{"id":273,"date":"2010-04-03T21:09:16","date_gmt":"2010-04-03T20:09:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=273"},"modified":"2010-04-03T21:09:16","modified_gmt":"2010-04-03T20:09:16","slug":"the-x-axis-4-april-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/?p=273","title":{"rendered":"The X-Axis – 4 April 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you care to check one post down, you’ll find this week’s House to Astonish<\/em> podcast, in which Al and I discuss Nemesis<\/em>, The Guild<\/em> and the X-Men: Second Coming<\/em> one-shot.\u00a0 Or if you want to stick around here, I’m going to run through this week’s books, along with the X-books I skipped over last week.<\/p>\n

Incidentally, it’s been a while since I’ve had time to do any reviews of entire storylines, but I’m planning to get back to that sooner or later with the stories that just wrapped up in Uncanny<\/em> and X-Force<\/em>.\u00a0 And yes, that means I’m skipping a few minis and minor story arcs in B-titles, but hey, that’s just the wonder that is life.<\/p>\n

Cloak & Dagger<\/strong><\/em> – A one-shot from Stuart Moore and Mark Brooks which seems to serve the primary function of extricating Cloak and Dagger from the X-Men.\u00a0 They only joined the team less than a year ago, during the “Utopia” crossover, and they’ve done pretty much nothing since beyond aggravating Uncanny X-Men<\/em>‘s cast bloat (though to be fair, at least Daniel Way used them in Wolverine: Origins<\/em>).\u00a0 They always seemed suspiciously like much-loved characters who’d been hauled out of limbo for a book where they didn’t belong – they’re not even mutants, for heaven’s sake – so I can’t say I’ll miss them.<\/p>\n

In this issue, Dagger angsts about whether she belongs with the X-Men (hint: no), while Cloak tries to reconnect with his roots by, um, looking normal and hanging out in South Boston with another girl.\u00a0 It’s a very odd version of Cloak, who’s not often shown hanging around on street corners in a hoody, and I can’t help thinking it misses the point badly.\u00a0 He’s supposed to be much odder than that.\u00a0 The art certainly misses the point – Dagger is supposed to be light and Cloak is supposed to be absolute darkness, so why the hell is he glittery?\u00a0 As for the plot, there’s a somewhat interesting idea about a group trying to persuade people not to use their superpowers, in a fairly obvious analogy for giving homosexuals “therapy” to make them straight.\u00a0 Unfortunately, it’s the sort of story that only really works in a Marvel Universe where there are low-level superhumans all over the place, and we haven’t had that since M-Day.<\/p>\n

There is<\/em> a nice closing scene between the two stars, but overall it’s a wonky story that doesn’t really get them right.<\/p>\n

Dark Wolverine<\/strong><\/em> #84<\/strong> – This is the final part of Dark Wolverine<\/em>‘s tie-in to Siege<\/em> – next month, it’s a crossover with Wolverine: Origins<\/em>, as that book builds to its conclusion.\u00a0 Dark Wolverine<\/em> is decidedly hit and miss, and this issue isn’t exactly heavy on plot, but it does have some good ideas about the character.\u00a0 Stuck in Asgard with a bunch of random HAMMER soldiers, Daken tries to be a proper leader for them – not because he’s a born hero but because he wants their respect.\u00a0 Unfortunately for his ego, it turns out that none of these people have much time for him as a leader; they don’t trust him, they don’t like him, and his inspirational speeches fall flat.\u00a0 Now, that’s a somewhat interesting direction for the character – instead of making him a conventional hero, his motivation is to prove that he can do it.\u00a0 I can see something in that.<\/p>\n

Alongside that, there’s some rather more garbled stuff about fate.\u00a0 What does Daken have to do with Asgard?\u00a0 Well, nothing, but in an attempt to link this to his character somehow, Daniel Way and Marjorie Liu have chosen to confront him with the Fates.\u00a0 Since Daken’s very big on self-determination, he doesn’t much like this idea, and refuses to play along with his destiny.\u00a0 The pay-off is for Daken to realise that his fate is determined by who he is, and so there’s not necessarily a contradiction.\u00a0 He’s not on rails; he is<\/em> the rails.\u00a0 Nice idea, but not very clearly explained, and certainly not very effectively dramatised.\u00a0 Still, I like the way they’re heading with this book.<\/p>\n

New Mutants<\/strong><\/em> #11<\/strong> – Another Siege<\/em> tie-in, this time picking up on the stray plot thread from the “Utopia” crossover where Hela briefly turned Dani into a Valkyrie again.\u00a0 If you don’t remember that bit, well, that’s because it was thoroughly unnecessary background clutter that added nothing to the story.\u00a0 But it happened.\u00a0 And as this issue points out, it doesn’t strictly make sense, because the Valkyries took people to Valhalla, not to Hel.\u00a0 The guest creative team, Kieron Gillen and Niko Henrichon, try to turn that probable blunder to their advantage by having Hela call in the favour and despatch Dani to Asgard to sort out the dead.\u00a0 It’s a decent issue – there’s a good use of an obscure piece of Norse mythology, and a clever set-up based on the idea that everyone assumes Hela must have an ulterior motive.\u00a0 And Henrichon’s art is great – slightly sketchy, but clear and effective.\u00a0 It’s obviously a diversion for the series, and it’s peripheral to Siege<\/em> as well, but it does at least find a proper story of its own to tell within that framework.<\/p>\n

Uncanny X-Men<\/strong><\/em> #522<\/strong> – A single-issue story nestling between “Nation X” and “Second Coming”, this is Kitty Pryde’s big return to Earth.\u00a0 Matt Fraction works hard to make this a dramatic and emotional moment, but you really do have to swallow an awful lot in order for this story to work.\u00a0 Kitty’s in a magic space bullet big enough to destroy planets… it’s travelling at the speed of light… and Magneto, who was struggling with his powers just a couple of issues back, can apparently yank the whole thing back to earth?\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 Because, er, no.\u00a0 I don’t know where to start with the ways in which this set-up makes no sense – why didn’t Kitty starve to death months ago?\u00a0 This isn’t really Fraction’s fault; he’s inherited a Joss Whedon plot element that doesn’t really fit with what he’s doing, but has to be dealt with in order to get Kitty back into circulation.\u00a0 And it’s perhaps telling that he’s chosen to do it in a single issue rather than devote a storyline to it – he’s biting the bullet, if you like, and getting it over with.\u00a0 If you can muster the staggering quantities of suspension of disbelief needed accept the basic premise of this story, then the rest isn’t bad at all.\u00a0 Guest artist Whilce Portacio’s work is rough around the edges, but it’s not bad, and he does a good Magneto.\u00a0 There’s also a back-up strip with art by Phil Jimenez that takes Whedon’s idea from another angle, as another planet sees Kitty’s bullet speeding towards them and braces for the worst.\u00a0 It’s a good story, perhaps because it gets to take the “space bullet” story on its own terms, but doesn’t have to deal with it so closely as to expose it to scrutiny.<\/p>\n

Wolverine: Origins<\/strong><\/em> #46<\/strong> – You know, you could have just reprinted Mariko Yashida’s Official Handbook<\/em> entry and run a story in the other 20 pages.<\/p>\n

Oh, alright, that’s a little unfair.\u00a0 But this issue basically consists of Daniel Way and Scot Eaton recapping the relationship between Wolverine and Mariko Yashida.\u00a0 There’s a bit of reinterpretation, so that Wolverine can feel a little more guilty about it, but when you get down to it, it’s a clip show.\u00a0 In fairness, there’s some logic to this – we’re talking about stories from 15-30 years ago, so presumably it’s new to a lot of people.\u00a0 And if it’s going to be important to the closing storyline – because this is billed as a prologue to “Reckoning” – then it ought to be properly explained.\u00a0 But for those of us who read it the first time round, it’s rather repetitive.<\/p>\n

X-Factor<\/strong><\/em> #203<\/strong> – Uh-oh.\u00a0 I don’t remember reading this.\u00a0 And I just flicked through it, and it turns out I did.\u00a0 That ain’t good.<\/p>\n

Monet is being held prisoner in South America and is having nightmares about Penance – and to give credit, Peter David gets the idea across without allowing the story to be bogged down in that storyline’s arcane, convoluted continuity.\u00a0 Meanwhile, Guido is looking for her, and he’s secretly in love with her.\u00a0 Good art, interesting choice of a villain from a completely unrelated corner of the Marvel Universe, but it just doesn’t grab me.<\/p>\n

X-Force<\/strong><\/em> #25<\/strong> – The final part of “Necrosha-X”.\u00a0 Since X-Force<\/em> is going straight into “Second Coming” after this, it’s worth pointing out that “Necrosha-X” isn’t really a crossover at all – it’s an X-Force<\/em> storyline which a couple of other books happened to use as a backdrop.\u00a0 In fact, it continues a number of X-Force<\/em> storylines about Selene, Wither, the Transmode Virus and so forth.<\/p>\n

But is it any good?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 No, it isn’t.<\/p>\n

Selene is absorbing the power of all the undead mutants so that she can turn herself into a god.\u00a0 Fair enough, at least it hits the reset button on most of those revivals and clears the decks.\u00a0 So, X-Force have to fight her.\u00a0 And, uh, they do.\u00a0 But they do it wearing facepaint, because that makes it deep or something.\u00a0 There are some showdowns with Selene’s henchmen which at least try to seem as though character arcs are building to a climax, but basically it’s just a fight scene.\u00a0 And it’s a fight scene drawn by Clayton Crain, which means it’s murky, there are no backgrounds, and sometimes you can’t even tell who is who.\u00a0 It’s really quite bad.\u00a0 At least the writers are making a real effort to give it some dramatic weight, but it doesn’t work.<\/p>\n

X-Men Forever<\/strong><\/em> #20<\/strong> – Sabretooth’s really not having a great time of it in this series, is he?\u00a0 This is the second half of a two-parter with Gambit, Sabretooth and co taking on the mysterious Consortium, and it’s basically an action issue.\u00a0 A pretty well executed one, too – Graham Nolan isn’t a very flashy artist, but he’s solid, and Chris Claremont knows how to put these things together.\u00a0 The big event this issue, though, sees Claremont unveiling the mysterious villain behind the Consortium, and once again, it’s the sort of thing he could never have done in the real Marvel Universe.\u00a0 So, yes, we’ve drifted hopelessly far from the advertised concept of “what would have happened if Chris Claremont hadn’t stopped writing the X-Men in 1991” – but probably for the best, because we’re actually getting a version of what Claremont could have done without having to worry about screwing up the Marvel Universe for everyone else.<\/p>\n

X-Men Origins: Nightcrawler<\/strong><\/em> – Mystifyingly branded in the solicitations as a “Second Coming” tie-in, this shows no signs of being any such thing.\u00a0 But if it is<\/em> somehow connected to “Second Coming” then that’s a problem, because this thing drives a coach and horses through continuity.\u00a0 It has Kurt as a drugged-up sideshow freak instead of an acrobat (the established version of history is that he quit the circus when a new owner suggested it), it has him meeting Professor X in a completely different way from what we saw in Giant-Size X-Men<\/em> #1, it has him taking the surname Wagner at the same time… it’s an absolute mess.\u00a0 In fairness, at least it tries to come up with some explanation for Kurt’s Catholicism – which doesn’t exactly seem like a tradition that would have appealed to Margali Szardos.\u00a0 But this isn’t the movie version of Kurt’s history, and it’s not exactly earth-shattering stuff taken on its own merits, so you have to wonder what on earth the point is.<\/p>\n

X-Men: Second Coming<\/strong><\/em> – The spring crossover kicks off with this opening one-shot by X-Force<\/em> writers Craig Kyle and Chris Yost, with art from David Finch.\u00a0 Cable and Hope have finally made it back to the present day, and, well, it looks like everyone’s going to be chasing them for the next twelve issues.\u00a0 But on a weekly schedule, that’s fine – “Second Coming” will raise through the story, and if they can keep up the pace, they’ll probably get away with it.\u00a0 As I said on the podcast, what really matters about “Second Coming” is whether it can open a way out of the X-books’ creative culdesac; if it can be entertaining at the same time, that’s a bonus.\u00a0 This story at least goes out of its way to set up Hope as the possible solution to M-Day, but let’s not forget that they promised much the same thing with “Messiah Complex” and “Messiah War”, both of which were ultimately unsatisfying because they ended up in a holding pattern and didn’t really change anything.\u00a0 “Second Coming” has been billed as the final part of a trilogy, so you’d figure they have<\/em> to get it right this time and something will actually happen… but to be honest, I have no faith that it will.\u00a0 Still, this has people running around and fighting, and David Finch’s art has plenty of drama to it – he’s come a long way since the days when they started pushing him as a major artist, though he’s still clearly in the shadow of Marc Silvestri’s influence.<\/p>\n

I quite like it.\u00a0 It’s just that, if I’m being honest with myself, I don’t truly believe it’s going anywhere.\u00a0 Go on, prove me wrong.\u00a0 Please.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you care to check one post down, you’ll find this week’s House to Astonish podcast, in which Al and I discuss Nemesis, The Guild and the X-Men: Second Coming one-shot.\u00a0 Or if you want to stick around here, I’m going to run through this week’s books, along with the X-books I skipped over last […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-x-axis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=273"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273\/revisions\/275"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.housetoastonish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}