Anthony Zisa
Mar 25, 2002, 04:36 pm
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/uxmen403.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/uxmen403t.jpg" align=left alt="Uncanny X-Men #403"></a>Reviewer: Anthony Zisa, PopinFrsh@aol.com
Quick Rating: Good
Story Title: Lurking
The tension between the X-Corps, X-Men, and ARM manifests in a terrible way, while Chamber goes to investigate the mystery of the X-Corps basement. Plus, the return of the Generation X girls!
Written by: Joe Casey
Cover by: Ariel Olivetti
Pencilled by: Aaron Lopresti
Inked by: Mark Morales
Lettered by: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colored by: Hi-Fi Desiogn
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
The X-Corps storyarc has been hard for me to "get" as successfully as some of Casey's previous storyarcs. It's not because it's difficult writing -- in fact, the writing's much more linear and straightforward than the previous two arcs, "Poptopia" and the Church of Humanity. Rather, the difficulty stemmed from the very fact that Casey decided to eschew the style of storytelling he has been using for a "classic" X-Men feel.
When placed against "Poptopia" and The Church of Humanity arcs, X-Corps is missing something that was distinctly Casey. Casey, love him or hate him, had a definitive storytelling style right out the gate. He played with the form of the X-Men story. In "Poptopia," he riffed on the cyclical nature of popular culture by placing the X-Men in situations already played out. Popular culture recycles pop stars (New Kids on the Block begot the boy bands of the 90's, the Monkees begot the New Kids on the Block, Madonna and Tiffany begot Britney and Christina) just as Casey's London Morlocks where a recycling of New York's Morlocks. Similarly, the Church of Humanity's origins, heavy on the leap of faith, and the narrative style of what appeared to be various stories, with distinctive tones, resembled tomes of faith, often assembled from varied sources and equally abstract in validity.
Casey's tongue-in-cheek use of reintroducing Banshee in the silent issue of Uncanny was indicitive of Casey's writing. Then, issue 402 and 403 were released, and the conventions were not and are not being played with anymore. Casey's telling a typical X-Men story, in a typical X-Men style.
Approached from the angle of convention, the storytelling is well done. Casey has decided to take a slow, appropriately deliberate approach to the story, developing the looming sense of dread quietly, so that when the inevitable collapse of Banshee's structure occurs, the impact will surely be greater. Similarly, Casey's character interaction works beautifully. The Bastard Squad is appropriately menacing, with all their rage and bitter hatred channeled into their work. The reunification of most of the former Generation X is well done, with little reminders of the deep history the characters have together (and Casey's acknowledgement that Chamber and Husk had a relationship, and that there's still something between the two, is something that made this reviewer smile). The Generation X girls' motives behind joining, that being watchdogs from the inside is the only way to keep Shawn honest, rings true. And the limited interaction of the X-Men, as the outside observers, is spot on.
If there's any problem with the issue, it is that the deliberate pace works against the story at points. There's not much happening. As part of a larger narrative, it will work well, but as a standalone issue, it is hard to get into. Likewise, the one action piece in the story seems almost like Steve Gerber's "Obligatory Fight Scene." Last issue, the X-Corps mission statement was defined. Thus, the action seemed more for the sake of action, rather than as a true advancement of the narrative.
Nonetheless, the storytelling of the issue has many more positive qualities than negative qualities. Due in no small part, however, to Aaron Lopresti's gorgeous fill-in.
Part of the problem with Ron Garney's two issues were his ill-fit to Casey's writing. Casey's stories are dark -- not always oppressively dark, but definately of a darker bent. However, Garney's pencils are sunny, heavy on the superheroic quotient, of which Casey's stories are more devoid. Aaron Lopresti's pencils, while not containing the synergy Casey had with Sean Phillips on WildCATs and Ashley Woods on Uncanny X-Men #398 and the annual, mesh much better with Casey's story. Lopresti has a handle on how most of the characters look (although Banshee's haricut is a rather abrupt change from the previous depictions), and his layouts and sequential storytelling work nicely to move Casey's story along. However, most importantly, as previously mentioned, he doesn't work against Casey's writing. Casey, on his Uncanny X-Men tenure, has been saddled with too many artists that seem to physically stunt Casey's story development. In Uncanny X-Men #403, Lopresti stands back and lets Casey do all the work, and the book is infinitely better for it.
Finally, this review would be remiss without a mention of Ariel Olivretti's absolutely gorgeous and stunning cover. From his tenure on X-Man, his sequential storytelling skill was without question, but his covers are often haunting and evocative. Were it only that he would do all of Uncanny's covers.
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/xhalf.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/xhalf.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/xhalf.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: Good
Story Title: Lurking
The tension between the X-Corps, X-Men, and ARM manifests in a terrible way, while Chamber goes to investigate the mystery of the X-Corps basement. Plus, the return of the Generation X girls!
Written by: Joe Casey
Cover by: Ariel Olivetti
Pencilled by: Aaron Lopresti
Inked by: Mark Morales
Lettered by: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colored by: Hi-Fi Desiogn
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-In-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
The X-Corps storyarc has been hard for me to "get" as successfully as some of Casey's previous storyarcs. It's not because it's difficult writing -- in fact, the writing's much more linear and straightforward than the previous two arcs, "Poptopia" and the Church of Humanity. Rather, the difficulty stemmed from the very fact that Casey decided to eschew the style of storytelling he has been using for a "classic" X-Men feel.
When placed against "Poptopia" and The Church of Humanity arcs, X-Corps is missing something that was distinctly Casey. Casey, love him or hate him, had a definitive storytelling style right out the gate. He played with the form of the X-Men story. In "Poptopia," he riffed on the cyclical nature of popular culture by placing the X-Men in situations already played out. Popular culture recycles pop stars (New Kids on the Block begot the boy bands of the 90's, the Monkees begot the New Kids on the Block, Madonna and Tiffany begot Britney and Christina) just as Casey's London Morlocks where a recycling of New York's Morlocks. Similarly, the Church of Humanity's origins, heavy on the leap of faith, and the narrative style of what appeared to be various stories, with distinctive tones, resembled tomes of faith, often assembled from varied sources and equally abstract in validity.
Casey's tongue-in-cheek use of reintroducing Banshee in the silent issue of Uncanny was indicitive of Casey's writing. Then, issue 402 and 403 were released, and the conventions were not and are not being played with anymore. Casey's telling a typical X-Men story, in a typical X-Men style.
Approached from the angle of convention, the storytelling is well done. Casey has decided to take a slow, appropriately deliberate approach to the story, developing the looming sense of dread quietly, so that when the inevitable collapse of Banshee's structure occurs, the impact will surely be greater. Similarly, Casey's character interaction works beautifully. The Bastard Squad is appropriately menacing, with all their rage and bitter hatred channeled into their work. The reunification of most of the former Generation X is well done, with little reminders of the deep history the characters have together (and Casey's acknowledgement that Chamber and Husk had a relationship, and that there's still something between the two, is something that made this reviewer smile). The Generation X girls' motives behind joining, that being watchdogs from the inside is the only way to keep Shawn honest, rings true. And the limited interaction of the X-Men, as the outside observers, is spot on.
If there's any problem with the issue, it is that the deliberate pace works against the story at points. There's not much happening. As part of a larger narrative, it will work well, but as a standalone issue, it is hard to get into. Likewise, the one action piece in the story seems almost like Steve Gerber's "Obligatory Fight Scene." Last issue, the X-Corps mission statement was defined. Thus, the action seemed more for the sake of action, rather than as a true advancement of the narrative.
Nonetheless, the storytelling of the issue has many more positive qualities than negative qualities. Due in no small part, however, to Aaron Lopresti's gorgeous fill-in.
Part of the problem with Ron Garney's two issues were his ill-fit to Casey's writing. Casey's stories are dark -- not always oppressively dark, but definately of a darker bent. However, Garney's pencils are sunny, heavy on the superheroic quotient, of which Casey's stories are more devoid. Aaron Lopresti's pencils, while not containing the synergy Casey had with Sean Phillips on WildCATs and Ashley Woods on Uncanny X-Men #398 and the annual, mesh much better with Casey's story. Lopresti has a handle on how most of the characters look (although Banshee's haricut is a rather abrupt change from the previous depictions), and his layouts and sequential storytelling work nicely to move Casey's story along. However, most importantly, as previously mentioned, he doesn't work against Casey's writing. Casey, on his Uncanny X-Men tenure, has been saddled with too many artists that seem to physically stunt Casey's story development. In Uncanny X-Men #403, Lopresti stands back and lets Casey do all the work, and the book is infinitely better for it.
Finally, this review would be remiss without a mention of Ariel Olivretti's absolutely gorgeous and stunning cover. From his tenure on X-Man, his sequential storytelling skill was without question, but his covers are often haunting and evocative. Were it only that he would do all of Uncanny's covers.
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/xhalf.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/xhalf.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/xhalf.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!