tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post6945318085435776772..comments2024-03-28T03:13:15.831-04:00Comments on Remarkable: Jason Powell on Uncanny X-Men #168Geoff Klockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-25095508222627662452010-04-11T17:37:01.155-04:002010-04-11T17:37:01.155-04:00I'm not sure if this is my 'definitive'...I'm not sure if this is my 'definitive' Kitty issue...I think I prefer to read them the way you would a trade, and see how she evolves. Because this is not the same Kitty we see in # 143.wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-46550653113813400002008-10-05T15:23:00.000-04:002008-10-05T15:23:00.000-04:00I'm sure part of it is that Kitty was my identific...I'm sure part of it is that Kitty was my identification character, so I sort of took on her view on the matter. (Which is itself a testament to Claremont's skill, of course.)Stephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16524368948187746248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-22858035637805034772008-10-03T14:45:00.000-04:002008-10-03T14:45:00.000-04:00Really glad to hear you think the reviews read wel...Really glad to hear you think the reviews read well cumulatively! That is what I've started going for, 'cause I want to try and publish 'em as a book when all's said and done.<BR/><BR/>It's interesting to know you were affected as Kitty by the mohawk. :) I recently read a blog about Kitty's reaction that kind of mocked her emotional overreaction. But obviously it affected lots of actual fans. (Peter David did a kind-of Claremont retrospective once in one of his "But I Digress" columns, and commented specifically on "punk Storm" as well.)Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-71183322134938509732008-10-03T03:06:00.000-04:002008-10-03T03:06:00.000-04:00In the third interior parenthesis in the first par...In the third interior parenthesis in the first paragraph of the previous, I meant, read EVEN better in a bunch: they're great one by one, but even better all together.<BR/><BR/>SFStephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16524368948187746248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-61034165151776234752008-10-03T03:05:00.000-04:002008-10-03T03:05:00.000-04:00Sorry to come in at the end here -- I haven't ...Sorry to come in at the end here -- I haven't been around (& sorry about that, too -- combination of personal stuff & being consumed with watching the US economy collapse (although I will say, I think Jason's posts read better in a bunch -- I just read #161-169, plus the extras in the middle, and I think they have a great cumulative effect...))).<BR/><BR/>Anyway, after all that, just wanted to add that I agree about the ending: it baffled the hell out of me as a kid -- I knew that it was a big-deal, reveal ending, and that I was supposed to be impressed, but I hadn't the foggiest who she was.<BR/><BR/>Oh, and Storm's inability to control the weather deserves a slightly bigger shout-out, too. As I recall, that, too, really got to me as a kid -- worried, deeply, that there was something WRONG with her (which was confirmed by the... mohawk! It took me a long, long time, back in the day, to get to the "it's just a haircut" place). A very effective moment.<BR/><BR/>***<BR/><BR/>Oh, somehow I missed the brood saga discussion. Oh well. I will say that the whole "alien eggs inside them" thing was far creepier in Claremont's hands than it was in the Alien movies (which had a lot of other virtues, don't get me wrong (the first two anyway.)) And that I liked the Wolverine/Nightcrawler on prayer bit, too.<BR/><BR/>SFStephenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16524368948187746248noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-68320354972098205792008-09-27T21:37:00.000-04:002008-09-27T21:37:00.000-04:00Re: Geoff loving Maddie.Yeah, that's what I'm talk...Re: Geoff loving Maddie.<BR/><BR/>Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!<BR/><BR/>Re: getting up to Inferno<BR/><BR/>Yeah, that's what I'm talkin' 'bout!Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-62376839287028693282008-09-27T10:00:00.000-04:002008-09-27T10:00:00.000-04:00You guys have obviously thought about this WAAAAAY...You guys have obviously thought about this WAAAAAY more than I have, but for the record, I love Maddie. <BR/><BR/>I am at Inferno by the way. 39 issues to go.Geoff Klockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09080580776997273785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-87604375321233631662008-09-27T03:30:00.000-04:002008-09-27T03:30:00.000-04:00Yes, I look forward to seeing the hatred spew fort...Yes, I look forward to seeing the hatred spew forth! But note that I am in love with Madelyne Pryor, so we will probably be at irreconcilable loggerheads on this issue. (Familiar territory for us two by now!)Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-60000163000929405672008-09-27T02:22:00.000-04:002008-09-27T02:22:00.000-04:00IMS Klein got up to... what, a dozen different fon...IMS Klein got up to... what, a dozen different fonts? fifteen? twenty? to distinguish different characters in Gaiman's Sandman series. Other letterers have picked up this idea, but nobody's used it to that extent; don't know why, but I suspect it's because it's really hard.<BR/><BR/>I'm trying Midtown Comics, BTW. Prices are good, availability is okay. We'll see about the service!<BR/><BR/>So Madelyne Pryor has appeared. Rr, I'm tempted to subscribe to Marvel.com for a while just so I can properly justify my hatred for this character concept.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Doug M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-44860255826636738002008-09-26T19:43:00.000-04:002008-09-26T19:43:00.000-04:00Great call on the artist who never drew Jean Grey ...Great call on the artist who never drew Jean Grey before now drawing her double with a different hairstyle who is supposed to be a huge last page shock reveal. Knowing the basic gist of the story before I read "From The Ashes" made it even more startling. Why Claremont didn't have Smith draw Jean Grey as a Cyclopean mental image or as a Danger Room construct to help the audience get a feel for how Smith would have drawn her is very lax work. Since we have no basis with which to "see" that this is Jean's double the obvious callback is to ASM #42 with Mary Jane, not to Jean Grey.<BR/><BR/>(Great series of articles here!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-10324027880958846382008-09-26T14:39:00.000-04:002008-09-26T14:39:00.000-04:00I've visited Klein's blog. It's good stuff, althou...I've visited Klein's blog. It's good stuff, although mostly I just skim for Orzechowski's name, since he's my lettering god. <BR/><BR/>I enjoy Klein's use of different fonts and things, although his default, regular font has always bugged me a bit. Still, that is a good blog, and I haven't visited it in a while, so thanks for the reminder!Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-59413516494877752892008-09-26T14:07:00.000-04:002008-09-26T14:07:00.000-04:00Almost forgot! Two random things that have nothin...Almost forgot! Two random things that have nothing to do with the X-Men.<BR/><BR/>First, Jason, if you're interested in lettering, then you want to add this link to your bookmarks:<BR/><BR/>http://kleinletters.com/Blog/<BR/><BR/>Todd Klein is one of the best letterers in comics -- has been for a while now -- and he has a blog, and it's really good. You might no think that comics lettering would provide material for a couple of years of posts, but it does!<BR/><BR/>Second, a question for you and anyone else. I live in Europe, but I have boys who love comics. A friend is coming to visit us and has offered to mule over half a suitcase worth. I particularly want to get a bunch of the DCAU/Timiverse books -- these were true "all ages" comics, usually just as good as anything on the stands for the grownups.<BR/><BR/>So: I'm looking for a site that will let me quickly order a bunch of back issues cheap and have them shipped to my friend. Quality is not an issue -- a six year old is not going to distinguish between Near Mint and Fine -- but price is. Ideally this would be a one stop shop, as opposed to spending a week putting orders together on eBay or such.<BR/><BR/>mycomicshop.com almost fit -- they were a bit pricey, but had everything I wanted -- but they wouldn't ship to an address different from the one on the credit card. Bah.<BR/><BR/>Anyway... if anyone has any ideas, I'd be very grateful!<BR/><BR/>Thanks,<BR/><BR/><BR/>Doug M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-17891057543284946032008-09-26T13:19:00.000-04:002008-09-26T13:19:00.000-04:00I love this one too, but more for the storytelling...I love this one too, but more for the storytelling than the Kitty characterization. I enjoy Kitty in this issue, but what I really like is the flow of the story, the artistic design (that single-page montage of Kitty and Professor X is SO fantastic), and the easy humor.<BR/><BR/>I think it's a huge improvement on Uncanny 143, which I still argue is too wordy and one-note.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-31111000173774125722008-09-26T11:57:00.000-04:002008-09-26T11:57:00.000-04:00I dunno, I've always loved this issue... maybe it'...I dunno, I've always loved this issue... maybe it's that panel of Lockheed happily full of toasted Sidri that does it for me (Geoff, notice lockheed has NO compulsions niether killing nor ingesting his enemies)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-2841215892198704412008-09-26T11:25:00.000-04:002008-09-26T11:25:00.000-04:00I don't think I said definitive... That's a word I...I don't think I said definitive... That's a word I rarely use!<BR/><BR/>[checks] Okay, here's my comment on #143:<BR/><BR/>"Some of this issue's strengths are harder to see in retrospect. Frex, we all know now that Kitty Pryde is an important member of the X-Men and always will be. That was much less obvious in 1980, when the character had only been around for a year. We readers didn't yet know how squeamish Claremont really was about killing characters! All we knew was that he'd already killed one new team member (Thunderbird) and one popular and attractive female character (Phoenix). So, why wouldn't he kill of a character who was both? You complain about how little time the other X-Men get, but I think that really misses the point. This is /supposed/ to be a solo issue. Because by devoting an entire issue to Kitty, Claremont was sending a very clear message at the meta level: go ahead and get attached to this character, because she's going to live. <BR/><BR/>"-- Actually, there are two meta-messages here. (At least.) The second is Claremont telling us that he's not going to take the easy obvious route and have Kitty be a sidekick. That seems obvious now, but in 1980 we thought Kitty would be an underpowered, underaged hanger-on whose main function was to get threatened and sometimes kidnapped by the bad guys. Claremont was clearly aware of this trope -- he'd quite deliberately inverted it back in the White Queen trilogy (where he has the X-Men be kidnapped, and /Kitty/ be the rescuer). So in this issue, by pitting Kitty against an upgraded version of a monster that had fought the whole team to a standstill, he's sending a clear message that he's going to take her seriously, and that we readers should too...<BR/><BR/>"This was the issue that made Kitty Pryde an X-Man, as opposed to some kid with a kinda lame power who never does much. How can you not like that?"<BR/><BR/>This issue... well, I can remember not liking much, mostly for two reasons. (1) fight sequence a weaker, less interesting version of #143. (2) the whole "Kitty must join the New Mutants" thing was pretty annoying. Because on one hand, Professor X is obviously right: Kitty should have joined the NMs. It's a little whack to have a fourteen-year-old girl running around with the X-Men in the first place, but it's *completely* whack when there's a perfectly good team of underage mutants two doors down the hall. <BR/><BR/>Doug M.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-4273933746734650122008-09-25T17:51:00.000-04:002008-09-25T17:51:00.000-04:00In that sixth paragraph, the phrase "3-issue" shou...In that sixth paragraph, the phrase "3-issue" should read "3-page."<BR/><BR/>Scott, yeah, I agree, Whedon sucks. (Just teasing.)<BR/><BR/>Thanks for identifying the sensual element to Smith's work, which I neglected to talk about. There's something particularly powerful about the way Smith's backgrounds are always so rigidly angular (architecture is always four-square solid in Smith's drawings), whereas the people in the foreground are drawn with gentle, curved lines. The females in particular benefit from this approach -- they stand out as particularly smooth and feminine.<BR/><BR/>Re: the "Yum!" panel ... another comics website I happened to look at one day commented -- jokingly -- on another element of that panel, one I'd never really given a thought to: the champagne bottle, which seems to be pointing right at Amanda (and the reader). I don't know how "blatant" one could call it, since I never noticed it till someone pointed it out, but ... once you see it, the phallic parallel is hard to ignore.<BR/><BR/>I think Doug suggested that Uncanny 143 is the definitive Kitty Pryde story. And this issue of course is a clear callback to that one. I don't know where I stand on the issue. Myself, I was always fond of issue 179's depiction, with her sacrificing her life and freedom to save Peter. (And say, where was Lockheed THEN???)Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23042008.post-50321924867931942742008-09-25T11:22:00.000-04:002008-09-25T11:22:00.000-04:00Because she has red hair?I think you forgot to men...Because she has red hair?<BR/><BR/>I think you forgot to mention one very important point about this issue: This is the DEFINITIVE Kitty Pryde story. She had appeared as this, sort of, precoscious Junior member of the team up until this point but this is the first time that Claremont really fleshes out her character and makes me believe that she is more than just a smart fourteen year old, that there is something deeper there. Just as Kitty must convince Xavier of her worthiness to be on the team, Claremont convinces the reader of her worthiness as a central character in the book.<BR/><BR/>Also,<BR/><BR/>Lockheed: Best. Familiar. Ever.<BR/><BR/>I was slightly disapointed when, in his Astonishing Run, Whedon, at one point, mentions that Lockeed would "follow her to the end"... but he never followed through on this (as Geoff points out... he didn't follow through on a lot of things). I was fully expecting a momen of awesomeness from Lockheed or, at least, a moment like the one between Matthew the Raven and Morpheus in The Kindly Ones story arc in Sandman, where Matthew refuses to leave Morpheus's side even though it means the furies will probably kill him.<BR/><BR/>and lastly,<BR/><BR/>With Smith's arrival, Claremont would really begin to turn up the heat in terms for sexuality. Notice the panel where Nightcrawler is waiting for Amanda when she returns to her apartment; notice the placement of the 'Bamf' doll, notice Amanda's response, "Yum!" How naughty. And, who better to draw this sexier X-men, than Paul Smith. What do you think, Geoff? Quite good at the cute girl art don't you think? Particularly in contrast to the overtly busty femme fatales that would dominate these books about a decade later.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com