THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS 14-10-08
October 14th 2008 05:24
It's another light week, with just two comics that I read. X-Men: Original Sin #1 begins the crossover between X-Men: Legacy and Wolverine: Origins, while Transformers Spotlight: Sideswipe #1 is bizarrely the conclusion of an ongoing story.
X-MEN: ORIGINAL SIN #1
You would think that the writer of the franchise's flagship title would be the person driving the line, but for the X-Men at the moment that's not the case. In terms of output and sheer quality, Mike Carey is setting the tone for the X-Men far more effectively than Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, or Warren Ellis.
Original Sin is a crossover between X-Men:Legacy and Wolverine: Origins, and that makes a good deal of sense - both titles feature the main characters exploring their pasts. There's a massive gulf in quality, but the focus is similar.
Despite my misgivings about my favourite current x-title connecting to one of my least favourite, I found Original Sin highly enjoyable. That's probably because it reads much more like a Mike Carey comic than one written by Daniel Way (i.e. something happens). The set-up is a good one - years ago Wolverine went through a whole lot of brainwashing at the hands of various government agencies. Now he's discovered that he has a son named Daken, and Daken has been brainwashed and programmed in the same way. Wolverine wants Professor X to use his telepathy to fix his son, but because of misgivings about recent events the Professor's not interested.
Carey sets this up well, with some nice character moments and a confrontation between Wolverine and the professor that's suitably free of melodrama. The revelation at the end of the comic about why Wolverine joined the X-Men is a corker, the sort of thing that makes sense and yet still manages to surprise.
This looks like the start of a promising arc.
TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: SIDESWIPE #1
This is a one-shot issue focusing on Sideswipe (the one who turned into a red lamborghini) and yet paradoxically it's the conclusion to the Revelation storyline. I'm struggling to see thre sense in this. Yes, the earlier spotlight issues were the best of the line, but that was largely because they were able to tell character driven stories free from the constraints of the sweeping epics and large-scale events. With this comic they're trying to do both at once. Whether the epic story succeeds is unknown to me, because I've come in on the last chapter and remain a trifle confused. As a stand-alone Sideswipe tale it lacks meat. There's some potentially interesting material about his rivalry with brother Sunstreaker, but it's been done before, and this doesn't add anything.
The art is by EJ Su, who did the Infiltration/Escalation/Devas tation minis. He had a looser style in those books, but here he's gone with a look more akin to the animated series, and foregone inking for CGI art. Uninked comic art really drives me up the wall, especially on comics that are supposed to be big on action, so this is a real step down on Su's usual output.
It's hard to know whether to recommend this comic, since I only have the last part of a story, but as a stand alone there's not a lot to like about it.
X-MEN: ORIGINAL SIN #1
You would think that the writer of the franchise's flagship title would be the person driving the line, but for the X-Men at the moment that's not the case. In terms of output and sheer quality, Mike Carey is setting the tone for the X-Men far more effectively than Matt Fraction, Ed Brubaker, or Warren Ellis.
Original Sin is a crossover between X-Men:Legacy and Wolverine: Origins, and that makes a good deal of sense - both titles feature the main characters exploring their pasts. There's a massive gulf in quality, but the focus is similar.
Despite my misgivings about my favourite current x-title connecting to one of my least favourite, I found Original Sin highly enjoyable. That's probably because it reads much more like a Mike Carey comic than one written by Daniel Way (i.e. something happens). The set-up is a good one - years ago Wolverine went through a whole lot of brainwashing at the hands of various government agencies. Now he's discovered that he has a son named Daken, and Daken has been brainwashed and programmed in the same way. Wolverine wants Professor X to use his telepathy to fix his son, but because of misgivings about recent events the Professor's not interested.
Carey sets this up well, with some nice character moments and a confrontation between Wolverine and the professor that's suitably free of melodrama. The revelation at the end of the comic about why Wolverine joined the X-Men is a corker, the sort of thing that makes sense and yet still manages to surprise.
This looks like the start of a promising arc.
TRANSFORMERS SPOTLIGHT: SIDESWIPE #1
This is a one-shot issue focusing on Sideswipe (the one who turned into a red lamborghini) and yet paradoxically it's the conclusion to the Revelation storyline. I'm struggling to see thre sense in this. Yes, the earlier spotlight issues were the best of the line, but that was largely because they were able to tell character driven stories free from the constraints of the sweeping epics and large-scale events. With this comic they're trying to do both at once. Whether the epic story succeeds is unknown to me, because I've come in on the last chapter and remain a trifle confused. As a stand-alone Sideswipe tale it lacks meat. There's some potentially interesting material about his rivalry with brother Sunstreaker, but it's been done before, and this doesn't add anything.
The art is by EJ Su, who did the Infiltration/Escalation/Devas tation minis. He had a looser style in those books, but here he's gone with a look more akin to the animated series, and foregone inking for CGI art. Uninked comic art really drives me up the wall, especially on comics that are supposed to be big on action, so this is a real step down on Su's usual output.
It's hard to know whether to recommend this comic, since I only have the last part of a story, but as a stand alone there's not a lot to like about it.
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