World Famous Comics: X-Men: The End Book Two: Heroes and Martyrs
X-Men: The End Book Two: Heroes and Martyrs
By: Chris Claremont, Sean Chen Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 152 Publication Date: November 23, 2005 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: Beginning the second of three books chronicling the final story of Marvel's mutant heroes! The Xavier Academy has been reduced to a smoldering crater in a brutal sneak attack, and the casualties number in the hundreds. Now, Cyclops must mobilize the survivors to get to the bottom of who is behind these coordinated strikes on mutants in general and the X-Men in particular. Collects X-Men: The End - Heroes and Martyrs #1-6.
A mixed bag of good, bad & ugly The good thing about the series is the overwhelming tsunami of action that will keep hearts jackhammering in the chests of true X-fans. While "The End" doesn't always bring about a true conclusion in some books in the Marvel series, the X-Men are certainly getting hit where it hurts from beginning to end -- and fans must be prepared to watch their favorites fall in a variety of horrible ways.
It's all-out war on mutants, generated largely because of a conflict among alien races the X-Men and other mutant groups have confronted over the years. And that means pulling out all the stops, with overwhelming forces that simply cannot be halted with fisticuffs and a quick quip. Deaths range from the personal level -- for instance, the heroic final seconds of Rahne "Wolfsbane" Sinclair as she's engulfed in a fireball -- to the widescale destruction when the Xavier school is destroyed in a huge explosion that leaves scores of mutants dead.
It's certainly a different face on comics, where regular readers know favorite characters are never in any real danger. (Actual deaths are rare, after all, and are almost always foreshadowed far in advance as "events" that usually aren't permanent anyway.)
But there's badness here, too, particularly for those of us who aren't diehard X-readers. Sometimes it feels like this is a "cast of thousands" production and, often, I found myself wondering who the heck some of these people were. It's hard to get wrapped up in the fates of strangers, and the absence of much real backstory on them makes for bewildering reading.
Even worse, however, is the pace with which "X-Men: The End" unfolds. While nonstop action -- filled with major developments, sudden twists and tragic deaths, no less -- can be a very entertaining storytelling technique, there are some limits that must be observed. In this case, things happen so quickly that readers don't have much time to digest one turn of events before they're on to the next. Writer Chris Claremont juggles numerous threads so wildly that it's easy to get confused, and the potential impact of the big stuff is diminished accordingly. Did someone just die? Oh well, I'll worry about it later.
Among the various bad guys at work here, however, the prominent use of Charles Xavier's evil twin -- yes, you read that right, his evil twin -- is a weak choice. And, by story's end, some readers might feel the tone is getting a little too preachy, as X-books are prone to do, as Xavier's "why can't we all just get along and leave in peace?" agenda is pushed.
by Tom Knapp, Rambles.(n e t) editor
Big explosions and aliens. What could be wrong? I got this around christmas of 05'. i read it in a week and since then have read it 3 more times! The writers have taken aliens, X-men, mutant haters, and BIG explosions, and made a great book. parts of the story are confusing, though, especially if you haven't read volume 1 (which i hadn't read). it's a good read and lot's of classic X-men die, so i loved it. plus, the Shi'ar are doing a LOT of bad, high tech, alien stuff with some big bangs. some nice flashbacks are included aswell. that's why i give this item 5 stars.
The final tale continues... Must have for X-fans. This is the second installment (of 3) of the final story of the X-Men, how it all is going to end. Titled "Heroes and Martyrs" for a reason, it does carry a sense of finality, as did the first book in the series. Well written, and includes references to some old stories that you may have to know in order to fully grasp what is happening. Don't make this your first X-purchase.
Irresistible for any X-Men fan... The first part of the X-Men: The End trilogy, "Dreamers and Demons", was difficult to follow but baited the hook. In this second installment much of the confusion generated by the first is (thankfully) cleared up, and the artwork proves to be more consistently of a higher quality.
Synopsis: The X-Mansion has been reduced to a several-mile wide crater and the body count of our mutant heroes racks up, but in light of this catastrophe the X-Men regroup with a burning glint of vengeance in their eyes. The War-Skrulls press their hit-and-run terrorist strikes on Earth while the Brood sew the seeds of death in the far reaches of the Shi'ar Empire. The connection between Sinister and Gambit unfolds in its ultimate entirety, culminating in a brilliant battle between Sinister and his minions against Rogue, Gambit and a cadre of X-Men that alone makes this a necessary addition to any X-Men acolyte's library.
Pros: The massive scope of the story line comes together much more cohesively than in volume one and the art is much cleaner, harkening to the glory-days of Jim Lee. Any fan of Marvel sci-fi will appreciate the myriad of extraterrestrial elements aligned against the X-Men (personally I am very much enjoying the concept of Lilandra as a devious, mentally unhinged despot). The finale given to Gambit, Sinister, Rogue and family is simply marvelous, and although I have always thought Rogue was cool, none of these three interested me much but their story here is an instant classic. This is by far the best X-Men writing Claremont has done since he returned to the X-universe.
Cons: The biggest problem with the series might be accidental, but still an affront to any X-Men reader who had their interest in the franchise renewed recently with "New X-Men" and "Astonishing X-Men". It seems Claremont is "playing favorites" with the characters and previous story-lines; the highly successful stories penned by Grant Morrison and Joss Whedon seem to have never happened where as more recent (and severely less acclaimed) story-lines crafted by Claremont are given too much importance or consideration in a trilogy that has obvious spatial constraints.
The end is near At the end of the previous X-Men: The End book, Dreamers & Demons, the X-Men's famed mansion was destroyed, X-Force was decimated, and many former and current X-Men were dead. Not to mention that Gambit betrayed everyone; kidnapping his own children as well as Cyclops and Emma's and turning them over to Sinister; all of which comes to a head in Heroes and Martyrs. Surviving X-Men organize themselves in preparation for another assault from Sinister, War-Skrulls, and anyone else looking to lend a hand in destroying Marvel's merry mutants. There's some nice twists to be had here, including revelations about Gambit and Sinister that will even make jaded X-fans smile. By the end of Heroes and Martyrs, even more are dead, and everything is left sitting on a powder keg for the upcoming third, and final, arc in the X-Men: The End series. Just like Dreamers & Demons before it, the only real glaring flaw here is that there's so much continuity that legendary X-Men writer Chris Claremont attempts to cram in here that it's almost mind numbing, but he still does a commendable job nontheless. Sean Chen's art is great as well once again, nicely illustrating some great action scenes as well as some skintilating renditions of the female form. All in all, if you liked Dreamers & Demons, then you should definitely pick this up, and by the time it's over, you'll be more than anxious to see how it all ends.
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