1100 ( )

I very much enjoyed the plot with the X Club attempting to undo "no more mutants", and the time travel issue that involved. The plot involving the Red Queen I found underwhelming - I haven't read much of pre-2004 X-Men, so many of the characters involved I had little knowledge of, and no attachment to. I did like the little description boxes, identifying the characters and giving info on their current state. ( )

As someone who is just now getting back into comics, I feel like I've stepped into a completely different world and Sisterhood is no different. Perhaps it is just the way of comics now, but I feel like the stories are becoming more and more disjointed. While reading Sisterhood I had to stop several times throughout the story just to make sure that I was understanding all of the nuances and not missing out on anything pertinent to the plot.

The Sisterhood storyline itself was engaging enough, but the true gem of this trade paperback is the time travel sequence at the end. I enjoyed watching some of my favorite mutants go back in time to explore the true beginning of modern mutants. I also enjoyed the steampunk liberties that the series took. Plus, the mini-twist at the end gave me chills and left me feeling incredibly satisfied. That particular issue was well written, well paced and, honestly, just plain old good storytelling.

I'd recommend this paperback to fans of the X-Men series, but would perhaps tell those who have no experience with comics or X-Men to steer clear of this one until they've obtained some background info on the characters and series. ( )

Did I just say that Fraction does the X-Men as thriller not melodrama? Well, this was definitely X-Men as melodrama. Autopiloty superhero soap opera, but still decent. Guy's holdin' it down and Marvel should suck him dry. I didn't get too into the Sisterhood stuff--decent plot, boring characters (like I care about Mastermind's daughters? although it occurs to me now that it adds a certain resonance to the plot about Madelyne Pryor and Jean Grey)--but the story at the end where they just brazenly pretend the 19th century was steampunk as all get out was cute. ( )

This is the second book I read on David/tapestry100's recommendation (during that fated trip to the bookstore where I had what I now like to call "The Scott Pilgrim Encounter") and it made me long for the days when I actually managed to keep up with comic series. I've been so out of the loop for so long that I've made a bit of a vow to get back into it and caught up again. Time to renew the Marvel Digital Subscription.

But the book! Fraction's storytelling is excellent, and the artwork is beautiful -- with the exception of issue #512, where I didn't care for the artist's style at all (and it differed by leaps and bounds from Greg Land's work). ( )