Tag: battle of the atom

It’s Pick of the Week Time! Battle of the Atom Rages

Oct. 23 Comics, News no comments

Wolverine and the X-Men #37 have walked away with my Pick of the Week this week. I have to say that it was a hard week to win as there are great issues out this week from Justice League Dark, Rat Queens, and I was impressed with the possibilities of Velvet. The Battle of the Atom rages on and Marvel continues to strive with this great crossover.

STK621293Non-Traditional Pick of the Week

If you have been reading the Battle of the Atom, rest assured that Wolverine and the X-Men #37 has delivered strong product just like the other chapters in the crossover. Instead of vaguely discussing the issue, I want to take a moment to explain why I am so happy with the Battle of the Atom series.

Discussing the Battle of the Atom

Yesterday, I found myself discussing the Battle of the Atom crossover with a friend who has been collecting for longer than I have. We both agreed that this crossover is not traditional as it is limited to four titles, an added book (Battle of the Atom #1 and #2). Think about crossovers we have had in recent years such as Civil War, and Fear Itself which have crossed dozens of titles and multiple issues of each. Seeing the compact size of this crossover makes me hope publishers take note and stop the overwhelming crossovers which cost hundreds of dollars to read.

Time

The Battle of the Atom has been crunched into a few short months. How many crossovers last four months or more? Give me a strong story and develop it as quickly as possible without dragging it on. Keep my attention without giving me the chance to lose interest.

Wolverine and the X-Men #37 was not the overall best chapter of the Battle of the Atom crossover, but it makes me hungry for the next chapter. It was also strong enough of a story to pass the others on my reading list this week.

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Uncanny X-Men #13 is My Pick of the Week!

Oct. 16 Comics, News no comments

Uncanny X-Men #13 was impressive this week and was one of the best chapters in the Battle of the Atom crossover. There was so much crunched into the comic, I am sure it will make some reader’s heads spin. It has to snatch my Pick of the Week.

Uncanny X-Men #13

Uncanny X-Men #13

The First Challenge

The first challenge of Uncanny X-Men #13 was to take five separate X-Men factions and merge them into one story. We have two modern X-Men factions, two factions from the future, and one from the past. Granted, the number of factions continues to slowly grow, but Bendis had to make sure to cover each one in this issue and refer to their separate goals and characteristics.

The Second Challenge

The second challenge of Uncanny X-Men #13 was that it had to tie in all of the chapters happening so far. While there have been title crossovers to this point in the Battle of the Atom series, they still held independence. All New X-Men was going in one direction while X-Men was going in a slightly different direction while Wolverine and the X-Men was going in another slight. Uncanny X-Men #13 was used to tie all of these directions together to lead up to the final two chapters in Wolverine & The X-Men #37 and X-Men: Battle of the Atom #2. My guess is that there will not be any tangent directions from here on out in the story.

The Result?

The result is a head-spinning run through the story where you have to pay close attention to everything being said and everything in the pictures. The story curves presented in Uncanny X-Men #13 could have been told over three or four issues, but was edited down to fit into one. You might have to read it twice to make sure you got everything the first time around. While this (story crunching) is a dangerous move in comics, I think Bendis pulled it off with flying colors.

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Uncanny X-Men #12 is My Pick of the Week!

Sep. 18 Comics, News no comments

The Battle of the Atom continues with Chapter 4 in Uncanny X-Men #12, and I was leery about where the story would be going. Typically, the third or fourth chapter is when you start telling the true strength of a crossover event. Marvel did surprise me enough to make Uncanny X-Men #12 my Pick of the Week!

The Middle of a Crossover Event

The middle of a crossover event is typically the most difficult to write (in my opinion). Granted, I have never written one myself, but the middle is when the most challenges present themselves. Creators go into the vent knowing how it starts, and knowing how it is going to end. Typically, the events start out with something huge, have something huge at the end, and lul through a good portion of the middle. That is why I was worried about the middle of Battle of the Atom.

STK618850The Challenges of the Middle

In the middle of the crossover event, such as Battle of the Atom, you not only have to progress the main story, you have to introduce new subplots and address subplots which will running through the title before the crossover began. At the same time, you typically have to get away from some of the action and focus on the relationships between characters and discuss how the characters are feeling about what is going on. There is where many readers are lost because they want the action.

Uncanny X-Men #12

Battle of the Atom has been a fantastic crossover so well. I would go as far as to say that it is one of the top crossovers Marvel has had in years. Uncanny X-Men #12 did take a step back from the non-stop inundation of new ideas to focus on the emotions of the characters – but did not disappoint. The ending of the issue (remember that I hate spoilers), will have many X-Men fans talking today about what type of showdown will happen in the next installment. This is a fight which has been on many of our wishlists for a long time.

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Looking Forward to X-Men: Battle of the Atom

Sep. 01 Comics, News, September War no comments

X:Men Battle of the Atom starts in just days, and I doubt that I could be more excited than I am right now. The concept of the crossover is ingenious and the build to it has been fun to watch. After the disappointment of the Trinity War (read here) and my upset state over the DC Comics Villain Month allocation, I need a good crossover to get me back in the comics swing.

X-Men: Battle of the Atom

X-Men: Battle of the Atom

What is X-Men: Battle of the Atom

In X-Men: Battle of the Atom, the X-Men of the future come to the present to get the current X-Men to send the X-Men from the past back to the past. Try saying that really fast.

Interesting Difference – X-Men: Battle of the Atom and Trinity War

As we approached the Trinity War, many fans were asking all types of questions and were nervous about what the outcome might be. Speculation about a return to the pre-New 52 continuity, a crossing of continuities, and other worries placed a damper on the lead-in to the series. On the flip, people are just excited about X-Men: Battle of the Atom. There is a little speculation, but much more excitement and less trepidation.

Could This Go Wrong?

We will get a look at which X-Men will be in the future. We will see some our favorites X-Men from years gone by. We will finally have the confrontations Marvel has been building up for over the last year. We will have the return of Nightcrawler! I am popping! Ok, yes, it could go wrong – but I am hoping it does not.

Marvel’s Chance to Shine Brighter Than the DC Comic

With the recent mistakes made by DC Comics, Marvel has a great chance to shine. DC Comics might tap some extra market share simply because of the number of titles they are offering for Villain Month, but Marvel can show its competition how to tell a crossover story. They can be the top winners of the September War, even if the numbers do not support it. All they have to do is live up to our expectations with X-Men: Battle of the Atom.

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September War: X-Men: Battle of the Atom – WOW!

Jun. 27 Comics, News, September War Comments Off on September War: X-Men: Battle of the Atom – WOW!

X-Men: Battle of the Atom has my popping. Marvel Previews gives us a glimpse at Marvel’s offerings during the September War, and I cannot hold my excitement back. Everyone thought DC Comics would rule the September War with Villain Month and Forever Evil, but Marvel might just shake things up enough with X-Men: Battle of the Atom to keep DC Comics out of the pinnacle spots on the Diamond Top 100.

X-Men: Battle of the Atom is Coming!

X-Men: Battle of the Atom is Coming!

What is X-Men: Battle of the Atom?

Quick synopsis: The X-Men from the future come to the present to send the X-Men from the past back to the past in an attempt to fix history, the present, and the future. Marvel is pushing X-Men: Battle of the Atom as the biggest X-Men crossover of all time.

Ohhhhh

X-Men: Battle of the Atom is going to be a ten-part crossover which will include its own title, All-New X-Men, X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, and Wolverine & The X-Men. I should complement the company for having a major crossover which does not float into dozens of different titles. At this point, it is contained to ten issues, so it is not something which will put too much of a cramp on reader’s pocketbooks.

Ahhhhh

Yes, I was someone who gave the early win in the September War to DC Comics, but the full and official introduction of X-Men: Battle of the Atom splits my decision for the month. At this point, it is way too early to tell who will have the tops spots during the most important month of the year (if you are not sure why it is the most important month of the year for comics, read this). All I know at this point is that I am going to be dropping a lot of money at our Detroit area comic shop in September.

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