PREVIEW: Uncanny X-Men #3

[Devaishwarya]

If nothing else...it would really be interesting to see just how the Madri threat is resolved in next week's issue...if it is sorted.

I was actually thinking of Lila's Dyson Sphere as a destination not an inhabited home world planet.

[Del torro]

And there-in lies the issue with the writers...Even if the strategy fell short it would be nice to see/read there was a strategy to begin with. Not: "You deal with Madrox. We deal with T-rex. X-Men GO!"
Sending in a literal "hit" squad to battle an opponent who multiplies upon being hit, not a smart move by any stretch.
As someone else said, they set up an overwhelmingly improbable confrontation scenario that may or may not have been thoroughly thought through.

I think they should have used more of the kids on the teams like in Xmen Gold. The X-men seem really low on manpower these days

[Del torro]

If nothing else...it would really be interesting to see just how the Madri threat is resolved in next week's issue...if it is sorted.

I'm starting to like the theory that Legion gave them his multiple personalities and powers, which explains why Legion is sane and we'll adjusted.

[Del torro]

A number of Jamie's were lifting up part of the roof, and Polaris slams it back down on top of them.

WOW, I'm impressed :P

[Snoop Dogg]

Having absurdly powerful characters is fine for certain stories. When writers want to tell Doctor Strange stories where the deck is really stacked against him, they find ways to depower him. When guys like Waid want to do stories more about how the power is used in creative ways, he's really strong again. Books about villains like Thanos or Hulk in recent years are about greater conflicts than the protagonists overcoming some physical threat. But at least guys like Hulk have to actually make contact with you. Hulk's power will also dip for years. His peak was World War Hulk, where he was the antagonist. You're supposed to wonder how the heroes stop him, not the reverse. Thanos is a villain, so him being absurdly powerful is good, because he's usually a problem that must be dealt with that makes situations worse.

But when you have a team book, where some protagonists are so ridiculously powerful that they can solve most hypothetical conflicts by waving their hands around, it's really bad. It makes most other characters useless and forces threats to be absurd. And it shouldn't be that way. There were stories that have developed many characters' powers, but those stories made a mistake, and editorial should've stopped it. It's like reckless Dragon Ball power scaling, and that's a poorly written series. Things have to keep going up and up, when other comics don't have these problems because their powers scale horizontally, and it's more about using them in new ways and new situations.

You can't cite Claremont in defense of this because he didn't do it. He actually avoided this very well. His teams were always outclassed, to the point that Hellfire goons showing up was a problem. Any Avengers team from the same era could wipe them out. Nightcrawler couldn't teleport much. Kitty's powers were defensive. Wolverine's healing was less extreme. Colossus was special in that he was usually the only guy who could repel gunfire. Havok's crazy firepower was usually played up a negative that he couldn't handle. Rachel was too hotheaded to use her powers efficiently. Magneto could be defeated even if he could fling around two of your team members by being tactical and just beating him up. Rogue was a brick, yes, but she had to actually touch enemies, so she could be outclassed by supervillains. Psylocke was a telepath, yes, but not an amazing one, had no TK, and no special physical skills pre-yellow face (and remember, that was intended to last an arc).

And Storm deserves her own paragraph. Storm originally was a very tame character who could apply her vague power in a few different ways. I don't even think she could even use lightning indoors (remember when she tried to take down Shaw close quarters, as if it was an equally viable option? We'd call her an idiot if she tried anything similar today.) And she was still depowered during Chris' run. And because of it, we got some of the best stuff with the character, because we learned she didn't need it at all, and could beat an experienced guy like Cyclops. Her original origin was that they thought she was a god because she could do the chorus of the Toto song, but now she might as well just be a god. She has a wider range of abilities than Thor.

And we've seen what toning down powers can do for a character, because post-nerf Magneto during Marvel Now had to be creative and use his powers in more interesting ways that really said a lot about his character, but he was still extraordinarily dangerous because Magneto is not Magneto because he is the master of a elemental force. Storm is not Storm because she's an uber weather goddess. Only shallow characters like Graviton rely on absurd power levels to be anything, and for him that's by design.

Anyway, X-Men need to be toned down. Add it to the list of things Avengers books do way better.

[Nick Miller]

Remember back when an army of fully armed Shi'ar Warriors surrouned a team of 5 X-men, and felt that their chances of winning was zero, or when Polaris put a crowd of mutants to sleep by controlling the iron in their blood, or that both Betsy and Polaris can make powerful forcefields.
An X-men Team, is supposed to be a team of Elite competent professionals.

Anyway, this is the last time I'll complain about it.

Controlling iron in blood, lol.

Oh, X-Men!!!

[Nick Miller]

Quoted for truth.

The weird impulse of some fans to get irate when every threat isn't dealt with instantaneously and that it's always perceived by them as some storytelling flaw is just that...weird.

Pretty much every threat in a superhero comic could be resolved in a split second, or in a single panel, if the characters involved used their powers in the most efficient way possible every time out.

But that would make for a lot of pretty fu*king dull comics, wouldn't it?

Just relax and enjoy some rampaging dinosaurs, for God's sake.

“Storm could just just knock out everyone easy. Everyone has weather in their brain!!!”

[LordAllMIghty]

I'm not, been reading X-Men for years. I know they aren't capable of that. Plain and simple.

It's not a matter of how powerful they are. They are simply overwhelmed.

You're wrong but you can believe whatever you like.

I'm sitting up here looking at pics of Polaris taking out a whole team of X-men and Storm floating Genosha...yet fighting Jamie is a issue for them....

[Nick Miller]

Wait I had another thought...what if Legion some how transferred some/all of his powers to MM's dupes some how? Just looking at the preview Legion seems totally normal here


Guess it's possible that another one of his personalities is at the wheel but...this would explain the whole crazy MM with super powers thing.

He needs to find a suit that fits. Fire your tailor, jr.

[Maestroneto]

Let’s be fair here. It’s not “X-Men fans are obsessed with FEATZ”.

It’s “Storm fans are obsessed with FEATZ”.

[Snoop Dogg]

Lorna is truly the X-Men's greatest tragedy. A character interesting enough to lead the franchise subjugated to silly feat showcases and side roles, with a spot on a satellite book roster if she's lucky.

[CoCoBandz]

Lorna is truly the X-Men's greatest tragedy. A character interesting enough to lead the franchise subjugated to silly feat showcases and side roles, with a spot on a satellite book roster if she's lucky.

That could be said about so many other characters.

In fact it is...almost every other day here.

[Wind Rider]

That’s funny. I don’t recall competent writing being an actual feat for a book.

[LordAllMIghty]

Let’s be fair here. It’s not “X-Men fans are obsessed with FEATZ”.

It’s “Storm fans are obsessed with FEATZ”.

You think Storm fans are the only ones who are obsessed with FEATZ....?

[CoCoBandz]

That’s funny. I don’t recall competent writing being an actual feat for a book.

This is why, I always liked the extinction team. Power appropriate characters for major threats.

Cyclops had the formula. Utopia was the best of the best.