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A review by ratgrrrl
Empyre: X-Men by Leah Williams, Benjamin Percy, Vita Alaya, Zeb Wells, Tini Howard, Ed Brisson, Jonathan Hickman, Gerry Duggan
1.0
I love the X-Folx. I have had some of the most enjoyable and emotional experiences reading comics with them. I have been furious and disgusted with character decisions (complimentary and derogatory) and frustrated with writers. I've even been bored and bogged down. I have never felt this level of I'm not angry I'm disappointed. It's like meeting up with an old friend who you've been through some of life's significant moments with after a some years apart and they show up with Bored Apes T-shirt and spend the majority of lunch talking your ear off about how the new DXDG3 Coin is going to the moon...
Look, I picked this up on Libby. I feel like I always have to say this isn't an ad, but it is a phenomenal way to read thousands of comics for nothing (as well as all the other library stuff) with a library card, and it's the perfect way to read comics you would only ever want to read while you have something else on because what you lack in shame and good sense, you more than make up in Severe ADHD!
Anyways, I picked this up on Libby to do that and for a laugh, as I thought ir actually might be some kind of nightmare cross-IP thing with the video game with the zombies and plants that this is explicitly evoking, and seemingly used as the seed for this event sidequest. Having read it, I kinda wish it had been. I don't know how that could have made it worse.
Now, I will say there are a couple of references and scenes that I didn't feel actively negative about, but they were very few and very far between what is just an embarrassingly awful storyline that I wouldn't feel as comfortable being so honest in my disparaging if it was just doing bad on so many levels.
Nothing in comics is sacred. I'm not actually offended or reverent, but taking something as hugely impactful and significant as M-Day and Scarlet Witch's guilt and trauma and burning what is a genuinely great idea that could be done so well with equal ridiculousness, pathos, and tragedy that would have me bawling is fucked up. Doing a messed up reverse M-Day mutant zombie apocalypse on Genosha and needing to call on help from others and it getting all complicated could genuinely be amazing. A side story in a big event where there's not enough time or care and random other shit is being thrown in isn't it.
This is the crux for me. It's a totally whatever forgettable comic with shitty mansplaining and just really weird misogyny, ageism, and not cool consent stuff, which is enough for it to be a shitty comic obviously, but it's all that and obnoxiously burns a cool idea and cheapens a character and her emotional impact.
The art is fine and has a couple of moments, but it's got that homogeneous Marvel house style thing going on like the movies.
I always feel awful writing a scathing review like this, but I stand by it and it's been cathartic getting it out. I wish everyone involved with making this all the best and better things. As amped as I've been, I'll almost certainly never think of this again, both because who cares and the powers of ADHD.
Look, I picked this up on Libby. I feel like I always have to say this isn't an ad, but it is a phenomenal way to read thousands of comics for nothing (as well as all the other library stuff) with a library card, and it's the perfect way to read comics you would only ever want to read while you have something else on because what you lack in shame and good sense, you more than make up in Severe ADHD!
Anyways, I picked this up on Libby to do that and for a laugh, as I thought ir actually might be some kind of nightmare cross-IP thing with the video game with the zombies and plants that this is explicitly evoking, and seemingly used as the seed for this event sidequest. Having read it, I kinda wish it had been. I don't know how that could have made it worse.
Now, I will say there are a couple of references and scenes that I didn't feel actively negative about, but they were very few and very far between what is just an embarrassingly awful storyline that I wouldn't feel as comfortable being so honest in my disparaging if it was just doing bad on so many levels.
Nothing in comics is sacred. I'm not actually offended or reverent, but taking something as hugely impactful and significant as M-Day and Scarlet Witch's guilt and trauma and burning what is a genuinely great idea that could be done so well with equal ridiculousness, pathos, and tragedy that would have me bawling is fucked up. Doing a messed up reverse M-Day mutant zombie apocalypse on Genosha and needing to call on help from others and it getting all complicated could genuinely be amazing. A side story in a big event where there's not enough time or care and random other shit is being thrown in isn't it.
This is the crux for me. It's a totally whatever forgettable comic with shitty mansplaining and just really weird misogyny, ageism, and not cool consent stuff, which is enough for it to be a shitty comic obviously, but it's all that and obnoxiously burns a cool idea and cheapens a character and her emotional impact.
The art is fine and has a couple of moments, but it's got that homogeneous Marvel house style thing going on like the movies.
I always feel awful writing a scathing review like this, but I stand by it and it's been cathartic getting it out. I wish everyone involved with making this all the best and better things. As amped as I've been, I'll almost certainly never think of this again, both because who cares and the powers of ADHD.