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NEW X-MEN #124
"Superdestroyer"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Igor Kordey
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mark Powers
Price: $2.25 US/$3.75 CAN |
As always,
Morrison builds on story elements we've seen in X-Men before, but he makes them
more fresh and exciting than they have any right to be. This issue is a showdown
between the X-Men and the Shi'ar Imperial Guard, a bout we've seen before in
classic stories like the Dark Phoenix saga, and it's an impressive bit of action
storytelling. There are also the usual big ideas, including the way that Beast
and Jean Grey use their powers, and while the elements comprising the
storytelling may not be revolutionary, the excitement the book is generating
certainly is. Artistic round robin this issue falls to Igor Kordey, who may not
have been the ideal choice for the action-heavy story this issue but who turns
in a solid performance anyway.
The Imperial Guard is a time-honored team in the Marvel Universe, an homage to the Legion of Super-Heroes from DC. Morrison and Kordey, however, have redefined the guard, both in simple terms of renaming them the Imperial Superguardian Elite and in providing a number of new members who resemble the oddball creations of Alan Davis's Excalibur or Captain Britain days more than thinly-veiled Legionnaires. Little details like the
reptile complaining about all the cold weather or the beings composed of gas or
solar plasma make for more interesting villains, and Kordey gives all of them
impressive and alien visuals.
Of course, while the big ideas are nice, it's those little details that have been making New X-Men enjoyable. Jean's use of her power to steer an
unruly crowd, the imaginative powers and personalities of the Stepford Cuckoos
or Beast's description of his sensory abilities are all stylish indicators of
ability, the post-millennial equivalent of "best there is at what I do." And
this may be one of the more impressive Wolverine outings we've seen in a while,
as he gets to truly show off his ferocity and intelligence.
Though I'm missing Quitely's
artwork whenever he's not on the book, Marvel has lined up some good guest
artists, and Igor Kordey does a fine job on this issue. His tendency to crowd
panels with a lot of people makes for a cramped and effective setting for the
fight scenes, influencing the reader to see the X-Men in a literally tight spot.
And his depiction of power is impressive, whether it's flashy bursts of energy
or the feral attacks of Beast and Wolverine.
In the end, this issue is mostly a giant fight scene, moving the overall plot of Cassandra Nova forward only in small degrees. However, it is an impressive fight scene, one whose action and attention to character moments makes it as gripping as any other issue of New X-Men.
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