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Beauty and the Beast #1-4
X-Men: Beauty and the Beast: Beauty & the Beast (Beauty and the Beast
Collects Marvel Graphic Novel #12: Dazzler - The Movie; Beauty & The Beast (1984) #1-4 and material From Marvel Heartbreakers #1.
After Alison Blaire is outed as a mutant and her musical career comes to a screeching halt, Dazzler ends up associating with an experimental underground theater group that serves as a front for a gladiatorial arena in which mutants battle to the death! Fortunately, Hank Mccoy shows up - but is he in time to save her, or will beauty battle beast in a fight to the finish? Plus: is that really Dr. Doom's son, and breakdowns, crisis after crisis, and more!
After Alison Blaire is outed as a mutant and her musical career comes to a screeching halt, Dazzler ends up associating with an experimental underground theater group that serves as a front for a gladiatorial arena in which mutants battle to the death! Fortunately, Hank Mccoy shows up - but is he in time to save her, or will beauty battle beast in a fight to the finish? Plus: is that really Dr. Doom's son, and breakdowns, crisis after crisis, and more!
183 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1984
2 people are currently reading
57 people want to read
About the author
Jim Shooter
1,027 books85 followersJames Charles Shooter was an American writer, editor and publisher in the comics industry. Beginning his career writing for DC Comics at the age of 14, he had a successful but controversial run as editor-in-chief at Marvel Comics, and launched comics publishers Valiant, Defiant, and Broadway.
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March 2, 2025
2.1 stars
December 1, 2012
Hoo-wee, DAZZLER: The Movie is a scream! It's absolutely laugh-out-loud hysterical. Clearly it only got made because Jim Shooter was EIC at the time. And Dazzler is basically a wank-fest for him. On how many pages can Dazzler be in her underwear? Oggled over by married couples in gyms? Stalked? Nearly raped? Fall in love with her near-rapist, a big, fat slob? It's amazing how she gets sucked into "the Hollywood lifestyle" of "smoking and drinking," "putting on 'weight'" and "shopping," without knowing it. And in one laughable, ALL ABOUT EVE scene of self-awareness (ie looking in a mirror), she stupidly screams "How did I get here?! Why am I doing this!?!"
"Crazy women," Shooter thinks to himself. "They don't know their own minds!" How he must have really hated this character, and women, to have written such a mysoginistic-now-farcical story. Best line: "I wanted you for sex, then--now it's strictly business!" Really? I bet it's still all about sex. Or sex business. Busisex? I digress: simply put, women are objects of desire here, to be made and remade according to manpig dickery.
Thankfully, Ann Nocenti does an admirable job of picking up threads from the graphic novel in her follow-up mini-series, "Beauty & the Beast." A lot of Dazzler's problems are explained away as changes to her power and she basically spends the first two issues at a detox facility to get Shooter's ick off her. What I don't like is that she goes from one slob of a man to another, here (allegedly) the son of Doctor Doom. Oh, Dazz, you need some therapy!
As is usual for Nocenti, there is political commentary here: a critique of the media's obsession with celebrity, a critique of viewers of junk culture, and a feminist thread wherein Dazzler is the elusive/ aloof brute and Beast is the emo softy. This is not as evolved as her later work, but it is surely and recognizably a Nocenti work.
I prefer my Beast a bit more on the cerebral side than the comedic, bouncing "Oh, My Stars & Garters!" variety, but this is still a likable version. And again, there's the weird "I love you, I hate you, I love you, you dsigust me, I love you, but leave!" romance overtones that make it all a little melodramatically silly in this day & age. But there's still a lot too like.
And Don Perlin...what an under-rated gem that guy is. His work on DEFENDERS/ NEW DEFENDERS was always so good, and his art reminds me of other under-rated folks like Richard Case.
"Crazy women," Shooter thinks to himself. "They don't know their own minds!" How he must have really hated this character, and women, to have written such a mysoginistic-now-farcical story. Best line: "I wanted you for sex, then--now it's strictly business!" Really? I bet it's still all about sex. Or sex business. Busisex? I digress: simply put, women are objects of desire here, to be made and remade according to manpig dickery.
Thankfully, Ann Nocenti does an admirable job of picking up threads from the graphic novel in her follow-up mini-series, "Beauty & the Beast." A lot of Dazzler's problems are explained away as changes to her power and she basically spends the first two issues at a detox facility to get Shooter's ick off her. What I don't like is that she goes from one slob of a man to another, here (allegedly) the son of Doctor Doom. Oh, Dazz, you need some therapy!
As is usual for Nocenti, there is political commentary here: a critique of the media's obsession with celebrity, a critique of viewers of junk culture, and a feminist thread wherein Dazzler is the elusive/ aloof brute and Beast is the emo softy. This is not as evolved as her later work, but it is surely and recognizably a Nocenti work.
I prefer my Beast a bit more on the cerebral side than the comedic, bouncing "Oh, My Stars & Garters!" variety, but this is still a likable version. And again, there's the weird "I love you, I hate you, I love you, you dsigust me, I love you, but leave!" romance overtones that make it all a little melodramatically silly in this day & age. But there's still a lot too like.
And Don Perlin...what an under-rated gem that guy is. His work on DEFENDERS/ NEW DEFENDERS was always so good, and his art reminds me of other under-rated folks like Richard Case.
February 17, 2015
A X-men spinoff that should be relegated to history. I'm surprised Marvel decided to include this in their Marvel Premiere Classics line, because it's pretty bad.
The trade actually includes two separate series. The first is the "Dazzler: The Movie" graphic novel published in 1984. Written by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, this storyline sees the sound-powered mutant caught up in the decadent Hollywood of the era. Moving from cheesecake pose to cheesecake pose, Dazzler latches onto some drunk, has-been leading man to get her face in lights...and inexplicably falls in love with him. She's publicly revealed as a mutant to drum up some publicity for the movie, but that ends up just spurring a bunch of mob response. In the end, she's undone by a shady contract and destroys the single print of her movie to preserve her self-respect.
It's not good. There's overwrought narration, implausible character shifts and plenty of awful retrograde sexism. As Dazzler leads an aerobics class at the start of the comic, a couple walking past observes, "Every woman here would give anything to look like her...and every man would give anything to be with her." Then a rich producer buys the gym to try to get her to go out with him. Amazingly, that backfires. Dazzler herself asks her creepy lover--his flabby, often-girdled gut hanging out over her bed--"How did you get the instruction manual to my body?"
Things don't get better from there: the story's big reversal comes from Dazler looking at her arm flab in a mirror. Later, she stands amidst a row of roaring jets in a nipple-bearing bikini to show off her powers. It's pretty exploitative.
The other series in this collection, the "Beauty and the Beast" miniseries from around the same time, isn't much better. It does have some nice covers from Bill Sienkiewicz, but that's about all there is to recommend it. The series, written by Ann Nocenti, sees Dazzler struggling with the aftermath of her failed movie. She's recruited by a questionable entertainment sleazeball and signs a quick contract (seriously Dazzler, get a lawyer) only to find that she's joining up with a underground gladiatorial league catering to Los Angeles' decadent elite.
As the title promises, Beast of the X-men/Avengers fame is on the West Coast, and he and Dazzler enter into a romance. But while the story wants to explore the prejudices these mutants face just trying to live their lives, Beast is written out of character as a violent, bullish control freak.
Most of Beast's "romance" with Dazzler consists of him yelling at her, putting her down and threatening random dudes around her. Beast and his pal Wonder Man trash Dazzler and her morals without having a clue as to what's going on with her. As it turns out, Dazzler was being sort-of mind controlled by a possible bastard son of Doctor Doom, but that doesn't stop Beast from acting like a abusive boyfriend, screaming at Dazzler at every opportunity about her lack of morals and even smearing lipstick all over her face to prove a point. (Dazzler never thinks to fight back by pointing out that he's a blue, hairy monster who doesn't wear pants.)
The gladiatorial stuff is overwritten; Nocenti devotes a lot of narration to the idea of rich people getting cheap thrills in the bloodsports. While there are a few interesting elements--notably a coastal refuge for mutants that's a very low-key alternative to Professor Xavier's school--the series is pretty slapdash and melodramatic.
These stories are pretty ugly, but they do make Chris Claremont's work with his female characters in his X-men run stand out all the more. Still, not recommended for even big X-fans.
The trade actually includes two separate series. The first is the "Dazzler: The Movie" graphic novel published in 1984. Written by Marvel editor-in-chief Jim Shooter, this storyline sees the sound-powered mutant caught up in the decadent Hollywood of the era. Moving from cheesecake pose to cheesecake pose, Dazzler latches onto some drunk, has-been leading man to get her face in lights...and inexplicably falls in love with him. She's publicly revealed as a mutant to drum up some publicity for the movie, but that ends up just spurring a bunch of mob response. In the end, she's undone by a shady contract and destroys the single print of her movie to preserve her self-respect.
It's not good. There's overwrought narration, implausible character shifts and plenty of awful retrograde sexism. As Dazzler leads an aerobics class at the start of the comic, a couple walking past observes, "Every woman here would give anything to look like her...and every man would give anything to be with her." Then a rich producer buys the gym to try to get her to go out with him. Amazingly, that backfires. Dazzler herself asks her creepy lover--his flabby, often-girdled gut hanging out over her bed--"How did you get the instruction manual to my body?"
Things don't get better from there: the story's big reversal comes from Dazler looking at her arm flab in a mirror. Later, she stands amidst a row of roaring jets in a nipple-bearing bikini to show off her powers. It's pretty exploitative.
The other series in this collection, the "Beauty and the Beast" miniseries from around the same time, isn't much better. It does have some nice covers from Bill Sienkiewicz, but that's about all there is to recommend it. The series, written by Ann Nocenti, sees Dazzler struggling with the aftermath of her failed movie. She's recruited by a questionable entertainment sleazeball and signs a quick contract (seriously Dazzler, get a lawyer) only to find that she's joining up with a underground gladiatorial league catering to Los Angeles' decadent elite.
As the title promises, Beast of the X-men/Avengers fame is on the West Coast, and he and Dazzler enter into a romance. But while the story wants to explore the prejudices these mutants face just trying to live their lives, Beast is written out of character as a violent, bullish control freak.
Most of Beast's "romance" with Dazzler consists of him yelling at her, putting her down and threatening random dudes around her. Beast and his pal Wonder Man trash Dazzler and her morals without having a clue as to what's going on with her. As it turns out, Dazzler was being sort-of mind controlled by a possible bastard son of Doctor Doom, but that doesn't stop Beast from acting like a abusive boyfriend, screaming at Dazzler at every opportunity about her lack of morals and even smearing lipstick all over her face to prove a point. (Dazzler never thinks to fight back by pointing out that he's a blue, hairy monster who doesn't wear pants.)
The gladiatorial stuff is overwritten; Nocenti devotes a lot of narration to the idea of rich people getting cheap thrills in the bloodsports. While there are a few interesting elements--notably a coastal refuge for mutants that's a very low-key alternative to Professor Xavier's school--the series is pretty slapdash and melodramatic.
These stories are pretty ugly, but they do make Chris Claremont's work with his female characters in his X-men run stand out all the more. Still, not recommended for even big X-fans.
September 24, 2024
take this rating with a grain of salt: I loved it, yes. but you probably won't.
September 2, 2020
Agora eu shipo
June 22, 2023
Dazzler the character, Dazzler the ongoing series, and Dazzler: The Movie graphic novel all get an undeserved bad rap. The first few issues of her ongoing are wonky but it soon becomes an enjoyable book. The Movie is, surprisingly, very good. And the character is awesome. Peak Dazzler is when she joins the X-Men until she goes through the Siege Perilous.
The highlight of this volume is definitely the graphic novel, Dazzler: The Movie. It’s pretty adult for the time. Probably the first truly adult comic featuring a mutant. (Someone asks Dazz if she did porn, someone else calls her a whore, she’s drinking and smoking.) Not counting God Loves, Man Kills which didn’t deal with sex and substance abuse. It’s nice to see Dazzler become corrupted by Hollyweird, eventually rediscover herself, and then tell the devil to suck it, burning it all down to remain true to herself.
And believe it or not Dazzler: The Movie pushes the mutant-human relations envelope further than Claremont had done so far on X-Men. When Dazzler, riding high on her newfound starlet fame, is outed as a mutant, we see how the public respond. She’s not hidden away in the X-Men’s secret headquarters, so she has to deal with the paranoia and hysteria of the press and public. It’s very good, and this story definitely shapes Dazzler’s future X-Men journey. Those Uncanny issues have many call backs to her series.
Random thing I liked: Ali is such a sweetheart, she never even comments on the fact that her Hollywood legend boyfriend is secretly a fat, bald old guy. Neither does the story make a big deal of her discovering the truth. She loves the guy. Longshot, he ain’t (mullet or no.)
By far, the low point of this package is the limited series, Beauty and the Beast. But it isn’t unreadable: the art is almost decent, the writing’s… almost decent. (Except for Longshot, I never “got” Ann Nocenti.) Dazzler and Beast are written out of character. Mostly Dazzler. I get she’s depressed but this isn’t how Ali from the ongoing would handle (did handle!) her Hollywood fall. Dazzler here is bizarrely more naive about Hollywood than she ever was! A woman is finally writing Dazz, which for some dumb reason pleases small-minded people, and she does a crappy job of it, making the heroine more damsel-y than she’d ever been. Just to shoehorn her into a beauty and the beast riff? And Doctor Doom! This is just embarrassing. One Doom panel will take you longer to read than this whole review. Why Shooter let Nocenti resurrect Doom, saddle him with an illegitimate son, and act extremely Silver Age-y, is a complete wonder.
And I don’t know why Nocenti had to go with gladiators. Claremont did it first, in New Mutants, then he did it again, after this series, way too many times. It’s a very, very boring and basic plot, which I guess frees up space for soap operatics and what not. Nocenti seems to be one of those writers who thinks too consciously about her themes instead of letting them develop organically from her plots and characters. Between this and Longshot, I guess she has an interest in the dark side of fame and showbiz. Longshot’s the better read (better art, too!)
This series’ claim to fame would be what it does for mutants in the Marvel Universe. Here there’s a bunch of random mutants. Some with lame powers, some with deformities. Everyone credits Grant Morrison for originating that idea but it really starts in earnest here. It also follows up on Dazzler: The Movie by showing lots of very blatant discrimination against mutants by the public. One lady is shocked and appalled when she sees Hank and Ali holding hands in public, for instance, and tells her kid to look away. The pair do make an unlikely sorta sense together, though, I have to say. Hank was around in the first few issues of her series, after all.
Shame this budding relationship was never followed up on. Granted Dazzler is being mind controlled for most of the story and Beast was reprogrammed by Nocenti, they’re an odd couple with potential. I don’t remember even one panel of them together, or even separately thoughtballooning about each other, when they met back up during Inferno. Although included in this trade there is an epilogue by a different creative team that was published just a few years later. By “just a few” I mean exactly 26. 26 years later. It’s not terrible but it doesn’t feel right. The characters are off. Dazzler is too full of self pity and Beast is too like his The Animated Series counterpart instead of his “guy’s guy” persona from the 80s. It‘s a continuity insert that makes an excuse for why they didn’t get together after they defeated Doom Junior, and explains why Dazzler joined Lila Cheney’s band. Bittersweet but unnecessary.
One interesting piece of trivia: in the epilogue Beast mentions that he and Iceman and Angel are thinking of leaving the New Defenders and branching out with a new group. Which reminded me that Dazzler was actually originally meant to be part of the original X-Men’s reunion as X-Factor, had Jean Grey not been resurrected. That would have been interesting. There are many “flashpoints” for alternate takes on the X-Men timeline and this is one of them. I’d love to have seen how Ali interacted with Scott and the gang. Especially since she kind of “dated” both Beast and Angel. Maddy wouldn’t have had to be turned into the Goblin Queen… the possibilities are endless. But if that had happened we wouldn’t have gotten the Outback X-Men as we know and love them. There’d be no Longshot-Dazz romance. I wouldn’t mind seeing a What If issue covering that version of X-Factor, though.
One unforgivable sin: in a couple blink and you miss ‘em panels Dazzler meets an Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters dropout. That makes the X-Men look terrible! They let a girl with lame powers flunk outta school and end up in some squat house? This is just a really, really boneheaded move on Nocenti’s part and the editor should have caught it.
Overall, this is a good package but if you want the remastered Dazzler: The Movie I’d recommend the Marvel Masterworks edition since it includes issues of the Dazzler ongoing which are superior to Beauty and the Beast.
The highlight of this volume is definitely the graphic novel, Dazzler: The Movie. It’s pretty adult for the time. Probably the first truly adult comic featuring a mutant. (Someone asks Dazz if she did porn, someone else calls her a whore, she’s drinking and smoking.) Not counting God Loves, Man Kills which didn’t deal with sex and substance abuse. It’s nice to see Dazzler become corrupted by Hollyweird, eventually rediscover herself, and then tell the devil to suck it, burning it all down to remain true to herself.
And believe it or not Dazzler: The Movie pushes the mutant-human relations envelope further than Claremont had done so far on X-Men. When Dazzler, riding high on her newfound starlet fame, is outed as a mutant, we see how the public respond. She’s not hidden away in the X-Men’s secret headquarters, so she has to deal with the paranoia and hysteria of the press and public. It’s very good, and this story definitely shapes Dazzler’s future X-Men journey. Those Uncanny issues have many call backs to her series.
Random thing I liked: Ali is such a sweetheart, she never even comments on the fact that her Hollywood legend boyfriend is secretly a fat, bald old guy. Neither does the story make a big deal of her discovering the truth. She loves the guy. Longshot, he ain’t (mullet or no.)
By far, the low point of this package is the limited series, Beauty and the Beast. But it isn’t unreadable: the art is almost decent, the writing’s… almost decent. (Except for Longshot, I never “got” Ann Nocenti.) Dazzler and Beast are written out of character. Mostly Dazzler. I get she’s depressed but this isn’t how Ali from the ongoing would handle (did handle!) her Hollywood fall. Dazzler here is bizarrely more naive about Hollywood than she ever was! A woman is finally writing Dazz, which for some dumb reason pleases small-minded people, and she does a crappy job of it, making the heroine more damsel-y than she’d ever been. Just to shoehorn her into a beauty and the beast riff? And Doctor Doom! This is just embarrassing. One Doom panel will take you longer to read than this whole review. Why Shooter let Nocenti resurrect Doom, saddle him with an illegitimate son, and act extremely Silver Age-y, is a complete wonder.
And I don’t know why Nocenti had to go with gladiators. Claremont did it first, in New Mutants, then he did it again, after this series, way too many times. It’s a very, very boring and basic plot, which I guess frees up space for soap operatics and what not. Nocenti seems to be one of those writers who thinks too consciously about her themes instead of letting them develop organically from her plots and characters. Between this and Longshot, I guess she has an interest in the dark side of fame and showbiz. Longshot’s the better read (better art, too!)
This series’ claim to fame would be what it does for mutants in the Marvel Universe. Here there’s a bunch of random mutants. Some with lame powers, some with deformities. Everyone credits Grant Morrison for originating that idea but it really starts in earnest here. It also follows up on Dazzler: The Movie by showing lots of very blatant discrimination against mutants by the public. One lady is shocked and appalled when she sees Hank and Ali holding hands in public, for instance, and tells her kid to look away. The pair do make an unlikely sorta sense together, though, I have to say. Hank was around in the first few issues of her series, after all.
Shame this budding relationship was never followed up on. Granted Dazzler is being mind controlled for most of the story and Beast was reprogrammed by Nocenti, they’re an odd couple with potential. I don’t remember even one panel of them together, or even separately thoughtballooning about each other, when they met back up during Inferno. Although included in this trade there is an epilogue by a different creative team that was published just a few years later. By “just a few” I mean exactly 26. 26 years later. It’s not terrible but it doesn’t feel right. The characters are off. Dazzler is too full of self pity and Beast is too like his The Animated Series counterpart instead of his “guy’s guy” persona from the 80s. It‘s a continuity insert that makes an excuse for why they didn’t get together after they defeated Doom Junior, and explains why Dazzler joined Lila Cheney’s band. Bittersweet but unnecessary.
One interesting piece of trivia: in the epilogue Beast mentions that he and Iceman and Angel are thinking of leaving the New Defenders and branching out with a new group. Which reminded me that Dazzler was actually originally meant to be part of the original X-Men’s reunion as X-Factor, had Jean Grey not been resurrected. That would have been interesting. There are many “flashpoints” for alternate takes on the X-Men timeline and this is one of them. I’d love to have seen how Ali interacted with Scott and the gang. Especially since she kind of “dated” both Beast and Angel. Maddy wouldn’t have had to be turned into the Goblin Queen… the possibilities are endless. But if that had happened we wouldn’t have gotten the Outback X-Men as we know and love them. There’d be no Longshot-Dazz romance. I wouldn’t mind seeing a What If issue covering that version of X-Factor, though.
One unforgivable sin: in a couple blink and you miss ‘em panels Dazzler meets an Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters dropout. That makes the X-Men look terrible! They let a girl with lame powers flunk outta school and end up in some squat house? This is just a really, really boneheaded move on Nocenti’s part and the editor should have caught it.
Overall, this is a good package but if you want the remastered Dazzler: The Movie I’d recommend the Marvel Masterworks edition since it includes issues of the Dazzler ongoing which are superior to Beauty and the Beast.
March 19, 2019
this confirms that doom fucks
August 24, 2021
This review only covers the actual Beauty and the Beast mini-series, read in the original issues. It's... a little bit weird. Beast is weirdly chatty and sanctimonious, and Dazzler is kind of naive and blithely ignores that Beast has been a part of a school where they teach mutants how to control their powers when she has lost control of her powers. Even if the school is not an ongoing concern at the time, he probably knows some people who could help. Instead, he just beats some people up to protect her, and then is a super jerk to her, while she keeps running off to a weird gladiator ring run by a charismatic mutant (who is maybe the son of Doctor Doom?)and then they, of course fall in love... for some reason. Then they defeat that guy and Doom shows up, and then it ends. I don't know if this romance story goes forward or ever gets referenced again. Despite some weird pacing and unusual character decisions, there were also some nice moments along the way, if you can set aside the weird bits and things that haven't aged well. I still wouldn't particularly recommend it, but if you are a completist, it has some redeeming qualities, anyway.
December 6, 2019
The best part of these are the covers and promo art by Bill Sienkewicz. Everyone in these stories is out of character, especially the main characters Dazzler and Beast, and the dialogue and pacing are truly bad. The "underground mutant fighting ring" angle was bad when Claremont did it, and it's even worse under the inexpert pen of Jim Shooter. The "Hollywood starlet falls for her director" angle is new for X-Men, but still a dreary retread of a hundred films and novels with exactly one cool scene of Dazzler using her powers.
This book is of interest only to completionists. The Claremont run is not improved by reading this before Dazzler's appearances.
This book is of interest only to completionists. The Claremont run is not improved by reading this before Dazzler's appearances.
March 22, 2017
This was actually 2 graphic novels. Dazzler: The Movie by Jim Shooter, and Beauty and the Beast by Ann Nocenti. Shooter's Dazzler story was one of the worst things I have read. Ever. Not just in comics. In ANY FORM. Nocenti's story is OK, having to try and repair Shooter's mess, and leading into it's own thing. Her scenes with Beast and Dazzler are kind of random though. But the two are sweet together. It would be nice to see Marvel rekindle this romance.
So, Shooter's story: 1 star
Nocenti's 3 stars.
2 fo all of it.
Ugh. I love Beast. Why does his early stuff have to be so terrible?
So, Shooter's story: 1 star
Nocenti's 3 stars.
2 fo all of it.
Ugh. I love Beast. Why does his early stuff have to be so terrible?
June 12, 2020
I don't feel as though I can rate this below 3 stars, since I paid for it. I willingly bought it. Springer's art is good. Perlin's art is not good but I've never been a fan of his. Shooter does not seem to understand how humans interact. Maybe if Nocenti had written Dazzler: The Movie ... then again, her part of the book is a mess as well.
Ultimately the only reason I picked this up was to understand some things that happened in New Mutants in the mid-80s. Check!
Ultimately the only reason I picked this up was to understand some things that happened in New Mutants in the mid-80s. Check!
August 16, 2023
I really enjoyed the 'Dazzler: The Movie' portion of this book because it's very much rooted in the insanity that was the "golden age" of Hollywood. The 'Beauty & The Beast' portion (including the one-shot epilogue) were a bit cringe at times regarding the romance aspect. The overall plot was fast-paced, but it also felt like there was a lot going on at the same time.
July 3, 2021
Very cheesecake and bizarre, but I still read it all in one setting and enjoyed myself, so it did the trick!
Read
June 9, 2024Read for the podcast, what an absolute delight
December 19, 2014
Wow this book.
I read the content digitally, apparently the physical book is composed of two things: the "Dazzler: the Movie" graphic novel by Jim Shooter which is easily the grossest thing that I have read in years; and the Beauty and the Beast miniseries by Ann Nocenti which immediately followed it. I'm going to spend my time talking about the second one.
So I'm pretty sure this came out before Longshot. There the dialogue was wacky but here the prose is very serious, dramatic and sometimes soapy, like Claremont on steroids. I really like the idea of Dazzler and Beast getting together, I think the premise of the book is decent and the first half of it is actually really entertaining, the last issue of the four really falls flat though and Doctor Doom just kinda shows up and shit gets resolved. Remember how I said in Longshot that the cameos from other Marvel characters were a blast? Yeah that's not so much the case here, they're just kinda there.
I really like the whole ridiculously overthetop meta-commentary on entertainment. My biggest problem with Dazzler and Longshot when they join the X-Men is that their characters by nature are tied up in the worlds of showbiz, celebrity and the media, and then they join the X-Men in the era where they are living in the Australian desert and almost totally isolated from humanity, and due to magic are literally impossible to photograph. I think Dazzler would've done better on X-Factor, she would have been more in her element and besides being with Beast again lord knows that book could have used a second permanent female character.
Yeah, if I was going to compile a trade paperback of Dazzler comics I would put this miniseries there along with the last six or so issues of the Dazzler solo series (which are actually stellar in both writing and art and if you haven't checked them out you totally should.)
I wouldn't say this is a great comic but reading it and Longshot have gotten me to add Nocenti's run on Daredevil to my to read list. I'm definitely curious about her other work now.
I read the content digitally, apparently the physical book is composed of two things: the "Dazzler: the Movie" graphic novel by Jim Shooter which is easily the grossest thing that I have read in years; and the Beauty and the Beast miniseries by Ann Nocenti which immediately followed it. I'm going to spend my time talking about the second one.
So I'm pretty sure this came out before Longshot. There the dialogue was wacky but here the prose is very serious, dramatic and sometimes soapy, like Claremont on steroids. I really like the idea of Dazzler and Beast getting together, I think the premise of the book is decent and the first half of it is actually really entertaining, the last issue of the four really falls flat though and Doctor Doom just kinda shows up and shit gets resolved. Remember how I said in Longshot that the cameos from other Marvel characters were a blast? Yeah that's not so much the case here, they're just kinda there.
I really like the whole ridiculously overthetop meta-commentary on entertainment. My biggest problem with Dazzler and Longshot when they join the X-Men is that their characters by nature are tied up in the worlds of showbiz, celebrity and the media, and then they join the X-Men in the era where they are living in the Australian desert and almost totally isolated from humanity, and due to magic are literally impossible to photograph. I think Dazzler would've done better on X-Factor, she would have been more in her element and besides being with Beast again lord knows that book could have used a second permanent female character.
Yeah, if I was going to compile a trade paperback of Dazzler comics I would put this miniseries there along with the last six or so issues of the Dazzler solo series (which are actually stellar in both writing and art and if you haven't checked them out you totally should.)
I wouldn't say this is a great comic but reading it and Longshot have gotten me to add Nocenti's run on Daredevil to my to read list. I'm definitely curious about her other work now.
February 16, 2019
Enjoyable collection! Compiles “Dazzler: The Movie” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
It’s basically a big Dazzler story. She’s always been a mutant that I’ve liked.
These stories (especially Dazzler: The Movie) have taken a lot of flak due to the flagrant sexism in the story. It reads like a Scorsese film, complete with a character’s rise, followed by the inevitable, alcohol fueled downfall.
My take? Yes, there’s sexism, harassment, assault and other awful things in the story... but they are portrayed in a way that I feel condemns and highlights those behaviors. Decades before #metoo, this story really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the unique struggles women face personally, professionally and everywhere in between.
Great read! Love The Dazzler!!
It’s basically a big Dazzler story. She’s always been a mutant that I’ve liked.
These stories (especially Dazzler: The Movie) have taken a lot of flak due to the flagrant sexism in the story. It reads like a Scorsese film, complete with a character’s rise, followed by the inevitable, alcohol fueled downfall.
My take? Yes, there’s sexism, harassment, assault and other awful things in the story... but they are portrayed in a way that I feel condemns and highlights those behaviors. Decades before #metoo, this story really hit the nail on the head when it comes to the unique struggles women face personally, professionally and everywhere in between.
Great read! Love The Dazzler!!
January 21, 2016
Beauty and the Beast is a fun offshoot title for X-Men related books. The book does not move either of the main characters further along as individuals, but it does have a fairly original story that is loads of fun to read.
September 19, 2019
glad I checked it out, wouldn't buy it
May 29, 2018
Dazzler: the Movie is naff. Like, really naff. Almost pornographically so.
However the Beauty and the Beast 4 parter more than makes up for it.
However the Beauty and the Beast 4 parter more than makes up for it.
January 2, 2018
Hodnotím pouze BEAUTY & THE BEAST 1-4. Sérii jsem našel přes Hidden Gems v Marvel Unlimited a hodnota tohoto díla mi trochu uniká.
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