New Mutants #48: I honestly have no idea where DnA are going with this story and I'm not complaining. Although I wasn't that thrilled with the last arc, DnA retool the concept a bit here, putting the focus on Doug as he struggles to make sense of the revelation that he's one day going to become (maybe, possibly) a world conqueror. To that end, I thought sending the group to Colorado was a great move. It gave the story a certain post-apocalyptic feel, with the main characters isolating themselves as they try to plan their next move against a much more powerful force. It also helps focus the attention on Doug. As Bobby says, we watch Doug become increasingly unhinged as this issue progresses, to the point where he contemplates suicide at the end. But, he's interrupted by the transmoded Hellions and I really have to applaud DnA here. Given that this series wraps up its run in two issues (and who knows if we'll ever get another New Mutants series again) bringing back the Hellions really harkens to the New Mutants' beginnings. I can't think of a more fitting final enemy than them. Needless to say, I can't wait to see where DnA go with the story.
X-Factor #243: Jesus. After "Venom" #19 and this issue, I need a drink.
Peter David somehow manages to completely re-write Lorna's history in a way that makes it clear that it was the only plausible history this entire time. The mental instability that has plagued her for her entire life is revealed to have been from Mastermind re-writing her memory, erasing the knowledge that she caused her parents' death when she was a child. It's a devastating issue, because, even if Lorna is theoretically more mentally stable now, you have to wonder how she's going to recover from this revelation. Just the possibility of learning the truth led her to pretty extreme acts of violence in this issue, assaulting both Longshot and Monet. Who knows where she's going to go from here?
(On a side note, it seems odd to me, as we near the final issue of "Avengers vs. X-Men," that Havok isn't more involved. After all, his brother just became Dark Phoenix...and he's on a rooftop waiting for a mystery to be revealed about his on-again, off-again girlfriend that, you know, probably could've waited a few more days while he tried to convince his brother not to destroy the planet. After all, if he failed, the secret wouldn't have really mattered all that much anyway.)
However, despite his usual excellent characterization and emotional command, David isn't perfect here. Since Lorna knew about Longshot's power, you have to wonder why she didn't ask him to hold the photo in the first place. I buy the fact that she just might not have put two and two together, since I think that it's pretty likely that she viewed the picture for a more emotional, rather than rational, place. But, it does make you raise an eyebrow, at the very least. Also, in terms of the art, I'm not really sure why Lorna dropped the photo. Was she walking and tripped over something? It appears like she has a seizure or something. Given that the whole issue actually revolves around that moment, it's a pretty important scene to get right.
Finally, who does Terry think "keeps coming back?"
X-Men Legacy #272: To be honest, I am just not feeling this arc. I've enjoyed Gage's focus on Rogue so far in his run on this title, but I feel like that approach falls apart a bit when you remove her from the X-Men. I just don't find this story all that compeling. First, it still feels totally arbitrary, like the writers didn't realize that they accidentally left out Rogue at the conclusion of "Avengers vs. X-Men" and had to find a reason why she wasn't there. But, even more than that, the big downside is that Gage has dedicated a lot of space over this issue and the last one to explaining the dynamics of the war between the two alien civilizations...and it's just not that interesting. It all just seems like countless "superhero in the middle of a war s/he doesn't understand but will wind up ending" stories and I get the sense that Gage is really phoning in the dialogue, particularly since most of it in this issue is monologue. I'm just waiting for us to return to regularly scheduled programming.
No comments:
Post a Comment