X-Men Annuals (Blue & Gold)

I've never been a fan of annuals. They're a neat tradition in comic books, but for the most part I find them to be missed opportunities.

I recently caught up with the annuals for X-Men: Blue and X-Men: Gold. My thoughts on Blue and Gold can be found here. TLDR version: Blue is my favorite ongoing X-Book (apart from Astonishing) and Gold has been mostly a generic dud.

Strangely, UNBELIEVABLY even, the opposite is true for the annuals. X-Men: Blue Annual #1 is not really an annual in the traditional sense, but instead it's part one of a crossover titled Poison-X featuring Venom, cashing in on that Venom movie trailer brand recognition. It's written by Cullen Bunn, who writes the regular series, but it lacks the electricity that defines it. It feels more like a treatment for a story, moving through the stages of the narrative: something happens with symbiotes, get Venom to help, go to space world, encounter bad guys. This isn't bad in-and-of itself, it just lacks the grace that Bunn achieves with the snappy break-neck momentum of Blue.

If the goal was get eyes on Venom as a property, it works. I've never read Venom. I really only know him from the 90's cartoon and Raimi's masterpiece, Spiderman 3 (I'm serious it's the best one, fight me). I dig the way Venom is presented as a constant conversation with himself as a singular whole: the symbiote + Eddie Brock. Otherwise, the annual is pretty forgettable. I'm mostly dreading that I now have to read two issues of Venom in order to make sense of the upcoming X-Men: Blue #21-22. Maybe I'll just skip the Venom parts. It's not that hard to figure out what happens in these things, anyway.

X-Men: Gold Annual #1 is the best Gold has been, hands down. It's an Excalibur reunion (obviously, from the cover) that quickly gets Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, and Prestige over to the U.K. to see Meggan and Captain Britain's new baby. It's the kind of character work executed with a light touch that Gold has lacked. Writer Guggenheim includes a throwback villain that is so forgettable no one remembers who he is, which feels like a good joke at the expense of editorial's demand for constant nostalgia trips to the 1990's. The issue made me long for what Gold could be, so maybe Guggenheim has wanted to tell these stories all along, but is required to face-off his team against a string of forgettable references to the past. But here I'm speculating. Maybe Gold will get better from here on out? Only time will tell.

references:

1. X-Men: Blue Annual #1 w.Cullen Bunn p.Edgar Salazar Pub. Jan. 24, 2018 Read 2/9/18
2.  X-Men: Gold Annual #1 w.Marc Guggenheim, Leah Williams p.Alitha Martinez Pub. Jan. 10, 2018 Read 2/9/18
3. X-Men: Blue Annual #1 cover art by Nick Bradshaw.
4. X-Men: Gold Annual #1 cover art by Alan Davis

Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey

It's a blizzard here in Chicago, which means it's a snow day, which means catching up on my stack of comics. Almost a month has passed since my last post, so I'm just gonna dive right in!

Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey is a five issue mini series published from Oct. 4, 2017 to Jan. 31, 2018. Its title signals what it's all about: bringing the long dead Jean Grey back into X-Men continuity (as opposed to the time-displaced young Jean Grey that leads X-Men: Blue and stars in her own solo book. Resurrection builds on plot movements from the various X-books, with several references to events in Jean Grey (the solo title), but it's almost a stand alone mini-series (full confession: I have yet to read a single issue of Jean Grey).

As far as these X-Men miniseries events go, Phoenix Resurrection is pretty good. I have a poor opinion of these books, which function to produce a "get" that jump starts a major plot point into the continuity of the X-Men universe. Death of X and Inhumans vs. X-Men killed off, brought back, and re-organized major characters that were then taken up by the regular titles. The problem is that these miniseries' are often rush jobs, crammed full of exposition and clunky plot points. The art typically suffers too (Death of X is hideously amateur to look at). It always feels like Marvel is more invested in producing plot than in telling a story.

I digress. The writing on Phoenix Resurrection is profoundly OK. It trucks along largely through the actions of Kitty Pryde and Beast, always moving rapidly to the inevitable moment that we know is coming. I wish Yu, who was the artist on #1, had done the whole series, but the other pencilers do solid work. I just love the way Yu draws Kitty and Beast.

I'll spare a recap of the plot, but I want to point to one device that I found cleverly executed. From #1 it's clear that Jean is trapped in some kind of false reality populated by other dead X-Men, such as Banshee. It has the feel of any generic sci-fi simulation plot: it's a dreamlike suburb existing out of time. Jean works at a diner as a waitress. The best parts of the whole series take place at the counter. The whole thing is a visual reference to Twin Peaks, with Jean's friend/boss Annie always sitting at the counter doing paper work, just like Norma in The Return.

The last thing I'll add is that #5 (the finale) really took me by surprise in the way it handled the confrontation between Jean Grey and the Phoenix force. The previous four issues built up a classic fight, which often means an incomprehensible number of X-Men are drawn into a two-page spread fighting a giant monster or something. They almost lose, but then they win. Superhero comic books. Instead, Rosenberg has Jean in conversation with the Phoenix Force, which is drawn as a goofy looking bird that gets smaller in each panel. It turns into a conversation about Jean's desire to live or die and to save those she loves from dying. It wasn't profound by any means, but a well crafted character moment.

And now to read the new team book X-Men: Red #1 starring the newly resurrected Jean Grey...

references:

1. Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #1 w. Matt Rosenberg p. Leinil Francis Yu Pub. Oct. 4, 2017 Read 1/1/18
2. Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #2 w. Matt Rosenberg p. Carlos Pacheco Pub. Jan. 3, 2018 Read 1/3/18
3. Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #3 w. Matt Rosenberg p. Joe Bennett Pub. Jan. 10, 2018 Read 2/9/18
4. Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #4 w. Matt Rosenberg p. Ramon Rosanas Pub. Jan. 24, 2018 Read 2/9/18
5. Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #5 w. Matt Rosenberg p. Joe Bennett, Leinil Francis Yu Pub. Jan. 31, 2018 Read 2/9/18
6. image: Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #5 cover by Leinil Francis Yu & Nolan Woodard