Last week's Rob Liefeld's second go 'round with X-Force came to a close, and I'm sure many readers were relieved to see that 1990s revival disappear. Ah, but our relief is to be fleeting, friends, as Liefeld's not through yet. No, this Shatterstar series was apparently in the can as well. Back in the early '90s, when Liefeld was at his most popular, I could see why Marvel would be interested in publishing a Shatterstar limited series. But now? Does anyone remember the character? Does anyone care? Of course not. No one is clamoring for this. What's even more perplexing is that Liefeld's previous project renders the action here a moot point, as Shatterstar is set before the X-Force but explores the same plot: the arrival and elimination of the Skornn, a malevolent force aimed at eradicating mutantkind.
Again with the red-clad ninjas and magical sword? Sigh.
Before being recruited by Cable once again, Shatterstar was hiding out in Madripoor, earning his way in a gladiator-style arena death-matches (in which he kills no one). A mysterious woman approaches him and asks for his help in tracking down and eliminating a terrorist and assassin. Shatterstar soon finds himself the target of that man, but he hears a different story in battle than the one the robed woman told him. As always, Shatterstar finds himself in the position of not knowing who to trust... not even himself, given his difficulty in controlling the violence within him.
Mychaels's work here is certainly far more clear and conventional than what we normally see from Liefeld, but that's not setting the bar terribly high. Mychaels still clearly takes his stylistic cues from Liefeld, but other influences shine through as well, notably David (New Avengers) Finch's. Perhaps Mychaels is the kind of artist who apes the flavor of the month. The characters are inconsistently drawn. The mysterious woman is depicted as having sharp, reptilian-like teeth at one point... but only at one point. For some reason, she's clad in a robe so she can go unnoticed, but she's wearing a head-to-toe robe in a room full of ordinarily dressed people, so she sticks out like a sore thumb. The "terrorist" Shatterstar is asked to kill bear too strong a resemblance of Tony Stark, and the fact that his ninja outfit boasts the same color scheme as Iron Man's armor doesn't help either.
I'm surprised to find that the script really doesn't tell the reader what Shatterstar's deal is. There are vague references to the violent life he led in another dimension, but his origin, his motivations... none of it is really discussed. Hell, the very nature of his powers or abilities aren't clear either.
Most puzzling is the fact that this plot seems to be about the Skornn's return to Earth, about the need to protect the only weapon that can destroy it and about the minions working on both sides to make everything happen. We already know how this is going to play out. It was spelled out in X-Force (sort of). Our curiousity, had there been any at all, would already have been satisfied. There can be no dramatic tension in this new story, since the sword's fate and Skornn's has already unfolded. What's the point? 2/10
