Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Random House USA Inc (2009), 192 pages
Description
THE X-MEN GET A RADICAL NEW REMIX IN A STORY ABOUT TEEN ANGST, FIRST LOVE, AND WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN High school student Kitty Pryde has always been the odd girl out. A mutant, she was born with strange superpowers, magical talents that make her the class freak. But Kitty’s world is changed when she’s invited to study at Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, a special home for mutant teens. There’s just one catch: Kitty’s the only girl at the all-boy school, and she ends up just feeling like a freak all over again. Then Kitty meets Pyro and the ultra-hot bad boys of the Hellfire Club. They’re the school’s elite–handsome, rich, and totally above the rules. Now Kitty seems to have it all: a dreamy boyfriend, super-cool friends, and the chance to develop her extraordinary talents. But why is her heart telling her that something is wrong? Will Kitty ever find the place where she belongs, or is she doomed to be a misfit forever?… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member imayb1
X-Men in manga form and highly re-hashed in Japanese style, volume one doesn't have much in common with X-Men Classic, Ultimate X-Men, X-Men Adventures, et al, or the movie-verse. Instead, it's a completely new version, tweaking several characters from the Marvel universe in somewhat odd
Kitty Pryde (aka ShadowCat-- once an X-man and currently a member of Xcalibur) is the featured main character and only female student at the school. Her introduction reads more like Ouran High School Host Club-- with the Danger Room doubling as a nightclub for the school's handsome elite who style themselves 'The Hellfire Club'-- as she becomes everyone's darling at the school. I must say, I expected more shonen than shoujo, but perhaps that will change as the series continues?
Details for X-men fans: The authors have played fast and loose with characters' ages and contemporaries. For example, Orro and Jean Grey are teachers, but Scott Summers and Forge are students. Xavier and Magneto are presented as lead teachers, but Angel seems to be the teacher most in favor of pushing mutant-superiority thinking. Other weirdness: Sabertooth is a chef at the school, Blob is a let's-all-get-along peacemaker student, Beast (another teacher) looks like Totoro, and Professor Rasputin (Colossus) becomes a silly-looking tin man more akin to Astroboy than a sleek metallic bodybuilder.
Shoujo fans should find the story entertaining with its adolescent woes of not fitting in and first-boyfriend insecurities, but in my opinion, purists should avoid it to save themselves from headaches.
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conglomeration and lumping them under Xavier's School for the Gifted. Kitty Pryde (aka ShadowCat-- once an X-man and currently a member of Xcalibur) is the featured main character and only female student at the school. Her introduction reads more like Ouran High School Host Club-- with the Danger Room doubling as a nightclub for the school's handsome elite who style themselves 'The Hellfire Club'-- as she becomes everyone's darling at the school. I must say, I expected more shonen than shoujo, but perhaps that will change as the series continues?
Details for X-men fans: The authors have played fast and loose with characters' ages and contemporaries. For example, Orro and Jean Grey are teachers, but Scott Summers and Forge are students. Xavier and Magneto are presented as lead teachers, but Angel seems to be the teacher most in favor of pushing mutant-superiority thinking. Other weirdness: Sabertooth is a chef at the school, Blob is a let's-all-get-along peacemaker student, Beast (another teacher) looks like Totoro, and Professor Rasputin (Colossus) becomes a silly-looking tin man more akin to Astroboy than a sleek metallic bodybuilder.
Shoujo fans should find the story entertaining with its adolescent woes of not fitting in and first-boyfriend insecurities, but in my opinion, purists should avoid it to save themselves from headaches.
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LibraryThing member savageknight
I've been an X-Men fan since the early 80's. Although I stopped buying the books on a regular basis since the late 90's, I'm still very familiar with most of the characters. I've never really had a problem with how these characters get modified and changed when translated to other mediums (ie;
What made this book not as enjoyable as I would have expected is the very large cast of characters used throughout! It quickly got distracting and confusing trying to remember who was who. Having Kitty as the main focus was great (and probably the best way to pull in the target audience) but all the peripheral drama became distracting.
I'm going to let the book sit for a while and re-read it again once enough time has passed (at least until the release of the 2nd book). Perhaps a 2nd read (and a discussion about the book with my 12yr old daughter) might give me a clearer picture or base of understanding why it didn't appeal to me as much as I expected.
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animated cartoons, movies, etc) so I wasn't bothered by any of the changes here (for example, Jean Grey is a teacher at the school, whereas Scott/ Cyclops is a teen student). What made this book not as enjoyable as I would have expected is the very large cast of characters used throughout! It quickly got distracting and confusing trying to remember who was who. Having Kitty as the main focus was great (and probably the best way to pull in the target audience) but all the peripheral drama became distracting.
I'm going to let the book sit for a while and re-read it again once enough time has passed (at least until the release of the 2nd book). Perhaps a 2nd read (and a discussion about the book with my 12yr old daughter) might give me a clearer picture or base of understanding why it didn't appeal to me as much as I expected.
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LibraryThing member librarybrandy
I'm not a big X-Men fan or a shojo fan; I don't read much of either. But I enjoyed this, mostly because I'm a Telgemeier/Roman fan. Kudos, guys!
LibraryThing member terriko
X-men reimagined as a shojo harem manga? I am highly amused. The concept sounds like it could be a disaster of a bad alternate universe fanfic, but it's actually a cute take on the characters even if the history is fairly ignored. I am amused at how easily some parts of the xmen universe fit into
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the shojo mould. My big complaint is in casting Kitty as the only girl at the school (although there are female teachers) since the women of xmen are part of what makes them my favourite superhero team. I imagine they would have pulled in more if they'd made it to volume 2, but I guess it's not to be. What a shame, I think they could have done some pretty fun stuff with this concept if it kept going! Show Less
LibraryThing member lexilewords
I never thought I'd read/pick this up. Not because I'm a X-men purist or enthusiast (the opposite really, I'm rather indifferent to 95% of the Marvel universe's inhabitants), but because it just never made me 'Need have now'. It's pretty and I really like the artwork and I've been a fan of Dave
Oh well I make mistakes sometimes.
Prompted by an urge to pick up Deader Still by Anton Strout, for him to sign at the upcoming Brooklyn Book Festival this weekend, I had a little time left over and decided to read a graphic novel or two. But I've caught up on all my series (yes I spend that much time in the bookstore) so I browsed and came upon Misfits. Kitty Pryde is a character that I like only sometimes--not in the movies, but in X-Men Evolution and Wolverine & the X-Men I like her a lot. In the comics...meh.
This is definitely a shoujo lover's dream--reasonably attractive girl gets sent smack into the middle of a *special* school filled with ultra-hot guys who fight to gain her attention. They fight often too. I wouldn't say that Kitty doesn't have some redeeming qualities--she is smart, loyal, a good person who believes in helping people, but I think that if she had been transferred into a school with a more even ratio of girls to guys, she wouldn't have been latched upon so quickly.
Her admirers include: Pyro, Angel, Forge, Quicksilver, Havok and Nightcrawler, with appearances from Gambit, Cyclops, and Iceman. To be fair, really only Pyro and Angel make any sort of 'serious' play for her (with Pyro by far leading that charge), everyone else has varying degrees of friendship interest. Except maybe Iceman. But he plays things very close to the chest.
The shoujo re-imaginings of some of my favorite X-men (and not so favorite) was interesting to say the least. Um Xavier walks. Magneto is...amusing more then menacing. Storm is rocking a mohawk (so anyone who remembers Storm from the 90's X-Men episodes in the future? Yeah that's her), Jean is a professor but currently off looking for people to recruit, Cyclops is a STUDENT. I liked how a lot of the re-done character traits became more 'shoujo' hero like. I think the fit was pretty good for the most part. I'm not as keen on Iceman's re-imagining, because I don't remember him being so...aloof and isolationist in the comics, but I'll forgive them. They had Gambit. And he was hot. And he cooked. I can't ask for nothing more.
Closer to the end Roman and Telgemeier work in a more serious conflict, slowly percolating a romance that develops between Kitty and one of the other guys and then channeling that into the conflict at the end. There isn't a lot of outside intrusion, since the story is set at the Xavier Institute, but when there is it goes...BLAMMY. Also some of the comic elements made a crossover--Cyclops and Havok being brothers for instance, Havok's wonky sudden power surge, Magneto's fanaticism in regards to Mutant Rights and Xavier's Pacifist approach, Magneto's Hellfire Club (though in this its more of an elite clique at the school).
I thoroughly enjoyed Misfits. A lot. I want an art print of Gambit now. Please? Anyway (back on topic) the end gives us a brief summary of what volume 2 will be like in light of some of the...changes at the end of volume 1. More girls (please please please Rogue. Please. Pretty please. And Jubilee. Pretty pretty please), drama and angst abounds in volume 2...with no actual tentative due date. Ah well. I'll be in line for it anyway!
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Roman's since Jax Epoch (Flannel Sorceress, you know you want to read it now), but I have already so much I collect that I thought I'd let it go until I had extra money.Oh well I make mistakes sometimes.
Prompted by an urge to pick up Deader Still by Anton Strout, for him to sign at the upcoming Brooklyn Book Festival this weekend, I had a little time left over and decided to read a graphic novel or two. But I've caught up on all my series (yes I spend that much time in the bookstore) so I browsed and came upon Misfits. Kitty Pryde is a character that I like only sometimes--not in the movies, but in X-Men Evolution and Wolverine & the X-Men I like her a lot. In the comics...meh.
This is definitely a shoujo lover's dream--reasonably attractive girl gets sent smack into the middle of a *special* school filled with ultra-hot guys who fight to gain her attention. They fight often too. I wouldn't say that Kitty doesn't have some redeeming qualities--she is smart, loyal, a good person who believes in helping people, but I think that if she had been transferred into a school with a more even ratio of girls to guys, she wouldn't have been latched upon so quickly.
Her admirers include: Pyro, Angel, Forge, Quicksilver, Havok and Nightcrawler, with appearances from Gambit, Cyclops, and Iceman. To be fair, really only Pyro and Angel make any sort of 'serious' play for her (with Pyro by far leading that charge), everyone else has varying degrees of friendship interest. Except maybe Iceman. But he plays things very close to the chest.
The shoujo re-imaginings of some of my favorite X-men (and not so favorite) was interesting to say the least. Um Xavier walks. Magneto is...amusing more then menacing. Storm is rocking a mohawk (so anyone who remembers Storm from the 90's X-Men episodes in the future? Yeah that's her), Jean is a professor but currently off looking for people to recruit, Cyclops is a STUDENT. I liked how a lot of the re-done character traits became more 'shoujo' hero like. I think the fit was pretty good for the most part. I'm not as keen on Iceman's re-imagining, because I don't remember him being so...aloof and isolationist in the comics, but I'll forgive them. They had Gambit. And he was hot. And he cooked. I can't ask for nothing more.
Closer to the end Roman and Telgemeier work in a more serious conflict, slowly percolating a romance that develops between Kitty and one of the other guys and then channeling that into the conflict at the end. There isn't a lot of outside intrusion, since the story is set at the Xavier Institute, but when there is it goes...BLAMMY. Also some of the comic elements made a crossover--Cyclops and Havok being brothers for instance, Havok's wonky sudden power surge, Magneto's fanaticism in regards to Mutant Rights and Xavier's Pacifist approach, Magneto's Hellfire Club (though in this its more of an elite clique at the school).
I thoroughly enjoyed Misfits. A lot. I want an art print of Gambit now. Please? Anyway (back on topic) the end gives us a brief summary of what volume 2 will be like in light of some of the...changes at the end of volume 1. More girls (please please please Rogue. Please. Pretty please. And Jubilee. Pretty pretty please), drama and angst abounds in volume 2...with no actual tentative due date. Ah well. I'll be in line for it anyway!
Show Less
Awards
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2009-08-11
Physical description
192 p.; 5 inches
ISBN
034550514X / 9780345505149