tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post7646153697003804432..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: X-amining X-Men (vol. 2) #37Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-86822146281526424452018-11-27T18:18:38.975-06:002018-11-27T18:18:38.975-06:00I still think Nicieza is the better writer. Lobde...I still think Nicieza is the better writer. Lobdell is better at creating new characters and Nicieza's codenames stink, but Nicieza is a much better long term plotter and writes way better action scenes. I think his characters track more closely to how Claremont wrote them, as well. Lobdell just seems to write quiet issues or teases mysteries with no resolution in mind. You never really get a classic two or three part action story with him. Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14447265712189987074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-35434254262163885272018-11-16T15:37:10.133-06:002018-11-16T15:37:10.133-06:00In the same issue where the original Thunderbird d...In the same issue where the original Thunderbird died (#94? #95?) Banshee uses his scream to sense into a mountain military base's entrance so Nightcrawler will know where to teleport to. Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-49294092767653241962018-11-16T12:01:48.548-06:002018-11-16T12:01:48.548-06:00Has there ever been an instance where Banshee woul...Has there ever been an instance where Banshee would have used his powers for echolocation, so as bio sonar like some bats do? That would need somewhat specialized/augmented hearing ability to catch the reflected soundwaves coming back at his way.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-32752293161623368012018-11-16T08:20:22.237-06:002018-11-16T08:20:22.237-06:00Everyone knows Gambit, mon ami.Everyone knows Gambit, mon ami.Parts Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14676558794815985177noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-82476627918836998012018-11-15T18:03:28.678-06:002018-11-15T18:03:28.678-06:00I was coming here to type something similar. I def...I was coming here to type something similar. I definitely interpreted it as Sean's hearing being augmented due to his body producing high-pitched sounds.Notorious J.O.E.https://www.blogger.com/profile/16981069985099562942noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-42763076769079697062018-11-15T16:21:43.135-06:002018-11-15T16:21:43.135-06:00I agree that Banshee’s specific reply came off wei...I agree that Banshee’s specific reply came off weird but the idea that he’d possess good hearing makes sense given his powers. Strong aural/otic biological infrastructure, too, if we’re extrapolating in pseudo-scientific fashion — like Cyclops’ innate sense of spatial geometry or Angel’s keen eyesight and lighter bone structure. Of course that stuff is best touched upon lightly given how inconsistently it may be referenced and how difficult it is to adapt to abilities that can really only function like magic. Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-24502611833445217232018-11-15T11:02:38.623-06:002018-11-15T11:02:38.623-06:00Good points, Bob -- I was about the same age as yo...Good points, Bob -- I was about the same age as you when this stuff was being published -- I would've been nearly fourteen when I started reading X-MEN, and fifteen during "Phalanx Covenant", and I loved Fabian's overwrought prose -- so you're certainly on to something there!<br /><br />I do agree with you on his plotting, by the way -- even if I find Lobdell's scripting more appealing nowadays, I still like Nicieza's plots most of the time. And I absolutely loved his run on THUNDERBOLTS, at least up until around issue 50, as well as CABLE AND DEADPOOL a few years later. In the former, he continued Kurt Busiek's established formula of nonstop twists and turns quite nicely, while in the latter, I thought his pop culture references generally worked pretty well when tossed out by Deadpool.<br /><br />That said, he does have a tendency to "over-plot" sometimes. Both CABLE AND DEADPOOL and NEW THUNDERBOLTS were a little hard to decipher now and then, as far as certain characters' machinations and motivations. I'm still not sure whether I was supposed to be rooting for or against Baron Zemo by the time Nicieza left THUNDERBOLTS! (Though I should admit that I haven't re-read the run since it first came out -- it might make more sense in one longer binge.)<br /><br />In fact, Nicieza strikes me as similar to Chris Claremont in that he seems to need a strong editor to rein in some of his impulses and to remind him when certain ideas aren't as clear on the page as they are in his head.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-32906986004432322032018-11-15T00:16:14.228-06:002018-11-15T00:16:14.228-06:00I don't know if you guys have plans for someth...I don't know if you guys have plans for something specific about Stan Lee's death (and more importantly, life,) but it's worth mentioning something here since this is the first Marvel-related post since his passing. <br /><br />Better (and more succinct) writers have eulogized him over the past few days, and in the process have discussed the pros and cons of Lee's contributions as a writer, editor, and publisher. But I've always loved this excerpt from a 2007 BBC documentary on Steve Ditko, where Lee's own words offer evidence of both his best and worst qualities:<br />https://youtu.be/3gwDnhMO8is?t=2679<br />(Lee's interview begins at 44m40s)<br /><br />To paraphrase Neil Gaiman:<br />Be to his virtues very kind,<br />Be to his faults a little blind.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11021669129682431727noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-30141715100646058592018-11-14T23:57:18.087-06:002018-11-14T23:57:18.087-06:00"I still like Nicieza's stories well enou..."I still like Nicieza's stories well enough, but I enjoy Lobdell's scripting way more, and overall I generally find UNCANNY a consistently better read than X-MEN. I wonder what happened?"<br /><br />Nicieza's scripting is clumsy, full of forced banter and awkward pop culture references. It's the kind of stuff that I always imagined 13-year-old kids probably loved (not shocking: I was fourteen when Nicieza started writing books I was reading.) So if you read it as a kid, I can totally understand how you'd love his work at the time but look back now and say "what the hell is he trying to say?"<br /><br />Niceiza's had the opposite effect on me over the years. I hated his dialogue and dreaded seeing his name show up in a book's credits, especially after spending the previous six years reading Claremont, Miller, Peter David*, etc. I still cringe at a lot of his dialogue, but I've come to really respect the plotting and character work he did around this time, especially that first hectic year after Liefeld dropped X-Force like a hot potato and Nicieza was left holding a giant bag of shitty characters and dangling half-assed plot threads. <br /><br />Lobdell is a puzzling figure for me. I've almost never really enjoyed his work, but I've rarely hated it. My most common reaction to a book with his name on it is, "hey, that wasn't as bad as I figured it would be." I'll tip my cap to him for being one of the primary figures behind keeping Age of Apocalypse as surprisingly coherent as it was, but another blogger consistently refers to him as Professional Comic Book Writer Scott Lobdell, and that pretty much sums him up.<br /><br />*Peter David in particular strikes me as the writer Nicieza wanted his scripts to be like, but he could never make it work.Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-68115752797480661102018-11-14T15:54:35.834-06:002018-11-14T15:54:35.834-06:00I feel like the Nicieza parts of this crossover ar...I feel like the Nicieza parts of this crossover aren't as strong as the Lobdell parts, but that actually speaks to something that's occurred to me as I've been re-reading all this stuff with your reviews: when I was a teen, I loved Nicieza's X-MEN, far more than Lobdell's UNCANNY. I was disappointed when Fabian left and Scott stuck around after "Age of Apocalypse". Nowadays, as an adult, it's the reverse. I still like Nicieza's stories well enough, but I enjoy Lobdell's scripting way more, and overall I generally find UNCANNY a consistently better read than X-MEN. I wonder what happened?<br /><br />Anyway, while I don't find this issue as strong as Lobdell's installments, it's a decent end to the story. Onward to GENERATION X!<br /><br /><br />"<b>Sabretooth returns in this issue, of his own volition, after having escaped in the previous issue</b>..."<br /><br />As a youngster, I loved Sabretooth's return. It was dramatic and exciting, and it was great to see him back in costume. As an adult, much as I still appreciate it for being a cool moment, it feels forced. The only reason he escaped in the first place appears to have been to set up this moment; otherwise there's no real logic behind it -- especially if, as we'll eventually learn, he's been [SPOILER] faking any desire to reform the whole time.<br /><br />"<b>Narration refers to Monet as M, despite the fact that she’s never been called that in-story and, at this point in time, would have no reason to need a codename.</b>"<br /><br />Not just the narration -- Emma actually calls her M near the end of the issue too, which is really odd.<br /><br />"...<b>how does Emma even know who Gambit is, since she never encountered him before and has been in a coma for pretty much the whole time Gambit has been at the rebuilt X-Mansion</b>..."<br /><br />Maybe she had some interactions with the Phalanx Gambit...??Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-53989105793369632672018-11-14T14:26:27.782-06:002018-11-14T14:26:27.782-06:00It’s confirmed here that Harvest is the person sho...<i>It’s confirmed here that Harvest is the person shown getting into a van labeled Phalanx in Uncanny #308.</i> <br /><br />It would have been so much better if the man in #308 would have remained as a never-again-seen nameless volunteer to Phalanx among many nameless others, instead of becoming a special codenamed 90'sriffic villain.Teemunoreply@blogger.com