tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734283773701136760.post1253101090313790623..comments2024-03-26T20:11:01.933-04:00Comments on NOT BLOG X: X-MEN FOREVER #7 - November 2009G. Kendallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12279461069684403792noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734283773701136760.post-62194820970080401442014-08-30T16:08:48.565-04:002014-08-30T16:08:48.565-04:00"I'm not sure the logic follows. When Jim..."I'm not sure the logic follows. When Jim Lee had control, Jim Lee changed the costumes. So on a title when Claremont has control ... Claremont shouldn't be allowed to change the costumes? "<br /><br />My point was that CC pretty much had no control over the X-men by that point. With Forever, he did, which seems strange that he wouldn't start off the title with new costumes, or at least wait a bit longer to introduce new costumes. <br /><br />"My point was that several X-Men of that era were changing outfits every six months or so."<br /><br />But in many of those cases, there was a reason in-story for the changes in costumes. A new start, promoting team unity, etc. With this, it's just...let's change costumes. Because...no reason?<br /><br />"A new creative team, a different direction, a reboot. That all describes X-Men Forever."<br /><br />Except not really. If that were true, then the change should have happened with the first or second issue...not the seventh.<br /><br />Anyway, ymmv, but people do see the costume changes in a different way. Both views are valid.wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734283773701136760.post-26230063316703994882014-08-30T02:18:35.307-04:002014-08-30T02:18:35.307-04:00Also, is it accurate to say that Jim Lee "rev...Also, is it accurate to say that Jim Lee "revamped most of the group" in X-Men #1? Cyclops, Jean and Rogue got new costumes, but it seems like everyone else just went back to something they'd worn in the past. Storm is a quasi-exception, maybe ... it's pretty much her Silvestri outfit, but with no lightning bolt on the front, and some extra "X" symbols added. Even counting Storm, that's only about a third of the characters in X-Men 1.<br />Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734283773701136760.post-82255348459961661192014-08-30T02:13:11.677-04:002014-08-30T02:13:11.677-04:00"Heck, Jim Lee changed Wolverine's costum..."Heck, Jim Lee changed Wolverine's costume to the yellow and blue one because HE felt it was the right one for him, or something. With this title, CC seemed to have much more control over the title."<br /><br />I'm not sure the logic follows. When Jim Lee had control, Jim Lee changed the costumes. So on a title when Claremont has control ... Claremont shouldn't be allowed to change the costumes? <br /><br />Either way, my comment was meant more from an in-story, "in universe" perspective. I don't see how people can say it's strange that the X-Men would change their outfits again so soon after the previous time. My point was that several X-Men of that era were changing outfits every six months or so. <br /><br />My point is that, within the story, they did it back then. For them to do it in X-Men Forever is not out of character. <br /><br />And as you pointed out, it's for the same exact reason. ""Well, to be fair, many of those costume changes were result to behind-the-scenes stuff...a new artist/creative team and/or new direction or reboot of the titles."<br /><br />A new creative team, a different direction, a reboot. That all describes X-Men Forever. It's the same thing as the early 90s, happening to the same characters, and for the same reason. I don't see the problem.<br /><br />"Costume changes, at least for the X-Men, don't feel like a big deal anymore."<br /><br />That was kind of my point. I never understood the ire directed specifically at X-Men Forever for having costume changes. The X-Men do it all the time.<br /><br />And I disagree that the Jim Lee X-Men #1 designs somehow felt like a bigger deal. That might have been your perception, but for me, the big change was the one in Uncanny 273-277, with iconoclasts like Storm, Wolverine, Gambit and ElektraBetts all adopting the blue/gold uniform look. That seemed like a substantial new direction, aesthetically.<br /><br />To me, X-Men #1 felt like a step backwards fashion-wise, with Gambit, Psylocke, Wolverine, etc. all going back to their pre-UX 273 looks. <br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734283773701136760.post-56927124820642221252014-08-29T14:36:45.115-04:002014-08-29T14:36:45.115-04:00Costume changes, at least on major characters, use...Costume changes, at least on major characters, used to be a rarity in comics, and when they did change, it usually felt like a big deal.<br /><br />X-Factor may have gone through three uniforms over the course of seventy or so issues, but they were all basically the same pattern, so none of them felt that different or special. But when Jim Lee came along and revamped most of the group in one fell swoop, that seemed huge.<br /><br />And while most of the Lee costumes stuck around for several years, ever since then costume changes haven't felt all that special. Every time a new creator comes on a book, costumes are revamped, it seems.<br /><br />Some of the Lee outfits were discarded by 1999, but the few that remained were ditched when Claremont returned to the books and everyone was redesigned. Then barely a year later, they were all revamped again for the Morrison/Casey/Claremont era. And again for Whedon two years after that. And so on. Costume changes, at least for the X-Men, don't feel like a big deal anymore.<br /><br />I wish Marvel would lay out some definitive, iconic model sheets for these characters and stick to them. I'm honestly somewhat surprised Disney, the masters of keeping things "on model", haven't forced them into that.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734283773701136760.post-71150843566870665452014-08-29T05:42:37.644-04:002014-08-29T05:42:37.644-04:00Well, to be fair, many of those costume changes we...Well, to be fair, many of those costume changes were result to behind-the-scenes stuff...a new artist/creative team and/or new direction or reboot of the titles. Heck, Jim Lee changed Wolverine's costume to the yellow and blue one because HE felt it was the right one for him, or something. <br /><br />With this title, CC seemed to have much more control over the title, in terms of the direction of the titles, so he could have handled it a bit better than he and Weezie could have during the late 80s/early 90s. wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734283773701136760.post-86786788029867539382014-08-28T16:44:56.004-04:002014-08-28T16:44:56.004-04:00I agree about the commercial folly of changing the...I agree about the commercial folly of changing the costumes, but I never really understood the complaints from a story perspective. The X-Men were changing costumes pretty rapidly back during this era. Cyclops and Jean Grey were in Blue/white and Orange/yellow respectively in X-Factor #62. <br /><br />In X-Factor 65, they were in matching blue/yellow.<br /><br />Six months later, X-Men #1 hit the stands, and Cyclops and Jean had each changed into a third costume. That's two costume changes in the space of ten months, real time. (Which means, what? Two weeks of Marvel time?) Those Portacio designs really didn't get much of a shot.<br /><br />The X-Men similarly got a "fresh start" costume-wise beginning in X-Men 273, when they all changed into the matching blue-gold thing. "Less than a dozen issues later" came X-Men #1, wherein Logan, Storm, Gambit and Psylocke had all ditched the blue/gold outfits. <br /><br />At least from there it stabilized: Wolverine stayed in his brown/orange costume for an impressive three issues, before going blue-and-yellow in X-Men #4. <br /><br />Over in his own title, the switch occurred in between Wolverine #49 and #50, at which point his look was evermore blue and yellow ... well, until Wolverine #57, in which he went back to orange and brown ... <br /><br />My main problem with the costume changes in Forever is not that they occur, but that they are all pretty darn uninspired.Jasonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13298753675007196538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734283773701136760.post-14567208992938158272014-08-28T07:58:26.459-04:002014-08-28T07:58:26.459-04:00I still believe CC should have started this title ...I still believe CC should have started this title at the end of the Shi'ar storyline in #277. Even though his original plans had been leaked online for years by this point, he should have just bit the bullet and began with his original idea for the Muir Island Saga. The new costumes would have been jarring for sure, but it would have made more sense than the X-men getting new costumes and then getting newer costumes less than a dozen issues later.<br /><br />Of course, we probably would have still had to suffer through Burnout and Little 'Ro...wwk5dnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2734283773701136760.post-40100362511264096132014-08-27T12:40:01.211-04:002014-08-27T12:40:01.211-04:00I feel like I've already agreed once with you ...I feel like I've already agreed once with you on the costume thing, but I'll do it again. Preach on! Seeing the nineties costumes back in action, and drawn so beautifully by Tom Grummett, was a <b>huge</b> part of this series' appeal for me. Possibly even moreso than the advertised draw of Claremont continuing his original run (especially once it became clear he wasn't really going to be doing that)!Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14580725636327122073noreply@blogger.com