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themarvelousspaceorphan · 5 years

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X-Men Review: Uncanny X-Men #2-4

The X-Men #2 - No One Can Hold The Vanisher Publication Date: Nov. 1963 Stan Lee - Writer Jack Kirby - Drawer Paul Reinman - Inker Sam Rosen - Letterer

The next few issues are, well, kind of generic. The Silver Age isn’t known for it’s deep character insights - but the X-Men still remain slightly lacking any personality or development. The first part of the issue is a reminder of everyone’s powers - then, much like in issue one, we get a villain who wants things and the X-Men stop him. (Ngl - most of the Silver Age has a pretty standard formula to it.)

The villain this time around is The Vanisher - who is completely a classic Kirby design - outlandish in a delightful way. It’s funny to me that the villains somewhat end up being the most entertaining part of a lot of these early issues. Anyway, The Vanisher is a lot like a pink wearing, much uglier Nightcrawler, who is using his powers of teleportation (oh sorry... vanishing...) to steal money, and demands 10 million dollars or else he’s going to steal all the US’s defense plans and... sell them? Idk - Vanisher hasn’t quite thought this all through.

It’s the X-Men to the rescue, except not really because, uh, how do you stop a guy who can just blink out of existence? You don’t, really. So Professor X steps in and decides to rewire The Vanisher’s mind, which is hilariously unethical, but I mean the saved the defense plans, right?!?

Things to Note:

During the reintroduction of the X-Men, Warren (Angel) is being bombarded by women - and Jean Grey uses her powers to make them all float away. Hilariously the girls don't seem to notice too much.

Cyclops uses his powers to stop a wall from falling on some construction works. I don't know why, maybe just the ridiculousness of the situation made it amusing to me.

Prof X gives Iceman a demerit for being overly enthusiastic.

Prof X can use his brain like a projector, and show news footage on the wall.

Prof X also can talk to non-mutants by way of ridiculous head device.

The Vanisher's scenery chewing is about on par with Magneto's. I also love that he gets the entire mob on his side.

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The X-Men #3 - Beware of ... the Blob! Publication Date: Jan. 1964 Stan Lee - Writer Jack Kirby - Drawer Paul Reinman - Inker Art Simek - Letterer

This issue’s villain is THE BLOB! I give it a few points for discarding, slightly, the normal structure of : Reintroduction of the X-Men -- Bad Guy wants to take over the world -- Big Fight.

It starts out by Prof X discovering the The Blob and inviting him to become an X-man. When The Blob declines - he has to take on the X-Men to escape the mansion. And then, because logic and 60s comics don't always go together - The Blob decides come back and take on the X-Men again with all his circus freak friends because...he can? Does he really need a reason? The X-Men are once again taken out until Prof X explains to Jean Grey that she really is the most powerful one on the team and frees them and then Prof X once again erases everyone's mind. Because that's what happens when your villain is too powerful for the X-Men's power set.

The first half of this book is kind of interesting. I mean, they go out and find a new mutant and, sure, The Blob is definitely not by any means a nice or good guy, but c'mon Prof X, shouldn't you at least vet your people before sharing all of your secrets? And when The Blob says no to being an X-Man - the X-Men attack him!

It's kind of crazy when you think about it. I mean, sure, The Blob turns around and fulfills his role as bad guy, but there's an interesting conversation here about who should become and X-Man and why. Not to mention, while the Blob is still a jerk - he hasn’t done anything to the X-Men at first, and it really feels like Prof X is being the jerk for not letting him go.

Things to Note:

This comic is so deeply misogynistic - Jean Grey is not only hounded by all of the guys, when she decides to finally hang with Cyclops, Angel swoops in and carries her off - literally. Poor girl doesn't get a say in it at all. Meanwhile, Jean can't seem to take on anyone until Prof X explains that she can. God, it's frustrating to read.

Oh - and Prof X reveals he, too, is in love with Jean - which is about fifty times as creepy. No, dude - your wheelchair is not the reason it's inappropriate to be harboring romantic feelings towards a teenage girl who is your student. Stop.

Prof X doesn't need cerebro to find mutants - apparently his mind can just tell him where they are. He does, however, need an intensifier gun - because 60s.

Cyclops is beginning to be the brooding, woe-is-me Cyclops we all know and love.

Beast is also becoming Beast! - Reading calculus books with his feet and telling Angel that his colloquialisms aren't necessary. All we need now is the blue fur and ‘oh my stars and garters’. Ah, Beast welcome home.

Beast and Iceman's banter continues to be the best thing about the comic.

While searching for the new mutant - Beast sees someone standing in mid-air, oh wait, no, it's just a guy standing on completely clear glass putting a letter on the fourth story of a building. What even comic logic?!?

I realize The Blob can handle it - but one of the carnival dudes straight up shoots The Blob multiple times. Wtf dude?

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The X-Men #4 - The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants Publication Date: Mar. 1964 Stan Lee - Writer Jack Kirby - Drawer Paul Reinman - Inker Art Simek - Letterer

This issue feels like the real beginning of the X-Men (or more so X-Men after being introduced in the first issue). This issue's bad guys are the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (why brand themselves with the word Evil? Well - they are pretty aware that they are), led by MAGNETO. The issue skips the longer introduction sequences of the first few comics and dives right in. The Brotherhood, made up of Magneto, Toad, Mastermind, Scarlet Witch, and Quicksilver, want to take over a small nation as a precursor to taking over the world -- or at least wanting mutants to take control over regular humans.

Interestingly, it's the first time Prof X and Magneto's ideals really clash - Prof X wanting mutants and humans to coexist peacefully, while Magneto wants mutants to dominate. It's very black and white here - but it sets the foundation for what X-Men is built upon.

While I miss some of the banter-y aspects the first few comics had, this is probably the strongest issue so far. The addition of the philosophical differences between Prof X and Magneto, in addition to a tad more complex action sequence gives the series a slightly bit more amount of depth.

Things to Note:

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's introductions I find interesting - they don't want to be a part of The Brotherhood, but are being blackmailed by Magneto. It creates an interesting dynamic.

In a flashback, we see Magneto rescuing Scarlet Witch from what looks like an angry mob from the 19th century - pitchforks and all. It's a bit silly.

I have to wonder what Magneto was doing in Europe that he just happened to stumble upon the Scarlet Witch.

Also - there's no indication that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are Magneto's kids (it's been retconned several times - I'm not sure who the canonical parents of them are at the moment).

Magneto and Prof X meet on the astral plane - I find it interesting that there seems to be a connection between the two of them, even though it's not presented right off the bat.

Magneto can apparently sense Prof X through his magnetic field, lol.

Mastermind's illusions are very Nazi Germany-esque - something I think is a bit peculiar given Magento's later backstory.

Also - how is this illusion army interacting with people?

Cyclops's eye beams need to be recharged - do we ever see that idea again?

At the beginning, the kids are celebrating their one year anniversary at Xavier's - is that from when Jean started or in general? It's also the fastest time is ever going to go in these comics.

It's sort of the first cliffhanger - as Prof X is knocked out and the X-Men decide to take on The Brotherhood on their own!

Next Time - The thrilling conclusion of the Brotherhood two parter, the X-Men meet the Submarner, and the Blob makes a return.

#xmen review #uncanny x-men #x-men

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yasuragi-hotaru · 7 years

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Uta Pri: 6th Stage Report Pt. 1

By now, it’s no surprise how deep into Maji Love Live hell I’ve fallen. So it didn’t take long for me to get into my head that I would, in one way or another, make it to the event in person one day.

The moment this post hit my dash, it made me think, “Man, I would hate to miss seeing that! I feel like that will definitely be a reality for 6th Stage. Wouldn’t it be cool to be there for it?”

“One day” could be a reality, if, with a little faith and a lot of hope, I tried.

GETTING TICKETS

Was by far one of the most exhausting things I’ve ever gone through. And that is saying a lot as I have been going to concerts, in local venues and arenas, rock and pop, both domestically and internationally, for 13 years now. Without a doubt, there is nothing, nothing like the process of getting tickets in Japan.

I researched extensively throughout the entirety of the ordeal reading up as much as I could (reference links later!) before I fully committed to take the plunge.

For 6th Stage specifically, there were 4 chances to get tickets:

5/27 Lottery w/code from Legend Star vol. 1 in January

5/28 Lottery w/code from Legend Star vol. 2 in February

5/27 + 5/28 Open Lotteries on eplus in early March

5/27 + 5/28 General Sale on eplus in Late March

As luck would have it, I went through each and every one of these before securing my ticket. That’s right, I lost out in all 4 lotteries and somehow, by the grace of God, scraped the bottom of the barrel to snag a rare ticket from the general sale. Now. I’m pretty sure this took years off of my life, so here’s some things I learned along the way for each entry point.

5/27 Lottery w/code from Legend Star vol. 1 in January

Purchased through CDJ, shipped as Registered Air Mail - this was definitely mistake #1. I barely got my package in time to send the proxy service my code for the entry period orz orz orz

I used a proxy service (Japan Concert Tickets) and they were incredibly helpful, professional, and upfront throughout the whole process!

I was overly optimistic here, totally thought it was a shoe in, NBD, so losing the first time stung pretty badly ngl

5/28 Lottery w/code from Legend Star vol. 2 in February

As soon as I received MLLS1, i immediately updated the shipping for this next order to EMS. I received my DVD the day of the release. Yay! 10/10 recommend this shipping option if you need something right away from CDJ.

Still worked with JCT as the proxy service, but obviously lost out on this one, too

5/27 + 5/28 Open Lotteries on eplus in early March

This was probably the most stressful of the lotteries. probably because of the finality of what losing on these lotteries meant. SIGH OTL HERE WE GO.

I worked with JCT to enter, too, and they were a little less patient with entering on my behalf vs. the previous two times. Probably because they were helping more people this time than with people who made the purchase to enter in Jan and Feb.

They sent their confirmation of entering the lottery the day before the entry period ended. Cue anxiety. Woof.

I found out afterward that I could have also entered myself (I made my own eplus account after the fact), but I didn’t. I mourned over this for a while once I lost out on these lotteries, too. Oh well.

When JCT sent the losing notification, it was a blanket BCC email saying due to the extremely low chances of winning tickets, they will not be offering lottery services for future Utapri shows, for the time being. So FYI for prospective MLL attendees. Otherwise, they were very very easy to work with, and i totally understand it’s not the best use of their resources. Alas, off to fend for myself. Onwards to the general sale!

5/27 + 5/28 General Sale on eplus in Late March

At this point, i was pretty defeated, ngl. Everywhere I read, everywhere said don’t even bother with the general sale because there’s no chance.

I, obviously, refused to believe this. I believed there was a chance, even if it was a sliver of a chance. But it wasn’t over yet. Despite myself, I kept the faith and stuck it out.

eplus does not recognize international credit cards, which is ANNOYING. As a work around, I set up my account to pay/pick up at Family Mart. I figured I could figure this payment part out if I got to it. SHRUG

I have NEVER used eplus before, so I tried to poke around to other ticket pages to get a feel for how the application process works.

Spoiler alert: the 6th stage ticket application was NOTHING like the other ticket pages I poked around on D:

I was really scared to have my browser translate the page to English in the event it messed with the loading time or cookies on the page. I tried to memorize the fields so I could at least have some muscle memory with the first page on what goes where.

At 12:00:01 JST, I refreshed the page. And eplus told me I lost my place because I had another eplus page open. I did. it was my member page bc i was checking randomly for something else.

r u srs.

I went to go back, and the site crashed.

wtf the fuq.

I spent the next few minutes compulsively refreshing the page. F5 F5 F5

by 12:07, I assumed that tickets were already sold out.

I still kept refreshing

by 12:10 i officially resigned i had no chance, ready to close the browser window

I still kept refreshing

Suddenly, the application page loaded with options

I started toggling between either day, as the page said tickets were available for both

the page kept loading

the entry fields continued to show up

i kept hitting enter

i frantically just kept trying combos

then finally….the next page loaded

i s h i t y o u n o t I blacked out. i straight up blacked out, i don’t remember what i thought, what i saw, what I did, WHATWASAIR, my mind just blanked because I DID NOT THINK I WOULD GET THIS FAR.

all i remember is that i just skimmed through the page, scrolled to the bottom and it was a blur of letters i didn’t recognize and then a big pink button.

i clicked it.

the next page just said application complete

???????????????????

what. that’s…..it? that’s it…..?!?!?!??! that seemed too easy. wasn’t I supposed to confirm my name for the ticket? what did I miss? WHAT WAS ON THIS MYSTERIOUS SECOND PAGE. I may never know.

By 12:30 i received an email from eplus with a Family Mart code and a message to redeem the ticket in 48 hours.

with the help from my friend, I was able to track back track the steps that led me to getting the confirmation code

thankfully, she was able to help facilitate the transaction in Japan, so by Monday afternoon my time, I got a note that my ticket was secured.

For a long time, NONE OF THIS FELT REAL.

General sale was, by far, one of the most INSANE experiences I have ever put myself through. I truly feel for all other fans who’ve tried and either succeeded or failed. It’s GRUELING. The eplus interface was not intuitive, the entire process was not user friendly at all, and if Japanese is not your first language, it is definitely a challenge.

However, if you are not weak of heart (or just downright stubborn like me), then I absolutely encourage you to try it anyway!!! I knew that this was my last chance and I am convinced getting my ticket was a fluke. I especially knew it, given how late I got in after the tickets went up for sale that I would be VERY VERY VERY FAR AWAY. But it didn’t matter.

Out of sheer dumb luck and blind determination.

was going

to Maji Love Live 6th Stage.

PINCH ME.

Things I referenced as my guide:

@aishiteruitsumo6‘s 5th stage reports

@otokogizenkaigofight‘s ask about 5th stage tickets

Bernie’s summary of Getting Concert Tickets in Japan (and overseas)

@sincerely-shine‘s How to Get Tickets to Seiyuu events

A Momokuro forum discussion page specifically for oversea fans

good ol’ Reddit

I would say, more or less, these posts definitely set the foundation of the beginning of the process, if you’re curious! (and a massive thank you to all of you, you have no idea how much all of your details helped me!)

(Continues on to Goods Line & Trading @ Sunshine CIty)

#maji love live #maji love live 6th stage #seiyuu #uta no prince sama #utapri #utapuri #yh reports #mll reports #AND SO IT BEGINS Y'ALL #i'm not joking i must've lost years from my life trying to get tickets to this goddamn event #just about 3 months of PAIN to try and get tickets #would i recommend it to everyone?#not at all #like seriously #if you don't like soul crushing rejection #then don't do this #would i do it all over again?#PROBABLY LOL OTL

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