X-Men Noir: Mark Of Cain GN-TPB Paperback – 5 Jan. 2011

great product

This graphic novel arrived in excellent condition and was bought as a present for someone who loved it. Great all round.

"2 X-Men Noir books for a fiver? I'd be a chump NOT to buy them!" I thought a couple of days ago when I saw them on sale. Little did I realise they were on sale for good reason - they both suck giant donkey balls! These are not just the 2 worst books in the Marvel Noir series but they're also 2 of the worst X-Men titles I've ever read.So the plot of this book picks up from the first one which was a convoluted disaster filled with unfamiliar character traits in familiar characters, a nonsensical plot and terrible art. Well, true to form, the disastrous duo of Fred Van Lente and Denis Calero return with another steaming pile of comic this time featuring a Guantanamo-like Genosha, a large gem that's important to some primitive tribespeople somewhere, and the characters who sucked in the first book sucking again in the second.I know this is a reimagining but none of these characters even faintly resemble their famous counterparts. Xavier is a torture-loving lunatic, Cyclops cares only about money and is all about guns, and once again the "hero" is the unknown Tommy Halloway whose inclusion in these two books is baffling. I hate Halloway who, after some googling, I find out is the Golden Age Angel. These Noir books are Marvel's attempt to ground their fantastical characters in the real world but Halloway is the opposite - he can literally fly! Including this character and the terrible Dirigi-Carrier completely loses the tone of the series.The Dirigi-Carrier is Van Lente's idea of what an early 20th century SHIELD Helicarrier would look like but it just looks ridiculous and unwieldy - it's a Navy Aircraft Carrier supported by airships. Must Van Lente include everything in the current Marvel U through the prism of the early 20th century - why can't he just leave out some aspects that don't work, ie. this? Plus the Helicarrier was a staple of the Avengers books - this is supposedly an X-Men book!And again I find I have the same complaint with Denis Calero's art as I did in the first X-Men Noir book - someone should really point out to these guys that noir is a genre that is tonally and thematically dark, not necessarily literally. Calero smears ink over all of the pages as if he has a quota to fill and the effect is page after page of artlessness, where the characters are hard to identify.But Fred Van Lente's script is by far the worst thing about this book. The plot is a mess, I don't care about any of these characters and the book is an utter bore to read ("endure" more like). Also, this book is mislabelled, it's not an X-Men book at all but just a book with characters who have X-Men-like names and nothing else. Noir doesn't mean you have to have twist after twist in the plot but Van Lente does so anyway to the point where the story you don't care about completely blunders into incoherence. After reading these 2 X-Men Noirs and the unreadable Cowboys & Aliens comic a few years ago, Fred Van Lente seems to be nothing but a god-awful hack of a writer.If you want to read comic book noir done perfectly I strongly suggest Frank Miller's "Sin City" series, almost all of which is flawless both in writing and art (both by Miller). I give these 2 X-Men Noir books zero stars and 5 giant donkey balls!

Good story

The sequel to Van Lente's X-men Noir feels alot more "pulp" than the later. Interesting introduction and adaptation of new characters, and good continuity as well. If you are interested in this Noir universe, check it out.