Craig Kyle

Shame on me but I got interested about this because of the Logan-movie. Now those are actually pretty different works. However, the comics are SO MUCH MORE atmospheric. I couldn‘t prevent myself from reading it all in one day.
Some of the art is very beautiful, especially the one in the gamemaster-scenes (http://kinneypride.blogspot.de/2013/11/x-23-unresolved-plot-threads-part-1.html the red/orange pictures here – I haven‘t read the blog entry btw, it might contain spoilers). Also the show more story … generally interesting and very tense but especially the one-shot hooked me. It expresses so much about the struggle with growing up abused, not trusting yourself, learning not to harm yourself over and over in different ways, finding communitys of kids who share your fights, searching for freedom but fearing it etc. I also may add that Logan is way more dedicated to Laura from the very beginning. I LOVE IT. show less

I wouldn't call Messiah Complex the best X-Men related storyline. Some of these characters are pretty far from my favorite X-Men related characters. Some of the relationships, motivations, and even art art fall short of my favorite examples of such things in X-Men related stories of the past. Some of the art was even semi-incomprehensible, in terms of figuring out what's supposed to be happening, and I'd expect Marc Silvestri to be better at body proportions after all these years.

Despite all show more of that, Messiah Complex is good enough to reinforce my long-standing, strong appreciation for X-Men stories. It addresses the major themes that have made X-Men stories so interesting, dives head-first into issues that make other mainstream comics creative teams flinch, and consistently leans on writers who can weave some serious, interesting tension into a tale, just like I came to expect from X-books in the '80s and early '90s. It kept me wanting to read all the way through like I was being led by the nose. It draws heavily on a lot of X-Men related in-world history, but still makes sense for me despite the fact I've been a very infrequent visitor to that world for most of thirty years.

The last pages set excellent tone to end the thing. I'm looking forward to reading [b:X-Men: Second Coming|8651048|X-Men Second Coming|Mike Carey|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1409504479l/8651048._SY75_.jpg|13522259] next. show less

If you've read more than a few of these reviews,you've heard me complain about how brutalizing and horrible comics have gotten, and one would have expected the new X-Force to be a prime offender. Cyclops commissions Wolverine to get together a team of broken rageaholics to go out and do the jobs the X-Men can't (=killandkillandkill)? Terrible idea, reversing decades of character development for a much less interesting status quo. But it actually sort of works--logically enough, the book show more whose explicit premise is "dark mutants kill everybody" has to address the psychic fallout. And in a weird way that makes it sweeter and more nostalgic than most of what's on the market these days, which is more "X-Force made killing everybody okay! Let's get to this." So it turns out it wasn't the grimness that got me down--it was the not treating it with respect. show less

Oh my god, I love this title. Why the hell didn’t I start buying it when it came out? I have no idea! But I love it!This is the line the X-Men never would cross, but Cyclops has finally realized that there are things that just need to be done. Nasty things like revenge and torture and murder, things that he wouldn’t put on any of the X-Men’s hands, but if they have to be done… what do you do?You call Wolverine, of course.I love Wolverine’s conscience; he knows he’s damaged goods show more and will happily take out the Purifiers, a bunch of religious zealots formerly run by William Stryker who are bent on purging mutants from the world. But Logan doesn’t want vengeful murder to be on Rahne, Warpath, and Laura/X-23’s consciences. Wolvie’s got enough blood on his hands that he believes it’ll never come off; he’ll never be completely free of all the things he’s done. But he doesn’t want the others to become what he thinks he is. Oh, Wolvie. I LOVE that he decks Cyke when Cyke tells him that he’s already asked Laura to join the team.It’s kind of nice to have a team-based book with the same level of violence that the mature-rated Wolverine titles have. It’s also nice to see Wolverine have to take on the mantle of leader despite his own hesitation and his protests that he’s no leader. This works with his show of conscience; he’s now responsible for the team, not just his own ass, and he knows that he’s responsible for turning them into murders, just like him. I’m really hoping we’ll get some serious, dirty character development out of this title. Same goes for Laura; I love seeing her struggle to understand what being human means, instead of just being a weapon. It’s a very nice juxtaposition against Wolverine’s internal struggles.And the cast of villains? AWESOME. That’s all I’ll say.The artwork, by Clayton Crain, is amazing. It’s very dark but incredibly clear and downright beautiful, even when he’s drawing scenes of carnage. And the artwork meshes perfectly with the storytelling, so the story progression is clear and understandable. If that sounds like something weird to observe, I’ll just say that I’ve been reading a lot of Claremont lately and leave it at that.One last thought: HOORAY FEMALE SHIELD LEADERS! show less