tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post8388808560667244951..comments2024-03-28T10:18:00.370-05:00Comments on Gentlemen of Leisure: X-amining Uncanny X-Men #309Austin Gortonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-55065934349018496352020-01-09T22:59:15.090-06:002020-01-09T22:59:15.090-06:00Mephisto, having exchanged Spider-Man's Weddin...Mephisto, having exchanged Spider-Man's Wedding after "One More Day" decides to throw 'A Wedding' (with flowers and a cake and dress and everything) like a football back in time to those two mutant kids. Heck, one's a skinny nerd and the other's a redhead! How DEVILISHLY ironic! <br /><br />It doesnt go far back into the timeline as he'd hoped. A small demon off camera says "Nice arm, boss!" Mephisto shrugs. Close enough. And that's how Jean and Scott got all the wedding stuff together so fast. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06939026577728515478noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-5751451814354057872018-04-09T19:08:21.462-05:002018-04-09T19:08:21.462-05:00No-prize attempt: Xavier metally breaks up an anon...No-prize attempt: Xavier metally breaks up an anonymous bride and groom-to-be 17 days before THEIR wedding, and the caterers, etc. just show up Saturday anyway. Then all they need is her dress, which "unstable molecules!"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-22278267016929689822018-03-23T18:12:53.573-05:002018-03-23T18:12:53.573-05:00Oh well. There goes my no-prize. Oh well. There goes my no-prize. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00347023924872659184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-66497820597687915202018-03-23T16:32:33.863-05:002018-03-23T16:32:33.863-05:00Impossible, since Colossus was a part the team dur...Impossible, since Colossus was a part the team during that annual but is with the Acolytes at the time of wedding. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-84978823303360332962018-03-23T14:56:03.230-05:002018-03-23T14:56:03.230-05:00Maybe this takes place before Uncanny Annual #17, ...Maybe this takes place before Uncanny Annual #17, and the wedding could come together so quickly because Mastermind just projected everything as a favor, what with his regrets brought on by the legacy virus causing him to be very contrite. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00347023924872659184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-82855844601394560852018-03-16T19:00:00.031-05:002018-03-16T19:00:00.031-05:00I do agree with Blam, by the way, that there was a...I do agree with Blam, by the way, that there was a time when the lead-up to a super-wedding would be filled with several sub-plot pages in a number of issues -- but at the same time, the last time Cyclops got married, the proposal and ceremony happened within pages of each other in the same issue! (Though that story didn't make explicit how much time passed between those pages, of course...)Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-2743278473644638342018-03-16T18:57:18.299-05:002018-03-16T18:57:18.299-05:00I was thinking the same thing -- money talks, and ...I was thinking the same thing -- money talks, and the days of the professor asking Angel for loans are long gone. He must have come into his full inheritance since those halcyon Claremont/Cockrum days, because he generally seems a lot wealthier at this point than back then -- plus, as we'll learn during the lead-up to "Age of Apocalypse", Archangel isn't as destitute as we had been led to believe in the pages of X-FACTOR. He still has the house in New Mexico, as seen in UNCANNY 306, and we'll see soon enough that he also apparently has a nice nest egg. (Pun intended? You decide!)<br /><br />So I figure with Charles Xavier and Warren Worthington throwing money at them, the wedding planners, caterers, florists, and everyone else jumped to attention and worked around their other commitments. Plus, since the wedding is held at the mansion, there's no need to reserve a venue!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-40203821389039424392018-03-16T18:27:33.235-05:002018-03-16T18:27:33.235-05:00Yeah. I’m tempted to just say, like, “Shi’ar techn...<br>Yeah. I’m tempted to just say, like, “Shi’ar technology!” but at least once upon a time Marvel was locked into its characters worrying about just that sort of thing amidst the major superhero crises. Even if the wedding came together crazy-fast out of desire or necessity we’d get dialogue showing that such an undertaking was very much on the minds of the cast. Although we are talking about an entire team of superheroes with multiple geniuses, at least one multimillionaire, government connections, and enough of a civilian network that all it really would take is a bit of lip service to let us know the writers knew how much planning was involved. <br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-69303994169479079162018-03-16T17:36:11.399-05:002018-03-16T17:36:11.399-05:00@Mela: Amelia's apparent purge along with the ...@Mela: Amelia's apparent purge along with the other dregs of the 90s bums me out too. Most of the Acolytes were one-note characters, but she had potential. I mean, if Frenzy could get dusted off and used in some interesting ways, surely Voght could, too? Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-71314506541031414852018-03-16T17:34:44.850-05:002018-03-16T17:34:44.850-05:00What does it all mean, you ask?
That the X-Men le...<i>What does it all mean, you ask?</i><br /><br />That the X-Men lead very, very busy lives. :) <br /><br />Honestly, what stretches my suspension of disbelief more than all the huge events crammed into those weeks, is the idea of the wedding coming together that fast. Like, I don't know what it feels like to flit from major superhero crisis to major superhero crisis, but I do know what it's like to pick a caterer, choose a dress, find a florist, etc., and none of that happens in weeks' time. :PAustin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-36209661404165723032018-03-16T15:32:17.949-05:002018-03-16T15:32:17.949-05:00I just realized I never got to the point of my sec...I just realized I never got to the point of my second paragraph, which is that I think we need to take the "before last week" line as Xavier indulging in some temporal hyperbole -- clearly he's in that sort of mood tonight, based on the "Five years? Ten?" comment Blam noted.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-83835105387190804582018-03-16T15:30:08.710-05:002018-03-16T15:30:08.710-05:00"As of this issue, Scott & Jean are getti..."<b>As of this issue, Scott & Jean are getting married in two Saturday's. Given they just got engaged last issue, this suggests a really short engagement (and probably works better in the compressed timeline), but in reality, no wedding of the type Scott and Jean ultimately end up having could be thrown together that fast.</b>"<br /><br />I'm glad you brought up the timeline, because I wanted to mention this! (In case it hasn't become apparent recently, I love this sort of thing.)<br /><br />First off, early in the issue, Xavier says that "before last week" he would've said he and Magento were nothing alike, implying -- at least to me -- that Lobdell wants us to believe X-MEN 25 only happened a week ago. Obviously this goes against dialogue in other books; as recently as X-MEN 28, it was noted that two weeks had passes since UNCANNY 305, which took place <b>during</b> "Fatal Attractions".<br /><br />Now I don't think we know how much time explicitly passed between X-MEN 28 and this issue, but Thanksgiving was wedged in there someplace. My guess is that Thanksgiving took place within the same week as X-MEN 28, and this issue is a few days later, like Monday or Tuesday. I also read X-MEN #29 last night, and -- spoiler alert -- that issue explicitly takes place on a Thursday, with the wedding noted as being set for that Saturday. Thus, since Thanksgiving always falls on a Thursday, X-MEN 29 is set two weeks after that holiday, meaning the wedding is set for about seventeen days after the proposal.<br /><br />And based on all that, if you want to really extrapolate, we can deduce that by the time Scott and Jean tie the knot, it will have been approximately <b>five weeks</b> since the events of "Fatal Attractions". Five weeks in which the X-Men traveled to Genosha and battled Exodus alongside the Avengers, traveled to Japan with Maverick and took Sabretooth into the mansion, traveled to Los Angeles for a fight with Mister Sinister, celebrated Thanksgiving, learned the truth about Cable and Stryfe, came to terms with Sabretooth in the house, and (upcoming in X-MEN 29 and UNCANNY 310) attended a soiree at the Hellfire Club and threw a bachelor party for Cyclops.<br /><br />What does it all mean, you ask? Nothing! I just find it really interesting.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-6664370743235825332018-03-15T06:50:42.929-05:002018-03-15T06:50:42.929-05:00"Wouldn't Amelia be quite a bit younger t..."Wouldn't Amelia be quite a bit younger than Xavier? Wasn't Amelia portrayed as a "young woman" in the current comics?"<br /><br />My No-Prize is that her powers renew her cells & slow her aging, kind of like Mystique's, since it's technically a form of shapeshifting.<br /><br />I'm kind of bummed Amelia never amounted to more, since I think someone who had apparently a lot of baggage who was searching for the right path for herself could be interesting as both a villain & an ally. Instead, she just kind of faded away, and I wouldn't be surprised if she'd been killed off at some point. This era has some characters that I (at least) look back on and wonder why they never realized just how much potential they had before they were scrapped.Melahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05539894845356203447noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-49700822339655396212018-03-15T01:59:10.722-05:002018-03-15T01:59:10.722-05:00I always wondered why Lobdell didn't take the ...I always wondered why Lobdell didn't take the obvious direction with Voght, the one that her appearance suggested: she was Magneto's Jean Grey. Make her the first student Xavier had, yes, but make her choice to leave being not the end of a love affair, but of her becoming an adult and choosing to walk away. Xavier can still try to change her mind telepathically, without it being as creepy as this came across when reading it. Voght aligns with Magneto because of this anyway, just position her as the rough draft for Jean and have Xavier's actions retroactively inform how he treated Jean. (I admit to do this, you have to retcon out the creepy thoughts he had about Jean, but I think we're better off without those anyway.)<br /><br />I mean, essentially this is already what Voght was in the story, it just didn't require them to be involved. I suppose the through line for Lobdell though was "Xavier's always had screwed up relationships, let's just give him another one." And again, you can still bring home the notion that Xavier interacts poorly with women by having him treat Voght the same way without her being his girlfriend.<br /><br />Hell, the OBVIOUS hook is he acted that way to try to protect her from the world the way he couldn't protect his mother, but that can't happen with them dating. This is a pretty good story, but with a little tweaking it could have been a really DAMN good story.Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00605826105741513741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-23509425083141083862018-03-14T08:52:48.195-05:002018-03-14T08:52:48.195-05:00Ah. Thanks.<br>Ah. Thanks.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-71219846395629646642018-03-14T06:07:30.903-05:002018-03-14T06:07:30.903-05:00Once you accept that Xavier is younger than you wo...Once you accept that Xavier is younger than you would expect from the old felt-over-legs-on-wheelchair image, it's easy to give pass to Amelia. I like her depiction as a no-nonsense Acolyte who is absolutely not impressed by Cortez and she gives the air of a grown-up momma figure (compared to the younger in-their-early-twenties X-Men). That raises the question why exactly she is in cahoots with the Acolytes though, she's not of the "young soldiers" generation.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-12284901182797045242018-03-14T05:58:46.325-05:002018-03-14T05:58:46.325-05:00We did, Marvel Saga reprinted parts from those ear...We did, Marvel Saga reprinted parts from those early days stories from the old X-MEN issues #12-13 that had little blond Charles bullied by step-brother Cain.<br /><br />He was a regular little Steve Rogers in his blue suit.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-39353126466525846232018-03-13T22:24:06.044-05:002018-03-13T22:24:06.044-05:00Did we know that Xavier had blond hair in his youn...<br>Did we know that Xavier had blond hair in his younger days? The full beard here surprised me because I can’t recall previous depictions of anything other than dark stubble.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-15693398452421188572018-03-13T22:22:53.656-05:002018-03-13T22:22:53.656-05:00Autocorrect doesn’t always do exactly what it says...<br> Autocorrect doesn’t always do exactly what it says on the (metaphorical) tin, but I’ll probably get freaked out if/when it ever gets so predictive of the user’s intention that it <i>does</i>.<br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-57851415863175239622018-03-13T18:54:52.850-05:002018-03-13T18:54:52.850-05:00You probably meant “skeevy” or “sleazy” because th...<i>You probably meant “skeevy” or “sleazy” because that doesn’t even work as Mad Libs.</i><br /><br />Yeah, I wrote most of this post on my iPad on a plane, so that's why there's more than the usual typos. I cleaned 'em up, thanks. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-18385567377552164402018-03-13T18:53:51.657-05:002018-03-13T18:53:51.657-05:00At the time, I think I was probably just happy to ...At the time, I think I was probably just happy to get some payoff to the "how does Xavier know Voght" mystery. Now, I have a hard time getting too worked up about it, since, as you say, it isn't like Amelia Voght gets brought up much anyway and this whole retcon is more or less ignored. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-31606974797520602722018-03-13T18:52:59.219-05:002018-03-13T18:52:59.219-05:00Yeah, I meant to point out the (unstated) similari...Yeah, I meant to point out the (unstated) similarities between Amelia & Jean, and how that offhand comment from issue #3 could inform the Xavier/Amelia relationship. Austin Gortonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14281239771248780430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-9603660816010231502018-03-13T18:31:25.527-05:002018-03-13T18:31:25.527-05:00I didn’t remember that Marvel Vision had been used...<br>I didn’t remember that <i>Marvel Vision</i> had been used as a title for promo material before the separate in-house fanzine of that name came along.<br /><br />On a similar subject and adjacent to the Statement of Ownership, <i>Bullpen Bulletins</i> this month says Marvel published 160 titles in August 1993. The 14-chapter <i>Maximum Carnage</i> is also hyped, similarly emblematic of the period’s excess, and so is the <i>X-Men</i> animated series.<br /><br /><i>// how sleeve his relationship with Gabrielle Haller was //</i><br /><br />You probably meant “skeevy” or “sleazy” because that doesn’t even work as Mad Libs. 8^) <br /><br /><i>// (which isn't the best explanation //</i><br /><i>// (presumably taking into account //</i><br /><br />While I’m pointing out typos, I’ll note that neither of these parentheses got closed.<br /><br />I was skeptical of Amelia’s age too, given her youthful present-day appearance, but I'm more thrown by Xavier’s “How <i>long</i> has it been now? <i>Five</i> years? <i>Ten?</i>” remark — which in context could refer to the time elapsed <i>(a)</i> since Magneto rescued him from the snow (considerably more recent) or <i>(2)</i> since he dedicated his “<i>entire</i> life -- every <i>waking</i> moment” to, as he says, "trying to <i>change</i> the <i>entire</i> world" (likely much longer ago) to even possibly <i>(c)</i> since he met Voght (still too distant a point in continuity, really, but not something to be ruled out given Marvel’s famously inconsistent compressed timeline, although it’s the least obvious choice contextually on the page).<br /><br />My other big nitpick is that I don’t really see Magneto or Xavier himself going <i>”Ennnnt!”</i>. <br /><br>Blamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07342343767763035991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-64117761372957055492018-03-13T15:54:54.761-05:002018-03-13T15:54:54.761-05:00Back in the day this was a shark jump for me as re...Back in the day this was a shark jump for me as retcons go. I might be more forgiving today, and the ideological triangle drama with Magneto may have potential, but making a third-rate 90's villain a retcon plug went badly down with me back then.Teemunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7266470995513648978.post-50640416814643514202018-03-13T14:22:12.465-05:002018-03-13T14:22:12.465-05:00Wouldn't Amelia be quite a bit younger than Xa...Wouldn't Amelia be quite a bit younger than Xavier? Wasn't Amelia portrayed as a "young woman" in the current comics?<br />I assumed that Amelia was only in her 20s as an Acolyte.<br />Xavier has to be somewhere in his 40s.<br />Yeah....<br />Maybe I'm wrong about Amelia's age, but artists certainly show her looking pretty young in the current-day continuity.<br /><br />It's true that Amelia was a nurse when her and Xavier were dating, so she couldn't have been younger than early-20s.<br /><br />This is coupled with the early issues of Lee and Kirby's X-Men, where Xavier admits that he has a crush on Jean Grey, who is a teenager when she joins the X-Men.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com