Chris Claremont must really want to tell this Hellfire Club story, because he doesn't let anything get in his way... not established character traits, a need for story flow or even logic. The storytelling here is completely non-sensical and even laughable, as characters develop and lose powers whenever the plot calls for it. Park's stylized approach here certainly captures a conventional super-hero genre feel, but more often than not, it reminds me of overdone, Kewl styles that were in vogue in the early 1990s. Fortunately, Ponsor's vibrant colors bring some real strength and energy to the art, but it's not enough to save this otherwise horrendous issue. This represents everything that's wrong with the traditional, dominant X-Men storytelling approach over the past decade.
The X-Men find themselves teleported to Paris, and after an initial misunderstanding among teammates, Bishop and Storm head off to track down and confront Sebastian Shaw, the one-time Black King of the Hellfire Club. While Wolverine and Nightcrawler opt for an unconventional method to ferret out their opposition, Marvel Girl looks for answers about the new Hellfire Club in their Hong Kong headquarters.
Park's work here strikes me as a mix between the styles of Olivier Coipel and Jim Lee, with a touch of Rob Liefeld and the spiky-haired 'dos of the manga world. The mish-mash of styles is capable at times, but never goes beyond that. The scene transitions at the end of this issue are far too sudden and jarring, and the figures are sketchy as well. The action doesn't unfold nearly as clearly as it should. The characters boast the sort of dynamic qualities one expects from super-hero comics, but there's no humanity in these figures either.
Bishop has apparently developed the super-power to exactly where and when he is, no matter how disorienting a method of travel is forced upon him. Wolverine is the only member of the team who is slowed down by a nannite infestation, even though his healing factor should enable him to overcome it faster. We knew Marvel Girl's astral form could pass through walls, but now, apparently her physical body can as well. Nannites are apparently so common a phenomenon in the lives of the X-Men that Wolverine expects Nightcrawler to recognize when he's been infected with the microscopic little machines. Sunspot, despite being allied with the X-Men and the team's corporate face, X-Corp, feels no need to fill his friends in on the fact that he's joined the ranks of some of their deadliest enemies, nor does he give them a heads-up about the club's apparent rehabilitation. Bishop's body is resistant to nannites because... well, maybe he eats a lot of calcium, I dunno. Bishop can track anyone on the planet as long as he downloads his or her "bio-tag" into his Palm Pilot. The dealers at the Hellfire Club casino in Hong Kong apparently feel leaving jokers in the deck makes for more interesting card games. Marvel Girl, who's comfortable clad in a miniskirt and sportsbra to fight crime, finds sex disgusting. Depsite the wide array of enemies the X-Men have encountered over the years, Wolverine is confident only one of them at a time will attack. He also thinks that endangering innocent bystanders in order to draw out unknown foes is a great plan. The X-Men needed a tracking device to find Shaw, as opposed to checking out the mansion with the big Hellfire Club logo adorning the front gate. After microscopic machines and globetrotting teleportation fails to stop the X-Men, an unseen foe decides the a run-of-the-mill team of S.W.A.T.-like mercenaries ought to do the trick.
[Sound of Don taking a much-needed, deep breath.]
Rules? Consistency? Logic? Claremont is apparently a writer of such skill, he has no need of such concepts, at least, not for this story arc. 1/10
