All-New X-Factor #4 – Review

By:  Peter David (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Rachelle Rosenberg (colorist)            

The Story: Gambit faces his worst nightmare, an enemy who can’t be robbed, blown-up, or seduced. Can he pull off the impossible before Polaris kills a former X-Man?

The Review: Let’s get it out there: All-New X-Factor #4 is one giant battle sequence. If you’re looking for something else, you might be disappointed, but leave it to Peter David to remind us how much fun it can be to just watch our heroes struggle.

Of course in order to struggle X-Factor needs an adversary and one capable of taking on the fledgling team. Fear not on that score, Danger more than adequately fills the role. Possessed of all the powers of the Danger Room itself, the amnesiac android makes for a convincing threat. Her hard-light constructs, in particular, get put to good use.

Unfortunately, Danger isn’t all that much more charismatic than her namesake chamber this issue. Driven by blind anger and lacking memories, Danger is fairly one-note villain. The number of times she declares what she knows or proclaims the time of someone’s demise is simply too high. Like the Terminator or Jason Voorhees, Danger’s…well, danger comes from her slow inevitable crawl towards victory, but while her tactical cleverness makes for some great bits, her intelligence robs her of an elemental charm.

All-New X-Factor #3 – Review

By: Peter David (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Gambit discovers that leading the Thieves’ Guild is as easy as herding cats as we discover that he’s actually pretty good at herding cats.

The Review: The first two issues of All-New X-Factor were somewhat surprising. I’ve always found Peter David to be a very talented writer with a knack for defining his characters and people swear by his second run on X-Factor. All the same, there was a distinct lack of identity in the opening story of this series.

This issue begins to address that concern and wastes absolutely no time doing it. From the first panel, David’s character-driven, old-Hollywood sensibility comes through clearly. In addition to a greater sense of David’s voice, this issue deals with many of the most interesting topics from the first two issues. Big subjects like Serval’s morality and Dr.Hoffman’s obsession with mutant powers get some time to grow, while David set the stage for the introduction of at least one of X-Factor’s missing crewmembers. Along the way, he also makes good on his NYCC promise that Gambit’s leadership of the Thieves’ Guild would come into play, which sets up our newest arc.

As you may have guessed, this issue is the best paced of the short run. The issue is packed with plot progression, but there’s plenty of room to play around. Quicksilver’s personality is still being defined as ‘hated by one and all with good reason’, but he’s much more human than he was last time. We also get some insight into Polaris that certainly frees her from the ‘generic team leader’ role that she seemed in danger of falling into. Though she has a ways to go, the weak link continues to be Gambit.

All-New X-Factor #2 – Review

By: Peter David (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Pietro finds himself dodging bullets, returning insults, and surrounded by people who want him dead, including the ones he’s there to save. So, really, a pretty average day for him.

The Review: Now that we’ve established our team and the questionable multi-national funding them, it’s time for this all-new X-Factor to take on their first mission. In classic Peter David style, the issue pokes all kinds of holes in our preconceived notions of the genre.

One of the most interesting elements of this mission is our antagonist, one Dr. Terrance Hoffman. Though we’re still reading comics awash in a sea of Silver Age nostalgia, it feels like a long time since we’ve had a fair share of old-fashioned ‘mad scientists’. Well Hoffman certainly fits the bill. He lacks some staying power, but he’s a charming opponent with some fascinating theories on mutation that just might come back into play. I can’t help but notice that all his talk of energy conversion contrasts cleanly with Gambit’s abilities.

Speaking of Gambit, he remains our lead character, though David does a good job of spreading the love between his three protagonists. David’s lack of experience in writing Remy is a little more apparent, now that he’s not stealing things left and right. His accent seems to pop in and out, and at times he seems a little too normal. He’s not quite the everyman that Madrox was and, funny as it is to hear he and Pietro argue about Star Wars, I’m not sure that it reads as a convincing Gambit. Polaris, on the other hand, suits David’s style wonderfully. She’s competent without being perfect and relatable without being unfocused.

It will be clear to anyone reading this issue why David’s Quicksilver has a reputation for being a scene-stealer. Pietro’s exactly the sort of character that’s fun to read about because you’d hate him so in real life. The script has a great handle on Pietro’s powers and way of thinking. Unfortunately this story has serious ties to some of Quicksilver’s more questionable recent history. It’s explained pretty well within the issue, but nice as it is that David found a way to make something out of those stories, my opinion has generally been that the less Marvel references its crazy, inbred, decade-long X-Men event conga the better.

All-New X-Factor #1 – Review

By: Peter David (writer), Carmine Di Giandomenico (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist)

The Story: Gambit finds himse- THIS YEAR GET HER WHAT SHE’S ALWAYS WANTED- you can skip this advertisement in 5…

The Review: The original Peter David X-Factor was a team of mutants assembled by the United States government with mixed results. The next time David assembled the team they were a struggling private investigation firm based in Mutant Town. Now the transformation is complete as X-Factor becomes a corporate entity, bought out by the mysterious Serval Industries.

As he did in the Madrox miniseries that launched X-Factor Investigations, Peter David has chosen to start slow and introduce us to three key members of his new team. Gambit is our protagonist this issue and David proves capable of writing a heroic, yet flawed version of the character. Gambit’s wit and sex appeal are intact and, though he’s a tad more generic than in his recently canceled ongoing, I think fans will be happy with David’s first foray into writing out favorite Cajun superhero.

Fans of David’s Quicksilver may not be as pleased. While Pietro is himself, he’s a fairly unspectacular addition to this particular issue. Polaris is largely relegated to being a plot engine, however David does set the stage for some interesting developments and I expect that future issues will be better for both of Mr. Lensherr’s children.

All-New X-Factor: An Interview With Peter David

On the last day of New York Comic Con, I had the very good fortune to sit down with Peter David to talk about his long and storied career in the world of comics.

Mr. David has been writing comics for the better part of thirty years and has worked on all manner of projects; from cult classics like Young Justice or his trademark X-Factor to lengthy runs on some of the industry’s biggest titles like Aquaman and The Incredible Hulk. He’s also found success as a novelist and a screenwriter.

Gambit # 15 – Review

By: James Asmus (writer), Clay Man (pencils and inks), Seth Mann (Inks), Rachelle Rosenberg (colors)

The Story: Gambit has concocted his perfect heist, the one that makes his name forever, too bad it was stolen.

The Review: If you’ve been wondering why you haven’t seen Remy LeBeau hanging around the halls of the Jean Grey School lately, it’s because he’s been in this title, stealing as he pleases, charming a monarch or two, and looking good doing it.

This issue is actually a lot like Gambit himself. It’s clever, enjoys the sound of its own voice, can’t resist a bit of fan-service, and is a little too self-aware for its own good. Though they get some use this issue, we don’t see much of Gambit’s mutant powers. It seems that James Asmus believes (correctly, in my opinion) that Gambit’s status as a mutant isn’t nearly as essential to his character as his dual roles as thief and hero.

Despite the conflict between these two halves of his life, Gambit ends up playing detective in this issue, which ends up letting us spend a lot of time with Gambit, his thoughts, and a couple of friends he might not take back to the school.

Part of Gambit’s appeals is that, though his subtleties run deep, at the core he’s a character you know before you read the first page. Asmus does an excellent job of playing to that archetype while guiding readers to the specific iteration that is Remy LeBeau. Just as nice, he has a great feel for Remy’s voice, accent and all.

We also get a look at a world that a normal X-Men book simply wouldn’t show us, whether that’s investigating a simple crime, elaborate as it may be, or dealing in the in the seedy business of sneaking illegal aliens into New York. Asmus paces each of these scenes expertly, making this feel like a longer comic than it is and allowing Gambit to have a couple of small-scale adventures on the way to his larger goal and a, slightly predictable, twist ending.

X-23 #18 – Review

By: Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (artist)

The Story: Believe it or not, this is what you would call an easy evening minding the Fantastakids.

The Review: This is a hard book to review, because I feel like I’m not the target audience. Everything about this issue, from the soft textures, to the pastel colors, the teen angst, and frankly, the babysitting-gone-wrong theme just screams adolescent girl. So for me, this book felt a little alienating, and I had a hard time distinguishing which parts were objectively bad and which were just trappings of the genre.

So, trying to be as objective as possible, there is actually a good deal to like. The digital painting from Sana Takeda is quite impressive, especially when you consider that she’s taking on responsibilities that would normally be shared by up to three artists. As a result, the art really has a unified feel and expresses exactly the right mood for the book. The colors are cool but the shapes are warm, leaving the reader with a lingering sense of tenderness even while X-23 is battling a giant mech across a junk-filled landscape.

Moving on to the writing, this issue does not serve well as a jumping on point. I opened up to a dragon caterwauling though NYC with Franklin and Val of the Future Foundation in its clutches and Laura desperately clinging to its tail. At that point, I put this issue down and went back to read issue #17 to help get some context. It seems Laura had been hired by the Richards to babysit, and the kids got into some inter-dimensional mischief. This helped me get my bearings for a few pages, but moments later, the kids inexplicably disappeared into a glowing light and Laura was stuck in the aforementioned robot rubbish rumble. And from there, things really started to get weird. I love a sense of mystery and wackiness in my comics, but this issue pushed my limits.

What’s worse is there’s no character really suitable to react to the bizarreness of it all. This is FF territory, where the narrative needs bold, wacky characters to keep up with insanity around them, or an everywoman whom the reader can relate to as she gapes in awe at everything happening. But with the kids rapidly pulled from the story, the reader is left with only X-23, and while Laura’s cool-headed, unflappable disposition makes her a great soldier, it doesn’t make her a particularly interesting or helpful explorer of the unknown.

Herc #8 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), June Brigman (penciller), Roy Richardson (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: Herc learns that even a hideous mutation can’t stop him from scoring with the ladies.

The Review: From what I’ve gathered, Spider-Island sure sounds like a fun romp.  But from the point of view of this title, the premise of the event comes across one-dimensional, random, and utterly pointless.  Having every Manhattanite, hero, villain, and civilian alike, transform into arachnid mutants may be a fun idea in theory, but once you have them, the question becomes: what do you do with them?  Cause a fly genocide?

Well, in Herc’s case, you can just sic him on a handful of X-Men for pretty much no reason other than because it pleases the Queen of Spider-Island for him to do so.  The ensuing action has its moments, like Storm whipping up a wind strong enough to launch Wolverine in a fastball special, but these hero-versus-hero battles rarely manage to gain much tension.  It’s not like there’s any real danger of them actually killing each other, so what’s to fear?

Herc #7 – Review

By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente (writers), June Brigman (penciller), Roy Richardson (inker), Jesus Aburtov (colorist)

The Story: Spider-Herc, Spider-Herc, / does whatever a Spider-Herc does.

The Review: Once upon a time, crossovers were a rare, novel event.  Then they became frequent pleasures, then common fool’s errands.  Now they come about every other month, and the effect on all comics, be they solid ongoings or criminally under-promoted minis, has been irritating, pointless, or detracting.  As a newborn series, Herc hadn’t a chance to stand on its own two feet before Fear Itself dragged it along in its wake.  Now that it’s over, we finally have a chance to see Herc grow into the title it’s meant to be.

Just kidding.  Enter Spider Island, ably demonstrating the downside of having all the heroes operate out the same city; if one has an epic adventure, shared universe etiquette dictates everyone has to participate, or at least acknowledge it.  Here, Hercules gets to join in on the fun, which makes sense as an entertaining interlude to an already prospering title, but when you have one that hasn’t even established much of an identity yet, it doesn’t seem wise to let the star attempt to take on someone else’s.

Not that Pak-Van Lente don’t bring their trademark humor to the gimmick.  Herc has clearly established himself as second only to Deadpool in the mockery department, and while Spider-Man is no slouch when it comes to self-deprecating jokes, there’s still plenty of laughs to be had at the web-slinger’s expense.  In the midst of crowing over his extra surge of power, Herc wonders, “But what is this strange new feeling?  With this great power…comes great…angst?”

Had the writers simply stuck with these kinds of gags, the issue probably would have worked better, but we also have three competing distractions: guest appearances by several X-Men (no telling why they had to show up in this title—don’t they have, like, eight of their own?), Anansi the African spider-god-trickster, and Arachne, who vaguely reveals herself for two panels and, aside from giving us a fine view of an arthropod behind, serves virtually no purpose to the issue.

X-Men Legacy #250 – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Khoi Pham, Tom Palmer & Marte Gracia (pencils/inks/colors – Legion Story), Steve Kurth, Jay Leisten & Brian Reber (pencils/inks/colors – Rachel Summers story), Cory Petit (letters), Sebastian Girner (assistant editor) & Daniel Ketchum (editor)

The Story: A two-parter for this special anniversary issue.  In the first part, we visit some of Legion’s out of control personalities.  In the second, we learn a little more about Revenant/Rachel Summers and where she and the Starjammers are.

What’s Good: I really like the general style of story telling that Mike Carey is going for here.  Too often modern comics have these discrete 6-issue arcs that collect nicely into trade paperbacks with each 6-issue arc having very little to do with the last one.  Here, Carey is picking up some ideas that spun out of his Age of X storyline and actually playing with them.  You wouldn’t be totally lost if you were a part-time X-Men reader and picked this issue up cold without reading Age of X, but you might be a little confused.  And that’s how it should be dammit!  Nothing makes me feel like a bigger chump than realizing the money I plunked down for the BIG STORY in 2010 isn’t having any impact on the stories I’m reading today.

The Legion story is well told and features a diverse grouping of X-Men: Legion, Professor X, Magneto, Rogue, Gambit and Frenzy.  Even though I do roll my eyes a little bit every time I see Legion or Gambit on the page, I think we should give credit to Carey and the X-editors for creating a team that doesn’t include Wolverine, Cyclops or Emma.  Just having this different team setting off on a different mission to contain some break-away Legion personalities is fun because I’m not wondering how these characters can be in multiple places at one time.

But, the star of the issue is the Starjammers storyline.  If you’ve been reading X-Men for longer than a couple years, you know that Ed Brubaker took the  team off into space for the Rise and Fall of the Shi’ar Empire story.  That story lasted one year and when it was done, some of my favorite characters (Rachel Summers, Havok and Polaris) were left in space.  Well….they’ve been gone for ~4 years now with nary a peep so it is nice to see that story line being picked back up.  Again….this type of story telling makes fans feel like we weren’t chumps for buying those issues in 2007.  And I’m ready for another good X-Men-In-Space romp.

X-23 #10 – Review

By: Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (art), Jody Leheup (assistant editor), Jeanine Schaefer (editor)

The Story: Laura’s having a hard time absorbing some of the things she’s discovered about her past. She starts cutting herself, as useful as that can be for someone with her powers, but it certainly points dramatically to her pain and inner conflict. Then Wolverine and Jubillee arrive, each carrying a mirror of a kind for Laura to see herself in.

What’s Good: I was blown away by Takeda’s art. I’d only seen it before in Ms. Marvel and it hadn’t seemed to me to be the right fit for him. But here, the dreamy, ethereal tone of his art works absolutely perfectly for the cutting scene with its slow-mo water clock of a dripping faucet. The color combinations he picks are stark and dramatic, and the mistiness that suffuses his environments makes the reality of his foregrounded characters that much stronger. Laura’s eyes throughout are haunted, despite the foil she has in Gambit, who seeks to pull her free of what she’s found out about herself. The action moments, juxtaposed so neatly with moments of zen-quiet are shockingly clear and violent, revealing a conflicted soul, at once in action and reaction.

The writing was subtle, in that Liu wisely gave stage directions to her artist and let his powerful art tell the story she wanted. Where the story absolutely needed dialogue, she wrote what she needed and not a letter more. This was very tight writing. Wolverine’s appearance, while triggering my cliché-meter, actually surprised me by strengthening the story. I feel that Marvel is throwing a few popular characters into pretty much every book to shore up weaker-selling titles (see his lackluster appearance in Avengers #13 this week). That wasn’t the case here. Wolverine totally needed to be part of this issue, as did Jubilee. Wolverine, in many obvious senses, has been where Laura has been, and his wisdom, so far from the superficial uses writers seem to make of him, was touching and powerful. I bought what he was selling to Laura and the Remi. And Liu surprised me with the ending.

X-23 #2 – Review

by Marjorie Liu (writer), Will Conrad (artist)

The Story: X-23 awakens at a halfway house in San Francisco that has been set ablaze, surrounded by bodies.  More importantly, the evidence points to her being the murderer.  After returning to Utopia and spending a little time with Cyclops, Storm and Gambit, Hellverine shows up to taunt and attack our heroine.  One bleeding and dying Hellion later (That tends to happen to him often, doesn’t it?), X agrees to take a magical mystery tour within herself to prove that she has a soul.

What’s Good: It seems that Liu is beginning to find X-23 ‘s voice, which is pleasing to this reviewer.  I complained about her lack of consistency with the character’s previous appearances, but she’s definitely finding Laura’s voice, especially in the opening scene where we flashback to a happier time with Wolverine himself.  “I have heard that roller coasters make people scream and vomit…  I want to try it.”  Those lines alone were golden and reminded me of some of the better dialogue given to the character by her creator’s Craig Kyle and Chris Yost.  Liu also smartly establishes the duo’s familial relationship in this scene, making the betrayal towards the end of the book that much more emotionally potent.

I’m happy with the use of Gambit in this issue.  It’s nice to see another, less predictable X-Man paired up with X-23, just as Storm was somewhat in the last issue.  The choice of Gambit works even better as he’s been out of the spotlight of late in most of the X-titles.  I also enjoyed the manner in which the character was introduced into the story.  The use of the word “petite”, the coat and the fingerless gloves, all followed by a close-up of those crimson eyes tells you all you need to know.  It’s a nonchalant manner uncommon to comics and it works.

X-Men Curse of the Mutants: Storm & Gambit #1 – Review

By: Chuck Kim (writer), Chris Bachalo (pencils), Tim Townsend, Jaime Mendoza, Wayne Faucher, Al Vey, Victor Olazaba, Mark Irwin & Bachalo (inks), Antonio Fabela & Bachalo (colors) & Joe Caramanga (letters)

The Story: Storm and Gambit try to break into Vampire Island to steal the body of Dracula.

What’s Good: If you’ve followed the X-Men for any length of time, you’ve been burned by these one-shot/miniseries that tie into whatever event or status quo is going on in the main X-books.  Sometimes these one-shots are just complete crap, but I tend to buy them because I hope I’ll get what this issue had.

Considering this issue stars two of my least favorite X-Men (Storm and Gambit), it is (surprisingly) a lot of fun as they make their way through Vampire Island to steal Dracula’s body.  Both are a little out of sorts because they end up relying on their thief-skills rather than their mutant powers and that was a nice change-up because we’ve all seen plenty of Storm zapping things from on high or Gambit slinging glowing purple objects around.

It also had some good guest starring roles for Emma, Dazzler & Northstar.  I love the way some writers just seem to really enjoy writing Emma and her snarky attitude.

Of course, backing this all up is art by Chris Bachalo (who is one of my favorite artists).  There are a few issues with it that I’ll discuss below, but also a few panels/pages that just sing and demand that you linger before turning the page.

X-Men Legacy #229 – Review

By Mike Carey (writer), Daniel Acuña (artist), Daniel Ketchum (associate editor), Nick Lowe (editor)

The Story: Rogue has entered Emplate’s dimension using the astral projection power of Trance to search for Bling!.  She found her, but also got discovered and is now running from astral monsters.  In the meantime, her teammates are trying to bail them both out.

What’s Good: I really enjoyed the whacked-out settings Acuña brought to life for this issue.  We’ve got a weird, other-dimensional castle, retro-tech, bizarre monsters that look like Cambrian explosion rejects, and chase scenes galore.  Acuña also drew an effective Scott Summers.  Given that Acuña is playing penciller, inker and colorist, he does pull off some of his trademark effects well, like where he changes color abruptly without the inker’s lines to separate the changes.  With Acuña, black is only used for true shadows and the rest of the definition he gives with different patches of color.

My first thought on the story as a whole was that it felt a bit empty.  Nothing had happened except that Rogue’s conflict had been decided.  But on second glance, this is a passable rescue plot set in a really original place (for this team).  And the X-team on Earth is working pretty hard on making this rescue a success, which drives up the tension even more.  The bits with Dr. Nemesis and “the smart team” were fun to read.  And, this issue is dominated by an effective chase conflict with Rogue.  Not sure why I had an initially negative reaction to the book, unless the art had a hand…

What’s Not So Good: Acuña’s art takes a bit of getting used to.  Since I’m talking about some of it here, I obviously haven’t completely come around to it yet.  I mentioned the great setting and background work above.  On most characters though, his style rubs me the wrong way.  The body proportion distortions, the occasionally crude and generic facial expressions, and the stock poses give all the characters an unnatural look.  And, just as an aside: The dumbest looking, least related cover of the week award goes to…. Legacy #229!

Conclusion: Diehard X-fans should certainly get this.  Carey has publicly stated his mission of really developing Rogue and Gambit and a few other, so if you’re a fan of any of those characters, you should get the book.  If you’re an occasional reader and you don’t get this issue, I don’t get the impression you’ll be missing out on something that to sends ripples through the X-universe.

Grade: C

-DS Arsenault

 



X-Men: Legacy #227(Utopia) – Review

By Mike Carey (Writer), Dustin Weaver (Pencils), Ed Tadeo (Inks), and Brian Reber (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The X-Men: Legacy Utopia arc serves the dual purpose of expanding the riots and getting Rogue (possibly Gambit and Danger as well) back into the main X-Men scheme of things. That makes for a good “X” story, but not necessarily an essential part of the Utopia crossover.

The Story: The rescue of an injured mutant, Trance, doesn’t go exactly as planned and soon she loses control of her powers. Rogue, Gambit, and Danger try to locate the girl before it’s too late. Also, Ms. Marvel feels she’s got a score to settle…

What’s Good: While it’s got all the trappings of a standard tie-in, X-Men: Legacy #227 is very well-executed. Because of that, it’s definitely better than your standard tie-in. The drama (and action) with Trance is pretty interesting, the team dynamic that Rogue, Gambit, and Danger have makes the book a good read, and the fact that the Legacy group is now operating with the X-Men (however temporarily) is most likely going to please any “X” fan.

Mike Carey writes every character effectively. While I expected the team of Rogue, Gambit, and Danger to be written well, I did not expect Carey to nail Ms. Marvel’s attitude (“I’m sort of on the clock here.”) so perfectly. Ms. Marvel’s appearance could have easily come off as somewhat unnecessary, but thanks to Mike Carey, her scenes are some of the most entertaining of the entire book. I also like what Carey does with Trance and how her situation comes to be resolved (even if it is a bit corny). I won’t spoil that here, but I will say that I appreciate that it’s satisfying.

Dustin Weaver’s work in Legacy #227 is quite a bit better than it was in the last issue of Legacy. Ms. Marvel’s look is much more consistent, the awkward poses are kept to a minimum, the characters show a great level of emotion (love Ms. Marvel’s look after the line I mention above), and the action hits the right notes. In addition, I like how Weaver and his team handle Trance’s power trouble. The split person scenes are neat.

What’s Not So Good: My biggest complaint about X-Men: Legacy #227 is that it never completely shakes the baggage that comes with being part of a tie-in. While the story is serviceable, it never feels like anything more than the minor sideshow that it is. If you can deal with that and enjoy the story for what it is though, you can probably ignore my complaint. I can think of two other negatives worth considering though. The first is that the resolution to the Trance issue is a bit corny and predictable. The second negative is that Dustin Weaver’s work looks pretty rough in a few panels near the end. The panels aren’t awful, but they do look pretty bad compared to the rest of them.

Conclusion: X-Men: Legacy #227 isn’t all that great (and far from essential) as a tie-in. Regardless, it is a rather good X-Men book. If you are a fan of the characters (like I am), then consider the latest Legacy to be worth picking up.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

X-Men: Legacy #226 (Utopia) – Review

By Mike Carey (Writer), Dustin Weaver (Pencils), Ed Tadeo (Inks), and Brian Reber (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I always feel like part of the problem when I pick up an issue of a series just because it’s a tie-in to some sort of event. And I feel like an even bigger part of the problem when I pick up a tie-in that’s part of a series that I had previously dropped from my pull list.

The Story: Gambit, Rogue, and Danger help out Cyclops during the riots that made up the bulk of the Utopia one-shot. Rogue fights Ms. Marvel, Gambit throws it down with Ares, and Danger comes to the rescue on more than one occasion.

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: X-Men: Legacy #226 functions as an entertaining side story to the Utopia event. Which is fine, but it also leaves the comic feeling a bit light as a whole. Rogue, Gambit, and Danger are a cool team and the way they go about handling the situation keeps things moving at a brisk pace, but that’s really all that the latest issue of Legacy has to offer.

Now on a technical level, the Legacy Utopia tie-in is solid all around. Mike Carey gives each character a clear voice and their personalities keep the action from ever feeling shallow. Speaking of the action, Dustin Weaver handles most of it well. There’s a few awkward panels and a few stiff looking characters, but as a whole I’m pretty satisfied with how everything plays out. The one thing I’m not satisfied with is how inconsistent Ms. Marvel looks. Karla Sofen has a different face in nearly every panel of her fight against Rogue. It’s a baffling flaw, especially considering how nice most of the character work is.

Conclusion: I wish there was more I could say about X-Men: Legacy #226, but there just isn’t a whole lot to the book. It’s solid all around, but completely unremarkable and far from essential. Consider picking it up only if you are a fan of the characters or want to have a bigger picture of what went down during the Utopia one-shot.

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny

X-Men: Noir #1 – Review

By Fred Van Lente (Writer) and Dennis Calero (Artist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I am not exactly sure what to expect from X-Men: Noir. The teaser images grabbed my attention and the premise is filled with promise, but it all comes down to execution. I believe Fred Van Lente and Dennis Calero can pull the series off successfully from a creative standpoint. The real question is whether or not they can make each individual issue feel satisfying enough to overcome the negatives associated with a $3.99 price tag.

The Story: X-Men: Noir #1 is all about setting up the tone and direction of a new version of the Marvel Universe. Noir begins, like many noir tales do, with the rather grisly death of a young woman. Her name is Jean Grey and she was a member of the X-Men, a group of sociopaths operating throughout the town without the guidance of their mentor, Charles Xavier. The case leads the detectives working on it to encounter a number of the colorful characters living and operating in the city.

What’s Good: The creative team does a good job of crafting a world that fans of both the X-Men and the genre should enjoy spending time in. The snappy dialogue and moody artwork goes a long way toward capturing what it is that makes the noir genre so appealing. Also, it is a lot of fun seeing the card dealer Remy Le Beau, the Brotherhood operating under the chief of police, and many familiar faces throughout the book.

What’s Not So Good: It is never a good sign when the debut of a new series makes me instantly think about trade-waiting. While the Noir #1 handles the world quite well, the story lacks any sort of punch or urgency that would keep me interested in picking the series up. I understand that is a key component of noir in general, but it doesn’t change the fact it makes for a frustrating and unsatisfying way to spend almost four bucks. The various pieces used in the story are interesting, as mentioned above; but they aren’t really doing anything of particular interest. In other words, there are a few of good ideas but I need more then that to justify the price it costs to follow the series.

On top of the story complaint, I also want to mention how frustrating Dennis Calero’s Greg Land-styled artwork is. The obvious use of certain celebrities I can deal with. What I can’t deal with is how he constantly reuses certain images over and over. Also, it is sometimes difficult to tell characters apart– the dark colors do little to help anything in that regard. While it captures the mood well enough, it doesn’t do the reader any favors whatsoever.

Conclusion: X-Men: Noir #1 is ultimately a frustrating and unsatisfying start to a series that is saddled with an unfortunate cover price. While I hate to come down so hard on something that feels quite fresh, it didn’t succeed in selling me a story or visuals that I can feel comfortable investing in. Give it a shot if you must, but don’t expect to get too much out of it.

Grade: C-

-Kyle Posluszny

X-Men: Legacy #214 – Capsule Review

Mike Carey, (Writer) Scot Eaton, Ken Lashley, (Pencils) Andrew Hennessy, Paul Neary, (Inkers) Frank D’Armata, and Edgar Delgado (Colorists)

Another month, another entertaining issue for the X-Men: Legacy series. This second arc wraps up with Gambit and Sebastian Shaw working together to help Xavier reclaim his mind from the recently awakened genes of Mr. Sinister. Meanwhile, Amanda Mueller attempts to take over Sinister, herself!

Carey, once again, effectively pulls from X-Men history to frame the struggle going on inside Xavier’s mind. His storytelling works extremely well, whether it’s done in a hallucinogenic flashback, a mindscape struggle, or a present day fight scene. Particularly impressive is how Carey makes sure all the major players get time to make an impact amongst a chaotic battle.

Art duties are, as usual, shared between two teams and they both do a nice job with the material. The action is strong, the flashbacks are fun, and the color work by both Frank D’Armata and Edgar Delgado is fantastic. All in all, this is another good looking chapter in Xavier’s story.

If you are an X-Men fan you owe it to yourself to check out one of the most consistently entertaining books in the X-Line. While this isn’t a great issue to jump onto (it concludes the current arc), it is worth checking out just for the teaser of where things might go in the near future. (Grade: B+)

-Kyle Posluszny

X-Men: Legacy #213 – Capsule Review

Mike Carey, (Writer) Scot Eaton, (Penciler) Andrew Hennessey, (Inker) and Frank D’Armata (Colorist)

All the pieces of the puzzle come together in this issue of X-Men: Legacy as the connection between Professor Xavier, Sebastian Shaw, Carter Ryking, and Juggernaut is finally revealed. The issue moves quickly as Gambit and Shaw form an unlikely alliance as they search for Xavier – who has fallen into Hydra’s clutches while suffering from strange hallucinations that may or may not be caused by Mr. Sinister.

For those that have stuck with his occasionally confusing story, Mike Carey’s story comes full circle and the bread crumbs he has dropped throughout the last few issues lead to a great payoff . As usual for this series, this issue features two different art styles, one for the present situation (strong, but marred by some silly facial expressions) and one for scenes taking place in Xavier’s mind (fantastically surreal and incredibly impressive). This is another strong issue and I expect great things to come out of the big reveal on the last page. (Grade: B)

–Kyle Posluszny

X-Men:Legacy #212 – Review

Mike Carey (Writer) Present Day Sequences: Scot Eaton (Penciler), John Dell, Andrew Hennessy(Inkers), and Frank D’Armata (Colorist) Flashback Sequences: Mike Deodato (Art) and Rain Beredo (Colors)

I honestly can’t believe how quickly Marvel’s been churning out these X-Men: Legacy books. It seems like I have a new one to read every other week. Don’t take that as a complaint, however; the book is consistently entertaining and is always one of the better reads in my comic pile. With issue #212, however, X-Men: Legacy may have hit a slight speed bump.

Professor Xavier’s quest to reassemble both the past and his shattered mind has always had a sense of urgency attached to it. With the reemergence of Gambit in this issue, that urgency is kicked up a notch as we find out Xavier is one of four people being targeted for assassination by an unknown force. The two hit the road looking for answers as Professor Xavier continues to make sense of the past. There are more hints that something larger is at work pulling the strings connected to Xavier’s quest as well as a few striking flashbacks. It all feels quite “business as usual” in relation to other issues of this series and, to be honest, the action sequences almost feel out of place. Had it not been for a fairly huge reveal near the end of the book, I would have been tempted to say that the story was in risk of becoming repetitive. Luckily, I can say that it’s nice to see the story picking up momentum with the arc continuing to show Professor Xavier in an entirely new light. Now to explain what I meant about the slight speed bump.

X-Men: Legacy has tasked the reader with making sense of Xavier’s complicated history through both the present and the past. While I appreciate leaving some things for the reader to figure out, when I finished this issue I felt as though I had missed something. Now it is possible that more will be explained and fleshed out with subsequent issues, but I worry that the gaps in my knowledge of both Professor X and X-Men continuity are starting to catch up with me. To put it simply, this issue made me feel like the story was moving too fast for its own good. I wanted more information on the people on the assassination list, as well as more information regarding some of the events shown through the flashbacks. I hesitate to fault the writer for this because the writing continues to be strong, but it like Mike Carey has certain expectations of those reading the story. I am starting to wonder if I do not meet those expectations.

The core of this story is a character study of Professor Xavier and, as a result, much of the story rests on dialogue and interactions. Mike Carey continues to shine in that regard as Xavier is given even more layers of characterization through his conversations, inner monologues, and flashbacks. Gambit is shown as someone who respects and cares for Xavier, while at the same time remaining wary of the professor because of his recent instability and past manipulations. It really creates an interesting dynamic and I’m interested in seeing where it goes from here.

As usual for the series, the artwork is quite attractive. Scot Eaton continues to draw detailed, moody settings that really compliment the tone of the story. The characters look, for the most part, fantastic and the bits of action flow quite well. If I have any complaint about Eaton’s work it is that some facial expressions look a bit odd. The colors by Frank D’Armata are impressive as always and continue to be one of the highlights of this series. As for the flashback sequences, this month they are helmed by Mike Deodato. While not quite as impressive as his recent work on the Thunderbolts series, the sequences are quite striking. I like how this book continues to get guest artists for the flashback sequences. It allows each issue to have a distinct feel.

Overall, this was another good outing for X-Men: Legacy that is tripped up only by the pace at which it is moving. That said, the writing and artwork are strong enough to keep things gripping even when it feels as though it’s relying too much on X-Continuity knowledge. (Grade C+)

-Kyle Posluszny