I preordered a copy of X-Men, Vol. 1: Primer. It’s been sitting on my end table for a few weeks now. I finally managed to pick it up.
Description from Goodreads:
The X-Women finally get their own book, from critically acclaimed superstars Brian Wood (X-MEN, ULTIMATE X-MEN, DMZ, THE MASSIVE) and Oliver Coipel (AVX, HOUSE OF M, THOR)!
An old enemy shows up at the X-Men’s door, seeking asylum from an ancient evil come back to earth. Meanwhile, Jubilee has come home, and she’s brought with her an orphaned baby who might hold the key to the earth’s survival…or its destruction. Against a backdrop of what seems like an alien invasion and an eons-spanning war between brother and sister, Storm steps up and puts together a team to protect the child and stop a new threat that could destroy all life on earth!
Collecting X-Men #1-4 and Uncanny X-Men #244
Review:
I’m going to preface my review by saying that I’m not a regular follower of X-Men, so there’ll be no ‘compared to past arcs’ or ‘bla bla bla traditional X-Men.’ I completely respect comic fans and reviewers who can do that, but despite being a huge manga fan, I’ve never really pursued American graphic art. It just doesn’t look right to me since I’m used to the Japanese style. And it would be unfair to pretend I know more on this subject than I do. Be that as it may, I did purchase and read X-Men, Vol. 1: Primer. The reason? I heard (though I won’t swear to the veracity of the fact) that it is the first American comic with an entirely female cast. Since I want more such works published, I put my money where my mouth is and dished out to preorder it, for the sole purpose of supporting it and the hope more such volumes might appear in the future.
Having said all that I also wanted very badly to give this a stellar 5 star review. Surely, the decision of whether or not to continue the first all female team must depend not only on how many copies sell, but how much people did or didn’t like the arc. I just can’t say I enjoyed it all that much. Some of it may come down to the fact that I don’t know the characters as well as a regular reader of the series would. I mean, the last time I looked in on the X-Men Rogue was still a kid, Ms. Grey was named Jean, not Rachel (I don’t know their relation) and the Mutants attended the Xavier School of Higher Learning. There have been changes and I was left a little lost by them. But this isn’t the fault of the book itself. So my disappointment wasn’t based on my lack of familiarity.
It was based on the fact this book contains three parts (whatever the appropriate word for it is) and I didn’t think them all equal in value. The first I liked well enough. The art was beautiful, the dialogue natural, the story entertaining and the women kick-ass. I could probably quip that the apparent need to include a baby along with the women compromised the intent a bit, but I’m sure this has been addressed before. So I’ll let it go, if a bit begrudgingly.
The second section I can’t say I cared for as much. The art was nowhere near as appealing to me, the characters seemed to do little more than snip at one another (how cliché for a female crew), and the action was abrupt. It seemed pieced together, filler-like.
Then there was the third part, which I’m fairly sure is an older panel (possibly from 1963, if I’m interpreting the blurb correctly). I flat out disliked this one. Cliché doesn’t even start to cover a bunch of women consoling themselves with shoe shopping, spa days and skimpy dresses.
So my final assessment is a pretty basic ‘meh.’ If the whole thing had continued in the vein of the first part (called #1-3 apparently), I may have given it that 5 star rating I had hoped it would deserve. But my disappointment with the rest clinched the deal for me. It’s too bad too. I have daughters. My house might have become a regular follower after all.