Reviewer: Andy Logan
Story Title: Gifted, Part Six
Written by: Joss Whedon
Art by: John Cassady
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Chris Eliopoulos
Editor: Mike Marts
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Overview:
You know, I have to start this review by explaining what the character of Colossus means to me – which means another essay length review – so bear with me for a short while, if you please.
For me, Piotr Rasputin has always been one of the most exquisitely realized and rendered comic book characters. Of all the X-Men, he always possessed the greatest raw physical power, and yet his soul was always the most gentle.
He may indeed have been able to destroy using only his bare (steel) hands, but this was balanced with a burning desire simply to create and shape things of beauty and splendor.
A noble, kind and sometimes painfully naïve view of the World often provided the greatest note of humanity and tenderness during the team’s escapades. Colossus, despite being bestowed with the gifts of devastation and destruction through his mutation, was always more of a pacifist than a fighter; an idealistic farm boy trapped in the body of a warrior.
In fact, if you look back at the earliest adventures of Professor X’s “new” X-Men team – when Colossus was first recruited – he is very often the focal and central point of everything that happens. Events are more often seen and interpreted for the reader through his eyes than any other character: We are never privy as much to the thoughts and opinions of Nightcrawler, Storm, Banshee, et al, as we are to those of the “big dumb Russian.”
Wolverine, back then, was still finding his feet within the Marvel Universe, and due to the very nature of his character as written, was too much of a loner and a wildcard to draw much empathy from the average reader. It would not be until later, when Claremont began to tone down the more brutish aspects of Logan’s behavior, and highlight the more noble aspects of his personality, that Wolverine would become such an icon.
In those early days, Colossus was the emotional centre of the team, the character most often in the spotlight, the person through whose eyes we often saw the story unfold.
When he died, it moved me like no other comic book death ever has. Not because he went out in a spectacular blaze of glory, fighting off alien hordes and saving life as we know it. Nor even because he gave his life slugging it out with a super-powered foe, protecting those he cared about.
It was the simplicity of his death, the cold, calm and rational way that he did what he did. First and foremost, he sacrificed himself because it was the right thing to do. There were no explosions, no laser guns or cannon fire, no flying caped nemesis or laughing, scheming villain – there was simply a needle. No comic book death of such a major character has ever been as understated, yet none, in my opinion, has ever been so moving and affecting.
Colossus died as he lived – his first and last thoughts were for those that he loved, those that he cared about; and it was wonderfully in character, so fitting, so right that, if he had to die, it should be in that way. I always believed that only Chris Claremont could write Piotr and do him justice, make him as real as he should be. Within the issue that saw his death, Scott Lobdell showed that he, too, had just as vital and visceral handle on the character as Claremont had ever done.
As of now, you can add to that small, exclusive list of only two writers who did the big guy justice. Joss Whedon, I salute you.
Before I go on, it’s confession time – I don’t like Buffy, and I don’t care for Angel. The stories told and the characters presented just don’t do it for me – I don’t connect with or care about them at all.
So, when I heard Whedon was going to be writing Astonishing, I shrugged it off, and when I heard the rumor that he was going to be bringing back my favourite character, my initial delight at Piotr’s return was tempered by a fear that Whedon would mangle all that made Colossus so unique in the first place.
I was wrong. This issue, as well as (nearly) wrapping up the story of Ord and the mutant “cure,” sees Piotr truly bought back to life. At once capable of terrifying force and violence when provoked into defending those he loves, Colossus also shows, in a tender and moving epilogue with Kitty, that his true nature is as gentle and kind as ever.
Whedon superbly balances those two aspects of his character, and I genuinely feel we could be witnessing the perfect depiction of the character.
If I have one criticism, it would be that the other X-Men seem to accept his return too readily, although dying and being reborn can be viewed as an occupational hazard for such as them – witness Agent Brand’s snappy retort to Emma Frost’s assertion of Jean Grey’s fate.
As well as making such a splendid job at writing Colossus, Whedon gives us an almost definitive (yes, it really is that good) take on Nick Fury; a man capable of growling pithy one-liners even as he exudes enough authority and menace to make entire nations retreat in numbers.
In fact, the writing in this issue, as in the previous five, is just damned near perfect! The one-liners had me in fits of laughter; while at the same time, the tension is so thick you could almost cut it with a knife.
Scott and Hank have been friends for their whole adult life, and that shows in the ease and good nature of their closing conversation. Hank is unsure about whether he will himself use the cure, but admits that recent events have made him start to love his mutation once more, and somehow, you just know that Scott is the only person Hank would ever be so candid and confess such a thing to.
Wolverine, too often these days a corn-ball philosopher who spouts painfully unfunny and uninteresting one-liners (Claremont, I’m looking at you) is represented perfectly here. His final confrontation with Ord, and the cunning way he subdues him, raises a wry smile even as we salute the canuckle-head’s bravado. This is classic Wolverine, the character written as he was when the comic book World first (metaphorically speaking) fell in love with him.
While this represents the final issue in this story-arc, several questions are left un-answered that will surely have future ramifications for the team. The revelation that an X-Man will one day be responsible for the death of an entire planet is almost glossed over; as if the team believes they can alter this future as they have so many others. We shall see.
The mutation cure is still an issue, with Worldwide reaction ranging from anger to desperation, and all sides foaming at the mouth to get their hands on the potion, their motives ranging from wanting to destroy it to wanting to use it. It will be interesting to see what – if any – effect this has on future direction. In theory, the fact that a simple but effective cure for mutation exists is a can of worms that could sustain an entire slew of story-arcs to come.
Finally, we are treated to a hint that Emma Frost has a darker, deeper agenda than we have previously been made aware of, and there is the suggestion of an intruder deep within the Institute who doesn’t appear to have the students and teachers best interest at heart.
The art is superb – I must confess to not being familiar with Cassady’s work before I started to read AXM, but I am now officially a huge fan of his clean, crisp and realistic style. He perfectly captures the high emotion of the story, and his rendering of Colossus (yes, him again) as he deadpans “No. He doesn’t get away,” while being only a small and unobtrusive panel, is awesome. The way Logan is drawn as he flies through the air trying to reach Ord’s ship is excellent – you can see the effect the air resistance is having, and you can almost feel the g-force. Sometimes, the greatest work is in the smallest details.
At turns moving, exciting, intriguing and laugh-out loud funny, and featuring the return of my all-time favorite character (can you guess who it is?) this, quite simply, is as good as it gets folks.
