X-Men / Steve Rogers: Escape from the Negative Zone

by James Asmus, Nick Bradshaw (Illustrator), Ibraim Roberson (Illustrator)

It should come as no surprise: Bad things happen to good people in the Negative Zone. When the X-Men try to build an extradimensional bridge to Limbo, an explosion sucks Cyclops, Hope, Dr. Nemesis and Namor the Sub-Mariner into the Negative Zone instead! Cast adrift in the strange dimension, the X-Men are besieged by giant monsters, insectoid soldiers, and the lord and master of the Negative Zone himself: Blastaar, the Living Bomb-Burst! Enter Steve Rogers, Super-Soldier - the original Captain America! COLLECTING: UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL 3, STEVE ROGERS: SUPER-SOLDIER ANNUAL 1, NAMOR: THE FIRST MUTANT ANNUAL 1

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Marvel, X Men, Comic Book, Superheroes, Science Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published August 3, 2011

About the author

James began writing for live theater; creating sketch comedy, stand-up, plays and musicals. After a few years writing and performing in New Orleans and Chicago, a run of one his shows in New York garnered an offer to write for Marvel Comics' X-Men. A lifelong comics fan, James pounced on the opportunity and would go on to write Marvel titles like Uncanny X-Men, Captain America & Bucky, Gambit, Runaways, Generation Hope, Deadpool Team-Up and more.
His work for other comics publishers includes Thief of Thieves with Robert Kirkman (creator of the Walking Dead) and The End Times of Bram & Ben (which he co-created with Jim Festante) for Image Comics. In 2014 James signed a year-long exclusive deal with Valiant Entertainment where he wrote The Delinquents and Quantum & Woody - the latter of which received 6 nominations at the 2014 Harvey Awards; including Best Writer, Best New Talent, and Special Award for Humor noms for James.
He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife Mara and son Devlin. There, James has written for film, television, and video games. But he plans to create comics as long as you'll have him.

Reviews

[Nicolo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Marvel Annuals of old were double-sized affairs, high in page count and other standalone tales. The Uncanny X-Men annuals then were of particular note, since Chris Claremont plotted and often scripted the story and teamed with an exciting artist of the age. This was where Alan Davis had his first American credit on art and the only format suitable for Art Adams’ detail intensive and slow line art. Adams’ slowness made him unsuitable for the monthly grind of a regular title and the X-Men annuals with its loose deadlines was a great fit.

These thoughts came after I finished reading this hardcover collection, a crossover of three annuals of their respective titles. The story by James Asmus was solid enough, interesting even, playing on threads from other storylines in other titles that would not have intersected otherwise. Like the annuals of decades past, the three books have promising new artists on them. Especially Nick Bradshaw, whose style could be mistaken for an Art Adams clone, there are subtle differences but it is a voice that the artist has effectively carried in his Marvel work.

[Gerry Sacco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story. A bit short, but not bad. Art though, ranges from decent, to horrible. Made it not fun to read at times.

[Rodolfo Santullo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uno de los conceptos que me resultan más atractivos del género superheroico es el de team-up. O sea, el aprovechar que tenemos un sinfín de personajes que conviven en un mismo universo y que entonces los cruces más dispares, pintorescos y curiosos pueden darse, entregando así historias entretenidas, dinámicas y divertidas. En definitiva, aprovechar en un 100% las condiciones luminosas y exageradas del mismo género, alcanzando así algunas veces la tan buscada épica. Es la base de todos los supergrupos, de las maxi series, de colecciones como The Brave and The Bold y de la historieta que hoy nos ocupa. Tenemos por un lado a los X-Men -en ese momento que había mala onda (cuando no) entre los mutantes y estan divididos salvajemente, este es el grupo liderado por Cíclope- quienes andan trapicheando con un portal dimensional (como todos los lunes). El portal estalla y se lleva a la Zona Negativa a Scott Summers, a Rachel Summars (hija llegada del futuro del anterior y probablemente la mutante más poderosa del universo Marvel), al Dr. Nemesis (que leída por completo esta miniserie sigo sin saber muy bien quien es) y a Namor, que justo venía a reclamarle a los X-Men que le habían cortado la luz en Atlantis o algo así (juro que esto es literal y que la miniserie no está tomada para la chacota cual una de Giffen y DeMatties). Caer en la zona negativa y terminar combatiendo a su dictador malvado Blaastar les toma algo así como tres segundos. Por su parte, se organiza en la Tierra un rescate de estos "héroes" y recae la tarea nada menos que en Steve Rogers (aquí en su momento agente secreto de misiones medio ocultas y no Capitán América) quien para allá va. Y listo. Piña, patada y porrazo en un estupendo nivel de diversión y aventura, con diálogos afiladísimos (lo mejor del guión de Asmus), apoyado en la labor excelsa de tres dibujantes distintos -Bradshaw, Roberson y el argentino Fiumara- que aportan muchísimo cada uno en su estilo. Una buena historieta de superhéroes sin más, ni menos.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoroughly "meh" book. Asmus does a good job on the fun, and so the stories are pretty humorous, but that's at the cost of a lot of characterization; Hope in particular comes across as a whiny brat, largely at odds with her other appearances.

The title pretty much gives away the whole plot: get trapped in the negative zone; escape from the negative zone. There's not a lot to it.

[Allen Setzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story but the best parts are when anyone is making fun of Cyclops. He's such a tool and the digs at him are great.

[Adrian J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was barely passable - and even then, only because of the STEVE ROGERS annual.

The art in the UNCANNY X-MEN and NAMOR annuals - especially the latter - was just horrendous. It was so bad, in fact, that at times it was very difficult to understand what was going on. There also appeared to be something missing from the UNCANNY annual, as in one scene Hope and Scott Summers fend off an attack, but the next time we see them they're waking up as prisoners.

Steve doesn't sound like Steve. Scott cracks wise. Most of the dialogue relies on something that I think is an attempt at humour, but it doesn't work - and worst of all, it didn't warrant three parts; the whole thing could EASILY have been a single annual.

[Mike Jozic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had fair to middlin' hopes for this story as an interesting blend of some X-Characters, Steve Rogers, and maybe a few surprises but, as a book written by a comedian, it reads mostly like fanfic and packed full of yuks. The characters all speak in the same voice, there's no feeling of any stakes, and it literally doesn't offer a single thing that is new or ambitious or compelling. Other than the artwork by Max Fiumara on the Namor chapter this is...just not really worth the time unless you enjoy three Annuals strung together by one protracted fight scene.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not by Gillen, but instead by James Asmus. He ends up writing the last issues of Generation Hope, so he has a connection to the entire story. I was prepared to not like this, to not feel like it belonged in my bind. But it surprised me. The art on each issue was great, the story was engaging and creative. Best of all, it had some great moments that helped define the relationship between Hope and Cyclops. That makes it a necessary inclusion. Good stuff.

[Silas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy comic stories like this where books cross over. This crosses over X-Men, Captain America, and Namor, which makes some sense, since Namor bridges both worlds, but strangely, that's not how it happened. Instead, the X-Men have an accident with Namor present, and have a diplomatic incident with the Negative Zone, and Captain America intervenes. During that time, Captain America talks about how much he respects Cyclops, which is a fun moment, and we see him acting with compassion to Hope, who has been feuding with Cyclops for the rest of the story up until then. For me, it helps to sell Captain America helping to form the Uncanny Avengers later on, which I kind of like. Namor, though, mostly just spends the whole book going progressively more aggressive and crazy, which they chalk up to his drying out at an accelerated rate. His part in the story is the least engaging, but I guess it is fairly true to how Namor acts a lot of the time. This was a fun, kind of short story if you don't think about it too much.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't get it. you'd think a 13-year-old drew this looking at some of the women in it. The dialogue isn't much better.

And I thought for a good couple of pages that Magneto was wearing a white suit because the artist didn't feel like making them distinct characters for some reason.

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

It wasn't clear why someone would want to tell this story except to bring these characters together. But what was the point of bringing these characters together if it wasn't to tell the story?

[Edward Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

I barely remember this story, but I read it with the boy and he enjoyed it.

[don’t sweat the little things · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story simple to the point

[Daryl Nagai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't really a fan of the first artist. On one hand, the art was technically good, yet it still seemed out of place and not true to traditional comic book style artwork. The style reminded me of a mixture of Scientology with Disney's Merida. Very kiddie mixed with sexy. The female characters looked like they had Botox and cosmetic fillers. I kind of lost track of the story in the first part. The second two artists were not much better, however, they were truer to the traditional comic book art style. Story was decent enough, and we get to see Prince Namor go crazy!

[Anchorpete · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a very big difference between television shows and comic books. Nowadays, as always, television shows can have stand alone episodes, detached from the Main Storyline that can be some of the best episodes of the entire show. Comics are not able to do that anymore. Single issue stories, not connected to the overarching storyline just feel so worthless. You are spending near to five bucks for a single issue, you definitely want to get your money’s worth. It isn’t worth it to spend that much on a storyline that has nothing to do with the main continuity. It is unfortunate, since a short story can sometimes be the most dramatic, effective way to tell a story, but with modern comic book writers, it just doesn’t reach that level any more. Sure, Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Warren Ellis or Grant Morrison could pull it off, but not anyone from the current generation (Maybe scott Snyder) just doesn’t have the chops. I just basically took the time, writing this review to explain what I felt the entire time, reading this book. It was fun, but it was completely disposable.

[Shaun · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent foray into the world of the X-men and Steve Rogers/ I liked that the book started out with a wedge between Scott and Hope. Hope is the supposed 'messiah" for mutants and she is not happy with how she is treated by Scott and with her place in the X-men. Hope proves that she can be trusted and is a very competent warrior thanks to Nathan's training. Nemesis and Namor were hilarious in their crazy way. Rogers as always was te good boy scout. Hope, with her teenage angst, was the best character in the plot. An overall okay read.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The plot of this book is so basic that it is well served by the title. But that isn't a bad thing. Three different artists drew each of the annuals that comprise the entire story; and although each has a completely different style, they are all at the top of their game. Made me think of old Flash Gordon stories in that the story moved quickly and the writer seemed to make up his own rules as he went along. They are stuck in another dimension, they need to get home. You don't need to understand the complex X-Men mythology to have fun with this.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

The problem with a collection like this is that with different artists you can get such a variety of styles but they don't mesh in telling one story. The art was so different is was too much to enjoy. Sadly, the writing was a ton better. The overall plot was decent, especially for a tale being told in annuals. The bigger issue was the dialogue. The bickering between Hope and Cyclops was bizarre. Scott was oddly jovial at times. Steve Rogers acted too stereotypical. In all, this was a story that just filled some space and not well.

[Roman Colombo · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surprisingly fun story. Asmus hasn't produced the best comics, but he's becoming more and more talented (His time on Generation Hope and the new Gambit series show this too). What bugged me here was some of the art. Only Ibraim was tolerable, the other two were hideous. There's something about the way Bradshaw draws faces that really bugs me. One day, I will figure out what it is.

[Tif · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know which made the first annual in this collection worse: that all of Bradshaw's characters had horrifyingly lumpy faces or that Hope Summers is an unpleasant person and not at all fun to read about. Fortunately the rest of the book is respectably decent with redeeming artists and a witty Doctor Nemesis.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was interesting whether you understood some of the background or not (I have read about the Negative Zone prison, and Hope so I feel like I had a pretty firm grasp on what was going on).

I liked the story, it was a semi-quick but action-packed plot.

[April · Rating 2 out of 5]

Will review soon.

[A J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mediocre story, but nice art on two of the three sections.

[Danny · Rating 1 out of 5]

One o the worst graphic novels I have EVER read. The art I childish, the story is inconsistent with character development and lacks anything meaningful. I found myself wishing it was over. Boo.

[La Revistería Comics · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ideal para los fans de los autores, de los personajes, o de la famosa página web en castellano sobre comics.

[Mathew Carruthers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story, great art - can't go wrong with this one.

[Daniel Etherington · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars, very average.