Let’s get things started with Reads You Need. This week, you need to read X-Men: Divided We Stand #1. From the outset, this book seems like a rather unspectacular exploration of several side characters in the X-Men Universe. And all of that is true… except for the part about it being unspectacular.
In fact, the case is quite the opposite. This comic book is particularly spectacular, mostly due to the tremendous amount of insightful emotion exhibited by the writers. It has a long list of creators and I can’t remember all the names right now. However, the character lineup goes something like this:
A Cannonball story by Mike Carey and Brandon Peterson looks great and reads pretty well to start out the book. It’s awesome for Cannonball fans, but it didn’t do much for me as an add-on to the Messiah CompleX aftermath. The Nezhno story up next is interesting, and we get to see a civilian’s view of Wakanda (which was extremely gratifying for me). The Northstar tale afterwards is actually a tale about one of the New X-Men named Vic (but I don’t know the character by codename). The art by Skottie Young is interesting, but his story is just okay. The following piece about Hellion shows the emotional fallout of a troubled young man who reaches out to Magneto for solace. He finds none.
The final Scalphunter and Nightcrawler story by Matt Fraction steals the spotlight. This may just be Fraction’s finest work to date. It’s thoughtful, inspired, and emotional. Fraction discovers amazing potential in Scalphunter, a perpetual C-list X-Men villain. The intellectual analysis of his psyche is a fascinating journey and it gives me great confidence in Fraction’s ability to write the X-Men (as his upcoming tenure on Uncanny quickly approaches).
As for other comics that came out last Wednesday, Marvel Adventures Avengers #23 brought Black Panther back for the second month in a row. Though the story oddly plays up Panther’s connection to Storm as prime emotional motivation, Mark Sumerak doesn’t butcher T’Challa’s character concept like he did last month. It’s a relief but it doesn’t erase the bad taste in my mouth from Marvel Adventures Avengers #22.
In other Black Panther news, the character was announced as the star of a prime-time animated show on BET. Debuting in October 2008, BET president and Black Panther comic book writer Reginald Hudlin will write the series. The program will run for eight episodes, a bizarrely short number of shows. Still, I’m excited for this series and looking forward to the increased interest in T’Challa as a result.
EDIT: While we’re on animation kick on the ComicShocker, here’s an update on the status of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Apparently there was an Avatar panel at NYCC this past weekend, and it looks like we won’t get new Avatar episodes on TV until July 2008. The weird part is that the Avatar Book 3 Vol 3 DVD (which will contain episodes that haven’t aired yet in the USA, Canada, or any English-speaking country for that matter) will be out in early May 2008. Go figure that one out!
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