Brandon Yates
Mar 9, 2002, 04:36 pm
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/ncrwlrv2-2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/ncrwlrv2-2t.jpg" align=left alt="Nightcrawler (2nd series) #2"></a>Reviewer: Brandon Yates, brandonyates@zentertainment.com
Quick Rating: Below Average
Story Title: Without A Sound
Nightcrawler investigates the urban slavery ring he stumbled across last issue.
Written by: Chris Kipiniak
Cover by: Massimiliano Frezzatto
Pencilled by: Matt Smith
Inked by: Mark Morales
Lettered by: Jon Babcock
Colored by: HiFi Design
Editor: Pete Franco
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
My problem with this book is similar to my beef with the Cyclops mini-series. The storyline doesn’t seem custom-fitted for the main protagonist. Sure, they have the church and the teleporting and the “ja,” but are those all what’s needed to express what this character is about? It’s also a jarring characterization turn from what Joe Casey is doing with Kurt over at Uncanny X-Men. Icons Nightcrawler is quite different than Uncanny Nightcrawler – one is leadership material, the other is unsure of everything. One has an inner calm that exudes self-control, the other is emotional to the point of being goaded into a rage, pummeling one thug to a bloody pulp. Hey, maybe it’s me but I choose the Uncanny version.
The villain of this mini-series, Oleg the Russian slave-ring leader, has a cardboard personality. He’s obviously evil, but I don’t hate him, or even have a strong dislike for him. He’s just this jerk who speaks in broken English, which mends itself whenever convenient. I feel so disconnected from this story as I read it.
Mattew Smith’s interior art hasn’t grown on me in the least. It’s not bad art, mind you; I just find it all wrong for the character. The dilemma I’m seeing here is that the art may be fine for the type of story we’re seeing here, but it’s a mismatch as far as the book’s star. So which do you throw out, the story or the hero? Some readers I know say both, but I’m not so sure. It could be the character that is holding back the story and vice versa.
I fear this four-issue story would be best told in one, because it’s a very straightforward narrative, and probably could have fit into an issue of X-Men Unlimited. There are all of the elements needed for a dark, thought-provoking story, but, at the end of the day, most of it falls through. Passion Play is an edgy tale that’s told by-the-books, and almost as boring as sitting through Sunday mass.
ART:
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STORY:
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OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://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: Below Average
Story Title: Without A Sound
Nightcrawler investigates the urban slavery ring he stumbled across last issue.
Written by: Chris Kipiniak
Cover by: Massimiliano Frezzatto
Pencilled by: Matt Smith
Inked by: Mark Morales
Lettered by: Jon Babcock
Colored by: HiFi Design
Editor: Pete Franco
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
My problem with this book is similar to my beef with the Cyclops mini-series. The storyline doesn’t seem custom-fitted for the main protagonist. Sure, they have the church and the teleporting and the “ja,” but are those all what’s needed to express what this character is about? It’s also a jarring characterization turn from what Joe Casey is doing with Kurt over at Uncanny X-Men. Icons Nightcrawler is quite different than Uncanny Nightcrawler – one is leadership material, the other is unsure of everything. One has an inner calm that exudes self-control, the other is emotional to the point of being goaded into a rage, pummeling one thug to a bloody pulp. Hey, maybe it’s me but I choose the Uncanny version.
The villain of this mini-series, Oleg the Russian slave-ring leader, has a cardboard personality. He’s obviously evil, but I don’t hate him, or even have a strong dislike for him. He’s just this jerk who speaks in broken English, which mends itself whenever convenient. I feel so disconnected from this story as I read it.
Mattew Smith’s interior art hasn’t grown on me in the least. It’s not bad art, mind you; I just find it all wrong for the character. The dilemma I’m seeing here is that the art may be fine for the type of story we’re seeing here, but it’s a mismatch as far as the book’s star. So which do you throw out, the story or the hero? Some readers I know say both, but I’m not so sure. It could be the character that is holding back the story and vice versa.
I fear this four-issue story would be best told in one, because it’s a very straightforward narrative, and probably could have fit into an issue of X-Men Unlimited. There are all of the elements needed for a dark, thought-provoking story, but, at the end of the day, most of it falls through. Passion Play is an edgy tale that’s told by-the-books, and almost as boring as sitting through Sunday mass.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xnone.jpghttp://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!