The Astonishing X-Men by Marjorie Liu, Volume 12: Unmasked

It would seem that the third time is the charm for writer Marjorie Liu. As the very last writer for this 2005-2013 series of The Astonishing X-Men, she really delivered on the last arcs for her run, mainly because it focused on two characters I find so compelling and enjoyable to read about. They are no other than Shi'ar warrior Warbird (issues #57-58), and the youngest of the Original Core Five of sixties X-Men, Bobby Drake, a.k.a Iceman (issues #62-65). All these issues were illustrated by artist Gabriel Hernandez Walta whose visual work was just majestic for me as I explore through the panels, more so when it was accompanied with a more cohesive and meaningful narrative penned by Liu.

As I've stated from my previous review about the Karma-centric story for the eleventh volume Weaponized, this is my very first time meeting Warbird's character. From what I can gather, she is a Shi'ar warrior exiled on earth who is an honorable woman who swore to serve and protect the weak, albeit one who lacked the skills to interact with humans normally. She's an alien, after all, and that makes her ineptness in dealing with people so adorable, especially those panels with her conversing with a human child from the last volume. Since then, I was captivated by her because I'm so amused by that small exchange since it was reminiscent of another character I love from the CW show Supernatural, the angel Castiel. Like Cas, she's painstakingly awkward around humanity but a force to be reckoned with as a powerful fighter. 

Warbird was also respectful even toward others whose values she does not share. For example, she does not recognize Northstar's gay marriage with his civilian boyfriend Kyle as a valid one, but she did not feel the need to personally attack his choice. Instead, she merely declined his invitation to the wedding and doing it by being polite as possible which was nice. It showed that she has convictions but she would never impose those convictions or oppress other people with it. So I was so happy that Liu wrote a two-parter story focusing on Warbird. Personally, I wish it was longer but I was nonetheless thrilled that even with its brevity, it managed to be so insightful concerning Warbird who I think she is officially my NEWEST FAVORITE X-MAN! Witness her adorkableness:

So Volume 12: Unmasked is divided between Warbird and Iceman, and the titular theme is applicable to both of them. We eventually find out over the course of their arcs that both are hiding behind a well-cultivated but ultimately failing facade to arm and guard themselves from whatever shame and rejection they fear or have represse, and Liu did a wonderful job exploring the facets of these feelings for their respective stories. Now this is what I like the most from comic books: riveting character arcs, and Liu delivered. She delivered well enough in this volume that my earlier harsh criticisms from her previous installments can be set aside since she followed up with something daring that possesses a heart. Look, I'm hardly that difficult to please. I'm perfectly happy with a comic book as long as it makes me care about the characters and allows me to root for them and, in some cases, wish them dead. Either way, you would have had be hooked if you as a writer would manage to do this. Liu finally has, thanks to her spectacular characterizations of Warbird and Iceman.

Just in time for Christmas in Manhattan, Warbird feels all alone in an alien place called Earth, and having been invited to have some quiet dinner with Shan (Karma) and her siblings, Warbird still feels awkward and unsure about herself. And then she recognized an image of an artifact in one of the magazines inside the house and she took off without even saying where she is heading. The X-Men, along with S.H.I.E.L.D, tracked her down to Cairo, Egypt. There she uncovered an unsettling truth concerning an ancient race from Earth that the Shi'ar Empire has wiped out, fearing their technology as harmful infection that could destroy the Shi'ar. Warbird encountered one of its last remaining descendants (but was revealed to be merely a machine created by said race) and she was haunted by memories of her past she tried so hard to bury. When the X-Men found her, she was unconscious and upon waking she told them exactly what has gotten her so rattled. It turned out that the ancient race her own kind has wiped out was composed of a civilization of artists which is something the Shi'ar somehow feared because, according to Warbird, their art--specifically their music--can penetrate through their layers of consciousness. 

Therefore, it can be used for manipulation and the Shi'ar expected the worst from this invention and decided to slaughter the race that have found a way to, well, basically, touch their souls. Talk about unnecessary overkill. There truly is nothing more damning that plain old ignorance. But, as Liu put it, "We will always be surprised at what can hurt us. And, equally, what will save us." The most personal thing about is was that Warbird was gifted with a talent for art, and yet she saw this as a 'defect' which made me so sad for her because she was ashamed of something that should have been celebrated in the first place!

In the end, Warbird was overcome with vulnerability and decided to listen to the advice of the last descendant of that unfortunate race, and embrace that she doesn't have to remain a warrior fighting wars because that was her conditioning. She could be whatever she wants now after being freed from her own planet's control. Now she can explore her other skills and that includes and not limited to art. I was so happy for her decision to do the bravest thing she could ever do at this point, and that is to willingly accept that there may be another purpose for her this time than mere violence and war. This simple two-issued story about a character I haven't even known that long and only met just now resonated with me so much and I definitely will check out more of Warbird in other titles next time!

Now, we move ahead with Iceman's storyline. For the first time since Whedon and Ellis, we get an arc that ran for at least five issues which are so exciting, splendid and well-crafted. I'm glad that I gave Liu a chance to redeem herself because she did so in a big way with her deft and painful characterization of Bobby Drake who has functioned in several titles I've read before (Jeff Parker's X-Men: First Class and Brian Michael Bendis' All-New X-Men) as comic relief. Well, that was the teenage Bobby. We are talking about the adult veteran here who has seen his share of horrors and despair. You might have noticed that I skipped issues #59-61 and that's because those are crossover issues about Apocalypse which I just didn't bother myself with because they were not included in this collected volume anyway. But the premise for Iceman's arc here came from said crossover. Apparently, during the commotion in that crossover, goddamn Dark Beast transfered a death seed inside Bobby which then fed on his darkest thoughts and feelings as well as his rage and guilt about his father, authority figures in general and failed romances. That's how this story started; by Bobby having face all his girlfriends from the past (Lorraine, Opal and Annie) while having to deal with his current romance with Kitty Pryde who is also still reeling from the loss of her first love Peter Rasputin (Colossus). 

Everything stings and I can't stop reading because of it! One of my favorite moments was when Kitty went to Logan (of all people) for relationship advice. It's so gooood to see Kitty again even if she's not necessarily part of the X-Men team going on missions. Her mere presence and participation in this reminded me of Whedon's run especially now that she's reminiscing about Peter and the future they could have had. Too bad Bobby was within earshot and listening to this. Like I said, everything about this story just stings, like small paper cuts slowly accumulating in a forgotten corner of your mind until they suddenly become plenty and sharp enough to really make you bleed out. That's how it felt for Bobby, I think, as I read him go through probably the darkest periods of his life. It's great---but also, you know, NOT.

Another important thing worth mentioning is that, apparently, Iceman and Mystique got it on too. Well, should I really be shocked? That turncoating, backstabbing, unpredictable shapeshifter bitch-face gets around, and this is no exception. Raven Darkholme just doesn't give a fuck anymore so nobody trusts her when she offered to help Bobby battle his terrifying demon that's about to unleash the biggest snowstorm that is guaranteed to snuff out life in the planet. Hell, even Thor was freaking out about it, claiming it will make way for Ragnarok. As an elemental, Bobby's powers have always been hard to discern; its potentials, its limits, and so it's not surprising that he would be able to unleash something terrible in the off-chance he started to feel like being the bad guy and you better believe he is consumed by playing the villain for this story that even Mystique is embarrassed to be knocked down a peg by how impressive his girth of villainy is becoming. Nevertheless, somewhere inside that impenetrable giant ice form--refusing to listen to his friends--is still Bobby Drake only that he has also finally learned to deal with ugly feelings, no longer masking his sorrow underneath a false bravado and ready humor. It's quite bothersome to see him this way, as well as the fact that he is maliciously trying to kills us all with snow.

Timely GIF jokes aside, this is some serious shit and I cannot for the life of me can't stop reading even while I was at work. It has got to be one of the most suspenseful reading experiences I had which is saying something because I have honestly zombied through reading this title since the quality of the series has dropped so drastically in just a span of ten or so issues. Now we're back to form. Now I care about characters again, and I'm afraid of what will happen to them. The best part was this interaction between Warbird and Iceman. I FANGIRLED SO HARD because I love Warbird already and her on-point insights about Bobby in these panels just killed me! Girl read him like a book and it was glorious! If I wasn't at work, I would have pumped by fists alternately in air!

But that's not all either! Kitty Pryde also confronts him because if anyone can knock some sense into anyone, it's always Kitten!!

I won't spoil the ending because I'd like you to pick up this volume yourself. Overall, Marjorie Liu delivered, thank Loki fuck, and so I'm more than happy to end my reviews for the official run of the 2005-2013 series The Astonishing X-Men on a positive note! Man, what a journey! Up next is Brian Michael Bendis' Uncanny X-Men because I can't delay reading that title anymore, considering it's happening back-to-back with his other title All-New X-Men which I have read before Astonishing and I would like to see for myself how Bendis balanced his writing on both major titles. I'll also be reviewing X-Men Volume IV alongside it because that's where the ladies at!!~

RECOMMENDED: 8/10

The Astonishing X-Men by Marjorie Liu, Volume 11: Weaponized

One last volume to go after this. I badly need a change of X-Men series to read and talk about in reviews because this one just doesn't do it for me anymore. It has gotten so inexcusably mediocre and stale that it's taking everything from me not to just drop this and call it a day. I'll persevere though because I did vow to complete every title imposed on my reading list. That's all there is to it now, really; I'm compelled by a sense of obligation that is surprisingly stronger than my steadily growing dislike towards this title.

Marjorie Liu's sophomore contribution to the dwindling series of The Astonishing X-Men was somewhat better than her debut, but only slightly more so. With the exception of last arc's wedding issue concerning Northstar and his civilian boyfriend Kyle, it was a rather shitty story about the Marauders and an X-Man I Barely Know named Karma (real name Shan). Afterwards, we were offered an expansion to the mystery as to why Karma started acting murderous in the first place here in this collected eleventh volume entitled Weaponized composed of issues #52-56. After yet another guest writer (Greg Pak's ninth volume installment which was yet another trite of a story) has failed to deliver a satisfying albeit short-lived run, The Astonishing X-Men tried to rekindle something fresh and exciting again by employing the writings of a female comic book writer this time, accompanied by a brand new cast of X-Men. For this roster, we have Wolverine as the constant, and the rest are Gambit, Iceman, Cecilia, Warbird and Karma. I am not at all familiar with the last three X-Men though I must say Warbird (as conservative and against gay coupling as she revealed to be in the last arc) has grown on me only because she's an alien warrior who interacts with humans in a humorous titled way I have not encountered since angel Castiel from the CW's decade-long ongoing show Supernatural.

Seriously, Warbird is ADORBS! And I don't even know how she got here but I hope she stays

That being said, Weaponized will never be a strong contender, but it was thankfully not the worst from the entire TAXM roster either. Marjorie Liu as a writer has been competent enough because there are scenes in her two stories so far that do resonate for me every now and then but I always get the sense that her narrative could have been polished better. I feel as if she can do better than what she produced here and I might just read more of her stuff from other titles. This storyline was particularly terrible; it was just so cliché and uninteresting altogether. I do think that it was a great thing to use a character as focal point for the story's conflict. In this case, it's Karma whose issues about her family tragedy had caught up to her via the appearance of her long-lost half-sister Susan Hatchi. Said woman served as the villain of the entire plot and her motivations and methods of tormenting Karma as well as her friends were just too generic. A victimize child who managed to work her way to the top and gather enough money and resources to get her hands on a technologically advanced biological weaponry (nano-worms) which she proceeded to infect the X-Men with so they will do whatever she tasked them to do, lest they face a gruesome death. 

It wasn't anything original. The predictability played out in the next five issues, whilst I was trying yet failing to convince myself that perhaps the ending would be a complete surprise. Well, it wasn't. Sure, I was slightly sad that Susan died right at the point where Shan (Karma) was ready to forgive her and they can start anew. But I was distracted by the generic way she was disposed of that easily; murdered by their asshole father via gunshot. It was so disappointing. Susan Hatchi could have been more fleshed out next time around, as well as her relationship with her X-Man sister Shan but nah, Liu just killed her off right after giving us her supposedly intriguing backstory, because hey, she's a bad guy, and no one cares anyway in the long run, right?

WELL, MAKE ME CARE! That's the point of reading a story. I'm supposed to like these characters and root for them, and be moved by their sorrow and suffering and rejoice their triumphs and I simply don't! Where the fuck are Scott and Emma? And Kitty and Colossus? I've grown attached to these people because I've known them longer and Whedon made me give a squiggly fuck about their circumstances but so far Liu hasn't done me the same courtesy...YET. I'm still hoping her last volume and arc will do that. I have no idea why Gambit or this Cecilia character have to be there. Bobby Drake isn't even funny in this. Northstar and Kyle continue to be a couple but their conversations don't really reveal anything new about their usual shit, and Warbird I feel could be very captivating if she gets more scenes and lines. I'm fine with Karma but I'd like to get to know her less for now because Weaponized was so annoyingly bland that she could just shut up the entire way in the next volume after this and I won't even notice or complain. Unless Liu plans to do more for her characterization, though I'm not holding my breath.

But I don't want to just bitch and whine in this review so I will end it in a hopeful note. This collection also included the forty-five paged annual which had three stories in it; two of them were quirky ones about the present concerning Kyle and Northstar's relationship (or more like their first weeks of marriage) alongside the X-Men who always have to take Northstar away for some dangerous mission, and the Alpha Flight issue where Northstar "proclaimed homosexuality" in public (I will never ever stop finding this phrase amusing). It was a nice issue that made me feel better enough to give this volume at least a solid 7. Good effort, Liu, but do better next time.

RECOMMENDED: 7/10

The Astonishing X-Men by Marjorie Liu, Volume 10: Northstar

I vividly remember how The Astonishing X-Men came to be. After all, it was only since last month that I began to read and review it, starting with Joss Whedon's phenomenal twenty-four issued run. This was followed up by Warren Ellis with twelve more great issues. Unfortunately, whatever magical spark that this series had on me began to fade steadily especially once different writers took over and produced stories that range between gratingly average and mind-blowingly awful. The last three volumes of this run are all penned by writer Marjorie Liu, and this is the first of her arcs. To even call it an arc is a very generous consideration because in its four-issued span (#48-51), nothing really happens. I wish something did, considering what issue #51 was about. It's the first time in comics ever for this occasion to occur (and hopefully won't be the last) and it's no other than the fact that Marvel decided to have two of its male and proudly out characters be united in the holy sacrament of marriage, and grace us with that lovely cover. That was honestly the only good thing about this volume. 

Other than that, well--everything about the story itself was actually pretty shitty. 

Look, I get it. I'm pleased that we now have two queer characters tying the knot as featured in mainstream comics because it shows that we as a society have embraced this timely social change and were now even comfortable to portray stories about them. In Brian Michael Bendis' ongoing series All-New X-Men, we also have Bobby Drake coming out as gay as well. I like the fact that superheroes can be gay now too, and that we are allowing the X-Men to become the representation of minority its thematic concept as a fictional work has always been meant to be. But as I read through the issues leading up to this moment, I can't help but feel cheated because this for me came off as written under the guise of false inclusiveness. If Marvel really cared about writing queer characters into their series, they should have picked a better writer because Liu's storyline and approach to the characterization of Northstar and his boyfriend Kyle's relationship just didn't cut it.

This review is in no way criticizing the fact that gay marriage is portrayed in this comic book's pages because I'm neither a disagreeable asshole or have strong religious beliefs against homosexuality. Hell, I'm fucking queer myself! What I do take serious injury though was how badly written the entire thing was, even with the nice wedding ending on issue #51. It didn't undo the bitter aftertaste that the previous three issues leading to it had left in my mouth. It just didn't make me like it more just because I as a queer woman and my affiliated sexual orientation was represented in its comic book story. Look, I don't even make a habit of identifying with gay characters in fiction just for the sole reason that they are gay. And when people say you should like this volume because it has gay marriage in it, and when you tell them that you don't like it, then that suddenly makes you a bigot is complete trash. How is that even a logical point of view? So, I kindly advise anyone who would take such a narrow-minded and insensitive stance to go fuck themselves.

If you have that kind of opinion then please don't talk to me

My primary dislike is what Marjorie Liu wrote for Volume 10: Northstar overall and not just in the passable, barely coherent mess about the plot concerning Marauders and Karma being a manipulative bitch (though that admittedly got me very confused and angry all at once). I take issue with how the gay couple's relationship is portrayed. My opposing view about the way Liu as a writer handled their relationship as part of the narrative does not invalidate my sexual identity as a gay woman. I am not betraying my community but downright dismissing Northstar and Kyle's love story as disingenuous---but their sudden marriage was unconvincing though. As I've said, I like issue #51 just for the simple fact that we got to see two gay men happily married even though their characters and relationship were barely touched upon and suffered from being poorly underdeveloped. But it doesn't excuse the fact that Liu simply did not produce a story with any kind of emotional resonance where I could actually stay invested as I see the conflict and drama unfold concerning the Marauders stuff and the baggage and struggle between Northstar and Kyle. There is that singular honest moment concerning their relationship that was sufficiently well-written enough as a scene, and that was when Northstar proposed to Kyle and Kyle turned him down, citing that he was merely putting a band-aid on a gaping wound. Kyle was feeling insecure about his place in Northstar's life considering the guy is a mutant and a superhero, and therefore might prioritize a life of crime-fighting than having a relationship with him. It's a valid point, and proposing marriage does not solve anything so Kyle was right to turn that down and Northstar should have been given an opportunity to prove his commitment in another way than that easy way out. And then Kyle's life was endangered and Northstar saved him and all of a sudden all was forgiven and marriage was an acceptable fix-it-all solution. 

If you examine it in a superficial level, it's understandable for both men to commit after just having a near-death experience together since it made them realize they can't spend another day to live without each other. But looking at it more in-depth, it was a poor excuse to have a wedding celebration all so Marvel can give us a comic book issue that featured gay marriage, never mind that the characterization and story leading up to that moment were inconsistent and inadequately executed. It's a lazy cop-out, that's what it is.

However, there was another thing that I could credit Liu for, and it's that small moment I really liked in issue #51 when Shi'ar warrior and former X-Men Warbird refused to attend the wedding because she just doesn't believe in gay marriage and its validity. That being said, she was very polite and respectful about turning down Northstar's invitation which was great because I hope more people could be like her. If you're a person who does not approve of gay marriage for religious or traditional reasons, you don't readily have to be a hatemongering nut who would passionately protest agaisnt it, claiming homosexuals will burn in hell because they are disgusting sinners. Warbird respected Northstar's choice to marry someone of the same sex even if she didn't acknowledge his marriage with Kyle to be valid. I'm glad Northstar respected her decision to not attend as well. It has become such a heated issue, the entire gay marriage movement, that it's nice to see that we can have two people simply disagreeing about it but don't necessarily have to be antagonistic or embittered about each other. 

Now, as a collected volume, this featured two issues from Nation X and Alpha Flight. The first one showed the budding relationship between the two men, while the 1992 piece written by Scott Lobdell talked about AIDS baby (srsly). But if you've only managed to read the four issues Marjorie Liu wrote then too bad for you because I bet you never really enjoyed yourself and you might even be forced to say you like it when someone would ask you about it in public, in fear of being misjudged as a homophobe. I'm hear to tell you as a queer woman that I don't like it myself and having a gay marriage scene in one of its issues has nothing to do with it at all. It's just an underwhelming silly story that wouldn't have a redemptive value if the two gay guys didn't have a happy wedding ceremony at the end. On that note, my rating is sealed.

RECOMMENDED: 6/10