X-Factor #6 
Marvel Comics
Writer: Peter David
Artist: Dennis Calero
X-Factor seems to be the only X-title (other than perhaps Exiles) which isn’t completely mired in dated shtick. There are no love triangles. There’s real mystery and uncertainty. And so far as I can tell, the beat-you-over-the-head-with-it-until-you-get-the-idea omnipresent allegory of racial tolerance has been subdued in favor of a sort of Think Globally, Act Locally riff regarding the cast and the barrio of Mutanttown. It’s an excellent change in perspective, resulting in more personal stories, less unwanted bleed-in from other Marvel books, and sharper focus on the cast.
This issue deals with the fallout from Siryn’s beating while giving readers and the X-Factor team a bit more insight into the psychological workings and abilities of Marvel’s newest mystery mutant Layla Miller. It’s sort of a slow burn in terms of plot, but there are a few great moments scattered throughout an issue that really only serves to close one episode and crack open a new character. Madrox’s meditation on teammate Rahne is classic David characterization, funny and en pointe. The impromptu meeting between Strong Guy, Damian Tryp Jr., and the Multiple Men is a treat for anyone who read the previous run of the title while illuminating exactly how Jamie’s powers have changed since then. The final scene with Rictor and Layla is an interesting twist on the final revelation found in much of detective fiction.
The art in this series is adequate, most of the time. Whenever characters with a distinctly different look are depicted, they look themselves and are easily distinguished (tomboy Rhane, M, Strong Guy) but the similar looking characters are far too similar (Madrox, Rictor, Damian Tryp Jr.) all have similar builds, coloring, and hair. That makes them only easily differentiated by their clothing. That’s just not good enough given everything else this title has going for it. A more specific approach to the male characters (and a less muddy color palette) would make this book an easier more enjoyable read.
Score: C
Checkmate #1
DC Comics
Writer: Greg Rucka
Artist: Jesus Saiz
This is the premiere issue of this book (unless you count the lead-in OMAC special a few weeks back which had a lot to do with the “old” incarnation of Checkmate) and there’s a lot here. There’s a ginormous cast, a hierarchal structure, and a double-crossing international political body to get a hold of within the first ten pages or so. The preponderance of new names and faces would floor or confuse most newcomers to comics. Hard core espionage and thriller buffs would probably be eager to ride out the initial tidal wave of people and relationships in order to se where it’s all headed.
As a comic book, this issue is a limited success. It sets up the international metahuman monitoring force, Checkmate, well enough in word and deed. The problems created by the huge amount of information pushed forward so quickly (confusion, trainwreck pacing) can be corrected or evened out over the series’ next few issues. The few characterization slips might have to do with OYL (I can’t see Alan Scott ever wearing a government regulation uniform, especially in public, especially for a covert organization). The death of a certain character meant nothing, because readers got all of six pages to get to know him before he’s killed in action. The whole notion of killing a new character to make a new title, arc, or villain seem more weighty has been completely overplayed lately. On the plus side, the action scenes are well done, and the final page twist was interesting and sets up an interesting challenge for the title’s first arc.
The art in this issue bridges the gap between merely serviceable and good. The strange settings (a terrorist base, the UN headquarters, a secret mountain retreat) are all equally well done. The layouts chosen for both the talking head exposition scenes and the cloak and dagger scenes are straightforward and don’t really add or subtract much from the reading experience. The colors run a bit dark and ominous for a book with such potential for explosive action, but it suits the covert ops segments quite well. The use of large computer-rendered fonts makes all the political jargon easy to read, even if there are too many unknown names and circumstances to make sense of it just yet.
Score: C
Villains United Infinite Crisis Special #1
DC Comics
Writer: Gail Simone
Artist: Dale Eaglesham
Sometimes events just totally mis-title and mis-market their specialty books. This special issue was not about the Secret Six at all, and barely about the Secret Society. It was, in essence, a giant prison break that ends with the beginning of a battle for the DCU’s most famous city, Metropolis. Yes, the Society and the Six are both in the book. Barely. Yes, there was excellent art, dialogue, and action. And again, there was the death of a character (or two) no one cared about, just to make the whole thing seem more important than it really was. If this book had been labeled something like “The Infinite Crisis Villains Outbreak” or whatnot, folks might still have picked it up (great creative team, most folks love well-written villains) and none of them would have felt cheated. I, on the other hand, did feel cheated despite all the great things this book had going for it. This entire sub-plot belonged somewhere in the drastically under paced first six issues of Infinite Crisis. If that series had taken out five or six pages of the Supermen/Superboys/multi-Earth/Luthor-on-Luthor canoodling per installment and just introduced and furthered this epic carnage, I would have saved five dollars and enjoyed the main storyline of IC much much more. Given the quality action and interactions found in this issue, this rating hurts the reviewer almost as much as the reviewed, but there just wasn’t enough of the title cast to justify anything else.
Score: D
Blue Beetle #2
DC Comics
Writer: Keith Giffen & John Rogers
Artist: Cully Hamner
The sophomore issue of this title is infinitely more interesting than the first. The last page shocker alone makes this the strangest title to undergo an OYL metamorphosis. The dynamic of a kid with powers he doesn’t know how to use is certainly not new, but somehow this reviewer is developing a sneaking attachment to Jaime. His Charlie Brown/Greatest American Hero lack of luck, his bickering best friends, and his seat of the pants style are entertaining and human. His family seems well rounded and clueless about his just beginning double life, which will certainly change in future issues one way or the other. It’s a quaint family-friendly root for the book to sprout from, and that’s impressive in today’s hyper-adult marketplace.
The only thing in this book that it doesn’t need? A metahuman ethnic El Paso street gang. Racial make-up of a given area should be integrated into any believable setting. That only makes sense, and since comics has been a Wonderbread medium for so long that any non-token attempt at diversity ought to be cheered. The key word there is non-token. It depresses at least one reviewer that the gang member’s tattoos resemble the alien font the Blue Beetle armor uses; that certainly seems to indicate that the inadequate El Paso answer to Kurt Busiek’s Irregulars must be an ongoing component of this book.
The art in this series is that nice mix of cartoony exaggeration and well-chosen detail that makes everything fun to examine. The Goodwill box our nude hero tries to plunder is as well done as the hero’s armor. The desert and playground settings have that ineffably realistic and yet too beautiful to be real vibe. The layouts aren’t very dynamic or experimental, but that helps keep the user-friendly vibe of this book. This book is fun, both verbally and visually.
Score: B
Batman #652
DC Comics
Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Keith Champagne/Don Kramer
Um, again it disappeared before it ever arrived in my subscription box. No, I’m not happy about it. No, I don’t think it was deliberate. I’ll review it LATE … AGAIN next week. In the meantime, send me no e-mails about how I’m reviewing one of the most looked-forward-to arcs in recent years seven days late per issue. I am far more annoyed about it than you are.
