Last time on All New X-Men, someone on the original team jumped ship to join present-day Cyclops and his group of revolutionaries. In Vol. 3: Out of Their Depth, we find out who actually jumped ship, though this may not be the biggest history-altering event that happens between issues #11-14.
Just a heads up that in the next few weeks, there’s going to be a flurry of comic book content on In Third Person. There’s already been some comic book stuff on the site, but things will kick into overdrive going forward. I still haven’t been playing much in the way of video games and most of the gaming content I had has already been published. Meanwhile, I’ve been devouring comic books like a madman and have a lot to say about the things I’ve read.
I’ll do my best to pepper in video game content where I can, though this is just the way my life is ebbing and flowing right now. Video games just aren’t all that interesting to me right now and it’ll probably be that way until I’ve got something to get excited for shows up. I’m not really interested in opening up separate blogs to write about my digressions in comic books, board games, apartment hunting or whatever the heck I feel like writing about at the time, so I hope that this shift isn’t a turn-off for you. At the end of the day, I’m going to keep writing here about things that I find interesting, so I hope you stick around for that! If anything, maybe this next little stretch will open your eyes to some comics you’ll enjoy in the future!
Buy All-New X-Men Volume 1: Yesterday’s X-Men Now From Amazon.com
My comic book adventure started with a trade paperback. All New X-Men Vol. 1: Yesterday’s X-Men knocked my socks off and I’ve steeped myself in the medium ever since. Between Steff and I, we’ve amassed a mix of individual comics, trade paperbacks of the hard and soft cover variety, as well as a few giant omnibuses. Personally, I prefer the trade paperback format because it compiles a series of issues in a format that lends itself to a nice chunk of reading time. They sit comfortably on a bookshelf. I also like the fact that they’re readily available at most mainstream bookstores and are generally cheaper than buying individual issues. However, as I’ve come to realize, this format also has its drawbacks.
Since starting this comic book adventure with the All New X-Men, I’ve been reading a lot of other stuff, mostly from the DC and Marvel relaunch omnibuses I purchased. Some of them were really good, others were alright, and there were a handful that I couldn’t even get through. Still, everything I’d read to date fell short of the high bar that All New X-Men set. Maybe it’s the short-term nostalgia setting in, but I thought that first book read beautifully, was an interesting take on the X-Men universe and also featured great art.
Now that I’ve run myself through a crash course in comics, I come into Vol. 2: Here to Stay with what I think is a keener eye to what I think a good comic book should be. Was I wowed by the first one just because it was my first book? Or is this old/new X-Men crew really worthy of high praise?
Following the events of Avengers vs. X-Men, Professor X’s group of mutants have hit a new low. Charles Xavier is dead, while Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik and Magneto are working together to start a mutant revolution. At a loss for next steps, a passing comment from present day Iceman sparks an event that will break the spacetime continuum. Through the use of time travel, the original five X-Men come to the present to stop Cyclops from completing his misguided plan. This fateful event is a convenient way for All New X-Men Vol. 1: Yesterday’s X-Men to relaunch the franchise while acknowledging everything that came before. Yet it’s also a risky fictional device to use, as any missteps can undermine and tarnish the entire timeline.
Comic books have influenced my life for as long as I can remember through movies, cartoons, video games, toys and more. However, up until recently, I’ve never actually read a legitimate comic book in earnest. For most of my life, I perceived the act of reading comic books as something that was too nerdy for me. By the time I warmed up to the idea, I had no idea where to start. With almost 100 years worth of DC and Marvel content out there, picking a logical starting point proved difficult.
In Third Person 