PARADISE X: HERALDS #2
"Chapter Two"
Mildly Recommended (5/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writers: Jim Krueger & Alex Ross
Artist: Steve Pugh
Colors: Nick Bell
Letters: Todd Klein
Editor: Mike Marts
Price: $3.50 US/$5.25 CAN |
Krueger and Ross had me with the first issue, as it was stood out as the most accessible story of the Earth/Universe/Paradise X line of books so far. The writers shift gears in this issue, though, straying from their original plotline to a new, more nebulous and confusing story. The problem doesn't stem so much from inaccessibility, though, as that suddenly jarring shift in direction. Still, a colorful array of characters and some wonderful art from Steve Pugh continue to stand out as strengths.
The four pairs of heroes fail in their missions to warn the Reed Richards of several realities of a threat slumbering at the center of the Earth in various alternate timelines, but they do manages to attract the attention of a throng of seemingly omnipotent Watchers. The all-seeing aliens are gathered around one of their own number, a sickly prisoner whose death is nigh.
Pugh continues to impress with his depictions of heroes from futures that might be. I was particularly impressed with his work in the Hyperion/X-51 sequence. Pugh brings a brutal level of detail to play in the scene, and he convinces me of the tortured nature of this Hyperion's existence. There's also a wonderful dichotmony in X-51's appearance and movement. He looks thoroughly inhuman, but the transparent white shell boasts a strong sense of humanity.
Krueger includes some great dialogue in this issue. The comparison of human beings to a virus that has infected reality struck me as particularly clever, and the theme recurs in another way in the story as well. I loved the interplay between Killraven and Deathlok as well.
In this issue, the Reed Richards/Celestial plot seems to be discarded completely, as though it were just a red herring. But even the character who instigated the plot -- X-51 -- seems out of the loop. I honestly had no idea why the shift occurred, and I was disappointed. Though my interest remains piqued, I was completely lost by the issue's end. I hope the conclusion clears things up.
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