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Generation Hope (Collected Editions) #2
Generation Hope: Schism
Collects Generation Hope (2010) #6-12.
The mutants of the future finally come to understand the real sad meaning of mutantkind's past as a day trip from Utopia takes a tragic, bloody turn. In the wake of SCHISM's first casualties, can Generation Hope even exist anymore? Plus: A new light pings into existence on Cerebra - a new mutant life, in need of help before his nascent power consumes him. Can the world's newest mutant team save the world's newest mutant? Then, Generation Hope's resident wild man, Primal, is on trial, and the X-Men may lose custody. Can they get him free? Should they? And finally, Generation Hope discovers what happens when a light goes out.
The mutants of the future finally come to understand the real sad meaning of mutantkind's past as a day trip from Utopia takes a tragic, bloody turn. In the wake of SCHISM's first casualties, can Generation Hope even exist anymore? Plus: A new light pings into existence on Cerebra - a new mutant life, in need of help before his nascent power consumes him. Can the world's newest mutant team save the world's newest mutant? Then, Generation Hope's resident wild man, Primal, is on trial, and the X-Men may lose custody. Can they get him free? Should they? And finally, Generation Hope discovers what happens when a light goes out.
173 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 12, 2011
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93 people want to read
About the author
Kieron Gillen
1,215 books1,914 followersKieron Gillen is a comic book writer and former media journalist.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
August 14, 2018
A little better than volume one but this is never going to be one of my favourite books. I do like a few of the characters and there are some interesting dynamics going on but I always come away from an issue feeling a little underwhelmed. The fact that the story was a bit chopped up due to the 'Schism' crossover event didn't help this volume.
November 4, 2015
Being a teenager is hard enough under normal circumstances, but Hope and the lights definitely aren't dealing with normal circumstances. The team is still tracking down new mutants while dealing with teenage and team drama.
Generation Hope Schism is a solid entry that helps shed more light on Hope and the lights. Primal in particular is far more complex than I could have ever fathomed. This volume ties into X-Men Schism so some parts won't make sense without reading X-Men Schism.
I find myself feeling awful for Idie more than any of the others. She's 14 years old, believes she's a monster, and that she'll burn in hell. The poor girl needs time to piece her life back together, but she's just not getting what she needs.
I must say I'm really intrigued about the next volume.
Generation Hope Schism is a solid entry that helps shed more light on Hope and the lights. Primal in particular is far more complex than I could have ever fathomed. This volume ties into X-Men Schism so some parts won't make sense without reading X-Men Schism.
I find myself feeling awful for Idie more than any of the others. She's 14 years old, believes she's a monster, and that she'll burn in hell. The poor girl needs time to piece her life back together, but she's just not getting what she needs.
I must say I'm really intrigued about the next volume.
February 21, 2017
A superb heart-felt conclusion to Kieron Gillen's run on the series. This volume juggles a lot of characters and storylines, ranging from a very personal story about Teon, the modern primitive mutant (the best character of this book, in my opinion), to an excellent X-Men: Schism tie-in, to the eventual finale and the splitting of the X-Men into two teams. And Gillen ties it all together neatly and effortlessly, making this book an absolute blast to read. What a fantastic series! Now I absolutely have to pick up Gillen's Uncanny X-Men.
September 26, 2015
Read simultaneously as X-Men: Schism and it gave the story a complete picture and various sides were shown. Highly recommended.
Since I like Hope so much it's ridiculous, this novel really got to me since she is developing quite a lot in a few pages, and it broke my heart from time to time.
Emotions everywhere.
The art was very inconsistent though, some parts were ok but many pages were like... What's going on with their hair? Their feet? What are the ones in the background even doing? IDEK.
This one would definitely get four stars if it wasn't for the horrible way Hope was designed. It was pretty sloppy from time to time to be honest. Therefor three stars. But I still liked.
Since I like Hope so much it's ridiculous, this novel really got to me since she is developing quite a lot in a few pages, and it broke my heart from time to time.
Emotions everywhere.
The art was very inconsistent though, some parts were ok but many pages were like... What's going on with their hair? Their feet? What are the ones in the background even doing? IDEK.
This one would definitely get four stars if it wasn't for the horrible way Hope was designed. It was pretty sloppy from time to time to be honest. Therefor three stars. But I still liked.
November 13, 2017
Cíclope decide nombrar a la reciente recuperada Kitty Pryde cuidadora del grupo de Hope, ella servirá de enlace entre Hope y Cíclope. A pesar de esto las cosas parecen empezar a descontrolarse, el nuevo mutante japonés Kenji y Laurie con habilidades de velocidades supersónicas parecen llevarse muy mal con Hope y por si esto no bastara el "Cisma" (saga ocurrida en otros números de los X-Men) también los afecta con la nueva mutante salvada Idie metida en medio de ambos.
June 30, 2020
For my full interview with Kieron Gillen, follow this link: https://youtu.be/np9kcC1ruWU
Not terrible. Some good moments. Not great either.
I like Hope, and I enjoy seeing her lead a team. The ither characters are interesting enough... I just don’t feel like this title has found it’s niche yet. So far, I feel like I’m reading Nunzio Defippes New Mutants/NXM. Teeny drama (which I occasionally like) mixed with that teen team dynamic. It’s good, but could be better.
The art is neither bad nor great. It’s sufficient. Good enough. It tells the story. Some of it is pretty interesting, but a lot of just sort of moves by without drawing attention or standing out.
I’d like to see this title and these characters develop into something more special. I’m still invested, but something needs to happen.
Not terrible. Some good moments. Not great either.
I like Hope, and I enjoy seeing her lead a team. The ither characters are interesting enough... I just don’t feel like this title has found it’s niche yet. So far, I feel like I’m reading Nunzio Defippes New Mutants/NXM. Teeny drama (which I occasionally like) mixed with that teen team dynamic. It’s good, but could be better.
The art is neither bad nor great. It’s sufficient. Good enough. It tells the story. Some of it is pretty interesting, but a lot of just sort of moves by without drawing attention or standing out.
I’d like to see this title and these characters develop into something more special. I’m still invested, but something needs to happen.
June 17, 2012
I used to think Gillen's writing was mediocre, but lately it feels like he's hit a stride I can really get into. The "new light" story that kicks off this book is fun and takes a few surprising turns. The subplot with Kitty isn't terribly deep to start but at least it's got some mystery to it (why would Scott *really* do this?). The story involving Teon's fate is a real pleasure.
The Schism tie-in isn't terribly inventive - more like a straight retelling of what Jason Aaron already outlined in the main story. What Gillen adds is an attempt to capture how the characters process the events emotionally, and while it's a worthwhile storytelling intention, it doesn't feel that deep or true to what these teenagers (esp. the female ones) must really be feeling. (I wish I could compare notes with a younger female to hear their take on this aspect of Gillen's writing.)
I'm intrigued by the art throughout this book, but as with most titles whose art teams change every issue or two, it's hard to get really invested or attached to this when it changes so often.
Here are my plot notes because I can never remember who when and what, when I'm reading later books:
The Schism tie-in isn't terribly inventive - more like a straight retelling of what Jason Aaron already outlined in the main story. What Gillen adds is an attempt to capture how the characters process the events emotionally, and while it's a worthwhile storytelling intention, it doesn't feel that deep or true to what these teenagers (esp. the female ones) must really be feeling. (I wish I could compare notes with a younger female to hear their take on this aspect of Gillen's writing.)
I'm intrigued by the art throughout this book, but as with most titles whose art teams change every issue or two, it's hard to get really invested or attached to this when it changes so often.
Here are my plot notes because I can never remember who when and what, when I'm reading later books:
February 25, 2012
This should be read in conjunction with Jason Aaron’s “X-Men: Schism” as there are a lot of gaps in this book which “Schism” fills in, but also in “Schism” there are a couple of issues reprinted from “Generation Hope: Schism” so it’s a real mish-mash, but the whole “Schism” storyline is pretty good so it’s worth getting both of these books.
In this book, the focus is on the this new mutant called Hope and her quest to discover the mutants of the world whose “x-genes” currently lay dormant, seek them out when they are activated, and teach them control over their powers with the hope to join the other mutants on Utopia. We also get to meet the rest of her team, the “Five Lights”, who are all young mutants but seem interesting enough. Teon was largely absent from Aaron’s “Schism” story and there is an issue here where he gets the spotlight – he’s a pretty interesting fellow. Idie’s powers point to her being maybe the next “Phoenix” as in she’s only going to get more powerful but also might go crazy and unstable.
Overall, I like Generation Hope, they’re a decent young X-Men team with some interesting personalities that should reap some great storylines in the future and Kieron Gillen does a fine job of introducing them to the reader in this book. Recommended.
In this book, the focus is on the this new mutant called Hope and her quest to discover the mutants of the world whose “x-genes” currently lay dormant, seek them out when they are activated, and teach them control over their powers with the hope to join the other mutants on Utopia. We also get to meet the rest of her team, the “Five Lights”, who are all young mutants but seem interesting enough. Teon was largely absent from Aaron’s “Schism” story and there is an issue here where he gets the spotlight – he’s a pretty interesting fellow. Idie’s powers point to her being maybe the next “Phoenix” as in she’s only going to get more powerful but also might go crazy and unstable.
Overall, I like Generation Hope, they’re a decent young X-Men team with some interesting personalities that should reap some great storylines in the future and Kieron Gillen does a fine job of introducing them to the reader in this book. Recommended.
July 19, 2012
This book starts off well enough with the good adventure of the Baby Light [7/10], but it’s the focus on Teon that really knocks it out of the park [9/10], followed up by the strong story of the suicide light [8/10]. The Schism cross-over is also great, for the way it integrates with Schism, for the Lights finally interacting with the other kids of Utopia, and for some great characterization [8.5/10].
September 19, 2012
Some of my favourite issues of comics in general are collected in this trade. The final issue of 'The Ward', 'Better', and pretty much the entire 'Schism' storyline in this trade are just so well done. Gillen really got to grips with these characters and took them to so many places in such a short space of time. One of my favourite writers, and a pretty much perfect trade.
January 14, 2013
Thank God for Kieron Gillen. After the incredibly awful X-Men: Schism from an incredibly awful Jason Aaron this book made my day.
June 27, 2013
I'm really enjoying the Hope storyline.
February 25, 2021
What a weird little book. I didn’t read Vol. 1, and while missing some of the context, I didn’t feel like I missed all that much. The characters (who I’d never heard of before so assumed they were throwaways?) actually all had distinct voices, and were convincingly written. A surprising amount of weirdness I haven’t gotten out of the other X books of the time, especially with Kenji (who changes his amorphous body into fleshy-machine constructs). A couple more plot threads than the straightforward story I expected.
They’re on a mission to find and immediately recruit any new mutants that pop up around the world. And as with the current team members, that mutation process effects people very differently. Hope is the team leader, but based on her actions, is she really the messiah she was touted to be? Two of her team members don’t seem to think so. And Idiwe throws me for a loop everytime. I don’t like her, and her acceptance of being a “monster” is oddly disturbing, but she feels needed (if cumbersome) in the book.
The art changes every issue, but it’s consistently good, light and fun, even when the book feels a little darker. Every issue was well-written, with the exception of the last issue which was weirdly bad. Maybe because of how Schism threw off things? Either way, this was a pleasant surprise.
They’re on a mission to find and immediately recruit any new mutants that pop up around the world. And as with the current team members, that mutation process effects people very differently. Hope is the team leader, but based on her actions, is she really the messiah she was touted to be? Two of her team members don’t seem to think so. And Idiwe throws me for a loop everytime. I don’t like her, and her acceptance of being a “monster” is oddly disturbing, but she feels needed (if cumbersome) in the book.
The art changes every issue, but it’s consistently good, light and fun, even when the book feels a little darker. Every issue was well-written, with the exception of the last issue which was weirdly bad. Maybe because of how Schism threw off things? Either way, this was a pleasant surprise.
May 17, 2017
Sometimes you gotta just give creators a little time to find their groove. I had a ton of problems with the first volume of this series, and some pf them are still present, but this collection is so much better. Hope's flaws are much more present and the Schism storyline plays out very well here (better than in Schism). These kids are more than just New Mutants because they are immediately thrown into this impossible situation. Gillen's dialogue seems fresh and his take on Laurie and Kenji (still a rip off) if very well done. The book is sad and that's especially the case when we see Idie. I'm astonished how much I liked this.
August 10, 2017
The good:
-This gets very dark.
-The dialogues, witty and emotional, on point.
-Great tie-in for schism.
-Amazing development of the characters.
-Gille writes very beleivable teenagers, even if they are mutants.
-Kenji is creepy as hell.
-Hope, great character, she feels like a teenager captain america with lots of doubts, she doesn't want to be the messiah but she need to be it.
-The "Better" issue is amazing, broke my heart.
-The Theon doubt is very good built.
The bad:
-The art in the first two issues is crappy.
-I still don't get how the Kenji's habilities work.
-The first issue is very week plot wise, the second one is just funny.
-This gets very dark.
-The dialogues, witty and emotional, on point.
-Great tie-in for schism.
-Amazing development of the characters.
-Gille writes very beleivable teenagers, even if they are mutants.
-Kenji is creepy as hell.
-Hope, great character, she feels like a teenager captain america with lots of doubts, she doesn't want to be the messiah but she need to be it.
-The "Better" issue is amazing, broke my heart.
-The Theon doubt is very good built.
The bad:
-The art in the first two issues is crappy.
-I still don't get how the Kenji's habilities work.
-The first issue is very week plot wise, the second one is just funny.
December 24, 2017
The first half is just lots more good Gillen-writes-young-super-people. A variety of artists, none bad. A great issue by Jamie McKelvie. Then the second half ties into X-Men: Schism, one of my favorite X-events. It tells the behind the scenes of Idie's story there, and is pretty intense. She is just a very different and interesting character, full of self-loathing based in a religious upbringing and believing mutancy is a sin. We get a chance to see some more of the "Mutant History Museum" in San Francisco here, that is such a cool idea. Idie reacts interestingly to a piece in the Museum on Reverend Striker. All in all, really good X-comics.
September 17, 2022
I’m very happy I decided to come back and give this series a fair shake. It’s very strong. This really does feel like a new generation of xmen. Each character is very distinct, and the story is compelling. Kieron Gillen manages to create a consistent and coherent story through the tie ins to multiple events. The art by the main series artist Salva Espin continues to be solid and a very good fit for the story, and that is made even more apparent by contrasting it with the less fitting tie in artists in this trade.
June 18, 2018
Continuing the great x-read of 2017/2018... (and I am really far behind with my reviews so I will be putting up a bunch of quick-takes to catch up...)
This series starts to finally pick up some steam and some real emotional weight with this volume. It still boggles my mind that the "mutant messiah" has been reduced to an ineffectual face in the crowd but we are making some forward progress here finally.
This series starts to finally pick up some steam and some real emotional weight with this volume. It still boggles my mind that the "mutant messiah" has been reduced to an ineffectual face in the crowd but we are making some forward progress here finally.
July 26, 2025
a five star single issue with mckelvie here about a mutant going theough their metamorphosis. heart breaking and beautiful.
has a follow up with regular artist which is pretty good, Kenji looking for Revenge.
hope sends her team to find a new mutant however it turns out to be an amnesiac Sebastian Shaw due to Emma Frost machinations.
pretty good. the tie ins to schism are interesting but not necessary to read.
has a follow up with regular artist which is pretty good, Kenji looking for Revenge.
hope sends her team to find a new mutant however it turns out to be an amnesiac Sebastian Shaw due to Emma Frost machinations.
pretty good. the tie ins to schism are interesting but not necessary to read.
May 20, 2022
The first few issues are really good, they push the characters’ arcs forward and give us new shades of all of them. The last 3 issues are slightly bogged down by their reliance on Schism (and by some rotating artists) but there’s still a lot to like.
CW for these comics: Suicide is referenced by multiple characters, and committed by one (not a main character)
CW for these comics: Suicide is referenced by multiple characters, and committed by one (not a main character)
October 29, 2019
Weird book about how messed up all the characters are and how many of them (?) Secretly hate Hope.
Not bad but huge swerve in tone.
Not bad but huge swerve in tone.
October 8, 2021
Gillen finally gets around to an idea of how to deal with Hope's new team. Vague sinister intimations, teen drama, interactions with the rest of the X-cast - this book got better, fast.
July 22, 2022
3.75
A good deal better than the first volume. The story overall works better in context with the X-Men Schism storyline.
A good deal better than the first volume. The story overall works better in context with the X-Men Schism storyline.
July 17, 2015
This books is closely tied in with what happens in Schism, so it works best if you've read schism already or are reading it at the same time, otherwise there's lots of holes.
Schism was kind of the beginning of the end for me, as far as enjoying the X-Men goes. After this there was that hideous run that included Kitty's mystic pregnancy (that whole run was shit), and then there was AvX and nothing has made sense since.
Having said all that, I really enjoy Gillen, and this book did REALLY well in far fewer words what they've tried to do with the All New X-Men/Uncanny Avengers stuff. It's basically an ongoing look at what it means to be a mutant (read: minority demographic). Feared and hated yes, but also treated as a fetish and violent by necessity (monsters should fight monsters). It's a beautiful look at how self loathing is built within a person by culture. If you believe one kind of person is monstrous or worthless or freakish or whatever, what happens when you are one? You can't change yourself, so do you embrace what you are or destroy yourself? And if you embrace it, what does that make you? Can you live with the cognitive dissonance, or will you still send up destroying yourself? And about about this world that creates this dissonance? Is it worth living in?
And somehow Gillen does all that and STILL lets it be about teenagers. There's still the pettiness and the stupid relationship crap because these kids are still trying to grow up, but they're asking very big questions while they do it.
I just feel like Gillen did here what Bendis can't do but tried with the baby X-Men. Definitely worth reading. Gillen usually is.
Schism was kind of the beginning of the end for me, as far as enjoying the X-Men goes. After this there was that hideous run that included Kitty's mystic pregnancy (that whole run was shit), and then there was AvX and nothing has made sense since.
Having said all that, I really enjoy Gillen, and this book did REALLY well in far fewer words what they've tried to do with the All New X-Men/Uncanny Avengers stuff. It's basically an ongoing look at what it means to be a mutant (read: minority demographic). Feared and hated yes, but also treated as a fetish and violent by necessity (monsters should fight monsters). It's a beautiful look at how self loathing is built within a person by culture. If you believe one kind of person is monstrous or worthless or freakish or whatever, what happens when you are one? You can't change yourself, so do you embrace what you are or destroy yourself? And if you embrace it, what does that make you? Can you live with the cognitive dissonance, or will you still send up destroying yourself? And about about this world that creates this dissonance? Is it worth living in?
And somehow Gillen does all that and STILL lets it be about teenagers. There's still the pettiness and the stupid relationship crap because these kids are still trying to grow up, but they're asking very big questions while they do it.
I just feel like Gillen did here what Bendis can't do but tried with the baby X-Men. Definitely worth reading. Gillen usually is.
October 19, 2014
This volume was a bit better than the previous trade. I actually started to like the character of Zero who, in my last review, I said was too much of an Akira reference for me to get past. In this volume, he has gotten a whole lot less poetic and a whole lot more conniving, which makes him more interesting. Really that is what made this trade enjoyable to read, while the previous one felt more like a chore, the infighting between the characters. I really like the idea of "Do we have to be superheroes since we are mutants, or can attempt to live the life we had planned before our mutation?" The "Schism" in Hope's team was a perfect microcosm for the Schism within the X-teams. This also had two great standalone stories featuring brand new mutants.
December 27, 2014
Continuing my re-introduction into comics, and the story of Hope Summers.
This collection exhibits some of the problems of comics as a stroytelling medium: mostly its commercial aspects. The Hope Summers story crosses over into other comic books here, which are not collected between these covers, necessitating buying those titles to get fragments of the stry. As a result., this collection fells incomplete.
Otherwise, it continues the quiet competence of the first set of stories, developing the tensions among the members of the group--in this case, the chafing at Hope's iron-fisted rule, so much like Cyclops, whom she is herself revolting against.
This collection exhibits some of the problems of comics as a stroytelling medium: mostly its commercial aspects. The Hope Summers story crosses over into other comic books here, which are not collected between these covers, necessitating buying those titles to get fragments of the stry. As a result., this collection fells incomplete.
Otherwise, it continues the quiet competence of the first set of stories, developing the tensions among the members of the group--in this case, the chafing at Hope's iron-fisted rule, so much like Cyclops, whom she is herself revolting against.
September 17, 2013
The young mutants keep trying to help other new mutants with various degrees of success. There a some interesting stories here, all are character driven, and in this volume you really get a sense of who everybody really is for the first time. Everything isn't happy, and you shouldn't expect that from an X comic, the lights are starting to rightly question Hope and the 14 year old mutant is forced to grow up very quickly. A good read.
June 27, 2016
I jumped right into this one from the 1st one for the sake of, well, comics, I guess, and while the art and the underlying philosophy are spot-on from the last one, this one suffers because of cross-over -itis, I think. In one case, the event they're discussing is shown in the lead up and the aftermath only. In some ways, fighty comics without th fighting are kind of cool, and this was still good, but...
April 20, 2014
Another really good volume. Gillen surprises me on this series; I really shouldn't like it, but he brings such character and class to the proceedings that I can't help but be enthralled by the book. The opening three-parter is especially excellent.
December 20, 2012
Really enjoying this series. The characters are great, and there are no real BIG TIME X-Men around either. Again, I thoroughly enjoy Zero as a character, and I'm really interested to see where his plot goes.
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