X-MEN UNLIMITED #37
"Sacrificial Worlds"
Recommended (7/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Kaare Andrews
Pencils: Kaare Andrews, Dave McCaig, Mike Kunkel, Joshua Middleton, Troy Nixey, Dave Stewart, Skottie Young & Pat Duke
Letters: Randy Gentile
Editor: C.B. Cebulski
Price: $3.50 US/$5.75 CAN |
Though X-Men Unlimited has improved considerably in quality in the past year or so, the title continues to come in under my radar. It's easy to dismiss it as yet another X-title, as Marvel's money-grabbing anthology title. That's why I had no idea of the unusual lineup of talent contributing to this issue. Though the script has its problems (as well as its strengths), the visuals are almost uniformly stunning. Marvel continues to impress me with its penchant for bringing unconventional comic talent from the world of independent comics to a mainstream audience.
A simple midwestern farmer makes a deal with the devil so he can exact his revenge for a tragedy that befell him years before. He summons a special little child, one that causes worlds of mutants to collide... literally. Mutants from a myriad of different realities merge into one, and as they fight among themselves, Professor X and Kitty Pryde try to get to the bottom of things. They quickly discover that the late Illyana Rasputin, Kitty's late best friend, is at the heart of the chaos.
Mike (Herobear) Kunkel? On a Marvel comic? Joshua Middleton? Troy Nixey? An impressive array of artistic talent assembles to tell Andrews's story here, and I hope that those unfamiliar with some of these names realize the diverse approaches to comic storytelling that exists beyond the world of mainstream super-hero comics.
Middleton's work here is particularly impressive; his work shows the influence of such artists as Charles (Rose) Vess and Barry (Opus) Windsor-Smith. Kunkel's cartoony style works surprisingly well with the farmer's tortured story, and Nixey's detailed, twisted and organic style is perfectly suited to bringing the supernatural side of the story to life. The only sequences that I didn't care for were Young's over-the-top gathering of Wolverines. Too much of his work was immersed in shadow, and it seemed more like a storytelling shortcut than a move to enhance the mood.
Though the plot is rather conventional -- nothing we haven't seen before -- Andrews does manage to tap into some genuine emotion. We feel for the farmer, for Hutch and for Kitty Pryde with her ongoing grief. Andrews goes awry, though, when he plays up the inherently silly side of the premise of alternate versions of the X-Men. A comedic scene featuring cute versions of Wolverine shatters the melancholy and chaotic atmospheres of the story.
Note:MP3 "commentary tracks" and a contest related to this issue are available on Kaare Andrew's website.
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