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NEW X-MEN #121
"Silence: Psychic Rescue in Progress"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Frank Quitely
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: Richard Starkings
Editor: Mark Powers
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Like the best of the silent issues, New X-Men #121 follows two
general guidelines: It has a reason for the silence, and it knows when to break
the rules a little with pictograms and even a bit of closing dialogue. As a
result, it's a very strong story, with the sensibilities of Morrison and Quitely
matching up quite nicely with the idea of a surreal exploration into Xavier's
trapped mind.
Quitely's artwork is not
everyone's cup of tea, but for my money, he's one of the few artists who could
have carried this issue off so well. The bizarre design of Xavier's mindscape, a
mixture of wicked comedy and disturbing imagery, comes through perfectly, and
the infectious madness of Cassandra Nova is quite clear in the traps she has set
up around Xavier's mind. I also thought that Quitely captured the serene power
of Jean Grey and the sexy and arrogant nature of Emma Frost without needing
words at all.
Of course, while this issue
is all conveyed through the work of Frank Quitely, it comes from the imaginative
mind of Grant Morrison. Dream logic seems perfectly fitting to his work, and
while any other writer probably would have staged this as a psychic plane battle
between Jean and Cassandra in thought form, this is instead more of a journey
than a fight. I was particularly impressed with the revelations about Xavier and
Cassandra, which come through clearly in the visuals and have even more impact
when Jean says them out loud later on.
As with any silent story,
this does slow down the pace of the story considerably. The goal accomplished in
this issue is a relatively small one in the overall scale of things. However,
the decompression of story allows for a true feeling of detached time in the
story, which only helps to make the mindscape feel that much stranger. Morrison
and Quitely have made "'Nuff Said" work for them, rather than the other way
around.
Since Morrison and his collaborators began on New X-Men, my appreciation
for Marvel's venerable mutant team has once again returned. This issue is
another fine example of the kind of great super-hero work they have been
doing.
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