Stephanie Kay
Oct 13, 2007, 09:59 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/4images/details.php?image_id=10098" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/marvel/xmenv2-191t.jpg" align=left alt="X-Men #191" hspace="5"></a>Reviewer: Alan Bergin, alan_bergin@yahoo.com
Title: Supernovas - Part 4 of 6
What? That come across as cold?
Writer: Mike Carey
Art: Clay Henry
Cover: Chris Bachalo
Colour Christina Strain
Inks: Mark Morales
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Assistant Editor: Sean Ryan
Associate Editor: Nick Lowe
Editor: Mike Marts
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published By: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
If anyone had told me when X-Men #1 was released at the beginning of the nineties that 190 issues later, the heads of Victor Creed & Raven Darkholme would be adorning the top-left hand corner of each issue, I would have 1) asked if both characters had a hand in ridding the franchise of Jubilee and 2) thought it was a joke. Since when do murderers join the X-Men? With that said, Mike Carey needs to be applauded for breaking from the shackles of convention with his choices of cast. The reformation of villains is a tricky business and hasn’t been done all that well since Grant Morisson rescued Emma Frost from the rubble in Genosha. Although, in saying that, how we can be altogether sure that Raven & Victor can be reformed? More importantly, do they themselves wish it? Questions such as these have made the most recent revamp of X-Men an absolute pleasure to read. Everyone likes to throw around the ‘best X-title’ accolade these days and while the debates will rage, I think it’s far more important to stop and realize that this time last year, there wasn’t much of a choice. Astonishing X-Men has been Queen-Bee for a number of years now and rightly so, Whedon has produced some excellent stories, despite horrid delays. Uncanny X-Men has been given the boost that a flagship title so richly needed, in the form of Ed Brubaker’s very own Star Wars. X-Factor is a title that many of us (myself included) hold dear to our hearts and rightly so. The ever-changing artistic efforts can’t disguise the consistently wonderful stories & sweet cast. X-Men on the other hand, was perhaps the title most in need of a hefty creative-bitchslap. The safe, paint-by-numbers approach, as used by Chuck Austen and Pete Milligan, angered many X-fans by its sheer inaneness. The stories weren’t necessarily bad, just uninspired, which is a crime in itself for a title that bears the X-Men insignia.
The opening arc of the book's revamp; Supernovas, may not win medals for originality, as the formation of an uncomfortable alliance between former adversaries, in opposition to a new breed of super-villain is a fairly standard concept. It’s to Carey’s credit then, that he can mold his premise into a story and indeed book that can arguably claim for itself the aforementioned ‘best X-title’ accolade.
Where Carey succeeds is in his strong characterization and his ability to incorporate a sizeable cast, but still allow each member’s voice to be heard. Rogue has been put through the veritable wringer in recent times. She appeared as nothing but a shadow of her former self under both Milligan & Austen’s pen and while many clamoured for Chris Claremont to return to his creation, few if any suspected that Mike Carey would be the one to return Rogue to her former glory. In the space of four short issues, the character has (in essence) recovered her spine. Elsewhere, Iceman and Cannonball have re-established a friendship, which had gone unnoticed since Mark Waid left the title. Mystique’s presence in the mansion is unnerving to say the least. She has already proven useful on a number of occasions, but while fans may bemoan the lack of focus on her villainous past, it’s quite hard to deny that she’s brought an edge to the proceedings.
The undoubted star of this issue of X-Men however, is the man who’s made countless attempts to murder our merry mutants in the past. This particular offering serves to shed some light, not only the reasoning behind Sabretooth’s request for sanctuary in the Xavier estate, but on the origin of the team who’ve spent the past number of issues, laying waste to Creed’s would-be protectors. Victor’s explanations make it hard for us to have any degree of sympathy for him, but our lack of pity pales into insignificance by the fact that Carey has reintroduced the Sabretooth that we all love to loath.
The plot of this particular installment revolves around the aforementioned exposition of information, pertaining to Creed’s dilemma & the children of the Vault’s origin. Serafina, with the aid of a comatose Lady Mastermind enters into the mind of Cannonball and proceeds to twist his existing consciousness into incorporating a lifetime of shared memories. Wolverine would later interrupt the villain and endow his team with the first face-to-face contact with their previously unseen enemy. All in all, it’s a solid issue. The plot chugs along nicely, as the team begin to unravel the mystery surrounding their antagonists. The main draw of the issue still has to be Sabretooth’s flashback scenes in which he encounters The Children of the Vault for the first time. Carey’s gift is his ability to tell a good old fashioned yarn and couple it with some quality dialogue and sprinkles of strong characterization. Unlike the Milligan/Austen combination, it’s entirely possible to believe that we are at last reading the real X-Men again.
Clay Henry steps-in to fill Chris Bachalo’s shoes in this issue and while I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t miss the latter’s pencils, Clay does a fine job in depicting our characters. His style lacks the edge of Bachalo, but it does the job quite nicely. My only real fault with the art of this particular issue is a lack of distinction between some of the character’s appearances. Rogue and The White Queen effectively have the same face, which wouldn’t be so bad if the face was attractive to begin with. Sadly, this isn’t the case. Overall, the artwork is acceptable here, although you’d be forgiven for missing Bachalo’s trademarked, chunkier scribblings.
This is a solid installment to a very fine first arc for Mr Carey. The machinations of the plot are intriguing, the characterization is spot-on and the abiding feeling upon finishing the issue is one of satisfaction.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xhalf.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xnone.jpg
Buy X-Men #191 online now at X-WORLD and SAVE! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=20661)
Title: Supernovas - Part 4 of 6
What? That come across as cold?
Writer: Mike Carey
Art: Clay Henry
Cover: Chris Bachalo
Colour Christina Strain
Inks: Mark Morales
Letters: VC’s Cory Petit
Assistant Editor: Sean Ryan
Associate Editor: Nick Lowe
Editor: Mike Marts
Editor In Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published By: Marvel Comics (www.marvel.com)
If anyone had told me when X-Men #1 was released at the beginning of the nineties that 190 issues later, the heads of Victor Creed & Raven Darkholme would be adorning the top-left hand corner of each issue, I would have 1) asked if both characters had a hand in ridding the franchise of Jubilee and 2) thought it was a joke. Since when do murderers join the X-Men? With that said, Mike Carey needs to be applauded for breaking from the shackles of convention with his choices of cast. The reformation of villains is a tricky business and hasn’t been done all that well since Grant Morisson rescued Emma Frost from the rubble in Genosha. Although, in saying that, how we can be altogether sure that Raven & Victor can be reformed? More importantly, do they themselves wish it? Questions such as these have made the most recent revamp of X-Men an absolute pleasure to read. Everyone likes to throw around the ‘best X-title’ accolade these days and while the debates will rage, I think it’s far more important to stop and realize that this time last year, there wasn’t much of a choice. Astonishing X-Men has been Queen-Bee for a number of years now and rightly so, Whedon has produced some excellent stories, despite horrid delays. Uncanny X-Men has been given the boost that a flagship title so richly needed, in the form of Ed Brubaker’s very own Star Wars. X-Factor is a title that many of us (myself included) hold dear to our hearts and rightly so. The ever-changing artistic efforts can’t disguise the consistently wonderful stories & sweet cast. X-Men on the other hand, was perhaps the title most in need of a hefty creative-bitchslap. The safe, paint-by-numbers approach, as used by Chuck Austen and Pete Milligan, angered many X-fans by its sheer inaneness. The stories weren’t necessarily bad, just uninspired, which is a crime in itself for a title that bears the X-Men insignia.
The opening arc of the book's revamp; Supernovas, may not win medals for originality, as the formation of an uncomfortable alliance between former adversaries, in opposition to a new breed of super-villain is a fairly standard concept. It’s to Carey’s credit then, that he can mold his premise into a story and indeed book that can arguably claim for itself the aforementioned ‘best X-title’ accolade.
Where Carey succeeds is in his strong characterization and his ability to incorporate a sizeable cast, but still allow each member’s voice to be heard. Rogue has been put through the veritable wringer in recent times. She appeared as nothing but a shadow of her former self under both Milligan & Austen’s pen and while many clamoured for Chris Claremont to return to his creation, few if any suspected that Mike Carey would be the one to return Rogue to her former glory. In the space of four short issues, the character has (in essence) recovered her spine. Elsewhere, Iceman and Cannonball have re-established a friendship, which had gone unnoticed since Mark Waid left the title. Mystique’s presence in the mansion is unnerving to say the least. She has already proven useful on a number of occasions, but while fans may bemoan the lack of focus on her villainous past, it’s quite hard to deny that she’s brought an edge to the proceedings.
The undoubted star of this issue of X-Men however, is the man who’s made countless attempts to murder our merry mutants in the past. This particular offering serves to shed some light, not only the reasoning behind Sabretooth’s request for sanctuary in the Xavier estate, but on the origin of the team who’ve spent the past number of issues, laying waste to Creed’s would-be protectors. Victor’s explanations make it hard for us to have any degree of sympathy for him, but our lack of pity pales into insignificance by the fact that Carey has reintroduced the Sabretooth that we all love to loath.
The plot of this particular installment revolves around the aforementioned exposition of information, pertaining to Creed’s dilemma & the children of the Vault’s origin. Serafina, with the aid of a comatose Lady Mastermind enters into the mind of Cannonball and proceeds to twist his existing consciousness into incorporating a lifetime of shared memories. Wolverine would later interrupt the villain and endow his team with the first face-to-face contact with their previously unseen enemy. All in all, it’s a solid issue. The plot chugs along nicely, as the team begin to unravel the mystery surrounding their antagonists. The main draw of the issue still has to be Sabretooth’s flashback scenes in which he encounters The Children of the Vault for the first time. Carey’s gift is his ability to tell a good old fashioned yarn and couple it with some quality dialogue and sprinkles of strong characterization. Unlike the Milligan/Austen combination, it’s entirely possible to believe that we are at last reading the real X-Men again.
Clay Henry steps-in to fill Chris Bachalo’s shoes in this issue and while I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t miss the latter’s pencils, Clay does a fine job in depicting our characters. His style lacks the edge of Bachalo, but it does the job quite nicely. My only real fault with the art of this particular issue is a lack of distinction between some of the character’s appearances. Rogue and The White Queen effectively have the same face, which wouldn’t be so bad if the face was attractive to begin with. Sadly, this isn’t the case. Overall, the artwork is acceptable here, although you’d be forgiven for missing Bachalo’s trademarked, chunkier scribblings.
This is a solid installment to a very fine first arc for Mr Carey. The machinations of the plot are intriguing, the characterization is spot-on and the abiding feeling upon finishing the issue is one of satisfaction.
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xhalf.jpghttp://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xnone.jpg
Buy X-Men #191 online now at X-WORLD and SAVE! (http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=20661)