Mystique is one of those characters I used to really like, until she suffered (like the rest of the extended X-family) under some awful writing and editing during the 90s. However, while I haven't enjoyed what's been done with the character since before Claremont stopped writing her, I always thought the character had a lot of potential, and when you attach the name of Brian Vaughan and tell me that he's taking the character in the espionage-flavored direction I've always thought she was best suited to, well, you've got my attention. Mystique isn't as strong a first issue as Vaughan has written for Y: The Last Man and Runaways, but it's got plenty of interesting setup and some solid action, and I can definitely see potential here.
Morrison's take on the New X-Men has opened a lot of doors for spinoffs and other exploration, although few writers have taken up the gauntlet, choosing instead to follow more conventional paths. Vaughan, however, has picked up on a potential are of expansion of the Xavier mandate, extrapolating from the existence of an X-Corporation and celebrity X-Men into the notion of X-Spies, and it's a nifty overall concept as well as a place where Mystique can definitely fit in. While you can sometimes see the meta-plotting of setting Xavier up as the spy control and Forge as her gadgeteer, that doesn't make it any less a neat idea.
I think everyone probably has favorite characters that they just haven't liked for the most part because they haven't been written well, and for me, Mystique and Forge are two of those characters. Vaughan seems to see the characters in much the same way I do, however, which made this issue pretty enjoyable for me. Forge's casual invention of a perpetual motion machine, or the quiet respect he shows for Xavier, says a lot about the character, and Mystique gets some even more impressive character- and power- building scenes. Vaughan uses her powers in a couple neat ways (slipping handcuffs and cracking a safe) as well as the more conventional disguise use, and though her character this issue is largely given over to being ruthless and effective, that seems like important central stuff for her.
I'm actually a little more shaky on the artwork, which surprises me given that I really enjoyed Jorge Lucas's work on Black Panther. To be sure, some of his work here is terrific, especially the detailed backgrounds and expressive characters in the exchange in Forge's apartment or the lovingly-detailed U.S. military squadron that shows up in the latter half of the issue. What worries me, however, is that his background work on the hotel room exchange is somewhat light, and more importantly, his female forms seem a little too exaggerated. The excessively thin, stretched-out look (but with ample boobs and butt) look belongs in Gen 13, not here, and I was hoping for more athletic and less sexpot from Mystique. Mind you, it's not that far off, but it's clear that more attention has been given to making her sexy rather than making her look dangerous, and I'd like the pendulum to swing a little closer to the middle.
As with the rest of the Tsunami books so far, this is more of a 1/2 issue than a first issue, delivering plenty of setup but not really getting the story underway yet. However, given that part of the selling point of the line is manga pacing, I don't have so much of a problem with that, especially when the writer is good at laying groundwork, and Vaughan is proving to be one of the best. The introductions to the various characters and the general tone of this book are intriguing, and I definitely want to see what happens next.
