Ben Hutton
Mar 1, 2002, 01:34 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/xforce-124.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/xforce-124t.jpg" align=left alt="X-Force #124"></a>Reviewer: Ben Hutton bhutton@froggy.com.au
Quick Rating: Great!
Story Title: Edie and Guy Finally Do It
Edie takes a trip home as a hotly anticipated X-Force event takes place.
Written by: Peter Milligan
Art by: Darwyn Cooke
Lettered by: Doc Allred & Blambot
Colored by: Laura Allred
Assistant Editor: John Miesegaes
Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I don’t know what to say about this issue. The more I think about it the more it kind of blurs in my mind, and I cant seem to catch hold of what I thought of it when I first read it. I think I liked it. It’s certainly not a bad tale, but then again it isn’t spectacular either. I have to blame Milligan and Allred. If they hadn’t spoiled me with such an amazing comic then these average issues wouldn’t seem so bad!
This month’s issue sports two things that caught my attention when I picked up the book. One, regular artist Allred has been replaced by Darwyn Cooke. The name and style seemed familiar. Was he that Batman guy? A quick Internet search told me that indeed he was. Two, this month’s title is “Edie and Guy Finally Do It”. Say no more.
The issue starts of usually enough with the gang fleeing a battle zone. Edie makes with the teleporting but instead of getting home X-Force is deposited in the middle of the ocean, courtesy of her waning teleportation abilities. One more jaunt leaves the team on dry land, but Guy flags down a passing plane rather than risk Edie’s accuracy again.
The art here is better than I expected. There is nothing worse than a guest artist that disregards established character traits in favour of their own interpretation. Edie’s dark circles, Guy’s crooked nose… Clearly Cooke has taken pains to make sure his renditions of the characters fit with Allred’s, making an enjoyable read out of what could have easily been a filler issue.
For his part Milligan treats “Edie and Guy Finally Do It” as just another issue. This isn’t a throwaway; substantial events take place that will have repercussions for the rest of the series.
After arriving at Headquarters Guy gives Edie an ultimatum. Either she starts hitting her targets or she’ll be demoted to a lower level. With The Spike even noting that there “must be millions of ‘porting” mutants the team could recruit to replace her. Vivisector and Phat seem indifferent to the situation, while Tike is the only one to speak in Edie’s defense. A nice little touch that reinforces the underlying bond Edie, Guy and Tike seem to have formed.
In a confrontation between Edie and Guy her real problem is revealed. Kind of. At first it seems that the tension between she and Guy is throwing off her concentration, and partially, this is the problem. But what’s really weighing on Edie’s mind is when they are going to “do it”. It’s not what you think.
So Guy and Edie set out to “do it”. They drive across country to Edie’s family home, and along the way Edie tells her True Hollywood story. When she was a fifteen she got pregnant to a boy on his way through town. Edie’s Mother pretended to be pregnant so that when Edie eventually had the baby everyone would think it was her sister, and not her daughter.
The only hitch being that Edie’s latent ability to teleport had been manifesting on and off through childhood. At the moment when Edie looked at her daughter she was so panicked that all she could think of was how she needed to be away and, just like that, her power manifested and Edie went from delivery room the Hollywood sign in the blink of an eye.
Milligan has taken a bit of a chance with this storyline. I can’t imagine the higher ups at Marvel were overly thrilled with the “15 year old gets pregnant and abandons baby” scenario. As far as coming to Hollywood stories go it’s fairly typical though, which I think is my problem. It’s a bit cliché. I think it would have had more resonance with me if Edie had decided to abandon the baby. In this scenario it’s something that isn’t really a choice. It just happens to her, and that’s a bit of a cop out.
Still the bonding between Guy and Edie is nice. Their banter doesn’t seem forced, and I get a real sense of growing affection here. Their personalities are very different, but mesh in ways which compliment each other. Though Edie has a nice rapport with Tike I just can’t see them together in a romantic sense.
So Edie goes home. She has a typical reunion with her mother, but the same cold reception from her father. They debate telling Edie’s daughter, Kate, who her real mother is but Edie eventually decides against it. Her mother convinces her that the truth will only result in Kate being hurt when her mother eventually dies in battle, which apart from being a nice way of keeping Kate out of the action, is also a very realistic twist. Well done Mr Milligan.
Reunion accomplished, and power to teleport restored, Edie and Guy head back. Though the sentimental in me enjoyed the resolution, the cynic in me was crying out that it was all a bit soap opera. Which it is. But it’s enjoyable soap, so I can make an exception. Like all soaps this is a bit of guilty fun, and was a nice distraction, but next issue I’d like my old X-Force back please.
At this point in the book I was feeling a little cheated. So the “do it” in the title referred to Edie and Guy going back to the farm? Okay, I guess, but what a tease. Then I turned to the last two pages. Though it happens off panel Edie and Guy finally do “do it” in a style all their own.
An enjoyable issue, and a nice break from the usual heaviness of X-Force. One little nitpick: in the Sawyer family home guy is shown in one panel levitating. Is this one of The Orphan’s powers? I thought he was just super-sensitive. There were some issues early on where it looked like he may have been levitating though, so maybe I’m just a very confused reader. If indeed Guy can levitate I think it’s something that needs to be made clearer for the readers. Or at least for me!
Next month. You’ve heard the hype. One of the popular X-Force members is marked for death. My bets are on Tike or Doop, but with this title you never can tell. I’ll see you all then.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!
Quick Rating: Great!
Story Title: Edie and Guy Finally Do It
Edie takes a trip home as a hotly anticipated X-Force event takes place.
Written by: Peter Milligan
Art by: Darwyn Cooke
Lettered by: Doc Allred & Blambot
Colored by: Laura Allred
Assistant Editor: John Miesegaes
Editor: Axel Alonso
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I don’t know what to say about this issue. The more I think about it the more it kind of blurs in my mind, and I cant seem to catch hold of what I thought of it when I first read it. I think I liked it. It’s certainly not a bad tale, but then again it isn’t spectacular either. I have to blame Milligan and Allred. If they hadn’t spoiled me with such an amazing comic then these average issues wouldn’t seem so bad!
This month’s issue sports two things that caught my attention when I picked up the book. One, regular artist Allred has been replaced by Darwyn Cooke. The name and style seemed familiar. Was he that Batman guy? A quick Internet search told me that indeed he was. Two, this month’s title is “Edie and Guy Finally Do It”. Say no more.
The issue starts of usually enough with the gang fleeing a battle zone. Edie makes with the teleporting but instead of getting home X-Force is deposited in the middle of the ocean, courtesy of her waning teleportation abilities. One more jaunt leaves the team on dry land, but Guy flags down a passing plane rather than risk Edie’s accuracy again.
The art here is better than I expected. There is nothing worse than a guest artist that disregards established character traits in favour of their own interpretation. Edie’s dark circles, Guy’s crooked nose… Clearly Cooke has taken pains to make sure his renditions of the characters fit with Allred’s, making an enjoyable read out of what could have easily been a filler issue.
For his part Milligan treats “Edie and Guy Finally Do It” as just another issue. This isn’t a throwaway; substantial events take place that will have repercussions for the rest of the series.
After arriving at Headquarters Guy gives Edie an ultimatum. Either she starts hitting her targets or she’ll be demoted to a lower level. With The Spike even noting that there “must be millions of ‘porting” mutants the team could recruit to replace her. Vivisector and Phat seem indifferent to the situation, while Tike is the only one to speak in Edie’s defense. A nice little touch that reinforces the underlying bond Edie, Guy and Tike seem to have formed.
In a confrontation between Edie and Guy her real problem is revealed. Kind of. At first it seems that the tension between she and Guy is throwing off her concentration, and partially, this is the problem. But what’s really weighing on Edie’s mind is when they are going to “do it”. It’s not what you think.
So Guy and Edie set out to “do it”. They drive across country to Edie’s family home, and along the way Edie tells her True Hollywood story. When she was a fifteen she got pregnant to a boy on his way through town. Edie’s Mother pretended to be pregnant so that when Edie eventually had the baby everyone would think it was her sister, and not her daughter.
The only hitch being that Edie’s latent ability to teleport had been manifesting on and off through childhood. At the moment when Edie looked at her daughter she was so panicked that all she could think of was how she needed to be away and, just like that, her power manifested and Edie went from delivery room the Hollywood sign in the blink of an eye.
Milligan has taken a bit of a chance with this storyline. I can’t imagine the higher ups at Marvel were overly thrilled with the “15 year old gets pregnant and abandons baby” scenario. As far as coming to Hollywood stories go it’s fairly typical though, which I think is my problem. It’s a bit cliché. I think it would have had more resonance with me if Edie had decided to abandon the baby. In this scenario it’s something that isn’t really a choice. It just happens to her, and that’s a bit of a cop out.
Still the bonding between Guy and Edie is nice. Their banter doesn’t seem forced, and I get a real sense of growing affection here. Their personalities are very different, but mesh in ways which compliment each other. Though Edie has a nice rapport with Tike I just can’t see them together in a romantic sense.
So Edie goes home. She has a typical reunion with her mother, but the same cold reception from her father. They debate telling Edie’s daughter, Kate, who her real mother is but Edie eventually decides against it. Her mother convinces her that the truth will only result in Kate being hurt when her mother eventually dies in battle, which apart from being a nice way of keeping Kate out of the action, is also a very realistic twist. Well done Mr Milligan.
Reunion accomplished, and power to teleport restored, Edie and Guy head back. Though the sentimental in me enjoyed the resolution, the cynic in me was crying out that it was all a bit soap opera. Which it is. But it’s enjoyable soap, so I can make an exception. Like all soaps this is a bit of guilty fun, and was a nice distraction, but next issue I’d like my old X-Force back please.
At this point in the book I was feeling a little cheated. So the “do it” in the title referred to Edie and Guy going back to the farm? Okay, I guess, but what a tease. Then I turned to the last two pages. Though it happens off panel Edie and Guy finally do “do it” in a style all their own.
An enjoyable issue, and a nice break from the usual heaviness of X-Force. One little nitpick: in the Sawyer family home guy is shown in one panel levitating. Is this one of The Orphan’s powers? I thought he was just super-sensitive. There were some issues early on where it looked like he may have been levitating though, so maybe I’m just a very confused reader. If indeed Guy can levitate I think it’s something that needs to be made clearer for the readers. Or at least for me!
Next month. You’ve heard the hype. One of the popular X-Force members is marked for death. My bets are on Tike or Doop, but with this title you never can tell. I’ll see you all then.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!