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UNCANNY X-MEN #397
"Poptopia Part Three: A Complete Unknown"
Recommended (7/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Joe Casey
Layouts: Sean Phillips
Pencils: Mel Rubi
Inks: Danny Miki
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mark Powers
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Unlike Morrison's New X-Men, which started with a bang and then cooled down a bit, Casey's Uncanny X-Men has been a
roller-coaster. And by that, I don't mean it's some kind of thrillride, but that
it has wildly varying ups and downs. This issue is one of the ups, and although
I found some of it to be too obvious in what it was trying to do, there are some
solid ideas here, including the idea of the X-Men as a sort of heroic legend
among other mutants and my continuing enjoyment of seeing Jono trying to fit in
with the pop star world.
Casey can do subtlety, as he has shown in Wildcats and as he shows in a few pages here. The
quiet racism of thinking that all mutants know each other is far more convincing
than roving anti-mutant gangs and the constant snide comments, and it's a shame
that he only provided a little of the former and a lot of the latter. His bad
guys wear their anti-mutant bias on their sleeve as their only defining
characteristic, and it makes for weak bad guys and a weak racism metaphor. The
same blunt hammer tactic is being used to show Jono not fitting in with the pop
star world, and we really need a balance where we see him being happy with Sugar
at least part of the time. As it is, she comes off as incredibly dim and he
comes off as tolerating her more than liking her, and I have no idea why he even
does that.
I will say this: Casey has a take on
Wolverine that I like. He's an old soldier, someone who doesn't really need to
push, and seeing him talk to Jono and then deal with one of the bigoted roadies
was a fun little scene, clearly establishing Wolverine as a professional badass
without belaboring the point. He's also giving Iceman more definition and
likability than he has had in some time. His take on the X-Men is also one I
enjoy, with the underground mutants talking about them as if they were
celebrities and legends more than people, giving us a nice payoff at the end
with an inspiring moment.
This issue provides an explanation for who
Mister Clean is and why he can take on the mutants, and though I'm glad to have
it, I still don't really like the character any more than I did before. The
organization behind him is intriguing, but that's all, and in many ways, this
feels like a really, really slow build... and I think Casey will lose most of
his potential audience before he finally gets around to unveiling the really
interesting and new ideas.
Then there's the artwork, which I also found to be hit-or-miss. Sean Phillips has proven his layout skills in any number of places, and he works well with Casey, as we know from Wildcats. Pairing him with an Image-esque artist like Mel Rubi seems an odd choice, but it mostly works out, although there are moments (such as when we get a close-up of Sugar's ass while she does something anatomically difficult) when I wonder if Rubi strayed from the layouts a bit. Rubi's work actually reminds me of a combination of Madureira, Bagley and McFarlane, a strange combination that doesn't always work but has a lot of potential, and when he's on (as he is with the first two pages) he's impressive. One thing I do have to give credit for is the cover, which is a terrific eye-catching design, similar to Powers #13 from last
week.
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