Reviewer: Ben Morse
Story Title: “Day of the Atom pt. 2 of 4: Immortalsâ€
Written by: Chuck Austen
Penciled by: Salvador Larroca
Inked by: Danny Miki
Colored by: UDON
Lettered by: Rus Wooton
Editor: Mike Marts
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Chuck Austen has shown such promise in his last few months on X-Men, getting away from the overdramatic drek that marred his earlier work (werewolves, “The Dracoâ€â€¦ugh) and getting in touch with the emotions of his characters and actually writing them as likable people rather than soap opera stereotypes. I thought Austen’s efforts in his first post-Reload! issue on (adjectiveless) X-Men last month were very impressive, displaying wit and a team dynamic I enjoyed. Sadly, this issue falls right back into the territory of Austen at his worst, with jokes being run into the ground, some characters serving as wallpaper or just screaming in agony a lot, and awful original villains rearing their (figuratively) ugly heads.
The saddest part of this issue is that even the stuff I usually enjoy most about Austen’s X-Men got badly botched. I though the tension between Havok and Iceman that had been building over the last several months took an interesting turn last issue with Havok’s promotion to team leader, but the childish bickering between them this issue got old by page two. The whole “rebel dickhead against stick in the mud leader†dynamic has been done to death in the x-canon and in every other team book ever created; Austen needs to find something else for these two to do.
Juggernaut, who has enjoyed some of his best treatment under Austen, also came up a bit short in this issue. Cain Marko’s appeal under Austen’s pen has come from a powerful desire to redeem himself, but an equally uncontrollable personality and temper that are directly in conflict with that goal; the smarmy “suck up to the boss†Juggernaut in this issue is not a turn for the better.
Worse than the characters being mishandled are the ones not being utilized at all. I understand Wolverine has to be in every book for commercial reasons, so if Austen can’t really find anything for him to do, fine (a shame since he wrote him quite well during the issues with him and Professor X in Genosha immediately pre-Reload!), but yanking Gambit & Rogue out of Chris Claremont’s hands, where they were enjoying the best writing they’d had possibly ever, and then having them do absolutely nothing of use here is a real travesty. Rogue, in particular, is regressing tremendously; two issues in and I still have no idea whether or not she had any powers and, if not, why the heck she is out in the field. Neither character is displaying even a shard of personality, which is sad on so many levels given that few X-Men have more endearing personas when handled correctly. If I were more of a Gambit fan, I’d find his incompetence and over-reliance on haphazard powers insulting given the myriad skills he’s displayed in the past beyond his mutant abilities.
The “villains†of this issue barely deserve a paragraph devoted to them. Their entrance line ranks right up there with Azazel (?)’s “I am………SATAN!†diatribes during the much-maligned and aforementioned “Draco.†I understand sometimes you just need generic villains to pass the time and advance the plot, but don’t waste so much time on these losers given that they’re completely uninteresting, bordering on culturally insulting and get taken out in the lamest way possibly given their buildup (which, of course, makes all but one member of the team look like raging incompetents).
Then there’s the Xorn thing…I don’t like it. Recent interviews from Austen have indicated this was Marvel’s call and not his, so he’s off the hook, but I still don’t like it. Preview art for September indicates that Xorn isn’t going anywhere either. I wasn’t exactly the biggest Grant Morrison fan during his entire run, but that Xorn/Magneto thing was f’ing brilliant; Xorn was a decent character, but in no way one so justifiably good and necessary to the X-Universe that the incredible moment of revelation needed to be cheapened less than a year later in order to bring him back. I see no way Austen can right a story with Xorn that will justify this.
One of the few high points of the issue was Salvador Larocca’s always incredible work, which I’m pleased to say I think has now exceeded even his work on X-Treme X-Men after some initial growing pains. Still, I have a bone to pick with even Mr. Larocca as it relates to a couple costumes: first, Juggernaut’s black armor was way cooler and a welcome change to a dated costume. Second, Havok’s new costume is one of the most hideous I have ever seen; this is especially disconcerting given that the younger Summers brothers had finally received his first cool looking costume in years after coming back from “the dead.†I expect better from the incomparable Mr. Larocca.
There were good bits to this issue but they were few and far between. The talking tree thing was kind of intriguing, but I’m 95% sure it’s Black Tom Cassidy already. I like Josh/Jay Guthrie a lot, but I really wish he had somebody other than Fishboy to pal around with.
I have not given up hope on this title, but if Mr. Austen is satisfied with this issue, he needs to seriously take a moment and remember he’s capable of better.
