Strange Adventures And Apparitions #155
The Uncanny X-Men #155
“First Blood”
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum
Synopsis
Lilandra’s been kidnapped and she’s probably somewhere on Earth. X-Men to the rescue!
Rolling Commentary
Hey, it’s the 80s! Know how I can tell? The haircuts, of course!
Page 3. Good thing none of the X-Men were taking a shower, apparently.
Page 5. Hey, does anyone else think this Samédaŕ guy is behind Lilandra’s kidnapping?
Page 7. Also, does anyone else think a relationship with Wolverine and Tigra might be very interesting?
Page 8. Hey, if he Shi’ar are so convinced that this was all Corsair’s fault, why did they let him go down to Earth with the X-Men?
Page 11. Apparently, the first hints of the Brood Saga are beginning, I suppose. For the most part that stuff will wait until the next Essential Volume, but now we know they exist.
Page 16. And the obvious resolution between Scott and Corsair. Yay.
Page 17. Panel 2 is all kinds of badass.
Page 19. Jesus. These Brood dudes do not fuck around, do they?
Page 23. Hey, that cover wasn’t joking after all, was it? Crap.
Post Mortem (it only looks literal)
Okay, I know that the Brood are really just Alien knock offs, especially considering the way they, uh, reproduce. But although they don’t have little mini versions of their mouths inside of their mouths, the Brood might arguably be cooler than the sci-fi monsters they take after. Why? Well, first off, they fight Wolverine, which makes everything better.
But in all seriousness, you can actually understand what these dudes are saying in this issue. And while having killer aliens that are as silent as they are terrifying (and by “silent” I mean “they don’t speak English”, not “they make no notable sound”. Although that might be cool too) works great in a sci-fi horror film, I honestly don’t think Claremont could ever pull it off. In case it hasn’t been made blatantly obvious to you yet, Claremont is much better at “telling” trough narration rather than “showing” through actions. It’s really his biggest fault as a writer, I feel.
Take the issue where Kitty “fights” the demon thing all alone (#143). While the monster is all well and properly scary, the only reason you have any semblance of what is going on is because of the narrative panels. However, the very existence of these panels breaks up the action and suspense of the story. It’s a self-destroying narrative structure, really. Claremont avoids all this by giving the Brood the ability to speak and comprehend English. I’m not sure yet if this will prove to be a good thing, or a bad thing.
Of course, the Brood have lasers. That’s way more than those Alien dudes ever had.
As to the actual issue at hand, I liked it well enough. The action was fun, and seeing Wolverine lounging around Avengers Mansion with a beer can was amusing. Plus, the ending was quite sad (though not so shocking since the same exact scene was on the cover), even though we all know better than to take it seriously.
“First Blood”
Chris Claremont and Dave Cockrum
Synopsis
Lilandra’s been kidnapped and she’s probably somewhere on Earth. X-Men to the rescue!
Rolling Commentary
Hey, it’s the 80s! Know how I can tell? The haircuts, of course!
Page 3. Good thing none of the X-Men were taking a shower, apparently.
Page 5. Hey, does anyone else think this Samédaŕ guy is behind Lilandra’s kidnapping?
Page 7. Also, does anyone else think a relationship with Wolverine and Tigra might be very interesting?
Page 8. Hey, if he Shi’ar are so convinced that this was all Corsair’s fault, why did they let him go down to Earth with the X-Men?
Page 11. Apparently, the first hints of the Brood Saga are beginning, I suppose. For the most part that stuff will wait until the next Essential Volume, but now we know they exist.
Page 16. And the obvious resolution between Scott and Corsair. Yay.
Page 17. Panel 2 is all kinds of badass.
Page 19. Jesus. These Brood dudes do not fuck around, do they?
Page 23. Hey, that cover wasn’t joking after all, was it? Crap.
Post Mortem (it only looks literal)
Okay, I know that the Brood are really just Alien knock offs, especially considering the way they, uh, reproduce. But although they don’t have little mini versions of their mouths inside of their mouths, the Brood might arguably be cooler than the sci-fi monsters they take after. Why? Well, first off, they fight Wolverine, which makes everything better.
But in all seriousness, you can actually understand what these dudes are saying in this issue. And while having killer aliens that are as silent as they are terrifying (and by “silent” I mean “they don’t speak English”, not “they make no notable sound”. Although that might be cool too) works great in a sci-fi horror film, I honestly don’t think Claremont could ever pull it off. In case it hasn’t been made blatantly obvious to you yet, Claremont is much better at “telling” trough narration rather than “showing” through actions. It’s really his biggest fault as a writer, I feel.
Take the issue where Kitty “fights” the demon thing all alone (#143). While the monster is all well and properly scary, the only reason you have any semblance of what is going on is because of the narrative panels. However, the very existence of these panels breaks up the action and suspense of the story. It’s a self-destroying narrative structure, really. Claremont avoids all this by giving the Brood the ability to speak and comprehend English. I’m not sure yet if this will prove to be a good thing, or a bad thing.
Of course, the Brood have lasers. That’s way more than those Alien dudes ever had.
As to the actual issue at hand, I liked it well enough. The action was fun, and seeing Wolverine lounging around Avengers Mansion with a beer can was amusing. Plus, the ending was quite sad (though not so shocking since the same exact scene was on the cover), even though we all know better than to take it seriously.
posted by The Amazing Justin Palm! at 7/24/2006 01:16:00 PM
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