Dave Harris
Apr 29, 2003, 11:10 pm
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/xmunl-45.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/xmunl-45t.jpg" align=left alt="X-Men Unlimited #45"></a>Reviewer: Dave Harris, HeroComplex00@hotmail.com
Quick Rating: Below Average
Story Title: Hero
With his wife and baby in danger, can James Hudson come back from the brink of death? Can he be---a hero?
Written by: Chuck Austen
Penciled by: Pop Mhan
Inked by: Derek Fridolfs
Colored by: SotoColor's J. Brown
Lettered by: Randy Gentile
Assistant Editor: Stephanie Moore
Editor: C.B. Cebulski
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
X-Men Unlimited again provides a single unified story, following the lead set last week and dropping the usual anthology format. Unfortunately, my own trend also continues and I really can't find much enjoyment in Austen's story this issue.
One of my major complaints is that the story washes back and forth pretty constantly, refusing to just choose a path and stay with it. It begins with James Hudson's declaration that he has died. But, he hasn't. Post-death narration can be very effective, but when the character lives it really loses most of its power, and really just becomes half-hearted melodramatics. And then a few minutes later, he's dying again, and things turn bleak. But on the next page he's going to survive and all is good with the world. That is, until he has some sort of death relapse after a few short panels. And the finale is really the worst of all; for the final time, we're led to believe that the story will have some real consequences, and things are set up to give a nearly respectable closing. But then a guest appearance completely invalidates everything, highlighting one of my greatest worries for the current Uncanny X-Men series. By the end, it is extremely hard to actually care about James' life-and-death struggle; not only has Austen exhausted the potential suspense I can feel over the situation, but whether right or wrong I eventually gave up on the idea that a permanent death could result from such wishy-washy writing.
And that lack of suspense certianly isn't helped when the team itself seems to express almost no urgency when it comes to saving one of their own. Instead of rushing off to try and save Heather, they burden themselves with James and slowly make their way out. It ended up allowing the exo-suit to come into the picture, I suppose, but really was just one less realistic response to everything that was occuring. For instance, the fact that no one knew of the convenient video recorder which captured all of the important events. All things considered, the moment at which point everyone turned towards the monitor to notice the video feed was a very sad sitcom-reminiscent moment.
In addition to suspense, the story lacks true heroes and villains, as well. It is entitled Hero, but doesn't live up to the name. I can appreciate how James became a hero despite never wanting that as part of his life, and I'm not beyond seeing the irony in naming his story Hero. But those flashbacks of his are such a miniscule part of the story, relatively speaking, they don't warrant the title billing which they were apparently given. But on the opposite side of James' coin, the villain. Jiroult is a very lackluster villain; his obsession is two-dimensional and pathetic, making him a pitiable wreck of a character. To a degree, of course, that's intended, but to some degree it is also because nothing is actually written into him. He is given the very flat trait of obsession, and that defines his entire existence within the story.
The story lacks a grab. Focus, intensity, drive. Zazazoom. The villain has no depth, the hero has no risk, and as a result the story has nothing special to it. It is really just an average story, minus the motives.
STORY:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xuhalf.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpg
ART:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xuhalf.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore)
Quick Rating: Below Average
Story Title: Hero
With his wife and baby in danger, can James Hudson come back from the brink of death? Can he be---a hero?
Written by: Chuck Austen
Penciled by: Pop Mhan
Inked by: Derek Fridolfs
Colored by: SotoColor's J. Brown
Lettered by: Randy Gentile
Assistant Editor: Stephanie Moore
Editor: C.B. Cebulski
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
X-Men Unlimited again provides a single unified story, following the lead set last week and dropping the usual anthology format. Unfortunately, my own trend also continues and I really can't find much enjoyment in Austen's story this issue.
One of my major complaints is that the story washes back and forth pretty constantly, refusing to just choose a path and stay with it. It begins with James Hudson's declaration that he has died. But, he hasn't. Post-death narration can be very effective, but when the character lives it really loses most of its power, and really just becomes half-hearted melodramatics. And then a few minutes later, he's dying again, and things turn bleak. But on the next page he's going to survive and all is good with the world. That is, until he has some sort of death relapse after a few short panels. And the finale is really the worst of all; for the final time, we're led to believe that the story will have some real consequences, and things are set up to give a nearly respectable closing. But then a guest appearance completely invalidates everything, highlighting one of my greatest worries for the current Uncanny X-Men series. By the end, it is extremely hard to actually care about James' life-and-death struggle; not only has Austen exhausted the potential suspense I can feel over the situation, but whether right or wrong I eventually gave up on the idea that a permanent death could result from such wishy-washy writing.
And that lack of suspense certianly isn't helped when the team itself seems to express almost no urgency when it comes to saving one of their own. Instead of rushing off to try and save Heather, they burden themselves with James and slowly make their way out. It ended up allowing the exo-suit to come into the picture, I suppose, but really was just one less realistic response to everything that was occuring. For instance, the fact that no one knew of the convenient video recorder which captured all of the important events. All things considered, the moment at which point everyone turned towards the monitor to notice the video feed was a very sad sitcom-reminiscent moment.
In addition to suspense, the story lacks true heroes and villains, as well. It is entitled Hero, but doesn't live up to the name. I can appreciate how James became a hero despite never wanting that as part of his life, and I'm not beyond seeing the irony in naming his story Hero. But those flashbacks of his are such a miniscule part of the story, relatively speaking, they don't warrant the title billing which they were apparently given. But on the opposite side of James' coin, the villain. Jiroult is a very lackluster villain; his obsession is two-dimensional and pathetic, making him a pitiable wreck of a character. To a degree, of course, that's intended, but to some degree it is also because nothing is actually written into him. He is given the very flat trait of obsession, and that defines his entire existence within the story.
The story lacks a grab. Focus, intensity, drive. Zazazoom. The villain has no depth, the hero has no risk, and as a result the story has nothing special to it. It is really just an average story, minus the motives.
STORY:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xuhalf.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpg
ART:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xuhalf.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xufull.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpghttp://www.x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/reviews/xunone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics and save! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore)