Writer: Scott Snyder
Artist: Danijel Zezelj
Cover Artist: Rafael Albuquerque
Publisher: Vertigo
There comes a time in every writer's run where they either begin to falter or they maintain their level of excellence to such a consistent degree, there's little new to say from issue to issue. As far as I'm concerned, Snyder has yet to make any mistakes in this series. This issue is a one-shot that reveals quite a bit about Skinner Sweet's past, taking place between the birth of vampire-Sweet and the birth of vampire-Pearl. Skinner takes a bit of a break, from whatever it is he does, and takes in some culture, also known as Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show. Unfortunately for Buffalo Bill his facts aren't so factual, naturally Skinner sets him straight. The scene between Skinner and his past love was great, it showed a slightly different side to Skinner. I think the best part of Snyder's writing, is his ability to make the reader care and even root for Snyder, regardless of sadistic tendencies. For those of you readers who think 11 issues is too much to catch up on, this 12th issue is a great starting point.
New Mutants #22 ****1/2Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Steve Kurth and Allen Martinez
Cover Artist: Clay Mann
Publisher: Marvel
Read the review for X-Men: Legacy first. Everything I said there applies here, except of course for the artist's name, because he's different in this issue. This issue's main focus is on Legacy/Reaper (Rogue,) while it also touches on the unravelling of the mystery behind this universe as well as touching upon further development of certain characters. I love Legacy's role in this book. I think logically it makes perfect sense and at the same time I love the personality of this new Rogue. The actual New Mutants didn't play much of a part in this issue, although Guthrie has been playing a fairly major role, but with that last panel we'll be sure to see them. Carey is doing such a fantastic job with this story, maintaining one fluid story as opposed to jumping around, that there isn't a necessity for readjusting when moving between series'.
Uncanny X-Men #533 ***Writers: Matt Fraction and Kieron Gillen
Artists: Greg Land and Jay Leisten
Cover Artists: Greg Land and Justin Ponsor
Publisher: Marvel
This issue was leagues better than the last couple. When the arc started there were three running story lines, the sickness, the fakes, and Shaw. As the arc comes to an end, the stories are coming together. In one part of the world Shaw rips through Kitty, Emma, and Fantomex. In another part of the world, also known as Utopia/San Francisco, the trust fund baby X-Men are being held in Utopia. Sublime Corps unveils their brilliant product, a fast acting, mutant power delivering drink. The X-Men, crash the party, unfortunately the crowd receives their own special bottles of mutant power. Disgusted by this, Scott calls for all able mutants to suit up and prepare for battle.
I think everyone would admit that this title has been struggle for quite some time, in both the writing and the art. The story, with as big a cast as it has, has been jumpy and unfocused. While the art, has similar issues. There's been a receptiveness about the work and the women often all look just like one another. That being said, this issue had a lot of what was missing from the arc, focus specifically, as well as a touch of humor. While it certainly wasn't the best issue this week, it at least gives hope that the arc won't end on a terrible note.
X-23 #6 ***1/2Writer: Marjorie Liu
Artist: Will Conrad, David Lopez, and Alvaro Lopez
Cover Artist(s): Kalman Andrasofszky
Publisher: Marvel
The first arc ends here and while the pacing slows down a tad, for the most part this issue was quite good. In the last issue, Mr. Sinister literally rips his way out of Ms. Sinister. The newly released Sinister easily defeats both Laura and Gambit, only to have Ms. Sinister retake control of her body. It turns out she'd been struggled to control the Sinister essence within her and lured Laura in the hopes of stealing her body. It's been a long while since Sinister was "murdered" (that guy really never does die) and it's been almost about as long since Ms. Sinister was revealed to be roaming the streets with her male counterpart sharing her body. The arc ends in a nice way, the loose ends get tied while the possibility of future threats remains in the shadows.
X-Men #8 ***Writer: Victor Gischler
Artists: Chris Bachalo and Tim Townsend
Cover Artist: Terry Dodson
Publisher: Marvel
I have near the same problems with this issue as I did the previous. I am not a fan of the art. I think that Bachalo does some things well, such as the monstrous creatures from the abyss. However, I think for the most part, unless he's doing solo shots of individuals, his art gets too complicated and everything blends with one another. For example, Logan's battle with the monster below was almost unreadable; you couldn't tell who was winning the fight until it had ended. The writing, I found to be better than the last. There was definite plot progression, however some of the characters feel almost unnecessary. It was a decent issue overall, but in my opinion still nowhere near as good as the last arc.
X-Men: Legacy #245 ****1/2Writer: Mike Carey
Artists: Clay Maan and Jay Leisten
Cover Artists: Leinil Yu and Clay Maan
Publisher: Marvel
Oh what a wonderful surprise Age of X has been. The fight scenes in this issue were absolutely fantastic; it's pretty much what you would expect from mutants who have no issue killing in order to stay alive. The Force Warriors, a group of powerful telekinetics who have created a telekinetic force field around Fortress X, is a brilliant idea. I am thoroughly enjoyed the new roles and looks some of these characters have (Scott Summers especially.) Carey has written things so well, that everything just has a fluid motion to it, including the character changes. The art is really nice in this issue, much stronger than the previous art we've seen by Mann. He is able to portray this new world of characters in a unique way, while keeping them similar enough for the reader to know who the character is without an explanation or a name. This is an absolute fantastic first chapter to this series.
American Vampire is so, so awesome!
ReplyDeleteAge of X is a wonderful read, I can't wait for more!
Go Gambit and X-23!