the Secret Wars but still I wouldn't say Wolverine is like making it a habit or anything)Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-24762951758066810412016-08-18T17:30:23.278-05:002016-08-18T17:30:23.278-05:00Well. This took an unawaitedfor turn. But, conside...Well. This took an unawaitedfor turn. But, considering I went to read said issue through reading SPIDER-WOMAN issues and then tracking Viper appearances I guess I have little choice but to acquiesce to <i>Merryam-Webster's</i> judgement here.<br /><br />Teaches me to listen to people slagging off the Hoff.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-34809935666751153512016-08-18T16:40:41.513-05:002016-08-18T16:40:41.513-05:00Would you believe that’s a correct use of “inbred”...Would you believe that’s a correct use of “inbred”? Given the meaning to which you refer, of course, it still would’ve been better to go with “innate” or “inborn”.Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-78029982190570545922016-08-18T11:52:03.407-05:002016-08-18T11:52:03.407-05:00As I've noted before, for some reason I genera...As I've noted before, for some reason I generally like the contemporaneous UNCANNY issues more than these X-MEN issues. I don't necessarily dislike this story; it's just that it doesn't do much for me. I think the length is a big part of it. It should've just been a two-parter (or, at most, a three-parter if we count issue 4 as the first chapter).Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-30799139992832350902016-08-18T09:33:42.550-05:002016-08-18T09:33:42.550-05:00"In the end, Matsu'o escapes again, but W..."In the end, Matsu'o escapes again, but Wolverine does cut off one of his hands, an act which factors in to Matsu'o's next appearance, in Wolverine."<br /><br />And leads to something of a running gag between the two.<br /><br />"I'm pretty sure he's stayed dead."<br /><br />What Anonymous said.<br /><br />Also, some of the dialogue in the panel you posted, specifically the part about the head shot being more dramatic, almost has a CC quality, in the sense of the dialogue covering up/commenting about the art, no?<br /><br />"In a Claremont-esque use of her power, Psylocke telepathically tricks Omega Red into thinking he's activated his death factor when in fact he hasn't."<br /><br />Clever, yes, but does highlight the problem with telepathing characters. Why didn't she just use her powers to make him go to sleep or attach Fenris or whatever. Of course, at least in Psylocke's case, you can fanwank it to her being an all-out action junkie who prefers fighting that way, as established in #1.<br /><br />Overall I liked this story as well, even if it does feel a bit long, and does have too many scenes of characters running down corridors. But as you said, the energy of the art does keep things moving along nicely, even if the art is starting to look dodgy and less polished than Lee's usual standards. wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-71266141629246174412016-08-18T06:38:03.767-05:002016-08-18T06:38:03.767-05:00It was AVENGERS #148, btw, where Scarlet Witch'...It was AVENGERS #148, btw, where Scarlet Witch's "spell contained in her innocuous words fueled by her inbred <b>mutant might</b>, takes <b>hold</b>" of Hyperion. Lest someone mistake I falsely attributed to a Maximoff a gaffe later done by the Talent USA judge Hasselhoff who got good taste inbred in him.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-75467066995479376512016-08-18T04:57:28.965-05:002016-08-18T04:57:28.965-05:00I did know Wolverine cut off Matsuo's hand, bu...I <i>did</i> know Wolverine cut off Matsuo's hand, but I don't know if I ever actively got it happening here or if I just have always taken it granted from later WOLVERINE issue's dialogue. Also, if I'm not mistaken it's a right hand we see flying in the air but in the next panel Matsuo is holding his cut-off left arm with the right hand. Jim Lee's Berlin, where tit-windows rotate and hands wander. I've been left understand that should rather be the Hamburg scene.<br /><br />Could be worse for poor Janice though. Scarlet Witch once during the Serpent Crown shenanigans used her "inbred" mutant powers according to the narration. Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-367355153594093032016-08-17T18:56:35.986-05:002016-08-17T18:56:35.986-05:00"Dr. Cornelius, the scientist responsible for..."Dr. Cornelius, the scientist responsible for lacing Wolverine's bones with adamantium, dies this issue, killed by Maverick as he attempts to shoot Wolverine. I'm pretty sure he's stayed dead."<br />Actually, Cornelius inexplicably turns up alive in 2014- he's the villain responsible for Wolverine's death.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-5757066835913973672016-08-17T17:47:14.579-05:002016-08-17T17:47:14.579-05:00[ThomasDolby] “He buried it… with Janice!” [/Thoma...<br>[ThomasDolby] “He buried it… with Janice!” [/ThomasDolby]<br /><br />Yet again, Orz’s lettering is the key ingredient in this scanning as — and to the extent possible, feeling like — <i>X-Men</i>. I guess Lee’s also been around long enough by now for his style to register in my head as the proper… um… imagery for the book, though, because even with some of his less appealing tendencies (and even through the finishes by Thibert) I accept this as <i>X-Men</i> almost as much on that score and in fact I find a good amount in the layouts to appreciate. <br /><br />Lobdell does a pretty good job here with the sort of quippy dialogue under discussion in comments on last week’s <i>Uncanny</i> post, the Beast lines you mentioned in particular; the group’s round-robin banter upon breaking into the room where Omega Red and Wolverine are fighting may sound a bit too “written” but I like the next panel, with Cyclops <i>zark</i>ing Matsuo over Psylocke’s body, enough to allow it.<br /><br />I didn’t even realize that Wolverine had sliced off Matsuo’s hand until you brought it up.<br /><br />Matsuo: “‘[H]er bones were not <i>all</i> that was interned within the ground that night.”<br />Me: “You mean ‘interred’. Unless the bones are being held prisoner or Janice has some postmortem job prospects down there.”<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-85158567787037123752016-08-17T15:23:10.588-05:002016-08-17T15:23:10.588-05:00(that panel is also a fairly iconic Lee panel; Mav...<i>(that panel is also a fairly iconic Lee panel; Maverick aside, I think at least a few of the character images get used in licensed material)</i><br /><br />For me that's one prime example of what I said in the other post's comments about the fourth-wall breaking posing. Despite the banter being quite in character there, as the later re-usage for merchandise in its part stands to witness the art here certainly is drawn more with the out-universe financial consideration than in-universe story-telling purposes foremostly in mind. Mid-sory is a wrong place for pin-ups. In my book this is a minus and not a plus for Jim Lee.Teemunoreply@blogger.com