#IReadsYou Review: X-MEN GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS Extended Cut #1

X-MEN: GOD LOVES, MAN KILLS EXTENDED CUT #1 (OF 2)
MARVEL COMICS

STORY: Christopher Claremont
ART: Brent Eric Anderson
COLORS: Steve Oliff
LETTERS: Tom Orzechowski
EDITOR: Louise Jones (original); Jennifer Grunwald (extended cut)
EiC: Jim Shooter (original); Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski (extended cut)
COVER: Salvador Larroca with Guru-eFX
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Brent Anderson; Rod Reis; Giuseppe Camuncoli and Erick Arciniega
44pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (June 2020)

Rated T+

The X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

The X-Men are a Marvel Comics superhero team and franchise created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Jack Kirby.  In The X-Men #1 (cover dated: September 1963), readers were introduced to a professor who was also team-leader to his students.  Each student had unique powers and abilities because he or she was a “mutant.”

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills (Marvel Graphic Novel #5) was an original graphic novel published in 1982 by Marvel Comics.  It was written by Christopher Claremont and illustrated by Brent Eric Anderson.  Colorist Steve Oliff and letterer Tom Orzechowski completed the graphic novel's creative team.  The story pits the X-Men and their longtime enemy, Magneto, against a fanatical religious leader bent on exterminating “mutantkind.”  The graphic novel went on to become one of the most popular and beloved X-Men stories of all time.  Elements of the God Loves, Man Kills were used in the 2003 X-Men, film, X2: X-Men United.

Back in 2020, Marvel republished X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills as a two-issue miniseries, entitled X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Extended Cut.  The series divides the story in two parts and brackets it with a new ten-page framing sequence or story produced by the original story's creating team.  The first issue of this “extended cut” opens with five pages of the framing sequence and the second issue ends with the other five pages.

In this new sequence, the member of the X-Men known as Kitty Pryde and her pet dragon, Lockheed, are in southwest Texas.  There, Kitty visits a young woman named Kate who met Erik Lehnsherr a.k.a. “Magneto.”  Kitty has decided to tell the young woman the story that is X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Extended Cut #1 opens in the “Gold Star Cafe,” somewhere in southwest Texas.  There, Kitty Pryde of the X-Men meets Kate, a friend of Magneto, and decides to tell her the story of a time when Kitty was new to the X-Men and was known by the code name, Ariel.

Once upon a time, there was a popular and fanatical religious leader named William Stryker who led a religious organization called the “Stryker Crusade.”  Under the guise of evangelical Christianity, Stryker hatched a plot to destroy all mutants on Earth.  To begin, Stryker targeted Charles Xavier a.k.a. Professor X, the lynch pin to his plot.

To get to Xavier, Stryker will have to go through the X-Men:  Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Kitty Pryde/Ariel.  To fight the X-Men, Stryker had a strike force, a form of armor-wearing men he called the “Purifiers.”

Professor X and his X-Men were unaware of the danger to their lives.  Colossus' younger sister, Illyana, was also living with the team.  After Professor X and two of his X-Men are captured, the X-Men begin to fight back, but they will find themselves needing help from the greatest enemy, Magneto.

THE LOWDOWN:  I read X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills several times in my youth, but prior to reading this reprint series, I don't think that I had read it in decades.  I didn't read the sequel to it that Chris Claremont wrote for his former X-Men comic book series, X-Treme X-Men (2001-04).  Entitled “God Love, Man Kills Part II, it ran from X-Treme X-Men #25 (July 2003) to X-Treme X-Men #30 (October 2003).  The entire story line was collected in the trade paperback, X-Treme X-Men Vol. 5: God Love, Man Kills (October 2003).

It turns out that I had forgotten quite a bit of “God Loves, Man Kills.”  That includes the action-packed final battle against the Purifiers and that final debate with William Stryker at the “Stryker Building.”  I also had forgotten that Claremont has Kitty Pryde use the term “nigger-lover” in anger at Stevie Hunter.  An African-America woman, Stevie was a recurring, non-mutant character, who mostly appeared in The Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants in the early 1980s.  Four decades later, I have to say that I don't like that scene very much and I'm not happy about the use of that term.  I'm not surprised that Marvel did not remove it, but I am sure that it would not be used today in a scene of a similar context.

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills is a pivotal point in the publication history of the X-Men.  I believe that the X-Men began as a group of costume adventurers and superheroes who were defined by the fact that they were mutants and who faced prejudice because of it.  However, the original X-Men comic book series also focused on the action and was essentially an adventure serial.

After the debut of the “new X-Men” in 1974, writer Chris Claremont wrote the X-Men comic book as a serialized soap opera, although the X-Men team of the time traveled around the world having adventures and facing one peril after another.  Under Claremont, the X-Men and mutants, in general, became outcasts because of their mutant status.  No matter what they did as superheroes, being a mutant overshadowed or defined their actions.

Eventually, the X-Men, which was eventually re-titled “Uncanny X-Men,” became a comic book in which the narrative focused on prejudice, bigotry, racism, and hate.  The X-Men's struggles were a metaphor for the struggles of persecuted and hated minority groups fighting to be accepted by the wider society.  What made them different did not make them “less human” was a recurring theme, even as the traveled around the world and off it.

X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills was the point of no return.  Never again would the The Uncanny X-Men and its various spin-off series really be about adventure.  Past, present, and future – even future-past – would be about the mutant struggle and what forms the struggle would take.  Eventually, the X-Men would become a franchise that was insular and redundant.  I think that is why over time the Uncanny X-Men went from being a bestselling comic book franchise to being in the shadow of titles like Avengers, Batman, and Justice League, to name a few.

The mutant struggle became repetitive and tired and it began with a really memorable story, X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills.  The X-Men were once mutants who really wanted to prove that they could be the kind of superheroes who protected both mutants and humans and fought to save a world upon which both shared.  Then, the X-Men became just mutants.

Apparently, individual issues of comic books that are reprints of other individual comic books have been popular with buyers for more than a decade.  That is the only reason to reprint X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Extended Cut.  The X-Men are not as relevant as they once were, and the original X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills was rendered irrelevant by repetition of its themes long ago.

As for the new framing sequence:  there is a kernel of something relevant in Claremont's scenario.  And Brent Anderson's art reminds us that he is still an important artist in the history of X-Men publications despite his small output in the franchise.  If one of the themes of X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills was and still is “hope,” then, X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Extended Cut, at least for me, suggests that there is hope for the X-Men  It is hope that the franchise can be more than what it is now – a consumer product, an intellectual property (IP), and for some, a fetish.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of the original X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills will want to give X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills Extended Cut a try.

[This comic book includes two interviews, one with Chris Claremont and one with Brent Anderson.]

A-
★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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#IReadsYou Review: SCOOBY-DOO, Where Are You? #109

SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? (2010) No. 109
DC COMICS

STORY: Derek Fridolfs; Dan Abnett
PENCILS: Scott Jeralds; Anthony Williams
INKS: Scott Jeralds; Dan Davis
COLORS: Jeremy Lawson; Paul Becton
LETTERS: Saida Temofonte; Tom Orzechowski
EDITORS: Courtney Jordan; Joan Hilty (reprint)
COVER: Derek Fridolfs with Pamela Lovas
32pp, Color, $2.99 U.S. (June 2021)

Ages 8+

“Escape Claws”

Welcome, dear readers, to my continuing journey through the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? comic book series, which began publication in 2010.  I continue to renew my subscription so that I can continue to review this series for you, dear readers.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #109 opens with “Escape Claws,” which is written by Derek Fridolfs and drawn by Scott Jeralds.  Mystery Inc.:  Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Fred, Daphne, and Velma have been called to “Coolsville Escape Room.”  George Papalakis, the owner of an indoor competition game, “Escapades,” wants them to test the game (which is similar to “Laser Tag,” but without the shooting).  Apparently, a “chimera,” a mythological creature that is composed of a lion, a goat, and a snake, is haunting the place?  Can Mystery Inc, solve this case and escape the claws of the chimera.

The second story, “Petrified!,” is, as usual, a reprint story and is written by Dan Abnett and drawn by Anthony Williams and Dan Davis.  [This story was originally published as the back-up story in Scooby-Doo #70 (cover date: May 2003).]  The gang has been called to a town that is being plagued by a “basilisk.”  Originating from Europe, this mythological creature was a winged lizard that could turn people to stone when it stared at them.  However, Mystery Inc. knows that there is more to the townsfolk's stories than they are admitting.

The theme of this issue is mythological creatures, and while the concept for each story is interesting, the execution of each story is, to be quite honest, awful.  As usual, I like the quirky line work and delicate design and page layouts of artist Scott Jeralds.  He makes “Escape Claws” at least pleasant on the eyes.  Otherwise, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #109 is a low point in this series.

So, I recommend Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? #109 strictly to readers who are collecting all issues of this series.  And until next time, Scooby-Dooby-Doo!

C
4 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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Review: THE GREEN LANTERN #1

THE GREEN LANTERN No. 1
DC COMICS – @DCComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Grant Morrison
ART: Liam Sharp
COLORS: Steve Oliff
LETTERS: Tom Orzechowski
EDITOR: Brian Cunningham
COVER: Liam Sharp with Steve Oliff
VARIANT COVER: Frank Quitely
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (January 2019)

Rated “T+” for “Teen Plus”

“Intergalactic Lawman”

The DC Comics superhero, Green Lantern, first appeared in All-American Comics #16 (cover dated:  July 1940).  Created by artist Martin Nodell with writer Bill Finger, Green Lantern was Alan Scott, a railroad engineer who found a magic lantern from which he fashioned a magic ring that gave him various powers.

In 1959, editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome, and artist Gil Kane introduced a new Green Lantern, a science fiction hero rather than a magically powered hero like the Alan Scott-Green Lantern.  Introduced in Showcase #22 (cover dated:  September-October 1959), Green Lantern was Hal Jordan, who received his green power ring from a dying alien named Abin Sur.  Sur was a commissioned officer of the Green Lantern Corps, an interstellar law enforcement agency overseen by the “Guardians of the Universe” (or “Guardians of Oa”).  Jordan, upon receiving Sur's ring, took his place as the Green Lantern of the space that Sur had patrolled.

DC Comics has launched a new ongoing Green Lantern comic book series.  Entitled The Green Lantern, it is written by Grant Morrison; drawn by Liam Sharp; colored by Steve Oliff; and lettered by Tom Orzechowski.  The Green Lantern stars Hal Jordan as Green Lantern and focuses on Green Lantern as an intergalactic policeman rather than as a superhero.

The Green Lantern #1 (“Intergalactic Lawman”) opens as Maxim Tox, the Green Lantern of Sector 2018.2, captures three of the deadliest killers in the galaxy.  However, an accident or act of sabotage drops these miscreants in Hal Jordan's lap.  Jordan may be estranged from the Guardians of Oa, but they need him now...

If it's Grant Morrison, there is a good chance that it will be weird, and the best Morrison, his 1980's run on Animal Man and his 1989 to 1993 run on Doom Patrol, is deliciously weird.  Morrison's references to Hal Jordan-Green Lantern's past might not prepare the reader for the Morrison's new take on the character, but it seems that he is mining both Green Lantern and DC Comics' past (perhaps, especially the Silver Age) for ideas and concepts.

Artist Liam Sharp summons the work of the late artist, H.R. Giger, especially his Oscar-winning work on the 1979 film, Alien, to give The Green Lantern #1 a striking visual appearance and graphic design that is atypical of twenty-first century American comic books.  The closest antecedent I can think of is the 1980s work of English comic book artist, Kevin O'Neill (Nemesis the Warlock), and the science fiction and horror comics of 1950s EC Comics, especially the comics drawn by Wally Wood and Al Williamson.

The Green Lantern #1's unique striking graphics would not be so striking without Steve Oliff's colors, which are part subdued and part earthy, but also have a vibrant quality.  Tom Orzechowski, one of the best letterers in the history of comic books, adds a stylish touch that completes this comic book's eccentric flair.

I have to admit to being a little put off by The Green Lantern #1, but I am anxious to see how Morrison and Sharp will pull off the intergalactic cop thing.  So I'll be back.

7 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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I Reads You Review: UNCANNY X-MEN in Days of Future Past

UNCANNY X-MEN IN DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

PLOT: Chris Claremont and John Byrne
STORY: Chris Claremont
PENCILS: John Byrne
INKS: Terry Austin
COLORS: Glynis Oliver
LETTERS: Tom Orzechowski
EDITORS: Louise Simonson (original), Gregory Wright (reprint)
EiC: Tom DeFalco
COVER: Jackson Guice and Scott Williams
ISBN: 0-87135-582-5; paperback (1989)
48pp, Color, $3.95 U.S., $5.00 CAN

One of the most famous stories ever published in an X-Men comic book is known as “Days of Future Past.”  The two-part story was originally published in The X-Men #141 (“Days of Future Past,” cover dated: January 1981) and #142 (“Mind Out of Time!” cover dated: February 1981).  The popularity of “Days of the Future Past” is affirmed in the fact that the story has been continued and retold and has also influenced and inspired other X-Men publications and stories in the decades since its original publication.  This story is also the basis for the shortly to be released film, X-Men: Days of Future Past (20th Century Fox, 2014).

“Days of Future Past” was the creation of writer Chris Claremont and artist John Byrne, who were both credited as the story’s “co-plotters,” with Claremont providing the script and Byrne providing the pencil art.  Their collaborators were Terry Austin (ink art), Glynis Oliver (colors), Tom Orzechowski (letters), and Louise Simonson (editor).

I first read the story ages ago.  It simultaneously stunned and thrilled me, so much so that I immediately reread it.  This story had it all:  a dystopian future, an assassination conspiracy, dead X-Men, X-Men in peril, X-Men murdered before my very eyes, Sentinels (which were then new to me), the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, and a superhero/super-villain battle.

The X-Men #141 also probably has one of the most famous (if not the most famous) X-Men comic book covers.  Over the years, I made reading “Days of Future Past” an annual event.  One of my repeat readings was courtesy of a 1989 single-issue reprint entitled, The Uncanny X-Men in Days of Future Past.  When I recently discovered that I no longer had a copy of this comic book, I bought one from Mile High Comics, during a sale.  Because of the new X-Men movie, I decided to read and review The Uncanny X-Men in Days of Future Past.

“Days of Future Past” alternates between the (then) present year of 1980, and the (then) future year of 2013.  The X-Men #141 (“Days of Future Past”) opens in the year 2013.  The story introduces a dystopian future North America that is ruled by the mutant-hunting Sentinels.  Mutants are incarcerated in internment camps, and people are classified by their genetics.  The Sentinels not only killed almost all the X-Men, but they also killed many superheroes, including the Fantastic Four.

We meet an adult Kate Pryde.  She is one of the last surviving X-Men, along with Wolverine, Storm, and Colossus.  Kate and the X-Men join Magneto, Franklin Richards (son of Reed Richards and Sue Storm of the Fantastic Four), and his girlfriend, a telepath named Rachel, in a seemingly-impossible plan to travel into the past and change the horrible era in which they live.

On the eve of a feared nuclear holocaust, Kate’s mind travels backward through time to posses the body of her younger self, Kitty Pryde.  There, she convinces the X-Men: Storm, Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler and Angel that they must stop a plot by the newly reassembled Brotherhood of Evil Mutants:  Mystique, Destiny, Avalanche, Pyro, and Blob.  The Brotherhood plans to assassinate United States Senator Robert Kelly, a pivotal event in mutant–human history.

The X-Men #142 (“Mind Out of Time!”) finds the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in a pitched battle in and around the Congressional building.  Meanwhile, in 2013, the few remaining X-Men make their last stand.

Apparently, Marvel Comics has designated that “Days of Future Past” takes place in Earth-811 in the Marvel “multiverse.”  When I first read “Days of Future Past,” I saw it as probably the real future for the X-Men.  I also saw it as the height of the X-Men run by the team of Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin.  There would be no letdown, however, as this team would produce only one more issue of the X-Men after “Days of Future Past.”  Byrne exited the title to become both a writer and an artist, taking over the Fantastic Four.

As much as I have enjoyed reading the X-Men comic books that came after “Days of Future Past,” only a few have even come close to being as close to this Claremont-Byrne classic.  I think some people consider this Byrne’s best work as an artist.  For a long time, I agreed with that, but, as an artist, Byrne would go on to produce much more polished work, with a stronger sense of composition and design than what is found in his original X-Men run.  As a writer, I won’t compare his collaborative X-Men work with his work as a writer-artist on Fantastic Four and on various Superman titles.  Indeed, he was really good on those, too.

I think of X-Men #1 to #66; #94 to #143 (the final Claremont-Byrne-Austin); and Giant-Sized X-Men #1 to be the core of X-Men “mythology.”  Everything that springs after these issues is not quite fan fiction, but much of it seems like a vain attempt to replicate the Claremont-Byrne blueprint.  I think the reason why “Days of Future Past” means so much to me is because it marked the end of an extended run of what I see as the best and the most important of the X-Men.

From the publication of the first issue of The X-Men to “Days of Future Past,” the title introduced startling new concepts, offered gripping narratives full of drama, melodrama, and soap opera, and sometimes presented visionary graphics, graphical elements, and graphical storytelling.  Pretty much everything since “Days of Future Past” has been a rehash, a copy, or a slavishly inspired remake.

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


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I Reads You Review: WOLVERINE Volume 1

WOLVERINE VOL. 1
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

WRITER: Chris Claremont
PENCILS: Frank Miller
INKS: Josef Rubinstein
COLORS: Glynis Oliver (#1-3), Lynn Varley (#4)
LETTERS: Tom Orzechowski
COVER: Frank Miller with Lynn Varley
EDITOR: Louise Jones
REPRINT EDITOR: Ann Nocenti
ASSISTANT EDITOR: Terry Kavanagh
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Jim Shooter
ISBN: 0-87135-277-X; paperback (1987)
96pp, Colors, $4.95 U.S., $5.95 CAN

Wolverine received his first solo comic book in the form of a four-issue miniseries, entitled Wolverine, which was originally published from September to December 1982.  Written by Chris Claremont and penciled by Frank Miller, Wolverine tells the story of Logan/Wolverine’s mission to Japan to learn why the love of his life has rejected him.

For the last decade or so, readers have become used to trade paperbacks arriving shortly after the publication of the story arcs and miniseries that they collect – sometimes as soon as a month after a story arc or series conclusion.  Once upon a time, trade paperback collections were not common.  Wolverine, which collected the miniseries, Wolverine (Vol. 1 #1-4) was published almost five years after the original miniseries first appeared on newsstands and in comic book shops.  Even the indicia for the trade paperback was nothing more than the indicia for Wolverine #1 with a few changes to indicate new dates and prices, as well as the change in Marvel Comics’ ownership.

I suggest that before jumping into this series (and it is worth jumping into) that you read Chris Claremont’s introduction to you story.  That introduction appeared in the original version of the Wolverine trade paperback.  I must note that I am reviewing Wolverine from a 1987 first printing of the trade paperback.  I don’t know if the introduction has appeared in subsequent collected editions of the miniseries.  Claremont explains how he approached the story and why he used it as an opportunity to redefine Wolverine.

For a time, this book was a personal favorite, one I subjected to numerous readings, but I think it has been close to two decades since I last read it.  Reading it for the first time in a long time, I found that (1) I still love this story and (2) there is something about it that has been nagging at me.  After finishing my recent read, I figured out what that something is.  Chris Claremont and Frank Miller were working together to tell the same story, but they were telling it by using different genres.

First, the plot of the 1982 Wolverine miniseries:  Wolverine is spending time away from the X-Men in Canada.  He discovers that all the letters which he has been sending to Mariko Yashida, the Japanese woman he loves, have been returned unopened.  She does not respond to his telephone calls, nor will anyone connected to Mariko help him make contact with her.

Wolverine travels to Japan, where he discovers that Mariko has entered into an arranged marriage to Noburu Hideki.  This arrangement has something to do with a debt incurred by Mariko’s father, Shingen, Lord of Clan Yashida, whom Mariko once believed to be dead.  Wolverine confronts Shingen only to be easily bested in combat by the clan lord, and then, finds himself marked for death by The Hand, an organization of ninja assassins.  Wolverine’s only ally may be Yukio, a mysterious woman of questionable motivations, who is crazy in love with Wolverine.

Claremont states in the introduction that he and Miller “wanted to utterly, ruthlessly and seemingly irrevocably destroy” Wolverine.  They would use their story to make the character better.  Neither creator was interested in the Wolverine that, at the time, was so popular with readers.  That was Wolverine the “pint-sized, hell-raiser with a hair-trigger temper.”  Claremont wanted a character that was more complicated.  Why just play Wolverine as a “psycho-killer” and an animal when he could be a human who struggles with his killer/animal nature?

Claremont reveals in the introduction that he saw Wolverine as a “failed samurai.”  Thus, he wrote a story in which Wolverine struggles to attain pride, self-respect, and honor, while circumstances require him to be a berserk killer.  By exploring this conflict and struggle, Claremont uses character to drive the plot rather than have plot drive the character, which is what would happen if the story was simply about Wolverine killing his adversaries and other assorted people who want to kill him.  Basically, Claremont tells Wolverine’s story as a samurai drama with a side of existential crisis.

Meanwhile, Frank Miller tells Wolverine the character drama as a kind of crime thriller and martial arts ninja movie.  Miller’s popularity with comic book readers isn’t just because of the many unique and varied drawing styles that he has employed over the better part of forty years of drawing comic books.  Miller captures readers with his graphical storytelling – using graphics and illustrations that are connected to tell a story, but Miller does this in an especially visually arresting manner.

Miller has mastered design, not just in the way he presents pages, but also in the way he composes content within panels, connects one panel to another, and how he uses and manipulates space.  He uses the comics medium to suggest, to evoke, to prod, to provoke, and even to challenge his readers.  He goes beyond simply engaging imagination; he goes after the reader’s emotions, and that is what his pencil art does in Wolverine.  Miller tells this Wolverine character drama by visualizing the struggle between man/samurai and animal/killer with bracing depictions of battle, duels, violence, and tests of will.  Whereas Claremont uses dialogue and exposition, Miller uses visceral action.

What else can I say?  I loved going back and reading Wolverine in anticipation of the movie, The Wolverine.  This film is apparently based in part on Claremont and Miller’s seminal Wolverine miniseries, and the filmmakers could not have made a better choice.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux