Uncanny X-Men by Kieron Gillen: The Complete Collection Vol. 1

Uncanny X-Men as written by Matt Fraction is one of earliest comic book memories. I went through the entire series very quickly thanks to my library having all three Complete Collection volumes. Towards the end of his run Kieron Gillen became co-writer for the series before taking over the full title and I'd always wanted to see where he took the book next. After all, his other work at Marvel before and after like Journey Into Mystery, Thor, Darth Vader, and Young Avengers have been impressive. This is I would say on par with all those others. Before Uncanny X-Men though included first is a S.W.O.R.D. miniseries set during Dark Reign which is excellent for its characterizations of both the agency's leader Abigail Brand and original X-Man Beast. Characterization is where these stories shine as we make our way through the reappearance of the Breakworldians, the Serpent’s War seen in Fear Itself, and more. Of all the characters Cyclops is largely the focus, and his progression over the course of the book into a more militant leader in the face of extinction feels natural. I expected the final arc in the collection to be my favorite given cameos from some of my favorite Marvel concepts but it's the Fear Itself section that wins hands down. On the down side that arc features some of the worst Greg Land artwork I've ever seen, which is a shame compared to the works of Terry Dodson, Carlos Pacheco, Billy Tan, and others who give the rest of the book a great look. I wasn't the biggest X-Men fan for the longest time but Gillen's series is one of the best I've come across continuing from Matt Fraction.5/5

excelente produto, novinhoz o problema se deu quanto ao envio, devido ao grande atraso,estava previsto para 15/01 e chegou 15/02, pois a loja não vinculou o CPF na encomenda, enfim , ótimo produto o duro é a espera.

Here ends the original numbering of Uncanny X-Men with issue number 544. It's a fairly emotional final issue, with Beast and Iceman leaving to join Wolverine at his school. Cyclops has to accept the loss of his friends who have been with him since issue #1. There's a reprint of some of Jack Kirby's original artwork from those days, as well as a Greg Land splash page showing some of the biggest characters and moments from the series' history. Very nostalgic.Outside of issue #544, Gillen gets his run underway by bringing back the Breakworlders from Whedon's run. I don't love those characters, and the storyline feels repetitive, but it gives Colossus and Kitty some nice moments. Colossus becomes the focus in the next arc, where the X-Men fight the Juggernaut in a Fear Itself tie-in. This arc has some fun action scenes as the X-Men enact dozens of plans to try and stop the villain. Colossus's transformation into the new champion of Cyttorak is an odd turn but written well. Ultimately though, I don't believe much came of it in later years.The final arc, told in the first three issues of Vol. 2 of Uncanny, has Sinister enacting a bizarre plan to create a new species consisting of clones of himself. It's a bit goofy but the ending is satisfying. I'm not a big Danger fan but Namor and Emma continue to be strong teammates in this arc.The opening five-issue miniseries following Beast and Brand as they solve crises at SWORD has some very unappealing art from Steven Sanders. It was generally a slog to get through.Clearly there is a lot going on with this collection. While Kieron's writing is enjoyable, nothing here rises to a must-read level. Definitely more of a next-steps read. I'd recommend Jason Aaron's Wolverine and the X-Men or Jonathan Hickman's Dawn of X era instead

I'll break down the 3 separate arcs of this collection from "most tolerable" to "why I stopped reading most modern comics."1. The 2nd story arc here is effectively "the final days of the Uncanny Xmen". This is the most tolerable portion of this book, however it is far from perfect. Frankly, it's a disheartening way to end such a much beloved title. What makes this "most tolerable"? Well there are some elements that pull from Xmen lore and perform a milquetoast job at keeping these characters in a place fans might recognize. Among the better stories here is about refugees from "Breakworld" (names themselves are more inventive than the character developments.) In short, a refugee caravan lead by someone defeated by a portion of the X team is taken on, only to have that individual suddenly come up with miraculous and Mcguffin style problems that ultimately lead to a forced resolution whereby everyone lives happily ever after. It's a decent enough filler series of issues that don't attempt to do too much damage to characters you love to push some weird story device (see my later observation on SWORD.) All in all these are tolerable and on their own may be a 3 star read at best.2. The second worst (best doesn't feel good to say here) is the portion where Xmen regenesis begins. I'm no spring chicken. I've followed Xmen since the early 80s. It's unfair to compare the CONTENT of each of the different eras. However, it IS fair to compare how characters are handled and what emerges from that construction. Here, characters aren't necessarily being honest to their history and much of the content felt forced to try and tell a "more interesting take". This felt like some mid-tier fan fiction than it did an arc. Having the Xmen turn away a literal ARMY of Celestials because Cyclops made an idle thread seemed a bit much. Having Storm choose to side with Scott because "he needed her" goes against her as a near deep friendship with Logan but also her sense of protecting children. Beast (though better represented here than in the SWORD book) is also way out of his character and a far cry from the Hank most of us have known. Perhaps it's closer to his more utilitarian character of the most recent Xmen (which is also a patehtic attempt to effectively write a Dark Beast but on the good team) but it loses nearly all humanity he had... and thus his real intrigue as a character.3. Lastly, and most certainly the steaming pile of the entire book, is the SWORD issues. In short, here is what this feels like: An attempt to make an interesting idea (Abigail Brand) an emergent badass by painfully making her both the most wise and all knowing character in all of the book, but also the most painful to want to read about with literally no redeeming qualities other than "being right". She is the literal definition of a Mary Sue. To make matters worse, to get her to this bad ass position, characters like Beast are destroyed. (The way he is drawn, non-hyperbolically, make Beta Ray Bill look more like a cat than Beast does; Beast looks like an actual blue horse.) Beast comes off as a non-functional beta male with at best the intelligence of a 9th grader. Even Abigail states she really only digs him for the sex. It's pretty outstanding when even characters like Gyrich who, frankly you are designed to not root for, you are starting to understand why he wants her gone. With the exception of bringing in Deaths Head (a fun character typically much better handled in older stories) simply falls short. The stakes were painful. The journey unbareable, and ultimately I could have been happier never reading this poriton of the book. This is a shame too because the PREMISE of Abigail Brand (who is not new to me) has always intrigued me. One of my favorite heroes was Cypher in the original New Mutants, so you can see how I appreciate inventive uses for powers. However they simple start down the path to force us to think she's amazing by shoving her into situations she's already got all the solutions for rather than show us who she is by problem solving. I could go on for much longer on this alone and if it was JUST this portion of the book I would suggest less than 1 star if possible and to steer clear.As it stands, if you're okay with at best an issue or two of fairly standard filler issues and many more pages of outright horror show of character development/assassination, then perhaps I can steer you here. I wish I had better news but now I know why it was so cheap to pick up new.