Cable & Deadpool #40 - "Fractured, Part One" (Writer: Fabian
Nicieza, Penciler: Reilly Brown, Inker: Jeremy
Freeman, Colorist: Gotham)
(jump to last issue)
Cable's island is under attack from an awesome force, and in order to save it, Cable must make a big sacrifice. Deadpool, finding his part in this issue is mostly filler, plays poker.
This is presumably a crossover with the ongoing plot in X-Men. Now that Cable is a member there, it stands to reason that events there will affect this book, and vice versa. I like this, in theory.
In practice, though, it's not done as well as it should be. Although the title of the story is Fractured, Part One, I really feel like I just bought part two of a crossover. I'm not reading X-Men, so I have only this issue to judge by and... it doesn't feel like it stands alone. Sure, it gives you the basics of what's happening, but there's no sense of it making sense in a story of its own right. If they had explicitly advertised this as Part Two of X and pointed out that you needed to read X-Men #Whatever first, that might not have been a bad thing. I may have skipped the arc, or I may have tried to get the X-Men issue.
As such, the issue doesn't do a whole lot for me. It's also not very interesting. It just feels like Cable working through a lot of stuff in his head and deciding to do something, but without having a real sense of what's going on or why all this is important, I just don't care.
Review: 2.75 Stars
Ultimates 2 #13 - "Independence Day" (Story: Mark Millar, Pencils:
Bryan Hitch, Inks: Paul Neary, Colors: Laura Martin)
Loki dukes it out with the Ultimates and his brother Thor in a
climactic battle in New York.
The last issue of this shipped way back in September. That's about 8
months. And what do we get for it? A big fight, a little bit of
aftermath setting the stage for Ultimates 3. Of the good, there are
a few nice moments. Of the bad... there's a few spots that I literally
winced, shook my head, and thought, 'oh, Millar, not again', where he
threw something in there that was just so tacky that it drew me out of
the story. Also, Thor's final conflict with Loki didn't feel like all
that much. It might have been fine if this were a monthly book, but
after 8 months of buildup I would have liked something more.
Oh, and there's the big gimmick. That deserves some mention. A super
gatefold splashpage taking up 8 full pages. This is allegedly what took
at least some of the extra time. Printing it up takes longer than it
would to print a traditional comic book. I can completely understand
that.
I can also say it's totally not worth it. I would rather have had it take
up two pages and be somewhat smaller. Frankly, I'd have rather seen
eight normal pages worth of actual events rather than one huge panel
blown up to ridiculous proportions. Although perhaps considering Millar's
often best known for things getting blown up to ridiculous proportions,
it's a fitting way to end his run.
All that being said, it's still my Pick of the Week, mostly because the
other books I read weren't running on all cylinders either. At the very
least, this is the end of an era, and a big event book, and there's
lovely art.
Still, I have to wonder a little at Marvel's plans for the Ultimate
Universe, and in particular for the Ultimates. I don't mean from a
story perspective, per se, but from the perspective of assigning
talent. The next creative team is Jeph Loeb and Joe Madureira. Now,
I'm not a particular fan of Loeb from what little I've seen in various
places, but I'm willing to give him a chance. On the other hand,
Madureira, who I've also not read, seems to have just a bad a
reputation for taking a long time on a book as Hitch. I've even heard
that, after all this time, only 3 issues are done (this may be incorrect
on my part, however).
I can see some logic in the idea of not wanting to break up a team like
Millar and Hitch, who started the book and made it so popular, by giving
a fill in artist. I can, in that context, agree to suffer some delays.
But once that team has moved on, it just seems crazy to me to give it
to another artist who can't keep to a monthly schedule. Frankly, I don't
think I'm willing to wait anymore. Unless the creative team really wows
me right away, I'll be buying the issues only as long as they continue
to come out on a timely basis.
Review: 3.25 stars
Nightcrawler tracks down the Morlocks and attempts to join them, while
Bishop starts forming his own team of X-Men.
I'm not going to say a whole lot on this issue, because it didn't make
that much of an impression on me. The Morlocks, although they started
out interesting, quickly degenerated as many of Kirkman's changes to
their concept started to turn me off.
Bishop recruiting his own team showed a little more promise, but it's a
bit too early so far.
The art is by Pascal Alixe, who is new to the title I believe. It's a
bit strange.. it starts out well, and then at around the halfway point
starts to go scratchy and isn't as appealing as the beginning of the
book. Perhaps it's due to the two inkers, where one is better than
the other at making the pencils look good.
Review: 3.25 stars
Siryn and Monet fight the X-Cell, while Guido and Rahne go after
Pietro to try and find out his connection.
Something seems to be wrong with this arc. The idea is good... in
fact, the capsule description of the arc had me more excited than
I'd been in a while. However, the arc itself is leaving me a little
cold. I don't think it's any one thing... I think the art is a
factor, which is a little inconsistent in quality. Also playing a
role, I think, is that the actual members of X-Cell aren't interesting
me very much. Finally, I think part of it is I'm getting a sense that
this isn't really going to go anywhere, because Decimation won't be
reversed, and nor will it likely become public knowledge what happened.
I hope I'm wrong on that last one.
Still, when you put all of that together, I'm just not really digging
the arc as much as I hoped I would. It's okay. That's about it.
Review: 3.25 stars
Well, that's it for this week folks. Next week, according to the
shipping list, we've got three books. There's Birds of Prey #106,
newuniversal #6, and Wisdom #6 (of 6).
See you next week...
Peter Dimitriadis
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Ultimate X-Men #82 - "The Underneath, Part 1" (Writer: Robert Kirkman,
Pencils: Pascal Alixe, Inks: Danny Miki with Victor
Olazaba, Colors: Jose Villarrubia)
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X-Factor #19 - (Writer: Peter David, Penciler: Khoi Pham, Inker:
Sandu Florea, Colorist: Chris Sotomayor)
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