X-Men: Messiah Complex (hardcover collection)

The Comicologist — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:02:24 +0000

'Messiah Complex' was the biggest storyline to hit the X-Men franchise since the 'House of M'. It's one of those "must read" story arcs if you intend to follow the adventures of any of the X-Men teams from 2008 onward. Messiah Complex is told over 13 chapters, beginning with the X-Men: Messiah Complex one-shot, and then continuing in four of the X-Men monthlys, Uncanny X-Men #492-494, X-Factor #25-27, New X-Men #44-46 and X-Men #205-207. Following on from Messiah Complex, all four 'X-Books' underwent a relaunch, based upon the outcome of Messiah Complex.

To follow the events in Messiah Complex I'd recommend reading 'The House of M' arc as well as the X-Men 'Supernovas' and 'Blinded by the Lights' collections.

The Messiah Complex story really began at the conclusion of the House of M, and the event known as 'M-Day', in which a vast majority of the mutant population was de-powered. The X-Gene itself has all but disappeared, and there have been no new mutant births since M-Day. With mutants bordering on extinction, Messiah Complex begins with the explosive birth, literally, of a mutant. This sparks a race between the X-Men, Mr Sinister and the Marauders, the Acolytes, the Reavers, the Purifiers, and Predator X to see who will get to the child first. Clearly each group has it's own motivations, and the line between good and evil begins to blur in some cases.

The Messiah Complex plot is... complex, and it's hard to write much about it without giving away some of the surprises, which I found... surprising.

X-men Messiah Complex One Shot By Silvestri And Second Coming Issue 2 Marvel

0 Bid

US $3.00

20h 7m

One thing I can say is that by the end of the Messiah Complex event, the world the X-Men inhabit has changed significantly, with each of the X-Teams undergoing some big changes, and some key characters taking vastly different paths as to those you may have expected.

The story i fast paced and kept me turning the pages. The artwork in this collection was all strong. While Chris Bachalo and Humberto Ramos may be maligned in some circles, I love their highly stylized illustrations.

The aftermath of Messiah Complex continues under the "Divided We Stand" banner. Basically, the conclusion of Messiah Complex resulted in the following:

X-Men was renamed X-Men: Legacy as of #208
New X-Men was relaunched as Young X-Men
Cable & Deadpool was canceled
A new Cable ongoing series began
A new X-Force series began
A new Deadpool series was planned

What did I learn?

You just can't trust anyone these days. Simple as that. The hardcover Messiah Complex collection is a must own edition for any fan of the X-Men, new or old.

X-men Messiah Complex One Shot By Silvestri And Second Coming Issue 2 Marvel

0 Bid

US $3.00

20h 7m

Uncanny X-men #492 2008 Messiah Complex Ed Brubaker Billy Tan Marvel Comics m

US $6.25

1d 11h 19m

Uncanny X-men #493 2008 Messiah Complex Ed Brubaker Billy Tan Marvel Comics m

US $2.75

1d 11h 19m

New X-Men 45 B Marvel 2008 NM Messiah Complex Variant

US $9.40

1d 17h 43m

Uncanny X-Men #493 2nd Print Marvel Messiah Complex

US $1.64

1d 18h 50m

Marvel X-Men Comic book Messiah Complex issue 207

0 Bid

US $.99

2d 14h 47m

X-Men Messiah Complex Promo Poster/Marvel Comics

US $5.97

2d 15h 20m

Uncanny X-Men #493 Variant/Jim Cheung/Messiah Complex/2008 Marvel Comics

US $9.95

3d 15h 55m

X-MEN MESSIAH COMPLEX Comic Promo Poster MARVEL 24x36

US $9.99

3d 16h

X-Factor #26 2nd Print Marvel Comic Messiah Complex

US $1.49

4d 17h 52m

X-Men #207 Marvel Comic Messiah Complex

US $1.49

4d 17h 56m

X-Men #207 Variant/Messiah Complex/Marvel Comics

US $5.95

4d 19h 31m

X-MEN #205 - MESSIAH COMPLEX chapter 5 {NM} MARVEL COMICS

US $1.95

5d 25m

4 MARVEL X-MEN hardcover graphic novels. Astonishing #1, Messiah Complex...

US $99.00

5d 19h 5m

Marvel Comics New X-MEN #46 CGC 9.8 Messiah Complex

US $37.00

6d 14h 32m

X-MEN #207 Messiah CompleX 13 2008 Marvel Comics

US $3.99

6d 15h 52m

X-Factor #20-40 Lot/Peter David/Messiah Complex/2006 Marvel Comics

US $44.95

6d 16h 2m

X-Factor 27 Marvel VF 3rd series 2008 Messiah Complex

US $5.35

6d 18h 53m

Cable: Series 2 #2 (2008) Marvel, X-Men Messiah Complex, FINCH VARIANT COVER

0 Bid

US $1.07

7d 2h 55m

Cable: Series 2 #3 (2008) Marvel, X-Men Messiah Complex, ROMITA JR VARIANT COVER

0 Bid

US $1.07

7d 2h 55m

New Mutants #98

The Comicologist — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 05:51:28 +0000

When New Mutants #98 first hit the stands in 1991 there was something that set it apart from the other comics around at the time. No, I'm not Rob Liefeld's absurdly over the top characterisations, bulging muscles, and proliferation of pointless pouches*. As you can see from the cover of New Mutants #98, drawing people does not appear to be one of Liefeld's strong points. Some would have considered this to be a major road block on the path to comics stardom. Not Mr Liefeld.

Whilst it is difficult to determine the exact number of atrocities committed on the comic community by Liefeld, it is important to remember that, in 1991, he was one of the most popular artists on Marvel's payroll. Furthermore, Liefeld's legacy is not all doom and gloom, without him, we would be without the teachings of Deadpool.

When we first meet the "Merc with the Mouth", he's a red suit wearing guy with skinny legs and weird feet (thanks Liefeld!). Granted, Deadpool's first appearance is a brief one. Deadpool is contracted to take out would-be world saviour Cable. After dealing out an ass spanking to Cable and a couple of other bit players (Boom Boom anyone?), Deadpool is unceremoniously stabbed in the back, literally, by Cable's on-again/off-again flame, Domino.

What can we learn from this?

Don't turn your back on a women that has a better than average chance at being able to throw knives and have them hit you in the back pointy end first.

Dodgy art work aside, copies of New Mutants #98 in excellent condition have been known to go for upward of $100US on eBay. With Deadpool due to make an appearance in the Wolverine Origins movie, his stocks are most definitely on the rise.

* If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out "The 40 Worst Rob Liefeld Drawings".