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X-Men: Wisdom - Rudiments of Wisdom

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Pete Wisdom has a lot of fairies to kill. Yes, fairies are supposed to be nice and magical and charming, but they are currently attacking England. Hugo Award nominee Paul Cornell (BBC's Dr. Who and Robin Hood) brings you a sci-fi mini-series unlike anything you've seen before! Collects Wisdom #1-6

144 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2007

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About the author

Paul Cornell

619 books1,514 followers
Paul Cornell is a British writer of science fiction and fantasy prose, comics and television. He's been Hugo Award-nominated for all three media, and has won the BSFA Award for his short fiction, and the Eagle Award for his comics. He's the writer of Saucer Country for Vertigo, Demon Knights for DC, and has written for the Doctor Who TV series. His new urban fantasy novel is London Falling, out from Tor on December 6th.

via Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cor...

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5 stars
20 (12%)
4 stars
69 (42%)
3 stars
53 (32%)
2 stars
17 (10%)
1 star
4 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
Profile Image for Aisling.
471 reviews
February 10, 2025
Having an Ulster woman sacrifice her life in order to save Britain was a bold move.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sean.
4,350 reviews25 followers
March 3, 2022
I actually like the character of Pete Wisdom and have enjoyed Paul Cornell. I enjoyed neither here. The plot was incomprehensible. The limited series felt super disjointed and at times the dialogue was too British for me to understand completely. I didn't buy the love story and the ending was rash. The art, by multiple artists, was fine but unspectacular. Overall, Cornell was allowed to let loose and tell a story he wanted to tell and it didn't appeal to me.
59 reviews1 follower
January 11, 2011
I am such a fan of Paul Cornell. Great characters, good story. I'd give the art a B+. I could feel the Britishness radiating off the pages.
Profile Image for RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez.
Author 8 books32 followers
May 12, 2026
Un curioso eslabón en la linea MAX de Marvel cómics, donde se abogaba más fácilmente a los equipos creativos a desmelenarse en aspectos de violencia y sexualidad gráfica. En este caso, esta miniserie está dedicada a un personaje secundario de la sub franquicia mutante EXCALIBUR: Peter Wisdom. Un deslenguado "doble" del Hellblazer de Vértigo que se ve más asociado a los misterios sobrenaturales británicos que las amenazas supervillanescas de la Patrulla X. En este WISDOM: Los Rudimentos de la Sabiduría, este perfil de "agente de organización secreta" de asuntos mágicos y feéricos al "servicio de Su Majestad" se manifiesta más casi olvidándonos de su particularidad mutante de esos disparos de energía a través de sus manos que se reserve usar más que su vérborrea de bilis british.

El M-13 cuenta entre sus filas a una hada que ha renegado de Otromundo y se siente a gusto siendo una guerrillera punk, un Skrull que parece haber suplantado junto a otros de su raza a los Beetles, un supersoldado de las "Midlands" y la reciente miembro Maureen Raven, "clarisensitiva" que la historia revelará como augurio viviente de un inminente futuro apocalíptico. Sin mucho más en el tema presentaciones, WISDOM pronto enumera unos cuantos casos de encontronazos con amenazas del mundo feérico de "Otromundo" y otras de contexto o raíces puramente británicas en las que estos personajes o seres pasan por el filtro descarado de la línea MAX. Hay que comentar que el personaje de Peter Wisdom fue creado por el autor Warren Ellis, y no sé si esto es algo que el guionista de esta miniserie, Paul Cornell, ha tenido totalmente en cuenta a la hora de parecer enfocar esta miniserie como una versión más "pochoclera" de lo que podría ser un PLANETARY fantasy british. Al final, el grupo de Wisdom está tratando de lidiar con toda una historia secreta del Reino Unido que ha terminado perviviendo en mitos y ficción. Algún personaje del crew coincide en algún aspecto de su personalidad y perfil con la Trinidad de esa otra obra magna. Por supuesto, esta WISDOM acepta su existencia como lectura de evasión descarada (aquí el trabajo gráfico en la línea de los demás títulos de corte "serio" del super comic book usa). Y a diferencia de algún que otro título de la línea MAX, aunque no conecta totalmente con el amplio universo Marvelita (sobre todo por la parte mutante), hay ciertas menciones y sobre todo cameos que consiguen que WISDOM no se quede en las antípodas de la editorial (sobre todo, aunque sin hacer mucho inciso, es genial que esta historia revele un "origin story" de uno de esos héroes de catastofistas futuros distópicos de la editorial).
Profile Image for Steven.
Author 8 books34 followers
November 13, 2017
A MAX miniseries that's sorta-kinda in continuity, and sorta-kinda not, and is pretty much Paul Cornell writing the result of a genetic experiment to develop a hybrid of Warren Ellis and Grant Morrison. I'm impressed that Cornell was able to slop in versions of Sir Clive Reston and Black Jack Tarr from the Sax Rohmer Fu Manchu books, even as Shang-Chi shows up to give an amnesiac Welsh Dragon a right bollocking to wake him up.

Good weird fun with some silly references and ideas.
Profile Image for Tim B.
265 reviews1 follower
August 20, 2019
Very good stories, lots of fun. The only problem is the page limitation per issue. Some of the stories felt choppy and rushed, and could be a little confusing. This is a great segue from New Excalibur/X-Men Die by the Sword and Captain Britain & MI 13. The comedy and drama and victory and tragedy is splendidly blended.
Profile Image for Devero.
5,185 reviews
April 12, 2018
Nel complesso una miniserie con alcuni punti interessanti ma priva di spessore, e con disegni un poco scarsi, recuperati dalla colorazione più che buona. Oramai il fumetto super eroistico non riesce più a prendermi o interessarmi.
Profile Image for Aethena Drake.
1,213 reviews3 followers
October 4, 2020
Pete Wisdom is one of my favorite comic characters, and Paul Cornell gave me even more reasons to appreciate the character.

Wisdom is not a superhero. He's just just a guy with extra abilities who uses his skills and sometimes super abilities to get the job done.
253 reviews
July 28, 2014
Wisdom: Rudiments of Wisdom is a fun read. The characters are not particularly well fleshed-out and the story is, at times, almost too similar to Warren Ellis and John Cassiday's amazing Planetary series. However, despite these slight misgivings, Paul Cornell and his art team do deliver an extremely entertaining story that reeks of edgy high-stakes adventure. Simply put, this book is a blast and filled with a refreshing irreverence. Additionally, this graphic novel does a great job presenting numerous literary and historical allusions. I loved the fact that a giant is named after a character from a work by Rabelais. It is also interesting that one of the alternate universe Jack the Rippers is the Jack the Ripper from Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell graphic novel. I would recommend Wisdom: Rudiments of Wisdom if you enjoy a slight diversion into Britain's collective unconscious (thank you, Mr. Cornell for that excellent phrase).
Profile Image for Don.
272 reviews16 followers
June 14, 2008
Pete Wisdom heads up MI: 13, the British agency devoted to defending the realm from that OTHER realm. This bizarre mix leads to some incredibly inventive and hilariously inappropriate scenes that nonetheless work, such as when Pete & co. use a summoning circle to transport themselves to Faerie - inside an army helicopter.

I've enjoyed Cornell's Doctor Who episodes, so I'm ecstatic that his comics work is just as well-written. Over the course of the story, misfortunes develop that are inevitable without seeming overwrought, and his approach towards writing an established Marvel character like Wisdom is satisfying to first-time readers as well as the hardcore X-Men fanatics. (What he mumbled in his sleep fits well for the story as given, but for those readers in the know adds a very different shade.)

And the H.G. Wells tie-in was superbly fun.

Highly recommended!

Profile Image for Fugo Feedback.
5,227 reviews178 followers
October 4, 2011
Sólo un par de cositas le faltaron a este comic para no alcanzar cómodamente las tres estrellitas: un mejor dibujo, que aporte más de lo que entorpece; y menos pamplinas en algunas de las escenas más esotéricas. Por todo el resto: geniales diálogos, geniales personajes, geniales idas de olla (en gallego porque todo transcurre en Europa... ¿cuela?), lo mejor de una miniserie en un tomito de lo más bonito. Supongo que cuando me lo compre y lo relea seguro lo rerreseñe, y si esta vez me ofusco menos por el dibujo, quizás escale al cuarto poder y todo.
Profile Image for Christopher.
Author 6 books12 followers
November 4, 2010
Paul Cornell never hits a flat note even when working on a done too death Warren Ellis variation of his idealized self. "Pete Wisdom"? Did Ellis enter a life long competition for dumbest names for tough guy characters? IE: Desolation Jones. Great read.
Profile Image for Drew.
1,660 reviews9 followers
April 11, 2014
Really enjoy the way Cornell writes Wisdom. Reminds me of Constantine at times. The art is solid and though it changes partway through, it remains consistent. The stories are British and it's nice not to see New York.
Profile Image for Jenn.
59 reviews
May 28, 2015
It wasn't too bad, but it it wasn't too good either. I liked the concepts and the "heroes" we're ok, but the story line they went by was kind of bland. I feel like the writer could've been a little more creative with the "villains."
Profile Image for KV Taylor.
Author 21 books37 followers
January 31, 2009
You know, this isn't even that great of a story if I think about it. It's cracked out disjointed Pete Wisdom awesome. It's just really, really fun to read. Art's not bad, either.
Profile Image for ChandaElaine.
Author 1 book
May 4, 2014
Paul Cornell strikes again with the right mix of humor, excitement and loss. While the artwork wonders the gamit from amazing to "Huh?" the story doesn't flag. Well worth a read.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews