It’s time for another edition of X-Piles! This week saw some highs and lows in terms of X-books. Read on, if you dare, to see what SpidermanGeek, Infinite Speech, & the Comic Book Clergyman thought about an Original Sin tie-in, Wolverine’s demise, and a tender moment with Quicksilver!
All-New X-Factor #13
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Pop Mhan
So after Quicksilver confessed to his sins after being publicly confronted by Fatale at a Serval Industries press conference, Pietro’s daughter Luna pays him a visit to be the first in line to forgive his past discretions. That’s the gist of what happened last issue. In this current issue of X-Factor, we witness some of that fallout in what can otherwise be considered a generic filler issue.
Peter David still manages to get some character progression going, but it really is just an extension of what has already been laid out previously. Polaris sticks up for her half-brother to Harrison Snow after he was looking to fire Quicksilver from the team. Lorna thus cements her loyalty toward her sibling as well as her capacity to lead the team. Warlock and Danger continue an awkward courtship while the rest of the issue just focuses on Quicksilver’s family dynamic situation. Cue a guest appearance by Gorgon of the Inhumans. PAD’s writing is as witty as ever and gives the deserving majority of the spotlight to Pietro yet again. No writer has had a more justified right to shape and progress that character than Peter David does. It’s always fun to see what journey PAD will take the silver haired speedster on next.
Unfortunately though, the art that was provided for this issue really brings down the overall quality of what could still have been a stellar stand-alone issue of All-New X-Factor. Carmine Di Giandomenico takes a well-deserved break as Pop Mhan takes over the art duties for this issue. Truth be told, I’m a fan of Pop Mhan’s work on He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. He has a knack for drawing great “fantasy” type characters and that might explain why Gorgon is the only terrific looking character in this book. It’s not to say that Mhan’s art is bad, but he’s no Di Giandomenico. Many moments in this issue are more reminiscent of former X-Factor artist Pablo Raimondi and although one can respect that, it’s just not the look and tone that readers have become accustomed to in All-New X-Factor and with Mhan doing so, it feels like a big step backward that detracts from the “All-New” portion of the title.
What I like about All-New X-Factor is that it’s not X-Factor. It’s a fresh take on an old concept and PAD makes it work. Mhan just brought that momentum to a screeching halt. One can only pray that Carmine Di Giandomenico or a similar artist will be back on duty sooner rather than later.
Bottom line is that unless you’re a diehard Quicksilver fan, this issue can be skipped. –SMG
Rating: 5/10
Death of Wolverine #1
Writer: Charles Soule
Artist: Steve McNiven
Ok, I admit, I got suckered into this one. But I promised myself that I would only check out the first issue and if it was as contrived and awful as the current Wolverine series has been, then I need not go any further. The problem with that other book is that I feel like Wolverine has been missing. Since Jason Aaron ended his run, I have felt that no one has quite gotten Wolverine’s voice and when I hear that he’s getting flower tattoos and other such nonsense, it proves my point.
That said, Charles Soule has brought “my” Wolverine back…just in time to kill him off, which I’m really excited about. The death of Wolverine sounds like a great idea, but it has to be done well. Since Marvel has announced that Logan will be “dead” for quite some time, I have been hopeful that they may actually do something worthwhile with his character. Luckily, they got Soule to write it.
Immediately, Soule writes Logan like he should be written. He’s tortured, gruff, and BAD-ASS. He has no healing factor, and after a pretty rough report from Reed Richards, it’s not looking good for our favorite Canadian mutant. The thing that got me was the bacteria that goes into his body every time he pops his claws. Gross.
But the best in this issue was the return of Nuke and the absolutely brutal fight. For someone with no healing factor, Logan sure doesn’t mind head-butting a guy with a metal face over and over again.
In terms of art, all I can say is “Welcome back, Mr. McNiven.” His work details the grittiness of this story. It’s visceral and bloody and looks fantastic. This is some of the best McNiven I’ve seen since Old Man Logan.
If you want to see how Wolverine bites the big one, this is a great introduction. -JJ
Rating: 8/10
Uncanny X-Men #25
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Chris Bachelo
We finally get to the point of all of the build up here and though Professor X’s confession ties into the past two issues, it’s not much of a surprise. Only because over the years we’ve come to know a much different Xavier that has done several questionable acts. Since the reveal isn’t as “jaw dropping” as one would hope, it’s still quite the emotional rollercoaster. Bendis does show that Charles feels he has no choice in the matter and you can see it was for the greater good. However, there is a moral grey area as some team members are a lot more vocal in their displeasure as others. This caused Scott and Iceman to get into an altercation which led to a rare but nice Iceman moment. It was actually nice to see him go a little dark and stand up for himself which is such a rare occurance.
Bachelo returns to handle the artwork for this issue as he brings the arc to a close. If you’re a fan of his style then you won’t be disappointed by what he does here. There’s plenty of exposition here but there are only brief moments of action going on. However, he manages to makes the huge moments in the story even bigger with the double page spreads. Even the Iceman/Cyclops confrontation looked good though very brief. There’s not a bad looking panel throughout the entire issue so enjoy the eye candy.
My only gripe with this issue is the same as the two that came before it which suffered the same problem. This had NO REASON to be an Original Sin tie-in. It could have stood on it’s own merit as just an X-Men story arc and been just as effective. So I’m not sure why it was included but what’s done is done. Get it if you’re a fan of the X-Men and an avid reader but it’s not detrimental to the Orignal Sin storyline at all. – IS
Rating: 6/10
What did you think about this week’s X-books? Let us know below! You can check out more X-Piles right here!
infinitespeech@comicattack.net – @InfiniteSpeech
jeff@comicattack.net – @FrJeffJackson
spidermangeek@comicattack.net – @SpidermanGeek
