Some stories are charming and intricate because they offer multiple perspectives and characters to appreciate and consider. However, stories about stories show how the power of storytelling can shape lives by telling tales steeped in history, myth, and culture. In the medium of comic books alone, there are books, such as Marvel’s Loki: Agent of Asgard
Reviews
X-Men Legends Vol. 1 Review!
X-Men Legends. At first glance, the title is a little confusing. Are the stories legendary, or the creators involved? The answer is a little bit of both. The stated mandate of X-Men Legends as a series is to tell X-Men stories set in various classic eras of the characters’ long history, designed to stoke nostalgia for and featuring creators with a previous connection to the era in question. Furthermore, the tales are set between specific issues, and though they are “legendary,” Marvel assured fans that these stories “count” from a continuity perspective: they are not Elseworlds or What Ifs? or Imaginary Tales. Instead, these are stories meant to reveal new information about the past.
X-Men Legends Vol. 1: The Missing Links collects the first six issues of the twelve-issue miniseries, but as of this writing, the series’ eighth issue has been published, with the general plots and creative teams involved for the remaining four issues all announced. So let’s dig into the series thus far and see how well it meets its mandate as a vehicle for nostalgia, a celebration of beloved creators, and a reinterpretation of past continuity. [Read more…] about X-Men Legends Vol. 1 Review!
Between Three Hawkeyes: Adaptational Interpretations of the Avengers’ ‘Everyman’
“Say you have to kill the Avengers. Make a list. Who do you kill first? The regular guy.”
“Clint Barton’s the last man I’d call a ‘regular guy’.”
“Tell yourself that when he bleeds out in his precious little apartment in Brooklyn”
Clint Barton: The ‘Regular Guy’
Clinton Francis Barton, a.k.a Hawkeye, made his Marvel debut in 1964’s Tales of Suspense #57
Unfortunately, Hawkeye’s first outing as a defender of justice goes awry when the police immediately mistake him for a jewel thief and he falls for the mysterious villain, the Black Widow. He does get to be an Avenger-eventually- but his identity as a hero has continued to be instructed by the fact that, as highly talented as he is, he will always experience the limitations and flaws that come with being a ‘regular’ human. [Read more…] about Between Three Hawkeyes: Adaptational Interpretations of the Avengers’ ‘Everyman’
There’s Something of Myself in You That I Don’t Recognize in “The Dreaming: Waking Hours”
Neil Gaiman’s run on Sandman run ended all the way back in 1996, though he has made periodic returns to the title in books such as The Dream Hunters, Endless Nights, and Sandman Overture. Still, the Sandman mythos has steadily continued at DC, with the original The Dreaming series running from 1996-2001, the Lucifer
Bringing in new creators to flesh out the story of the Sandman is the best thing that could have happened to the story, and by retaining overall creative vision, Gaiman has been able to ensure that the new series are all incredibly high quality books. As Si Spurrier and artist Bilquis Evely’s incredible run on The Dreaming
* Spoilers for The Dreaming: Waking Hours Follow!*
(Re)Read Hickman’s X-Men: Crucible & Cathedral — X-Men #7 (& Nightcrawler Matters)
Teased with a typically beautiful yet ominous Leinil Francis Yu cover, X-Men #7 set expectations high for raising the bar on internal Krakoan tensions—and the story delivered, along with many burning questions that mostly still haven’t been answered. We start with a literally iconoclastic image of a stained-glass version of the most famous Catholic mutant—Nightcrawler—shattered by Apocalypse wielding a sword (which seemed to both echo what we’d seen recently in flashbacks, of Apocalypse’s last stand on ancient Okkara, and call forward to the impending X of Swords event).
What’s most clear by issue’s end is that Kurt’s doubts and questions, even his spiritual vision of renewal, just don’t carry the day, at all. They certainly fueled readers’ hopes for more Kurt content, but it’s Apocalypse and the less humane elements on the Quiet Council—meaning, most of it, then—who win out here, thus allowing the Krakoan project to grow at a more rapid pace, driving up reader enthusiasm, as well. So, yeah, cynicism wins, as usual. At least Hickman’s being honest! 😉
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