X-Men Visionaries

Rating:
Summary: Jim Lee draws the X-Men!
Review: This book should be titled "How to draw the X-Men by Jim Lee". Seriously. The stories here are nothing to shout about though the Claremont wit is to be seen in many panels. The real draw of the book is Lee's art which is gloriously reproduced here. For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, we felt this revolution firsthand. Comic books would never be the same again after Lee. The impact of his hyper-detailed, solid-bodied art hit comic-readers the way Neal Adams did in the 1970s. Lee understands the iconism and sexiness of superhero comics and display his knack for capturing both with his pencils (aided by inker Scott Williams).

The highlights:
1) Lee draws the best one-page splash Captain America EVER!
2) Psylocke's transformation from English lady to sexy Asian assassin.
3) The Crossing storyline - see Jim Lee draw cosmic! Shiar, the Imperial Guard, the Starjammers, etc.
4) The Magneto/Rogue Savage Land storyline - Jim Lee's Magneto is unbelievable. Regal, majestic and sexy at the same time. This is a Magneto that a girl will fall in love with - and literally does - the girl in question, unlikely as it is, Rogue! See also Jim Lee's drawing of Nick Fury, the SHIELD helicarrier and Kazar.

Get this volume and the following volume, "X-Men: Mutant Genesis" for the greatest X-Men eye-candy in history.

Rating:
Summary: Mish mash
Review: This collection is a microcosm of the X-Men universe: Confusing storylines, dense text, ponderous captions and brilliant art. Don't go looking for a coherent storyline here, this is basically just a showcase for the great Jim Lee's early X-Men work.

Rating:
Summary: Don't judge a book by it's cover!
Review: This is a great X-Men: Visionaries Jim Lee graphic Novel! This is Jim Lee's early work on the Uncanny X-Men series! This Marvel Tradepaperback reprints Jim Lee's early years when he was the comic book artist on Uncanny X-Men. In this book reprints Uncanny X-Men#248,#256-258,#268-269, #273-277. His early work on the Uncanny X-Men in the early 1990s, lead to to the critically aclaimed Clarmont/Lee work on X-Men #1 in 1991. All the Uncanny X-Men issues are written by Chris Claremont. Most of the artwork is drawn by Jim Lee. Unncany X-Men#273 is drawn by various artist. Buy this book if your a big fan of X-Men and Jim Lee. Highest Possible Recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: A great X-Men Jim Lee graphic Novel!
Review: This is a great X-Men: Visionaries Jim Lee graphic Novel! This is Jim Lee's early work on the Uncanny X-Men series! This Marvel Tradepaperback reprints Jim Lee's early years when he was the comic book artist on Uncanny X-Men. In this book reprints Uncanny X-Men#248,#256-258,#268-269, #273-277. His early work on the Uncanny X-Men in the early 1990s, lead to to the critically aclaimed Clarmont/Lee work on X-Men #1 in 1991. All the Uncanny X-Men issues are written by Chris Claremont. Most of the artwork is drawn by Jim Lee. Unncany X-Men#273 is drawn by various artist. Buy this book if your a big fan of X-Men and Jim Lee. Highest Possible Recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, but not an ideal intro
Review: This is a really fun little graphic novel, loaded with great artwork and a decent storyline. I wouldn't recommend it as a first-time read for anyone unfamiliar with the X-Men - taken out of context from the overall series - it might be a somewhat confusing introduction. But for those who know the characters and have a general idea of what is going on, believe me, this one delivers the goods.

In the past, I have generally hated the X-Men's adventures in the Savage Land, or whenever they would go to outer space or get into really super sci-fi type situations. I always felt the X-Men stories worked much better when they were grounded in very normal, down-to-earth settings, because it made the X-Men themselves stand out and seem that much weirder. But this book is an exception to the rule. It's a big, crazy, larger-than-life adventure, part of which takes place in the prehistoric Savage Land, and part of which gets hyper technological, and it works out OK.

The artwork is tough and gritty. Jim Lee draws a mean, shadowy, ugly Wolverine who kills lots of villains and looks like he needs to take a shower very badly.

And Lee's women - whoa. This book contains more gratuitous cheescake shots than any X-Men graphic novel I've seen, but it's all very pleasing to the eye. Especially the scenes with Rogue, whose bare skin can kill anyone she touches and thus, understandably, was always the one major female character who kept herself completely covered at all times. This was the first storyline in the series where they finally drew her as a scantily-clad, sexy heroine. A real treat for male Rogue-fans who'd been reading the series patiently for years.

This storyline also chronicles the transformation of innocent young Psylocke into a mature woman trained in the art of Ninjitsu, and she becomes an ultra-violent, sexy bad girl. And then there are cameo appearances by other Marvel superheroes, namely Captain America (from the Avengers series) and The Black Widow (from the Daredevil series). All in all, it's a satisfying, action-packed, well-drawn, crowd-pleasing comic book in trade-paperback format.