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Mar 29

X-Men Legends #11

Posted on Tuesday, March 29, 2022 by Paul in x-axis

X-MEN LEGENDS #11
“Monsters”
Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Walter Simonson
Colourist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: John Workman
Editor: Mark Basso

“Monsters” is the second X-Men Legends issue by Louise and Walter Simonson, and takes place at around the same time as their previous story. The two aren’t really connected, though, or at least only by slenderest of margins. The previous issue was basically an issue of X-Factor, the book they worked on together back in the 1980s. This is a New Mutants story, a book which Louise Simonson wrote, but which was being drawn around that point by Bret Blevins.

If the premise of this book is to recapture something of a classic run… well, Bret Blevins and Walt Simonson are very different artists. Blevins’ New Mutants run veered to the spindly and grotesque, and it has to be said that his costume designs were a bit of a mess. (I always liked Mirage costume, but that’s very much the exception.) Perhaps that’s one reason why this story revolves around villains from X-Factor, namely the original Horsemen of Apocalypse.

It’s a slender premise. This is the point in time when Caliban was hanging around with Apocalypse, accepting the big guy’s offer of power so that he could avenge the Morlock Massacre. The Horsemen are down two members right now, with only War and Famine left. So Caliban decides to return to the Morlock tunnels for a bit of recruitment. War and Famine are decidedly unimpressed, but Caliban points out – not unreasonably – that the Morlocks who survived the massacre are, by definition, the strong. Exactly what Apocalypse wants!

Unfortunately for Caliban, he’s so put out by the Horsemen’s scepticism that he insists on bringing them along so that they can do a bit of testing. Quite understandably, the remaining Morlocks immediately decide that the Marauders have returned and fly into a panic. The New Mutants get involved because… well, they happened to be passing, I guess. Plus some of them have a history with Caliban. A completely pointless fight ensues, which the Horsemen lose, and naturally nobody wants to listen to Caliban’s sales pitch after that. And that’s pretty much it; instead of drawing the lesson that he might be on the wrong side here, Caliban concludes that the moral of the story is to show less initiative in future.

It’s not exactly a story that desperately needed to be told. The big draw here is really the art; the original Horsemen always had great designs and it’s nice to see a long-forgotten villain like War given a bit of a spotlight. Mind you, it also feels pretty rough at times, and it doesn’t have some of the big geometric impacts that the Simonsons’ previous issue had. There’s a bit of that, but then it wouldn’t be as suitable for a story in the Morlock tunnels. The boldness is there, and there’s something rather appealing in the way that Walt Simonson’s art is so visibly and conspicuously drawn – the hand lettering is a particularly nice touch.

There’s some weirdly clunky writing in here, though. I have no idea why the New Mutants are just wandering around town in full costume at the start of the issue (and the script seems pretty confused about it too). Dani’s “Throw that and we all die!” bit is way, way over the top, and generally it doesn’t feel like this story really needed all of the New Mutants running about – it’s really about the Horsemen and the Morlocks.

I suppose this is the sort of story where there was scope for a bit of smoothing over with the modern Krakoa set-up. Caliban treats Apocalypse as a wise mentor whose concerns about readying the world for the arrival of the Celestials are to be taken seriously. In the late 80s this made him a gullible nitwit. In 2022 it makes him a Krakoan citizen ahead of his time – all the more so when Apocalypse’s future protégé Rictor is in the story. There’s maybe a better version of this story where it’s just Rictor who gets sucked in to the events. You could have done something where 1980s Caliban has a version of the relationship that Rictor would have in due course, and Rictor not getting it yet. You could show 80s Apocalypse through the prism of the Krakoan interpretation and make Caliban’s loyalty to him seem more understandable.

Then again, that’s not the project of X-Men Legends. It’s a book designed to recapture something of a bygone era, not to rewrite it in the light of the present day. That’s fair enough, I guess. But the result is very slight.

 

Bring on the comments

  1. SanityOrMadness says:

    You say the Simonsons’ previous “issue” of XML four times, but that previous story was a two-parter (#3 & 4).

  2. Uncanny X-Ben says:

    I’ve never really seen those New Mutants costumes, boy they are ugly.

  3. Josie says:

    On one hand, I give Marvel some credit for releasing a slew of ’90s nostalgia series with some older creators (there’s X-Men Legends, but also Spider-man Ben Reilly, Maestro, and Silver Surfer).

    But aside from the Maestro stuff, which more or less has an open playground of stories and characters to kill off, all the other stuff seems pretty hamstrung into telling stories that don’t “matter’ in any way and don’t shed any new light on the characters or concepts.

  4. Allan M says:

    The New Mutants have pretty atrocious records on the fashion front, which is probably why they keep getting put back into variants of the blue and yellow trainee uniforms. When Rob Liefeld legimately has a claim that he’s got the best overall design sense for a team, you’re in trouble. Him adding the goggles to Cannonball in particular is a standout. With us to this day.

  5. Moo says:

    I’m still kinda partial to that helmet/visor combo that Art Adams gave Cannonball when he designed the New Mutants graduation costumes in X-Men Annual #10. I know those costumes look a bit… much by today’s standards, but I thought they looked fantastic back in the day.

  6. Uncanny X-Ben says:

    Oh yeah those are pretty strong.

    I do like Cannonball rocking the purple, but I’m not sure about the Robocop helmet.

    I always wonder if tassels we’re actually as ubiquitous across Native American cultures as they are in comic costumes.

  7. Josie says:

    New Mutants also gave us a Magneto costume so bad, not even Hickman brought it back in the Krakoa era.

  8. wwk5d says:

    Interesting that Feral was also included in this story.

    Poor Rusty and Skids, they’re barely in this. You’d think this would be a chance for Simonson to have them involved in an actual NM adventure, given they were only members for like a minute or two.

  9. Moo says:

    “Robocop helmet”

    Damnit, Ben, You ruined it for me. Now that’s all I can see it as (although the comic was published before Robocop came out, but still…)

    Speaking of Rusty Collins, I recall wondering once if Layton came up with that name from combining the drinks Rusty Nail with Tom Collins. Not literally combining those drinks. That would be disgusting. Combining the names, I mean.

    Probably just a coincidence, or maybe he’s a heavy drinker. Or maybe I am.

  10. SanityOrMadness says:

    Josie> New Mutants also gave us a Magneto costume so bad, not even Hickman brought it back in the Krakoa era.

    Terry Dodson did. (X-Men/F4 #1)

  11. Mike Loughlin says:

    I think Rob Liefeld & Jim Lee got their entire costume design sense from the Art Adams New Mutants graduation costumes. I remember at least one pair of two-tone pants and Cypher sporting a bunch of pouches.

  12. Omar Karindu says:

    Mike Loughlin said: I think Rob Liefeld & Jim Lee got their entire costume design sense from the Art Adams New Mutants graduation costumes. I remember at least one pair of two-tone pants and Cypher sporting a bunch of pouches.

    Now, now, I’m sure they got some of it from the Art Adams work on the Longshot miniseries as well.

    And they both bit a little off of George Perez’s costume design sensibilities, if not his overall pencilling style.

    Leaving aside the obvious Deathstroke-to-Deadpool thing, Perez’s design for Starfire seems like a prototype for a lot of Image-style costumes for female characters, and I think there’s a genealogy from Perez designs like Taskmaster, Cheshire, Harbinger, and the two Monitors over to a lot of Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld character design elements.

  13. Daniel T says:

    I don’t know how it took me 30 years to notice this, but I was reading a story with Taskmaster in the new Hawkeye collection and it struck me like a bolt from the blue that almost all those Image guys costumes look like Pérez creations (and reading the comments here I see the Art Adams in them also).

    As much as I like Pérez, he is in my opinion the best penciller with the worst design sense. Deathstroke is probably his best design.

  14. Tim Wilson says:

    Daniel T: “As much as I like Pérez, he is in my opinion the best penciller with the worst design sense. Deathstroke is probably his best design.”

    Ugh, anyone else remember his second costume for Justice in his Avengers run with Kurt Busiek? The one from after the Ultron storyline, that appeared in about 4 issues and then vanished into the void never to be seen again?

  15. Thom H. says:

    I absolutely *loved* Perez’s costume designs for Nightwing and Jericho when they first debuted. But it was obvious even then they were over the top — the giant collar? the fiddly details? No one but Perez could do them justice over any period of time.

    Also, it seems like Simonson is doing his best Blevins impression with most of the cast looking like lanky teenagers. His Warlock is weirdly buff, though. Not a fan.

  16. Mark Coale says:

    I bet no one besides George liked drawing Wanda’s [Romani] costume, with all its details.

  17. Allan M says:

    Wanda’s Perez costume lasts a grand total of three issues after he leaves. And she’s not in one of them. Epting draw two issues with it, and then Alan Davis takes over and she’s immediately in a simpler costume that’s closer to her classic outfit.

  18. CalvinPitt says:

    I think it was at the old Comics Should be Good blog at CBR, they came up with the Ron Frenz Rule, that your character costume should not be so elaborate Ron Frenz couldn’t draw it properly. I kinda feel like that rule was made because of George Perez.

    I don’t mind his costume designs (I like Taskmaster’s look, although I’m fond of cloaks in general). I appreciate the effort, I guess, but I’m maybe not reading enough comics where someone who isn’t George Perez tries drawing them.

  19. Uncanny X-Ben says:

    I still haven’t watched it but making Taskmaster look so lame and generic in the Black Widow movie bummed me out.

    Thankfully Moon Knight has come along to hurt me even more.

  20. Moo says:

    “Thankfully Moon Knight has come along to hurt me even more.”

    How so? Just curious.

  21. Uncanny X-Ben says:

    Just from the costume design stand point!

    Well and the fact that they couldn’t cast one of the 50 thousand Jewish actors.

    And that I think Oscar Isaac is a really hammy broad overactor.

    Other than that I’m excited for it.

  22. Thom H. says:

    Even Perez eventually gave up on drawing all 8000 baubles he had hanging off of Wanda’s Romani-inspired costume and at least simplified her boots.

    Can you imagine getting into gear to fight Ultron or whatever? “Hold on, guys — I just have to put on 90 more bracelets!”

    Now that I think about it, did his costume designs get more complicated over time? His original New Teen Titans concepts were great. Cyborg is a little overdone, maybe, but he even managed to salvage whatever was going on with Beast Boy’s old Doom Patrol costume.

    Although I suppose his Zatanna costume design was around the same time. Never mind. “Hold on guys, I’ve got to put on my head insect,” etc.

  23. Moo says:

    “Hold on, guys — I just have to put on 90 more bracelets!”

    LOL

  24. Moo says:

    You know, I was thinking about what Daniel said earlier about Perez, despite his general excellence, having lousy design sense. I agree with that, and actually feel similarly about Jim Lee.

    Remember that issue from the Morrison run that introduced Dust? Jean was wearing a green t-shirt with the Phoenix symbol. I don’t know whether Ethan Van Sciver came up with that himself, or if it was a suggestion from Morrison, but whatever the case, I thought it looked fantastic. Especially after the jacket came off and she just had on the t-shirt and leather pants. It made me imagine some of the other X-Men sporting similar looks, like Storm wearing a black t-shirt with her trademark lightning bolt.

    I think Marvel might do well to throw some of that Disney money at today’s hottest fashion designers and commission them to come up with redesigns of some of their characters. I don’t think you’d want to do that with some of them (like Spider-Man) but the X-Men? Why not? I think they’d all look great wearing stylized street clothing rather than over-the-top costumes or boring uniform leather. You know, designs that mark out their individuality and might in some cases draw inspiration from their classic costumes (like Jean’s t-shirt) but, you know… actual clothes, not costumes.

  25. Si says:

    I don’t think hot fashion designers would be right for superhero costumes, the aesthetic is wrong. But maybe stage costume designers?

    Then again, Jean Paul Gaultier did an amazing job on the 5th Element costuming, so maybe if you can find the right person for the job they’d blow us away.

  26. Moo says:

    “I don’t think hot fashion designers would be right for superhero costumes”

    I wasn’t suggesting they design superhero costumes.

  27. MasterMahan says:

    “I always wonder if tassels we’re actually as ubiquitous across Native American cultures as they are in comic costumes.”

    Not quite. Fringe is functional – it gives water somewhere to go when you’re being rained on. Dani’s people, the Cheyenne, lived on the Great Plains and quite liked fringe – plenty of rain and not many trees overhead. John and James Proudstar are Apache, a Southwestern people. Not much rain there, so Apache fringe wasn’t really a thing.

    Then there are the baloney nonexistent names like Moonstar and Proudstar. It was for the best that Claremont didn’t even try to create a real name for Forge.

    (Dawnstar too – lot of Indigenous characters with star suffixes in comics)

  28. YLu says:

    “I think it was at the old Comics Should be Good blog at CBR, they came up with the Ron Frenz Rule, that your character costume should not be so elaborate Ron Frenz couldn’t draw it properly.”

    Isn’t that like saying writers should make sure their characters don’t have a personality that [journeyman writer of your choice] couldn’t write them properly?

    In other words, way too limiting and a bad guideline?

  29. Nu-d says:

    Can’t let a discussion of character design that only the creator can draw go by without mentioning Sienkiewcz’ Warlock.

    That’s all.

  30. Thom H. says:

    I thought Art Adams’ Warlock was pretty great, but I know opinions differ.

  31. Josie says:

    I read New Teen Titans for the first time a few months ago, and when I got to Brother Blood, I was like, you can’t be serious, George?

    Thankfully Perez tweaked the costume a bit in Blood’s next appearance, but that’s still a pretty garish costume.

    I’m always amused (read: saddened) when other artists have to draw a character Chris Bachalo designed. Some designs just can’t be reproduced well in other styles.

  32. Nu-D says:

    I thought Art Adams’ Warlock was pretty great, but I know opinions differ.

    Everything Art Adams drew in the ‘80’s was “pretty great.”

    Don’t get me wrong, Warlock had some fine moments under other pencils. But they were not the same character design, by a long shot.

  33. Thom H. says:

    I see what you mean. Sienkiewicz’s Warlock isn’t entirely in control of his own form, like an octopus with its decentralized nervous system, tentacles roaming around with their own agendas. He’s always got something sprouting off of him for who knows what reason.

    Adams’ Warlock is much more consolidated and actually reminds me of a robot like C-3PO.

    Alan Davis’ Warlock gets closer to the decentralized idea, but is more a knot of spindly wires and less a fleshy ooze.

  34. Nu-D says:

    Seinkeiwcz’s Warlock is very cubist, with all sorts of off angles and perspective distortion. It’s like a stylistic cross between Klimt and Picasso.

    Added on top of that is Seikeiwicz’ willingness to let some of the features of Warlock’s face and body seem almost detached, like they’re in the process of separating from his body and he’s using his will to rely to draw them back on.

    All together, it gives the impression that his body is in a constant state of frenetically shredding itself, and he’s using all his will to hold it together.

    Nobody else really conveyed that in the same way. The narrative story told us as much, so you could see what other artists were getting at when they did their own take. But Seikiewicz’ design was never really reproduced by anyone else.

  35. Si says:

    The funny thing is, Bill Sienkiewicz said on Twitter a little while ago that he designed Warlock in a way that he thought nobody could mess up the design. He’d be the easiest character to draw. And yet, people get Warlock wrong more often than they get him right.

  36. Tim, I do remember it. I assume you mean the weird Nightwing Teen Titans homage?

  37. Josie says:

    “Warlock pretty much created himself, arriving almost fully formed from the part of my brain that said “create a character that you can’t draw incorrectly, one where you have don’t worry about anatomy, or get a specific costume right. Just emotion. Jazz.” – Bill Sienkiewicz

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