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NEW X-MEN #119
"Germ Free Generation Two of Three"
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/$3.50 CAN |
Usually, I'd be irritated by the rotating artists, but the level of quality on every single artist is so high it's impossible to complain. Igor Kordey has been a gift to Cable, and he adapts his style to New X-Men easily, matching the work that Quitely and Van
Sciver have done and working quite well with Morrison's script. The story,
meanwhile, continues to exist on the edges of the familiar for the X-Men, but
done in such a way that it seems fresh and exciting. Rescuing mutants, facing
madmen and battling evil... it's all the same, but somehow it's more interesting
than it has been in years.
A large part of that is down
to the art, which is sharper and stronger than the X-Men has had regularly for
quite some time. Kordey does some phenomenal work this issue, conveying the
twisted mind games of Sublime in a New York office as well as the brutal combat
between Wolverine and U-Men in the field. Kordey's attention to detail on
backgrounds has been obvious on Cable, and it's just as obvious here. The
skyline of New York, the diner in the middle of nowhere and the sophisticated
medlab in the basement of the mansion all come to life.
I'm really enjoying the U-Man
story, because it's serving as a nice distraction in the middle of a larger
tale. While the U-Men are attacking the X-Men, the larger story of Cassandra
Nova is shaping up, and it makes sense that the story would be unfolding slower
when another threat is attacking. The U-Men are a fascinating concept, visually
and concept-wise, but they're serving as a pacing tool as well.
The elements of the story are
somewhat familiar here, which should help to keep older fans in the loop as well
as those just reading to follow Morrison. While some of the X-Men are captured,
Wolverine tries to bring a new mutant into the fold, and anti-mutant forces
attack the mansion. None of these things are brand new, but there's enough
smarts and style in the dialogue or the art to make it stand out. I particularly
enjoyed Morrison making the owner of the diner someone whose bigotry was not
clear-cut, but was more sad than angry.
What makes the book really work, though, and makes it rise above the familiar elements of the story, is the staging of the entire thing. A close up of Frost collapsed on the floor, the shot of Wolverine riddled with metal shards but completely unworried or the terrific sequence that shows Jean Grey going out to meet aggressors at the end of the book all convey an attitude, a slick style that has adapted the improvements that movies like The Matrix and X-Men have made on comic-book storytelling back into the
comic-book medium.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
