Zachary Palisoc
May 3, 2002, 04:10 pm
<a href="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/muties3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/images/covers/muties3t.jpg" align=left alt="Muties #3"></a>Reviewer: Zachary Palisoc, Zack1778@yahoo.com
Quick Rating: Below Average
Story Title: Arrested Development
A schoolboy is taken to an enslavement camp and discovers he has the power to fight back against his oppressors.
Written by: Karl Bollers
Pencilled by: Dean Haspiel
Lettered by: Paul Tutrone
Colored by: Matt Madden
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I've noticed that Muties #1 and Muties #2 have a recurrent theme: parental abuse and the children using their mutant power to strike back in anger. While this story is dissimilar in its tone, the same theme of a mutant using his power to strike back happens here. In #1 there is abuse from bullies and a parent, and in #2 the boy strikes back in anger at his abusive stepfather. There is a different mood in this issue that is set forth by writer Karl Bollers in the form of enslavement.
The story is about a boy, Riek Bukenya, who is captured by rebels who kidnap children and train them in their army. It begins with a very violent scene when the rebels enter his classroom and shoots the teacher and then takes the children by gunpoint to a camp. While they are walking to the camp, Riek observes a hummingbird and notices that he can see its wings beating slowly and he wonders why, but the reason is not explained, but it does give you a clue to what his mutant power is. In the panel, you can see a spike of his heartbeat, like what you would see on an EEG monitor, the kind of machines that measure your heartbeat, like in “ER.” And it gives you a hint that he can see things in slow motion. They’re taken to the rebel camp and the next day, Riek is handed a gun by his captors to learn how to train to kill people. It’s a shocking scene, when you realize that he’s helpless and unable to escape. When they ask him take a gun, he refuses to obey and as a result, gets his ear cut off. The expression on his face as we see him without his ear is truly heartbreaking. It seems like he has lost all hope and it’s a scene that makes you sympathize with him. That’s one of the few scenes that stand out in this issue. After that, he joins in with the rebels and that’s when he discovers that he can move very rapidly, that everything else around him seems to freeze in time and he uses this moment proactively. As this is going on, I’m rapidly losing interest because the artwork and the narration are distracting. I’m not feeling any emotions from this boy. Yes, he’s been through lots of pain and suffering, but the storytelling is so flat, it’s hard for me to find something to connect to.
Later on, there is a scene where the truck arrives with more children and the owner takes a girl to supposedly do unspeakable things with her and Riek tells him to leave her alone. And that’s when the story seems to lose its focus because I simply did not feel alarmed about the confrontation and it did not feel gripping and suspenseful. It didn’t help that the story just takes a big dip into filler up until the surprise ending. I found myself wondering if I could have enjoyed it a little more if the art was cleaned up a little better because it was hard on my eyes. The artist tends to ink things very heavily. The backgrounds and the characters seem like they’ve been overpainted. The story moves at a slow pace, thanks in part to the thick inking. If I were to think more about why the story was average, I would also say that it’s because this issue is more depressing than the pervious issues. There’s no hope, no joy in this issue. Also, there was not much depth or characterization with Riek like there was with Jared or Seiji. I simply did not feel any empathy toward him.
As for the surprise twist/ending: Again, the heartbeat spikes appear on the pages and he slows time down and takes the gun from the slave owner and shoots everybody in the camp. That’s when Riek discovers that this power to “stop” time comes with a cost. The way it ended surprised me because I knew there was a twist coming, but I didn’t think it’d turn out the way it did; I expected time to stop completely for him forever, not the other way around. However, the emotional impact was not as powerful as the previous issues because I felt drained by the time I finished this issue. I think I liked the twist ending of #2 better overall, but this ending still surprised me. I didn't expect what actually happened, although you can probably figure it out after a second or third read.
One thing that bogged the issue down was the art, which consists of blurry, smeary images and the characters are barely recognizable from each other. It’s hard to focus on a specific character because they look mostly alike. Even the main character is hard to pick up in some panels. While artists Peter Ferguson and Patrick Spaziante, gave us clean and crisp colors on the two previous issues, Dean Haspiel instead gives us blurred and heavily inked art in this issue. I know that the art is supposed to fit the theme of the story; however, it took away from my enjoyment of reading this issue. It made this issue more of a downer than it was supposed to be and made reading it feel more of a chore than an enjoyable read.
To give credit to Karl Bollers, the story’s not that bad, though his writing is a bit hit-and-miss here. While he told great emotional stories with the two previous issues of this mini-series, the storytelling here is a little too flat. I know his stories tend to have a dark edge to it, but this one was too heavy for my taste. Having said that, there are some scenes that stand out in this issue, like the opening scenes in the school and the moment when Riek loses his ear. I still am looking forward to the next issue from Karl Bollers and know that he still has many more great things yet to come.
Art:
http://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.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/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: Arrested Development
A schoolboy is taken to an enslavement camp and discovers he has the power to fight back against his oppressors.
Written by: Karl Bollers
Pencilled by: Dean Haspiel
Lettered by: Paul Tutrone
Colored by: Matt Madden
Assistant Editor: Pete Franco
Editor: Mark Powers
Editor-in-Chief: Joe Quesada
President: Bill Jemas
I've noticed that Muties #1 and Muties #2 have a recurrent theme: parental abuse and the children using their mutant power to strike back in anger. While this story is dissimilar in its tone, the same theme of a mutant using his power to strike back happens here. In #1 there is abuse from bullies and a parent, and in #2 the boy strikes back in anger at his abusive stepfather. There is a different mood in this issue that is set forth by writer Karl Bollers in the form of enslavement.
The story is about a boy, Riek Bukenya, who is captured by rebels who kidnap children and train them in their army. It begins with a very violent scene when the rebels enter his classroom and shoots the teacher and then takes the children by gunpoint to a camp. While they are walking to the camp, Riek observes a hummingbird and notices that he can see its wings beating slowly and he wonders why, but the reason is not explained, but it does give you a clue to what his mutant power is. In the panel, you can see a spike of his heartbeat, like what you would see on an EEG monitor, the kind of machines that measure your heartbeat, like in “ER.” And it gives you a hint that he can see things in slow motion. They’re taken to the rebel camp and the next day, Riek is handed a gun by his captors to learn how to train to kill people. It’s a shocking scene, when you realize that he’s helpless and unable to escape. When they ask him take a gun, he refuses to obey and as a result, gets his ear cut off. The expression on his face as we see him without his ear is truly heartbreaking. It seems like he has lost all hope and it’s a scene that makes you sympathize with him. That’s one of the few scenes that stand out in this issue. After that, he joins in with the rebels and that’s when he discovers that he can move very rapidly, that everything else around him seems to freeze in time and he uses this moment proactively. As this is going on, I’m rapidly losing interest because the artwork and the narration are distracting. I’m not feeling any emotions from this boy. Yes, he’s been through lots of pain and suffering, but the storytelling is so flat, it’s hard for me to find something to connect to.
Later on, there is a scene where the truck arrives with more children and the owner takes a girl to supposedly do unspeakable things with her and Riek tells him to leave her alone. And that’s when the story seems to lose its focus because I simply did not feel alarmed about the confrontation and it did not feel gripping and suspenseful. It didn’t help that the story just takes a big dip into filler up until the surprise ending. I found myself wondering if I could have enjoyed it a little more if the art was cleaned up a little better because it was hard on my eyes. The artist tends to ink things very heavily. The backgrounds and the characters seem like they’ve been overpainted. The story moves at a slow pace, thanks in part to the thick inking. If I were to think more about why the story was average, I would also say that it’s because this issue is more depressing than the pervious issues. There’s no hope, no joy in this issue. Also, there was not much depth or characterization with Riek like there was with Jared or Seiji. I simply did not feel any empathy toward him.
As for the surprise twist/ending: Again, the heartbeat spikes appear on the pages and he slows time down and takes the gun from the slave owner and shoots everybody in the camp. That’s when Riek discovers that this power to “stop” time comes with a cost. The way it ended surprised me because I knew there was a twist coming, but I didn’t think it’d turn out the way it did; I expected time to stop completely for him forever, not the other way around. However, the emotional impact was not as powerful as the previous issues because I felt drained by the time I finished this issue. I think I liked the twist ending of #2 better overall, but this ending still surprised me. I didn't expect what actually happened, although you can probably figure it out after a second or third read.
One thing that bogged the issue down was the art, which consists of blurry, smeary images and the characters are barely recognizable from each other. It’s hard to focus on a specific character because they look mostly alike. Even the main character is hard to pick up in some panels. While artists Peter Ferguson and Patrick Spaziante, gave us clean and crisp colors on the two previous issues, Dean Haspiel instead gives us blurred and heavily inked art in this issue. I know that the art is supposed to fit the theme of the story; however, it took away from my enjoyment of reading this issue. It made this issue more of a downer than it was supposed to be and made reading it feel more of a chore than an enjoyable read.
To give credit to Karl Bollers, the story’s not that bad, though his writing is a bit hit-and-miss here. While he told great emotional stories with the two previous issues of this mini-series, the storytelling here is a little too flat. I know his stories tend to have a dark edge to it, but this one was too heavy for my taste. Having said that, there are some scenes that stand out in this issue, like the opening scenes in the school and the moment when Riek loses his ear. I still am looking forward to the next issue from Karl Bollers and know that he still has many more great things yet to come.
Art:
http://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.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/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!