Uncanny X-Men: She Lies With Angels (X-Men)

Rating:
Summary: Chuck Austen's third worst story
Review: Chuck Austen is incapable of writing a halfway decent story. Even so, it seemed like he was just going to copy the story directly from "Romeo and Juliet," and while that's hardly novel, it'd have been better. And anyway, Salvador Larroca was illustrating, and his pencils are definitely beautiful.

Either way, Chuck Austen did not do that. In this story, Josh Guthrie sees some girl, Julia, that he used to play with when he was a little kid. He suddenly realizes that he can't possibly live without her, despite not having spoken to her, or even noticed her in years.

The two of them spend the whole arc speaking to eachother in bizarre speech that is clearly meant to be seen as beautiful. But it comes off as very awkward. It sounds like they're reciting poems written by children.

Meanwhile (and some of this might be considered minor "spoliers," but this story isn't worth reading anyway--I'm hard;y ruining it for you), Archangel randomly dumps Paige Guthrie (Husk), and then the two get back together and, up in the air, have sex--in front of Paige's mom, no less.

And then it drops to an ever lower level, when Julia's family goes after them with GIANT ROBOTS. This is up there with the exploding communion wafers.

In the end, they both sink to the bottom of a lake (really, they just drop) and drown together. Only then Josh's healing blood takes effect. Yes, he has that too, now.

The final pages show Josh singing a song, "She lies with Angels," that is enough to make any moderately educated person cringe.

It's like watching "Full House" live, only every role is acted out by one of the "Golden Girls."

This is an abomination. Don't touch it. Run.

Rating:
Summary: Too dramatic for it's own good
Review: Chuck Austen, arguably the most criticized writer in comics today, continues his Uncanny X-Men run with this five issue arc. The story revolves around Husk, who along with fellow X-Man Archangel pay her family a visit when her younger brother is injured. Soon enough a family war stirs up between Husk's Guthrie family and the Cabot family; all the while Husk's other brother Josh (who has angel type wings, hence the title of the book) and Julia Cabot declare their love for each other with Romeo & Juliet-esque results. Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Polaris are called in as well; all of which are sadly underused in this arc. Austen's writing, especially the dialogue between Josh and Julia, is mellowdramatic lovey-dovey fare that doesn't seem realistic one bit, while the action itself is just one big drag. She Lies With Angels' only saving grace is the art by X-Treme X-Men artist Salvador Larroca which is absolutely gorgeous. All in all, this is still worth reading, but those who love to criticize Austen will find plenty to nitpick here.

Rating:
Summary: Too dramatic for it's own good
Review: Chuck Austen, arguably the most criticized writer in comics today, continues his Uncanny X-Men run with this five issue arc. The story revolves around Husk, who along with fellow X-Man Archangel pay her family a visit when her younger brother is injured. Soon enough a family war stirs up between Husk's Guthrie family and the Cabot family; all the while Husk's other brother Josh (who has angel type wings, hence the title of the book) and Julia Cabot declare their love for each other with Romeo & Juliet-esque results. Wolverine, Nightcrawler, and Polaris are called in as well; all of which are sadly underused in this arc. Austen's writing, especially the dialogue between Josh and Julia, is mellowdramatic lovey-dovey fare that doesn't seem realistic one bit, while the action itself is just one big drag. She Lies With Angels' only saving grace is the art by X-Treme X-Men artist Salvador Larroca which is absolutely gorgeous. All in all, this is still worth reading, but those who love to criticize Austen will find plenty to nitpick here.

Rating:
Summary: fabulous
Review: Somewhat soapopera-ish, she lies with angels is still a very good read, one of the best in the series.

Rating:
Summary: Much better than I expected
Review: Yes, I'm guilty of buying into all of the Austen-hate that seems to pervade the comic-reading world. Much of it is valid given Austen's propensity for confusing story-telling. I found the exception here though. This was a very well done bit of storytelling. Using the tried-and-true Romeo and Juliet story as a basis for his tale, Austen abley weaves together a story that's at times heart-wrenching. It's not by any means an original tale, and doesn't really feel like an X-Men story, but well done overall. And though I've never been a huge fan of Larocca, he really provids some beautiful work here. A worthwhile read.

Rating:
Summary: Much better than I expected
Review: Yes, I'm guilty of buying into all of the Austen-hate that seems to pervade the comic-reading world. Much of it is valid given Austen's propensity for confusing story-telling. I found the exception here though. This was a very well done bit of storytelling. Using the tried-and-true Romeo and Juliet story as a basis for his tale, Austen abley weaves together a story that's at times heart-wrenching. It's not by any means an original tale, and doesn't really feel like an X-Men story, but well done overall. And though I've never been a huge fan of Larocca, he really provids some beautiful work here. A worthwhile read.