ASTONISHING X-MEN #50
What did the
iFanboy
community think?
Pulls
Art by MIKE PERKINS
Cover by DUSTIN WEAVER
Variant Cover by JOHN CASSADAY
Size: 0 pages
Price: 3.99
I’m a little sad that the next issue is being hyped up as The Big Gay Wedding issue between Northstar and, uhh…who’s that, ummm..yea, Kyle. (Yes, Comicbookchris, I’m aware that the Alpha Flight mini-series that four people read introduced him a year ago. That’s still a tiny window. How many years did Peter Parker and Mary Jane date before they got married? Scott Summers and Jean Grey were a couple in comics for decades before they tied the knot.)
I’m not just annoyed because it’s being hyped up as some sort of press event. I don’t care about Whoopi Goldberg or Disney owning Marvel or those thousand angry women who tacked an extra four zeros on the name of their hate group to sound impressive. I’m annoyed because the last few issues give the impression that Marjorie Liu has no idea what she’s doing.
The narrative is all over the place. And when you get to the final page, there’s no indication that there will be enough story in the next issue to make the wedding seem probable. Everything about this comic screams Rush Job Event.
I wish they’d given this storyline time to breathe before trying to make a statement with it.
Art: 2 - Average
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Yeah, lets make a statement(sacastic tone), but as they say, no such thing as bad publicity and might draw some people into the Astonishing X-Men on an adult level, and plenty of gay/bi, straight etc…teens that already feel outcast might be intrigued by the book that represents outcasts already. I haven’t read this title since Whedon’s run but like the roster, Warbird compliments Northstar but why do they have to draw those giant bull horn shaped mask ears on Wolverine in this run, I hate em!!??
Because “four” people read the Alpha Flight mini means that the character development is invalid? That’s on you, dude.
@comicbookchris: No, it’s on Marvel. One mini-series introducing a character doesn’t mean he’s well known enough for an event wedding. And they’ve done very little (not nothing, but very little) with him in Astonishing until this issue.
@JSAkid: Yea, I like the concept they’re going for, just not the execution.
You say it’s on Marvel, but it’s still sounding like a personal thing. Even if we ignore the fact that the first issue of Liu’s run majorly focused on the couple, it’s inconsequential if little was done with him in this series due to the fact that mainstream comics are mostly continuous, so even though characterization happened in a mini series you’re ignoring, it still happened and counts for here. Even Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men, which is hailed as a great stand-alone story, has a ton of instances of this. Besides, just because we were introduced to this couple recently doesn’t mean that they’ve been going out for only two days. It’s futile to calculate time elapsed in the comic book world.
Chris, you either appear to have a large personal stake in this, or you just like arguing over The Internet. Either way, I think you’ll find you’re in the minority in believing they’ve developed the character enough for a huge Wedding Issue. Sorry.
I have no stake in this whatsoever but I agree with Chris. The size and spectacle of the wedding has nothing to do with Kyle–it’s about Northstar. He’s the big deal here. He was the first openly gay superhero from the Big Two and it makes sense that his marriage would be treated with the import it deserves.
Calling me out, then criticizing me for responding? Class. We’re done here.
@Conor: That’s a decent point. Too bad Liu/editorial couldn’t even get his first name right a few issues ago. And the press I’ve seen doesn’t play up the fact that Northstar was the “first major gay superhero”. So… really what Marvel is doing hasn’t honored or respected the character of Northstar at all. They’re just exploiting Northstar to get hype.
I wish it was different. I wish Marvel actually cared enough to develop their stories and characters better than they have been lately. We all deserve better than this, I think.
The calling you out wasn’t meant as a personal attack. You’ve commented on it before in my reviews, and in the article on the marriage. I was hoping it would keep you from bringing it up yet again. Sorry that I misjudged that.
But in my conversations with customers, and in reading other comic book fan’s articles, it seems that a majority of people agree that this seems rushed into and over promoted.
I read last issue and the narrative was all over the place, just like you said happened with this issue. I agree totally with your sentiments – they didn’t build to this marriage with a quality story, it’s just a slapdash “event” to get sales.
I think the institution of marriage, gay AND straight, deserves better.
I was talking to the owner of the LCS where I shopped today and paged through this issue.
He said that Marvel felt they needed to beat DC to the punch and threw this and next issue together to do that.
I’m not sure if he’s right, but if he is, that’s a bit low on Marvel’s part, IMO.
==========================
Anyone remember the big hoopla when Wal-Mart stopped carrying Marvel books (for a while, anyway) when Northstar came out of the closet? Not that they ever carried a lot of comics in the first place, but it seemed a bit silly.
I was disappointed that Cecilia Reyes was not in issue #50, but still it was pretty good. The mission at the warehouse was well written, and the interaction between Jean Paul and Kyle was very natural (super powers aside). I wish that cover artist Dustin Weaver did the interiors as well. This new aspect of Iceman’s powers is really badass.
Please check my mini-review here:
http://bit.ly/KJP8OV
Comments and feedback are always welcome!
Agreed on Iceman! That is the one thing that keeps me checking out this issue on the racks. It looks really cool (no pun intended).
Kyle was introduced in Uncanny X-Men back in 2009 when Northstar came back to the team; the Alpha Flight mini/ongoing/mini was just the biggest stretch of page time he had prior to importing him and Northstar to Astonishing.
The guy’s been with Northstar longer than Maddie Pryor was with Scott before they got hitched.
Good point.