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X-MEN UNLIMITED #32
Mildly Recommended (6/10)
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Marvel Comics
"Dazzler: Beyond The Music"
Writer: Will Pfeifer
Artist: Jill Thompson
Colors: Atomic Paintbrush
"The Gift"
Writer: James Pruett
Artist: Mike Deodato, Jr.
Colors: JC
"All's Swell That Ends Swell"
Writer: John Ostrander
Pencils: Ian Gibson
Inks: Eduardo Alpuente
Colors: JC
Letters: Sharpefont
Editor: Lysa Hawkins
Price: $2.99 US/$4.50 CAN |
I can't in good conscience
whole-heartedly recommend this issue, even though the lead feature is a great
time, because the split-book format continues to drag the book down. Editor Lysa
Hawkins is almost there in revamping this book, but in my opinion, a switch to a
single story each issue is still needed. Because while "Dazzler: Beyond The
Music" is every bit as funny as you'd expect from the creators of Vertigo's
Finals, "The Gift" is a rather ordinary story and "All's Swell" is an
embarrassingly unfunny attempt at slapstick with some characters wholly unsuited
to it.
If ever there was a character born to
spoof, Dazzler is it. Roller skates, disco balls, the mutant ability to put on
lightshows, she was a flash-in-the-pan gimmick who was dated the minute she was
published, and that makes her the perfect target for something like a "Where are
they now?" piece that has become so popular on E!, VH1 and MTV. Pfeifer and
Thompson also take the time to spoof some other aspects of the Marvel Universe,
including a hilarious bit on Doctor Doom, a great use of the Hulk as framing
device, and some hilarious interaction with Asgard. Thompson's style, while not
as breathtaking as her painted work on Scary Godmother, is funny and attractive,
and the writing captures the feel of "Behind the Music" quite well while winking
at the reader.
"The Gift," on the other hand, is more of
what I'd come to expect from X-Men Unlimited. On the upside, it's on the high
end of those expectations, as Mike Deodato delivers some frankly beautiful
artwork for a solo story focusing on Nightcrawler. I suspect it may have been
digitally inked, but either way it has sharper edges than I'm used to from
Deodato, showing influences from Tim Bradstreet in the use of shadows and light.
JC have done a terrific job on the colors, counterbalancing bright pink teleport
flashes and yellow gun reports against a lot of black and blue colors indicating
darkness. Would that the story was as entrancing as the artwork, but it is
instead a rather fluffy and familiar story about Nightcrawler struggling with
his mutant appearance with the help of his faith. The story is weakened by a
gang shoot-out that occurs, introducing action into what could have been a
strong dialogue-and-character piece.
Of course, "The Gift" is Eisner-worthy
compared to "All's Swell," a comedy piece which earns only mocking laughter from
me. The artwork is cartoony, and shows potential to be something more, but has
the feeling of something dashed off by an artist who didn't have the time to
polish his work. The story is horrendous, the equivalent of a Three's Company
episode mapped onto a science-fantasy plot, and it's honestly painful to read.
Especially since I've seen Ostrander do comedy in the past, and he's been quite
funny then. This reads like one of those inventory stories that should have
stayed in the drawer, and seems more like filler than the three pin-ups which
fill out the issue.
It boggles the mind that X-Men Unlimited, a
thoroughly useless title, wasn't canned when Marvel revamped their X-line.
Clearly, Hawkins has a vision for the title that will make it a useful part of
Marvel's line, but when 2/3 of the book is the same old, same old, that vision
is being severely diluted.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
