UNCANNY X-MEN #397
"Poptopia, Part Three: A Complete Unknown"
Neutral (4/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Joe Casey
Layouts: Sean Phillips
Pencils: Mel Rubi
Inks: Danny Miki
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mark Powers
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Joe Casey has some wonderful new ideas when it comes to delving into the racism analogy that the title characters represent. The problem is execution. This issue felt like a filler, and it didn't help that the art, despite contributions from fine pencillers, disappoints. I remain interested in the potential of Casey's run, but I'm still waiting for it to be fully realized.
Sugar Kane continues to use Chamber to maintain a super-high media profile by tantalizing the masses with her connection to a "dirty" mutant. Chamber, for his part, feels no more uncomfortable being exploited by a sexy, screwball singer than he has at any other point in his life, so he just enjoys the ride, despite a warning from Wolverine. Meanwhile, the underground mutants continue to flee through London's underground tunnels, as the X-Men and Mr. Clean both seek them out, albeit for completely different reasons.
The art on this issue should have been the strongest of the Casey run to date. With Sean (Wildcats) Phillips on layouts and Mel Rubi (who's done some nice stuff for Dark Horse Comics), I expected something dark and interesting. What we get is a mishmash of styles -- from Todd McFarlane to Alan Davis influences, from Bart Sears to Jim Lee. It's inconsistent, and at its best, never really rises beyond the level of simply ordinary.
What's kept me reading "Poptopia" is the Chamber plotline. As Wolverine wisely points out in this issue, Jono is young and stupid. He's at a time in his life when he needs to screw things up before he gets them right. It's easy for the reader to see he's being used and to wonder why he allows it to happen, but it's also easy to see why he sticks around with Sugar. There's a twisted (if false) sense of acceptance. And there's money. And, of course, sex. Chamber may be acting stupidly, but it's a fun kind of stupid.
So far, the underground British mutants and their executioner hold little interest for me. I've seen this plot before. Remember the Morlocks? The Marauders and the mutant massacre? So far, Casey hasn't done anything particular new with these new characters.
Of course, nothing much new happens in this issue. It seems as though the third chapter of this four-part story arc wasn't really necessary. This felt like padding for a trade paperback.
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