Jim Lemoine
Dec 13, 2002, 07:36 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/agentx05.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/agentx05t.jpg" align=left alt="Agent X #5"></a>Reviewer: Jim Lemoine, darkkelf@earthlink.net
Quick Rating: Excellent!
Story Title: Dead Man's Switch Part 5: A Little Crazy
Arcade saves the day as the final battle between Agent X and Higashi begins!
Written by: Gail Simone
Art and Color by: UDON with Alvin Lee, Rob Ross, Eric Vedder, Therealt!, Shane Law, & Calvin Lo
UDON Chief: Eric Ko
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Assisted by: Lynne Yoshii
Edited by: Andrew Lis
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
Oh what a difference just four pages can make.
After reviewing Agent X #5 (the first time) two weeks ago, I complained that an otherwise strong issue was bogged down and confused by a hurried pace, an unclear plot, and missing scenes. Having since learned that my copy of the issue was oddly missing several pages, and having since strongarmed my retailer for a whole and complete copy of this book, I feel obliged to set the record straight in this, a review of the complete Agent X #5.
This month’s installment could well be the strongest issue of Agent X yet. While I still say it doesn’t have quite as much humor as the last few issues, it makes up for it with a wonderful blend of action, adventure and intrigue (along with the usual gags). Writer Gail Simone is best known for her comedic situations in this book (and rightfully so), but every now and then she gives us an issue like this one where she proves that she’s capable of much more. On the art side, UDON’s renderings continue to be top-notch, excelling particularly in capturing the emotions of the main characters through their facial expressions.
Alex Hayden, our protagonist, doesn’t say a word until the very last page of the issue… primarily because there’s a bullet lodged in his throat. Most writers would use this situation as an excuse to clutter the page with meaningless captions of exposition and self-reflection. Simone, on the other hand, allows Agent X to find other ways to communicate. It’s a series of gags that could never gel in a movie, television show, or standard novel, but works perfectly in the comic book format. Kudos to Simone for envisioning it, and to UDON for crafting the notes, postures, and expressions that make it real. The “OW” note, as Outlaw straddles Alex, was specifically a laugh-out-loud moment.
As I mentioned earlier, Simone does a great job of blending action/adventure with her trademark comedy. The action of the issue is sandwiched between two great comedic scenarios: the return of Arcade in the book’s beginning, and Alex’s chastisement of the Taskmaster near the book’s end. As to the former, I can only say to Ms. Simone, thank you so much for taking such a great (and often ignored) character and at last letting him be written with some dignity and panache. Arcade is certainly a favorite. But UDON… guys… don’t you know that Arcade’s bow-tie is supposed to be somewhere around the size of his head?
The most memorable character in the book, though, is without doubt the Taskmaster. Once a laughing-stock caped-and-corny standard Marvel super-villain, TM has really come into his own with the sharp new characterization by Simone and UDON. Every issue shows us new levels of his character, and you’re still not sure if he’s the good guy or the bad guy. He is flawed and fun to read, and UDON makes him look better than he’s ever looked. The scene where he attempts to warn Sandi is especially well done, with lots of credit to the art team; even though no part of TM’s face is visible as he warns her, the emotion of the scene is obvious.
One complaint, though: apparently the Taskmaster manages to convince Higashi and Saguri that Alex is Deadpool. I’m curious as to how, and why. Taskmaster seemed relatively convinced in past issues that Alex wasn’t Wade, and yet the two villains take him at his word quickly enough. Has TM stumbled upon some evidence, or was he just making up a yarn to bring about the end of Agent X? If so, are Higashi and Saguri that naïve that they believed him without evidence? It’s not quite clear even by the end of the issue, so hopefully Simone has some revelation planned for us before this arc concludes.
As always, the supporting characters are a huge strength for this title, but one has to wonder if it might be going a bit too far. Sandi, Outlaw, the Taskmaster, Mary Zero, and now possibly Arcade have joined Alex as well-developed characters within the book, and the team has done a great job of juggling all of them. But what happens when there are too many characters to spotlight? Don’t get me wrong, I love what Simone and UDON are doing with these characters… I’m just concerned that the more we have, the less we get to see of each of them. Outlaw’s barely in this issue, and TM and Mary definitely could have used some more face-time. If I had my way, Simone would be writing books about Outlaw and Taskmaster for Marvel, too, but as that probably won’t be happening anytime soon, I want to be able to see plenty of them in Agent X while I can. Simone writes people who talk like real people… not people who talk like comic book characters.
It seems that with all of its titles these days, Marvel is trying to create small-scale, self-contained universes that have enough supporting character strength that they don’t have to depend on external guest appearances or contrived plots. This is easy for some books like New X-Men that have a wealth of characters to draw from, but much harder for newer books like Agent X. And yet, Agent X does a better job of accomplishing this goal than almost any other Marvel book, excepting in my opinion only X-Statix and possibly Exiles.
The artwork in this issue is my favorite of UDON’s work yet. The aforementioned Taskmaster scene sticks out strongly in my mind; but as a whole, a very strong showing by the art team this month. As usual, their facial expressions and backgrounds perfectly complement the oft-ludicrous situations Simone envisions for these characters.
More than just being a funny issue, Agent X #5 manages to have an extremely engaging story… that just happens to have a lot of funny parts. It’s one of those issues where about midway through you start checking to see how many pages are left, because you desperately don’t want it to end. Story and art, this is top-notch stuff. The suspense is perfectly built up for the final issue of the story arc, where we’ll hopefully see some answers to the questions of Alex’s identity; and if nothing else, we’ll get to see Agent X, Outlaw, and the Taskmaster beat up some of Marvel’s lamest super-villains.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axnone.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axhalf.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axhalf.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=218&cat=AGENT+X+%28DEADPOOL%29) and save!
Quick Rating: Excellent!
Story Title: Dead Man's Switch Part 5: A Little Crazy
Arcade saves the day as the final battle between Agent X and Higashi begins!
Written by: Gail Simone
Art and Color by: UDON with Alvin Lee, Rob Ross, Eric Vedder, Therealt!, Shane Law, & Calvin Lo
UDON Chief: Eric Ko
Lettered by: Cory Petit
Assisted by: Lynne Yoshii
Edited by: Andrew Lis
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
Oh what a difference just four pages can make.
After reviewing Agent X #5 (the first time) two weeks ago, I complained that an otherwise strong issue was bogged down and confused by a hurried pace, an unclear plot, and missing scenes. Having since learned that my copy of the issue was oddly missing several pages, and having since strongarmed my retailer for a whole and complete copy of this book, I feel obliged to set the record straight in this, a review of the complete Agent X #5.
This month’s installment could well be the strongest issue of Agent X yet. While I still say it doesn’t have quite as much humor as the last few issues, it makes up for it with a wonderful blend of action, adventure and intrigue (along with the usual gags). Writer Gail Simone is best known for her comedic situations in this book (and rightfully so), but every now and then she gives us an issue like this one where she proves that she’s capable of much more. On the art side, UDON’s renderings continue to be top-notch, excelling particularly in capturing the emotions of the main characters through their facial expressions.
Alex Hayden, our protagonist, doesn’t say a word until the very last page of the issue… primarily because there’s a bullet lodged in his throat. Most writers would use this situation as an excuse to clutter the page with meaningless captions of exposition and self-reflection. Simone, on the other hand, allows Agent X to find other ways to communicate. It’s a series of gags that could never gel in a movie, television show, or standard novel, but works perfectly in the comic book format. Kudos to Simone for envisioning it, and to UDON for crafting the notes, postures, and expressions that make it real. The “OW” note, as Outlaw straddles Alex, was specifically a laugh-out-loud moment.
As I mentioned earlier, Simone does a great job of blending action/adventure with her trademark comedy. The action of the issue is sandwiched between two great comedic scenarios: the return of Arcade in the book’s beginning, and Alex’s chastisement of the Taskmaster near the book’s end. As to the former, I can only say to Ms. Simone, thank you so much for taking such a great (and often ignored) character and at last letting him be written with some dignity and panache. Arcade is certainly a favorite. But UDON… guys… don’t you know that Arcade’s bow-tie is supposed to be somewhere around the size of his head?
The most memorable character in the book, though, is without doubt the Taskmaster. Once a laughing-stock caped-and-corny standard Marvel super-villain, TM has really come into his own with the sharp new characterization by Simone and UDON. Every issue shows us new levels of his character, and you’re still not sure if he’s the good guy or the bad guy. He is flawed and fun to read, and UDON makes him look better than he’s ever looked. The scene where he attempts to warn Sandi is especially well done, with lots of credit to the art team; even though no part of TM’s face is visible as he warns her, the emotion of the scene is obvious.
One complaint, though: apparently the Taskmaster manages to convince Higashi and Saguri that Alex is Deadpool. I’m curious as to how, and why. Taskmaster seemed relatively convinced in past issues that Alex wasn’t Wade, and yet the two villains take him at his word quickly enough. Has TM stumbled upon some evidence, or was he just making up a yarn to bring about the end of Agent X? If so, are Higashi and Saguri that naïve that they believed him without evidence? It’s not quite clear even by the end of the issue, so hopefully Simone has some revelation planned for us before this arc concludes.
As always, the supporting characters are a huge strength for this title, but one has to wonder if it might be going a bit too far. Sandi, Outlaw, the Taskmaster, Mary Zero, and now possibly Arcade have joined Alex as well-developed characters within the book, and the team has done a great job of juggling all of them. But what happens when there are too many characters to spotlight? Don’t get me wrong, I love what Simone and UDON are doing with these characters… I’m just concerned that the more we have, the less we get to see of each of them. Outlaw’s barely in this issue, and TM and Mary definitely could have used some more face-time. If I had my way, Simone would be writing books about Outlaw and Taskmaster for Marvel, too, but as that probably won’t be happening anytime soon, I want to be able to see plenty of them in Agent X while I can. Simone writes people who talk like real people… not people who talk like comic book characters.
It seems that with all of its titles these days, Marvel is trying to create small-scale, self-contained universes that have enough supporting character strength that they don’t have to depend on external guest appearances or contrived plots. This is easy for some books like New X-Men that have a wealth of characters to draw from, but much harder for newer books like Agent X. And yet, Agent X does a better job of accomplishing this goal than almost any other Marvel book, excepting in my opinion only X-Statix and possibly Exiles.
The artwork in this issue is my favorite of UDON’s work yet. The aforementioned Taskmaster scene sticks out strongly in my mind; but as a whole, a very strong showing by the art team this month. As usual, their facial expressions and backgrounds perfectly complement the oft-ludicrous situations Simone envisions for these characters.
More than just being a funny issue, Agent X #5 manages to have an extremely engaging story… that just happens to have a lot of funny parts. It’s one of those issues where about midway through you start checking to see how many pages are left, because you desperately don’t want it to end. Story and art, this is top-notch stuff. The suspense is perfectly built up for the final issue of the story arc, where we’ll hopefully see some answers to the questions of Alex’s identity; and if nothing else, we’ll get to see Agent X, Outlaw, and the Taskmaster beat up some of Marvel’s lamest super-villains.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axnone.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axhalf.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/axhalf.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=218&cat=AGENT+X+%28DEADPOOL%29) and save!