New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial

Rating:
Summary: New X-Men Vol.1Hardcover Ed. : Reprints 114-126 + Anual 2001
Review: Amazon said it collects the stories found in New X-Men Vol. 3 and 4. IT'S A MISTAKE!!! They didn't update the info correctly.

It really collects the stories found in New X-Men book 1 (E is for Extinction), book 2 (Imperial) and also reprints the New X-Men Anual 2001. At the end is the Grant Morrison's manifesto to Marvel proposing the New X-Men changes (new clothes, new characters like Cassandra, etc)

There are good pencilers in this book... you'll be absorbed by this book. I hope some of this will be in a movie.

It's a great book. It's better than buying book 1 and 2. Excellent presentation! Excellent stories!

Rating:
Summary: Changes
Review: Grant Morrison breathes new life into a title many serious comics readers had left for dead years ago. He starts with the destruction of an entire country's population and just keeps on going. A mystery villain from Xavier's past has an agenda: to destroy the world's mutants -- and it looks like she has a very good chance of succeeding.

As you can see, Morrison isn't afraid of shaking things up. In fact, this is exactly what he was brought on to do. Included as an appendix is "Morrison's Manifesto," a look at the creative process behind this reenvisioning, as well as the original concepts for this particular storyline. It helps one (particularly a long-time reader) understand why certain changes were implemented. I won't go into detail, but there are quite a few surprises.

Morrison writes a gripping story. Forget the usual comics status quo. Forget how everything always turns out okay in the end. You really feel that the characters are in serious danger from a threat that seems to have all the cards stacked in her favor. This could well be the X-Men's darkest hour, and that's not hyperbole.

The art, for the most part, is very good. "Regular" artist Frank Quitely, odd stylistic quirks aside, has a clean, detailed look to his work that I've liked for some time. It's nice to see Cyclops looking "Slim" once more, after the ridiculously over-muscled nineties. Unfortunately, Quitely apparently couldn't keep up with the schedule of the monthly series so there are some fill-ins. Ethan Van Sciver does well on his installments, but Igor Kordey's art is sloppy and unclear and is the only thing that drags the book down. Quitely returns for the final chapter, ending it on a positive note.

This book reprints NEW X-MEN #114-126 and the 2001 annual. Some of this material previously appeared in a trade paperback called E IS FOR EXTINCTION, but I'm glad to have the entire story in a quality hardcover volume.

Rating:
Summary: New X-men is great
Review: Grant Morrison has bred new life into the X-Men. The stories and characters are fleshed out, fresh, and kept interesting. I love what has been done here. The art is still as good as in the previous volumes.

Rating:
Summary: Great story.
Review: I didn't love this story the first time I read it; but it's much better when you read it as a whole, rather than one issue a month. Grant Morrison writes incredibly well, as always.

Wolverine and Fantomex play off of eachother very well, as do Cyclops and Wolverine. More importantly, Morrison fleshes out earlier ideas regarding the Weapon Plus program. This is a very original take on the Weapon X (or Ten) project that's been done to death throughout the eighties and nineties. There are some important character moments for Scott and Logan here, as well.

Whether or not you like the artwork depends on yor personal taste. Bachalo's style is sloppy and somewhat cartonish, but that works for him. I' not a huge fan, but I don't hate it either. Wolverine does look a little like a fat, old man in a few scenes, though.

Rating:
Summary: Great companion piece for this great graphic novel
Review: I know of a great companion piece in the form of a book entitled "The Adventures of Darkeye: Cyber Hunter" whose odd manner of having log-entries over chapters reads exactly like the script for a graphic novel, even though it is in the science fiction/high-tech and cyberpunk genre along with books like "Cryptonomicon", "Snow Crash", "Prey", and "Altered Carbon". Very fast-paced, incredibly visual, and very exciting due to its action-packed pages.

Rating:
Summary: Continuing Morrison's amazing run
Review: Note: this review refers to New X-Men Vol. 2: Imperial. Grant Morrison's earth shaking run on New X-Men continues in this collected volume following the shattering events of E is for Extinction. Professor X, whose mind and body is under the control of his evil twin sister Cassandra Nova, is attempting to manipulate the Shi'ar empire to destroy all the mutants on Earth. Meanwhile, the X-Men are in dissary. Beast is in a coma, while Cyclops and Emma uncover even more about the mysterious John Sublime and his U-Men. Wolverine helps out a young girl named Angel who discovers she is a mutant, while Jean scrambles amidst the mayhem. Morrison really weaves an awesome story, undoubtadly the best to hit the X-Men in years. The story is loaded with twists and turns and rich in character, and he even manages to make Cyclops and Emma the most interesting characters in the book and doesn't focus primarily on Wolverine like so many X-books have in the past. The only downside of this collection is the art. While the art in various issues by Frank Quitely and Ethan Van Sciver is great, Igor Kordey's art is nearly atrocious. I mean come on, I've seen this guy's art in Cable and X-Treme X-Men and it was solid, but here it looks plain old sloppy and rushed. That aside though, this volume is worth picking up as it continues Grant Morrison's now legendary run, and it sure beats out any X-Men material to come out before it or recently since Morrison's departure.

Rating:
Summary: New X-Men
Review: Overall, these books are very good, from Volume 1-6...

The only thing that affect dramatically these books is the art, when It's drawm by Igor Kordey.

For me, on a comic-book, the art is as important as the story and definitely, the decision of choosing Mr. Kordey for the art on Morrison stories was a disaster. Because Mr. Kordey's art obviously is not for these comic books. (His style probably applies to other kind of works, but for a comic-book, to me, is just horrible.)

If you don't mind the art on these books, go ahead and buy them all because the stories are really good.

But if you are like me, that I enjoy the art as well, I suggest you to take a look first before buying the volumes with Mr. Kordey's work.

Jose Carlos Vázquez

Madrid, Spain

Rating:
Summary: New X-Men #118-126
Review: The quality keeps going on here. The X-Men are still very fresh and interesting in this volume. The story still great. The art still good. The New X-Men stories are much more character driven than what I remember.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting!!
Review: The second volume of Grant Morrisons X-men run cranks up the action and the drama. Morrisons storytelling skills are astounding, when Cassandra was coming back to destroy the Xmen i could feel the desperation and fear of the characters. Clever plot twists are around every corner. The only reason i gave the book 4 stars is due to the fluctuating quality of the art, sometimes its good and sometimes its bad. A good follow up to "E IS FOR EXTICTION". EP

Rating:
Summary: Unfocused.
Review: The third installment of Grant Morrisons run on the Xmen slows down the pace slightly as it tries to expand on certain plotlines. Scott begins to have an affair with Emma, Xorn tries to help a confused mutant, a dangerous threat is unleashed in France, Fantomex is introduced (UGH) and Polaris tries to cope with her fathers (Magneto) legacy. The story is quite interesting, unfortunatly the art isn't up to snuff. The storyline where the Xmen are attacked in a subway in France is atrociously drawn, too much is going on and the hideous art made it very hard to understand what exactly is happening. I wouldn't reccommend it. EP