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Of Embassies and Origins - Justice League International Part 2 (Eaglemoss Collection v77)

  Review: Since we are doing a series of reviews focusing on Booster Gold over his nearly 40-year history, we include this one as a collection of some of his earliest appearances, dating to late 1987. That places the original publish date of these tales while his original solo series was still going strong.  This book is a beautiful, glossy hard-cover with smooth and heavy-stock paper inside, although the sometimes-low print reproduction quality leads to blurred and hard to read word balloons on occasion. It is also a rare book here in North America, as Eaglemoss Collections targeted UK fans with this series. At this point in the history of the 1987-rebooted Justice League, they have gained official United Nations recognition and sanction. To ensure their reach truly is global, they rebrand as Justice League International (as does the title of the series!) and they open new headquarters buildings around the world: New York, Paris and Moscow are included here. As this is a product of 19
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When Past Meets Present - a Review of X-Men: First to Last

Cover of X-Men First to Last graphic novel

Review:

This book's premise has so much to like. It blends both the present and the past of the X-Men; separate art teams handle each era, lending distinctive visuals and cues on a page by page and even panel by panel basis; it introduces a powerful new team of villains, capable of wiping out entire species instantly; and it plays on some of the classic themes of the X-Men - their place as outsiders, youthful learners, and tensions with non-mutants.

Author Christopher Yost blends these elements into a gripping, well-paced multi-part story. His exposition does get a little convoluted in places, and he leans heavily on expository dialog too often in order to carry us through these sections. But he deftly juggles a large cast of characters, including some for whom he needs to balance their present adult selves with their youthful earlier incarnations in the classic X-Men era. This task he handles with cool aplomb, none more so than for the central character Cyclops.

The talky bits are dwarfed by page after page of conflict, battle and intense action. Battles in the present or past, or even far past between primitive species and earlier steps in humanity's evolution.

With Paco Medina and Juan Vlasco handling the art for any panels set in the present, and Dalabor Talajic covering all the art for the classic, historical X-Men sections, we are set up for a fascinating visual treat. Unfortunately, the stylistic differences, while present, rely nearly as much on clothing as on artistry. The similarities and differences in each style are on side by side display several times, with full-page spreads split down the middle of one character's face. I commend the teams on this creative dual approach, although it ultimately is not as stark a difference as promised.

One of the largest disappointments though is with the villainous Evolutionaries themselves. They initially seem almost godlike in their power and authority. Yet they prove surprisingly easy to defeat and their motivation devolves into little more than personal vendetta, hardly worthy of eternal monitors of species evolution.

This is a book worth keeping and re-reading, a loving nod to classic X-Men set in a contemporary world and modern conflicts. 3.5 capes out of 5



Description:

Think you know everything there is to know about the original X-Men? think again! Something happened to Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Angel, Iceman and Professor X years ago - a secret so horrible it's been locked away in a dark corner of Cyclops' mind until today. What crisis strikes in the present that calls upon memories of the past? Witness the astonishing debut of the Evolutionaries! Who are they, and why doesn't anyone remember when they fought Xavier and his original five X-Men? Cyclops and his crew on Utopia better figure out quick, or the Evolutionaries are going to wipe out every human on the planet. that's right, every HUMAN..

Collects: X-Men 12-15, Giant-Size X-Men 1

Authors: Christopher Yost
Artists: Paco Medina, Dalibor Talajic
Published By: Marvel 
Published When: April 4 2012
Parental Rating: Teen
ISBN-10: 0785152881
ISBN-13: 978-0785152880
Language: English
Pages: 136 pages


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