X-Men Noir

[gorthon616]

So... I thought this was GREAT up until the last issue.... where I'm kind of confused about now. There were two of him? I don't get it.

Anyways, I thought it was a great read and I'm glad to see Van Lente getting writing opportunities because he's definitely one of my favorite new writers.

Oh, and the short story back-ups were awesome.

[DeniseXfrost]

It's boring. Couldn't get into it.

[Omega Alpha]

This was a good read overall, though not as good as Spider-Man noir. It had too many characters, I think. But I liked the twist with Jean being alive all along, and playing the others. I also would love to see a sequel, which the ending already kind of sets up.

[T Hedge Coke]

I thought it was funny how much blatant sexism and racism they could cram into the story, but they can't use the word "balls."

Aside from some decent moments and interesting transliterations of characters and tropes, this series was like the worst of the Elseworlds stories, just dressing the familiar in a veneer of another genre.

[Chachi]

I agree the series was good til the last issue. And I also think there were too many charchters, although by the end most of em are dead. Question who is the guy with the 2 half naked chicks that Magnus kills at the Hellfire Club?

Agree Spiderman Noir is awesome. Looking forward to Daredevil Noir, not so sure on Wolverine Noir - depends on the art which isnt looking to good.

[f4faith]

I thought it was funny how much blatant sexism and racism they could cram into the story, but they can't use the word "balls."

Aside from some decent moments and interesting transliterations of characters and tropes, this series was like the worst of the Elseworlds stories, just dressing the familiar in a veneer of another genre.

Agreed. I predicted nearly everything that happened including or especially the whole bit with Jean "Rogue" being the killer. I knew it the minute she slept with the "Angel" and why was the story more about him than the "X-men" characters. I also predicted all the the deaths because yet again Marvel can't not push Scott and Logan on us as the only important X-men in any world. Ugh. Complete waste of a potentially interesting idea.

[CaptainCanada]

also predicted all the the deaths because yet again Marvel can't not push Scott and Logan on us as the only important X-men in any world.
I don't get that at all; they were both mostly incidental to the story; they're just two of the last standing.

I thought it was pretty good overall, though Calero's art often made it kind of hard to differentiate between the characters.

[gorthon616]

This was a good read overall, though not as good as Spider-Man noir. It had too many characters, I think. But I liked the twist with Jean being alive all along, and playing the others. I also would love to see a sequel, which the ending already kind of sets up.

Really? I didn't like Spider-Man Noir at all. Well, at least as much as I've read. It just felt very flat.

[gorthon616]

I thought it was pretty good overall, though Calero's art often made it kind of hard to differentiate between the characters.

Yeah. I think I was okay with that at first, but I think it really tripped me up on the last issue.

[f4faith]

I don't get that at all; they were both mostly incidental to the story; they're just two of the last standing..

I already noted that all the "X-Men" characters were incidental to the story even the Rogue/Jean one. The story was about the "50s Angel" character. Still as seems to be the case with every Marvel story these days, they were the only two that stand out by surviving, in comparison to the other "X-Men" characters who were just cannon fodder for the predictable story.

[Chachi]

will Wolverine Noir tie into this any at all? Its set in 1937 according to solicits, I dont remember it being mentioned what year Xmen Noir took place in?

[Omega Alpha]

This is set in 1938, IIRC, but I don't know if the Wolverine one has any connection.

[DarthCyclopsRLZ]

Can't say it was much fun overall, but it totally captured what Noir is all about, eh.

It's just too bad that it ended up being about the 50s' Angel character, lol.

Can't quite picture how the pitch went, really.

[DarthCyclopsRLZ]

yet again Marvel can't not push Scott and Logan on us as the only important X-men in any world.

Come on. Cyke and Wolvie actually sailing onto the sunset, lol.

You gotta praise someone for having the balls to aknowledge that once all the ladies are dead, these two totally are gonna get it on.

[Gaveedra 6]

I was just disappointed, that after all the build up and talking, talking, talking, about eugenics and superior / special abilities, few of the X-Men did anything interesting out of the ordinary. Why have an "Iceman" if he does nothing icy? Beast did one acrobatic feat back in issue 1, IIRC. I get that it's noir, and they're not mutants as we know them to usually be, but with Rogue's abilities being interpreted so creatively, I really hoped the others would get similar treatment.

Has it ever been hinted at in another comic that Rogue could be related to Mimic? I thought that was a very cool idea.

[Rivka]

I ended up liking this series a lot!

Peter/Pietro stole the show, in my opinion. The Magnus clan were the dramatic core, and I wasn't disappointed. I had my doubts about the portrayal of Chief of Detectives Magnus, but Van Lente was right, this was a thoughtful, interesting version of Mags.

Loved the moment that Peter killed Remy.

I didn't mind who was killed, and who was left standing. This was an "elseworlds" story, afterall. It was more important to me that the characters were portrayed accurately and they were extrapolated into this kind of really dark, dark version of noir.

It wasn't even really New York circa 1938, but some kind of alternate dimension New York circa 1938.

I liked the way the way Jean was portrayed as this version of "dark phoenix" Jean.

I liked the reveal of why Cyclops was called "Cyclops" in this place.

My only complaints are:

1) The art was kind of confusing in places. I had to go back and read several pages repeatedly to try and figure out what was going on.

2) Wanda's fate was left unresolved, as far as I can tell. Her brother and father are dead, now what happened to her?

3) The series ended too abruptly, it seemed. Some follow up on other characters, like Professor X, seemed to be missing.

4) I was confused by the Tommy and Bobby situation. I don't quite understand who they are in Marvel continuity. I realize they are the twin sons of the warden who was killed when Magnus raided the prison. But I don't understand why Tommy killed the pigeons, what his relationship might be in 616 Marvel with Jean Grey. I feel I'm missing something. So, his twin brother Robert "Bobby" survived all the carnage, along with Wolverine and Cyclops. But who is "Bobby" and why did he wear the "Acrobat's" costume and what was his purpose?

The series was like a noir X-Men novelette, neither a short story nor a longer novella.

I liked X-MEN NOIR very much, as I said, not the least because of the great portrayal of Magnus, giving us an excellent example of how to do it. As opposed to the disgusting, God-awful characterizations of Magneto in the WATXM cartoon, and the second-worst depiction of Magneto in comic book history now running in that piece of garbage series ULTIMATUM.

I recall being kind of rude with Van Lente months ago when this characterization problem with Magneto came up for discussion. I don't want Mags to be a "hero" necessarily, nor do I think he should be an anti-hero all the time. He is a villain oftentimes, he is always the adversary of the X-Men. There is a lot about him to admire, but he has suffered a lot, and his view of things has become twisted and dark. The things that remain constant are Magnus' background as a persecuted Jew from the Old Country, the importance of his family (those who have died, those who he has tried to connect with, those who he never knew existed, those who have abandoned him), and his internal conflict between wanting power and power over his life (so that people will fear him rather than Magnus ever being persecuted and afraid again) and his genuine desire to do his best for his children.

I thought Van Lente pretty much nailed Magnus and the Magnus family. And I very much liked the ambiguous position of the X-Men in this series, as outlaws, genuine outlaws, crooks, "juvenile deliquints" but defined as such by a society and government that is so corrupt that anyone opposing it can't be all bad. Very neat twist.

All in all, one of the more enjoyable series produced by Marvel in the last year. I feel I got my money's worth.

[f4faith]

I ended up liking this series a lot!

Peter/Pietro stole the show, in my opinion. The Magnus clan were the dramatic core, and I wasn't disappointed. I had my doubts about the portrayal of Chief of Detectives Magnus, but Van Lente was right, this was a thoughtful, interesting version of Mags.

Well I would agree with you on that. I still lothed this story and all the sad Noir sterotypes but if I had to pick the X-Men characters that got the most detailed and somewhat developed alternate versions of themselves in this, it was the Magnus family and Wolverine.

Magneto was a pretty understandable in his role as head of police and the Brotherhood and he at least got a history. Pietro was a whiny wimp looser who worshiped daddy and Wanda so much that he couldn't handle their failures any more than his own, and Wanda was a basically a helpless gambling leach who blamed all her issues on her father or anyone else she could.

Didn't give a care about a one of them, but they at least had a story compared to just a footnote like appearances of characters like Hank, Remy, Rogue, and Bobby

[Chachi]

Marvels website has a 5 page Wolverine Noir preview up.