UNCANNY X-MEN #497
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iFanboy
community think?
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Size: pages
Price: 2.99
Bru’s first few attempts on Uncanny left me less than impressed. They weren’t horrible or anything, they just weren’t… well, they weren’t anything really. Space and such just left me cold. He started to click a little during Messiah CompleX but for me this arc he’s on right now is where he really has done it for me.
I’ve been reading X-Men comics for a disgusting 20+ years now and this book feels to me like the X-Men books of my youth in all the right ways. There is no movement backwards but this embodies the best of what the Claremont Era did. Just interesting plot lines, multiple ones at that that seem to have no connection at the moment, my favorite X-Men, and a lot of action somehow steeped in characterization. Last issue the Wolverine/Colossus/Nightcrawler was just ok but it stepped up a lot this time. The fight was very interesting instead of perfunctory and the cliff hanger is very good.
Scott and Emma were even better. We get what I find to be a very interesting situation mixed with a more casual look at their relationship than we often get. I am finding Brubaker’s Scott and Emma the most interesting so far, and I’ve liked the pairing for a long time. I especially like that they seem to bring out aspects of each other that they don’t feel comfortable showing other people. They both seem a little more playful and in the best relationships you usually show your partner a side you don’t show others.
The art was top notch and I am definitely a sucker for the 60’s costumes for Scott and Emma, I think they look fantastic.
Art: 5 - Excellent
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I didn’t expect to like this much, but in the end I really did. I’m still not totally confident in Bru’s take on the characters (doesn’t mean it’s bad, just that I’m not sure it’s my preference). But I feel like this book is finding its legs, and the story’s beginning to go somewhere. I’m excited for what comes next.
Bru’s take on Scott and Emma has been wonderful to read. I can totally see why these two people love each other now.
@Kimbo — Really? I mean, I think they were cute together in this issue, but ‘Astonishing X-men’ has done a much better job of convincing me that their relationship is really based on something. (Though I still wish he’d dump her; I just feel like if your girlfriend is crawling around in your subconscious mind telling you what you’re not allowed to dream about, that is NOT a healthy relationship).
well..maybe not this exact issue but coupled with Astonishing and starting during their "vacation" in the Savage Land I like how Bru is showing how they compliment each other, they’re both really flawed people. As far as having Emma tell him what not to dream about, that is horrible definately, but she is a telepath and if there’s anything X-men books have taught me about telepathy it’s that it is harder to keep other’s thoughts out then it it is to read them. Plus, I have never had a girlfriend that didn’t ask me question about my ex and then get a little jealous. And visa versa for that matter. Didn’t Scott dream about Jean and she told him not too? I found that a pretty humanizing scene, showed her being vulnerable when she’s always projecting she’s tough as nails. But when they first were together, I agree, I didn’t buy their relationship either, though I did find Scott suddenly more interesting.
@Kimbo — I like the idea of showing them both as flawed people, but I feel like so far, Bru has mostly had Emma talking about how great Scott is, or telling him how great she thinks he is. The only other distinctive thing she’s done is get in his brain and tell him not to dream about Jean (which I actually thought was a cool scene, I’m just not sure how it fits with them seeming so happy together everywhere else). I feel like it must be really hard to get the right balance of bitchiness and vulnerability with Emma, and I’m not sure Bru’s had a handle on it up to now.
I iiked them a lot better in this issue, though — particularly when she’s turning bulletproof and telling him it doesn’t hurt to be shot at, it’s just like acupuncture. That felt more like Emma to me. Anyway, I have a feeling they’ve been happy long enough that they’re going to be thrown for a pretty major angst loop soon, and I’m looking forward to that.
I would agree Astonishing has done more for the relationship. I actually liked this though because so far it has been a little different, it is the first time we’ve seen them relaxing together. Most of astonishing has been at the other end of the spectrum, them in times of stress and duty, not them walking through the streets of San Francisco.
And I would agree we’ve really only seen Emma thinking about how great he is but… that seems accurate. One fo the things I’ve noticed across all interpretatons of this relationship from Morrison to Whedon to Bru now is Emma seems to like Scott more than he likes her. Which, isn’t a slam against him but it does seem emotionally she is more invested even if he doesn’t realize it. He clearly still has Jean hang ups, she doesn’t have similar baggage and he does seem to be the one soft spot she has.
@bcmiller189 — All good points; I do enjoy seeing them some down time, and it doesn’t seem unreasonable that she’s going to spend more time reinforcing and talking about the strength of their relationship (whether or not that means she actually likes him more, or just that she feels more need for reassurance, because she’ll always have the spectre of the dead wife to compete with).
The thing I’m complaining about isn’t the fact that she’s talking about how great he is, so much as that seems to be the main thing she’s been doing since the start of Messiah Complex. She seems to be defined more as ‘Scott’s girlfriend’ than as a character who has had a lot of development — and an important leadership role with the team — for years now. It’s particularly frustrating to me as a female reader, because this seems to happen often with female superheroes. It’s been discussed on the podcast that this is a problem with Black Canary in the Green Arrow/Black Canary series, and Jean Grey unfortunately went through some periods of being written this way, as well (though not by Chris Claremont or Grant Morrison, or anybody who had a good feel for the character). It’s not that I think Brubaker has written Emma badly; it’s more that I don’t think he has a really strong feel for the character, and so she tends to ge shifted into the ‘supportive girlfriend’ role by default.
I am starting to feel better about the relationship with this issue — we’re seeing more equality in their relationship, which is something that I want to see, and like, in the two of them — and I’m slowly starting to put my skepticism aside and enjoy the story.