Runner Up!: X-Factor #206
Nothing brings families together like a tank with a buzz saw.
Why it didn't win:
I had biased reasons for choosing it in the first place.
Features a pretty simple solution to a complex problem which has been going on for a while.
Full disclosure, there are many reasons to like this issue but my main one is simply because it features the entire “gang” back together. I'm a pretty big fan of this series, and have stuck with it even during... sigh... the dark times. X-Factor has been split up into different groups with different goals for a while now, and when they all assemble together at the end of this issue I couldn't help but be happy in the nerdiest of ways.
But let's get to those other reasons this issue is good!
HUMOR – Handled! Totally handled! Peter David writes some good humor in his comics. In fact, one of my favorite parts of X-Factor #206 was a car chase featuring Layla Miller, Shatterstar, and Banshee (formally Siryn). David injects action with humor and a genuine rapscallion feel to his characters. Which brings us to the next thing...
ACTION – You want explosions? Done. You want car chases? Done (check previous paragraph). You want nuclear bombs? Done. You want super powers and dudes punching things they shouldn't be able to punch? Done. You want tanks? There's a tank on the cover so that's done before anything else.
CHARACTERS – The different personalities of X-Factor are all larger than life and unique. This creates different tones and reactions to situations with different combinations of characters. For instance, the part of the issue featuring Guido and Monet is pretty direct to the point. If Madrox or Darwin were there, the events and exchanges would most definitely been more haphazard, and probably with a lot of self deprecation.
OTHER STUFF – X-Factor is a series which works so well for me. It's a character based action drama, in the same vein as some of Joss Whedon's best television work. The canon of the series is never too difficult to follow but its got plenty of twists and turns to keep everything interesting. I love, love, love Valentine De Landro's art for the series. X-Factor just seems to be made for his artwork.
Ok, now some of my complaints. This issue features a big battle, which has been coming for a long time since it is the battle which bonds the team back to each other. For all that build up, the battle could have been longer or at least bigger in a sense of action rather than emotional release. Plus I felt pretty frustrated with how nicely everyone got along right after the battle. For instance, Banshee has ever reason and right to hate Madrox for the rest of his life, but they hold hands at the end of the issue. Layla is still mysterious and has potentially been doing morally ambiguous things in her time away from the team, but she is welcomes back with open arms.
But, I'm just a sucker for this series. And I'm a sucker for all my favorite characters finally being back together. Oh well, ignorance is bliss.
Runner Up!: X-Force #26
Emma Frost accidentally wears the table cloth from Spaghetti Night instead of her cape
Runner Up! highlights my second favorite issue of the week while discussing it in a less formal tone. Please contribute your thoughts as well!
Why it didn't win:
The issue's main selling point, its death of a major character, doesn't feel earned.
I started tearing up while reading this issue. Which was uncomfortable because I read it on the toilet.
If you ever want to have a good hard look at the person you've become try crying on the toilet because of a comic book.
But... OK here's the deal... I'm not going to spoil who dies in this issue. If you want it spoiled I'm sure it won't be hard to achieve that on the Internet, but if you want to be surprised I'll let you have that.
Marvel has been teasing a major X-Men character would die in this issue. I just wasn't prepared for it to be my favorite X-Men. It's a pretty emotional moment, with another sacrifice for Cyclops' faith in Hope as the mutant messiah. The next issue of the story is not out yet and already it's effects on the X-Men are being felt. This is run away train of gut punch, and your belly is on the tracks.
Basically, I'm telling you to be prepared for a really sad death.
This issue humanizes Hope some. She's no longer the stoic warrior fighting for her own survival. She's got people getting hurt to protect her. People she's never met before. It's taking its toll on her. Also, Hope's been removed from her surrogate father, Cable. Understandably she's reverted to the young girl she really is. She's worried, she's scared, and she just wants to stop seeing people around her getting hurt. Then someone dies about two feet from her face. So, I guess she's got to deal with not getting what she wants.
The death of the character in X-Force #26 is pretty good. Craig Kyle and Chris Yost's writing provides a really nice hero moment and it's given the time and reverence that character deserves. After the fatal blow is delivered there are painfully slow pages of the characters last moments on earth, saving the day yet again. Unfortunately, that character has also been painfully under-used in recent X-Men stories. If you're going to get rid of a character give them a big send off. Explain why they are important and why we should love them. Then take them away. This is “Joss Whedon Writing Class 101” people!
Having a character barely show up in issues and then kill them, feels like they left without giving me a chance to say goodbye. Did I mention this was my favorite X-Man? This was my favorite X-Man.
Dang.
Best Comic I Read This Week: X-Men Legacy #235
Cameron Hodge doesn't know what 'bad touch' means.
Cable and Hope are back, Bastion and his various mutant-hating cronies want to kill Hope. Cyclops has sent a group of X-Men out to protect Hope. Cyclops has also sent the New Mutants out to take down some of Bastions cronies while retrieving information. Cyclops doesn't do much for himself these days.
There! You're all caught up on Second Coming as of X-Men Legacy #235.
Now, how about you and me talk about stuff happening? Stuff happens in this issue. Limbs are lost.
Important limbs!
Pacifists get violent.
Kooky pacifists!
Characters you weren't all that familiar with die.
...
Eh, that's not really that big of a deal... Still, by the end of this issue Second Coming seems to be going in a different direction than I expected. Which is a good thing! I thought we were basically gonna get the same plot structure as the first part of the trilogy, Messiah Complex (Cable and Hope on the run!). Looks like Hope's going to be a bit of a hot potato, tossed between groups of X-Men as they keep her safe.
Kudos to Mike Carey for doing a really excellent Warlock freakout. The dude is normally very pacifist, but giving him a strangely triumphant outburst of violence towards the enemies was both righteous and scary. I'm interested in seeing where this takes Warlock in the future. Does he become more violent after breaking his one rule? Does he feel guilt? Does he forget and this is never mentioned again because the writer's choose to? I'm excited to find out!
X-Men Legacy #235 also features the passing of the Hope-torch to Nightcrawler and a sup'ed up Rogue. This leaves a Cable, Colossus, Psylocke, Archangel, and a very leathery Wolverine and X-23 to lead Bastion on a wild goose chase. Plot points occurring across North America really help Second Coming feel like a big event.
All of my favorite work by Mike Carey has been superhero stuff, despite the dude's heavy library of independent titles. He's been at the reins of X-Men Legacy (previously just X-Men) for a while now, and has really made the title his own. He still treats Matt Fraction's Uncanny X-Men and Adam Kubert's New Mutants characters with respect but they are given a freshness through his script for X-Men Legacy #235.
Carey's writes a very decent New Mutants, who are dealing with their own crisis in this issue. If Adam Kubert wasn't doing such a solid job with the New Mutants monthly I'd be more curious to see what Carey could do with the characters.
Also, Carey's got a bit of a writer's crush on Rogue. The fella' loves to make her the star of the show. So it is no surprise that she takes at least temporary center stage for Second Coming by the end of this issue.
Greg Land's pencils are a treat. The dude can pace a story and knows how to frame each panel to make it count. He's got a great sense of the human anatomy as well, and forces the reader to consider the super heroics of the issue to be physically possible. His action scene are more of the splash page variety but that is more a problem with Carey's script than Land's skill. My only complaint with Greg Land is that the dude seems to be a little bored unless he's drawing a chesty lady. Though, most will not have this complaint as well.
Only chapter 4 of the X-Men's Second Coming event and I'm already excited. Let's see if this final story of the X-Men super trilogy continues to live up to its prequels.
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