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UNCANNY X-MEN #400
"Supreme Confessions"
Mildly Recommended (5/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Joe Casey
Artists: Cully Hamner, Ashley Wood, Eddie Campbell, Javier Pulido, Sean Phillips & Matt Smith
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mark Powers
Price: $3.50 US/$5.25 CAN |
I don't think
I can imagine styles suited less to Casey's style of storytelling than most of
the artists who were chosen for this gala issue, and though they are all
accomplished artists in their own right, they don't really match up with the
story here. Wood, Hamner, Campbell, Smith and to a lesser extent Phillips thrive
on atmosphere and moody story, and Casey delivers a fairly straight look at a
set of bad guys and a fight scene instead. It's a testament to the talent of all
involved that it works as well as it does, but overall the issue just feels like
it isn't quite clicking all the way through.
Basically, this issue is the
integration of Stacy X into the team, as well as the origin of the Church of
Humanity. Stacy X is a breath of fresh air, and I hope she sticks around. She
reminds me of the early days of Wolverine, when he was there because it suited
his needs at the time, but he thought Xavier's dream was more than a little
idealistic and foolish (which, let's face it, it is). Her disrespect for her
teammates, as well as the lie she tells the leader of the Church about her
origins, is a lot of fun.
Unfortunately, while I liked
the Church of Humanity upon first appearance, and I still like their visual
designs, the origins for their leader are ridiculously overblown. He's an
immortal, a scientist before his time, he gained powers through some strange
cosmic contrivance and clearly we're supposed to regard him as incredibly
powerful, mysterious and otherworldly. Instead, he seems like any other madman
we've seen in comics a hundred times, although thanks to Ashley Wood's art we
really don't have any idea what he looks like.
Every one of these artists is
talented, but none of them belong on this story. For one thing, the changes in
style are jarring every time, and for another, the story doesn't match their
styles. Though most of them are solid storytellers, they're not what I would
call flashy, and that's the style that Casey writes in. Ashley Wood is a special
case, as I've always felt he was a more impressive cover artist than sequential
storyteller, and nothing here changes my opinion. You want to set a mood, Wood's
your man, you want to tell a story, you're in trouble.
There are definitely moments
when the story matches the art. Phillips's work on the siege of the Church is
fantastic, dark but action-oriented, showing off the synergy that he and Casey
developed on Wildcats. Wood's cover, and some of his interior images, do a
fantastic job of establishing a spooky and dark mood for Stacy X's capture. And
Javier Pulido's work on Stacy X's imagined origin suits the slightly skewed
Silver Age tone it needs.
Overall, however, what we've
got are a lot of talented people doing fine work, but not really working
together, and the assembled talent feels less like a "jam" issue than a bunch of
fill-in creators trying to get a book back on schedule.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
