Jim Lemoine
Mar 11, 2002, 12:06 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/citv-everlast2.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/citv-everlast2t.jpg" align=left alt="Citizen V & The V-Battalion: The Everlasting #2"></a>Reviewer: Jim Lemoine, darkkelf@earthlink.net
Quick Rating: Average
Story Title: The Good of the Many
Written by: Fabian Nicieza
Cover by: Mike Deodato Jr
Pencilled by: Lewis LaRosa
Inked by: Jim Royal, Scott Koblish, & UDON
Lettered by: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colored by: UDON Studios
Assistant Editors: Marc Sumerak & Jeff Youngquist
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
The Everlasting continues the adventures of the V-Battalion and their new lead operative, the seventh (no, that’s not a typo) Citizen V. While the aforementioned CV gets top billing and beautiful cover art, it’s his comrades in the V-Batallion that really make this story very interesting. Don’t get me wrong, John Watkins III provides us with some great swashbuckling action and some of the best one-liners you’ll find outside of Winick’s Exiles or Milligan’s X-Force (I forgot to mention that in my review of issue one, so I’m opening with it here!). As great as Watkins is, though, the disturbing and depressing Roger Aubrey, the once and former Golden Age Destroyer, is really stealing the show for me.
The issue opens with yet another scene that shows the “ends-justifying-any-means” mentality that pervades the V-Battalion: John Watkins cutting a deal with Amahl Farouk (who is known to any true X-fan as Professor X’s arch-nemesis, the Shadow King)! The scene takes place in 1971, and Farouk’s youth and Watkins’ sideburns elegantly add to the atmosphere. Watkins cuts a deal with the Shadow King: he wants information on the Everlasting and is willing to give the vague promise of a future favor for it.
I had a bit of trouble with this scene, as Aubrey and the V-Battalion have apparently just assumed from the name, “Everlasting”, that they’re dealing with a group of immortal operatives. Seems like a bit of a stretch to me. However, this might be explained by the fact that Watkins mentioned that they have “twice” engaged individuals claiming to be the Everlasting. Perhaps they had only recently made that second contact, and something therein suggested everlasting life? That would explain why they waited so long (18 years since the first encounter in issue one) to do some digging on the subject.
Returning to the present, we’re treated to a nice splash page of the present-day Citizen V that is remarkably reminiscent of the splash from the first issue. It’s very well-done (especially as opposed to the majority of this issue’s art), and this symmetry in art is very enjoyable for those of us who notice it.
Every man, woman, and child in China has suddenly fallen asleep (I can’t believe I just typed that), and CV soon discovers the reason why: an eighty-foot tall version of the Collective Man is absorbing their life essences! I admit to being at a bit of a loss here. I told my friends to buy this limited series because of the refreshing realism and psychological drama contained within the first issue. Now, in the second issue, an 80-foot-tall Collective Man is killing China! True, the underlying tension and drama is still there… but clichéd comic-book plots are not the reason I buy this book.
A member of the V-Battalion is killed by the very movement of this huge Collective Man, just as she’s commenting on how the physics involved don’t make any sense. As someone who knows a little about physics, I’d have to agree with her. Scientifically, the whole concept, including her abrupt death, just doesn’t wash rationally. Still, it is nice to see characters in the Marvel Universe who aren’t invincible.
We’re treated to a very pretty battle sequence of CV fighting the Everlasting. LaRosa and company prove here, as they did last issue, that they can draw some darn nice art as long as they don’t have to draw faces. Some of the scenes are a bit hard to follow, though. For instance, what exactly is that that CV dodges after clocking his opponent? To me, it looked like a V-Wing, but surely the writing would allude to that if it were true? And what exactly happens with the woman who appears? The scene is sparsely scripted, as it should be… the art should tell the story. Here, however, it doesn’t.
If the first half of the book is as disappointing to you as it was for me, rest assured the second half is a big improvement. While the art is still substandard, the storyline really kicks into high gear as the V-Battalion debates how to eliminate the threat posed by the Collective Man. Aubrey’s solution: let it continue to drain all of China until the entire country is dead; then, hope that it’s absorbed too much and that they can destroy it. It’s not often that you see the leader of an ostensibly “heroic” organization consider genocide as a step towards world peace. Indeed, Aubrey seems almost excited at the possibility of killing everybody in China, no doubt seeing the Chinese as a threat to world peace.
We’re not shown what the other High Council members’ reactions are to this plan, which is regrettable, but we can see that Citizen V is in opposition. As a “compromise,” Aubrey decides to kill only 10,000 Chinese soldiers, hoping that this will weaken the Collective Man. His orders are quickly and efficiently carried out, until CV overrides his command at the very last second. Watkins jumps bodily onto the Collective Man, and punctures him with his sword, expelling the life energy forcibly and ending the threat.
Again, I’m shocked by the simplicity of it all. So superhumans buzzed it, we saw planes flying around it… but then one man sticks a normal sword into it, and suddenly this creature that threatened to destroy the world’s most populous country is defeated?!? Is that supposed to tell us that none of those superhumans, assault planes, or ground troops ever attacked it? Such an easy and convenient solution to the problem seems like sloppy writing to me, like the writer is trying too hard to make a hero out of our protagonist.
And so the issue ends, after we’re treated to a rather brilliant panel of dialect by Watkins, as he tries to understand what could cause Aubrey to contemplate genocide. The actual ending on the next page is just a stereotype. We see the mysterious evil mastermind cloaked in shadow as his lackies Flag-Smasher and Ultimatum plan a new assault. Yawn.
While the first issue of this series had an outstanding story and mediocre art, the second issue features a story that ranges from realistic to wildly irrational… and mediocre art. A bit disappointing for this series, as we all know that Nicieza is a much better writer than this. One can only wonder if time or editorial constraints played a role in a story that seemed to be pieced together from two very different plots.
Still, the overall theme of the series as a whole is excellent, and it’s rare to find better characterizations than Nicieza’s. Despite a letdown in this issue, I’m looking forward to the series conclusion next month.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.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/xhalf.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/xhalf.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: Average
Story Title: The Good of the Many
Written by: Fabian Nicieza
Cover by: Mike Deodato Jr
Pencilled by: Lewis LaRosa
Inked by: Jim Royal, Scott Koblish, & UDON
Lettered by: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colored by: UDON Studios
Assistant Editors: Marc Sumerak & Jeff Youngquist
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
The Everlasting continues the adventures of the V-Battalion and their new lead operative, the seventh (no, that’s not a typo) Citizen V. While the aforementioned CV gets top billing and beautiful cover art, it’s his comrades in the V-Batallion that really make this story very interesting. Don’t get me wrong, John Watkins III provides us with some great swashbuckling action and some of the best one-liners you’ll find outside of Winick’s Exiles or Milligan’s X-Force (I forgot to mention that in my review of issue one, so I’m opening with it here!). As great as Watkins is, though, the disturbing and depressing Roger Aubrey, the once and former Golden Age Destroyer, is really stealing the show for me.
The issue opens with yet another scene that shows the “ends-justifying-any-means” mentality that pervades the V-Battalion: John Watkins cutting a deal with Amahl Farouk (who is known to any true X-fan as Professor X’s arch-nemesis, the Shadow King)! The scene takes place in 1971, and Farouk’s youth and Watkins’ sideburns elegantly add to the atmosphere. Watkins cuts a deal with the Shadow King: he wants information on the Everlasting and is willing to give the vague promise of a future favor for it.
I had a bit of trouble with this scene, as Aubrey and the V-Battalion have apparently just assumed from the name, “Everlasting”, that they’re dealing with a group of immortal operatives. Seems like a bit of a stretch to me. However, this might be explained by the fact that Watkins mentioned that they have “twice” engaged individuals claiming to be the Everlasting. Perhaps they had only recently made that second contact, and something therein suggested everlasting life? That would explain why they waited so long (18 years since the first encounter in issue one) to do some digging on the subject.
Returning to the present, we’re treated to a nice splash page of the present-day Citizen V that is remarkably reminiscent of the splash from the first issue. It’s very well-done (especially as opposed to the majority of this issue’s art), and this symmetry in art is very enjoyable for those of us who notice it.
Every man, woman, and child in China has suddenly fallen asleep (I can’t believe I just typed that), and CV soon discovers the reason why: an eighty-foot tall version of the Collective Man is absorbing their life essences! I admit to being at a bit of a loss here. I told my friends to buy this limited series because of the refreshing realism and psychological drama contained within the first issue. Now, in the second issue, an 80-foot-tall Collective Man is killing China! True, the underlying tension and drama is still there… but clichéd comic-book plots are not the reason I buy this book.
A member of the V-Battalion is killed by the very movement of this huge Collective Man, just as she’s commenting on how the physics involved don’t make any sense. As someone who knows a little about physics, I’d have to agree with her. Scientifically, the whole concept, including her abrupt death, just doesn’t wash rationally. Still, it is nice to see characters in the Marvel Universe who aren’t invincible.
We’re treated to a very pretty battle sequence of CV fighting the Everlasting. LaRosa and company prove here, as they did last issue, that they can draw some darn nice art as long as they don’t have to draw faces. Some of the scenes are a bit hard to follow, though. For instance, what exactly is that that CV dodges after clocking his opponent? To me, it looked like a V-Wing, but surely the writing would allude to that if it were true? And what exactly happens with the woman who appears? The scene is sparsely scripted, as it should be… the art should tell the story. Here, however, it doesn’t.
If the first half of the book is as disappointing to you as it was for me, rest assured the second half is a big improvement. While the art is still substandard, the storyline really kicks into high gear as the V-Battalion debates how to eliminate the threat posed by the Collective Man. Aubrey’s solution: let it continue to drain all of China until the entire country is dead; then, hope that it’s absorbed too much and that they can destroy it. It’s not often that you see the leader of an ostensibly “heroic” organization consider genocide as a step towards world peace. Indeed, Aubrey seems almost excited at the possibility of killing everybody in China, no doubt seeing the Chinese as a threat to world peace.
We’re not shown what the other High Council members’ reactions are to this plan, which is regrettable, but we can see that Citizen V is in opposition. As a “compromise,” Aubrey decides to kill only 10,000 Chinese soldiers, hoping that this will weaken the Collective Man. His orders are quickly and efficiently carried out, until CV overrides his command at the very last second. Watkins jumps bodily onto the Collective Man, and punctures him with his sword, expelling the life energy forcibly and ending the threat.
Again, I’m shocked by the simplicity of it all. So superhumans buzzed it, we saw planes flying around it… but then one man sticks a normal sword into it, and suddenly this creature that threatened to destroy the world’s most populous country is defeated?!? Is that supposed to tell us that none of those superhumans, assault planes, or ground troops ever attacked it? Such an easy and convenient solution to the problem seems like sloppy writing to me, like the writer is trying too hard to make a hero out of our protagonist.
And so the issue ends, after we’re treated to a rather brilliant panel of dialect by Watkins, as he tries to understand what could cause Aubrey to contemplate genocide. The actual ending on the next page is just a stereotype. We see the mysterious evil mastermind cloaked in shadow as his lackies Flag-Smasher and Ultimatum plan a new assault. Yawn.
While the first issue of this series had an outstanding story and mediocre art, the second issue features a story that ranges from realistic to wildly irrational… and mediocre art. A bit disappointing for this series, as we all know that Nicieza is a much better writer than this. One can only wonder if time or editorial constraints played a role in a story that seemed to be pieced together from two very different plots.
Still, the overall theme of the series as a whole is excellent, and it’s rare to find better characterizations than Nicieza’s. Despite a letdown in this issue, I’m looking forward to the series conclusion next month.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.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/xhalf.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/xhalf.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!