Home :: Books :: Science Fiction & Fantasy  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body
History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy

Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
Earth X

Earth X

List Price: $24.95
Your Price:
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great new perspective on the Marvel Universe
Review: Nothing much more needs to be said, but let me just say that the art in this book is very fitting to the story and done very well. A lot of people are getting down on just that aspect, but believe me, if Ross gave this guy the okay, it has got to be great, right? The story of course is awesome and this is just a great book for any fan of the Marvel Universe.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A great new perspective on the Marvel Universe
Review: Nothing much more needs to be said, but let me just say that the art in this book is very fitting to the story and done very well. A lot of people are getting down on just that aspect, but believe me, if Ross gave this guy the okay, it has got to be great, right? The story of course is awesome and this is just a great book for any fan of the Marvel Universe.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not as impressive as I'd heard
Review: Surely, many readers were drawn in by the fact that this series was conceived and designed by Alex Ross, but his golden touch does not extend to the story. Jim Krueger's plot is so unfocused and meandering, it's hard to zero in on what's really going on. The very end of the book is actually pretty good, and the revelation about the true purpose of the Earth and its heroes is very imaginative, but the build-up could have been more direct. The first 8 parts of the story were quite irritating, as they consisted of not much more than condescending banter between Uatu and X-51, the narrators, with abrupt clips of the future players in the Marvel Universe. It seems like the objective is not to tell a story, but to squeeze as many Marvel characters into the book as possible. Of course, it was nice to see so much art by John Paul Leon, but it got to where I was concentrating more on the art and less on the story. Surely it wasn't necessary to draw this series out over 12 issues to make the final point! And what's up with the chapter appendices? If an author has to provide 3-4 pages of text at the end of each chapter to explain what it was you just read, something is wrong. An overblown and half-baked project, but I will give it 3 stars (not a passing grade, mind you) for the art/design, as well as the development of certain characters (namely, Tony Stark and Reed Richards. Captain America, who is actually a major player in the story, is just as cardboard here as he's always been).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Best Marvel comic ever?
Review: The dystopian future has been done to death in comics in general, and in Marvel comics in particular, so the idea of a new "dark tale of the future" didn't really appeal to me.

Then I read the book.

It's incredible, to say the least. Set in a future world where the entire population has superpowers, "Earth X" treats every great Marvel icon with the true respect they deserve, and introduces new characters that immediately spark your interest. It's an epic tale in every sense of the word, and an essential volume for any comic book fan.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: New Introspective Take on the Marvel Universe
Review: The story's opening chapters gradually draw you into this unique and philosophical dissection of the Marvel Universe. Earth X is what Kingdom Come meant to the DC universe, but more. While the main Marvel players such as Reed Richards, Captain America, and X-51 battle both for the earth and their own personal struggles, Krueger gives an examination and explanation for the workings of the Marvel universe, the origin of life, and the purpose of super heroes. All the favorite heroes are brought back in character, each with at least one great moment. The art is also amazing and dark, appropriate for the tone of the series. I would buy this even if the content didn't deliver just for the stunning Alex Ross covers and sketches. This is the quintessential Marvel story.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Don't Belive the Hype.
Review: This book is. Well it's a long read and in the end, ultimately unsatisfying story. We have a plot with the Watcher that goes no where. The idea that Earth is an "egg" of sorts for some large cosmic being is pretty far fetched and it really went no where. You have so many well known Marvel characters who are not in this story. They basically trash the Marvel mythos as created by Stan and Jack and give us a book that has all the signs that it was rushed through publication. Like so much of what Marvel does these days. This is not another Watchman or Dark Knight Returns. It's more like Kevin Smith's recent Daredevil issues, badly written and seems intent on destroying long standing Marvel Heroes. The only vision of the Marvel Universe that should endure is that of Stan Lee's. Maybe it will be recreated on film (the recent X-Men movie is a sign of this) but it's gone from the comics now. I'm afraid for all intents and purposes, Comics are Dead.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Would have been better without Alex...
Review: This is a very good story with some excellent moments, and the artwork is beautiful, I actually prefer it to the painted Kingdom Come. However, some of the characters are mishandled, and not shown the respect they deserve. And Alex Ross.... geez, this guy just does not design characters very well. Everyone that he does is either a minor modification of an existing costume, or an hold guy with long hair and a white beard in a big cloak.

Black Bolt is the highlight of the story, for me.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A Marvelous Story (No Pun Intended)
Review: This story disects the Marvel Universe and gives the Marvel Universe a wonderful cohessive feeling - the feeling that everything is connected in a grand web of tapestry. A great read for any one with a passing familiarity of the Marvel Universe.

This all started when Alex ross was asked if he would draw pitures of a future Marvel, to compare to Kingdom Come. He didn't do those piutures at first, but soon enough the idea was planted in his head... to make Earth X

Be warned though. The art is great - but it is not by Alex Ross. He only did the covers and skechart. Still that was enough to make this one of Alex Ross greatest achivements - along with Marvels and Kingdom Come!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Writing and a fresh take on Marvel
Review: Two Great Reasons to buy this book:
1) the writing level is so good that you can get folks not into comics to appreciate it.
2) On the other hand, seasoned comic books readers will love it. What these guys are doing is very fresh and helps you understand what Kirby and Lee were doing back in the 60s/70s when they were creating these characters. Especially Kirby and his "cosmic" sense of comics and the world.

More good reasons to buy this book:
1) the art is consistently good and fun.
2) the covers are incredible
3) bound together, these 12+ issues are a great read.


Rating: 2 stars
Summary: This is a clever book
Review: We know this is a clever book because Krueger and company take great pains to let us know just how clever they are, relying more on novelty and writing "tricks" than ability.

Although I don't expect a plot to be too direct in a work this size, I would like coherence. It is hard to guess where the story is headed because Krueger avoids telling you enough to follow the story, and the dialogue between Uatu and X-51 is poorly written, not just in the sense that the characterizations change midstream (the narrators often switch roles and speech patterns but not because the characters go through any growth -- rather, because they seem to need something to do besides narrate) but in the sense that they're grammatically poor. The alleged conflict between Uatu and X-51 is without suspense.

It's not a good thing when a reader is aware that he or she is actually reading a book, and the flaws were so obvious, it made me very aware of that, wondering (repeatedly) why Krueger broke from what he'd already established (or tried to), thus cancelling my willing suspension of disbelief. That's saying something as anyone who reads comics is willing to suspend a lot.

I also found I didn't care about any of the characters, even though I cared about some of them from previous comics. There was no development beyond one-dimensonal posings.

This is definitely not a _Kingdom Come_ ripoff -- it's just not good enough. There were some interesting ideas, but it didn't need to be this long for such a meagre payoff -- editing is a good thing. Then again, so are such things as pacing, internal logic and characterization.


<< 1 2 3 4 5 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates