X-23: Target X #2

January 4, 2007

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Target X Part Two
Rating: Parental Advisory

X-23 reveals herself to her only friend.

Writers: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Art: Mike Choi & Sonia Oback
Letters: Troy Peteri
Editor: Axel Alonso
Cover Art: Mike Choi & Sonia Oback
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Captain America and Matt Murdock continue their interrogation of the girl who would become the X-Men’s living weapon. X-23, now calling herself Laura, manages to escape an early encounter with Cap to find her way to her “mother”’s family. Efforts to fit in at school prove pointless, but she finds a connection with Megan she didn’t expect.

This issue, at least, seems to have abandoned the bouncing-around-the-timeline technique used in the first issue, but what’s left is still just okay. Laura’s bizarre behavior can be explained by her past, but the weird things going on with Megan don’t quite sit right. What’s more, as Laura gets in more and more trouble in school, Megan gets into it for no reason. And I don’t mean she’s misbehaving without motivation, I mean she’s literally in trouble for no reason – Laura disrupts class and Megan winds up in the principal’s office too, despite having done absolutely nothing wrong. It doesn’t make any sense.

Like the last issue, the perplexing story is elevated by great artwork, but even that has its limits. Like with this week’s newuniversal, the artists gratuitously throw in a couple of celebrity “cameos” that absolutely wrench you out of the story. You can get away with that sort of thing in a humor comic, but when the book is supposed to be serious (even if the scene in question is played in a more lighthearted fashion), it really hurts to get pulled out of it this way.

An okay issue, but it’s still not making me a fan of the character.

Rating: 6/10

New X-Men (2004 Series) #36

March 13, 2007

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Mercury Falling Part Four
Rating: T+

Hellion and X-23 are out to save Cessily – but Kimura stands in their way.

Writer: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Pencils: Paco Medina
Inks: Juan Vlasco
Colors: Brian Reber
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Sean Ryan
Cover Art: Paco Medina
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Hellion and X-23 finally reach the facility where Cessily is being held (took ‘em long enough) to find that she’s not exactly unprotected. Laura’s former handler, Kimura, is standing guard, along with some of the monsters made from Cessily’s skin.

This issue is mostly action sequence and cavalry, and as such, it works pretty well. The fights are good, and Paco Medina’s artwork is very well-suited to the style. There are several questions left open at the end, many of the character nation, and that’s a good thing. I just hope that Cessily doesn’t become dark and brooding.

After a good set-up, though, the last few pages get quite stale. One of the big problems with having a telepath in your cast is resisting the urge to have pages of expository dialogue as they pick another character’s history apart. In most cases, this is pretty boring to read, and this definitely qualities as “most cases.” The last page, however, brings back a long-lost character and an interesting (if someone overdone) portent of things to come.

All in all, better than this first few arcs with this writing team, but still not a knockout.

Rating: 7/10

X-23: Target X #1

December 9, 2006

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Target X Part One
Rating: Parental Advisory

The missing years of X-23’s life begin here.

Writers: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Art: Mike Choi & Sonia Oback
Letters: Troy Peteri
Editor: Axel Alonso
Cover Art: Mike Choi & Sonia Oback
Publisher: Marvel Comics

For those of you who wondered what happened to X-23 in the two years between the end of her first miniseries and the beginning of the aborted NYX series, here’s the book to give you your answer. Escaping from the destruction of the Weapon X project, X-23 begins to wander in search of a home.

This story is really disjointed. The story leaps from one point in time to the other, and although the captions tell you when each segment takes place, they don’t really help in terms of putting the random scenes together in a straightforward story. Except for the fight scene, the book could very easily be a collection of random vignettes from various points in X-23’s life.

Elevating the story, though, is some truly wonderful artwork. Mike Choi and Sonia Oback have a remarkable style that evokes a lot of the sort of painted colors you see from the likes of Laura Martin, and blends it with very good character construction, layouts and fight choreography. The sequence of X-23 fighting while overlaid with the hologram of Wolverine is particularly good. What’s more, unlike a lot of the artists who work with the character, they manage to make X-23 look age appropriate in every segment, from her 11 year old self to her 15 year old self.

X-23 fans will no doubt get more out of this comic than I will, but the art is something to be appreciated whether you like the character or not..

Rating: 6/10

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

New X-Men (2004 Series) #35

February 11, 2007

Quick Rating: Fair
Title: Mercury Rising Part 3
Rating: T+

Hellion and X-23 set out to save Mercury!

Writers: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Pencils: Paco Medina
Inks: Juan Vlasco
Colors: Brian Reber
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Sean Ryan
Cover Art: Paco Medina
Publisher: Marvel Comics

After reviewing the first issue of this arc, I missed the second. It doesn’t seem like too big a loss, though, as apparently the only significant developments were that X-23 and Hellion took off to rescue Mercury and X-23 killed some guy, which people are really acting entirely too surprised about considering that she was genetically created for the express purpose of killing people.

Anyway, as those two continue their rescue mission, back at the mansion Surge tries to gather together a group to set off on a rescue mission of their own. They’re having trouble gathering members, however, and the presence of the O*N*E makes things even more difficult. Elixir continues his tutelage, to which Victor poses a perfectly logical question, X-23 briefly wears a frankly disturbing schoolgirl outfit, and we find out the real goal of the mad scientist who kidnapped Mercury.

While the story of the rescue effort remains kind of tedious, the actual plot of Mercury’s captor is rather intriguing. Not to say it’s entirely original, but at least it’s interesting enough to provide a suitable motivation for the story. I’m still a bit unsure about some of the damage she takes, though, from a logical standpoint. Of course, I can’t figure out why someone whose body is made of liquid metal can still grow hair either, so there ya go. I am, however, even more concerned that before this storyline ends she’ll either wind up just another statistic on the ridiculous body count this title has built over the last year or transformed into another bleak, depressing character driven by a motivation for vengeance and kicking puppies, the quota for which in this title is already filled by X-23.

Paco Medina’s artwork is pretty much what you would expect from the title at this point – serviceable, but falling into the quota of being another artist that draws teenagers not as teenagers, but as short adults (particularly the female characters). Granted, Kitty Pryde has never been an amazon (nor should she be), but there’s something weird when virtually all of her students have greater… um… assets than she does.

Like I said in the issue #33 review, the title has felt a slight uptick lately in quality, but not enough to get it back in my pull folder.

Rating: 6/10

New X-Men (2004 Series) #33

December 9, 2006

Quick Rating: Good
Title: Mercury Falling Part One
Rating: T+

A girls’ night for Cessily and Laura turns deadly.

Writers: Craig Kyle & Chris Yost
Pencils: Paco Medina
Inks: Juan Vlasco
Colors: Brian Reber
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Editor: Nick Lowe
Cover Art: Paco Medina
Publisher: Marvel Comics

After House of M, this book took a steep decline. Gone was the dynamic of a group of kids coming to terms with their lives in a school full of mutants, and in its place was a needless bloodbath and the addition of a Wolverine clone to make up for the one X-Men team he couldn’t be made a part of by any reasoning. This issue seems to mark another shift, and while it’s not back in the direction that made this book work in the first place, it is a move in a more interesting direction than the book has taken in some time.

Many of the various members of the team is dealing with something this issue. Julian’s powers have been amped up and he’s having trouble controlling them. David and Nori are facing Cyclops for their recent actions. Josh comes to the Beast with a request that’s perfectly logical for him. Emma Frost tries to work her particular brand of magic on Laura to convince her to leave, but when Cessily figures out where Laura’s heart truly lies, she convinces her to head out for coffee – and that’s when things get nasty.

Until the end, this is a character building issue, which this title has desperately needed. Since the original dynamic was lost, this book lost what made it unique and it became, for lack of a better term, “X-Men lite.” This issue starts to focus on the characters in a different way, showing them not just as superheroes but also as teenagers. The resultant feel is similar to the original New Mutants title – also about a group of students, but students in at much smaller school and a much more dangerous place. It’s not a brand-new idea, but at least it gives the title more of an identity than just being the book with the youngest X-Men. Whether this tone will stick or not remains to be seen, but at least it’s a step in the right direction.

The artwork is fine, although it’d be remiss not to mention that X-23 is still dressing and shaped like a Victoria’s Secret model, despite the fact that she’s supposed to be in her mid-teens.

I’m still not digging this book the way I used to, but it seems to be shaping up a little.

Rating: 7/10