What's up for this round:X-Force #4: "No, Rahne, what are you--AGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!"
The Goon #25: "Happiness Is For Pussies"
Coptopus #1: "Nemesquid is part mollusk part machine. He's the perfect synthesis of technology and squid..."
The books that have called "X-Force" have been such a strange damned lot. I guess the philosophy with the title has always been: "this is more than just an X-Men book! this is an X-Men book plus plus plus!"
The latest incarnation, written by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost, is like a horror movie within an X-Men context, with plenty of blood and chopping. The premise -- what if you put the most slicey mutants together on one team -- almost sounds like something out of an earlier, more gimmick-laden era. What prevents the execution of said concept from being somewhat on the ludicrous side is the surreality of Clayton Crain's painted art.
Spoilers.
The way they brought back Archangel seems a little too pat, but it doesn't seem like what really matters. What really matters is that Warren Worthington is back with the slicey things. I always thought he was far more interesting -- and heck, marketable -- as Archangel than the plain old vanilla version. The BF vigorously disagrees with me, but there you go.
One of my first X-Men figures was that Toy Biz Archangel with the two little bulls**t "missiles" (which are like the first thing you lose, like within a week of purchase); it was awesome.
The Goon #25 continues a story arc in which the title character is out to avenge the death of a friend, and heads towards the showdown with the famed Labrazio. This arc has revisited so many plot points since the series began, that I almost feel like writer/artist Eric Powell is trying to wrap this book up and give the famed bruiser a rest. Here's hoping that, like Goon on the outskirts of town, he decides to drive back and continue the battle.
In some ways I've always felt like The Goon is a more accessible version of the Hellboy universe, at least to me; less Lovecraft, and more stinky sewer. God bless The Goon's stinky sewers, and all the horribly mutated things they find in there. I still feel lucky that I can get a monthly book with this consistent level of quality and artistic merit.
Coptopus #1, by Brian Rubin and Collin David, features an octopus that is a cop, and if this isn't a concept begging for its own T-shirt, I don't know what is. The book is a Jhonen Vasquez-esque take on Lethal Weapon, with a trenchcoat-wearing cephalopod teamed up with a clueless human detective. Alas, while this book might seem like the perfect opportunity to engage in some tentacle porn, there is none to be found.
My advice to creators Rubin and David: get this property over to Adult Swim.
If you would like to purchase a copy of Coptopus #1, please head over to Rubin's site and inquire.
I know, right? I lost those damn missiles as well. Come to think of it I lost MOST of the tiny accessories that came with the earlier early figures (except Wolverine' mask...that one just got broken on me...but I DID lose the sword!).
ReplyDeleteAt least you didn't stick em in your ear!
ReplyDeleteErr, I said "EAR"!
ArrrOOOooo!
^ Magneto's space junk (I think that's what it was actually called) stuck around pretty well, possibly because it tended to medically stick to Mags.
ReplyDelete"I always thought he was far more interesting -- and heck, marketable -- as Archangel than the plain old vanilla version."
ReplyDeleteIt was in fact Jon Bogdanove's depiction of Archangel on the cover of...X-Factor 53? 54? Blood red cover with Archangel looking all vampirish? That was the image that made me start reading X-Men when I was but a young teen. Really.
YAY! ARCHANGEL FIGURE! He and Apocalypse were the hardest to find, and I found them both with my mom one day in a Wal-mart on the other side of town. I was eleven, and absurdly happy for at least a week.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I never actually lost the missiles. Wolverine's mask/ring doohickey however was long gone shortly after leaving the package.
Also, I always liked the archangel wings better than the regular feather ones... but then again, that's how I was introduced into the character.
As for the book itself, I feel like Yost and Kyle are falling into the same trap they did with New X-men... confusing heightening dramatic tension with heightening the violence/body count.
I think Angel's marketable as the plain old dude with wings version, since that one used to carry a bazooka.
ReplyDeleteThe problem for Angel is that he just no longer inhabits a universe where "can fly" cuts it as a superpower. 3 out of 4 Marvel superpeople fly as sort of a side-dish to go along with the telepathy or weather-powers or superstrength or whatever other type of crazy thing.
ReplyDeleteI actually really enjoy X-Men: First Class for portraying a universe still at power levels where "flies" still counts, all by itself, as a legitimately amazing super-ability, but that ain't the 616 and things aren't going back.
whats funny is the moment i heard of coptopus and saw the cover i thought, "is this a show on adult swim?"
ReplyDelete