Astonishing X-Men #35

[flint_marko]

This is from Astonishing X-Men #35 by Warren Ellis and Phil Jimenez

Comments

[korvarthefox.livejournal.com]

He should be going after the Hulk, too, and all the other gamma-irradiated folks who got neato superpowers instead of, well, ending up like him. Or dead, for that matter.

In a way, he's the strange one, expecting biology to work in the way it does in our world, instead of the way it clearly does in 616.

[point5b.livejournal.com]

Well, it demonstrably is working for him the way it does in our world. :)

But yeah, it's a bizarre thing for Ellis to mix in real-world medicine and Marvel's brand of bat-science.

[hybrid2]

except for the wanting to kill them part,the man as a point.

[seriousfic]

Has anyone ever crucified his friends on his front lawn? If not, he should probably take a number.

[espanolbot]

Eh, considering how their leader runs roving deathsquads I think that the killing them part can largely be allowed to slide.

[fifthie]

It's a shame that they put that point into the mouth of the villain, making it yet another "ugly mutant = evil" story, just like the ten million other such stories in the X-Men's history.

[seriousfic]

I'm a little amused that Wolverine is in this scene. "Hey, bub, canonically I should be 5'5 and look like Danny DeVito knocked up a coyote!"

[espanolbot]

You know Emma, you ignoring that guy's points doesn't help his (somewhat) accurate interpretation of you lot.

[nezchan]

Actually, the bulk of his points come down to "you're pretty and I'm not and I'm jealous". So I'm not all that sympathetic.

[crinos]

True, but then again, Emma is a total bitch, so that's probably how she interpenetrates things as well.

[warpedhand]

Mutant is biologically an inaccurate term, as basically everyone is a mutant in one way or another? Why thank you Warren Ellis, I never would have noticed that!

Seriously, a better way to have done this would have been to have Beast make a joke about how much he hates the term mutant as a scientist.

[majingojira]

Every human being alive is born with over a hundred mutations, and we gain a hundred more as we grow up.

Science is awesome that way.

[sir_mikael]

I've wanted Beast to go on a chatshow and clear these things up forever. Cus that's the sort of thing he'd do. For instance he could mention that the term Homo Sapiens Superior was coined by the terrorist Magneto* and that they're all human in the end. Sigh. As of Endangered Species mutants are a separate species though.


*Term possibly retconned to be older by now I guess.

[pallas_athena]

*Sigh* Yes, the guy's got a point.

Yes, bringing a darker, grittier, more "realistic" interpretation of what a mutant is face-to-face with the pretty and colourful X-Men is a very, very good story device, and I'm glad it's being done.

...But all I can hear here is Ellis making a point, Ellis saying something Ellis has always wanted to say. Ellis CAN be a good writer, but I like him least when he grandstands. Yes, he's got some valid and witty things to say-- but all the fun drains out of a story when any given character can become a glove-puppet with the rhetorical Hand Of Ellis unavoidably visible up its arse.

[nezchan]

That's the thing. There are conventions in superhero comics, and the X-Men have had to fit into those conventions over the years. In the same way that a realistic face looks awful on a cartoon body, dark-and-gritty doesn't really work in a colourful hero book like this one.

Hell, the 90's should have taught us that.

[darkknightjrk]

I don't really see any grandstanding due to author's intent--that's more because the actual character needed to rant. If it was author's intent, I think they would have felt his point, or something, but Emma puts the guy down (and if any character is Ellis' voice, it's her) and Scott decides to kill him with kindness.

[starwolf_oakley]

Remember what I said about "Woobier than thou"? Bingo.

Also, some fans and creator have been trying to justify "Everyone loves the Fantastic Four but hates the X-Men" for decades.

A play in one act.

[equinox216]

I was all "Are we sure this is Ellis?" but I got to "Years and years of murder science." and then I was sure this was Ellis.

*exeunt*

Re: A play in one act.

[darkknightjrk]

Yes, I loved that "Murder Science" line too. Vintage Ellis. :D

[stig]

While we're at it, when is Marvel going to stop pushing it that Mutants are a 'species'? The criteria per se are vague, of course, but I'm pretty sure that they don't pass all of them. If anything, they're a series of mutations of the human genome.

Crucially, I don't think they're a species until it's demonstrable that a large population of them have the same physiological/morphological and/or behavioural differences from humans. Like, for instance, if there were lots of large blue cat-people. Or if the children of Beak & Angel in "New X-Men" had themselves produced offspring which only looked like fly-winged bird-people.

[shadowpsykie]

well i think its a mutation of the same part of the gene, the mutation itself is different, but the gene is the same one that is effected.

[protogarrett]

All that and this is the payoff? Hmm... at first I was upset at how shallow it was but, actually, from a sociological standpoint, I get it and I'm okay with it. A little bit knock you over the head though, the writers critiquing the comics industry itself is nice. Really, would we read a comic with sub-par looking characters? No, pretty sells and he has a point. Mutants do seem to have a tendency to look good.

Still, this villain, with all his genius and money at NO point decided to study a way to make himself look good or, maybe, just see a damn plastic surgeon? Maybe live with the Morlocks, and have Masque fix him up? I dunno...

[nezchan]

This is true, there's enough super-science (some of which he's apparently invented) that could go a long way towards fixing him up just dandy. And he's certainly got the smarts to be a big success himself.

[tacobob]

I just love Wolvie's comments about the "WHEELCHAIR OF DEATH!"

[nickfury90]

Phil Jimenez draws the prettiest superheroes ^_^

[halloweenjack]

This asshole needs five minutes with Ben Grimm.

[proteus_lives]

Much motto.

[thanekos]

patents by the age of 16?

sounds like someone's got a case of superhuman intelligence.

(or drive.)

[proteus_lives]

So basically, he hates himself and is directing that rage to an target.

No tears here.