in which I read ALL THE REST of Remender's Uncanny X-Force

[snick_backup]

And now I think I want to reread the whole thing, possibly in hard copy, so that I can actually think about the plot and character arcs properly.

So, this book was much less a slog in the second half - basically as soon as we got through the interminable, convoluted, and really annoying Dark Angel arc, things started clearing up. I was prepared to be really annoyed with Fantomex got kidnapped and taken to Otherworld, which was yet another apparently major story element I'd never heard of. However, the comic introduces it pretty gently. And everything after that arc builds on the elements introduced in the first half of the series, which means finally, finally I knew what was going on.

So now, having seen the whole thing, I'm rather pleased that Remender actually had a point with these 35 issues. All the tangle of events in the beginning were meant to lead up the Otherworld and Final Execution arcs' meditations on the moral justification (or lack thereof) for pre-emptive strikes in the name of security. Now, I think he does kind of a crap job of actually exploring this theme; the dialogue is moralizing and trite and obvious, and we reach our conclusion basically by banging the same gong enough times that we can't hear the other side of the argument anymore. I would not recommend this comic as an ethical discussion. However, I'm fairly impressed with how he developed the plot threads in order to bring up these points, and for the most part I think the characterization works well, too. The character arcs are consistently developed, IMO, and make emotional sense to me.

IMO, Psylocke and Fantomex ended up being the heart of this book, which pleases me very much, since they're mostly who I was reading for. I'm not actually sure what my feelings are about their relationship and what the comic seems to be saying about each of them; that's something I'd like to reread for. In particular, this tossed-off comment at the end about how Fantomex should be given some leeway for his behavior since he has three opposing brains to contend with sounded like a) a cheap out for when he's a jerk, and b) a way to smooth over any complaints about inconsistent characterization (not that I really noticed any to complain about?). However, they definitely kept me engaged, both together and separate. And now, YAY, I am all caught up to properly appreciate what Sam Humphries is doing with them in the Marvel NOW incarnation of the title.

Deadpool had some shining moments, too, and also Evan (aka Genesis aka Kid Apocalypse) got some major development in the last arc, which was spiffy, since I'd already read all the relevant Wolverine & the X-Men issues where we see Evan moping around and trying to belong. Just in general, that title and this one read together quite nicely.

I'm a little bit amused that our secondary villains in that last arc are a mutant gang including Mystique, The Blob, and Sabretooth - it's exactly the same crew that was mucking things up back in that Claremont omnibus which I am still reading.

I have to say, by and large, the art on this book in the second half was really excellent, if a bit of a hodgepodge. Phil Noto did most of the final arc, which was therefore unsurprisingly gorgeous. The Otherworld arc was drawn by Greg Tocchini, whom I wasn't familiar with but who has a sort of broad-strokes style with a lot of heavy lines and emphasis on painting, which ends up making it feel really robust with a lot of physicality to it. And of course the first half included that three-issue arc drawn by Esad Ribic, which I just loved.

So: who has read this? I NEED TO TALK ABOUT IT.

Crossposted from Dreamwidth. Comment here or there. ( DW replies)

Comments

[latenightcuppa.livejournal.com]

I've read it -- I was really quite fond of it for the team dynamics, if not so much the coherency of plot. The best Deadpool in a good long time in terms of giving the character back some depth and growth, and ohhhhh heavens to Betsy, Psylocke is my fav.

[snickfic]

I'm glad you said that about Deadpool - this is my first encounter with him, and I wondered if he had epiphanies about worth and purpose in all his major arcs. So knowing that this was a big deal makes me appreciate his arc more. Also, I definitely warmed up to him as I went along; at first he just felt really random. By the end he provided some much-needed humor and perspective to help leaven all the drama.

PSYLOCKE. I am now super curious about this incapability of feeling sorrow. I'd have to back and reread the relevant sections to be sure - I basically marathoned 15 issues yesterday - but it looks to me that it isn't so much that she doesn't have sorrow as that it gets sublimated into other things, like anger and desire for vengeance. Which has gotta be a tough way to live, wow. I'm also inclined to wonder if capacity for sorrow isn't something that might grow back after pruning.

But ugh, the poor woman. I think maybe my favorite moment, actually, was at the end of the Otherworld arc where she tells her brother Brian that he made her kill their sibling so that Brian could remain the good guy - it's an interesting alternate angle to the whole preventative execution thing that I'd like to have seen explored more, and of course it's horrible for her on a personal level. I'm reminded a lot of Giles killing Ben at the end of Buffy S5, except of course Giles explicitly made that choice to prevent Buffy from having to, and Brian did the opposite.

[latenightcuppa.livejournal.com]

I wondered if he had epiphanies about worth and purpose in all his major arcs. He used to, once upon a time -- the Cable and Deadpool ongoing, while it had its faults, is a very good comic over all and did a lot of interesting things for Deadpool's character growth that have since been mostly ignored in favor of tired, lazy frat boy humor.

OH GOSH YES THAT WHOLE BIT WITH BRIAN. oh Betsy. Yes, I would have liked to see that concept explored further.

[snickfic]

I have heard good things about Cable & Deadpool. I am reeeally not in a space for a m/m buddy story right now, but when I am more in the mood I will have to check it out.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

I still have no desire to read comics myself, but your newfound love for them makes me happy every time I see you post about them.

(Also: at some point I would love to hear some thoughts on Orphan Black if you have time. I'm so interested in your take!)

[snickfic]

AWW. I am glad it makes you happy. They continue to make me happy, so. :D

I mean to post something about Orphan Black within the next couple of days, although I'm not sure I'll have any great insight that Tumblr hasn't already had. It was awfully fun, though.

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't have deep insights either, which is why I didn't post about it. I just like to know which characters are people's favorites and what they most want to see in S2, that sort of thing.

[snickfic]

I think I can manage that much. Watch this space! (I may also end up cross-posting to Tumblr, as I've been doing with some of the comics reviews.)

[penny-lane-42.livejournal.com]

Fun! And I will share right back!

[amathela.livejournal.com]

I just finished reading it, and I really enjoyed it - Remender's definitely heavy-handed when it comes to issues of morality, but I loved the characterisations and team dynamic and I thought the Apocalypse stuff was really interesting (and his Deadpool was fantastic).

I'm disappointed that I'm not a bigger fan of Remender in general, though; based on this I thought I would be, but I wasn't super impressed with his run on Secret Avengers, and the less said about Uncanny Avengers, the better :\

[snickfic]

Yeah, his Moral Themes get to be a bit much, but as you say, it's a great team he has going. And having read a bunch of Wolverine & the X-Men already, where Evan hangs around in the background, it was neat to see his story play out.

(I confess, I'm still a little confused by the actual plot development of Apocalypse. I gather they defeated the previous Apocalypse during an event prior to the beginning of this book, and then because he died Archangel/Warren got tapped to be next, and then it was Evan's turn next. I think. But there's all this stuff about how Apocalypse is inevitable, and I had trouble judging how true that actually was. IDK. There were certainly actual plot elements of this book I never really got hold of.)

Yeah, I was actually a bit surprised how much I enjoyed this given what awful things I've heard about Remender's run on Uncanny Avengers. How very unfortunate. :(

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

Is there anything in particular that makes the second half so engaging to you, when it seems like you were really frustrated by the first? I'm up to #19 right now and I'm really thinking about giving up on it because I don't know the background on much of anything they're doing, and it just feels like a really dark book to me. I have mostly liked the art, though, especially the colorist who does the really line-y looking painting stuff.

On the other hand, Gillen's Uncanny X-Men makes slightly more sense now, because I guess all the dreaming celestial/tabula rasa stuff his X-Men were dealing with comes from over here.

[snickfic]

I really liked Psylocke's development in the second half, starting with the Otherworld arc, where when I say I liked it, I mean it BROKE MY HEART. And she continues to break my heart through the whole rest of the book. I also like the Psylocke/Fantomex dynamic from that point on, because it hits a bunch of girl-saves-boy kinks I have, and there's a lot of good stuff with Deadpool, who really is the heart-and-feels of the book, oddly enough.

And Phil Noto did most of the last couple of arcs, so you have that to look forward to, if you get there. :)

It is definitely a dark book, though. FWIW, I didn't know any of the backstory stuff, either. I muddled along and just decided not to care about the big arc stuff.

[ladymercury-10.livejournal.com]

it hits a bunch of girl-saves-boy
Ahh that does sound promising.

Yeah, Deadpool does seem to get a lot of pretty serious lines, he is much less jokey than I would have expected.

Phil Noto does have really pretty art. :)