X-MEN #4 Reviews/Spoilers Thread

[RamaBird]

For those calling this filler issue, in a way it is filler issue. As much as any Halloween special is, on tv or print. Is Hallowentown a filler? Is Hocus Pocus a filler? Its not surprising or random that Nightmare was the villain and that Halloween is right around the corner. The way it is drawn, the way the story is wove, the demonic entity as a bad guy are all signs of them doing this for Halloween. The only thing surprising is they didnt advertise it as a Halloween special. But I know I have seen enough holiday specials to call one when I see one.

I would've loved it as a Halloween special, but to me it was filler cause it was so short, and only 3 people had nightmares and they barely lasted a few panels? I would've preferred Nightmare go through more members and tortured them/revealed their fears before Jean kicked his butt.

[JB]

Dugan just tweeted these, from #5 and #6, respectively:

Jean knocked out (sob) and Lorna up and ready:

A field trip to Planet Arakko? Yes please!

I'm not trying to claim that everyone should like what's happening, or the characters, setting story any of that. No one needs to justify why they like or dislike anything the thing is people are going way overboard in their criticisms.

Synch's characterization and actions have been above reproach, and the vitriol being thrown at both him and at the storyline are excessive. Its ok to dislike the pairing, its ok to dislike the storyline but so far the worst thing that actually happened is that a couple of relatively minor characters (Synch being significantly more minor than Laura) were involved in a romance that has mostly played out behind the scenes and one of them has lost their memories of it. Soap opera 101, Will they? Wont they? He has feelings for her, she doesn't, and since then Synch has unthinkably... respected Laura's boundaries. Largely been exactly what a good person should be. I fail to see what exactly people have to be up in arms about and I don't like the shade thrown at the character. Its wrong and unearned.

Its also important to note that so far the only place those characters have actually paired up was in the vault issues. Its far from a sure thing that resuming the romance is actually in the cards, and even if it does come back this romance is way less "creepy" than a hell of a lot of other comic book romances. In fact were you to list creepy or inappropriate comic book romances I'm not sure this would even crack the top 50. I don't think it ranks all that high in the category of creepy X-Men romances.

Also, I feel the need to point out that a fictional character being used to promote another fictional characters story isn't inappropriate, especially on a team book. That might be a valid argument if that's all the character was used for (its not) or if its was the main character in their own book being so misused to prop up someone else (Its not) or if it was a radically inappropriate pairing (its not again). That is the nature of fictional characters in a shared universe, the MU as a whole or even just within the X-Books. Even with major characters, sometimes they get the spotlight and other times they prop up the character in the spotlight.

Kisinith has spoken.

[pkingdom]

I was about to say something similar. It was a weird Halloween filler issue for the most part. They should have just released it as part of a special Halloween one-shot instead of this mixed up mess.

Laura has had introspective nightmares and the like before. She had a great couple of similar things when she was around Ghost Rider. Except there it was part of her personal growth and long standing issues (does she have a soul, being a clone? and feeling like she deserves punishment/hell for all of the people she killed, etc.)

I don't feel like there's much I can add to the Sync talk. It was just a mess of a plotline. Forced into a few panels in an extremely fast paced book with a lot of text dumps and little insight into the actual characters, and even here the entire idea feels lost. Its a major flaw most team books run into; not being able to handle having so many characters to work with.

[Rift]

For those calling this filler issue, in a way it is filler issue. As much as any Halloween special is, on tv or print. Is Hallowentown a filler? Is Hocus Pocus a filler? Its not surprising or random that Nightmare was the villain and that Halloween is right around the corner. The way it is drawn, the way the story is wove, the demonic entity as a bad guy are all signs of them doing this for Halloween. The only thing surprising is they didnt advertise it as a Halloween special. But I know I have seen enough holiday specials to call one when I see one.

I'm not sure what you're saying here. Just because something is a holiday special, doesn't necessarily mean it is or it isn't filler.

The story comes off as filler because Nightmare just randomly shows up* and is defeated in a quick, fluffy story that holds little narrative weight. The story is overall not connected to anything we've seen in this run, nor anything in the foreseeable future. You can probably skip this story and not miss anything because it doesn't really matter. The only thing that does matter are a) Laura's Vault stuff, and b) Dr. Stasis' transformation, the latter of which had nothing to do with the issue's story.

Of course, this can lead to a future arc with Nightmare, then in which case, it won't be filler because it connects to the larger narrative. But for now, it really does come off as unimportant seasonal fluff, and it doesn't add much to a story that's already taking its sweet time to develop. It's a holiday-themed distraction.

*We know why he's in town, but it has nothing to do with the X-Men or their current story. Honestly, they could have just made up some OC villain with nightmare powers, since the issue didn't hinge on the villains specifically being Nightmare, anyway.

[Kingdom X]

Regarding whether the issue was "filler" or not, idk... I thought it was mostly entertaining and a cute Halloween story (y'all heard my complaints already and I'm not that pressed). I think a lot of this early monster of the week stuff will be perfectly fine as long as the larger storylines that Duggan is setting up pay-off.

I will say he can chill with the mad scientist post-credit scenes, the audience gets it lol.

Also, as I mentioned earlier I thought Pina was great but this really made me realize how much content Pepe manages to fit within each page.

[Rift]

Oh no, I'm not saying that the story isn't entertaining or anything. Sorry if that's the impression I gave. Filler can definitely be entertaining.

[RamaBird]

This would've been a great Annual instead of a regular issue. I feel they don't do those anymore.

And I would love more filler issues focused on holidays. Maybe a filler issue of them at the beach having fun in the summer? Or a filler issue of everyone being awkward during Thanksgiving? Or a filler issue of the the New XMen going out clubbing during New Years? But these should be marketed as special issues.

This issue wanted to be a holiday issue but it wouldn't commit. You just have to fully commit to pull it off well.

[Tre Styles]

Nice character issue, would've been cool to see the nightmares/dreams of other team members, but it was a focus piece on Jean of sorts. Her slapping Nightmare was fun though.,.also I didn't know Strange has died, anyone know which comic that was in?.

[Steroid]

Nice character issue, would've been cool to see the nightmares/dreams of other team members, but it was a focus piece on Jean of sorts. Her slapping Nightmare was fun though.,.also I didn't know Strange has died, anyone know which comic that was in?.

Death of Dr. Strange #1 which came out last month.

[CoCoBandz]

I feel you and I like how things are currently going with the whole situation.

Anyone else triggered when they saw Nature Girl? With everything going on with her over on Unlimited, I half expected her to start attacking people.

At this point I'm just waiting for a DBD crossover. She could be a top tier killer with those scissors.

[WallStreeter]

I'm not sure what you're saying here. Just because something is a holiday special, doesn't necessarily mean it is or it isn't filler.

The story comes off as filler because Nightmare just randomly shows up* and is defeated in a quick, fluffy story that holds little narrative weight. The story is overall not connected to anything we've seen in this run, nor anything in the foreseeable future. You can probably skip this story and not miss anything because it doesn't really matter. The only thing that does matter are a) Laura's Vault stuff, and b) Dr. Stasis' transformation, the latter of which had nothing to do with the issue's story.

Of course, this can lead to a future arc with Nightmare, then in which case, it won't be filler because it connects to the larger narrative. But for now, it really does come off as unimportant seasonal fluff, and it doesn't add much to a story that's already taking its sweet time to develop. It's a holiday-themed distraction.

*We know why he's in town, but it has nothing to do with the X-Men or their current story. Honestly, they could have just made up some OC villain with nightmare powers, since the issue didn't hinge on the villains specifically being Nightmare, anyway.

Don’t be absurd. The X-Men lately have been going a lot more space, cosmic, and magical. They had tu fight the mindless ones, demons from Amenth, etc. Not mentioned vampires. Stuff like Nightmare showing up is par for the course for the X-Men.

It also shows how Duggan intends to write Jean.

[WallStreeter]

For those calling this filler issue, in a way it is filler issue. As much as any Halloween special is, on tv or print. Is Hallowentown a filler? Is Hocus Pocus a filler? Its not surprising or random that Nightmare was the villain and that Halloween is right around the corner. The way it is drawn, the way the story is wove, the demonic entity as a bad guy are all signs of them doing this for Halloween. The only thing surprising is they didnt advertise it as a Halloween special. But I know I have seen enough holiday specials to call one when I see one.

Plus the X-Men will be fighting more demonic threats due to the death of Dr. Strange.

[Rift]

Don’t be absurd. The X-Men lately have been going a lot more space, cosmic, and magical. They had tu fight the mindless ones, demons from Amenth, etc. Not mentioned vampires. Stuff like Nightmare showing up is par for the course for the X-Men.

It also shows how Duggan intends to write Jean.

You're misunderstanding me. I never said that they don't fight magical enemies, or that it's unreasonable for them to fight Nightmare. There are also magic-powered enemies and X-Men, and they've been around for decades. In fact, I've said before that Excalibur should deal with more of the magic concepts it established.

My issue isn't that they're fighting an occult villain, it's that the story here was detached from the other stories the book has set up, probably won't lead anywhere, and can be largely skipped without missing much. That's what makes it filler. That doesn't mean it's bad or anything, just that it's likely unimportant in the long run.

[RamaBird]

I get the feeling Nightmare will be back for some sort of revenge. His conversation with Jean set that up.

If this really is his only issue, then boy did Duggan do him wrong, lol.

[Tank]

It was good for a one and done issue. I think the parts with feilong and ben ulrich could have been cut and devoted those pages to the nightmares of the other team members instead.

Nice to see a competent Jean, but still not a big fan of this “kindess” hearts and rainbows version. She comes off like a telepathic care bear. Sometimes you just have to kick ass! Compassion got you killed via xorneto, you still havent learned anything Jean.

The art was great! This is the quality of fill in artist for a flagship. Unlike some of the horrendous fill ins of recent past, like coughxforcecough.