X-Force (2008 Series) #3

April 22, 2008

Quick Rating: Poor
Title: Angels and Demons Part 3
Rating: Parental Advisory

More old foes begin to surface…

Writers: Craig Kyle & Christopher Yost
Art: Clayton Crain
Letters: Cory Petit
Editor: John Barber
Cover Art: Clayton Crain
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Bastion has made an attempt to recover the remains of Magus, the Technarch sire of former New Mutant Warlock, whose technological remains are inert at the bottom of the ocean. Meanwhile, Wolverine, Warpath and X-23 plan their assault on the purifiers, hopefully with the rescue of Wolfsbane as a bonus.

I felt a perk of hope when I saw Magus show up at the end of last issue, but then Nova brought back Warlock himself to great effect and, I’ve gotta be honest, my enthusiasm for the Technarch’s appearance in this book dwindled. Bastion’s plan isn’t really engaging me either – it seems to be, simply, “round up people who’ve killed a lot of mutants.” I guess if you’re planning to exterminate the mutant race this is a good way to start, but looking at the list of villains assembled here, I’m starting to realize that the X-villains who’ve actually killed the most villains are – for the most part – some of the least interesting villains they’ve ever faced. Warpath gets the internal monologue for most of this issue and, frankly, it’s pretty tedious, ponderous, dry stuff.

Clayton Crain isn’t quite on the top of his game either. The book constantly shifts between gory, almost horror-esque scenes and shiny, polished sci-fi. Either of them would be okay by themselves, but together, it’s too jarring a transition.

Three issues in, this book has really failed to grab my interest.

Rating: 3/10

Uncanny X-Men #484

March 6, 2007

Quick Rating: Good
Title: In Exile (Fall of the Shi’ar Empire Part 10)
Rating: T+

Warpath and Korvus go to war.

Writer: Ed Brubaker
Pencils: Billy Tan
Inks: Danny Miki & Allen Martinez
Colors: Frank D’Armata
Letters: Joe Caramagna
Editor: Nick Lowe
Cover Art: Billy Tan
Publisher: Marvel Comics

With Professor X being held captive, the X-Men and the Starjammers plan their assault – but Warpath and Korvus are already on the offensive.

This issue splits between the Warpath/Korvus storyline, fighting across the Shi’ar empire, and the other characters hurtling through space and making their assault on the Shi’ar fortress. Brubaker still manages to get in a little character development. The romance between Korvus and Rachel (is she not Marvel Girl anymore?) seems a little out of left-field, but the idea of a pair of telepaths spending a great deal of time together subjectively while they only know each other for a few days is pretty clever. Brubaker also takes steps here to correct one of the outstanding relationship blunders left over from Chuck Austen’s run on the title, and that’s welcome.

I’m really impressed with Billy Tan’s artwork here. Along with the ink and color teams, he’s done a really outstanding job on this series. This is what a sci-fi/superhero book should look like – the two genres blend seamlessly here, with a fantastic color scheme just this side of having that “fully painted” look. Color me impressed. No pun intended.

I haven’t read most of this arc, I have to admit, but the bits and pieces I’ve seen are pretty good. I may go for the inevitable trade paperback.

Rating: 7/10