World Famous Comics: Uncanny X-Men: Rise & Fall of the Shi'ar Empire
Uncanny X-Men: Rise & Fall of the Shi'ar Empire
By: Ed Brubaker Publisher: Marvel Comics Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Marvel Comics Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 312 Publication Date: February 27, 2008
Product Description: A brand-new era for Uncanny X-Men begins here! Vulcan is out for revenge and has his sites set on the Shi'ar Empire! Get ready for the ride of your life! Fresh off X-Men: Deadly Genesis, Ed Brubaker takes the helm of Marvel's mighty mutants. Billy Tan and Clayton Henry joins Ed for a story that won't just affect Earth, but will rock the foundations of the entire galaxy! Collects Uncanny X-Men #475-486.
THIS is why i read the X-men! To start, i was almost turned off to this by the negative reviews on this site. But when it comes down to it the X-men in space written by Ed Brubaker was enough to draw my dollars in. And i'm glad i went with my gut because this is what the x-men is all about. Professor X, feeling guilt over the Vulcan situation he created gathers a team of X-men to take into space to try to make right the situation and stop Vulcan from destroying the Sh'iar and his ex wife Lilandra. This team consists of Havok, Polaris, Warpath, Rachel Summers and Nightcrawler. Its a strange teaming of x-men, but all the originals (cyclops, and the rest) are as warpath puts it "pissed at you right now". But the team works, Warpath has never been my favorite, but after this run hes one of them now. And i've always kinda liked Havok. The rest are pretty well written also. New characters are introduced, theres a lot of political intrigue on the shi'ar end. The art is amazing. Its the same artist who did "deadly genesis", so if you enjoyed that he just gets better in this volume. No, vulcan is not the most realized villain and i always thought maybe he was just poorly written, but there is an explanation in this story why he often acts though hes a 15 year old. And it kinda makes sense. But his supporting cast of villains in this story really flesh him out a bit. The end isn't really an ending, and yes the follow up is the 'Emperor Vulcan' trade which can also be bought cheap at amazon. But the end of this does change the status quo of the x-men and to the shi'ar empire. Bottom line is, that if you enjoy the x-men "space opera" type of stories you will love this. What i really like about this story is that i really feel like the x-men are underdogs, and since they aren't the MAIN characters anything could happen to them. Its epic in scope, the art is top notch and i really feel like i'm reading a throwback story but with better art and writing. If you hate the x-men space stories then save your money. BUT if you do enjoy the x-men stories in space (phoenix sage, the brood, and so on) then your money couldn't be better spent than right here.
Brubaker is good It is not as good as Daredevil or Captain America, it takes too long. But when action starts, it doesnt end very soon. If you like X-Men, especially Havoc (like me), this story will please you.
Brubaker has done better I can't believe I'm the first to give this thing one star. I read "Deadly Genesis" when it came out, and thought it was ok. It seems like Brubaker is trying to do to X-Men what he did (much better) in Captain America; take a long-lost character, presumed dead, and re-insert him into the current timeline.
The main reason it works in Cap is that BUCKY EXISTED PRIOR. To create a "new" Summers brother, and then use that character to spring board this epic space yarn is just lazy. It would have been more believable to have the living island Krakoa fall into Shi'ar hands and become a supervillain. What's next? Beast's long lost sister? Iceman's long lost third cousin?
Others have noted the lack of character development of Vulcan. I do like the new and pissed off X-team, especially Darwin, and the concept of a big rise and fall of the Shi'ar and all it's supporting cast. But creating and using Vulcan is literary contrivance garbage.
Some of the art's nice. I'll be looking forward to Brubaker's next work, and not reading any more of his X-Men
Rise of X-Men through Shi'ar The artwork was fantastic and the story was great. A little jumpy at times where I was not sure where I was in the story, but definitely a must read. For fans, like myself that have not read the X-Men for a while, pick it up. It harks back to the days of the 80's X-men hopping around Shi'ar space. I love the new team. I always liked Warpath and he was shown pretty well here. Although his full strength was never realized. Loved this story about the 3rd Summer's brother. Hated the cliffhanger ending, but definitely worth having!
Excelsior!
not as epic as you may hope. I really like this despite First flaw, it's about the shi'ar who have never been that interesting. Second, despite it's continuing the saga begun in X-men deadly genesis it doesn't actually finish it. And third, the main protagonist, Vulcan, Isn't that intersting either. Okay thats the bad, on with the good. Ed Brubaker is a great character writer and he clearly knows his X-men. He takes B-list characters and makes you care about them, for example his depiction of warpath is the best since the character was created. He has stayed true to the previous depictions and added a little depth. Similarly he has made polaris a half decent character after the ever changing personality she has had over the last decade, depending on writers who have had no idea what to do with her. Not since peter davids first run on X-factor have I liked the character. His night crawler doesnt do a huge amount here but is true to the character, and new comer darwin is well handled. Marvel girl, a character I never cared for gets to be promising for a change, and the shi'ar Korvus is well written despite being a bird alien with a effin huge sword. He looks like something out of a final fantasy game. The art is pretty good, its very gritty looking and has the right feel for a space opera. The panels are clear and the story telling solid. Never does the art leave the reader wondering whats actually happening. The chapters that follow Vulcan are drawn by a different artist, the art there is crisp and clear but not as atmospheric as the main story. Very good, it even made me appreciate the shi'ar, a little bit.
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