Anthony Zisa
Apr 7, 2002, 07:10 am
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/uxmen405.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/uxmen405t.jpg" align=left alt="Uncanny X-Men #405"></a>Reviewer: Anthony Zisa, PopinFrsh@aol.com
Quick Rating: Excellent!
Story Title: Ballroom Blitzkrieg
All Hell breaks loose as rogue X-Corps members launch blitzkrieg on Paris, the Bastard Squad silences opposition back at headquarters, X-Men are put in the line of fire, and the mastermind behind the plot against Banshee is revealed! Plus a shock beyond belief – Stacy cuts discounts!
Written by: Joe Casey
Art by: Sean Phillips
Lettered by: RS Comicraft's Saida!
Colored by: Hi-Fi Design
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I don’t want to like this arc. I really, really don’t. The X-Corps arc, for all its methodical build-up and blistering climax and denouement, lacks the Casey social-commentary-in-form-of-X-Men-stories touch. Thematically, this is a step backwards for the book. Mindless action, especially well-written action, is very fun as entertainment. However, Casey’s previous two arcs balanced some action with commentary on the world, and a willingness to push the conventions of X-Men stories around, and analyze them through utilization. To some fans, it was off-putting and strange. Joe Casey’s ways were confusing. This was an X-Men book, right?
The X-Corps, however, has little in the way of deeper thematic profundities. The arc is essentially Claremontian action opera as filtered through the mind of a man who implied the writer of the source material has not done any useful work lately. And sadly, the filter is not radical, and the finished product is not atypical in any way. Ironically, the arc that has caused many of Casey’s staunchest critics to join the ranks of those who will miss him once he is gone is the one on which he under performs from that atypical superhero story he does rather well.
The problem with the X-Corps arc is that for Casey’s entire adherence to certain conventions, he just keeps writing within those boundaries terribly, terribly well. Casey captures the frenetic pacing as the unraveling of Banshee’s dream continues, and draws the reader into the story by paralleling the blitzkrieg attack underway in Paris with a blitzkrieg pace of events back in the X-Corps headquarters. A lot happens in the space of one issue (some would argue more than has happened in the entirety of the X-Corps arc up until this issue).
The issue starts off with a terrific page of Banshee staring at an empty hanger, saying, “Where are all our gunships...?” The X-Corps gunships have gone missing, presumably by the same group of rebels the readers know staged a hostile takeover last issue. Realizing he cannot keep the X-Men in the dark any longer, Banshee shows them how he has been keeping his Bastard Squad in line – by using Mastermind II’s telepathic powers. Banshee’s reasons were admirable in his mind, as he firmly believed without the statement of villains working with heroes, his dream could never properly culminate in the full and total policing of mutants by mutants. After demonstrating Mastermind II’s capabilities on Iceman, Sean drops an anvil to the obviously surprised X-Men – the villains have gone evil.
The story cuts then to three hours prior, as Stacy gives Radius a little “one-on-one” attention. As Radius is unable to be touched, Stacy is preparing to use her pheromone manipulation ability to release a little of his tension. In a shocking revelation, she even cuts discounts to friends of the X-Men. Meanwhile, Gambit flips through his Rolodex to find the Institute’s number for his own consultation. Hopefully, Stacy got her money upfront, because the session is interrupted by a gigantic chasm opening up in the ground and swallowing Radius alive as it closes, crushing the poor Canadian. The perpetrator: Avalanche, flanked by Blob, who insists on having dibs on Stacy. He throws her, slamming her into the ground, before the two take off with the Madri.
Back in the present, Banshee’s Angels find the former Sunpyre’s body, with Abyss still in containment, but completely lost within himself. Archangel, realizing the situation is spiraling out of control, takes charge of cleaning up Banshee’s mess. A communiqué from Fever Pitch alerts the X-Men as to the rogues’ whereabouts – Paris, where the Bastard Squad is causing widespread property damage and inflicting heavy casualties on the city. Banshee decides to disable Mastermind II in order to regain control over the Madri, at the cost of the ability to control the Bastard Squad.
In the bowels of the X-Corps headquarters, Nightcrawler searches for Chamber, finally tracking him down in the hanger, inside the Blackbird. An LCD crawls down behind Chamber, and as realizing dawns on Nightcrawler, the plane explodes. Archangel realizes that there’s no way Chamber or Nightcrawler could have been caught in the explosion, and orders Madrox to show him where the munitions depot resides. Arming himself, he prepares for war, as does Stacy back outside the headquarters, as she wakes up from her nap in the ground.
Banshee prepares to unplug Mastermind II, and as he pontificates on the folly of his way, a shadow in the background slowly shifts from Madrox’s form to that of a woman – a woman brandishing a knife. She jams it into Banshee’s throat, and the final splash page reveals what Casey has been hinting at all along: Mystique has come back to finish the job she started with Banshee’s true love.
Casey’s pacing is well-timed, and by the end the breathtaking pace is only interrupted by the time until the next installment. As a trade paperback, this arc will kick on all cylinders, but Casey is currently hampered by the single issue format. However, at the same time, he uses that format to perfection. The shocking conclusion, with Banshee stabbed through the throat, dying on the floor with Mystique on the edge of victory, was something unexpected. If Casey is able to go through with killing Banshee, it will be a meaningful death, as well as the perfect cap to the tragedy that is the X-Corps, with Banshee lain low from his hubris, his presumption that he could bend the free will of others to his own.
Similarly, Casey paces each page well, with well-timed beats forcing the reader to quickly see what happens next. Each end panel propels the narrative forward, often with action movie worthy one-liners. From the aforementioned “Where are all our gunships…?” to a half-page spread of Archangel holding a mammoth, Schwartzenneger-sized gun, to a vivid two page spread of Paris under assault, Casey shows a mastery of the form.
No lesser effort than perfect is handed in by Sean Phillips this issue, and he takes Casey’s perfect pacing and does him one better, illustrating each of Casey’s ideas beautifully. His renditions of the X-Men and Banshee are spot-on, and his revelation of Mystique is appropriately hideous and twisted from her own increasing insanity and hatred. Phillips’ expressions are top-notch, and his actions scenes explode across the page. Casey and Phillips seem to be playing a game of “top this” with each other, as Phillips rises to Casey’s challenge each page, and Casey hands Phillips a more plum panel accordingly. They play off each other in a way that makes me rueful as I imagine the potential for Uncanny X-Men had the two been the original creative team. They would have easily topped all the creative teams involved in last May’s revamp, and they would have done it with style. Casey and Phillips make the X-Men hip, and it’s a shame that like all good things, it has to end.
Kudos to the two, that despite the trappings of convention, they’ve brought a thoroughly entertaining popcorn-action flick to life within the confines of a comic book. A well-tread job well-done.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!
Quick Rating: Excellent!
Story Title: Ballroom Blitzkrieg
All Hell breaks loose as rogue X-Corps members launch blitzkrieg on Paris, the Bastard Squad silences opposition back at headquarters, X-Men are put in the line of fire, and the mastermind behind the plot against Banshee is revealed! Plus a shock beyond belief – Stacy cuts discounts!
Written by: Joe Casey
Art by: Sean Phillips
Lettered by: RS Comicraft's Saida!
Colored by: Hi-Fi Design
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I don’t want to like this arc. I really, really don’t. The X-Corps arc, for all its methodical build-up and blistering climax and denouement, lacks the Casey social-commentary-in-form-of-X-Men-stories touch. Thematically, this is a step backwards for the book. Mindless action, especially well-written action, is very fun as entertainment. However, Casey’s previous two arcs balanced some action with commentary on the world, and a willingness to push the conventions of X-Men stories around, and analyze them through utilization. To some fans, it was off-putting and strange. Joe Casey’s ways were confusing. This was an X-Men book, right?
The X-Corps, however, has little in the way of deeper thematic profundities. The arc is essentially Claremontian action opera as filtered through the mind of a man who implied the writer of the source material has not done any useful work lately. And sadly, the filter is not radical, and the finished product is not atypical in any way. Ironically, the arc that has caused many of Casey’s staunchest critics to join the ranks of those who will miss him once he is gone is the one on which he under performs from that atypical superhero story he does rather well.
The problem with the X-Corps arc is that for Casey’s entire adherence to certain conventions, he just keeps writing within those boundaries terribly, terribly well. Casey captures the frenetic pacing as the unraveling of Banshee’s dream continues, and draws the reader into the story by paralleling the blitzkrieg attack underway in Paris with a blitzkrieg pace of events back in the X-Corps headquarters. A lot happens in the space of one issue (some would argue more than has happened in the entirety of the X-Corps arc up until this issue).
The issue starts off with a terrific page of Banshee staring at an empty hanger, saying, “Where are all our gunships...?” The X-Corps gunships have gone missing, presumably by the same group of rebels the readers know staged a hostile takeover last issue. Realizing he cannot keep the X-Men in the dark any longer, Banshee shows them how he has been keeping his Bastard Squad in line – by using Mastermind II’s telepathic powers. Banshee’s reasons were admirable in his mind, as he firmly believed without the statement of villains working with heroes, his dream could never properly culminate in the full and total policing of mutants by mutants. After demonstrating Mastermind II’s capabilities on Iceman, Sean drops an anvil to the obviously surprised X-Men – the villains have gone evil.
The story cuts then to three hours prior, as Stacy gives Radius a little “one-on-one” attention. As Radius is unable to be touched, Stacy is preparing to use her pheromone manipulation ability to release a little of his tension. In a shocking revelation, she even cuts discounts to friends of the X-Men. Meanwhile, Gambit flips through his Rolodex to find the Institute’s number for his own consultation. Hopefully, Stacy got her money upfront, because the session is interrupted by a gigantic chasm opening up in the ground and swallowing Radius alive as it closes, crushing the poor Canadian. The perpetrator: Avalanche, flanked by Blob, who insists on having dibs on Stacy. He throws her, slamming her into the ground, before the two take off with the Madri.
Back in the present, Banshee’s Angels find the former Sunpyre’s body, with Abyss still in containment, but completely lost within himself. Archangel, realizing the situation is spiraling out of control, takes charge of cleaning up Banshee’s mess. A communiqué from Fever Pitch alerts the X-Men as to the rogues’ whereabouts – Paris, where the Bastard Squad is causing widespread property damage and inflicting heavy casualties on the city. Banshee decides to disable Mastermind II in order to regain control over the Madri, at the cost of the ability to control the Bastard Squad.
In the bowels of the X-Corps headquarters, Nightcrawler searches for Chamber, finally tracking him down in the hanger, inside the Blackbird. An LCD crawls down behind Chamber, and as realizing dawns on Nightcrawler, the plane explodes. Archangel realizes that there’s no way Chamber or Nightcrawler could have been caught in the explosion, and orders Madrox to show him where the munitions depot resides. Arming himself, he prepares for war, as does Stacy back outside the headquarters, as she wakes up from her nap in the ground.
Banshee prepares to unplug Mastermind II, and as he pontificates on the folly of his way, a shadow in the background slowly shifts from Madrox’s form to that of a woman – a woman brandishing a knife. She jams it into Banshee’s throat, and the final splash page reveals what Casey has been hinting at all along: Mystique has come back to finish the job she started with Banshee’s true love.
Casey’s pacing is well-timed, and by the end the breathtaking pace is only interrupted by the time until the next installment. As a trade paperback, this arc will kick on all cylinders, but Casey is currently hampered by the single issue format. However, at the same time, he uses that format to perfection. The shocking conclusion, with Banshee stabbed through the throat, dying on the floor with Mystique on the edge of victory, was something unexpected. If Casey is able to go through with killing Banshee, it will be a meaningful death, as well as the perfect cap to the tragedy that is the X-Corps, with Banshee lain low from his hubris, his presumption that he could bend the free will of others to his own.
Similarly, Casey paces each page well, with well-timed beats forcing the reader to quickly see what happens next. Each end panel propels the narrative forward, often with action movie worthy one-liners. From the aforementioned “Where are all our gunships…?” to a half-page spread of Archangel holding a mammoth, Schwartzenneger-sized gun, to a vivid two page spread of Paris under assault, Casey shows a mastery of the form.
No lesser effort than perfect is handed in by Sean Phillips this issue, and he takes Casey’s perfect pacing and does him one better, illustrating each of Casey’s ideas beautifully. His renditions of the X-Men and Banshee are spot-on, and his revelation of Mystique is appropriately hideous and twisted from her own increasing insanity and hatred. Phillips’ expressions are top-notch, and his actions scenes explode across the page. Casey and Phillips seem to be playing a game of “top this” with each other, as Phillips rises to Casey’s challenge each page, and Casey hands Phillips a more plum panel accordingly. They play off each other in a way that makes me rueful as I imagine the potential for Uncanny X-Men had the two been the original creative team. They would have easily topped all the creative teams involved in last May’s revamp, and they would have done it with style. Casey and Phillips make the X-Men hip, and it’s a shame that like all good things, it has to end.
Kudos to the two, that despite the trappings of convention, they’ve brought a thoroughly entertaining popcorn-action flick to life within the confines of a comic book. A well-tread job well-done.
ART:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpg
STORY:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg
OVERALL:
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xfull.jpghttp://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/xhalf.jpg
Buy this issue online now from X-World Comics (http://www.x-worldcomics.com/x/bstore/newbooksmain.html) and save!