Graphic SF Reader
Ultimate X-Men will just never be for me, I am afraid. I understand why
they are doing it, and it is has obviously been successful, but
eventually they will run into the same problems and reasons for doing
this universe. What will they do then, the same thing? A bit of the
manga art style here, too, that I am usually not a fan of when
hybridised like this, and a crossover Japanese writer, as well.
what were they thinking?
Marvel came with the age of apocalypse, which was one of the best from the house of ideas but then they release this book that does not even worths the paper that they used.
In the original history you can see one of the best endings in the comic book industry, but they destroy all of that in this one.
Being one of the best x-men fan ever I can tell you, save your money go ahead and get something else....
Great Continuation of a Great Story
Back in the 90's Marvel released a series called Age of Apocalypse where the heroes of the marvel universe, X-Men in particular, were recreated in a world where Xavier had been killed and Apocalypse had taken control of much of the world. It has since become known as one of Marvel's most successful spin-off series and was both critically acclaimed and fan appreciated.
Now, ten years later, Marvel released this collection of all six New Age of Apocalypse comics and the Age of Apocalypse One shot. The one shot itself does little more than fill in a few gaps from the original story and without the original Age of Apocalypse is of little worth. The six piece mini series however is a continuation/stand alone series that's an interesting new take on the original X-Men, as well as those from the AoA universe. Chris Banchalo's art is what really makes this story worth the money. He offers a new design of all of the previous characters and his art style is fresh and dark, very appropriate for the AoA universe. The story however is where the graphic novel falls apart. Not that it is horrible, but author Akira Yoshida has a few unexplained gaps like how Psylock suddenly became Japanese or how Wolfsbane freed herself of her transitional form. Yoshida leave plenty of spots for action where the artwork really access and in doing so makes up for his misshapes. In the end the story is readable and the artwork is admirable, this book should defiantly be picked up if you're a fan of the original series, or Weapon X (Wolverine) as a lot of the story focuses on him.
Avoid
To celebrate the ten year anniversary of the landmark X-Men storyline the Age of Apocalypse, Marvel comissioned hack writer Akira Yoshida (X-Men/Fantastic Four, Elektra) to script a six issue mini-series that returns to the dark, dystopian, alternate reality we all know and love. The mini-series itself begins where X-Men: Omega ended years back: Apocalypse is dead, and somehow Magneto and his surviving X-Men are still alive. However, not all is well, as we soon find out thanks to Yoshida's schizophrenic storytelling. Is it me, or does anyone else remember Sinister dying in the last issue of X-Man? Not to mention, in X-Men: Omega, remember when Jean Grey is killed, and as Weapon X cradles her, the caption states that "she is no Phoenix"? I thought so, but Yoshida tosses all that aside as Sinister is alive and well, and the Phoenix is here too. Nitpicks aside, this could be all well and good if the story were anything decent, but it isn't, and the characterizations of Magneto, Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Weapon X, Sabretooth, etc. are so far from what we came to know in the original AoA storyline that they seem like completely different characters all together. Other characters that weren't in the original AoA cross-over, including the Silver Samurai, Xorn, and even the currently hot X-23, are here as well, but for no good reason. Chris Bachalo provides the pencils for the mini, and they're about what you'd expect from the guy from seeing his most recent work: incoherent and sloppy. Also featured in this TPB is an AoA one-shot featuring work from original AoA writers Larry Hama, Scott Lobdell, and co., and that may be worth a look for old AoA fans, but all in all, this unnecessary TPB is better left on the shelf for the rest of us, and should be rightfully avoided.
AoA returns, but shouldn't have
I bought this volume with great interest. My understanding was that that AoA universe had expired due to nuclear holocaust (not Holocaust) some years back. Imagine my surprise and anticipation when Marvel found a way to keep this fascinating timeline alive. The orignal Age of Apocalypse was such an innovation, with good characters gone bad, bad gone good, and a goodly number of new ones mixed in. I didn't know what to expect from New AoA.
My initial reaction was positive. I was always curious as to the origin of Wild Child, and my memories of AoA didn't explain his appearance. This book does. However, it really makes me feel like a comic nerd (not that there's anything wrong with that) to notice a discrepancy here. Sabretooth and the Apocalypse troop parted company during a battle with the X-Men, and they left him behind. It doesn't fit that he would have been tossed into a cell with Wild Child after his moral turnaround. Why, oh why, do the writers do things like this? It doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things, but it's one of those irritations common in comic books. The writers don't write to preserve existing storylines. Another huge revelation there!
A major premise of the main story involves a huge secret that involves Magneto, the government, and The Real Person who saved America from nuclear holocaust. The generally-held perspective is that Magneto is responsible, but gasp! it is someone else, and for some reason he's not telling. It's all based on a visit by Sinister and it causes all kinds of internal turmoil. The plot unravels further and further until it comes to an awkward and hastily-wrapped-up-ending that left a bad taste in my mouth. Characters who were noble and strong in the original AoA storyline are suddenly weakened into liars that capitulate to blackmail. It is unlike the original AoA. In fact, it is a cheap knock-off loosely based on Marvel's most innovative X-Men storyline in recent years.
Now, the artwork - the characters and artwork have changed, and changed again, since the very beginning of The Uncanny X-Men. Some of those changes were improvements, while some of them were stylistic disasters. I would count the artwork in this book to be one of the latter. Many important action sequences are packed into little tiny display boxes, followed by a great big box with a great big reaction to whatever just happened. I spent much time squinting at the artwork trying to figure out what just happened. The pages are arranged right next to the spine of the book, so many dialogue bubbles are obscured. The characters are sometimes glossy, as though they were made of shiny plastic. To top it all off, the artwork is so strongly anime-manga influenced that, were it not for distinguishing characteristics such as Rogue's white streak, they would be unrecognizable. They look childish, puffy-faced, and sloppily-drawn.
Had Marvel continued with artwork, storyline, and characters exactly like those in the original series, New Age of Apocalypse would have been much more appealing. Instead, this hastily cobbled-together volume touches on themes from the original, but it pays them no compliments.
