I had an epiphany in the shower this morning.
It’s not a very big epiphany, and it won’t be interesting to anybody except me (well, ok, maybe five people on my flist), but I just like to say things like that on my journal. It makes a person wonder what the hell it is I’m doing in the shower in the mornings. :)
Ok, so I’ve been re-reading the AoA story as it’s been coming out in collected form, and while I really don’t think they should’ve collected it in chronological order, it’s possible that having done so has made me read it more carefully. Or maybe it’s just that it’s been ten years since I’ve read it and I’m more perceptive, or…
Anyway. So the X-Ternals go off to Shi’ar, where Gambit’s supposed to steal a shard of the shattered M’Krann Crystal and save the universe. He, er, goes inside the crystal (don’t ask, I don’t remember or care) and is told that in order to take a piece, he’s got to leave it something of his own. Maybe something as profound as a life; I’ve forgotten the phrasing, but it was ominous.
What he gives up, the life he leaves, however you want to phrase it, is his love for Rogue.
*Duh*.
I cannot *believe* I didn’t realize that before. It explains why in the last X-Ternals issue he opts to save the girl instead of the universe, when the *girl* is *Lila*, not Rogue, not that that seemed out of character for Gambit anyway, but it makes *more* sense now, and…and…duh! *heart stabbity stabbity stabbity*
This has made me inexplicably pleased. No more Camelot after all. *happysigh*
I have to do line edits today, which I’m looking forward to with approximately the enthusiasm of a … not very enthusiastic thing. They’re not really hateful, just *tedious*. But first I’m going to write a thousand words or so just so I don’t totally lose momentum on HoC. Am I a party animal or what? :)
I wonder what all of my friends are doing in the shower in the mornings.
It makes them wonder what I think of them while they are in the shower.
Baths don’t have the same magic, but I find when I’m writing a short story, and especially when I’m writing a critical essay, my best ideas come to me in the shower. Maybe the falling water washed away the dumb I have no idea.
I often get inspired in the shower, as well. My poor ex-wife, she kept a pad and pen in the bathroom for me.
*grins*
I realized that one. A /lot/ of people didn’t, though. Maybe I should pick those collections up. I remember liking that stuff a lot.
I like it a lot better in non-chronological order, although once I got past the rough stuff at the beginning where there were anachronisms left and right it’s kind of interesting reading it chronologically. Overall, though, it’s still the best thing Marvel did in the 90s, easily.
I can’t *believe* I missed that, although given how not-carefully I tend to read, I’m not surprised I did miss it. It just became blindingly obvious suddenly, and then it was a thing of beauty. My heart, my heart. :)
I remember being all moony about it. Awwwww.
I didn’t read these as they came out. The only Marvel Comics I buy is stuff written by Joss.
However, I have recently gone through the X-Men bound reprints, and have a newfound interest in that universe. So I ask, would it be worthwhile to get the collected AoA stuff?
…wow. That’s a surprisingly difficult question for me to answer. If they were collected by title instead of chronologically I’d say yes without hesitation. The major problem with the collection by title (aside from the fact that it makes the inconsistencies glare) is that it means every 22 pages the art style and story changes drastically. You have to be very willing to put the effort into the story, and in the first collected volume especially, it really felt to me like it lurched around a lot. And I *knew* the story. (There’s also the fact that I didn’t like some of the stories/art styles as well as others, so from my perspective those are getting in the way of what I *want* to read.)
I genuinely do think the AoA storyline was the best thing Marvel put out in the 90s. I just think the showcasing is poor. And, um. If you were going to pick it up, I would suggest starting with the Legion Quest storyline from the ‘normal’ universe that led into it. Unfortunately, it’s out of print and seems to be available through Amazon only at inflated prices.
Man. That’s really not the glowing recommendation I’d like to be able to make for the whole AoA event. I’ll offer an opinion again when the 4th book is out and I can read them all in a row, ok? The long gaps between the releases of the TPBs is probably not helping my frustration with the chronological order of the whole thing.
I had “dabbled” in comics before the AoA, but this was the story line that really got me into buying comics. I bought all of the individual issues of the series, as well as the first graphic novels (where they were bound by titles…but these are now in storage half a continent away) and now I am reading them in the chronological assembleges in question. While I do agree that it would be helpful to read the Legion Quest storyline if you can get your hands on it, but if no just realize that something profound happened in the past that changed the “set” reality of the Marvel (X-Men) Universe. After all that I really enjoy the story and have read it multiple times and the AoA ranks at the top of my favorite comic lists.