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New Uncanny X-Men #2
X-Men: Unstoppable
Collects Uncanny X-Men (1981) #410-424, X-Men Unlimited (1993) #44-45.
The unstoppable Juggernaut has joined the X-Men! When Cain Marko summons the X-Men to help his criminal partner Black Tom Cassidy, he surprises everyone — including himself — by accepting his hated stepbrother Professor X’s offer of friendship! And he’s not the only new face at the Xavier Institute as Northstar and Husk join the teaching staff, troubled young Sammy Paré enrolls at the school and the comatose Havok is found — with a lovesick caretaker in tow! As the X-Men struggle with internal turmoil and Sammy bonds with Juggernaut, the team must face threats like Maximus Lobo, Alpha Flight and the Church of Humanity — who commit an act of savagery that shocks the X-Men to the core! Plus: Iceman and Archangel deal with startling secondary mutations — and an X-Man proposes!
The unstoppable Juggernaut has joined the X-Men! When Cain Marko summons the X-Men to help his criminal partner Black Tom Cassidy, he surprises everyone — including himself — by accepting his hated stepbrother Professor X’s offer of friendship! And he’s not the only new face at the Xavier Institute as Northstar and Husk join the teaching staff, troubled young Sammy Paré enrolls at the school and the comatose Havok is found — with a lovesick caretaker in tow! As the X-Men struggle with internal turmoil and Sammy bonds with Juggernaut, the team must face threats like Maximus Lobo, Alpha Flight and the Church of Humanity — who commit an act of savagery that shocks the X-Men to the core! Plus: Iceman and Archangel deal with startling secondary mutations — and an X-Man proposes!
419 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 2019
2 people are currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Austen
431 books16 followersChuck Austen (born Chuck Beckum) is an American humor novelist, comic book writer and artist, TV writer and animator. In comics, he is known for his work on X-Men, War Machine, Elektra, and Action Comics, and in television, he is known for co-creating the animated TV series Tripping the Rift.
In his most recent prose novels, Chuck Austen has been going by the name Charles Austen.
In his most recent prose novels, Chuck Austen has been going by the name Charles Austen.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 15, 2019
Chuck Austen had the unfortunate luck to appear following Joe Casey's underappreciated X-Men: X-Corps run, which could have been great if it'd be allowed to stand on its own feet, and opposite Grant Morrison's superb New X-Men run. Honestly, Austen isn't the writer that either of them is, and that's probably why this run has gotten such a terrible reputation.
But, Austen's run is a step up from many of the murky X-stories of the '90s. It does four-color adventure well and also works hard to delve into the sort of soap operatics that Chris Clarmeont made famous. Mind you, it doesn't do all of that well. The soap operatics sometimes go horribly awry, the writing can be heavy-handed, and Austen did end up stuck with the X-Men that Morrison didn't want.
But almost twenty years on, we can read these stories without them being in the shadow of Morrison, and it's worth doing so.
Hope (#410-412). The Juggernaut's back, but asking for help with Black Tom's "secondary mutation". The four-color adventure is good, but drags a bit when we're in the middle of the big pointless fight. But we get more ... hope ... for Austen's run by seeing the subplots he's developing, about Sammy the fishkid and Annie the Alex-stalking nurse [3+/5].
Annie Goes to School (#413). And here we get a story all about Austen's subplots, showing them at their best and worst. The story of Annie and her son is intriguing (but, admittedly, heavyhanded). The story of Paige having the hots for Warren is a bit more cringe-worthy, even if it's admitted that she is a wee-bit young here. (And the scene between Stacy, Warren, and Paige unfortunately shows off how unbelievable Austen's prose can be at times.) Despite the problems, this once again shows off that Austen understands the X-Men is about more than just superheroics [2+/5].
Fall Down (#414). Northstar's introduction to the team involves another young mutant, but the result is a lot different from Sammy's intro in Austen's first arc. Though this story is again let down some by Austen's dialogue problems (in particular, when the young mutant finds out that Northstar is gay), this is still a very poignant tale that really highlights who Northstar is, and how he's changed as he joins the team [5/5].
Secrets (#415). Austen doesn't just write the supers X-Men. This is a classic day-in-the-life story, touching on the personal lives of Warren, Jean-Paul, and Bobby (while offering a minor problem to deal with). It's a nice little story, full of characterization [4/5].
Sammy & Cain (#416, XMU #44). One of the most interesting things about Austen's run was his attempt to humanize Cain. It was largely successful, because Austen didn't try and overlook Cain's anger or his sociopathy, but instead embraced them and gave them reason for change. It's a pity that this has been so largely ignored in the years since. In any case, these are two more day-in-the-life stories with the biggest emphasis on Cain and his relationship with Sammy (because what's better to humanize a sociopath than a kid?). It's pretty effective, though the animal-torture plot of the XMU is a little much [4/5].
Dominant Species (#417-420). This is Chuck Austen's arc where I sort of lose the ability to determine if it's good or bad. I mean, it's a pretty good horror story disguised as a X-Men comic, with the lobos being pretty scary. But that goes hand-in-hand with them being almost uncharacterized. And then we get the first inkling of Austen's idea that there might be whole tribes of mutant peoples that are all alike, something which is totally unsupported by the decades of previous work in the X-books (and by the more recent stuff too). We also get an intriguing subplot about Annie and her son and his mysterious father and Havoc coming back from the dead. And, we get great character development for Warren, moving away from his selfiish origins. But then we get the entirely icky plot of Warren finding true-love for the first time with a girl who's what? 16? 18? [3+/5].
Hero (XMU #45). This is an Alpha Flight story in an X-Men comic. Its biggest problem is that it reads like it came from the '80s. I suppose Austen can't be personally blamed for writing about a team of Alpha Flight that reboots and ignores all of their trials and tribulations (and changes!) from their long-running comic. But he's entirely at fault for writing a team that's so poorly characterized that you can't tell this isn't a historic story. And wow, the sudden intro of Angel at the end is some of the most heavy-handed writing I've ever seen. [2/5].
Rules of Engagement (#421-422). This is Austen's X-Men at its best, deeply intertwined with subplots while offering a fun "A" story about a conflict with Alpha Flight. Of the subplots, the Havoc/Annie/Polaris story really makes strong use of the characters; the Warren/Paige story at least acknowledges her extreme underagedness; and the archaeology story sets up a neat mystery. Meanwhile the "A" story is touching mainly for its impact on Cain, who continues to be the real story of Austen's run [4+/5].
Holy War (#423-424). I always hated the Kurt-as-priest plot, though one must admit it was at least one of the meaningful changes in Claremont's six-months-later plot that began in X-Men v2 #100. Despite that, it's still hard to know how to assess this Austen plotline, which offers a big retcon of Kurt being tricked into believing he was a priest by evil humans. And those evil humans stage a big attack on the school, and kill students, as they do. (Repetitive? Yes. Impactful? Still yes.) This maybe-good-maybe-not plot then runs into an issue-long battle with the evil priests, which then gets very suddenly wrapped up. So all around: meh? [3+/5].
But, Austen's run is a step up from many of the murky X-stories of the '90s. It does four-color adventure well and also works hard to delve into the sort of soap operatics that Chris Clarmeont made famous. Mind you, it doesn't do all of that well. The soap operatics sometimes go horribly awry, the writing can be heavy-handed, and Austen did end up stuck with the X-Men that Morrison didn't want.
But almost twenty years on, we can read these stories without them being in the shadow of Morrison, and it's worth doing so.
Hope (#410-412). The Juggernaut's back, but asking for help with Black Tom's "secondary mutation". The four-color adventure is good, but drags a bit when we're in the middle of the big pointless fight. But we get more ... hope ... for Austen's run by seeing the subplots he's developing, about Sammy the fishkid and Annie the Alex-stalking nurse [3+/5].
Annie Goes to School (#413). And here we get a story all about Austen's subplots, showing them at their best and worst. The story of Annie and her son is intriguing (but, admittedly, heavyhanded). The story of Paige having the hots for Warren is a bit more cringe-worthy, even if it's admitted that she is a wee-bit young here. (And the scene between Stacy, Warren, and Paige unfortunately shows off how unbelievable Austen's prose can be at times.) Despite the problems, this once again shows off that Austen understands the X-Men is about more than just superheroics [2+/5].
Fall Down (#414). Northstar's introduction to the team involves another young mutant, but the result is a lot different from Sammy's intro in Austen's first arc. Though this story is again let down some by Austen's dialogue problems (in particular, when the young mutant finds out that Northstar is gay), this is still a very poignant tale that really highlights who Northstar is, and how he's changed as he joins the team [5/5].
Secrets (#415). Austen doesn't just write the supers X-Men. This is a classic day-in-the-life story, touching on the personal lives of Warren, Jean-Paul, and Bobby (while offering a minor problem to deal with). It's a nice little story, full of characterization [4/5].
Sammy & Cain (#416, XMU #44). One of the most interesting things about Austen's run was his attempt to humanize Cain. It was largely successful, because Austen didn't try and overlook Cain's anger or his sociopathy, but instead embraced them and gave them reason for change. It's a pity that this has been so largely ignored in the years since. In any case, these are two more day-in-the-life stories with the biggest emphasis on Cain and his relationship with Sammy (because what's better to humanize a sociopath than a kid?). It's pretty effective, though the animal-torture plot of the XMU is a little much [4/5].
Dominant Species (#417-420). This is Chuck Austen's arc where I sort of lose the ability to determine if it's good or bad. I mean, it's a pretty good horror story disguised as a X-Men comic, with the lobos being pretty scary. But that goes hand-in-hand with them being almost uncharacterized. And then we get the first inkling of Austen's idea that there might be whole tribes of mutant peoples that are all alike, something which is totally unsupported by the decades of previous work in the X-books (and by the more recent stuff too). We also get an intriguing subplot about Annie and her son and his mysterious father and Havoc coming back from the dead. And, we get great character development for Warren, moving away from his selfiish origins. But then we get the entirely icky plot of Warren finding true-love for the first time with a girl who's what? 16? 18? [3+/5].
Hero (XMU #45). This is an Alpha Flight story in an X-Men comic. Its biggest problem is that it reads like it came from the '80s. I suppose Austen can't be personally blamed for writing about a team of Alpha Flight that reboots and ignores all of their trials and tribulations (and changes!) from their long-running comic. But he's entirely at fault for writing a team that's so poorly characterized that you can't tell this isn't a historic story. And wow, the sudden intro of Angel at the end is some of the most heavy-handed writing I've ever seen. [2/5].
Rules of Engagement (#421-422). This is Austen's X-Men at its best, deeply intertwined with subplots while offering a fun "A" story about a conflict with Alpha Flight. Of the subplots, the Havoc/Annie/Polaris story really makes strong use of the characters; the Warren/Paige story at least acknowledges her extreme underagedness; and the archaeology story sets up a neat mystery. Meanwhile the "A" story is touching mainly for its impact on Cain, who continues to be the real story of Austen's run [4+/5].
Holy War (#423-424). I always hated the Kurt-as-priest plot, though one must admit it was at least one of the meaningful changes in Claremont's six-months-later plot that began in X-Men v2 #100. Despite that, it's still hard to know how to assess this Austen plotline, which offers a big retcon of Kurt being tricked into believing he was a priest by evil humans. And those evil humans stage a big attack on the school, and kill students, as they do. (Repetitive? Yes. Impactful? Still yes.) This maybe-good-maybe-not plot then runs into an issue-long battle with the evil priests, which then gets very suddenly wrapped up. So all around: meh? [3+/5].
May 1, 2019
You may be excited about this collection of Chuck Austen's run on X-Men, because it's famous for being the worst X-Men book ever written. I'm happy to announce that it lives up to the hype. It's full of repellent misogyny, everyone acts totally out of character even though it's almost exclusively character development, switches from one sloppy artist to the next every few issues, features no interesting villains or fight scenes, etc. Worse, it has just enough good scenes (a semi-autobiographical storyline where Juggernaut joins the team, befriends the disaffected kid Squid-Boy, and works through his history of abuse) that you feel bad for throwing it in the trash.
The best way to read this book is to pretend that it is a story Rockslide is telling the other X-Kids. Everyone acts like Rockslide pretending to be them, from Professor X to Stacy X.
Worried about missing out? No problem. Every main plot in this entire book will be ignored by all future writers and we'll pretend it never happened. In this book, Northstar confirms that Iceman is not gay even a little bit. Nightcrawler is angry at God and too horny to be a good priest. Havok dumps Polaris for a psychotic nurse he's never met. Psylocke tells Angel from beyond the grave to move on and hook up with Husk, even though she's like 16. Iceman and Polaris had a serious relationship, not a one-sided crush. And remember Angel's healing blood?
The best way to read this book is to pretend that it is a story Rockslide is telling the other X-Kids. Everyone acts like Rockslide pretending to be them, from Professor X to Stacy X.
Worried about missing out? No problem. Every main plot in this entire book will be ignored by all future writers and we'll pretend it never happened. In this book, Northstar confirms that Iceman is not gay even a little bit. Nightcrawler is angry at God and too horny to be a good priest. Havok dumps Polaris for a psychotic nurse he's never met. Psylocke tells Angel from beyond the grave to move on and hook up with Husk, even though she's like 16. Iceman and Polaris had a serious relationship, not a one-sided crush. And remember Angel's healing blood?
December 10, 2022
Chuck Austen has a reputation as one of the worst comic writers of his era. But at the time, he got some pretty good gigs: X-Men, Superman, The Avengers. He kept busy. (Not gonna lie, his Action run is a favorite of mine; it's a beautiful trainwreck.)
That was decades ago, now.
I've been on an X-Men kick for the last several months, and I got my hands on the collections of his stuff on a lark. I sometimes enjoy bad comics, so I figured why not?
In all honesty, this was better than I expected. Don't get me wrong; it's not good. The characterization is awful, the plotting is kind of slapdash the dialogue is awkward, the jokes are uniformly unfunny, and half the cast act like lovelorn teeny-boppers. And Austen made a lot of bizarre choices.
But.
It wasn't criminally awful. Some bits were even kind of fun. And the stuff with Juggernaut and Sammy the fish boy was legit good. In all, this collection at least was low-stakes fill-in quality work.
The art is fine, though some of it was not my style.
Reading this collection, I think Austen was giving us what he thought people loved about the X-Men: action and soap opera. He just had a tin ear for it. I can't recommend this to anyone really, but it's not nearly as bad as it's reputation, in my opinion. Of course, this is trade 1 of 3, so there's plenty of time for it to get absolutely abysmal. I will eventually pick up the next one and see.
Three stars, but I'm grading on a curve with this one.
That was decades ago, now.
I've been on an X-Men kick for the last several months, and I got my hands on the collections of his stuff on a lark. I sometimes enjoy bad comics, so I figured why not?
In all honesty, this was better than I expected. Don't get me wrong; it's not good. The characterization is awful, the plotting is kind of slapdash the dialogue is awkward, the jokes are uniformly unfunny, and half the cast act like lovelorn teeny-boppers. And Austen made a lot of bizarre choices.
But.
It wasn't criminally awful. Some bits were even kind of fun. And the stuff with Juggernaut and Sammy the fish boy was legit good. In all, this collection at least was low-stakes fill-in quality work.
The art is fine, though some of it was not my style.
Reading this collection, I think Austen was giving us what he thought people loved about the X-Men: action and soap opera. He just had a tin ear for it. I can't recommend this to anyone really, but it's not nearly as bad as it's reputation, in my opinion. Of course, this is trade 1 of 3, so there's plenty of time for it to get absolutely abysmal. I will eventually pick up the next one and see.
Three stars, but I'm grading on a curve with this one.
December 31, 2019
I was probably three or four issues in before I learned that Austen is considered one of the worst Uncanny X-Men writers ever. I kind of wish I hadn't read it, since I was concerned it might skew my impressions thereafter. I honestly didn't hate it. Yes, there are some funky plot holes and devices and it probably wouldn't pass the Bechdel test, but its melodrama is entertaining and certainly kept my attention. It's not close to the level of Claremont's writing, but I think people forget how much melodrama there was in his X-Men stories. Don't hear my trying to improve Austen's reputation here, just noting that his writing could qualify in the so-bad-it's-good category. I think I disliked some of the art more than the writing, honestly. That all said, my X-Men history is spotty, so I'm not going to catch many of the continuity errors/retcons/character info errors.
I thought there were some genuinely sentimental/moving exchanges between characters. In between all the sniping and lusting, anyway.
I thought there were some genuinely sentimental/moving exchanges between characters. In between all the sniping and lusting, anyway.
October 26, 2023
I remember not enjoying this when it came out in single issues, but read as a whole, decades later and after a great interview on the Cerebro podcast, this comes across with much more grace. At times too bro-y and suffering from attitudes of its time, but mostly a solid attempt at superheroics to balance the more high-concept work Morrison was doing, with fun new costume designs and provocative character work.
September 17, 2021
Probably a 3.5 but rounded up because that 2.7 average is so unfair.
There's some great stuff with Cain that I really enjoyed, especially his relationship with the new arrival, Sammy/Squidboy.
Ron Garney's art is great.
There's some great stuff with Cain that I really enjoyed, especially his relationship with the new arrival, Sammy/Squidboy.
Ron Garney's art is great.
October 12, 2019
Not the greatest x-men comic written.
June 2, 2020
Worst run on X-Men ever. Some good ideas here, but execution was terrible. Art is also sloppy and very weak.
October 9, 2020
In spite of some hit and miss art work, this collection was fun to read again.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews