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Total ($5!) Heroes

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Walt

I went into Walmart to get a frame for a puzzle (sadly, they had a slot marked for the exact size I wanted, but out of stock).

And me being me, I wandered by the toys, curious if they’d have any cool Power Rangers figures I’ve ignored (they didn’t). I decided to browse the clearance aisle, as there was a lot of open space in the action figure aisle, and I’ve noticed the stores resetting for summer and Jurassic World and such.

Total_Heroes_Three_Pack_front

I happened across this Total Heroes three-pack that I’ve seen several times before. It didn’t have a clearance sticker on it, but I did see where it had a stickered spot on the shelf…seeing the price, I went straight to a price scanner…the price had to be wrong.

The Total Heroes figures seem to be basically $9.99 at Walmart and Meijer (and I don’t think I’ve seen them at all at Target)…and $14.99 at Toys R Us. So this pack being a $29.99 thing was a reasonable price (but I already had Superman and a different-costumed Batman). $30 for Luthor was never on the table.

At the price-scanner, the price was confirmed as correct! $5.00. For this 3-pack. So even though the Superman is a flat-out dupe, the Batman is a different costume than the one I have so technically new, and Luthor is wholly original to my Total Heroes collection…

And $5.00 for Luthor is a price I would’ve paid anyway.

Total_Heroes_Three_Pack_back

These join Superman, Batman, Sinestro, Flash, Steel, and Hawkman…leaving me all the more interested now in tracking down Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Mr. Freeze.

Total_Heroes_Three_Pack_profiles

I’m not a HUGE fan of the line compared to some others…but even with stuff like Marvel Legends I never cared for the hyper-poseable nature…I just like having the characters at all, and in scale with each other.

And when stuff like Marvel Legends are $20+ and even the little 3.75″ figures are upwards of $9.99 to $12.99+ these days…I’m all for bigger, somewhat less poseable yet cheaper figures.

Of course, getting 3 figures for $5 is gonna make it a BIT challenging to mentally “justify” $10/1 with any others.

While it’s not what I went into the store for, with only inflated online prices and no sign of Legacy Dragonzord or Legacy Megazord on shelves anywhere (only Legacy White Tigerzord)…I’ll content myself with this as an amazing random bargain find!

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Kai’s Fire Mech…Again

Posted on May 19, 2015 by Walt

While I’d bought and assembled one of these awhile back, kicking off my love of Lego Mechs…I wanted to give it a second go, this time for my cube at work.

kais_fire_mech_pieces

Though I haven’t seen the set in Walmart or Target for awhile, I found it at a Barnes and Noble, and bought it.

A few days later, on a lunch break I opened it and managed to get it completely assembled.

kais_fire_mech_assembled

I now have two Ninjago mechs and a Mixel on my cube as well as a couple of mini Chima mechs…and think I may want some more…

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

White Ranger Tiger Power…

Posted on May 18, 2015 by Walt

white_tigerzord_box_top

Though it’s been several years since the “return” of the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, when I finally got myself a Megazord…a number of factors brought the toys back to my attention, and I learned of this Legacy line. And while I’d’ve preferred the Dragonzord, this is the only one I could find at a quasi-sorta-reasonable price, and pulled the trigger on buying it.

white_tigerzord_box_front

I really like the front of the box, spotlighting the mighty White Tigerzord in Tiger Mode, though we get a little inset of the thing in Fighter Mode. The photo doesn’t do the box justice–the shiny gold of the logo lettering is nicely offset from the sparking green background.

white_tigerzord_box_side1   white_tigerzord_box_side2

The sides are also nicely designed with the White Ranger himself on one side, and a small diagram of the White Tigerzord’s ability to “play nicely” with the Megazord. This is a bit out of continuity, though–as the Tigerzord didn’t come onto the scene until after the original Zords were done, though it worked with the Thunderzords. Still…if I get the Legacy Megazord, you won’t find me complaining about its compatibility here!

white_tigerzord_box_back

The back of the box shows the two primary modes of the zord, with a snippet of information about Tommy and the zord.

white_tigerzord_packaging

The packaging is nice and simple–a tray to hold the zord, the sword/tail, and the folder paper instructions. No fancy ties, no rubber bands, no tape to cut, no real HASSLE (unlike many toys nowadays!)

white_tigerzord_instructions

A single sheet of paper shows a diagram of how to switch the model between its primary modes…as well as how to connect it to other Zords (sold separately). I had some slight trouble with the legs and a heart-stopping moment thinking I’d broken the thing before realizing how great the combination of plastic and metal parts could be.

white_tigerzord_profile_front

The Warrior Mode of White Tigerzord (and truly, my favorite…as a fan of Mechs and giant robots…). View from the front…

white_tigerzord_profile_side1

View from the side…

white_tigerzord_profile_back

Continuing the rotation, view from the back…

white_tigerzord_profile_side2

…and view from the other side.

white_tigerzord_tigermode_front

Tiger Mode from the front…

white_tigerzord_tigermode_side1

…and Tiger Mode from the side.

white_tigerzord_with_megazord

And finally, White Tigerzord next to the 2010 edition of the Megazord.

While I’d’ve preferred the Dragonzord at present, I’m going to have to wait as that one is well outside any sort of reasonable price range to me at the moment. I believe there’s a new version of the Megazord due out soon as part of the Legacy line, and I may try to get that at some point. That may be at least partially dependent upon finding the Legacy Dragonzord for a decent price. I know there’s also Titanus, but that is significantly further outside my price range, and though I do recall the occasional appearance and formation of the Ultrazord…I don’t care enough about that one.

This Legacy zord is a good bit heavier than the all-plastic Megazord, and definitely a higher quality by weight and feel, as well as the moving parts. This is easily one of the single most expensive toys I’ve bought, but it’s also one of the larger ones, which somewhat offsets things a bit.

While there’s a little bit of buyer’s remorse in how I’d so prefer the Dragonzord…ultimately I’m glad I did buy this, and it’s going to be a great addition to my collection.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, The Toy Chronicles | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

Convergence – Batman: Shadow of the Bat #2 [Review]

Posted on May 15, 2015 by Walt

convergence_batmanshadowofthebat002Home is the Sailor

Words: Larry Hama
Pencils: Rick Leonardi
Inks: Dan Green
Colors: Elmer Santos
Lettering: Steve Wands
Cover: Philip Tan, Elmer Santos
Assistant Editors: Holzherr & Kraiger
Editor: Marie Javins
Published by: DC Comics
Cover Date: July 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

Batman and Azbats…er…Azrael, vs. Wetworks, for the fate of the city? Yeah, but I don’t even know WHICH city they’re in from this. The previous issue was several weeks ago and this one lacks anything to bring one up to speed. Sure, it’s ONLY the 2nd issue of two, but…really? So the Batmen fight Wetworks while befriending a woman and her son as the notion of getting the Wetworks team to slow down long enough for a teamup to be proposed, to endeavor to save BOTH cities. And while both cities are still around at the end of the issue, there’s no truly definitive ending.

We get the "conclusion" of a story that is NOT a conclusion. At best it’s the first act in a larger arc…but there’s no To Be Continued note, no "continued in Convergence #7," no "for the final fate of BOTH CITIES, check out Convergence #8 on sale in TWO WEEKS!" note, just some ridiculous, cliché stopping point because we’re out of pages.

And I really feel like I should have gone with my initial instinct and left this thing on the shelf. But in a fairly rare instance of it happening, the cover sold me, just by its weird coloring, and the title logo…and the strength of the previous issue’s cover (which I liked SO MUCH that I made it my phone’s lock screen, so have been seeing it several times a day for the past month or so).

I was further sold, again, by Hama‘s name on the cover…though sadly, that (and the interior credits) are the only place I have anything to truly suggest to me that Hama‘s even involved. Nothing about this "feels" like some kind of GI Joe thing, nothing reminds me of 1993-ish Wolverine, and nothing about this otherwise screams "I’m by Larry Hama!" to me.

I blame that not on Hama, but on the lack of room for anything to truly develop. And having soured CONSIDERABLY on Convergence in general since its start, having allowed myself some general enjoyment of Marvel’s version of stuff in Secret Wars, this just pales all the more as an issue.

This felt paced to be the opening of a larger story, and if this were a six-issue arc, it would seem on track to be a good story overall, having spent the first issue (re)introducing us to Zero Hour-era Batman and Azrael and setting up the Wetworks fight; this issue gave us the actual fight and leaves us with the two groups seeming about to team up; leaving several issues to show them interacting and preparing a plan; putting the plan into action and the plan going awry; an issue to refocus or have some significant change to the Batmen at least, and lead into some cataclysmic or miraculous event for one/both of the cities and a possible lead-back into some core event series.

So in a way, this is like a 6-issue mini getting canned after only 2 issues; or checking out a couple episodes of some tv show, being somewhat interested, but then told "oh, no, they just never put any more episodes out" or some such.

I’m irked at the length (technically, the lack thereof); irked at the Deathstroke "preview," that I don’t care about especially for not caring about the title or character, I’m irked at the $3.99 cover price vs. $2.99; and I’m irked that I bought this thing at all as a single issue.

This totally feels like it’s something destined for bargain bins; whether dollar bins or cheaper I don’t know. The entirety of Convergence does, for that matter. I’d bought the Superman #2 issue last week and now this; I’m wrestling with OCD on the STEEL issue as well as the handful of other #2s still pending. Consciously I know I should wait for the bargain bin appearances, but there’s part of me that just HAS TO "experience" what’s happening real-time with some of these ‘key’ issues, that is not content to just sit back and get it second-hand.

As long as you’re not feeling that way, I’d say this issue is totally skippable and inconsequential…to whatever the main story has gotten to and in general. There’s no #3 and no new #1 for Batman: Shadow of the Bat that I am aware of; no new pending title debuting starring Jean-Paul Valley, any incarnation of Azrael, or a Zero Hour era Batman, so…if the cover doesn’t suck you in or some other sentimentality grab you, wait for the bargain bins or an attractive collected volume that includes this.

Filed under: 2015 posts, 2015 Reviews, Convergence (event), DC | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Imperium #4 [Review]

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Walt

imperium004Writer: Joshua Dysart
Artist: Doug Braithwaite
Colorist: Brian Reber with Ulises Arreola
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Cover: Rafael Albuquerque, Kano, Rafa Sandoval, Cary Nord, Doug Braithwaite
Editor: Alejandro Arbona
Editor in Chief: Warren Simons
Published by: Valiant Comics
Cover Date: May 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

This series is an interesting exercise for me so far. It feels like a definite “evolution” of sorts–having begun with Harbinger as an ongoing, bridged with Harbinger: Omegas and then functionally replacing Harbinger entirely. Its story began with what was laid out by the Harbinger run, but as those characters were scattered and moved about we still have Harada actively doing his thing…which presently is more important to the Valiant Universe than the Renegades’ story.

We find some of Harada’s people visiting another dimension, where one of them–Angela–is possessed by something. On their return, they find her eyes and entire visual system no longer exists and there is a self-aware intelligence inhabiting her body, but is not her. She offers knowledge in exchange for continued freedom/access to do her thing (the intelligence claims to be a scientist itself). She builds a machine, shows off her detachment, and by the end of the issue Harada declares a new war has begun.

If that seems a bit disjointed, it’s what I felt, reading this. I enjoyed the reading overall as a “latest segment of story,” but very much feel like it’s “just” part of a bigger story and not so much a cohesive whole by itself.

The art is definitely pretty to look at overall, if a bit disturbing at points…but that does mean it’s doing its job. For the stuff going on in the “other dimension” I didn’t find myself entirely following along, which I definitely do NOT care for…but if it was supposed to be surreal, I managed to pick up on that much.

We “feel” Harada in this issue more than we actually see him, which I definitely do not mind…the series is Imperium, not Harada. I do like the cover–or at least, the one I got–the “main” “A” cover. It’s got the stylized look of the series so far, and thus fits in visually as well as in simply BEING the newest issue. However, this seems to be the arbitrary conclusion to a short 4-issue arc (presumably for a $9.99 vol. 1 paperback) but does not really feel to me like it resolves anything…it simply continues stuff and kicks the door open on a new matter (presumably to be the focus of the next “arc”).

If you’re already following the title, this is worth getting for the continuation of the story. In and of itself as a single issue it’s nothing to jump over or seek out, though if you like Dysart and/or Braithwaite, and can find the first three issues it’d be worth getting those and this for a larger/longer reading experience (or just wait for the paperback). I do look forward to the next issue…not as some second arc, but just as the next chapter of an ongoing series.

Filed under: 2012, 2015 posts, 2015 Reviews, Imperium, Valiant | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Thoughts on This Week’s Secret Wars #2, Mythic #1 and X-O Manowar #36

Posted on May 13, 2015 by Walt

Doing something they haven’t done in AGES, Marvel had a book out this week I was eagerly looking forward to, that drove my going to the comic shop on my lunch break despite construction and traffic and extending the break to read the entirety of the issue before getting back to work.

three_comics_05132015

SECRET WARS #2

Given the ending of Secret Wars #1 last week I was eager to see what this new “Battleworld” would be and how the sections would actually be depicted, so of course I had to get #2 as soon as I could, and read the thing as soon as possible after that.

It proved to be a bit of a letdown in that regard and truly felt like a new #1, an introductory issue to some world, with a fair bit “teased” but not much actually shown. I know it’s still only the first chunk of story and all, and “only” the “core” where there are oodles of tie-in issues and tie-in mini-series and all that still coming in the next few weeks and MONTHS, but I was still hoping for something more.

On the other side of things…despite the aforementioned hope, there was also the expectation of something a lot worse. I WANT to dislike this specifically because I’m consciously aware of it being a Hickman book. Unfortunately, I can’t find the same fault and feel in it that I would EXPECT of a Hickman book, and instead read the thing, turning page after page just wondering where stuff was going and if anything would be some overly blatant lead-out to other stuff. But it didn’t feel that way.

I enjoyed the issue on the whole, and am actually more disappointed to consciously realize the thing is not a weekly, and my brain is too caught up in DC’s thing being “only” 2 months…while I fear this Secret Wars thing is gonna be drawn out for half a year or so now.

MYTHIC #1

While it wasn’t pulled for me–its “promo pricing” being $1.99 instead of the usual $1-or-under threshold–seems I was the first one to actually buy a copy of the thing anyway, despite the shop having been open for at least a couple hours before I got there. And it is definitely the pricing that caught my attention for the book along with being a #1.

But reading the thing, it just doesn’t grab me. I got to the end of the issue, and actually went back and counted the story pages, sure that this had to have cut off around 16-18 pages, but no…22 story pages. Which is NOT bad for the $1.99 cover price…but getting to the end of the issue and simply wondering what the heck I’ve just read (not in a good way) does not bode well for me.

The issue’s not horrible or anything, by a long shot…but it just doesn’t grab me. It’s “another” reality-vs-fantasy thing showing that what “should” be fantasy is “true” while all the fiction and “magic” is real, and just feels cliche to me. None of the characters truly grabbed me, nothing to the visuals stood out, and even the cover seems…tired? Overly basic and generic?

Seems that EVERY SINGLE WEEK there’s a new #1 from Image out there, with one “high concept” or another, and though lately I’ve been more willing to try some of ’em instead of ONLY waiting for a paperback, they have incredibly high standards to live up to–even if I can’t exactly articulate some checklist of what those standards are.

X-O MANOWAR #36

Dead Hand part three. Aric failed to save Loam, but vows that Earth will not be destroyed the same way. He puts out a call to other armors around the universe, summoning them to his side to take the fight to Dead Hand even as Earth begins to realize the threat it now faces so soon after the Armor Hunters.

As usual, the art for the issue is good, and the story doesn’t suck. Unfortunately, I have a growing trepidation toward Valiant in general lately over stuff due for this summer–particularly the “Incentive Series” Legends of the Geomancer that has been advertised as part of the Book of Death stuff and yet simultaneously explained as not being needed to “get” and enjoy Book of Death.

Reading this issue I found myself contemplating whether or not the next issue would be my last, ast least in this format or for awhile. Instead of simply enjoying the story, the experience was tainted despite wanting to read this in and of itself.

Ultimately, a couple of good splash pages left me ready for the conclusion, and thinking about how we had an 18-part giant Armor Hunters event last summer…and in this third chapter of four we have stuff going on that seems like it’s supposed to all be so much bigger than the Armor Hunters but the story is given a fraction of the scope.

Despite negatives, though…this marks 37 monthly issues of X-O Manowar that I’ve kept up with…something I don’t think I’ve done with any title from any publisher to this extent in most of a decade.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, 2015 Reviews | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Defiant Card Albums – #0 Issues

Posted on May 12, 2015 by Walt

I’ve known about the (Warriors of) Plasm card set that–completed and in 9-pocket card pages–makes up a #0 issue since it came out back in the day (1993 or so). But I don’t think I knew about the Dark Dominion one until this year.

defiant_zeroissue_card_albums

I happened across a regular sized standard-ish comic edition of Plasm #0 in a quarter bin that I decided to get for the novelty of it. The issue seemed like it had been an insert in something, without proper binding of its own.

The store owner noticed it and asked if I was interested in these, and while I declined at the time, they stuck in my head, and a week after, I decided if he still had them, I’d ask about the price he’d quoted…since that stood, I bought ’em.

Getting these for roughly the price of a contemporary comic…reminds me once again how much my comic shop puts CONVENTION dealer rooms to shame…the every-day stuff I can get, the organization and cleanliness and extremely reasonable pricing–I often find myself quite DISAPPOINTED at cons.

Now, of course, I try to remember if I’d passed on a run of both of these series and think it’d be interesting to track them down and compare the "zero issue" to the main series for myself.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Adding to the Thanos Collection

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Walt

infinity_gauntlet_number1

I’ve been on quite the Thanos (and Warlock) kick lately, finally "pulling the trigger" on gathering up a number of the collected volumes associated with the characters, with my favorite stories involving them…or at least ones that I’ve known of but not yet read, and want to (and anticipate their becoming favorites).

On Free Comic Book Day 2015, while out with friends, I spotted a simple but extremely effective display in which a copy of the Infinity Gauntlet paperback was propped up next to a giant coin bank of Thanos’ infamous gauntlet sporting some pretty, shiny Infinity Gems (aka "shiny plastic," in this case). I’d seen this before and I’d passed on it…but Free Comic Book Day tends to be an "extra" thing where I’m more likely to try new stuff than usual, or to buy stuff I don’t normally buy in the course of visiting comic shops. Unfortunately, someone a dozen-or-more people ahead of me in line picked it up and claimed it, so I wasn’t able to buy it there and then.

thanos_bank

At another shop I did spot a Thanos bust bank, and while it wasn’t what I’d decided I wanted, I decided to make do with what I could get and bought it. Still Thanos, and he IS sporting the gauntlet…but it’s hardly a "life-size" piece.

After parting ways with my friends, I went to visit my parents and help out with some stuff…and fortuitously put me in range of two other comic shops. The first one did not have the Gauntlet bank…but the second one did.

infinity_gauntlet_bank

And of course, since it had become my most-coveted item for the day and was the entire reason I went to the fourth shop, I bought it.

I don’t specifically collect banks or busts…but they ARE functionally plastic statues, and since I’m not going to pay hundreds of dollars for a single item, I’m quite content with the plastic variety.

thanos_and_infinity_gauntlet_banks

Sadly, I only later realized that whoever OKed the Gauntlet screwed up–THE Infinity Gauntlet was on Thanos’ LEFT hand…while this bank is clearly a right-handed piece. The Thanos bust has it correct.

I actually looked online for some images to see if I was just misremembering or such, and found more recent pieces that DO show Thanos with a right-handed gauntlet…so I’m just gonna go with it on the notion that it’s Starlin‘s Thanos, and that depiction of the character that wields the left-handed one…and a more generic Thanos that uses the right.

As such, the bank isn’t entirely inaccurate, but it does bother me a bit, in that I-didn’t-think-this-sort-of-continuity-detail-WOULD kind of way. But that sort of continuity thing is a discussion for some other post, some other time.

Suffice it to say these are a couple of cool items for my collection, and their coolness to me IS entirely based on Thanos appearing in the Marvel Studios films…and nostalgia for the ’90s Thanos stuff. (Other than the FCBD Infinity issue a couple years ago, I have yet to actually read Infinity and don’t presently have any great intent to seek it out).

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts, NON-REVIEW CONTENT | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Art, Pagecount, and Price in Comics

Posted on May 8, 2015 by Walt

I’d picked up the first several issues of the new Marvel Star Wars and Darth Vader comics, and while I enjoyed them “well enough,” the “new & shiny” has worn off and I’m back to the fact the things are $3.99 and not feeling as “worth it” to me. (the rapid expansion of the “line” is a contributing factor as well).

darth_vader_03a

I recently caught up on some of my reading and quickly realized how FAST I was blowing through the issues. I flipped back through and realized how there was a definite LACK OF words on many pages.

darth_vader_03b  darth_vader_03e

I love the art, and the fact it has a nicely “cinematic” look is certainly appealing–VISUALLY–but AS it does a great job, I can see it, appreciate it, but I blow right through, taking stuff in like quick single frames of a movie.

darth_vader_03c

I don’t even notice much in the way of “visual sound effects” (possibly the tradeoff for not “covering up” the art) so there’s even less to slow the eye from passing quickly over stuff, taking it in and continuing on; seeing and ‘hearing’ stuff in the back of the mind.

darth_vader_03d

Granted, for the purposes of this post I’m only providing photos of some of the pages-other pages do have a lot more in the way of dialogue/word balloons–but the fact that so many of the pages go so quick is highly problematic for me as we ONLY get 20 pages of story for the $3.99 cover price.

darth_vader_03f

[Above pages all from Darth Vader #3; below are from #4]

While I certainly like and enjoy good art in comics–for me, bad art can taint a story, but good art merely adds to a story. I buy comics for the story…without a story that interests me, I don’t care how beautiful the art “in general” is.

darth_vader_04a

Particularly when I re-read comics from the ’90s and earlier I notice just how “wordy” they seem compared to a lot of modern comics. Caption boxes, plenty of dialogue, even some labels and occasional editorial notes.

Moreso with pre-’90s comics I notice the more consistent “standard” panel layouts where panels seemed primarily contained to boxes…sure, the layouts might not be as dynamic as present-day, but having more distinct panels (in my mind and memory as I type this post) seems to mean “more” panels on a page.

darth_vader_04c

Particularly when there’s a lot of quick action in-story, just like I’m not going to hit pause or switch to some half-speed mode watching tv or a movie I don’t feel any need or desire to pause in moving through an issue to look closely at every little detail that might be present or marvel at the sheer quality of the detail, etc.

darth_vader_04b  darth_vader_04d

If you’ve read my blog at any length you certainly know that I have a problem with $3.99 as a price point for comics (especially for Marvel and DC, while I’m more lenient on other publishers). Only 20 pages for my $3.99 gets quite annoying; and $3.99 when I can breeze right through an issue in 5-6 minutes would mean I’m paying the equivalent of $40/hr for entertainment. That’d be like spending $60-$80 to watch a movie!

I can buy a prose novel–a STORY–for $8 and carry the thing around reading for those 5-10 minutes at a time here and there for WEEKS before finishing it.

Not all comics are quite so quick a read (and they are certainly of varying quality)…and as said earlier, I really like the art on these issues; it’s just that I don’t find the art alone to be enough to justify the cost in and of itself.

I was already figuring I’d cut my losses and drop the Star Wars books/avoid newer ones–I can pick single issues up later from bargain bins or I can buy the collected volumes or I’ll outright forget ’em and life will simply go on.

The page count and lack of story PER ISSUE just doesn’t work for me.

Filed under: 2015 Non-Review posts, 2015 posts | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

The ’90s Revisited: X-Men Prime

Posted on May 7, 2015 by Walt

90s_revisited

xmenprime001Racing the Night

Writers: Scott Lobdell & Fabian Nicieza
Pencilers: Bryan Hitch, Jeff Matsuda, Gary Frank, Mike McKone, Terry Dodson, Ben Herrerr, Paul Pelletier
Inkers: Al Milgrom, P. Craig Russell, Cam Smith, Mark Farmer, Mark McKenna, Tom Palmer, Tim Townsend, Hector Collazo
Letttering: Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Coloring: Steve Buccellato and Electric Crayon
Cover: Bryan Hitch
Editor: Bob Harras
Published by: Marvel Comics
Cover Date: July 1995
Cover Price: $4.95

With this issue, we’re back to the “real” reality/universe/timeline/whatever. The 616 Marvel Universe. Bishop and his mission was a success, and by stopping Legion from killing Xavier…the Age of Apocalypse never happened, things have been set right. Or have they?

We have a bunch of plot points sharing this issue…while the various Age of Apocalypse mini-series led into X-Men: Omega, this issue now serves as the focal point for the return of the “regular” X-Men titles…as a “regular universe” Alpha issue to introduce readers to the current status quo of the characters and teams that make up the X-side of the Marvel Universe and send the readers into the mix of titles having had this bit of setup for where things are moving forward.

I do think that if Free Comic Book Day had been around in 1995, this would certainly have been a Marvel offering…an in-continuity quasi-anthology to get readers to jump aboard the entire line of X-comics.

I can’t say I’m honestly all that thrilled with this issue on this re-read. I certainly appreciate that there are “only” two writers credited, offering a bit of consistency to the story side of things. The issue is quite a mix visually due to the numerous pencilers and inkers getting their chance to work on pages presumably germane to the individual titles. Reading through this time, I noticed a bit of wonky art at points, but somehow was not particularly jarred by the shifts…perhaps for familiarity with the Age of Apocalypse stuff as a whole.

After the shiny “chromium” covers for X-Men: Alpha and X-Men: Omega, seems Marvel felt the need to give this a special cover as well–a clear plastic-ish thing with an inner orangey background. We also get the “alternate” X-Men logo, with the Prime part next to it…and the whole thing is a wrap-around (which I very much appreciate 20 years later in an age of VARIANT “interlocking” covers).

The story introduces or re-introduces some characters–and I even see hints of Onslaught in this reading. We find out that several characters–Nate Grey, Dark Beast, Sugarman, and Holocaust–escaped the Age of Apocalypse and wound up in the real timeline. Nate first appears in the “present,” while Magneto’s Acolytes only now in the present discover what will be revealed to be Holocaust…but Beast and Sugarman arrived 20 years ago, and were responsible for the Morlocks and Genosha’s Mutates, respectively. Marrow is reintroduced, aged twenty years from a prior appearance…Rogue and Iceman are on a roadtrip, the former haunted by whatever she saw in Gambit’s memories (Gambit’s in a coma). Trish Tilby reveals the Legacy Virus to the public along with the knowledge that it’s affecting humans as well as Mutants. X-Factor chases Mystique and Havok’s powers act up on him; X-Force’s base is destroyed. Wolverine is living in the woods outside Xavier’s mansion (refusing to reside under the same roof as Sabretooth) and Bishop is having unconscious outbursts as a result of the visions he’s having as a result of his temporal status in relation to the Age of Apocalypse. Amidst all this a mutant seeks the X-Men but winds up victim of humans lashing out against something they fear and do not understand.

This certainly sets up the various X-titles moving forward, so for that alone is pretty much an “essential read.” Yet, unless one intends to pursue those issues from mid-1995 that this is immediately germane to, there’s not much to really dig into singularly with this issue. Outside of characters involved and how they now will interact in the 616 universe, there’s no actual story-content directly tied to the story of the Age of Apocalypse timeline.

Given that, my covering of this issue is much like why I covered the non-Legion Quest X-books that preceded Age of Apocalypse: this is stuff coming out on the “other end”, the border, “bleed,” or whatever butting up against the Age of Apocalypse without actually BEING an issue of that..

While rarer than the Alpha or Omega issues in bargain bins, I certainly would not pay much more than cover price for this (and that would be a grudgingly-paid price). I’d seek this out to use as a starting point diving into any or all of the X-books of the time but certainly not if you’re only interested in the Age of Apocalypse.

Unlike contemporary Marvel, this does not kick off “the next” EVENT but rather gives the individual titles time to flex and explore their own things for awhile before everything heats up again with the following year’s Onslaught stuff.

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