The X-Men #24

Not to sound hubristic, since my estimation of the efforts of those now-considered giants in the comics industry truly don't matter, but I am willing to give Roy Thomas and Co. a bit of a higher mark with this issue than the last few, in that at least they are trying to be more creative with a new villain and actual movement within the development of the main characters. So an extra half-star for effort, guys. If only you wouldn't spoil everything but clearly not taking anything you do seriously. It's bad enough to read the Bullpen Bulletins and letters page response replete with a total lack of respect for the characters and stories you are creating, delighting more in the "merry war with Brand Ecch" (as if they are Beatrice and Benedick) and the non-stop Irving Forbush jokes (enough, seriously) than showing genuine interest in the increasingly rich Marvel Universe - that's bad enough, but Thomas feels compelled to bring that uber-self-effacing "humor" into the actual panels of the issues, even worse than Stan did before. It's hard enough to take a villain dressed like a locust seriously, with a name such as Dr. Hopper, but then to have an editorial text box or two point out the ludicrous nature of his get-up and the lack of his genuine motivation ... why would people want to buy something that refuses to take itself seriously? I am willing to call comic books/graphic novels "art" - if it is purposefully done well with the intention of trying to be something important (though not self-important) - but as much as I'm a fan of Marvel, I'm increasingly disappointed by these early issues and the creative teams' self-mockery.

This issue does have some decently okay points, though (faint praise, I know). As ludicrous as it is for Marvel Girl to suddenly drop everything for a new college from a letter from her parents ("oh by the way, dear, we've enrolled you in a new school starting tomorrow - even though it is summer, this is a good time to start going to a new college" - this stretches the bounds of credulity, even for a series based on genetically mutated super-heroes), at least some version of "progress" is made in the Warren/Jean/Scott triangle - Jean is attempting to put them out of her mind for good. Scott's commitment to taciturnity is getting old, though - he's got to be at least in his early 20s by now, right? That's not very impressive for a sort of grown-up man to be unable to express his affection for an equally grown young woman. At least Jean is attempting to move on - and we can't blame her, since neither Warren nor Scott had the basic decency to express their affection.

The other decently okay point is the attempt at creating a new villain, even if they don't take him seriously. Yes, it does remind us of a good 1/3 of the MST3K movie villain/monster oeuvre, but at least Thomas is just recycling old Marvel characters for no particular purpose. Dr. Hopper has almost the same "rule the world" motivation, though slightly mixed with "this is for their own good, since we need to support the efforts of scientists," no matter how mad they are. I dunno, if I were fired from a college, I probably wouldn't keep hanging around in the college's local eatery, but that's just me. The ending is somewhat reminiscent of the first Lucifer encounter, but at least Hopper says he will turn himself in (not that the X-Men bother to ensure this happens). I look forward to seeing how Jean's absence develops. I know it won't be the last time she disappears from the team for a while....