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| << November27, 2004 - [ComicBooknet E-Mag] CBEM 499.02 |
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------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/bGIolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ----------------------------------------------------------------- [6] LINES ON PAPER Bruce Canwell bruce.canwell@verizon.net [Freelance writer Bruce Canwell is a New England native who has worked for both DC and Marvel Comics. His essays have appeared in TOMORROW SF, THE CORTLAND REVIEW, COMIC BOOK WEEK, the PORTSMOUTH (NH) PRESS, and AMAZING HEROES. In the summer he is often found at Fenway Park; in the winter, he enjoys playing high-stakes poker against really dumb opponents.] Installment 38: What Goes Well With Comics ...? (Part 1 of 3) Everyone knows there was a group called The Beatles, right? And everyone knows one of The Beatles's hits was a song called "Come Together," right? The need to ask such questions is not only borne out by the vignette that follows, it also forms the driving force behind our next three Installments. # So it's the end of the 1970s and I am in radio broadcasting, working at 100,000-watt rock station WIGY. One night as a record plays (yes, vinyl LPs and turntables were state-of-the-art in those benighted bygone days), the request line blinks and I pick up. The caller asks, "Can you play my favorite song?" "Sure, what do you want to hear?" "'Come Together.'" "No problem," sez I. "D'you want the original, or the remake?" And the caller replies, "The original, man -- the version by Aerosmith." If you don't get the humor in that story, most likely it is because you are so young you think of Aerosmith as "grand old men of rock 'n' roll" -- and it is to you this upcoming trio of LINES ON PAPER is dedicated. Because in this 21st Century world of a hundred TV channels -- of 600-plus new theatrical movies each year -- of "bookseller" chains that keep most works in stock only a handful of weeks -- of DVD releases that fly on and off the shelves at NASCAR speeds -- pop culture is as ephemeral as it is chaotic. Now more than ever, it is tough to keep it all straight and easy for works of considerable merit to slip past, works that could -- and should - - be influential. Here then, over the next three Installments, are four choices each from the realms of prose, movies, and music, selections that fit my definition of overlooked creators and works that could -- and should -- influence comics. PROSE AUTHORS 1. Raymond Chandler: I know, I know -- as the second-and-still- champeen in the Hard-Boiled Detective genre (Pinkerton's own Dashiell Hammett was first, of course), Chandler has influenced generations of creators in almost ever storytelling medium, including comics. What others have borrowed from Chandler, to the point of turning it into cliche, is his tough-guy patois, his world-weary protagonists who are surrounded by amoral schemers, and his deadpan one-liners. But Chandler offers something else that is consistently overlooked -- his uncanny feel for SETTING. The Los Angeles of Chandler's Philip Marlowe stories is vibrant and dirty, one part Shangri-La, another part Tartarus, a place where one needs to know the rules or one is likely to be steamrollered by the rampant politics of the city machinery or corrupted by the seedy criminal element. Or both. Comics would benefit from building intriguing and diverse stages for its paper actors to trod. One could do worse than to pick up a few pointers in this department from the Great Chandler. 2. Jack Womack: This guy is the best damn science fiction writer you've probably never read. In his six-novel "Dryco" cycle (AMBIENT, TERRAPLANE, HEATHERN, ELVISSEY, RANDOM ACTS OF SENSELESS VIOLENCE, and GOING GOING GONE), Womack creates darkly inventive "Big Corporation" schemes, plays with argot at levels comparable to Anthony Burgess, and does some wonderfully gonzo parallel universe shtick along the way. While comics creators could take away some lessons on any of the above from Womack, what would serve them best is to study how he portrays kids. His 1993 RANDOM ACTS OF SENSELESS VIOLENCE, deservedly a PUBLISHER'S WEEKLY "Best Book" for that year, chronicles the transformation of young Lola Hart from middle- class pre-teen to wild-child street gang member. This is a portrayal filled with heart-rending verisimilitude, the centerpiece of a novel that is a major auctorial performance . . . and in a medium where the collective knees go weak every time DC packs a fresh face into the Robin costume, RANDOM ACTS OF SENSELESS VIOLENCE should be universal must-reading. 3. John Sayles: Here is the only creator who will appear in more than one of these lists: we'll see Sayles again when we talk motion pictures (he has long been in the forefront of independent film, with movies like RETURN OF THE SECAUCUS 7, MATEWAN, EIGHT MEN OUT, and CASA de los BABYS among his impressive list of screen credits). What is less well known is that Sayles is a novelist of the first order -- and comics could benefit from taking a leaf or two from him when it comes to weaving large casts into multiple plot threads, forming a cohesive tapestry in which the whole is greater than the component parts. Read LOS GUSANOS, Sayles's 1991 novel in which he effortlessly guides the reader among literally dozens of characters, moving them back and forth through fifty years of interconnected history. All of it revolves around a place that is also an idea, a country Sayles makes more alien than Hala and Oa combined: the island of Cuba. The only comics team I can recall who came even close to matching Sayles's bravura juggling of characters and events is Levitz/Giffen in their first LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES run . . . and it's been a loooong time since those issues first saw light of day. Creators interested in producing an epic that really FEELS epic should get a copy of LOS GUSANOS and study at the feet of a master. 4. Tom Sharpe: Laughter is the best medicine, and no one evokes bigger laughs than that savage British black humorist, Tom Sharpe. A one-time resident of South Africa who was deported for his anti-apartheid stance, Sharpe returned to his native England and got the best revenge possible -- he wrote the brutally funny novels INDECENT EXPOSURE and RIOTOUS ASSEMBLY, set in the South African town of Piemburg, populated by handfuls of oddballs and eccentrics, and pointing out apartheid's hypocracies and idiocies while being laugh-out-loud funny and never, ever, boring. Had Sharpe's mordant wit ended there, that would have been a curriculum vitae to envy. It did not. Sharpe has written a dozen other novels, each filled with deliciously cutting humor, all brimming with tremendous dark fun. In THE THROWBACK and ANCESTRAL VICES Sharpe sends up the British upper classes -- PORTERHOUSE BLUE rips the soft underbelly of the public school system -- and his four books about his most famous character, set-upon vocation-ed teacher Henry Wilt, are the ultimate screwball comedies. The most recent, WILT IN NOWHERE, was published earlier this year in the UK, but can be ordered on-line from www.amazon.co.uk. I could certainly use comics that contain more humor and are less boring, couldn't you? Reading Tom Sharpe may not single-handedly bring about that state of affairs -- but it surely couldn't hurt if a few comics creators give it a try! NEXT TIME: PART 2 OF 3 -- MOTION PICTURES. _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [7] E-DISPATCHES FROM THE GREAT WHITE NORTH! Jonathan A. Gilbert edispatches@hotmail.com [Jonathan A. Gilbert is a freelance writer whose work can be found in comics and other publications. This column can be found online at www.twmgrafix.com or here on CBEM] THE RAVEN #1 October 2004: 24 page black & white bi-monthly series published by Darkwing Productions. $2.50 U.S. and $3.75 in Canada. Story, art and letters by Jay Odjick with additional story elements by Patrick Tenascon, additional inks by Joel Odjeck and general assistance by Jaelle Deslauriers. A Canadian self published endevour by Jason Odjick "The Raven" is a gothic super-hero adventure of sorts with heavy native Canadian influences. Basically the story is about a young native man named Mathew Carver who resides in New York City. Possessed by dreams of an ancient native vengeance spirit Mathew becomes personally possessed by the spirit after an elderly woman who is close to him is senselessly murdered. As this is going on elsewhere in the United States a clandestine militaristic unit headed by a mysterious figure known only as The Keeper is abducting natives for purposes yet unknown. While the premise is an excellent one and stirs up memories of such past quality series as The Crow and Marvel's Ghost Rider the execution of the concept does not meet up to its potential. In both writing and art "The Raven" is lacking. Storywise it is very thin which I suspect more reflects Odjick's influences from many of today's comics rather than his writing abilities. Also too the characterization is lacking to that point that the reader not only does the reader not know who these people are but Odjick doesn't go out of his way to make the reader care what happens to them. For example, no sooner are we introduced to Mathew's friend whem bam, she's dead. Who is she? Why does her death affect him to the point where Mathew becomes possessed by a vengeance spirit? And why is this spirit haunting his dreams to begin with? We aren't told any of this which results in whatever Odjick is trying to create from a literary point of view falling flat. Now, some of this may well be explained in future issues but to make readers want to to plunk down their pennies for issue #2 onward there has to be something there to draw them back. There really isn't much there that does that which is a shame because as I said it's an excellent concept. Visually "The Raven" also has some problems. In both the areas of sequential storytelling and overall artistic rendering Odjick's work could probably be best classed as being at a semi- professional level. While he does show areas of potential brilliance sequentially Odjick just doesn't quite get there in his execution. As for the art itself Odjick could probably benefit from some non-comics related art lessons; particularly in the areas of human form and drawing figures in motion. The use of blacks is also quite over done and while I suspect so much black was incorporated to give a gothic feel to the work it could have been better handled by having more gray tones added and a better dispersal of the blacks. Also too sometimes less can be more if used correctly. Having though not seen the original artwork I can't say for sure whether Objick had done this and the problems on the comics page are due to the printing process. Finally, "The Raven" was simply too darn quick of a read. The potential was there for a solid, in depth piece of writing but instead the comics skims over the surface. Having said all that "The Raven" isn't a bad comic. It has a lot of potential but Odjick just hasn't tapped it yet. That could well change as the series progresses so in hopes of that happening I'm going to give "The Raven" #1 a recommendation. So if you'd like to pick up a copy you can do so by either going to www.darkwingproductions.ca or contacting Jason Odjick directly at jay@darkwingproductions.ca . _________________________________________________________________ Jonathan A. Gilbert is a freelance comics writer and newspaper columnist whose work can be found all over the place. This column appears in Comic Book Emag which can be found at http://members.aol.com/ComicBknet and can be found at its homepage located at www.twmgrafix.com/edispatch . Jonathan A. Gilbert can be contacted by email at edispatches@hotmail.com _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [8] Suspended Animation Michael Vance MiklVance2@worldnet.att.net [Michael Vance became a professional freelance writer in 1977. He has been published in dozens of magazines and as a syndicated columnist and cartoonist in over 500 newspapers. His history book, Forbidden Adventure:The History of the American Comics Group, has been called a "benchmark in comics history." He briefly ghosted an internationally syndicated comic strip, and his own strip for five years called Holiday Out that was reprinted as a comic book. Vance also wrote comic book titles including Straw Men, Angel of Death, The Adventures of Captain Nemo, Holiday Out and Bloodtide. His work has appeared in several comic book anthologies, and he is listed in the Who's Who of American Comic Books and Comic Book Superstars. Vance's weekly comics review column, Suspended Animation, has been continuously published for more than fifteen years, currently reaching more than 750,000 readers in fanzines, newspapers, and in over eighty websites. In addition, he worked in newspapers for twenty-two years as an editor, writer and advertising manager, creating three successful newspaper magazines. Michael Vance is currently communications director of a nonprofit agency, the Tulsa Boys' Home, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a Christian.] Jon Sable: Freelance, published by First Comics, 32 pages, original cover price $1.00. Back in the eighties, there was a comic book publisher called First Comics. Said publisher produced many different genres of comics, many of which gained quite the loyal following. One of those titles, about to make a comeback under the umbrella of a different publisher, is Jon Sable: Freelance. It was special, in this reviewer's opinion. Let me tell you why. Jon Sable was a "merc." A mercenary, or "gun for hire." You know the type. Someone who'll do just about any kind of job, as long as it's lucrative. What was different about Sable was that he led a double-life. You see, under the pen name "B.B. Flemm," he also wrote children's books (cue confused "Scooby" sound). He did that for the money, as well. At least, that's what he told people. This was just the tip of the iceberg where this complex character was concerned, folks. All thanks to creator, writer and artist Mike Grell. Grell quite possibly did his best character work in comics with Jon Sable. His character was "multi-layered," if you will, having suffered terrible tragedy in his past (typical in many classic comics characters) and having backgrounds in big game hunting, military service, and, of course, various mercenary endeavors. Over time, Grell began to chip away at the persona of the mercenary who did what he did purely for financial gain, giving readers a look at something else. Something deeper, and more hopeful. It was, indeed, a beautiful thing. Another beautiful thing was Grell's artwork. A thoroughly realistic style, in the tradition of the likes of Neal Adams and Dick Giordano, coupled with a fine sense of detail and depth make this book nigh irresistible. I bet you'll think so, too. Jon Sable: Freelance is re-commended for those who enjoy action, adventure, political intrigue, and James Bond-style hi- jinks. Find it in your local comic shop's back issue bin, at conventions, and online auctions. Review by Mark Allen _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [9] Silva Shado Reviews Sarah Haslett silva_shado@yahoo.com [Known as Silva Shado on many boards, Sarah is most frequently found at HeroRealm.com and MightyMiniCon.com. She is a reviewer, moderator and columnist for both sites. At MightyMiniCon, her column "Under the Radar" looks at those comics that go unnoticed by the majority of comic book readers. At HeroRealm, her column "Independent Forecast," co-written with Juan Gamez, looks at the non-spandex titles in the current Previews. Most recently, she started doing web comic reviews for ComicWorldNews.com. Check them out around the 15th and 30th of every month. Independent Forecast: November is up. This month Robert Taylor is the guest co-writer. Check out what we have to say about the comics in the November Previews. http://www.herorealm.com/features/IFnov04.htm The Stiff Written and Illustrated by Jason Thompson Girlamatic.com; $2.95/month or $29.95/year You ready for this? The Stiff is a romantic comedy, horror, manga-influenced comic. Some would think that that's a lot of genres to roll into one, but Jason Thompson does a pretty good job with it all. Check out the rest of the review at Comic World News: http://www.comicworldnews.com/cgi- bin/index.cgi?column=reviews&page=169 Dead@17: Revolution #1 (of 4) Writer/Artist: Josh Howard Publisher: Viper Comics Viva la resistance! Come and join the revolution as the Dead@17 saga continues to grow strong. With tension high between Nara and her friends, Nara and Noel go off in search of Violet, who is pregnant with the evil Bolabogg's offspring. In pursuit of the two are the overwhelming zombie forces of Bolabogg. Led into a trap and surrounded by zombies, it looks to be the end of the two. But an unexpected ally shows up, an old "friend" of Noel's, a woman named Joan. She's part of an organization called Heaven's Militia, which was formed to fight the demonic invasion. They're there to do what the Protectorate couldn't. And thus starts the revolution in which Nara and everyone must win, no matter the cost. Josh Howard had me hooked with his writing from the very beginning. I've completely enjoyed the characters, their relationships and the plot from the first issue of the first miniseries. And now I can't say enough about how good his art is. He continues to surpass himself every step of the way. Issue after issue, his art style grows and develops. I'm always impressed by an artist who continues to refine his style. If you like horror with a strong focus on relationships and plenty of action, then this is the comic for you. If you haven't read the first two miniseries, check out the trades Dead@17 and Dead@17 Blood of Saints. Jonas: Tales of an Ironstar #1 Creator: Brian Colin Publisher: Code Deco Jonas: Tales of an Ironstar is a Western unlike any I've ever seen. It's a futuristic Old West with strong religious undercurrents presented in watercolor. It's set in the far future after a great war. Everything has returned to simpler times like the Old West, but with remnants of technology and new mutated creatures. Monster hunter Jonas Eightstar has returned to his home and a past that has haunted him since the death of his only son. But he finds his hometown completely deserted. While searching for an explanation, he is forced to relive the most horrifying memories of his life. Brian Colin has laid out a world and a story that is very intriguing and heart-felt. I'm very curious as to what will happen to Jonas. Will he find the answers that he's looking for? Will he ever come to terms with what he's done? Will he ever believe in god again? Though I'm interested in the story, I have mixed feelings about the art. At first, the water coloring put me off because it's hard to see what's going on at points. But it's slowly growing on me. I tried to think of some other art style that would better fit this story and I honestly can't. This medium tells this story very well, but I think that it'll put other people off as well. If you're looking for something off the beaten path and very down to earth, then this is the comic for you. _________________________________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- [10] ComiX-Fan Reviews Eric J. Moreels X-Fan Editor-in-Chief x-fan@bigpond.net.au From ComiX-Fan: http://www.comixfan.com/xfan [Editor's note: Some of the following reviews have spoilers to plot details. This is a TEXT ONLY newsletter so those spoilers are not hidden by HTML code. - D.L.] X-MEN #164 Reviewer: Nick Costanzo, ncostanz@vt.edu Quick Rating: Average Story Title: Heroes and Villains: part 4 of 4 Rest in peace, big guy. And don't let the heavy partying let you think I'm not mourning. Writer: Chuck Austen Penciler: Salvador Larroca Inker: Danny Miki Colourist: Liquid! Letterer: Virtual Calligraphy's Chris Elipoulos Assistant Editor: Stephanie Moore & Sean Ryan Editor: Mike Marts Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada Publisher: Dan Buckley So, how does one approach the review of the last Chuck Austen- penned issue of X-Men ever (hopefully)? I suppose I could be dramatic and tell harrowing tales about how previous Chuck Austen arcs made me cry tears of blood. Or perhaps, I could go on an angry rant about how the man has cost me about two years of enjoying the two titles he's worked on, or cry out in indignation that he wrote two more issues (well, one more if you count annuals) than Grant Morrison did in his run. Or I could just get this review over with and let the memories slowly and painfully die away, as they well should. I must give Austen credit. At least he manages to acknowledge that the Brotherhood's attack is completely mindless and hopeless before it even began. Hell, the school's security system alone should've cut them to shreds before they ever got near the mansion. The problem is, Mamomax's admittedly well-placed rant is entirely impossible to buy. Not with all the other X-Men whimpering things like "Is this what it feels like to lose?" and Black Tom going on the kind of rampage that would make any landscape architect cry like a baby. And certainly not with all these minor characters dropping like flies. *Sniff* Poor Marilyn... I guess. It's an interesting contradiction: Austen is desperately trying to establish the Brotherhood as a legitimate threat while in the very same issue all but admitting that they're not. I mean, I guess Black Tom is pretty tough but why didn't anyone think of the obvious and light his ass on fire? What's the point of mind- wiping the Brotherhood at the end when pretty much everyone on the planet knows what and where the Xavier Institute is now? And how the hell did a "climactic" Wolverine/Sabertooth fight end up happening entirely off-panel? Ultimately, this issue reads as though Austen had nothing to lose and just cleaned up as much as he could, killing off the few characters he created and very cleanly disposing of the Brotherhood in the final few panels. Can't really blame him, its not like he had much stake in satisfying the fans at this point. Undoubtedly, most of the venom with regards to this issue comes from one of two things: SPOILERS! the "death" of Juggernaut and Nocturne or Carter's little imaginary friend thing.. I would advise you all to calm down and take both with a grain of salt. In the first case, need I remind you what comic you're reading? The one where Magneto was dead for all of five months? I mean hell, Phoenix survived flying into the damn sun, so I'm sure a little black hole will only slightly bruise the ones involved when all is said and done. We KNOW SPOILERS! Juggernaut will come back, at least. Its more of a "maybe" in SPOILERS! Nocturne's case but with the character's popularity it's more than possible. In the case of the second, do you really care? Do you honestly think that this story will ever show up again (in anything other than a harmless X-Men Unlimited)? Nope, not gonna happen, so you might as well forget. Speaking of forgetting, I was fairly sure that good or bad, this arc would be forgettable. Austen somehow managed to confirm my suspicions dispite killing off two major characters in the process. Heroes and Villains just seemed to avoid any sort of real depth at all costs, and while there are some really quite good scenes, they don't really fit together in the end. Salvador's art deserves a better story. People loved his pair-up with Claremont but honestly I think the man has yet to meet his artistic soulmate in a writer. I would be quite surprised (though pleasantly so) if that writer turned out to be Milligan in two months, but then again stranger things have happened and that preview cover floating around IS quite beautiful. However, Liquid's colors (once so bright and vibrant in the pages of X- treme X-Men) are far too muted for Salvador's expressive artistic style, and Miki once again proves ill-suited to property define Salvador's figures. I do like the way some characters look, especially Black Tom and Mamomax. Sadly, it's the less-visually distinct characters such as Havok, Annie, and Northstar whose appearances end up suffering, looking many years older than they should. And so it's over. A small minority of ComiX-Fans will be sad, but chances are a great many more of you are preparing to saturate this thread with posts exclaiming your joy that Chuck Austen's run has finally come to an end. Personally, I'm not gonna waste any more of my time dwelling on Austen's checkered run (and damn if that isn't a generous description), and more time hoping for a return to greatness when Milligan comes to X-Men in two months. Just one (rather silly-looking) Christmas issue to sit through before we're there folks. And I couldn't be happier to see a changing of the guard. ART: 3.5 STORY: 3.0 OVERALL: 3.0 ULTIMATE X-MEN #53 Reviewer: James Groves, JamesandtheDragon@hotmail.com Quick Rating: Above Average Story Title: "Cry Wolf" Uncanny X-Men meets X-Men: Evolution Writer: Brian K. Vaughan Penciler: Andy Kubert Inker: Danny Miki Colorist: Justin Ponsor Letterer: VC's Chris Eliopoulos Assistant Editors: Nick Lowe & John Barber Editor: Ralph Macchio Publisher: Dan Buckley Special Thanks: C.B. Cebulski Brian K. Vaughan is currently one of the most esteemed writers in the comic book industry today, what with his brilliantly imagined work on Y: The Last Man, his dramatic and intelligent look at teen-life in the Runaways, his fresh stance on the character of Mystique in her own solo series and the wonderfully incisive political commentary of Ex Machina currently in circulation. Part of Vaughan's success is his ability to grasp the fundamentals of what makes a character tick and in doing so, provide a realistic portrayal of someone who the audience can relate to, empathise with and get deep down inside the mind of. The second part of Vaughan's success is his knack of creating intelligent and compelling storylines - and in a series like Runaways - dramatic and fun moments of action as well. His new ideas and observations of these archetypical characters breathed new life into a somewhat tired concept. Unfortunately, despite some nice moments of dialogue and a few twists on original formulas, this latest issue of Ultimate X-Men is a rather average and all too familiar take on the X-Men, with a few too many references to X-Men: Evolution and Uncanny X-Men for my liking as an Ultimate title. The issue begins with the X-Men setting off in pursuit of their missing team mate, Rogue and a conversation starts up regarding the various ways and methods they can save her from her captives, which creates a rather heated and at times, amusing debate. Meanwhile, Wolverine intercepts Gambit and Rogue and naturally, a fight occurs. The X-Men then encounter the Von Struckers in a high octane action sequence, whilst Gambit, Wolverine and Rogue come to a certain understanding. As the X-Men decide to move their concerns more towards the location of Rogue and less on Fenris, Rogue enlightens Logan of her opinion regarding him. A series of heart-to-heart moments then occur - with one notable scene of consequence - before decisions are made which change the dynamic of the X-Men and provide for a rather depressing final team scene. Andy Kubert's artwork for this issue is crisp and dynamic, with an edgy and dark feel to his linework that fits in well with the serious and gloomy nature of the storyline. As always, we see much stronger visuals when there is action involved and Andy's kinetic style conveys the energy of the high impacting and fast moving fight scenes with aplomb. Andy, much like his brother Adam, does have a tendency to provide inconsistent artwork at times, that can have a sketchy and rushed look to it when under pressure to meet deadlines, but thankfully, we see some solid artwork all the way through the issue. His level of detail in background scenes is pleasantly high and his depiction of Wolverine - who is somewhat of a focus for this issue - is suitably angry and muscular. However, his design of the two main antagonists - the Von Struckers - is palpably boring, unimpressive and highly unoriginal and as a result, the villains of the piece come off as completely uninteresting. The colors are bold and bright for the most part, but are suitably muted for the darker scenes. The issue itself is a pleasingly accessible one (I haven't delved into the Ultimate X-Men for a few months now) and for all-out action enthusiasts - who enjoy fast paced storylines, with some nice character moments - this is a decent enough ride with the characters of the Ultimate X-Men. There are some nice moments of humour throughout the issue (Gambit and Logan's verbal banter was of particular highlight) and it was interesting to see a more aggressive version of Gambit than previously seen in other comic series. The characterisation of Iceman did seem a little off though, far more antagonistic and disrespectful than I've previously seen, but this was offset with Dazzler's smart-alec demeanour, Rogue's self-righteous attitude and Storm's delightfully insightful comments. Where this issue's storyline falls down is in the fact that I feel I've seen this storyline before. It feels unoriginal and repetitive, despite a few twists to previous traditions and the plot itself is rather boring to say the least. The obvious fallout with Gambit and Rogue was also disappointing as I was looking for something new from the Ultimate Universe with regards to the X-Men. It feels as if this series has no real direction or new ideas at the moment and as a result we are getting some mundane storylines. It's a light read at best, but fairly forgettable as an issue unto itself. The latest issue of Ultimate X-Men is by no means a failure - we learn of Rogue's real name for starters - but It's just another tale featuring the X-Men. No more and no less. ART: 3.5 STORY: 2.5 OVERALL: 3.0 Thanks for subscribing to the Comic Book Network Electronic Magazine (CBEM) --------------------------->Disclaimer<--------------------------- This is an ANNOUNCE only mailing list, only the Editor can send messages to the list. No one else has access to the subscriber list. Replies to these messages will be received by the Editor ONLY, so you must CC: individual contributors if you want them to get your E-Mail. The E-mail to the E-mag MAY be used in future issues at the Editor's discretion UNLESS you specifically request that they not be. It is our policy to withhold names and/or Addresses, by request only, from letters of comment. All contributors are required to use their real name and have a valid Email address for their columns to be published. Send Email comments to: ComicBkNet@aol.com Material for inclusion in the Emag - press releases, solicitations, column submissions, Letters to the Editor, guesses for the trivia contest should be sent to ComicBkNet@aol.com The EDITOR, not the submitter, has final approval and edit rights on ALL material. Printed comic books and advanced copies for review in the Emag should be sent via US Mail or UPS to David L. 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