X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #1: This issue picks up the story as we left it at the end of "The Rise and Fall of the Shi'Ar Empire," with Havok leading the Starjammers as they aid Lilandra and Ka'Ardum in their rebellion against Vulcan. Yost shows us a Vulcan who has completely lost the tenuous grip on reality he previously had, having fully become a mad king and refusing efforts by the Chancellor to explain how much the Shi'Ar hate him and how successful the rebellion has been.
Unfortunately, I feel like Yost's characterizations are a bit...odd for most of this issue. First, he's a little too black-and-white here when it comes to Vulcan. The interesting part of Vulcan's character isn't just that he's insane, but what drove him insane, and how he continually refuses to accept help when it's offered, much like the fifteen-year-old he (mentally) is. By playing him straight-up crazy, Yost is missing an opportunity to explore some of the nuances of the character Brubaker gave us in "Rise and Fall." Yost also (unfortunately) sticks to the script with his portrayal of Alex, who's shown once again as an insecure leader incapable of emerging from his brother's shadow. However, I feel like Yost overstates the case somewhat. Alex has never been (to my knowledge) quite so blunt in his "I'm not worthy" schtick; I don't remember him ever conceding that his brother "is a great leader." He might feel that, but I feel like his (un)healthy sibling rivalry with Scott prevents him from fully vocalizing that. Finally, Lorna and Rachel's interactions are bizarre. Rachel at one point laments the amount of time they're been in space. Lorna totally ignores that, goes on a diatribe about how insecure Alex is, and then asks Rachel if she's OK. WTF?
Unfortunately, I feel like Yost's characterizations are a bit...odd for most of this issue. First, he's a little too black-and-white here when it comes to Vulcan. The interesting part of Vulcan's character isn't just that he's insane, but what drove him insane, and how he continually refuses to accept help when it's offered, much like the fifteen-year-old he (mentally) is. By playing him straight-up crazy, Yost is missing an opportunity to explore some of the nuances of the character Brubaker gave us in "Rise and Fall." Yost also (unfortunately) sticks to the script with his portrayal of Alex, who's shown once again as an insecure leader incapable of emerging from his brother's shadow. However, I feel like Yost overstates the case somewhat. Alex has never been (to my knowledge) quite so blunt in his "I'm not worthy" schtick; I don't remember him ever conceding that his brother "is a great leader." He might feel that, but I feel like his (un)healthy sibling rivalry with Scott prevents him from fully vocalizing that. Finally, Lorna and Rachel's interactions are bizarre. Rachel at one point laments the amount of time they're been in space. Lorna totally ignores that, goes on a diatribe about how insecure Alex is, and then asks Rachel if she's OK. WTF?
X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #3: OK, before we get into the plot of this issue, I have to say, I'm having some trouble buying the double standard both Brubaker and Yost have established for the X-Men and Vulcan. Rachel indictes Vulcan in this issue for killing Banshee and Corsair and almost killing Professor X. Meanwhile, just a few panels earlier, Havok tries to kill Vulcan (going so far as to tell him he's dead) and Rachel offers to murder the Imperial Guard's telepath. Um, yeah. You can see where Nightcrawler would've provided a more believable indictment of Vulcan's murderous rampage than two people equally dead-set on murder as a form of revenge. Moreover, Vulcan accurately notes to Rachel that he may have killed a few people, but the Scy'Ar Tal killed 2.4 billion people, implying her sympathy for them is maybe a bit misplaced. It's scary when the crazy guy is the sanest person in the room. As I said before, Brubaker was also guilty of giving us an overly-bloodthirsty Alex and Rachel, so I don't necessarily hold it against Yost. But, I hope, at some point, someone calls both of them on their hypocrisy. Korvus attempts to warn Rachel about how dangerous her need for revenge is (see below), but no one yet has drawn the line to questioning how different from Vulcan they really are and how hard it's getting to be to tell the good guys from the bad guys.
All that said, Yost is getting better and better as he goes here. His characterizations are excellent, despite my previous reservations about them in the first two issues. For all my previous complaining about his portrayal of Havok and his insecurities, he really delivers the goods here, giving us (perhaps for the first time) a sign that Havok is ready to stop comparing himself to his father and brother and finally become his own man. (Of course, it's inspired by the fact that he doesn't think his father or brother would be man enough to kill Vulcan, but, um, still, I guess progress is progress.) Moreover, Havok, also I think for the first time, voices what has been implied but not really said since "Rise and Fall" began, that Vulcan is too far gone to be redeemed. Brubaker never explicitly stated the X-Men's plans to redeem Vulcan in "Rise and Fall," but it was always clearly one of their goals throughout the arc. Vulcan slid further and further from redemption over the course of that storyline and I noted in my review of it that he finally lost all chance at it when he killed Corsair. Alex seems to echo those thoughts here, so it's nice to know that I wasn't just projecting. Moreover, I liked what Yost does here with Korvus and Rachel, with Korvus warning Rachel that her push for revenge is slowly driving her insane. As I mention above, I want SOMEONE to make that connection to Alex and Rachel. Lorna seems to buy Alex's plans to murder Vulcan without question, so it's nice to see someone question it with Rachel.
X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #4: First, I have to say, Ch'od is perhaps the best thing about this mini-series, and I would happily read a "Starjammers" series if Yost wrote it, just to see what he does with Ch'od. Moving onto the subject at hand, Yost gives us a pretty grim story here. The conversation between Vulcan and Havok as they enter Finality is full of incredible malice, all the more so when you recall they're brothers. The fight against the Eldest is gripping, but I'm confused by how they actually defeat him. It appears to be because Gladiator, Havok, and Vulcan all attack him at once, overloading him. But, isn't that what Gladiator and Vulcan did when they first faced him, more or less? Why was he able to just easily shrug off those attacks, but, here, they kill him, simply with the addition of Havok to the mix? At any rate, the end to the fight on Finality Station is a good one, with Havok actually using his brain to figure out the fact that the Eldest draws his power from his people and instructing Vulcan to sever the link between the new Eldest and his people. It's nice that we finally get to see him as something other than a rage-fueled idiot. (Or, wait, is that Vulcan?) I like that Yost also takes the "Shi'Ar stole the Crystal from the M'Kraan" fire down a notch by showing that the M'Kraan found the Crystal just like the Shi'Ar did. I can't wait to see what Vulcan plans to do, since it appears he may be intending to use Finality against the M'Kraan. That'll end well...
X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #5: Well, as predicted, things don't end well for the home team. I don't know exactly where to begin, so I'll just jump into it.
Havok and Vulcan's fight -- and the characterization that surrounds it -- is great, here. First, I loved what Yost does with Havok, throwing him into a star and ramping up his powers to an incredible level. Yost seems to be allowing Alex to finally move past his insecurities (something I feared he wouldn't do in the first issue), and I applaud him for it. (I'm still concerned that his way of moving past these insecurities is to embrace the same murder-driven revenge that drives Vulcan. I'm hoping we eventually address that in subsequent issues and mini-series.) Although I initially didn't like Yost's portrayal of Vulcan as a mad king, it grew on me over the course of the series. He didn't so much ignore what made Vulcan insane (again, as I feared in the first issue), but more just fully closed the window to the possibility he could be redeemed. By presenting him as a mad king here, he's showing Vulcan as who he now is, despite the hope the reader previously had in "Rise and Fall" that he could be turned from the dark side, if you will. You see it here right before his fight with Havok when he "talks" to Xavier about how he'll show the universe how powerful he is. This series firmly establishes him as an irredeemable villain. Along those lines, by completing Vulcan's journey to the dark side, Yost also sets up the completely believable defection of Ka'Ardum here. The Shi'Ar honor might, and by wiping out the Scy'Ar Tal, Vulcan proves himself the mightiest. The ending of this series is amazing. We see Vulcan totally ascendant, with Havok, Polaris, and the Starjammers in chains and Lilandra fleeing into space. It's perhaps even most impactful than the end of "Rise and Fall," where no one really won. Here, Vulcan has very clearly won and I think it's great, yet again, that the good guys lose.
Speaking of the good guys losing, we also see Marvel Girl and Polaris fail here. Yost does a great job of giving us Lorna overwhelmed by the leadership role she finds thrust upon her with Alex's disappearance, and Rachel seems stunned that she failed to defeat Gladiator and stop the tracker. Moreover, the Scy'Ar Tal are revealed, in a great twist previewed by Yost in issue #4, to be just as dirty as the Shi'Ar were, having participated in conquest of the "M'Kraan" Crystal, not having originally controlled it, as they implied when they appeared on the scene. It continues the theme of these series, where almost everyone is morally compromised.
All in all, it's a great conclusion to a great mini-series, giving us a now fully-formed villain who will terrorize the X-Men for years to come.
Final Thoughts: OK, to be honest, despite it's really rocky beginning, I liked this series much more than I liked "Rise and Fall." I mean, for all its faults, "Rise and Fall" is still an excellent epic that tells a tragic story of a potential hero's fall into insane anger. This series wouldn't be what it was without "Rise and Fall." But, Yost really grabs the ball and runs with it. team gets totally played by Vulcan, whose fall is now complete. (Maybe Havok should be insecure...) From start to finish, Vulcan is in charge of events, even when the Scy'Ar Tal unexpectedly appear and throw a monkey wrench into the system. I don't think even Dr. Doom has consistently bested superheroes as often as Vulcan has.
The ending of issue #5 clearly sets up the sequel, and I'm excited not only to see what happens but also hopefully to see some sort of repercussions to the actions of Alex, Lorna, and Rachel. I've beat the drum about their slide into murdering avengers throughout this series (and "Rise and Fall") and I'd like to see someone address it more than we have. I'm hoping they realize that, for all their ire and rage, they've failed to achieve any of their goals: Vulcan is in charge of the Shi'Ar, and the Shi'Ar are stronger than ever. I hope they realize that their goal to kill Vulcan is not only bad tactics, but it's tainting them as well. We shall see...
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