Color me shocked that Bendis, who is known for messing with the origins of Marvel heroes

****

In what way? (Honest question).

Small week:

• BIRDS OF PREY - fun as always.
• JLA CLASSIFIED - two Gail Simone books this week !
• JSA CLASSIFIED - not bad, but it seems too soon to have another villian-centric arc in this book. I want to see stories from the JSA perspective, not the Injustice Society. 
• ROBIN - really enjoying this title again.
• CAPTAIN AMERICA - art was a little too dark. It's Cap, not Batman.

I picked up the Comic Creators on X-Men TP this week with the JB interview.  Glad he decided to participate, I thought it was a geat interview, very fair and honest, unlike some others.

I'm curious, since nobody has mentioned it bar Darragh, did it not come out in the states this week? 

I got The New Mutants TPB.  I think $15 would have been a better price.  I was surprised at the high price.  Is that usual for a TPB? 

But, I was trying to search for all the back issues that Claremont wrote anyway.  I had the graphic novel and # 1-4.  Instead of searching for the rest of Claremont's run, I just took I had the back issues I had (they looked so worn out and bad anyway)  and traded them in.  Then I used the discounts that I get from my comic book store just for having a pull list and paid $15.00 for the TPB anyway.

I've never read most of this stuff, so its all new to me.  I hope they make more of these.  I will buy them.

QUOTE: Jessica Drew was a victim for most of her young life and this is according to the original origin story by Goodwin, further expanded upon by Wolfman.  She was used and abused by Hydra, used and abused by a Hydra agent specifically pretending to be her lover, all so that they could use her powers for their benefit.  It's not without precedent, then, to see it play out the way it did in Bendis' mini...

Like I said, I enjoyed the way Bendis and Reed created a strong sense of empathy for Jessica during her harsh, early years. But I also think having what amounts to a second incident of sexual humiliation was overkill. And again, it grates particularly because I know that Marvel would never subject a male character to such humiliation. Hell, Wolverine's Weapon X origin is utterly drenched in victimization, but ya think he'll ever have to hit the sack with Madam Web to secure some hot secrets?

QUOTE: I also didn't get the impression that the High Evolutionary was written out of the Marvel Universe.

Didn't the Hydra scientist who bore the High Evolutionary's name die? Wasn't Jessica's dream of the High Evolutionary suggested to be as much an instance of psychosis as her seeing people as cows and wolves? Or did I miss something that made it more valid? To me, the dream implied the Evolutionary was a pure figment of her troubled mind, and if there was meant to be something more to it, I don't think the story made it clear at all. Bendis and Reed made the choice to retcon Bova and the High Evolutionary out of Jessica's origin, but by retaining the imagery of them, they muddy the waters for these characters who've appeared in many other stories.

QUOTE: I'm still waiting for the last issue of Spider-Woman in the mail, but from these reviews, I get the impression that the High Evolutionary aspects of her origin are not resolved? No explanation for her flashes to the New Man Bova, the High Evolutionary, and Man-Beast?

Not that I caught, no. Presumably was just meant to be the visual accompaniment to the trauma of Jessica's childhood or her Hydra brainwashing.

If I had to guess, Bendis and Reed only kept the Bova and High Evolutionary imagery as a fannish nod to her convoluted 70s origins. I don't actually believe they intend to say these characters never existed (well, probably; I can easily imagine Bendis wanting to jettison the fairly outrageous concept of Bova). But the coincidence of Jessica dreaming about characters tied to many other Marvel superheroes but now removed from her backstory is...well, an awkward story decision at the very least.

QUOTE: I got The New Mutants TPB.  I think $15 would have been a better price.  I was surprised at the high price.  Is that usual for a TPB?

Not for most trades, but it is typical of Marvel's reprints of 70s/80s material that's not in high demand. And sometimes even of stuff that is in demand. Example: Marvel's been reprinting the 90s "Age of Apocalypse" megacrossover that, at least judging by my customers' interest, is much-loved for those who cut their teeth on that era. And yet...$30 price tag per trade!

Pretty crazy. Surely reprints of 80s and 90s material don't require the kind of restoration that goes into, say, a MARVEL MASTERWORKS, so I'm honestly not sure how Marvel's explaining away the pricing. Is it just that damn glossy paper? Stuff does no favors for older material anyway.

That said, I did knuckle under for the NEW MUTANTS trade, same as I bought the pricey BYRNE VISIONARIES FF trades. NEW MUTANTS was one of the first comics I bought with my own bucks as a kid, so I have some pretty major nostalgia for it. I remember being so excited for NEW MUTANTS when it was first announced, a time when a companion book for UNCANNY X-MEN seemed both novel and a dream come true. But even at the time, I realized the ol' mutant magic wasn't there. I liked parts of the series, especially the Sienkiewicz stuff (though it took me a few years to learn to appreciate it), but ultimately it was a bit like STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION - didn't come close to living up to the pre-show hype.

Why'd I buy the trade then? Nostalgia, for sure. Fondness for the trade format. Good art from Bob McLeod that has stood the test of time (they shoulda kept his Sentinel redesigns, and I love how the characters really look like kids and have such distinctive features). And at least partially because, at a time when Marvel seems to've lost its way, somehow even the lesser old stuff strikes more of a chord with me than expected. So bring on the goofy Team America team-up! Bring on Nova Roma! Bring on the oh-so-racially-sensitive stylings of Axe!

It's truly strange stuff, sometimes better than remembered, sometimes just as hokey, but I'm having a very good time with it.

Thanks, Dave. 

One TPB that I think is an excellent value is the Superman Chronicles, which reprints much more rare and expensive stories at a smaller price.  After reading that one I was surprised to see the New Mutants price tag.

I really like Sunspot and Cannonball.  They are two of my favorite X-characters.  But they don't seem the same to me under anyone else but Claremont.  So I'll keep buying these New Mutant TPB's through the entire Claremont run of New mutants. Then after that I may even exchange my yellowed and torn 80's FF for the JB FF Visionaries Trades. I'm starting to like the TPB format much more as I get older.