X-Men #17 Review
Sep. 8th, 2011 11:40 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nomadicwriter posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
doomfansHmm, hey, a pretty decent issue actually. Stronger than #16, I think, and all in all not a bad read. Doom doesn't appear very much, but he does get to play an important role in the plot.
At the start of this issue, our heroes have split into three groups. Reed and Nemesis are trying to repair the submarine and figure out a way home, with Magneto guarding them while they're at work. Nemesis figures out a way to make a gate, but they don't have nearly enough power.
Meanwhile, Ben, Pixie and Wolverine meet up with obscure 70s Marvel character Skull the Slayer (apparently an old hand at dimension-hopping in the Bermuda triangle). He and Lee came to the dimension with a rich guy named Stanislaus who wanted to tap its resources; after they got stuck, Stanislaus went off alone while he and Lee made allies among the natives. Lee recently went off to negotiate with a second group of natives, and hasn't come back yet. They go after her and start a fight, only to discover she's apparently fine and annoyed that they messed up her negotiations.
Sue, Scott and Emma are also off searching for Lee, out of contact with the others because something's blocking Emma's powers. They encounter Stanislaus, who takes them to meet his own group of allies, a group of warlike aliens called the Scorpius. The Scorpius take them captive with suspicious ease, and seem to know exactly how to counter their powers. On the last page reveal, we find out why: since he parted from the group last issue, Doom has made an alliance with the aliens, and given them the knowledge to defeat the good guys.
Altogether, a pretty solid comic. Nothing mind-blowing, but I liked this one better than the last issue, which is heartening. There are a few nice character moments: Sue has a great expression in the background when Emma needles her about how 'lucky' she is not to have to worry about other women chasing after Reed. (I quite like the signs of continued cattiness between them, following up on the cold reception Emma got from Sue when she showed up beside Namor in the F4 comics. Sue gets on so well with most people that it's kind of fun to see her in this sort of petty rivalry.)
On the other hand, I don't think Gischler has much clue how to write Reed Richards; he sits around being useless while Nemesis does all the scientific stuff single-handed, and his character voice has felt off to me in both issues so far. He's too readily irritated by Nemesis, and his speech just seems too casual for Reed somehow. But that's my one major gripe with the writing in this issue.
Art continues to be very nice, though the bold bright colouring doesn't always do it favours. There are places that the expressions come off kind of blank where I think if Molina was painting his own stuff there'd be more detail added in the finish. But where the inks give it more definition it looks pretty awesome. There's a fantastic close-up of Doom's eyes in the issue's final panel.
As for the plot... reserving judgement so far. This is only part two of four, and Gischler can't take Doom too far to the dark side when this has to fit in with Hickman's FF storyline, so I suspect there'll be some sort of twist coming up with Doom's apparent betrayal. If he's ultimately shown to be playing all sides off against each other for his own benefit, I'll be pretty happy.
On the strength of this issue I'm now a bit more interested in the rest of this storyline than I was, so, definitely not a bad purchase.
At the start of this issue, our heroes have split into three groups. Reed and Nemesis are trying to repair the submarine and figure out a way home, with Magneto guarding them while they're at work. Nemesis figures out a way to make a gate, but they don't have nearly enough power.
Meanwhile, Ben, Pixie and Wolverine meet up with obscure 70s Marvel character Skull the Slayer (apparently an old hand at dimension-hopping in the Bermuda triangle). He and Lee came to the dimension with a rich guy named Stanislaus who wanted to tap its resources; after they got stuck, Stanislaus went off alone while he and Lee made allies among the natives. Lee recently went off to negotiate with a second group of natives, and hasn't come back yet. They go after her and start a fight, only to discover she's apparently fine and annoyed that they messed up her negotiations.
Sue, Scott and Emma are also off searching for Lee, out of contact with the others because something's blocking Emma's powers. They encounter Stanislaus, who takes them to meet his own group of allies, a group of warlike aliens called the Scorpius. The Scorpius take them captive with suspicious ease, and seem to know exactly how to counter their powers. On the last page reveal, we find out why: since he parted from the group last issue, Doom has made an alliance with the aliens, and given them the knowledge to defeat the good guys.
Altogether, a pretty solid comic. Nothing mind-blowing, but I liked this one better than the last issue, which is heartening. There are a few nice character moments: Sue has a great expression in the background when Emma needles her about how 'lucky' she is not to have to worry about other women chasing after Reed. (I quite like the signs of continued cattiness between them, following up on the cold reception Emma got from Sue when she showed up beside Namor in the F4 comics. Sue gets on so well with most people that it's kind of fun to see her in this sort of petty rivalry.)
On the other hand, I don't think Gischler has much clue how to write Reed Richards; he sits around being useless while Nemesis does all the scientific stuff single-handed, and his character voice has felt off to me in both issues so far. He's too readily irritated by Nemesis, and his speech just seems too casual for Reed somehow. But that's my one major gripe with the writing in this issue.
Art continues to be very nice, though the bold bright colouring doesn't always do it favours. There are places that the expressions come off kind of blank where I think if Molina was painting his own stuff there'd be more detail added in the finish. But where the inks give it more definition it looks pretty awesome. There's a fantastic close-up of Doom's eyes in the issue's final panel.
As for the plot... reserving judgement so far. This is only part two of four, and Gischler can't take Doom too far to the dark side when this has to fit in with Hickman's FF storyline, so I suspect there'll be some sort of twist coming up with Doom's apparent betrayal. If he's ultimately shown to be playing all sides off against each other for his own benefit, I'll be pretty happy.
On the strength of this issue I'm now a bit more interested in the rest of this storyline than I was, so, definitely not a bad purchase.
