X-men Unforgiven #1 - Review & Spoilers

[Malachi]

I couldn't find any thread for this issue so here we go.

I picked up this issue mostly due to Jubilee and Rogue and because Sid Kotian was the artist(from Gambits most recent solo). I had no prior knowledge about what it was beyond X-men+vampires=story.

The story starts in a cemetery(it is after all a vampire story), to be more specific the lair of some of Jubilee's friends from her time as a vampire. We see Jubilee, Logan, Jean and Rogue. Jubilee and Logan gets into the usuall tense first meeting with the one of the Forgiven called Inka. We also learn that Jean can't read a vampire's mind, or at least when it's full of rage as one of the Forgiven states. It's a convinient trope used often when telepaths are involved. Personally I don't like it because when it comes to powers like TP I see it more akin to Hacking. It's a matter of tricks, navigating your way inside and also a tug of war. Some might be more resistant or hard to read then others but no absolutes exist. But hey this might be the way Marvel sees it too, at least in this story, just that Jean hasn't gotten the hang of it yet.

The Forgiven is introduced and I won't bother to list them all. They are a wierd bunch of highlander meets cyberpunk meets marvel. So basically like many vampires we have seen before. We get some updates on what has happned since Jubes last saw them, apperently their leader is dead. We then get a scene where they eat some chicken. I think this scene really sets the tone for the rest of the issue.

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We then get the reason why they hav visited the Forgiven. The X-men has found some exsanguiated corpes in crates in Maine. The forgiven connects this to a character called the Curator who disposes of bodies for vampires. We get the usuall postering between the teams before they decide to work togheter. The Forgiven also wants to find the killer for their leader, witch I assume will be the plot going on after this issue.

Next we cut to a scene with the villains. A preacher called Bobby Quench, a character with a faceplate covering his face, holds a small sermon in what appears to be his private property. The Quench institue. It's about sharing power and he introduces some vampires who kills the audience while Bobby removes his faceplate showing just a big mouth with teets, think like a worm. He then sucks in the energy from the vampires, proclaimin himself to be the leader of their pack. It's a gory scene:
X-Men - Unforgiven 001-011.jpg

Back with the X-men we have Jean giving most of the Forgiven a tour of the treehouse. Logan and the vampire Inka are on a boat on the way to rendevous with the Curator. The boat is aptly named The Bub so who the owner is reamains no secret. Logan himself is wearing the full autumn collection for lumberjacks. For those that have missed this Logan you are free to enjoy him in all his flannel splendor. The mett up with a large freight ship that belongs to the Curator. They meet the Curator( who we learn is Roy Powell the boy who found Frankensteins monster way back in UX 40, a issue I haven't read)but Inkas "seductive scream" doesn't work on him and Jean suffers the feedback from a alpha transmitter the Curator has. The X-men and the Forgiven teleport in to help with the fight and Rogue flies off with the Curator to remove his disruptive influence on Jean.

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The Curator disembowels one of the Forgiven who survives becasue she is a vampire. Rogue informs Jean on what the Curator is and before Jean can finally use her TP(I think that's what she intends to do) the disembolwed vampire goes into beserk and kills him. Quite gore-illy I must say. This all ties into a plot with the Forgiven that they are pacificists and violence should just be a last resort for them but now when their leader is dead they are coming apart a bit.

We had a one page before with the preacher Bobby Quench who had one of his vampires infilitrate the Forgiven before and that lead to their leaders death. That vampire might be feeling some mixed emotions now, she might have gone native. Bobby doesn't like a maybe and he suggests a more final way of dealing with that plot. Namely to send his thugs to kill her.

On the boat there is a standoff because the the foriven killed the Curator and apperently he still was enough human according to Rogue for that to matter while Logan considered him more dead the alive to begin with. Jubilee stands up for the Forgiven while Rogue and Jean can't condone the killing and drinking that occured. Their leader was a samurai and we have a buddhist theme going on with the Forgiven. The vampire who killed suffers an existenstiell crisis and they mist out of the boat leaving Jubilee and the X-men alone.

Back at their lair the female vampire who might have gone native shows that yes she has gone native. Yet she finds no one from the Forgiven in the lair but one of Bobby Quench's vampires who is sent to kill her. Luckily for her Mr Steve Rogers interupts that with his shield and we get the segway into the next issue. Captain America - Unforgiven.

For those that haven't read the issue I have skipped over some parts, mostly concerning with the Forgiven and their team dynamic. There is nothing wrong with any of them, I say half of them gets fleshed out into distinctive characters in this issue but I wasn't so much interested in them as I was with the X-men part.

This issue, from an X-men perspective, was mostly about Jubilee. Logan had some pages, Jean did too and Rogue was the one with the least amount. All in all it was wise to keep the team at 4 so all of them could say and do stuff in the issue.

The Curator was a fun villain. The preacher was ok, at least his face is enough of a visual trait to let him stand out.

Overall the art reminded me of early Ghost Rider, the Danny Ketch version. Sid Kotian would probably be a good penciller for those kind of horror stories. Other then that the inking was a bid subdued and many angles where very sharp with much crosshatching. Or at least that was my takeaway, I'm no artist.

A mixed bag this issue. I would give it 5/10 perhaps. I don't know, perhaps I might feel differently in some days. Or even minutes... who knows.

[Exodus]

I'm only here for seeing Jean Grey again as the Marxist Queen that she is!!!

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Racial Capitalism without the X-Men! Slay, Marxist Queen! Slay!

[Malachi]

I'm only here for seeing Jean Grey again as the Marxist Queen that she is!!!

FsXz-daX0AEOT4B.jpg

Racial Capitalism without the X-Men! Slay, Marxist Queen! Slay!

Haha yes It fits in with my idea of who Jean is. But then again I rather quite like X-men Red vol 1.

[Jackraow21]

I liked this. Was a fun issue. Nothing too thought-provoking or groundbreaking, but fun.

[Master of Sound]

For those who don't know.

This is a triology, first party was the oneshot with Spider-Man. There their leader got killed.

Jubilee was part pig the Forgiven during here time as vampire.

The Forgiven are actually quite an interesting team of vampires, who do not drink human blood.

[davetvs]

I liked this. Was a fun issue. Nothing too thought-provoking or groundbreaking, but fun.

My thoughts exactly. I enjoyed it for what it was.

[HomoSuperior]

Might have to pick this up.
Previews and this recap sound like the writer has good handle on characters and chemistry.
It’s always fun when Wolverine acts/sounds more like Wolverine in a limited series than in an ongoing series.
1980s X-Men / Micronauts limited series comes to mind as example.

[Micabe]

For those who don't know.

This is a triology, first party was the oneshot with Spider-Man. There their leader got killed.

Jubilee was part pig the Forgiven during here time as vampire.

The Forgiven are actually quite an interesting team of vampires, who do not drink human blood.

Might you know what title the third part will be in?

[Huntsman Spider]

Might you know what title the third part will be in?

Captain America one-shot, which is fitting, because the Forgiven were assembled and inspired by Raizo's admiration of Captain America during World War II for how he used his power to protect and defend the powerless, seeing him as an example worth following.