X-Men: Messiah Complex | 
 enlarge | Authors: Mike Carey, Ed Brubaker, Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Peter David
Creators: Marc Silvestri, Billy Tan, Chris Bachalo, Humberto Ramos, Scot Eaton
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Category: Book
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $20.77
You Save: $19.22 (48%)
New (33) Used (7) from $19.59
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 2704
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 352
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.7
Dimensions (in): 11.1 x 7.5 x 1
ISBN: 0785128999
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.5973
EAN: 9780785128991
ASIN: 0785128999
Publication Date: April 30, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW FACTORY SEALED
|
| Also Available In:
|
| Similar Items:
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
The biggest event to hit the X-Men in ten years is here! Just when it looked like there was no possibility of a future for mutants, hope arrives. But the X-Men aren't there to meet it - The Marauders and Purifiers beat them to it. Now the race is on to get the first new mutant since House of M! Collects X-Men: Messiah Complex One-Shot, Uncanny X-Men #492-494, X-Men #205-207, New X-Men #44-46, and X-Factor #25-27
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 A new comic masterpiece July 3, 2008
This book has the latest battle between the X-men and the terrible future, the story begins with the first new mutant since "M-DAY" and all the people (purifiers, predator x, marauderers, Mr. Sinester and X-men) who has an agenda with the new born. The art is relly good, and the structure of the arc is perfect, and besides is one of the fierst X-men event where Cyclops gtes the respect as a leader that he deserves, and I asure you that this is a MUST HAVE.
 Mediocre, like any Marvel X-Men crossover June 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
First, let me say that Messiah Complex is a good crossover, but considering Marvel's track-record, that isn't saying much. Generally, the last good crossover was X-Cutioner's Song and Age of Apocalypse, and those were back in the early-to-mid 90's. Messiah Complex follows a similar structure/template, and generally gets the same results.
Like any crossover though, it carries over many faults. For one, I felt that the New Mutants were jammed into the book. I felt the story would have been stronger and tighter if they were not included.
If you don't read all the books regularly, it'll just seem like they are too many characters to keep track of. Even if you know all the characters, you'll get the impression that most characters don't get any air-time. For example, despite Mystique being on the front cover... there is only 10 or so pages featuring her. Mr. Sinister was supposed to play a big part in the story it seemed... and he hardly gets any dialog at all.
X-Factor is another group that had very little to do with this story. Ironically, unlike X-Cutioner's Song, you can tell the crossover plotters tried very hard to give X-Factor a reason to be there. I enjoyed their plots well enough, and once again, Peter David is forced to stop what stories he is doing in favour of going along with the X-Men's plans. Fortunately, Messiah Complex is better off than X-Cutioner's Song.
The art in this book is mixed. I generally thought the art and style was fairly consistent through most of the book (Uncanny X-Men and X-Men issues being the best)... except for the issues with the New Mutants, which are featured in a "manga" style. I'm sorry, but 1/4 of the book being manga completely breaks up the book. Even worse, some of the characters really look terrible, like Gambit. Transitions between issues featuring the same locals and characters also look extremely odd. This isn't a style that works in my opinion, and the book suffers for it.
One thing Messiah Complex gets right is that the story is simple, unlike many other crossovers. It takes 13 issues to get the story across, so the pacing is a little slow, and action sequences tend to drag on longer than they need to... but at least it's not an incoherent mess.
Lastly, I don't think the book achieved a sense of scale or purpose at the end. I won't spoil anything, but the end feels anti-climatic. It doesn't feel like any real change has occurred, or that the events that happen in this book actually matter. In fact, one month after this book was published, Marvel has already retroactively changed the most controversial aspect of the book, thus completely eliminating the importance of the final 2 pages of the book! Marvel, why should the reader care if you it's not permanent and has no importance?
Generally, the story is good... but it doesn't really match something like Morrison's run, or something like that. It's worth a read - just don't expect much. I don't understand the 4- and 5-star reviews. I give it 2.5 stars.
Review from a long time X-Men fan June 17, 2008
I have been reading X-Men comics since the early 90s. A lot of the X-Men stories the last few years have been sub-par to say the least. This felt like a return to the X-Men I grew to love so many years ago. Since Messiah Complex, the X-Men seem to have gotten much better. I would highly suggest picking this up to any X-Men fan.
 One day... Marvel will bring back some classic mutant crossover events, but Messiah Complex is not that event. May 27, 2008
2 out of 8 found this review helpful
I have a confession. Back in the day, I was never much a fan of the Chris Claremont mutant crossovers. Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants, Inferno... the list goes on. Actually... may the comic god strike me down, I was never much a fan of Chris Claremont. I liked his earliest X-Men stuff; back when Dark Phoenix and the Savage Land was what it meant to be part of the X-Men. But all this time travelling, alternate futures, and large crossover events resulting in various spin-offs is what truly lost me. Uncanny X-Men became a superhero version of The Young and the Restless. Deaths are meaningless in the comic world, but don't they seem even less significant in the mutant universe? Killing a big name once, twice, or three times... killing an ENTIRE team... it's standard fare in the mutant world.
I know I'm not alone with this opinion. There are many people who abandoned the mutant titles. Maybe they were brought back during Grant Morrison's run. Or maybe they tried to get back into the swing of things with House of M, Endangered Species, and finally... drumroll... Messiah Complex. That's where I'm at. I admit it, I freaking loved Ultimate X-Men. I enjoyed the return to basics and what made the X-Men so great back in the Stan Lee days. Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis and Brian K. Vaughan all did a super job recreating the famous mutant team. It was only when Robert Kirkman took over (whom I admire greatly, it just wasn't his "thang") that the Ultimate X-Men books started to experience some of the same doldrums that possessed the 616 X-Men. In my opinion, some of that was because Kirkman was an obvious Claremont fan and brought back the time travel, alternate dimensions, and yadi-yadi-yada, we're back to my point in the aforementioned paragraph.
So, there! All my prejudice is on the table. I thought I should cleanse myself before this review, especially since some people seem to think that Messiah Complex might be the best X-Men crossover ever. Sadly, I can't agree, and at times I wanted to drop this book and move on to something else. Now, admittedly, I have been out of the X-Men loop. I read House of M and Endangered Species so I do have a foundation for this next big mutant event, but I am a little lost with some of the new characters and shifts in allegiance. I was hoping this would be the mutant event to finally bring me back to the 616 X-Men universe and past the one-shot storylines of Astonishing X-Men. I might buy the next trade paperback collecting a big moment in mutant history, but this book certainly hasn't motivated me to do so.
The events in this book follow Endangered Species. If you read that, you'll know that it was a thoughtful look at the problems facing the mutant gene. It focused on everyone's favorite lovable blue hero, Beast, as he circumnavigated the world to solve the riddle of how the Scarlett Witch had managed to eliminate so many mutants. It wasn't a classic read, it was more of a prologue, but it set a reader up for a warm, fuzzy mutant event that I was sure would resurrect the X-Men titles. Some people think Messiah Complex did just that. I wouldn't agree.
Basically, the big event in this book is that the first mutant baby since the House of M debacle has been born. Mutant factions everywhere race to find this baby and raise it in whatever way they deem fit. There's even a menacing new creature called Predator X that senses mutants and feeds off of their energy. Predator X is eerily reminiscent of the wolf-like creature G'mork in the movie Neverending Story, and follows the same structure -- a snapshot every 15 minutes of the menacing creature running after his prey -- until at last the final battle. All of this makes for a nice beginning, but somehow, the story manages to "Claremont" itself into boredom. When Cable and Bishop play big roles in the story, you know that more time travelling madness is just around the corner. Even X-Factor is involved, which was a bit disappointing because I wish that title would stay separate. I enjoyed the early X-Factor books and don't want to see them pulled into the muck of crossover spectaculars.
The storyline of Messiah Complex in some ways acts as an introductory act for all the latest mutant spin-off titles by Marvel: Cable (Again!), X-Force (Again!), Young X-Men (Might as well be again! It's another attempt at the The New Mutants formula!) and so on. If you can't get enough mutant madness, this is the story for you because everyone is thrown into the battle. I've tried to read some of these new mutant books that spawned from this crossover event and I haven't enjoyed them that much, which isn't a surprise considering I didn't enjoy the source material that caused the split-off in the first place.
There are some important events established in Messiah Complex. You'll discover the fate of Cyclops vs. Professor X. (Who is drawn a lot like Patrick Stewart in some of these issues.) You'll find out what happened to Rogue and Gambit. Mr. Sinister is involved in a mystery or two, but I'll ruin it if I give you any hints. Layla Miller finds herself on a path that takes her out of the X-Factor comics, at least temporarily. There were times that I enjoyed this book. There certainly wasn't a lack of action. Would I say it's as good as the last big X-Men time travel or alternate future event that I remember enjoying? (That would be Age of Apocalypse!) The answer is no, but it does show some promise. I think what ruins this in the end is that all of these mini-events were created to spawn a brand new line of mutant characters and we're once again back to the days when every mutant had his own spin-off. Sometimes, simple is better. One day Marvel will wake up and realize that to successfully market mutant storylines, you don't need ten different titles.
Best of the Best May 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is must be the best X-men story I have ever read.
Great plot and drawing. Two things tt nowadays are very difficult to
find.
And do you now why? Simple, Bendis did not write it, and what's EVEN better, Leinil Yu did not (thank god) draw it.
If you are looking for a free of the "Bendis Factor" Marvel, comic book (the way it should be), check this one, you will not regret it.
|
|
|
News 
