tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post7992113686124586113..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: X-amining Uncanny X-Men #278Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-27822702243897426202021-05-08T03:56:21.921-05:002021-05-08T03:56:21.921-05:00Late, but for the record Crystal Ball was used onc...Late, but for the record Crystal Ball was used once in the comics, in Special Missions #24(?) where he hypnotizes the Joes so Cobra can kidnap the president, and the Lady Joes have to come to the rescue.Bedfordhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02833301170976646038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-31134248078207045302016-02-16T22:20:48.449-06:002016-02-16T22:20:48.449-06:00I agree that it’s not at the level of Smith’s ‘80s...<br>I agree that it’s not at the level of Smith’s ‘80s work as inked by Wiacek, but the art is still a far sight better in my eyes than his <i>X-Factor</i> run — the covers as well as the interiors as finished or inked by Milgrom. And he was certainly still capable of using an extremely open, clear-line style, as evidenced by <i>Leave It to Chance</i> a few years down the road, so he must’ve been stepping back from the less detailed, animation-influenced rendering by choice. It’s really weird seeing him draw the lithe, young, sexed-up version of Rogue, by the way; for the first couple of pages on which she appears, my brain kept reading her as Kitty even though I knew otherwise, because Smith’s earlier Rogue was so different.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-20569886200691164482016-02-13T23:17:39.297-06:002016-02-13T23:17:39.297-06:00Yeah, but Rogue wasn't in Psylocke's group...Yeah, but Rogue wasn't in Psylocke's group. Ok, ok, it also the Siege Perilous and whatnot...but the fact that all these people just shrug off seeing each other after all this time and after everything that happened is a bit disappointing. <br /><br />At least we get to see Rogue and Mystique have it out in X-factor #70. <br /><br />wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-57196700756398363332016-02-13T15:23:46.345-06:002016-02-13T15:23:46.345-06:00I think Claremont really quit because of Smith dra...I think Claremont really quit because of Smith drawing way too many Morlocks in there, again. :)<br /><br />Rogue's being alive shouldn't be too big a surprise after at least two of the other Siege Perilii have already been seen returned by Logan. He took it upon himself to put the X-Men back together, which would be a bit useless cause if he believed most of them weren't around.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-26505865204123833542016-02-13T14:32:29.716-06:002016-02-13T14:32:29.716-06:00Psylocke did tell Wolverine that it was her fault ...Psylocke did tell Wolverine that it was her fault the rest of the X-men went through Siege Perilous, and also mentions it might have been better had she let the Reavers kill Havok. So I'm fanwanking her memories should be pretty clear. So if not Logan expressing...something that Rogue is alive, at least something that she made it through the Siege Perilous.<br /><br />Then again, neither seemed to show any reaction to Storm being alive, and the last Psylocke saw of HER was that was "dead".<br /><br />One thing I missed: you know it's a Paul Smith issue when he throws in tons of extra mutants in background scenes. Why are so many people watching Rogue and Guido fight? Who are all these people? I guess you can say they're the Morlocks who survived and recuperated on Muir Island, but like Siryn, they just disappear after this issue...forever. And it looks like Sunder is there, even though he should be dead. wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-9098794084555380642016-02-13T14:24:10.238-06:002016-02-13T14:24:10.238-06:00As Teemu said, "Blackbird" seems to have...As Teemu said, "Blackbird" seems to have been consistently used as a singular name, even though it's also a generic term for that type of plane used outside of the X-Men. <br /><br /><i>His card unceremoniously says he was killed during an avalanche in Cobra-La (which Hama also ignored for good reason).</i><br /><br />"Cobra-La lalalalalalala!" Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-31163823598692029172016-02-13T14:16:24.948-06:002016-02-13T14:16:24.948-06:00Speaking of Amanda, her disappearance is strange, ...<i>Speaking of Amanda, her disappearance is strange, given how Nicieza was allegedly up to date on his X-men history till now, no?</i><br /><br />Yeah, Nicieza definitely seems to have a pretty good grasp on X-history at this point, so it seems odd that he'd drop the ball with Amanda. <br /><br /><i>Yikes, if you're on an X-team and you disappear, pray they never send Sean to try and find you.</i><br /><br />Ha! <br /><br /><i> And why the hell am I spending so much time thinking about this when clearly nobody at Marvel was at the time?</i><br /><br />Heh. FWIW, I've always read it the X-FACTOR story as being done by the time this issue starts. Like, the X-Factor has been isolated for a little bit once this starts. <br /><br />Which still doesn't account for the fact that Xavier goes home, fights Colossus, finds X-Factor and comes back, all while basically an afternoon passes on Muir Island. <br /><br /><i>I mean, we could have had Bill Jaaska instead ;)</i><br /><br />Bite your tongue! :) <br /><br />Yeah, Smith here just pales in comparison to his earlier work on the title. Relative to the fill-in work we've seen of late, it's light years better. <br /><br />@Jason: I'd think Psylocke would have filled in Wolverine on the whole Siege Perilous/Master Mold battle, even if she still had reason to believe Rogue was alive (she probably would have told him both). Then again, given the state of her mind post-transformation, it's possible she didn't. <br /><br />Either way, the lack of reaction is probably less egregious than if Wolverine had been present for Rogue's apparent death, and/or not cutoff from the rest of the X-Men for so long after it happened. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-18283289381207208312016-02-13T13:54:39.006-06:002016-02-13T13:54:39.006-06:00I do like the parade of Claremont characters - it&...I do like the parade of Claremont characters - it's one of the pluses in this story's favor (it's also one of the things I like about "Kings of Pain"). Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-23062060587462892652016-02-13T13:50:34.087-06:002016-02-13T13:50:34.087-06:00Looking back, I guess I'm not sure why I thoug...Looking back, I guess I'm not sure why I thought the Healer was dead either. I may have been misconstruing the mixup between Banshee being healed in MCP and being healed by the Healer in #254 with a mixup in the Healer's survival. Either way, yeah, there's no reason to think he's dead, especially since he'll show up again later in the next Morlock story. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-80394212661831254752016-02-13T13:47:47.183-06:002016-02-13T13:47:47.183-06:00Wait, should Wolverine have a reaction to Rogue be...Wait, should Wolverine have a reaction to Rogue being alive? Logan split in issue 246, and Rogue "died" in 247. Who would have told him that she was presumed dead? <br /><br /> I suppose maybe Psylocke might have told him ... ? But she had a psychic vision in issue 256 that suggested Rogue might have survived ...<br /><br />Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-25668030177982050692016-02-11T16:34:54.869-06:002016-02-11T16:34:54.869-06:00And they did even translate the name to Finnish in...And they did even translate the name to Finnish in our book, which they didn't do for half the characters. And I'm fairly certain that on occasions when Claremont was doing an airplane porn bit about the capabilities of "SR-71 Blackbird" they left it to the original English form, but when referring to X-Men's plane specifically it was always translated.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-23667215729450046162016-02-11T16:25:57.530-06:002016-02-11T16:25:57.530-06:00The X-Men (and Claremont) certainly use the Blackb...The X-Men (and Claremont) certainly use the Blackbird like it's the name of their specific unique one, despite it (also) being the official nickname for SR-71. The plane gots a proper name alright, they just were crappy in coming up with one. Always "the Blackbird" when referred, almost never "the plane" or other generic word. It's even a character in Kitty's fairy tale in #153.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-773183067121510132016-02-11T14:16:08.827-06:002016-02-11T14:16:08.827-06:00Sad to say, but by this time, if Jim Lee wasn'...Sad to say, but by this time, if Jim Lee wasn't drawing the issue, I wasn't terribly interested in it. THIS was Paul Smith? Yeesh. I loved his original run, but this is pretty bad. Then again, the lackluster writing may have had something to do with my interest (or lack thereof). I had no idea this was Claremont's last full issue--and had no idea at the time that his time with the series was nearly over.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11428939457863204851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-29383435682717443292016-02-11T12:45:30.913-06:002016-02-11T12:45:30.913-06:00I agree, Smith doesn't quite live up to the st...I agree, Smith doesn't quite live up to the standard he originally set. Same thing happens when he returns for a couple issues of Fabian Nicieza's X-MEN just after "Age of Apocalypse". His faces still look pretty good and his characters' body language when they're not fighting mostly looks fine. It's mainly just his action scenes which I think have deteriorated. The sequence you posted of hunchback Wolverine running through the hallway and then jumping at Rogue like a marionette is just awful.<br /><br />I just noticed Tom Orzechowski is italicizing "Blackbird" as if it's the plane's proper name. I always thought it was a general nickname for an SR-71 which the X-Men used in the same way you might call a tissue a Kleenex. Weird.<br /><br />Too bad we couldn't get Excalibur in on this thing somehow. Not that the story needs more characters, but it's all taking place in their own backyard! Would've been nice to see a reunion with Nightcrawler and Kitty, but given how other reunions are glossed over here, it's probably for the best we didn't have them involved.<br /><br />I had several of those G.I. Joe cards, and I agree it was a nice set. I don't know who wrote the copy, but I found it interesting that the set was clearly based on the Marvel continuity, yet they still had to work in things which had never appeared in the comics. My favorite one was the Cobra hypnotist, Crystal Ball, who Larry Hama (wisely) never used. His card unceremoniously says he was killed during an avalanche in Cobra-La (which Hama also ignored for good reason).Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-67677362500189132912016-02-11T08:12:11.187-06:002016-02-11T08:12:11.187-06:00"Of course, the "Muir Island Saga" ..."Of course, the "Muir Island Saga" as presented is vastly different from how Claremont initially envisioned it, stitched together from leftover of "Mutant Wars" unused by "X-Tinction Agenda" and bringing to an end the Shadow King subplot where Claremont originally intended to merely move it to its second phase, not resolving it entirely until issue #300"<br /><br />Honestly, the BTS drama going on at the X-offices at the time seems far more entertaining that what was being published at the time, even though both were huge messes. <br /><br />CC's original plans also seem much more interesting that we ended up with, but then again, the bar is set rather low.<br /><br />"Keep an eye on Rogue's costume; costume consistency is not one of this storyline's strong suits."<br /><br />It could almost be a drinking game. And not just Rogue, but some others as well. Also, as we see with Amanda Sefton, characters appear and disappear as well.<br /><br />Speaking of Amanda, her disappearance is strange, given how Nicieza was allegedly up to date on his X-men history till now, no?<br /><br />"this is the first interaction between those two characters since just after "Inferno""<br /><br />No reaction from Wolverine that she is alive? That's another casualty of this crossover...characters who should have some investment in finding out they're all alive gets shoved aside to keep the plot moving, which is very disappointing (except for a few scenes in X-factor #70, which really is the best issue in this crossover).<br /><br />"Banshee notes that Moira's odd behavior started when Lorna first showed up on Muir Island (in issue #253) but got worse after Lorna disappeared"<br /><br />Much like his searching for the rest of the X-men, he doesn't really seem to give a crap that she was missing till now. And never bothered trying to find her either. And this guy worked for Interpol? Yikes, if you're on an X-team and you disappear, pray they never send Sean to try and find you.<br /><br />"and X-Factor presumed dead (as a result of Ship blowing up in X-Factor #66)"<br /><br />Which makes for an interesting timeline. I wonder how much time this crossover takes place over? Xavier has enough time to fly to the US, deal with Colossus, meet the US government, while simultaneously X-factor finish their adventure on the moon, return home, "isolate" themselves, get contacted by the US government, etc...and during all of this time, Forge is being hunted by everyone on Muir Island while Storm is "recovering". And why the hell am I spending so much time thinking about this when clearly nobody at Marvel was at the time?<br /><br />Yes, this "Sage" is a mess. This issue is decent, the epilogue issue is really good, and...that's all you can say. What a waste, of long term plotting, and CC's final story.<br /><br />Paul Smith isn't at his best here, but honestly, this is probably one of the better looking fill-in issues we've had a while on this title. I mean, we could have had Bill Jaaska instead ;)<br />wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-91291832744560837092016-02-10T23:57:17.456-06:002016-02-10T23:57:17.456-06:00The Muir Island Saga is not very good but the fact...The Muir Island Saga is not very good but the fact that it's a bit of a parade of Claremont characters (Stevie Hunter! Amanda Sefton! Tom and Sharon!) makes it a more fitting ending to his tenure than it should be based on the weakness of the story. <br /><br />The Paul Smith art should also lend it more weight but Paul Smith is clearly not himself here. I would never have identified it as him without seeing the credits.<br />Bennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-86720684156624013082016-02-10T23:14:20.211-06:002016-02-10T23:14:20.211-06:00Yeah, I don't know why Teebore thinks that the...Yeah, I don't know why Teebore thinks that the Healer died in issues 254-255. We see him in issue 254, healing Banshee. And then we don't see him at all for the rest of the story. There's no reason to assume that he was dead as opposed to hiding from the Reavers. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-11126281982532308462016-02-10T18:49:26.896-06:002016-02-10T18:49:26.896-06:00Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander are both still on...<i>Tom Corsi and Sharon Friedlander are both still on the island as well, though they mention bringing Guido to the Morlock Healer, despite the Healer having died during the Reavers assault on the island in issues #254-255.</i><br /><br />Apparently he got better because he'll be there when Callisto turns back to herself from the model girl she was.Teemunoreply@blogger.com