Journey into Mystery #638 – Review

by Kieron Gillen, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Carmine Di Giandomenico (art), Chris Sotomayor (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: As they run wild, we learn that everything we thought we knew about the history of the Disir is wrong.

The Review:  While Journey into Mystery is one of favourite books, I’ll admit that I’ve not been too high on Exiled as of yet.  However, after the genius twist at the end of last week’s issue of New Mutants, things are definitely coming together with this issue.  As the Disir cause mayhem, it seems that the prior issues were only awkward because it was Gillen and DnA getting the pieces in place so that we could get to the story that is told this month.

This issue’s big reveal is, basically, that everything we thought we knew about the Disir is wrong.  Frankly, I love it when writers pull things like this, particularly given that Gillen created the Disir anyway.  The best part is that this sudden reveal about the Disir’s true history makes them far more sympathetic, which completes a slow-burn effort Gillen has been working towards throughout his run; since his run on Thor, the Disir have gradually become more sympathetic and this reveal is all of that reaching its fruition.  It’s a lot more tragic and it makes a lot more sense than a bunch of women randomly deciding to take up cannibalism in a cave.  It’s a great story by Gillen that serves to truly flesh out the Disir, putting the reader in the odd position of feeling a bit bad for the monsters as they rage around and tear the city up.

Quite honestly, that flashback tale/retelling carries the issue and it alone makes this by far the best issue of Exiled thus far.  There are other things to like, however.  Dani Moonstar really shines this month as the souped-up Valkyrie action hero, courtesy of Hela.  The last page is also a pretty bold move by Gillen and DnA, bringing back a very, very powerful character who is suddenly extremely relevant to this story.

Journey into Mystery #637 – Review

by Kieron Gillen, Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Carmine di Giandomenico (art), Andy Troy (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: So what did Sigurd’s spell do?  Not that much…it just turned all the Asgardian gods into humans.

The Review:  What an utterly bizarre issue. Of course, that’s rather the point.  Through Sigurd’s spell, Gillen and DnA effectively turn the world topsy turvy and the surreal, dream-like atmosphere that results is certainly part of this issue’s appeal.  Also, there is a certain joy the writers take in finding appropriate human roles for the depowered gods (who seemingly have forgotten their godliness).  Loki is an avid pen-and-paper role player, always a player in the game of his devising.  Volstagg is a baker who eats all of his own products (except the healthy stuff).  Sif teaches an MMA class.  For the most part, it all makes sense, and seeing what role each god occupies is rather amusing.

A big problem, however, is the dialogue.  Gillen and DnA elect to have the gods speak colloquial English (though their dialogue still has that Asgardian lettering) to reflect their human status.  This is great in theory, but not so good in practice, as it means that the Asgardians no longer sound like themselves at all.  For instance, Thor’s talking like an average joe takes something away from the essence of the character.  I see where the writers were coming from, but in execution, it falls flat, as the characters, in losing their distinctive voices, essentially become entirely different people.

Worse still, while JIM rarely falls flat when it comes to humour, Loki’s narration just didn’t work for me here.  Gillen has the issue narrated as though it were a game of D&D in which Loki is the player character.  It feels strained and forced and ultimately distracts, showing far too much artifice on Gillen’s part.

Exiled #1 – Review

By: Kieron Gillen, Dan Abnett, & Andy Lanning (writers), Carmine di Giandomenico (art), Andy Troy (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story:  After a mysterious hero from ages past dons his suit of armour, the Disir break loose from their enslavement in hell.

The Review:  I confess that I’m not at all a New Mutants reader and, as such, wasn’t particularly thrilled at the announcement of this crossover.  However, as a huge Journey into Mystery fan, I’m happy to say that a lot of the charm of that series remains in this issue.  In fact, you could argue that this is more a JIM storyline than a New Mutants one, as Thor and the Asgardians run amok, the Disir are the baddies, and Hela arrives on Earth.  Really, it actually made the New Mutants more palatable to me.  They felt somewhat disoriented and confused, suddenly thrown into a high fantasy, Journey into Mystery story, having to play outside their usual realm/genre.  Their presence is so dissonant, that it actually ends up being kind of cool.

As he had throughout JIM, Loki continues to light up every page on which he appears.  Even in this issue, which has much less Loki than your average issue of JIM, Gillen’s wit nonetheless crackles.  Loki’s playing a telephone game of sorts in relaying the bad news regarding the Disir was entertainingly scripted and Gillen continues to amuse with Loki’s eager adoption of contemporary slang.

Journey Into Mystery #634

Written by Kieron Gillen, Art by Richard Elson, Colored by Jessica Kholinne

The Story: So where did all that fear stuff go when the serpent died? Why, into Loki’s head of course!

The Writing: Kieron Gillen might just be Marvel’s best writer. Might be a bold statement, but anyone reading Journey Into Mystery and not feeling that way needs to question why they read comics in the first place. While I don’t agree with every choice he’s made in Uncanny X-Men, he’s still one of the best. Journey is simply the best place to see his talent unfold. This particular issue is brimming with awesomeness. From the conflict between Loki and Son of Satan to the journey through Loki’s nightmare–and even Thori gets a wonderful scene. What sets Journey apart from every other comic is that it doesn’t feel like any other comic out there. I think the closed is Unwritten, With this issue, he uses the comic’s own unique voice to set it apart from even its own series. Gillen gets really creative in this issue, but it never comes off as gimmicky. In fact, when Loki is telling the captions to shut up, instead of coming off silly, you really feel like this is completely natural in Loki’s nightmare and must stop.  The series so far is–well, it’s like Crime and Punishment. Crime and Punishment is divided into 6 parts. The crime takes place in part 1. The next 5 parts are all punishment. Well, so far we’re 4 or 5 issues after his actions in Fear Itself have concluded, and he’s still having to deal with all the choices he made–and this punishment doesn’t seem to be letting up anytime soon. There’s the coming crossover Exiled with New Mutants in May, and there’s that little matter of Sutur being freed. It’s like watching a “kid playing hero” learning that there is more work to do after saving the day. Hopefully this series has a long, healthy life, Loki and Gillen deserve it.

Journey into Mystery #632 – Review

by Kieron Gillen (writing), Mitch Breitweiser (art), Bettie Breitweiser (colors), and Clayton Cowles (letters)

The Story: Loki gets a very special present from Hela, courtesy of Garm.

The Review:  This was originally advertised as something of a Christmas issue, but ultimately, while Gillen delivers on that promise, we get something a little more subtle.  While there definitely is a nice message and a certain Christmas-y atmosphere, outside of an opening scene, it’s never overtly a Christmas issue.  Rather, it’s a charming one-shot that feels appropriate for the spirit of the season.

The first thing you’re going to notice about this book is the art.  It’s a pretty big departure from the look Doug Braithwaite established for the book and yet, it’s utterly gorgeous and totally appropriate in its own way.  Much like the Allreds, the Breitweiser husband/wife duo are perfect artistic compliments to one another.  They come together to bring you a book that feels, well, mysterious.  It’s a book that’s heavy on atmosphere and one really gets the feeling of a fantastical wintry wonderland.  And then there are the little puppies which are the core of the issue, and the Breitweisers do an absolutely adorable job on them, making them little bundles of malcontented fur.

And really, those puppies sum up this issue: completely and utterly charming and adorable.  This is a comic with a big heart, but one that also has mature sensibilities when it comes to its storytelling.  Loki, Leah, the puppies introduced in this issue, all of them are just so bloody lovable.

This helps Gillen in getting the reader to really become emotionally invested in the issue.  On the one hand, yes, the ending was predictable and yet, in spite of that, I was still crying out at “Loki, don’t do it!”  The fact that I was so desperate to get the ending I expected/wanted and that Gillen kept me on the hook throughout says quite a bit about this book.  When I finally got that ending, it was all too satisfying.

There are a lot of laughs to be had this month as well.  From Leah and Loki’s always wonderful relationship, to Volstagg’s honorary Christmas job, to the ridiculously murderous quips of Loki’s new pet puppy, you’re guaranteed to laugh out loud with this comic and all of the jokes are of the good-natured sort.

New Mutants #30 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), David Lafuente (art), Val Staples & Chris Sotomayor (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Sebastian Girner (editor)

The Story: Dani Moonstar is trying to get some help from Hela, but Hela needs some help herself in this Fear Itself tie-in.

What’s Good: If you like your New Mutants undiluted by appearances of bona fide X-Men, this is your kind of comic.  In the A-Story, we see Dani continuing her secondary role as a Valkyrie and I really enjoy this aspect for her given the character’s long association with Asgard (go read New Mutants Special Edition #1… Art Adams will make you weep).  Being a Valkyrie also makes her more than just another depowered and helpless mutant.

The B-Story is fun too as the rest of the New Mutants have accidentally landed in Hell-proper via a screwed up incantation of a spell.  Gotta admit, that would be tricky: Having a Hel and a Hell.  You’d think this sort of mistake would happen often.  But that gives Abnett & Lanning a chance to write a really delectable Mephisto.  Some writers make Mephisto more of a nasty or brooding presence, but I much prefer him as a sly and fun character that is always trying to trick folks into joining him willingly.  That characterization makes more sense to me because Mephisto does have all the time in the world to win our souls by offering us tantalizing treats.  He also takes a pretty fun interest in Magma/Amarra; what real devil wouldn’t use their powers to try to get the hot chicks?

New Mutants #26 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Leandro Fernandez (art), Andres Mossa (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Sebastian Girner (editor) & Nick Lowe (senior editor)

The Story: The New Mutants continue their first mission now that they’re on official mop-up duty for the X-Men: The search for Nate Grey.

What’s Good: As with X-Men Legacy this week, it is great that this X-comics has a unique cast of characters.  We have plenty of opportunities to see the exploits of the main mutants and some of those characters like Wolverine are so larger-than-life than they suck the air out of the room; it’s hard for a character like Magma to shine or develop much when Emma Frost is in the room.  I also really love that Abnett & Lanning have given these junior mutants a coherent mission: clean up the loose ends that the X-Men leave behind.  The mission the New Mutants are tasked with here is: Find Nate Grey.   And in finding Nate Grey, they’ll run across a leftover from Age of Apocalypse.  Funny how that story line keeps swirling around this summer, huh?

So, the basic set-up for the mission and series are solid.

The art is a positive from a storytelling standpoint.  There’s never much doubt about what is going on and the issue is nicely colored.

New Mutants #25 – Review

By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning (writers), Leandro Fernandez (art), Andres Mossa (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Sebastian Girner (assistant editor) & Nick Lowe (editor)

The Story: A new creative team takes over New Mutants and sets them on a new direction.

What’s Good: It’s just so nice to see the New Mutants with something to do.  The action here seems to pick up shortly after the New Mutants return from Limbo, thankfully without mentioning Age of X.  So, we find Cannonball kinda out of action due to injuries and loss of confidence and Karma still reeling from the loss of her leg in Second Coming last summer, not to mention Illyana isn’t going to be trusted by Cyclops for a good long time after the end of the Limbo mission.  In the face of all that, is there even a need for the New Mutants team?  Who’s left?

We open with a fun and well executed opening showing the New Mutants + Wolverine, Kitty and Colossus smashing up a car factory where a piece of Nimrod (from Second Coming) seems to have taken refuge and has been corrupting the machines.  Once they get back to Utopia, Dani Moonstar gets summoned to Cyclops office and while she expects to hear that the New Mutants are being scrapped, he instead puts her in charge of the team and gives the team a mission: To mop up after the X-Men’s big events by taking care of things like the “piece of Nimrod”.

And, you know what….  That’s not a bad mission for these guys.  It makes sense that there will be loose ends after any big X-story and the New Mutants are an appropriate team to take care of those problems.  One of my problems with the New Mutants is that the writers are always devising threats for them that are too damn big. If the threats were really that big, they would be taken care of by the X-Men, Avengers, FF, etc… Not by a bunch of B-list mutants.  So, with this mission, Abnett and Lanning can just riff on whatever X-story has just wrapped up and give us a new and cool angle.  Furthermore, they can probably pick and choose which X-stories to play with and just skip the bad ones.  For example, I’d be surprised if they fiddle with that whole Lobe story from Uncanny X-men.  Why do that when the much more enticing Curse of the Mutants or Apocalypse stories are laying there?

New Mutants #24 – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Allen Martinez (inks), Brian Reber (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Sebastian Girner (assistant editor) & Daniel Ketchum (editor)

The Story: Age of X comes to a close.  Will there be any wrinkles beyond “it was all in Legion’s mind”?

What’s Good: If I’m being cheeky, I’d say the best thing about this is that Age of X is now over and we can move on to some new X-Men stories.  That’s a mean thing to say because a lot of people worked very hard on this crossover, but it’s true.

Another nugget to take from Age of X is that it brings Legion front and center again.  If cover art is to be trusted, X-Men Legacy is going to have some focus on Legion in upcoming story arcs and it’s likely that a lot of current X-readers aren’t that familiar with Charles Xavier’s mentally unstable son.  If nothing else, by the end of this Age of X story, all readers would say that Legion is (a) crazy and (b) very powerful.

The final nice bit of this story was seeing the X-Men after the regain their proper memories at the end of the story, but before the Age of X thoughts have completely faded.  So, we see Frenzy and Cyclops share a passionate kiss…as Emma looks on….  and we see Storm and Namor give each other a meaningful glance since they were apparently a couple in Age of X (although nothing was done with their relationship).

New Mutants #23 (Age of X, Chapter 4) – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Allen Martinez (inks), Brian Reber (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Sebastian Girner (assistant editor) & Daniel Ketchum (editor)

The Story: Intrigue abounds as the action in Age of X turns inward.

What’s Good: As mentioned in the review of X-Men Legacy #246 two weeks ago, the Age of X event seems to be mostly skipping the traditional Act II of a story.  That is a very good storytelling choice by Mike Carey and the editorial team behind Age of X because Act II of stories doesn’t have much impact when we are dealing with characters that we already know well.  What is left of Act II deals primarily with revelations about the slightly different nature of these X-Men characters and that is plenty interesting because although we do know Magneto (or “The General”) and he has a very similar personality in this Age of X timeline, he has some fundamental differences from the wild type that are interesting to explore.

This issue also leaves the reader with a lot of mysteries unsolved.  We are now 2/3 of the way through Age of X and it is now pretty obvious that the big revelations will be coming right at the end of the story because things are clear as mud right now.

The strongest point of the art is the general layouts.  There really isn’t a panel in the issue where it is unclear what is going on with the story.  Now, there isn’t anything very adventurous about the pages and panel designs, but Kurth is not sacrificing storytelling by trying to feed us flashy images.

New Mutants #22 (Age of X: Chapter 2) – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Steve Kurth (art), Allen Martinez (inks), Brian Reber (colors), Chris Eliopoulos (letters), Jake Thomas & Sebastian Girner (assistant editors) & Daniel Ketchum (editor)

The Story: More is revealed in Age of X, Chapter #2.

What’s Good: Most of the really good things about this issue come from the editorial/publishing side of the equation.  The story is good too, but let’s take a second to slap some editorial backs.  First, good call to stretch out the opening act of this story.  The standard pacing to a 6-chapter story is two issues of opening, 2 boring middle issues and a 2-issue finale.  It makes a LOT of sense to stretch the opening because the boring middle act only is relevant if the story is actually going to change something in the X-universe.  Call it cynicism, but after reading hundreds of X-titles, nothing really changes.  So, let’s just have the fun mystery of the opening act flow directly into the slam-bang of the finale!

Second, it is great that this is truly a “Chapter 2” rather than an issue spotlighting the New Mutants as they deal with the same problems elucidated in Chapter 1 (“And now let’s go see how this set of characters is dealing with the same problem”).  Marvel had a nice opportunity to do this with Zeb Wells departure from New Mutants and they capitalize by making the events of this issue flow directly from Chapter 1.

Third, let’s give Marvel a little credit for just having the action of Age of X occur within the ongoing series rather than doing what they did with Shadowland or Chaos War and running a separate miniseries.  Those things are just sales gimmicks and while they do generate some sales, they raise fans’ expectations for the magnitude of the story and that leads to a cheapening of the underlying property.

As for the story itself, the mysteries are still building and that is fun and enjoyable.  Much of this issue deals with Rogue trying to get to the bottom of the appearance of Kitty Pryde in the last issue.  To investigate this, she has to invade Danger’s jailhouse where a LOT of mutants who seem to have some clues about what is really going on are being held.  We also get some tempting tidbits from Cyclops/Basilisk about the possible nature of the human troops attacking the Force Barrier protecting Fortress X.

Quick-Hit Reviews: Week of Jan. 26, 2011

Got-dang! There were a lot of comics that came out last week!  Even with all the reviewers at WCBR burning the midnight oil, it’s not always possible to get a full review up on everything when Marvel decides to release all of their Avengers and X-books in one week.  Sheesh!  But, still, we endure….

Uncanny X-Men #532 – We begin the handoff of Uncanny from Matt Fraction to Kieron Gillen.  Fraction had his high moments with the Utopia and Second Coming events, but the rest of his run was pretty uneven and this issue illustrates a lot of the problems that I have.  There are three story lines in this issue, but none feel very important.  First you have Emma, Fantomex & Kitty Pryde fighting with Sebastian Shaw.  I’m very unclear on what this story is supposed to do.  It isn’t interesting and if they just wanted Shaw back in circulation (which is a good idea), there surely are more entertaining ways to do it than this.  Two, we have Lobe and the Sublime Corp who have engineered mutant pills so that regular joes can gain mutant powers.  That just isn’t interesting or threatening and it has a lot of the pseudo-science that Fraction likes to use, but doesn’t pull off very well.  It’s very much what happens when someone who doesn’t know science tries to write something that is very hip about current science topics.  Three we have this Collective Man story that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere.  Unclear why this title can’t copy the formula that makes Uncanny X-Force so kick ass.  And Greg Land’s art is just bad.  I don’t mind his art the first few times I see it, but he’s been on this title for a while and we know his tricks now.  Marvel would be best served to just rotate him around their titles.  Grade: D — Dean Stell

2nd Opinon: There’s a clever idea to be found in the character of Lobe, but I’m not sure that it’s being used to it’s full potential.  A character who genuinely doesn’t hate mutants but merely wants to exploit an untapped natural resource is a nice change of pace, but the entire melodramatic quarantine gambit and the cookie-cutter personalities of his wannabe X-Men are somewhat sabotaging a story with lots of potential.  Throw in the obvious space-filler of the Collective Man sub-plot and the going-on-way-too-long side-plot concerning Emma Frost’s mission to disappear Sebastian Shaw (I’mnotgoingtopickontheGregLandartI’mnotgoingtopickontheGregLandart…) and I unfortunately found myself with a strong urge to go reread this week’s issue of Uncanny X-Force. Grade: C- — Joe Lopez

Ultimate Spider-Man #152 – Bendis continues his great second wind on this title this month as we simultaneously discover just what Black Cat was doing during his battle with Mysterio many months ago and , in the present day, watch as Iron Man nearly outs Peter’s secret identity to all of Forest Hills, Queens.  There are plenty of standout moments in this issue, ranging from Aunt May’s reaction to Stark’s entrance gaff to the “Amazing Friends'” reunion with the just-returned Gwen Stacy.  Peter’s conversation with Gwen was particularly touching and felt honest and real in a way that most complicated relationships in fiction fail at.  While I do have to admit to being slightly annoyed that after three months of teasing, we still haven’t seen any actual super-hero schooling, Bendis hits the rest of the notes wonderfully and has gotten me one more invested in this comic’s cast.  Extra kudos have to go to penciller Sara Pichelli whose work here has improved greatly.  I’m not sure if it’s just a matter of her having become comfortable with the characters and their world, but this felt like an issue of Ultimate Spider-Man in a way that is usually reserved for one produced by a more regular artist.  Great stuff.  Grade: A — Joe Lopez

Thunderbolts #152 – This has been a superstar of a title over the last year.  Jeff Parker always keeps the title clicking along at a swift pace.  No drawn out, overly long 6 issue story arcs from Parker.  Here the action builds on a storyline that has been in Hulk (also by Parker) having to do with some mega-monsters that are escaping from a MODOK island and wreaking havoc on Japan.  I love how the Tbolts are all such a neat team, yet you never know when one of them might turn on the others.  Great action in this one as they fight the mega-monsters and deal with a new threat form Hyperion.  Kev Walker’s art is really tight too and perfect for this book with lots of oversized, hulking characters. Grade: B+ — Dean Stell

Secret Avengers #9 – While the kung-fu pulp element is dialed way down this month, this issue is solid if only because it’s one where the Secret Avengers live up to their namesake.  It’s shadowy superhero covert ops stuff with Steve Rogers and John Steele dueling one another.  In other words, it’s a pretty good time.  There’s even a superhero trade that almost seems like a spy-swap of sorts.  More than that though, Rogers looks particularly clever this month and truly feels like the leader of a covert squad.  If anything, the superspy tone makes for an Avengers book that has its own clear identity and, in some ways, it’s own little corner of the Marvel Universe.  It’s a unique read with solid writing and solid art.  The only thing wrong with it is that I’m finding John Steele a bit bland in concept and appearance as a bad guy.  There’s really just not that much to the guy, and certainly not much at all that we haven’t seen before.  Max Fury is far more compelling.  Grade: B — Alex Evans

Dean’s Drive-by Reviews…

My pull list is way too long, so it seems like every week there are a few comics that neither I (nor any of my WCBR colleagues) has time to review thoroughly, but it still seems fair to give them the praise (or scorn) they deserve.

Skull-Kickers #3 – I was a little hard on the first issue of Skull-Kickers.  I didn’t think it was remotely “bad”, but didn’t see why all the fuss, why it was selling out, why people were able to sell their #1 issues on eBay at a profit before the book even hit shelves, etc.  It just seemed nutty that there would be so much fuss about a book that I thought was fine, but nothing special.  But, guess what…the 2nd issue was better than the first and the 3rd issue is the best yet.  This comic is really about a buddy-pair: rascally dwarf + huge, deadpan, contemplative dude.  There is lots of funny dialog between the pair and that almost makes the overall plot irrelevant.  It’s just fun.  The artwork is gotten better too, going from “fine, but nothing special” to “pretty good”.  If you haven’t been reading this, it might be worth checking out the trade in a few months.  Grade: B

Scalped #43 – THE WORST ISSUE OF SCALPED IN A LONG TIME!!!  Of course, that means it still gets a “B” and shows just how incredible Jason Aaron’s series is.  This seems to be kinda a one-shot with guest artist Jason LaTour and the story focuses on the all-hat, no-saddle Sheriff in the next town over from our beloved (?) reservation.  It’s just a solid story about humanity and heroism and how heroism portrays itself.  LaTour’s art is outstanding and fits with the look of the series, even if he did kinda mess up one climatic panel that shows how the bad guy took down the good guy (I stared at it for ~5 minutes total and am still unclear what happened).  Also, this issue’s story could be an important story element in a coming story arc.  We’ll have to see, but it is certainly worth reading this issue and series.  Grade: B

New Mutants #19 – The good news: I enjoyed this issue, which wraps up the “Fall of the New Mutants” storyline.  The bad news: I had a hard time remembering the events 5 days after reading it.  The title of the storyline is probably overly dramatic, but this story had a neat hook: An army expedition that went to Limbo for years and established a forward base there.  If you like the New Mutants, you’ll enjoy this issue, but it’s probably only for the mutant obsessed.  Grade: C+

Incredible Hulks #617 – I don’t like Hulk’s other son Hiro-Kala so that’s kinda affected my enjoyment of this issue.  And I just didn’t like the dramatic point of this story-arc: Hiro-Kala is flying an entire planet at Earth.  Established bad guys like Doom get to threaten the entire planet, but not newbies like Hiro-Kala.  The story is competently told, well written and the art is good, but I just didn’t enjoy this story arc at all.  Pretty sure I’m dropping this title.  Grade: C

– Dean Stell

 

X-Men: Second Coming – Review

Writers: Craig Kyle, Christopher Yost, Matt Fraction, Zeb Wells, and Mike Carey

Pencillers: David Finch, Terry Dodson, Ibraim Roberson, Greg Land, and Mike Choi with Stuart Immonen, Lan Medina, Nathan Fox, and Esad Ribic.

And so here it is: the last installment of the “Messiah Trilogy” or Messianic X Cycle (Say it. Make it catch on!). We’ve been through Endangered Species, Messiah Complex and Messiah War. Now it’s time for Second Coming, the event that concludes three years of X-Men stories. It’s been some of the darkest times in X-Men history. They’ve exiled themselves to an island nation after Norman Osborne and the Dark Avengers attacked them in San Francisco (Read Utopia for that), which then caused Magneto to return—with his powers back—and pledge allegiance to Cyclops. The Black Queen raised an army of dead mutants to attack their new home (Necrosha). In the meantime, Cyclops has been sending his own wet works team out to kill every threat to mutant kind, and they kill plenty. And Cable is off the future raising Hope, the mutant messiah, in a wasteland of a timeline literally blown to pieces by Bishop.  But X-Force has killed pretty much all except for their first target: Bastion, the robot-made-man-then-decapitated-and-later-made-cyborg-by-attaching-the-head-onto-a-Nimrod-sentinel-from-the-future. You know, one of those. And Cable has stranded Bishop in a future so distant that the sun is about to consume the Earth. It’s time for Hope to go back to the present and join the X-Men.

Now, that creative team. Well…it’s not the magic we had in Messiah Complex, nor is it the uniqueness we had in Messiah War. Kyle and Yost basically own this series. Pretty much every majorly important thing that happens in Second Coming happens in their issues.  Still, Mike Carey and Zeb Wells are both fantastic too. In fact, Zeb Well’s is surprisingly good as he was the one writer everyone expected to fall short. Unfortunately, it’s Matt Fraction’s writing that sticks out like an ugly chick in a swimsuit catalog. It’s not always bad, but it’s hard to believe that Fraction read a single issue of Cable or X-Force before writing Hope. When Wells, Kyle, Yost, and Carey are writing, the character is consistent. Yet Fraction writers her (and I’ve said this before) like a bipolar Pixie. His transitions are awful. At the end of the first act, Colossus is freaking out about Illyana being sent to limbo but shuts up when he sees Kurt’s dead body.  Fraction begins act two with Colossus smiling and suggesting a vampire movie to Kittie as she’s confined to her ghost chamber. What the hell? Everyone who was in the field are still standing around Kurt, he’s scared to death that his sister is dead too, and for some reason he takes the time to rent Twilight for his ghost girlfriend? And the thing is…that’ not even the only inconsistent part. Let’s move to the transition between act 2 and 3. In the end of Act 2, Beast gives an update of the wounded, including the fact that “Iceman has third degree energy burns over 25% of his body.” That sounds relative serious and a good reason why Iceman should be out of the game, right? Apparently not because we see Iceman without a scratch taking down a Nimrod with Psylocke and Fantomex. At this point, the other writers seem to have said “F it. Fraction ignored his injuries, we’ll use Iceman too.” What made Messiah Complex and Messiah War awesome was the proof that the writers were working together. In Second Coming we get four writers who do and one who ignores his peers. Having said that, the times Fraction is good, he’s really good. When Nightcrawler learns about X-Force in the second chapter was very well written as was the very last segment of the crossover, which we’ll get into later since it’s the end, but Fraction makes up for a lot of his bad writing there. Nightcrawler’s funeral…. not so much. But back to the writers who really brought their best to the plate. Carey is unsurprising. His last full issue of Cypher taking down the Nimrods is superb (in its writing…we’ll talk about art next). He writes every character perfectly. Even when he’s thrown a new one like Hope, it’s like he sat down, read every issue of Cable took a deep breath and said “yeah, I see what Swierczynksi’s doing with her. She’s not just young female Cable, but she is her father’s daughter nonetheless” and then wrote her. Prodigy describes Hope as the “voodoo doll for the whole mutant race.” Carey is basically the voodoo doll of every X-writer, and yet, like Hope, still has his own kind of power. Wells gives the best line of foreshadowing ever. When Hope and Dani are fighting, Dani says “I’m not the person you want to be putting your hands on.” The fact that Hope powering mutants by touch doesn’t happen until after Second Coming, and only for newly powered mutants, makes this line pretty awesome when returning to the crossover. But his best writing is in the first chapter of the last issue (confusing, I know) when he writers from Professor X’s point of view after Hope destroys Bastion and simply wants to curl up next to what is left of her father, and then when she wakes up and talks to Magneto for a little bit. We get the two seniors of the X-Men and both written so wonderfully. And Kyle and Yost? Well, seriously, their last X-Force issue when Hope comes into power is just fantastic, but it’s also their little beats along the way. For instance, at the end of act two, as Cyclops is about to send Cable and X-Force on a suicide mission. Wolverine blames Hope for what happened to Kurt,  but instead of telling Cable to hurry up and move out, he tells him to “get on with it.” “Get on with it” basically telling Cable to go to Hope, tell her he loves her, and goodbye. They (Cable and Wolverine) both know they’re going to die. Not even Wolverine can be callous towards a daughter about to lose her father, even if she doesn’t know it. And it prepares the reader. Why would Wolverine think it important to make sure Cable does this? Because a few pages later, Cyclops admits to having sent them all to die.

Onto art…sadly, the crossover falters a lot in this department. The only main artists that fit here are Ibraim Roberson and Mike Choi (all the “with” artists do no harm). And while Terry Dodson’s art isn’t bad in any way, it just doesn’t match the story. It’s jarring. His art would be great for a fun Spider-Man story, but for the story about the X-Men making their honest-to-god last stand? It’s just not serious enough. But at least Dodson’s art has quality. Because the fact they not only included Greg Land and his pornographic style, but paired him with one of the best writers of the series is just a sin. A comic book sin. His style doesn’t match, and his art is just bad. Every woman looks exactly the same. At one point it really looks like he just drew the same female boy twice but gave one a gun to indicate which was Hope and which was Rogue. And let’s not forget the most awful double page spread ever where he cuts out Hope’s legs but gracefully leaves her vagina. But we’ve heard every Greg Land complaint a thousand times before, so let’s just move on. You know who really should have been the artists here? Well, everyone from Messiah Complex would have worked, but instead, I would have loved to see Ariel Olivetti and Clayton Crain. Pairing them with Choi and Roberson would have given that “this is it” feeling to the entire story. And I really would have loved to see Olivetti’s Nimrods. That would have been awesome. Oh well.

New Mutants #17 – Review

by, Zeb Wells (writer) Leonard Kirk (penciller)

The Story: Just as Cannonball and Moonstar share an intimate moment, Magik shows up with a call to arms, dragging the team to Limbo to rescue kidnapped X-Man, Pixie.  Then they get their asses kicked.

What’s Good: Wells has done a superb job keeping this title engaging and entertaining, and the reason he’s so successful is because he puts character first.  Not only do each of the cast members make realistic and believable decisions, but their personalities completely jibe with what has come before in previous stories by other creators.  Any other title would suffer from starring not one but three ‘back from the dead’ characters (Warlock, Magik & Cypher, in case you’re lacking a scorecard), mainly in the likelihood of annoying long-time fans with their presence.  But just as the likes of Ed Brubaker or Joss Whedon have done with characters like Bucky and Colossus, Wells has silenced most if not all of those naysayers by writing them with respect for who they are and how they’ve acted in the past.  As a result, this series feels like a natural extension of the New Mutants’ lives and not just a retread of older stories (or an affront to them).  This issue continues with that feeling, especially concerning the scene with Dani and Sam kissing.  Some might disagree, but this feels like an organic direction that their relationship would travel in, and I’m curious where it might take them and how it will affect the team dynamic.  There are plenty of other great moments in this issue that reiterate the strength of the script, from Warlock’s continued self-doubt to Illyana’s no-nonsense demeanor to the confrontation with the grown-up Inferno babies at the climax.  Wells is delivering solid issue after solid issue and is quietly making this the most dependable X-Title on the stands every month.

New Mutants #15 – Review

By: Zeb Wells (writer), Leonard Kirk (art), Guru eFX (colors) & Joe Caramanga (letters)

The Story: The epic, decades long saga of Dean’s attempt to get into the New Mutants begins anew.  If he dies while reading this issue, how long until he comes back?  Seriously, in the fallout from Second Coming, the New Mutants take a little vacation, but (of course) trouble isn’t far away.

What’s Good: The best news is that I liked this issue enough to keep picking it up.  I have a decades long bad history with the baby-X-Men titles.  I get annoyed by the feeling that I’m missing something when proper X-books reference the New Mutants, yet every time I try to pick up the series, I find that I don’t care about the characters (don’t even know who they are half of the time) and really don’t care about whatever it is that they are doing.  And they often have mediocre writing and art!

So, I was pleasantly relieved when I finished this issue and enjoyed it.  The story line is very much a carryover from Second Coming (both the regular series and the Hellbound tie-in) that shows the New Mutants taking some time off to depressurize and dissect what may or may not have gone wrong during Second Coming.  I like how the X-creators are setting Cannonball up as Cyclops, Jr. and seeing him struggle with the responsibility and with the realization that being the leader is often lonely. And if he keeps kissing Dani, he’ll get hit with a sexual harassment complaint.

New Mutants #14 – Review

by Zeb Wells (writer), Ibrahim Roberson, Lan Medina, and Nathan Fox (artists)

The Story: Professor X recruits his crackpot son, Legion, to aid the X-Men against the unrelenting Nimrod attack on San Francisco.  Can we say ‘desperate measures’?  Cyclops rallies the troops on Utopia while Hope mans up big time and the mutants start suffering injuries and some red shirt casualties (again).  Meanwhile, in the future, X-Force continues their suicide mission and ends up face to face with, not one, but two huge Master Mold sentinels.  You want hopeless, we’ve got hopeless.

What’s Good: I’ve commented before about how difficult it is to review every chapter of this crossover when they’re all so (for the most part) damn good.  So, let’s just cut the crap and do this checklist style, shall we?

Breakneck pacing and dire straits?  Check.

Hardcore action scenes where one or more X-Men get their ass kicked?  Check.

Spot-on characterization for all your X-Favorites? Check.

Cyclops gives a rallying speech that you’ve heard a million times already but still find yourself getting amped up by?  Check.

One or two twists or turns in the plot?  Check.

A kick-ass cliffhanger that makes you say to yourself, “Hell yeah,”?  Checkity-check.

See, that saved us some time, didn’t it?  Oh, and I enjoyed the artistic decision to use such an offbeat artist as Nathan Fox to portray the Legion-mindscape scenes.  It was a welcome visual trick to the storytelling.

New Mutants #12

by: Zeb Wells (writer), Ibraim Roberson (artist),

The Story: The X-Men’s Alpha squad battle William Stryker and his soldiers, The Purifiers, in order to save Cable and Hope.  Meanwhile, the New Mutants go on  a suicide mission in the heart of Cameron Hodge’s headquarters so that they can buy their fellow X-Men valuable time.

What’s Good: After a perfectly serviceable entry last week that seemed to tread water somewhat, Zeb Wells delivers a fast-paced, exciting installment of the Second Coming saga with this issue.  Yes, the story is back on track, folks, and my faith in this crossover has just been refocused.  Wells has addressed some of my misgivings with the story-line here, and it’s heightened my enjoyment of the story.  In one fell swoop, not only does he explain why Cable continues to ditch the X-Men at every turn, despite reaching them being his primary goal, but he also does what no other writer so far has done: he’s made the villains of the piece actually seem threatening.  Both Fraction and the writing team of Kyle & Yost weren’t able to imbue Bastion and his forces with any attributes that would elevate them above the level of cackling villains.  However, Wells depicts Hodge and Stryker as formidable tacticians.  The military tactics in general, actually, that we see both the X-Men and their enemies utilizing is effective, really conveying the feeling that we’re witness to a war fought by equally intelligent forces.

Ibraim Roberson is not a name on my radar.  That, I’m sure, is about to change.  He has a style reminiscent of Salvador Larroca, yet it still manages to have it’s own unique charm.  His “acting” is well-handled, as well.  There’s a silent moment between Wolverine and Archangel that says all that it needs to, and not only does the artwork service the plot point, but it also manages to speak volumes about what these two teammates have been through together and the secrets they’ve shared.  On a somewhat related note, can someone please write an Archangel-centric issue of X-Men or X-Force  The things this character has been going through over the last two years have been riveting and I’m eager to find out how he actually feels about it all.

X-Force #21 – Review

By Craig Kyle & Chris Yost (Writers) and Clayton Crain (Artist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Thanks to the Necrosha one-shot and a compelling New Mutants chapter, the latest “X” crossover has gotten off to a solid start. Can Necrosha go from being solid to being good? Time to find out.

The Story: The X-Men battle Selene’s army as she continues to raise the dead.

What’s Good: X-Force #21 is packed with all the action and formerly dead mutants you could ask for. The shit hits the fan in a big way throughout the book and, really, that’s the best thing the comic has going for it. Every few pages a new “T-O” virus mutant is revealed so longtime X-Men fans are going to get a kick out of seeing some of their favorites back in action. And since the virus Selene uses allows her slaves to, in ways, retain their personalities, Craig Kyle & Chris Yost are able to write the recently dead mutants some pretty fun (though, at times, clichéd and silly) dialogue.

While it can be argued that the fights are actually all X-Force #21 has going for it (I’ll explain why shortly), some of Clayton Crain’s artwork, in this critic’s opinion, is simply stunning. It absolutely nails the grim, bleak tone of the story and totally does justice to the vision of Craig Kyle and Chris Yost. In addition, it must be noted that Crain’s work looks the best when the artist is given a lot of space to work with. And Kyle and Yost aren’t shy about giving Crain space to work with as evidenced by the number of large and full-page scenes. One particularly impressive image that shows the Techno-Organic virus at work is particularly noteworthy and absolutely worth checking out.

What’s Not So Good: The fight scenes and returning characters that take up most of the space in X-Force #21 are easily the best part of Necrosha’s second chapter. However, there’s no way to ignore the numerous flaws in the book. The story takes a backseat to the action in such a way that it’s impossible not to notice. The dialogue is super serious at points, heavy on comic book banter at others, and totally over-the-top almost any time a “MWUAHAHAHA EVIL!!” bad guy is in a scene. In other words, the tone of the dialogue is all over the place in a way that clashes with both the story being told and the visuals. Speaking of the visuals, Clayton Crain’s work is as frustrating in X-Force #21 as it was in the Necrosha one-shot. Far too many scenes are cluttered, muddy, or impossible to figure out. While the dark colors do a nice job setting the mood and tone of the story, they are WAY too dark WAY too often.

Conclusion: The second chapter of Necrosha delivers some kick-ass action and a whole lot of mutant fan service, but not much else. If you found yourself unsatisfied or frustrated by the Necrosha one-shot, you will probably feel the same way about X-Force #21.

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny

New Mutants/X-Force/X-Men Legacy: Necrosha One-Shot – Review

Necrosha: Chapter 1 by Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost (Writers) and Clayton Crain (Art)

Necrosha: Binary by Zeb Wells (Writer), Ibraim Roberson (Art), and John Rauch (Colors)

Necrosha: The Foretelling by Mike Carey (Writer), Laurence Campbell (Art), and Matt Milla (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: Since the first chapter of Necrosha takes up the bulk of the one-shot, I will use the regular review format for it. The two smaller chapters that lead into the stories that connect X-Force to New Mutants and X-Men: Legacy will get capsule reviews. Also, as a side note, be sure to read the one-shot after reading X-Force #20 (which I’ll be reviewing by the end of the release week), but before reading New Mutants #6. While it’s not entirely necessary to read X-Force #20, a few scenes simply won’t make much sense unless you do.

“Necrosha: Chapter One”

The Story: Selene builds up her army using an altered version of the techno-organic virus that Bastion has been using and makes her first move against those that have stopped her in the past.

What’s Good: New Mutants/X-Force/X-Men Legacy: Necrosha is, in many ways, a typical Marvel “hey it’s crossover time!” one-shot. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however, as Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost do a really nice job of finding a balance between getting readers up to speed and getting the Necrosha crossover rolling in a positive direction that makes it seem like Necrosha will be quite the treat for most “X” fans. And, in all honesty, that’s half the battle.

The best thing about the book is that, from start to finish, both visually and as far as the dialogue is concerned, the Necrosha one-shot carries an ominous, creepy tone that never really lets up. I’m all about mood and setting the stage and Yost, Kyle, and Clayton Crain nail it as far as the total creative package is concerned. Even when Kyle and Yost throw in some banter and one-liners, the first chapter of Necrosha manages to really drive home the point that stuff is about to “get real” as all the kids say these days.

Another high point is that the writers instill a real sense of history, as far as lives lived, into the story through both Selene and the various characters that are infected with the “T-O” virus. From Selene’s dialogue about her past to the conversations that take place between the formerly dead and the living, it’s clear that Kyle and Yost did the homework necessary to give Necrosha that extra bit of weight and depth. It’s that something that can turn a solid story into a good, or even great, story.

Visually, Clayton Crain’s artwork is near perfect as far as mood and tone is concerned. It’s dark, it’s heavy, and it expertly captures the horror movie vibe that permeates throughout the entire book. While Crain’s work is definitely flawed (which I’ll get to in a moment), a few scenes, like the birth that opens the book or the arrival of Selene’s army near Utopia for example, show that Clayton Crain is definitely the right artist for the crossover.

What’s Not So Good: There’s a lot to like about the first chapter of Necrosha, but, unfortunately, there’s quite a bit to dislike about it as well. While the good outweighs the bad, nearly every negative is directly related one of the start of the crossover’s strong points. It makes Necrosha: Chapter One feel rather uneven.

The ominous, creepy tone I talked about earlier? It’s certainly a highlight and quite effective…until you realize that the deadly seriousness leads to a number of groan-worthy lines of dialogue (“She sent us here to remind you of that…And to make you suffer!”) that tend to fall extremely flat. In addition, the seriousness makes some of the banter and humor feel wildly out of place. I’m all for lightening the mood, but the swing from horror to comic book fun and back again is a bit jarring.

Another part that didn’t bode well is the sense of history that Yost and Kyle use to the advantage of their story. It makes some portions of the comic feel too heavy on exposition. It’s understandable considering that chances are good that a large portion of the Necrosha audience isn’t going to know who a handful of the characters are, but it’s also rather annoying.

Clayton Crain’s fitting artwork? It is…well…Clayton Crain artwork. Now I truly find Crain’s work to be absolutely stunning when everything about it comes together. When it doesn’t, however Crain’s work can look muddy, overly dark, and, at worst, totally incoherent. Unfortunately, a large part of the first Necrosha chapter is pretty tough to follow due to Crain’s style. A number of characters look exactly the same (Wolverine? Shaw? Pierce? – Selene? X-23, a Hellion?) and while hairstyle and context make it fairly easy to sort out who’s who, it shouldn’t be a chore to keep characters straight. Also, some of the action that takes place is so darkly colored that it’s next to impossible to figure out what, exactly, is happening.

“Binary”

The Story: Binary is “turned on” by the T-O virus and helps Selene’s slaves get inside Utopia.

The Good And The Bad: I don’t know if this is really a negative (it could be considered to be since it’s not the main event), but Binary is actually the best thing about the Necrosha one-shot as a whole. It’s an extremely good short story all around. Roberson’s detailed artwork is impressive, John Rauch’s colors elevate Roberson’s work to another level, the binary code framed panels are a great touch, and Zeb Wells’ story does a great job reintroducing the character.

“The Foretelling”

The Story: Selene calls on The Crone to learn the future. The Crone then contacts her daughter.

The Good And The Bad: Laurence Campbell’s gritty artwork feels a bit out of place the book, but it still winds up being a nice fit for Mike Carey’s unsettling character piece. I’ve always liked Blindfold and her interaction with her mother does an excellent job of adding another layer of uncertainty to the start of the Necrosha crossover. While I wish there was a bit more to it, the important stuff manages to make quite an impact.

Conclusion: While the first chapter of Necrosha has a few problems it’s still a strong start to what looks to be a memorable crossover. As for the one-shot as a whole, thanks to two excellent bonus stories, the book is a surprisingly great package.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny