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?

X-Men: First Class – Movie Review

One of the most fundamental sticking points of the X-Men is their outsider status.  It’s what defines a lot of how we view the team and mutants in the Marvel U in general, but it’s also the very thing that limits real progress for their fictional civil and social rights.  To preserve the X-Men as unappreciated outcasts, most writers have maintained the human intolerance of them for decades, offering them few truly human, non-heroic allies in their quest for peace.

Ultimately, First Class largely overlooks this human element, and that’s what prevents the film from being better than it is.  Nearly all the human characters in the film get portrayed as either easily manipulated buffoons (Emma Frost making the Russian general grope thin air) or overly rash decision-makers (the entire higher US military).  This almost forces you to sympathize with the mutants in the film, even the obviously twisted ambitions of Shaw.

Part of the problem lies in using the Cuban Missile Crisis as a premise, or at least inspiration, for the plot.  Anyone who’s put some effort in studying that volatile period knows how many complicated political/intelligence factors were involved.  The film depicts the event by making it pretty much the results of Sebastian Shaw’s manipulations, making the ugliest, most dire nuclear confrontation in history the outcome of mutant meddling.

This really undermines the climactic finale of the film, which serves to dramatically play Xavier and Magneto’s conflicting ideologies.  Humanity gets brought to the brink of global apocalypse by mutant whims, and they’re saved by mutants more personally motivated by vengeance (the deaths of Mag’s mother and one of the X-Men’s own) than by justice.  Any way you look at it, humans became pawns and near victims in this deadly game, fairly just cause (in addition to the atrocities committed against US soldiers in the second act) for the resentment, which encourages their hasty actions at the end.

What the film really should have done was give Moira MacTaggert, the sole non-mutant with a significant role in the film, more interaction with the X-Men than mere tagalong.  She is the character driven most to do what’s right (her actions are basically responsible for saving everyone, human and mutant alike), and her sensitivity and even love for the mutants gets grossly unappreciated and unacknowledged by them, even by Xavier to a certain extent.

The film’s plot also gets hampered by several major logistical gaps.  Given Shaw is obviously a psychotic megalomaniac, maybe we should be unsurprised that his plan to simultaneously destroy humans and uplift mutants is so incredibly ill-conceived (it would’ve likely doomed both races).  His logic is simply bad; if atomic energy caused mutation, then wouldn’t all mutants be largely Japanese, Pacific Islander, or American Southwesterners?

Dark X-Men: The Confession #1 – Review

By Craig Kyle and Chris Yost (writers), Bing Cansino (Penciller), Roland Paris (Inker)

The Story: Secrets that have been eating at both Scott and Emma– secrets that could break them apart and exile them from the X-Men, must surface.

What’s Good: Kyle and Yost deliver some very fine character and relationship work in this one-shot. Shameful secrets are caustic to a relationship. They’re minor betrayals that eat away at the bridges between people in love. The writing team understands that and shows us the cracks between Scott and Emma, as well as the pain it causes them. There are lots of great elements here, served in non-linear, interrupting dialogue, just the way it would be in real life if two people were grasping at a difficult honesty in a last-ditch try to stay together. Scott and Emma, as all the best lovers can be, are experts at denial. They also live in fear of losing each other, and this, more than any love scene Kyle and Yost could have written, really showed the depths of Scott and Emma’s love. And telling the truth, for each of them, is hard, despite how quickly Scott forces it once he’s made up his mind to do so.

One last bit I really liked relates to how every villain looks in the mirror and sees a hero. Every villain justifies himself. That’s a good rule, but it ignores the role of shame, and of people who know the difference between right and wrong, and either through weakness and choices, do not follow the high road. Scott and Emma both suffer from this and it’s poignant stuff.

The art was quite suited to the emotional moments. The art is a very fine-lined style in spots, but the faces are as expressive as they need to be to carry the emotional weight the writing team has put on the story.

What’s Not So Good: The art team’s style was a bit strained in some of the action flashbacks, with occasionally awkward postures, especially around Wolverine and that last splash page. And where the fine lines and light inks made the emotional story work, they kept the action scenes from having the weight and depth they needed to really evoke tension and danger.

Conclusion: Kyle and Yost deliver a really strong boy loses girl character story, tied to everything that’s going on in the Marvel Universe right now. And I have to say, there’s a lot more to this couple than there ever was with Scott’s relationship with Jean.

Grade: B+

-DS Arsenault

Uncanny X-Men #508 – Review

By Matt Fraction (Writer), Greg Land (Pencils), Jay Leisten (Inks), and Justin Ponsor (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: It seems like nearly every month I wonder why I continue to purchase Uncanny X-Men. It’s as if I face the same irritations every time I read an issue. The story threads are too chopped up, the artwork is in a divisive style, and the arcs as a whole feel somewhat scattershot. While I don’t find the series to be bad or anything, I’ll be the first to admit that there are better comics I could be spending my money on.

The Story: Madelyn Pryor, Cyclops’ former lover, is back and looking to make good use of a captured “X” character. With the help of Spiral, Chimera, and Lady Deathstrike, she raids a cemetery to get just the body she needs. Meanwhile, Beast introduces the final member of his science team and lays out the current situation of mutantkind. Also, Wolverine does some recruiting and Emma attempts to teach the recently rescued Russian women.

What’s Good: You have to give Matt Fraction credit for being able to successfully cram so much of the “X” universe into one issue without too much confusion. He makes good use of the powers, personalities, and storylines that make up the mutant ‘verse and the series is all the better for it. Even those unfamiliar with the characters (or confused by Greg Land’s artwork) will feel sufficiently in the loop thanks to Fraction’s clever (occasionally annoying) information boxes. I mention that because Uncannny X-Men #508 is definitely juggling a whole hell of a lot at once….

What’s Not So Good: …And, unfortunately, the entire issue suffers because of it. Quite frankly, the whole thing is just incredibly frustrating to read and look at. That said, in truth, I like the storylines in play for the most part. What I don’t like is the way they are being chopped up into tiny little pieces that rarely feel satisfying. While the latest Uncanny moves plot threads forward more successfully than some of the previous issues, every one of them still feels incredibly stunted when left dangling for next month. In other words, from a story perspective I was left wanting more, but more because things felt incomplete and unsatisfying as opposed to them being genuinely compelling. Allow me to share an example…

During one scene, Wolverine learns of something over the phone and reacts by yelling out and unsheathing his claws. The next time we see Wolvie, he’s totally cool with everything and busy doing some recruiting for the team. Now what bothers me is that there was absolutely zero explanation about (or even mention of) his outburst at any other time in the issue. While it’s easy to draw a conclusion to what caused his reaction, there is no reason given in the book for why the reaction was warranted. I presume it is being left for next month, but for the time being I have to react with a big old “WTF?”

Want to know something else that is not so good? The artwork. While I think Uncanny is one of the better fits for Greg Land’s style considering how “talky” it can be, it would be nice to see the work manage to keep things consistent or appropriately detailed for more than a few pages at a time. The inks and colors do little to help matters either, as I think they definitely contribute to the consistency and detailing problems.

Conclusion: Uncanny X-Men #508 scores points for personality and effort, but ultimately winds up being far more frustrating than fun.

Grade: C-

-Kyle Posluszny