Thursday, June 6, 2013

[BOOK REVIEW] Uncanny X-Men Volume 2 by Chris Claremont



Title:  Uncanny X-Men Volume 2

Author:  Chris Claremont

Artist:  John Byrne


Genre: Superhero / Action / Adventure

Year Published: 1975

Year Read: 2011

Series: Uncanny X-Men #2

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Source:  Library

Content Rating:  Ages 10+ (Scenes of Fighting)

Buy on:  Amazon  //  Book Depository 
 


Flashback:

After reading the first volume of “Uncanny X-Men,” I just could not wait to read the second volume of “The Uncanny X-Men” featuring the second generation X-Men!  This time, the X-Men are up against even deadlier foes than before and they will have to fight harder then ever before!

What is the story?

Continuing from the first volume after Jean Grey seemingly sacrifices her life to save the X-Men in space, it turns out that Jean Grey has become the Phoenix!  Oh, and not only that but the X-Men come across new villains such as Juggernaut, Black Tom Cassidy and Magneto!! Can the X-Men defeat these new and more dangerous villains? Read this volume to find out!

What I liked about this book:

Chris Claremont's writing:  Chris Claremont has done it again in this second volume and this time, he gives the X-Men more character and back stories than the first volume.  Chris Claremont made each character much more interesting, especially Storm since I never knew before that Storm had claustrophobia that resulted from her turbulent childhood.  Also, I loved the way that Chris Claremont made the characters interact with each other in interesting ways, especially between Storm and Colossus as they relate to each other about their homelands (Storm missing Africa and Colossus missing Russia) and I also loved the growing loving relationship between Banshee and Moira MacTaggart as this was one of the few relationships I have seen in the X-Men universe besides Cyclops and Jean Grey’s relationship.  Chris Claremont also did an excellent job at making this volume extremely dramatic and exciting at the same time as the X-Men have to face tougher foes than ever before.

John Byrne's illustrations:  I just loved John Byrne’s illustrations in this comic book!  As usual, it is done in an old school style that reminiscent the 70s since this comic was created during the 70s and I enjoyed seeing the original styles of the second generation X-Men  including Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler and Banshee.  I also loved the way that John Byrne draws the X-Men’s shocked expressions as they are fighting various villains throughout this volume and it truly made the characters truly realistic to look at.

What made me feel uncomfortable about this comic:

Even though I did not have a problem with this book, probably the only problem that younger “X-Men” readers might have with this volume is that the illustrations might be too old fashioned for younger readers since this comic was made during the 70s.  Also, there is so much dialogue among the characters in this volume that younger fans of “X-Men” might not understand the dialogue going on between the characters.  Also, when villains like Magneto and Juggernaut were introduced, there did not seem to be enough character development with them since they were just introduced out of the blue and there was no back story being told about these characters.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, “The Uncanny X-Men Volume Two” is a truly brilliant sequel to the first volume and I definitely cannot wait to read the next volume of the “The Uncanny X-Men” and learn more about the X-Men franchise!




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