Age of X: Alpha #1 – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Carlo Barberi, Paco Diaz, Paul Davidson (pencillers)

Story: Without preamble or explanation, we are thrust into an America where mutants are on the run, all the time, where persecution is legislated and state-supported, and where human rights apply only to non-mutants. Through a series of loosely connected tales, we see what this America is made of.

The Writing: The X-Men have been doing alternate worlds since the classic Days of Future Past in Uncanny 141-142. The charm of these stories is that the writers and artists get to reimagine all the rich character histories and their moral centers. Villains can be inspirational heroes. Heroes can become villains. And we readers get to care because we have so much invested already in our relationships with these people. The strength of this issue and this concept are some of the fates of different heroes (the horrific fate of Cyclops, for example), those who are not quite heroes, but should be (Paige Guthrie), and those who have never been heroes and might be (Toad, for example). Carey hits all the right notes in this issue, and leaves most of the world unexplained. This is smart, because this is also a mystery story; I want to know why things are as they are, and I’ll stick with this story because I love these characters.

The Art: It’s really a grab bag of styles. Some are quite beautiful either in technical draftsmanship or in visual style. The transitions from one art team to another neatly signal the shifts in vignettes, but were a jarring experience for me as a reader. I get accustomed to a certain art team’s style as I read a book, and when they switch, I sometimes feel like I’m starting the process over. I don’t think I’m complaining for nothing, because the art styles are quite different. DC has been doing the same thing with Brightest Day, but usually there are no more than two art styles (sometimes three) to a BD book. As well, the art of the Magneto vignette by Davidson really didn’t work for me. It felt very two-dimensional and perspective or proportion wasn’t doing it. With those two art limitations said, I have no trouble saying that the art was otherwise good.

Conclusion: Mike Carey definitely hooked me in with the opening salvo of Age of X. I want to know where the heck everyone else is (Colossus, Nightcrawler, Xavier, etc). I’m going to be back for more.

Grade: B

-DS Arsenault

Dark X-Men: The Beginning #2 (Utopia) – Review

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I picked up the first Dark X-Men: The Beginning book because I liked the characters that were featured. Time to find out if The Beginning can hold out without the likes of Namor, Dark Beast, or Mimic…

“The Last Temptation of Cloak and Dagger”

By Paul Cornell (Writer), Leonard Kirk (Pencils), and Brian Reber (Colors)

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: Paul Cornell’s story about Cloak and Dagger is about as basic an “offer” story as you can get. Norman Osborn approaches Cloak and Dagger about joining the Dark X-Men and as expected, Cloak and Dagger really don’t have much of a choice in the matter. Cornell’s dialogue is pretty strong (he writes a great Osborn) and Leonard Kirk’s art certainly gets the job done, but that’s really all there is to say about “The Last Temptation of Cloak and Dagger.”

“Weapon Omega”

By Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman (Writers), Michael Lacombe (Art), and John Rauch (Colors)

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: The story about Norman Osborn’s plan to get Weapon Omega on board with the Dark X-Men is rather clever, visually solid, and well-written. Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman do a nice job of explaining what Michael Pointer’s deal is and why he is the type of person he is today. In addition, Bernardin and Freeman manage to add an extra layer of slime of Osborn’s character. That’s no easy task with all the Osborn over-exposure going on.

“I Am Daken”

By Rob Willaims (Writer), Paco Diaz (Pencils), Guillermo Ortega (Inks), and Edgar Delgado (Colors)

What’s Good and What’s Not So Good: Before I say anything about “I Am Daken,” I have to ask: Is there anyone who truly likes Daken or thinks he’s a good idea for a character? Isn’t one Wolverine (that appears in at least one book almost every week) enough? Ok, with that out of the way, time for me to say a few things about Daken’s story.

Surprisingly, “I Am Daken” is the best of the three stories featured in Dark X-Men: The Beginning #2. That’s really not saying a whole lot, but there’s no denying that Daken’s conversation with Norman Osborn is sharply written and that the artwork by Paco Diaz is pretty slick (though I’m not sure I like how Osborn looks). If I have any complaint, it’s that the brief action scene comes across as a bit disjointed and somewhat unnecessary.

Conclusion: I enjoyed the first Dark X-Men: The Beginning book quite a bit more than the second. That said, the second is worth checking out if you’re a fan of the characters. If you aren’t a fan, then by all means skip Dark X-Men: The Beginning #2, since there’s nothing in the book that absolutely must be read in order to get more out of the Utopia storyline.

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny

X-Men: Manifest Destiny #2 – Review

By 1) Mike Carey (Writer), Michael Ryan (Penciller), Victor Olazaba (Inker), and Chris Sotomayor (Colorist); 2) Skottie Young (Writer), Daniel Panosian (Artist), and Nick Filardi (Colorist); 3) Chris Yost (Writer), Paco Diaz (Artist), and Matt Milla (Colors)

The Story: 1) After being shot by Mystique in the last issue, Iceman is hospitalized. However it doesn’t seem to be over as Mystique catches up with him there and shoots him full of a nerve-killer that will either “kill or cure” him. 2) The Juggernaut sits in a bar somewhere out west, talking with the locals about whether he should be “good” or “bad.” 3) Emma Frost has a long, boring internal monologue because she’s afraid that the other X-Men don’t like or trust her. Boo hoo.

What’s good: Juggernaut is always cool, especially in scenes like this where he’s taking a break from being an unstoppable engine of destruction.

What’s not so good: Emma Frost is always cool, except here, where she’s acting totally out of character. If you’re a world-class telepath, how can you not know whether or not people like you? And since when does she give a damn? The whole point of Emma Frost is that she doesn’t care.

Conclusion: Comics are so short already, Marvel really isn’t doing themselves any service by splitting books like these into even shorter vignettes. There’s no reason the last two stories couldn’t have been placed in the context of one of the many other X-books. The Iceman/Mystique storyline is obviously leading up to something, but I have no idea what. Reversal of the Decimation? But didn’t Bobby already get his powers back? And the two of them have zero chemistry. Manifest Destiny feels like a grab-bag of lukewarm leftovers.

Grade: C+

– Andrew C. Murphy