X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas #1 – Review

By Jeff Parker (Writer – Both Stories)

“The X-Heist” Art Team – Carlo Pagulayan (Pencils), Jason Paz (Inks) and Wil Quintana (Colors)

“Atomic Age Heroes” Art Team – Chris Samnee (Art) and Veronica Gandini (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The X-Men/Agents of Atlas crossover seems a bit unnecessary. That said, I can’t help but support it if it helps to grab more readers for the next volume of the Agents of Atlas ongoing.

The Story: In “The X-Heist” the Agents of Atlas attempt to steal Cerebro from Utopia in order to use it in their search for the missing Venus. “Atomic Age Heroes” is decidedly old school in tone and style as the X-Men and the Agents of Atlas fight it out because of mutant wildlife.

What’s Good And What’s Not So Good: X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas #1 (lead by the “X-Heist” story) is, somewhat surprisingly, a fine start to what looks to be an entertaining bridge between the Atlas ongoing and the eventual monthly Incredible Hercules bonus feature. The X-Men and the Agents have a confrontation for a logical reason and that goes a long way towards making the limited series feel more meaningful than your typical cash/reader grab-fueled crossover right from the start. The “Atomic Age Heroes” story, meanwhile, is a fun slice of retro comic goodness that proves to be a nice little addition to the book.

While the storytelling and character work by Jeff Parker is as strong as expected (it’s what has made Atlas a favorite of mine) for both stories, Parker’s use of Matt Fraction’s now signature character information boxes in “The X-Heist” is, in a word, annoying. I get that the limited series is designed to get Uncanny readers interested in the Agents, but by using Fraction’s style it seems as though Parker (it might be Marvel’s fault) is setting up a bait and switch move. Agents of Atlas has never read like an “X” book, so maybe it would have been a better move to let the limited series read more like an Atlas book. At the very least it would have given new readers a better taste of what the Atlas series is really like. At least “Atomic Age Heroes” makes up for it somewhat by reading like long like comic from Marvel’s past.

Carlo Pagulayan’s work for “The X-Heist” is very impressive and does both teams justice. The X-Men look iconic, the Agents look appropriately pulpy, and the action makes good use of all the characters battling it out. Everything looks slick, modern, and polished during most of the “X-Heist,” though I’m not quite sure that’s exactly the best style for the comic. It makes the Agents look really out of place and, I hate to say it, but a bit silly. Two scenes employ a more familiar Atlas style however, and it makes me wonder why the look couldn’t have been used for the entire book.

Chris Samnee’s work for “Atomic Age Heroes” is a perfect fit for the way the short bonus tale plays out. It’s retro and old school without ever giving off the sense that someone was trying to hard. In short, Samnee’s art hits pretty much all the right notes and helps “Atomic Age Heroes” to be a lot of fun.

Conclusion: More Atlas is always a good thing, but I can’t help but be disappointed by the fact that someone felt that the Agents needed to conform to the X-Men style.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

Exiles #5 – Review

By Jeff Parker (Writer), Casey Jones (Pencils), Karl Kessel (Inks), and Anthony Washington (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I’m going to miss Jeff Parker’s Exiles when the series comes to an end next month. It’s had a short, but very sweet, run…

The Story: The Exiles try to escape their robot captors and learn some very startling information about the current reality they are in.

What’s Good: Jeff Parker scores a lot points for taking a fairly basic “robopocalypse” concept and injecting some clever, intelligent (Marvel-centric) twists into the formula. I wish I could go into more detail about what makes the story in Exiles #5 so cool, but it’d be a shame to ruin some of the smartest moments of Parker’s plot. In addition to a cool plot, the latest issue of Exiles also provides the usual dose of humor and personality that has made the series such a fun read since the beginning. It’s clear now that Parker had some sort of character path for each of the Exiles planned (Beast’s, while obvious, works especially well in Exiles #5), which makes series finale all the more disappointing. Oh and another good thing? Morph is as cool as ever!

The artwork done by Casey Jones, Karl Kessel, and Anthony Washington is a breath of fresh air in comparison to all the dark, gritty, moody Marvel books on the stands. While one could argue that the art would look more at home in a Marvel Adventures book, it really brings all the creativity and personality of Parker’s script to the page. And quite frankly, isn’t that what the artwork is supposed to do?

What’s Not So Good: The biggest complaint I have about Exiles #5 really doesn’t matter a whole lot in wake of the series cancellation. That said, here it is: the formula Jeff Parker seemed to have in place for Exiles is more prominent than ever in Exiles #5. If you’ve been a reader since issue one, you’ll have no problem seeing nearly every plot beat before it happens. As a result, some of the storytelling takes a bit of a hit. My only other complaint is that, as far as character work goes, I still prefer Salva Espin’s work to Casey Jones’. I think Espin’s more cartoony style is a better fit than Jones’ more realistic one.

Conclusion: Exiles #5 delivers everything I’ve come to expect (not 100% a good thing) from a Jeff Parker Exiles book. If you’ve enjoyed the series so far, why not stick it out till the finale next month?

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny