REVIEWS: The X-Axis - 23 December 2007

THE X-AXIS
23 December 2007
================

For more links, cover art, archived reviews, and information on the
X-Axis mailing list, visit http://www.thexaxis.com

------------

This week:

CABLE & DEADPOOL #48 - "Soul Survivors"
by Fabian Nicieza, Reilly Brown and Jeremy Freeman

EXILES #100 - "Home is Where the Heart Is!"
by Chris Claremont, Tom Grummett and Scott Hanna

ULTIMATE X-MEN #89 - "Shadow King"
by Robert Kirkman and Salvador Larroca

WOLVERINE: FIREBREAK
"Firebreak" by Mike Carey and Scott Kolins
"Little White Lies" by Macon Blair and Vasilis Lolos

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #20 - Our War, part 5 of 5
by Daniel Way and Steve Dillon

------------

It's Christmas, and you know what that means - absolutely tons of
X-books. It's a very heavy week, so you'll forgive me if we take some
of these briefly.

CABLE & DEADPOOL is now closing in on cancellation, with another two
issues to run before the finish. You may recall that Cable was written
out of the book several months ago to coincide with his death in X-Men,
since when the series has effectively become Deadpool Team-Up. Cable's
return in "Messiah Complex" hasn't changed that (although frankly it
would be nice if he could at least pop his head around the door for the
finale in February). This is still a Deadpool series.

There are difficulties with this format. By their nature, team-up books
tend to become a little contrived. A high-profile guest star - or at
least a reasonably established one - has to show up each month and play
a significant role in the plot. But at the same time, Deadpool is
trying to get on with a story of his own, in which those guest stars
naturally don't have much of an interest. It's not ideal.

What's more, when Cable was around, he was the real focus of the series.
Deadpool's story was mainly about how he related to Cable. Now, with
Cable nowhere to be seen, we're back to the old standard Deadpool plot -
beneath the anarchic behaviour, he wants to be a better person. He
learns moral lessons about how he could be a better person. The problem
is that we've seen this many times before, and it never really seems to
lead to anything.

This issue, for example, Deadpool is teamed up with Brother Voodoo in a
very odd and hard-to-follow story in which he apparently has to
"educate" the soul of his arch-enemy T-Ray so that it can be rejoined
with T-Ray's body. Or, possibly, the whole thing has been put on by
Brother Voodoo to try and teach them both a moral lesson to encourage
them to be better.

Reilly Brown's art is effective, and the jokes are generally funny.
Bob, a supporting character who doesn't really work, is sidelined for
most of the issue. But the story is one of those inexplicable mystical
plots in which essentially random things happen for the length of a
story and the significance of anything the characters choose to do is,
at best, elusive. Nicieza doesn't really seem that interested in T-Ray,
who seems to be in the story as a grudging concession to the fact that
he's the closest thing Deadpool has to an arch-enemy.

It's diverting enough, and there are a couple of moments that work, but
the whole is definitely less than the sum of its parts.

Rating: C+

------------

I was fairly restrained last week when writing about Chris Claremont's
X-Men: Die by the Sword. Quite a few of you e-mailed to suggest that I
was being excessively forgiving. To be honest, that came as something
of a surprise - if anything, I'm used to being told that I'm too harsh
on the guy.

So, EXILES #100. This is a curious issue that bears the hallmarks of
editorial mandate. Even though Claremont has been writing the book for
a while now, for some reason it's about to be relaunched as New Exiles,
with exactly the same creators. What we get to justify it is a roster
reshuffle, but not an especially drastic one (given that Claremont's
been shuffling his characters around for a few months now).

According to Claremont, his remit for New Exiles specifically requested
that the book should feature entirely characters of his own creation.
This is presumably why Blink, Thunderbird and Nocturne get kicked to the
curb in issue #100. The latter two have only just rejoined the cast -
in Nocturne's case, she rejoined last week in Die by the Sword #5.
Writing them straight out again comes across as weird.

As for Blink, for want of a better reason, she just decides to take a
holiday. To be honest, I don't really have a problem with that. She's
been with the team for a hundred issues and it's time to cycle her out
for a while. She doesn't really need a more powerful reason to leave.
At least all three of these characters are getting something approaching
a happy ending, and that's no bad thing.

The rest of the issue is basically a downtime story, light on plot, as
most of the Exiles enjoy a barbecue, while some of the newer characters
explore the Mansion. Tom Grummett's art is rather good, and there's at
least a belated attempt to flesh out the hazily-defined new characters,
Rogue and Mystiq - although not to the extent of giving them a
compelling motivation to stick with the team, now that it's evidently
become optional.

It's a light issue that seems to be completing an editorially-mandated
cast reshuffle, while holding off on the plot developments that can't
really begin until New Exiles #1. In other words, it's filler. But
Claremont makes a reasonable fist of including moments of reflection on
a hundred issues of Exiles, and there's certainly some sense of closure
here. For what it was, I thought it was perfectly alright.

Rating: B

------------

Ultimate X-Men #89 is a curious issue. It's a self-contained story,
which we don't see very often in these parts. That story also happens
to double as the pay-off to a long-running subplot.

I find that strange. Even though Robert Kirkman has been pacing the
series as more of a traditional superhero team book, the basic structure
of Ultimate X-Men tends to favour doing everything as a full-blown
multi-part storyline, especially when it's had lots of build-up. But
here's the Ultimate Shadow King storyline being resolved in 22 pages.

It has been rumoured in some circles that this book and Ultimate
Fantastic Four are being handed over to Jeph Loeb next year as part of
the "Ultimatum" event, whatever that turns out to be. It's not an
especially enticing prospect. Still, it might well explain why Kirkman
is suddenly writing the sort of story that you see from writers who are
trying to tie up their dangling plot threads in the remaining time
available.

Ultimate Shadow King turns out to be Amahl Farouk (as in the original),
a guy who hung around with Storm during her time with Yuri (as not in
the original). You might recall Yuri as a character from the Brian
Vaughan run who was serving double duty as Ultimate Lady Deathstrike and
Ultimate Yukio. In this version, Amahl became a mad psychic predator
after Storm left him in a coma after misjudging her newly-discovered
lightning powers.

It's not a bad origin story, and it's arguably an improvement on the
original version of the character. At least this guy has an agenda that
makes some sort of sense. The original Shadow King was just an
all-purpose evildoer with the gimmick of being a psychic entity, and it
wasn't an especially interesting idea. It also works quite well at this
length, if you leave aside the fact that it's a curiously short
resolution of a protracted subplot. It certainly didn't need a full
storyline, although a two-parter might have been ideal. The Brood are
weirdly swept aside as an afterthought, as though Kirkman felt obliged
to explain their appearance in earlier subplots, but didn't really have
time to do anything with them.

I've had reservations about some of Kirkman's recent storylines on the
basis that the plot has been driving the series, to the extent of
leaving the characters as passengers. This time, he doesn't fall into
that trap. It's a proper Storm story.

Salvador Larroca arrives as the new regular penciller, with a solid but
unspectacular issue. In fairness, though, the story doesn't really
provide many opportunities to show off. There's a sequence on the
psychic plane where Ororo and Amahl are both naked, but it's actually
done with some restraint. The old Shadow King character design, which
wasn't a classic to start with, puts in an appearance. Larroca does his
best with it, but doesn't really win me over.

Overall, this is perfectly decent. Kirkman and Larroca understand their
craft well enough to make an idea like this work, even if it does seem
rather strange in the wider scheme of things.

Rating: B+

------------

WOLVERINE: FIREBREAK looks suspiciously as though it started life as a
Wolverine Annual. Of course, we already had one of those earlier in the
year. But here's another one, labelled as a one-shot.

There are actually two stories here - Mike Carey and Scott Kolins'
"Firebreak", and a ten-page back-up by Macon Blair and Vasilis Lolos
called "Little White Lies." Mike Carey has been doing great work on the
X-books lately, and shows a better understanding of the characters than
many of his contemporaries. He's able to work with continuity and use
it to his advantage, but he recognises that this is not what the
characters are ultimately about.

Despite Marvel's evident conviction to the contrary, Wolverine is at his
most interesting when he just goes out there and does Wolverine-type
stuff. He doesn't need big revelations or wonky flashbacks. He just
needs to be Wolverine. It's as simple as that.

That's what we get with "Firebreak", a simple story in which Wolverine
helps a family of well-meaning but clueless suburbanites to escape from
a forest fire. Thanks to some weird experiments by Hydra, the smoke has
blinded Wolverine, and his eyes aren't healing the way they ought to.
So it's a story where his knowhow and alpha male status combines with
their eyes, and together they overcome adversity.

It really is that simple, and it's perfectly executed. There's a
well-handled subplot about the husband and wife's marriage, but
basically, it's a story where Wolverine does Wolverine-type things, and
is therefore cool. It's all you need.

The back-up strip, "Little White Lies", isn't quite as successful. It's
one of those stories where Wolverine is called in to help by an old
friend who we've never heard of before. This one is called Chief Lacey,
and his estranged son has been kidnapped by bad guys. Wolverine isn't
able to rescue the boy, but is able to report back that he died as a
Proper Man (thus meaning that dad was wrong about him).

I can see what it's going for, but it's all a bit rushed, and it doesn't
make especially good use of Wolverine. Still, I've read a lot worse.

Overall, though, this is clearly the best X-book of the week.

Rating: A

------------

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #20 is the conclusion of a five-part flashback to
World War II, which has the happy side-effect of allowing the book to
use the popular-yet-dead Captain America.

In fact, this story hasn't done a great deal to advance Daniel Way's
overall conspiracy storyline. That rather suggests that it exists for
the primary purpose of guest starring Captain America. Not that I object
to that, mind you. Precisely because it's been relatively light on the
insane conspiracy theories for most of its length, this has been one of
the more readable storylines to date.

The plot basically involves Logan meeting up with Captain America and
Bucky in World War II, and tagging along when they go after Baron
Strucker, only to find out that his handlers are actually on the other
side. For the most part, it's been a perfectly acceptable superhero/war
story, building on Ed Brubaker's idea that Bucky wasn't just a kid
sidekick - he also handled the stuff that needed to be deniable.

So we get a story where Wolverine meets a proper, full-blown hero, and a
flawed sidekick who's a bit more like him. This all works reasonably
well. Unfortunately, you can't have it all, and with the final story,
Way ends up back in conspiracy territory. In some ways, his finale is a
rather clever way of writing himself out of a corner. But it doesn't
really work as a continuity implant, because it strains credibility that
something like this would never have come up before. ("Say, Logan,
remember that time you betrayed me to the Nazis...?") It's too
fundamental to any future trust between Captain America and Wolverine,
and for that reason, it doesn't ring true.

The storyline is also a bit overlong at five issues. But that's a
relatively minor point; it does hold together quite well, and the pacing
will work better in the trade.

In most respects, this is probably the best Wolverine: Origins storyline
to date, taken as a whole. But the conspiracy elements are still an
irritant, and the final issue suffers badly from a finale that, although
reasonably clever on its own terms, feels downright wrong in any wider
context.

Rating: C

------------

Also this week...

NEW X-MEN #45 - Goodness me, an issue of New X-Men in which a character
dies. How unheard of. This is another "Messiah Complex" action issue,
which is fun enough in its own right. Okay, so by this stage, it's
really quite glaringly obvious that the plan is to have a relatively
simple plot spread over 13 weeks, and to fill the rest of the time with
fight scenes. That's fair enough up to a point, as long as the fights
continue to bear on the main plot - I don't mind this sort of pacing on
a weekly schedule. However, e're getting sidetracked here. X-Force
versus some anonymous henchmen of Lady Deathstrike? Hmm. On the other
hand, there's some good subplot material back at the mansion. I rather
like what they're doing with Cable. And Humberto Ramos's art is always
good fun in a fight scene. Yes, there's a lot of padding in here, but
even against my better judgment, I'm still enjoying this story. B

THE SCREAM #2 - The second part of Peter David and Bart Sears' curious
horror/superhero hybrid for Dark Horse. I'm starting to see where
they're going with this. The titular hero doesn't really exist, but our
protagonist can make everyone think he does. That's quite a neat angle,
and I can see a lot of story potential in there. It's actually a bit
more complicated than that - the lead character is apparently meant to
be a projecting empath who makes everyone around him feel the same
emotions as him. That could get a little bit wearing after a while, but
it's holding up so far. Bart Sears' art is a little ropey in the
conversational scenes, but his excesses work quite well for the Scream
itself. I'm sticking with this for a little longer, I think. B+

WORLD WAR HULK: AFTERSMASH! - WARBOUND #1 - Or, if you go by the indicia
instead of the logo, WWH Aftersmash: Warbound #1. It's a ridiculously
long title either way, and it'll get even longer when the Damage Control
series launches. Anyhow, this is a five-issue miniseries about the
surviving members of the supporting cast from "Planet Hulk", with SHIELD
trying to track them down. It's written by their creator Greg Pak, with
art by Leonard Kirk, and it's certainly a solid piece of work. Pak
clearly likes the characters, and admittedly there's no room for them in
the monthly title (now that it's turned into a vehicle for Amadeus Cho
stories). But the story is a slightly generic affair with an old Hulk
villain, and I don't really get the feeling that Pak was desperate to
tell the next chapter of the Warbound's story. Still, he's always been
very good at getting the best out of an editorially-driven remit, and if
that's what he's doing here, the result is still perfectly fine. Fans
of the characters - and enough people read "Planet Hulk" that there
surely have to be some - should be happy with this. B+

------------

There's more from me at If Destroyed, and if you're desperate for more
Article 10 columns, you can always hunt through the archives on Ninth
Art.
http://ifdestroyed.blogspot.com
http://www.ninthart.com

Next week, it's the X-Axis review of the year. All the titles, all the
miniseries. God help me. But if you're wondering what's actually
coming out in the dead week between Christmas and New Year: X-Men #206
continues the "Messiah Complex" crossover; X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #4 has
more space opera; and the Silver Age X-Men get their powers back in
First Class #7. Plus, issues of the Official Handbook and Marvel
Spotlight.

--
Paul O'Brien

THE X-AXIS - http://www.thexaxis.com
IF DESTROYED - http://ifdestroyed.blogspot.com
NINTH ART - http://www.ninthart.com