BB Review Group week 55 - Generation M #1 (spoilers)

[Thudpucker]

the fine print is at the bottom of the post*

This week, we are reading / reviewing:

GENERATION M #1 by PAUL JENKINS and RAMON BACHS, chosen by rodnunley

Next week we will be reading: Marvel Team-Up #15 by Robert Kirkman and Paco Medina, chosen by Nathan Patton



Our Reviewers are:

Thudpucker -
TIP -
TonyFleecs - 8
Kirby's Corpse - 9.1
dEnny - 8.5
J. R. Scherer - MIA
Criden -
rodnunley - 7.5
Nathan Patton -
Frozen Sooner - 6
alan - 7.5
Freeway2k -
The Goddam Batman - 8
Raydawggie - 8.5
Opus Croakus - 5
JABSEN - 8
itsdlevy - 5
DrSettleton - 5
The Saint - 8
Slingy - 7.5
IamLegend - 9
joey pizza - 7
PeteL - 6.5
Doug - 8
Jono -
Dreg -
Raphael - 7




Our Previous 16 weeks of reviews (scores lost during the Image Board crash)

Week 1 - 11/17/04 – Captain America #1
Week 2 - 11/24/04 – Flash #216
Week 3 - 12/01/04 – Darkness Vol. 2 #17 (av grade 3.7)
Week 4 - 12/08/04 – Demo #12
Week 5 - 12/15/04 - Plastic Man #13
Week 6 - 12/22/04 – Goon #10
Week 7 - 12/29/04 - Legion of Super Heroes #1
Week 8 - 01/05/05 – Flaming Carrot #1
Week 9 - 01/12/05 – Majestic #1
Week 10 - 01/19/05 – Human Target #18
Week 11 - 01/26/05 – Conan #12 (av grade 8.3)
Week 12 - 02/02/05 – Black Panther #1
Week 13 - 02/09/05 – Young Avengers #1
Week 14 - 02/16/05 – Ex Machina #8 (av grade 8.4)
Week 15 - 02/23/05 – X-Men #167
Week 16 - 03/02/05 – Ultimate Iron Man #1


Week 17 pick - Shining Knight #1 (Morrison & Bianchi) av grade - 7.8
Week 18 pick - Invincible #21 (Kirkman and Ottley) av grade - 6.3
Week 19 pick - Expatriate #1 (Moore and Latour) av grade - 5.4
Week 20 pick - Temporary #2 (Hurd & Smith) av grade - 7.4
Week 21 pick - GLA #1 (Slott and Pelletier) av grade - 6.8
Week 22 pick - Nightwing #107 (Grayson and Hester) av grade - 5.8
Week 23 pick - Iron Ghost #1 (Dixon and Cariello) av grade - 4.9
Week 24 pick - City Of Tomorrow (Howard Chaykin) av grade - 6.2
Week 25 pick - Villains United #1 (Simone and Eaglesham) av grade - 5.7
Week 26 pick - Desolation Jones #1 (Ellis and Williams III) av grade - 8.9
Week 27 pick - Guardian #2 (Morrison and Stewart) av grade - 6.1
Week 28 pick - Adv. Of Superman #640 (Rucka and Kerschl) av - 6.1
Week 29 pick - Son Of Vulcan #1 (Beatty and Grant) av grade - 3.7
Week 30 pick - JLA #115 (Johns, Heinberg, Batista) av grade - 6.9
Week 31 pick - Wildsiderz #0 (Campbell and Hartnell) av grade - 2.9
Week 32 pick - Astro City: The Dark Age #1 av grade - 7.3
Week 33 pick - Albion #1 (Moore and Oakley) av grade - 5.0
Week 34 pick - Gotham Central #33 (Rucka, Brubaker, Kano) av - 8.5
Week 35 pick - Mutopia X (Hine and Medina) av grade - 5.2
Week 36 pick - Athiest #2 (Hester and McCrea) av grade - 6.9
Week 37 pick - JLA: Classified #10 (Ellis and Guise) av grade - 6.9
Week 38 pick - Justice #1 (Ross, Krueger & Braithwaite) av grade 7.9
Week 39 pick - The Winter Men #1 (Lewis and Leon) av grade 5.3
Week 40 pick - Batman: Journey into Knight #1 (Helfer & Huat) av - 4.4
Week 41 pick - Jack Cross #1 (Ellis and Erskine) av grade 6.1
Week 42 pick - Runaways #7 (Vaughan & Miyazawa) av grade 7.8
Week 43 pick - Ghost Rider #1 (Ennis and Crain) av grade 6.4
Week 44 pick - Thor: Blood Oath #1 (Oeming and Kolins) av grade 7.1
Week 45 pick - Wolverine #32 (Millar and Andrews) av grade 8.2
Week 46 pick - Losers #28 (Diggle and Wilson) av grade 7.4
Week 47 pick - FF/Iron Man: Big In Japan #1 (Wells & Fisher) av grade 5.6
Week 48 pick - F N Spider-Man #1 (David and Wieringo) av grade 7.3
Week 49 pick - Fin Fang Four #1 (Langridge & Grey) av grade 8.8
Week 50 pick - Book Of Lost Souls #1 (JMS & Doran) av grade 5.6
Week 51 pick - Hero At Large #2 (Hogan and Treece) av grade 6.3
Week 52 pick - DMZ #1 (Brain Wood) av grade 7.7
Week 53 pick - The Thing #1 (Slott and DiVito) av grade 7.5
Week 54 pick - Walking Dead #24 (Kirkman & Adlard) av grade 8.4



Our higest average grade so far was for Desolation Jones #1 with 8.9
Our lowest average grade so for is Wildsiderz #0 with 2.9


Our Sponsors:

Isotope Comics (SF Bay area)



(If any other retailers would like to sponsor our reviewers in your area, I'd be happy to promote your store in the thread too )

You may select any comic for review.

A list for what books are shipping can be found here:

http://www.diamondcomics.com/shipping.asp.

What we do is take turns picking and talking about a new book every week. We work our way down the list, so that everyone gets a turn chosing a title and then we all buy and read that choice. After we read it, we review it and grade it (the grading is optional, you can just talk about the book if you'd rather)

Feel free to chose any comic under 3.50 you wish for your pick, but please remember - If it's a Small Press book, we need at least a full weeks notice so that people have time to order it, no last minute Small Press picks.[/B]

Everyone is welcome, all we ask is that you participate in some way every week. If you need to drop out for awhile, cool. You are always welcome back. If you would like to join, just PM Thudpucker or Denny and we'll get you on the list.

I will never pester people about participation, I don't like doing that. Instead I will simply put a * next to your name when you skip a week. And I take those back off again after a few weeks. If you had a reason to skip, PM me and I'll take them off.

It's just a simple reminder to please participate.

* means you skipped a week, ** means you skipped 2 weeks. at the third one, I drop your name from the list until you ask to join back up again. And anyone dropped from the list really is welcome to return when they want, please come back if you want to participate again.

[Adam Witt]

Generation M #1
Not bad at all. Wasn't even going to buy this, but I snagged a copy for the review board, and I enjoyed the hell out of it. Jenkins is one of the best writers in the business today, and this proves that he doesn't need to be writing Wolverine or the Sentry to show it. This character, Sally, seems very interesting, as do the supporting cast. The whole thing where Sally was badmouthing the fuck out of the politician was brilliant, and then afterwards, she said "I'll stay sober"...nice.

Damn good book--HIGHLY recommended. The hanger at the end was a change of pace from the rest of the book, but should serve interesting. I'm DEFINITELY adding this to my pull. I'll give it a healthy 9/10.

[RebootedCorpse]

I like the fact that Jenkins is taking the whole House of M thing in a new direction and turning it into a murder mystery. Frankly, this plot holds much more inbterest than the original House of M extravaganza.
my score: 9.1

[Ray G.]

Excellent and very disturbing. More than any other Decimation tie-in, this book captures the sheer human tragedy of this story. It feels a bit derivative at times, and there are moments where logic is a bit lacking(like in the fact that mutant powers only seem to partially disappear), but this is one of those books where small flaws are overcome by the general power of the storyline. 8.5/10

[DrSettleton]

GENERATION M #1

This book made me tired. Blame Ben Urich.
I'm bored to tears with Marvel stories involving journalists tracking down mutant or superhero type stories. Sick of it. I feel like I've already read this story three times in the last year. I say blame Ben Urich because between The Pulse and the current Daredevil arc (Which is phenomenal) I'm ALREADY tapped out with these type of stories.
Jenkins does do a good job making the main character "Sally" interesting...to a point...but Jessica Jones covers similar territory and is so much cooler. Who needs "Sally somebody"? I think in theory this mini is a very cool concept. Revealing the personal damage the after effects of House of M has wrought on a handful of second tier mutants, a new focus each issue (Chamber, Jubilee?, the Blob?) . But at it's core, the central character is...well...very bland now, eh? She has a drinking problem. But that doesn't really invest me into her story.
The art here is so so. Sally is kind of hot in some panels, but Cyclops looks like he was stung in the face by a bunch of bees. The dragon spread early in the book was cool...but Congressman Sykes looks like he was stung in the face by a bunch of bees. I can't decide where I'm going with this.
And how many congressmen are there in the Marvel Universe that are horrible bigots? All of them it seems. That's no shocker. I'd like to see the opposite actually...where the congressman loves mutants and it's the reporter that's the bigot. Huh? Yeah! And the reporter twists his words around and makes him SEEM like a bigot. Yeah, that's it! Ummm...that was stupid. Just ignore that.

5/10

[Patton]

Can I change my next week's pick to Marvel Team Up?

Also, Thud, if you want, I can do the threads when you're busy sometimes. We do appreciate you doing it every week.

[Black Roman]

Can I change my next week's pick to Marvel Team Up?

Also, Thud, if you want, I can do the threads when you're busy sometimes. We do appreciate you doing it every week.

ooo looking foward to that one. I hope generation M is good. It's on my list for thsi week.

[Black Roman]

Excellent and very disturbing. More than any other Decimation tie-in, this book captures the sheer human tragedy of this story. It feels a bit derivative at times, and there are moments where logic is a bit lacking(like in the fact that mutant powers only seem to partially disappear), but this is one of those books where small flaws are overcome by the general power of the storyline. 8.5/10

Makes since to me. Wanda's power is probability!!! She might not be powerful enough to remove it completly.

[The Saint]

That was really interesting. I really like where the story is coming from, but there are a lot of little things that bothered me. They didn't really hinder the story, but I noticed them.

8/10

[ItsDLEVY]

For a series that seems from the advance buzz like it will have a different feel for every issue, the first issue feels disappointingly like it's being written for the trade. We don't get enough of anything in this issue to feel like we're reading anything other than a rehash... how many books do we need of reporters being our avatar to get us into the story? Once I remembered that this is going to flow into the next Pulse arc, it started to make more sense, but it's going to take a lot more getting to know Sally or whatever her name is before I'll be convinced she's the heir to Jessica's title.

The art didn't grab me, especially given the hype of "we stole this artist from DC," although it didn't bother me either.

I'm going to keep reading because of the context of the story - I want to follow the aftermath of HoM, and I want a preview of the next version of The Pulse. But if I don't get more from the next issue or two, I may not.

5/10

[Rod Nunley]

Generation M #1

I really dug it. Jenkins is really hit or miss with me, but this time I was really drawn in. It had something few superhero comics can pull off in one issue these days ... layers.

I am really intrigued. I want to get the next issue so that I can find out what has happened to the smaller mutant characters. And the major character has enough going on that I enjoy it.

The art is good but not great, and didn't draw away from the story.

7.5 out of 10

[Thudpucker]

Can I change my next week's pick to Marvel Team Up?

Also, Thud, if you want, I can do the threads when you're busy sometimes. We do appreciate you doing it every week.

Marvel Team-Up #15 it is. And thanks for offering to fill in for me, I probably will need to skip a week sometimes.

[Thudpucker]

last week we complained about the anonymous one star someone gave us again, so in true BB fashion 2 people have already given this thread a one star rating.

Ah, the internet.

[Patton]

last week we complained about the anonymous one star someone gave us again, so in true BB fashion 2 people have already given this thread a one star rating.

Ah, the internet.

Maybe it's the book.

Or maybe they're just messing around.

or maybe they're a coward.

I think it's kinda funny though. Because it's clearly not representative.

[TIP]

Damn.

Since this pick posted late I've been to the comic shop and did not know to pick this up (it's not a title I was planning on getting). If I get a chance I'll try to make it back and get one.

T

[ds9]

GENERATION M #1

This book made me tired. Blame Ben Urich.
I'm bored to tears with Marvel stories involving journalists tracking down mutant or superhero type stories. Sick of it. I feel like I've already read this story three times in the last year. I say blame Ben Urich because between The Pulse and the current Daredevil arc (Which is phenomenal) I'm ALREADY tapped out with these type of stories.
Jenkins does do a good job making the main character "Sally" interesting...to a point...but Jessica Jones covers similar territory and is so much cooler. Who needs "Sally somebody"? I think in theory this mini is a very cool concept. Revealing the personal damage the after effects of House of M has wrought on a handful of second tier mutants, a new focus each issue (Chamber, Jubilee?, the Blob?) . But at it's core, the central character is...well...very bland now, eh? She has a drinking problem. But that doesn't really invest me into her story.
The art here is so so. Sally is kind of hot in some panels, but Cyclops looks like he was stung in the face by a bunch of bees. The dragon spread early in the book was cool...but Congressman Sykes looks like he was stung in the face by a bunch of bees. I can't decide where I'm going with this.
And how many congressmen are there in the Marvel Universe that are horrible bigots? All of them it seems. That's no shocker. I'd like to see the opposite actually...where the congressman loves mutants and it's the reporter that's the bigot. Huh? Yeah! And the reporter twists his words around and makes him SEEM like a bigot. Yeah, that's it! Ummm...that was stupid. Just ignore that.

5/10

I looked like it was bad.

[Pat Loika]

It was very good, but a very depressing read...

P.

[NickT]

If that is how Pulse is going to be, we could be in for a treat.



Also, Sentry and Revelations were good. Good week for Jenkins fans

[ds9]

If that is how Pulse is going to be, we could be in for a treat.



Also, Sentry and Revelations were good. Good week for Jenkins fans

He can write some snoozers sometimes. Ill wait for a few issues before i buy it.

[Frozen Sooner]

[overused fanboy joke]Generation Meh[/overused fanboy joke]

Didn't do a whole lot for me. It's a rehash of the mutant hysteria stories from 20 years ago. There were a couple of thinly-veiled references to current administration policies which seemed pretty forced.

6/10.

[joespam]

I haven't been following any of House of M, so my opinion may be tainted by my overall ignorance. I thought this was well-written for the most part, although I question whether a reporter making the cracks she did to a public official would be able to keep an audience. And I do agree that we already have the Pulse for the reporter's eye view type stories. But overall I found it interesting and well done.

The art was cool, more Vertigo than Marvel. But that works for me on a story that's trying to ground itself in an outsider perspective and keeping the tights to a minimum.

7.0

[Olivier E.]

Wow, a cute female comic character, it's not something you see very day ,she has fucking hot lips and some pounds more than the usual girl in comics

I love Chamber, he was a real cool X-Men, sad to see him having lost his powers.
The story was well written and good art from Ramon, not so great as on Detective Comics, amybe due to the fact, that he was drawing more in a month than usually.

A strange thing was, that when yu lose your mutant gene, you should revert back to a normal human, because when the gene triggered you mutated to the dragon, so you shoudl mutate back.

The only thing I didn't like, was how she handled her discussions with the politicans, it was too unblievable, especially for a woman who was so down like her and easilys breakable

8 points

[Opus Croakus]

Generation M #1

I wasn’t particularly moved by this issue. But I didn’t hate it, either.

Normally, I like Jenkin's work, but something seemed a bit off about this. Found the lead character a little flat. And some of the anti-mutant stuff felt a bit … tired? The best part about this was seeing the result of House of M for all those affected mutants (as opposed to pages devoted to things like a rogue reporter interviewing a Senator, which seemed a little out of place).

Didn’t really care for the art. Just not my style.

The bottom line: Won’t be following this.

Rating: 5/10

[PeteL]

I'm late on the review this week. Just got the book, I'll read it later on today and comment. Why no sticky?

[Slingy]

I thought the series was a good idea, and the follow-through seems fine for the most part. The first few pages of mutants who died in awkward situations felt necessary, but I was also glad to see they wouldn't be the focus of the story. Sally struck me as kind of interesting, though I also kind of think her conversations with the congressman were a little hard to swallow. (sure, I'd love to say the same things to him, but the fact that he'd even give her the time of day...) I'm not really sure why people hate that a new journalist character has been created for this series. "Oh no, a THIRD reporter in the marvel universe???" First people get pissed that there are too many mutants, then Marvel decides to fix that and now we're complaining that there are too many normal people? I think Jenkins should be allowed to use a new character if he wants. I mean, we have no idea what's going to happen with this series, maybe things will happen to Sally that couldn't happen to Urich and Jessica (since they're in other titles).

Anyway. The art didn't really wow me, like the District X art I feel like it's fairly solid but nothing abou it really grabs me. Actually I think this may be a fault of the coloring more than anything else, as the colors felt washed out throughout and not really that appealing. It was never BAD though.

Also glad to see the story morphing into a murder mystery - the premise is interesting but the series needs a narrative hook to keep readers interested, and here it is. I'll be checking out the next few issues to see where it leads. 7.5/10.

[ds9]

It was a pretty bland issue.

[PeteL]

Good issue. I liked how it took the House of M fallout and brought it down to street level. I didn't really think about some of the things that were mentioned; people falling mid-flight and the like, some pretty awful stuff when it's considered.

The part with Chamber was heartbreaking[no pun intended]when the orderly and Sally walked in there to see him all laid up, it was horrific.

I felt that the writing was really good. Sally is an interesting character with some serious baggage, but as vunerable as she is, she's also tough as nails. I found the dialogue with the senator to be believable; she's an angry drunk so I could see her going off like that.

The set up seems interesting, the letter she recieved at the end of the book. We'll see how it goes. One thing I didn't really care for was the art, it was hit or miss for me, but didn't really grab me at all. The points that I take away from my score reflect this fact, nothing with the writing, that I thought was great. I'll follow this book for at least another issue.

6.5/10

[J. R. Scherer]

I'm gonna have to wait a couple of weeks to get this one. Forgot all about it and now my disposable income is used up until next payday. I'll chime back in once I'm able to get it.

[bairdduvessa]

wait this came out allready?

[Doug]

This was a much better book than I thought it would be. I'll be honest and say that I had no intention of picking up this mini, but because it was the pick for reviews I grabbed.

I normally like Jenkins writing, but I have a rather big distaste for most things "X."

I must say the ending with "Not enough died" was pretty cool. I also liked that the art was a little closer to Lark/Maleeve style than Humberto Ramos/Joe Maduria style. I think it fit the tone of Jenkins script very well.

I really wanted to hate this book, but it won me over:
8 out of 10