X-TREME X-MEN #4
"Dreamtime Serenade"
Not Recommended (2/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Chris Claremont
Artist: Salvador Larroca
Colors: Liquid!
Letters: Tom Orzechowski
Editors: Matt Hicks & Mark Powers
Price: $2.99 US/$4.50 CAN |
I've heard the negative buzz. I read one of Randy Lander's scathing reviews. Nevertheless, I wanted to check this book out for myself, and I finally got an issue in my hands. I definitely see where the criticism has been coming from. My disappointment, though, stems from the fact that Claremont is finally doing something different with these characters he popularized, but the execution is sadly lacking.
While Gambit infiltrates Vargas's home and has an uncomfortable encounter with the menacing figure, the rest of the X-Men team seeking out the Destiny Diaries stumbles onto one of the late precognitive mutant's homes in Italy. Meanwhile, Bishop has a strange Dreamtime encounter with Gateway, the aboriginal mutant and shaman that was once the team's ally during their time in the Australian outback.
The art process, in which Larroca's pencils are colored directly, skipping the inking stage, is interesting, but ultimately, it yields weaker art rather than stronger. The art looks hazy throughout the book. If used sparingly within the context of the story -- for example, during the Dreamtime sequences -- it could boost the storytelling. But here, the result is simply art that appears unfinished (which, of course, it is).
One of the problems I've always had with Claremont's writing is that he has constructed a world in which all of his characters are paragons and lives are interconnected to a level that defies belief. Bishop may be from a post-apocalyptic future, but he's a skilled chef. And he just happens to be related to one of the few black allies from X-Men history. Sage exists for only two reasons: to provide some extra sex appeal and to act as the ever-so-convenient computer expert/font of technical knowledge.
To be honest, I like the idea of a special team of X-Men on a mission to track down a series of diaries that contain the secrets of the future. It's a cohesive direction, something I've found lacking from Claremont's mutant adventures. Unfortunately, the way he handles this particular direction is puzzling, and he doesn't offer the most accessible script either (Psylocke is dead?).
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