Welcome ComicAttackers and X-fans to this week’s edition of The All-New Uncanny X-Piles where a handful of our merriest mutant loving reviewers have dropped by to regale you with their thoughts on that one X-Title that has impacted them the most, be it good or bad, from last week’s releases. So keep reading, true believers, to discover what InfiniteSpeech, SpidermanGeek, and The Comic Book Clergyman have to say about your favorite Marvel mutants’ adventures and don’t forget to leave a comment to tell us what YOU think!
[divider]
Magneto #1
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Gabriel Hernandez Walta
It’s really about time that Magneto had another series. With the upcoming movie, it’s no wonder that Marvel is relaunching an ongoing. Magneto is certainly the most dynamic character in the X-Men movie franchise apart from Wolverine, so I’m glad they are taking another stab at him.
Since Avengers vs. X-Men, Magneto’s role has been a bit unclear. Cyclops has definitely taken up his mantle, which leaves Magneto a bit cold in terms of a status quo. Bendis set him up fine in Uncanny X-Men and now Cullen Bunn has taken over the reins. Magneto is in hiding and is doing much of what we loved about him in the last X-Men movie. He’s hunting people who do bad things to mutants. Bunn is no stranger to brutality in stories, and it’s nice to see that he writes Magneto with the same kind of cunning and viciousness.
The second page shows us how far Magneto will go to make his point, as we get a shot of a man who’s fillings were replaced with street signs. Yikes. Bunn really does a good job of getting us into the mind of Erik Lehnsherr and his quest for justice against mutants. This runs him up against an Omega Sentinel, and it was good to see one of those around again.
I wondered how Gabriel Hernandez Walta would do on a book like this. I liked his art on Astonishing X-Men for its originality. I was pleasantly surprised that his style fit the tone of this book perfectly. It was dark where it needed to be dark, and light where it needed to be light. The colors of the book fit really nicely as well.
The Paolo Rivera cover is one of my favorites I’ve ever seen of Magneto. The barb wire helmet is subtle, but speaks perfectly of his power set. I would love a poster of this on my wall.
Overall, this is a great start to this book and I’m looking forward to more! -JJ
Rating: 8/10
Night of the Living Deadpool #4
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Ramon Rosanas
If you haven’t been reading Night of the Living Deadpool, this really isn’t a good jumping on point since, you know, it’s the last issue and all. The mini-series so far has been quite a fun read. To recap, Deadpool wakes up from a food coma to realize that the zombie apocalypse has hit the world. After running with some survivors and holding up with them for a bit, everything was coming up “Walking Dead” for the Merc with a Mouth. That is, until his healing factor got overpowered by the zombie virus and he ended up wiping out the town before he could completely fight off the infection. All in all, it feels like a love letter to all the great zombie flicks and TV shows with a little bit of Deadpool lunacy thrown in.
Now here we are at the final chapter of this little adventure into horror. Cullen Bunn has been writing this Deadpool perfectly so far. He’s injected the character with just enough humor to keep you chuckling, but not too much to have you be annoyed by his sometimes over the top antics. Most of this issue consists of Deadpool travelling with a scientist’s undead decapitated head. It’s all very Tom-Hanks-and-a-volleyball. Peppered throughout Wade’s non-stop decapitation jokes, is self-reflection and guilt. Not something we’re accustomed to seeing from this mercenary. Kudos to Bunn for making me like and care for this version of Deadpool. Unfortunately though, this final issue of the story does fall a little bit flat. The climax is ho-hum and the way the series wraps up was slightly disappointing. Deadpool is best when in contrast with other characters and for the most part here, he has no one to bounce off of. It’s just an entire issue of Deadpool, talking to himself.
The mini-series as a whole has been presented mostly in black and white as both a visual storytelling device and a homage to the classic horror movie genre. Deadpool and his speech bubbles are pretty much the only things colored and that’s a smart and effective way to insert a good amount of gore that would otherwise have ended up on the Marvel editing room floor. Since the undead are presented in greyscale, this allows for tons of dismemberments, blood and guts to be on display. Regardless of the parental advisory found on the front cover, overall it was pretty impressive to see in a Marvel book. Ramon Rosanas art was definitely a big selling feature. The black and white stuff really pops out because it’s just gorgeously detailed and crisp. The zombies looked terrifyingly awesome too.
The bottom line is that even though the finale is nothing to write home about, which is reflected in my rating, the 4-issue mini-series as a whole is worth the price of admission for zombie fans and ‘poolheads alike. Gorgeous art and solid writing from start to finish, I highly recommend it. -SG
Rating: 6.5/10
Wolverine and the X-Men #1
Writer: Jason Latour
Artist: Mahmud Asrar
Remember the time hopping from Wolverine and the X-Men #42? Well we get a glimpse of yet another dark future that has the Jean Grey School in ruins as a Phoenix powered Quentin Quire is battling his one-time friend, Genesis now in the role of a new Apocalypse. From here the story shifts back to present day as we see the state of the school and what the faculty has been up to. Logan is off as his alter ego, “Patch” while Beast is taking some time away and Storm tries to hold it all together…but just barely.
As annoyed as a lot of comic readers have become with the constant restarting of fairly new titles this one does nothing to ease that aggravation. However, I will say that Latour picks up where Aaron left off and runs it in for a touchdown! Wolverine is fun to read here, we get a new student, and As much as we got of Quire in the last issue, Latour gives us a guy who has had a peek at his future and is burdened by what he’s seen. There’s also a natural angst and apprehension that comes from him as he attempts to fail at being the new Teacher’s Assistant. This internal conflict with himself is makes for a deeper character and it’s going to be interesting to see where he goes since it seems as if Idie will be right by his side.
Latour keeps the energy from the previous series going and it actually feels like a natural progression. This works for and against the whole renumbering because for anyone who has been reading this it really doesn’t feel like new start. And for anyone who might be picking this up for the first time it kind of feels like you’re being dropped into the middle of something and that nagging feeling you’re missing out is there.
As far as the art was concerned, Asrar opens up with some really great looking panels. The action is intense and fantastic to watch as it unfolds. Especially when we get to see “Patch” in action. However there is a bit of a visual shift when things slow down during the softer moments between the characters. I’m not quite sure why but in some pages it looks like a totally different style at these points.
There’s still something about this title that makes it stick out above the rest and I’m pretty sure it’s the roster. If Latour continues to write these guys this well and deliver great stories then no reason it can’t be as fun as its former incarnation. -IS
Rating: 7/10
[divider]
That does it for this round of All-New Uncanny X-Piles folks so let us know that you thought of this batch of X-books and you can check out more right here!
infinitespeech@comicattack.net – @InfiniteSpeech
jeff@comicattack.net – @FrJeffJackson
spidermangeek@comicattack.net – @SpidermanGeek
