CBR - Extraordinary X-Men #2 Review

[ExodusCloak]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/co...-marvel-comics

1 star. A bit harsh considering Bendis run with scarce plot or dialogue was getting 4/5 stars.

I'd disagree with the reviewer in regards to dark and dreary, there's nothing wrong with that. At least there is direction to the franchise unlike the last few years of fluff. There's a lot of character stupidity going around but a lot could argue that those characterisations are on point. The regression of Sinister is very disappointing though. Kieron Gillen made him one of the most interesting X-Villians to date. His scene in the Uncanny X-Men #20 was Joker worthy of praise. Same for his story with Kid Loki in A+X.







As for Ramos work, it's quite good, it's not messy, it's clear. The designs are good, they feel animated. I would have given the book a 2 or 3 out of 5.

[xhx23x]

I'm really not sure why the dark is a problem either. They feel like now they have a purpose. Before, our main theme was Everyone Disagrees with Everyone. And all we got is bitching from all the characters. This might actually put the X-Men back to having a common goal, and having them all deal with it in different ways. The only thing that I don't like about the M-Pox stuff is the Inhuman aspect, but that's for meta reasons, so I don't hold it against the story. Much.

The only other fault the book has that I can think is the reliance in the 8-month (16 for us) gap as a way to get away with certain things off panel. But the same can be said about pretty much every ANAD book. The art is great, the character set ups seem interesting and the potential's there.

[Knives]

Perhaps a little too harsh think would give three stars but agree with much that has been said.
The lack of originality in the plot weighs a lot as much as the writer or art is good not help.

I'm really not sure why the dark is a problem either. They feel like now they have a purpose. Before, our main theme was Everyone Disagrees with Everyone. And all we got is bitching from all the characters. This might actually put the X-Men back to having a common goal, and having them all deal with it in different ways. The only thing that I don't like about the M-Pox stuff is the Inhuman aspect, but that's for meta reasons, so I don't hold it against the story. Much.

The only other fault the book has that I can think is the reliance in the 8-month (16 for us) gap as a way to get away with certain things off panel. But the same can be said about pretty much every ANAD book. The art is great, the character set ups seem interesting and the potential's there.

The problem is the X-mens has had dark days for too long. How many years they are fighting against extinction except for the short pause after AvX?


Well if to compare still remember the beginning with Bendis and mutant revolution at the time would have 4 or 5 stars in the first issues were very good perhaps the best time he had before exploding everything.

[Narasinha]

I posted it in the other thread but the reviewer has only positive things to say, except perhaps that the tone of the book is dark, and then he give 1 star? It must be a mistake or the guy doesn't have the faintest idee about how to write a reivew. If it's not a mistake, I would have liked to know why he gave that rating. And not liking the "dark tone" of the book is not a justification in itself: It just mean that the book isn't for him.

[xhx23x]

Perhaps a little too harsh think would give three stars but agree with much that has been said.
The lack of originality in the plot weighs a lot as much as the writer or art is good not help.




The problem is the X-mens has had dark days for too long. How many years they are fighting against extinction except for the short pause after AvX?


Well if to compare still remember the beginning with Bendis and mutant revolution at the time would have 4 or 5 stars in the first issues were very good perhaps the best time he had before exploding everything.

I'm not really sure I would qualify everything before AvX as dark times. Hell, they seem to be improving things when they moved to San Francisco and were more or less becoming celebs in that City. Utopia wasn't dark either, just poorly executed at some fronts. Schism wasn't so much dark as it was stupid.

Yes, they were on the brink of extinction during those times, but that plotline was only relevant when they needed to remind us Hope Summers was totes important and for the X-Force book of the time that was mostly self contained.

I posted it in the other thread but the reviewer has only positive things to say, except perhaps that the tone of the book is dark, and then he give 1 star? It must be a mistake or the guy doesn't have the faintest idee about how to write a reivew. If it's not a mistake, I would have liked to know why he gave that rating. And not liking the "dark tone" of the book is not a justification in itself: It just mean that the book isn't for him.

Yeah, that's what baffles. The darker tone is the only complaint and it doesn't justify the rating.

[MarvelMaster616]

Wow. And I thought my reviews were harsh. lol

Personally, I wouldn't give this issue such a low score. I thought it was an improvement compared to the first. That said, I can understand the points made in this review to some extent. It really does feel like Marvel is ganging up on the X-men. Whether it's because of the movie rights or something like that is a discussion for another thread, but it is pretty jarring to go from that hopeful ending at the end of Uncanny X-men #600 to this situation. A lot happens, but not a lot of context is given. That, right now, is the biggest flaw in EXM. However, I do think that it's not beyond saving. It can be remedied by a strong first arc. It just has an uphill battle.

[Narasinha]

That said, I can understand the points made in this review to some extent. It really does feel like Marvel is ganging up on the X-men.

That's not a justification for the rating in itself. Not when the whole review is postif. The reviewer may have "wished" for another kind of story but that shouldn't affect the rating: That's the difference between a review and personal liking.

[Anduinel]

I do agree with some of the criticisms in the review. I'd even knock off a full star for the art; it's undeniable that Ramos's art has energy, but that doesn't make it all that appealing, imo. But one star is still quite harsh, especially considering Lemire is still setting things up.

[wwise03]

How can what the media's portrayal of Marvel's business plan with regard to the X-Men effect a reviewer's review of a book?!? Shouldn't a reviewer review a book based solely on its merits? This reviewer is panning the book based partially on how he thinks the top dogs at Marvel think of X-Men. This was not good work...

[AJpyro]

Wow. I wouldn't have given this one star. 3.5 out of five at the most and I'm still iffy on this book.

[BookOfPureEvil]

This is a weird one. The first paragraph is harsh on the tone without actually explaining why it doesn't work for the book. The first sentence of the second paragraph makes it clear that the reviewer has more of a problem with the direction of the line than with the actual issue. Then the review seems really positive about the characterization and especially the art for the next few paragraphs. The last paragraph is the only one that kind of fits the score, but even it comes with comparing a second issue to Claremont's entire run and complimenting the book's creative team.

It kind of seems like the reviewer dislikes the general direction enough to not give the actual issue much of a chance, and while this wasn't exactly my favorite issue of the year I still can't help but feel like the review (or at least the score) is a little biased.

Now, this part is just me disagreeing with the reviewer's opinion, but I feel like the playful banter between Colossus and Magik adds some positivity (considering what their relationship was like before), Jean meeting Logan and them eventually joining the X-Men gives the situation a little hope, and I don't see anything negative about the Cerebra sentinel.

[protege]

Yep, I'd agree with the dark and dreary aspect of it,; I'm not a fan of most of these characters to start with, so making everything so bleak and hopeless constantly is a big reason i decided to drop the book. I liked the idea of having a sentinel on the side of the Xmen, but having it be cerebra, sort of kills it for me.

[dragonmp93]

Well, it's not like this is Lemire's fault, he is simply trying to do the best he can with what Marvel gave him.

[Arya]

Well, it's not like this is Lemire's fault, he is simply trying to do the best he can with what Marvel gave him.

I agree in one issue we had better characterization and plot development then in the last year under bendis or other x-writers.

[Knives]

Well, it's not like this is Lemire's fault, he is simply trying to do the best he can with what Marvel gave him.

HAHAHA well this is true considering the size of the mess he has to deal have to recognize are doing a good job under the circumstances .