They're Not Like Us Discussion Thread

[InformationGeek]

Let's just have all the discussions about this book in this one topic. It'll be easier that way.


Anyways, I'll start things off by talking about the latest issue, #2.

It was... forgettable. Just really forgettable and uneventful. We learn some more about these people, but dang it, I don't think the plot went anywhere until the last fourth of the book. The Voice just monologue a lot about what the group was and why they were totes in the right to be beating up other people and stealing their s**t. Then they tried claiming they were evil or bad and all of that was relative even though they have yet to show one good thing about themselves (seriously, if you want to claim they aren't bad as they seem, don't make your characters be jackasses the entire issue and completely shady in the previous. I'm not buying what you are selling).

Ultimately, we didn't learn anything new about the characters as individuals (just how the group is and how it works), the plot didn't go anywhere until the end, and it just kind of dragged. Also, due to all of the characters being jerks except for the main one, the comic isn't helping me or helping with making the audience care for them. There's nothing wrong with a character being a jerk, but at least give them something else. Some charm, depth, or anything really.

My review can be found here, but I'm more confused by the some of the reaction the book was getting. "We have a new Saga on our hands"? Really?

[galeme]

That is one great comic which i'm looking for the next issue.

[ysemaj]

Haven't even read the second issue yet, and not too sure if I will.. I was looking forward to the debut issue so much, and it disappointed me dramatically. There was nothing likeable in the characters and the plot just seemed very meh, even that 'cliffhanger' felt very anti-climatic. Might give the second issue a go but not too sure.

Definitely not another 'Saga,' doesn't even come close to how spectacular the first issue of that was.

[Ragdoll]

I'm not sold on this one. I read both issues, it felt like Mark Millar's Wanted, only instead of feeling dirty and edgy, it instead comes off as full of itself. I hate all the characters. And I usually like dark edgy anti-social counter-culture villains, but the leader of the group has the personality of an internet troll, not a cult leader.

[quinnzel]

Haven't even read the second issue yet, and not too sure if I will.. I was looking forward to the debut issue so much, and it disappointed me dramatically. There was nothing likeable in the characters and the plot just seemed very meh, even that 'cliffhanger' felt very anti-climatic. Might give the second issue a go but not too sure.

Definitely not another 'Saga,' doesn't even come close to how spectacular the first issue of that was.

I definitely agree with your sentiments about the first issue and how it's not going to be another Saga like reviews have said.

That being said, I enjoyed the second issue a lot more than the first issue. I'm going to stick with this book a bit longer and see if it continues to pick up for me, but it's definitely not on the same level as Saga and some other Image titles right now for me.

[matt levin]

haven't read issue two yet-- snowstorm wiped out deliveries! will have to get it next Wed. but issue 1 certainly didn't rev me, hardly even interested me. will likely not subscribe but pick up when there's a lull in my subbed titles.

[DIVINITY]

I loved the first issue, this one, not so much, I'm still interested enough to see where things go from here...

[thewarning]

It feels juvenile to me. Vindictive, anti-authoritarian kids with super powers.

The "Fuck Taggers" panel annoyed me. They tagged the street.

I'll give it another issue before pulling the plug. Real bummer.

[Cydonia-]

I have a hard time believing that the comic is really going to be about this lot of dislikeable characters doing dislikeable things all the way through... it must be just setting things up and going somewhere more interesting... hopefully soon.

[rac shade]

It's looking like all of these people aside from the main female character are the villains, like if Magneto had got to the X-Men first. It wouldn't surprise me if another faction turns up pretty soon, guess we'll see. I like it so far, the art & the covers have been great, I'm on it for at least the first arc.

[Anduinel]

It's looking like all of these people aside from the main female character are the villains, like if Magneto had got to the X-Men first. It wouldn't surprise me if another faction turns up pretty soon, guess we'll see. I like it so far, the art & the covers have been great, I'm on it for at least the first arc.

Yeah, I'm kinda waiting for a twist in that direction, though I may be a little disappointed if that happens. I don't find the cast likable, but I find them interesting as an extreme counterpoint to the model minority nonsense that some of the X-Men writers have engaged in. There are some genre tropes that need a good kicking now and again, and I think that's one of them. I'll stick around for the first arc, at least, just to see where this goes.

[InformationGeek]

Yeah, I'm kinda waiting for a twist in that direction, though I may be a little disappointed if that happens. I don't find the cast likable, but I find them interesting as an extreme counterpoint to the model minority nonsense that some of the X-Men writers have engaged in. There are some genre tropes that need a good kicking now and again, and I think that's one of them. I'll stick around for the first arc, at least, just to see where this goes.

I agree that it can be fun to change things up once in awhile, but is it really a good thing to have an entire cast of unlikeable characters in order to change things up? Can't you do something new or add a new twist to something while also makes us care about the cast? How is the audience suppose to care about anything they do or what happens to them? Hopefully the writer is capable enough with adding new levels or charm to this cast, because switching up a formula doesn't not automatically equal good.

[Anduinel]

I agree that it can be fun to change things up once in awhile, but is it really a good thing to have an entire cast of unlikeable characters in order to change things up? Can't you do something new or add a new twist to something while also makes us care about the cast? How is the audience suppose to care about anything they do or what happens to them? Hopefully the writer is capable enough with adding new levels or charm to this cast, because switching up a formula doesn't not automatically equal good.

That's going to be a matter of individual taste. As I said, I don't find the cast likable, but that doesn't mean I don't care about them -- their whole set-up thus far is about the damaged leading the damaged because there's no safe haven for them in established society, and I find that both sad and intriguing. For as much as I've seen wags dismissing this book with "Why is Eric Stephenson ripping off the X-Men?", by not making these characters fundamentally safe, reassuring, or poster children for assimilation, it seems to me that he's exploring the idea of teenagers with superpowers as a metaphor for marginalization from society in just the opposite direction. It's bound to end in a car crash sooner or later, but I think the ride is sufficiently fascinating to keep putting my $3 monthly down for the time being.

[thewarning]

SPOILERS BELOW

I think I'm done with this book. Another issue of unlikable characters, lazy cultural criticism. This feels like something an angry teenage would write...so much frustration and loneliness! Of course it's sublimated into violence! Of course that violence is directed at scum! Our protagonists aren't so bad after all despite beating a man to death since he was a violent pedophile (moral objectivism at it's finest)!

If there's any watershed moment coming, there's just not enough momentum on display to get me to wait for it.

Stephenson was punching above his weight in Nowhere Men. This is extremely disappointing.

[InformationGeek]

SPOILERS BELOW

I think I'm done with this book. Another issue of unlikable characters, lazy cultural criticism. This feels like something an angry teenage would write...so much frustration and loneliness! Of course it's sublimated into violence! Of course that violence is directed at scum! Our protagonists aren't so bad after all despite beating a man to death since he was a violent pedophile (moral objectivism at it's finest)!

If there's any watershed moment coming, there's just not enough momentum on display to get me to wait for it.

Stephenson was punching above his weight in Nowhere Men. This is extremely disappointing.

Yeah, basically everything you just said. What the crap was this? This is lazy. This is juvenile. This is the stuff people who think they are deep write when they are really just full of it. This is the definition of pretentious drivel. This is so going on the Worst of 2015 list. Just incredibly amateurish and lacking in almost anything of substance when it comes to the writing, characters, and the story. The artwork is so wasted here.

But for people who disagree, here's a review from a buddy of mine as a counterpoint. Enjoy: http://www.adventuresinpoortaste.com...e-us-3-review/