WEAPON X: THE DRAFT - KANE #1
"Caught in the Draft"
Not Recommended (1/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: R.A. Jones
Artist: Pablo Raimondi
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: Paul Tutrone
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
Well, the Weapon X: The Draft one-shots are now 0 for 3, at this for this particular reader. Mind you, the first two at least tried to include some character-driven elements, though they didn't quite come together in a strong way. In Kane, characterization is not a concern; in fact, it hardly seems addressed. Jones fails to get me to care about the title character, Agent Jackson or Rapture, and if I don't care what happens to any of them, there's no way I can care about the plot.
Weapon X agent Brent Jackson accompanies the cyborg named Kane on his mission to recruit Rapture, a mysterious young woman with mutant powers who once worked with SHIELD. In fact, Kane and Jackson's recruitment effort coincides with SHIELD's attempt to arrest Rapture for treason. It turns out that Jackson has a history with Rapture -- and with SHIELD -- and that history could proce to be the key to bringing Rapture on board. Either that, or the biggest obstacle.
Raimondi's art tells the story fairly clearly, given the dark, black-ops atmosphere in which it's being told. Kane is obviously meant to be an intimidating figure, but Raimondi's portrayal here is so exaggerated and twisted that he just comes off as... odd. In the end, the art fails to capture my interest... fitting, since the plot and characters do the same.
The characters here suffer from "Kewl-itis." Rapture is the typical leather-clad bad girl, but she's completely generic, not only in appearance but attitude. Kane isn't a character; he's a tank, there only to blow things up. His only personality traits -- impatience and anger -- are there for the same purpose. Everything about the script is designed to bring the characters into gratuitous conflict. Jackson is the only figure in the book that comes close to resembling a human being, and like I said, he only comes close. He has an everyman attitude about him that I enjoyed. Ultimately, though, his nonchalant behavior in the midst of such extreme circumstances makes it hard to relate to him.
As I consider this book, I realize there's no protagonist. I realize that the nature of the premise lends itself to anti-heroes, not heroes, but none of either caliber are to be found. There's no one to cheer for in this book.
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