Reviewer: Chris Delloiacono
Story Title: Once Burned, Twice Shy
Written by: Peter David
Penciled by: Pablo Raimondi
Inked by: Drew Hennessy
Colored by: Brian Reber
Lettered by: VC’s Cory Petit
Cover by: David Lloyd & Brian Reber
Assistant Editors: Nicole Wiley & Molly Lazer
Editor: Andy Schmidt
Publisher: Marvel Comics
If you haven’t been reading along with Madrox, all that you need to know is that Jamie Madrox, The Multiple Man has been investigating the near-murder of one of his dupes (duplicates to the uninitiated). The trek takes him to the Windy City where he encounters some well-written mobsters, including a guy with a penchant for multiplication, and a broad with some willowy habits that become apparent this time around. There’s plenty of intrigue, sex, and noiry-goodness. The real joy in the series is that everything comes together wonderfully. You can’t possibly be disappointed with Madrox.
Peter David didn’t just write a good ending here; he pulled off Madrox in a big way. PAD set up an enthralling noir story featuring Jamie Madrox, gave us a series of cool twists and turns along the way, and brought back two favorites from X-Factor, Rahne and Strong Guy. To top it off, the final chapter was extremely satisfying with one last double-cross for good measure. Simply, Madrox was outstanding storytelling from beginning to end.
The extra special delight of Madrox was that there were two separate storylines. I, like many others, wasn’t quite sure about the action taking place in NYC compared to the Chicago business. Each of the stories featured at least one Madrox, and sometimes more, he’s the Multiple Man after all. The biggest twist wasn’t that there was some grand conspiratorial nonsense going down. The two stories reached their crescendo this month, but they remained separate. This final issue wasn’t about endings; it was built to start a flame. Hopefully it’s a flame that Marvel will fan in the coming months.
The most amazing comic script can fail without an equally amazing artist. Thankfully Madrox was brilliant on both counts. Pablo Raimondi completed one of the finest recent artistic performances the industry has seen. This is a detective book, with a “superhero,” and as I mentioned earlier, heaps of noir. Raimondi’s style that brings out PAD’s noir flavor and even accentuates it.
There’s so much to absolutely love about the art, but two moments really stood out. On page eight there’s a poignant death scene with a minor character. Between PAD’s script and Raimondi’s rendition they’ve brought forth one of the finest death-scenes I’ve ever seen in comics. And this was just a minor character! Imagine if these guys had killed The Avengers? There’s also a wicked three-panel progression where the “real” Madrox goes from talking to pulling a gun. Much of the image in panel two is reused in the third, but the change in the panels is jarring, and makes you feel the precariousness of life.
Spoiler
As I mentioned there were dual stories at play. Not only did the main storyline come together quite well, but the subplot featuring Rahne and Strong Guy worked out nicely too. When the gang gets together to compare notes for the last couple of pages we’re left with a final page that brings me a great deal of hope for the future. Madrox had been working his detective shtick at an agency he called Triple X. When the “real” Jamie returns to New York he’s greeted by Strong Guy and Rahne. They have taken the liberty of changing the name of the business to X-Factor Investigations! Now that’s cool!
Apparently this was a pilot for a new take on X-Factor. I don’t read much in the way of Marvel’s X, but this is a title that I’m sold on, basically site unseen. PAD writing superheroes working as detectives. That’s a rather fresh concept. Hopefully PAD will team with Raimondi on an X-Factor ongoing really soon.
