The problem with successful flagship titles, like Marvel's X-Men or Spiderman titles, or DC's Batman and Superman books, is that they pretty much sell themselves. Regardless of the creative team assigned to them, fans will be unable to tear themselves away from the exploits of their favorite characters. Or, at least that appears to be the perception. While this attitude has been gradually changing since it directly led to the Marvel exodus that started Image, it's still occasionally evident, like in Chuck Austin's soapy run on X-Men after Grant Morrison, or Chris Claremont's bizarrely juvenile and lazy stint on Uncanny. However, Marvel seems to be correcting its mistakes, with the recent addition of some A-level writing talent on both their flagship X books. While this is having mixed results, what with hard-boiled crime writer Ed Brubaker's convoluted, Shi'ar space opera storyline, the conclusion of writer Mike Carey's first story arc shows that the combination of strong talent and iconic characters can strengthen even an already established franchise.
Primarily a horror writer, with credits that include Lucifer
, a long run on Hellblazer, and the new Crossing Midnight series for Vertigo, Carey here proves that he's able to tackle more mainstream fare. Bearing some similarity to his current work on Ultimate Fantastic Four, Carey's first 6 issue story arc, entitled "Supernovas", has our heroes assailed by a group of characters so hyper-evolved their technology is indistinguishable from magic. But aside from the echoes of techno-mysticism, what's most interesting about the story is the new team assembled by Carey, via Rogue. Featuring the aforementioned southern belle as leader, the team is rounded out by Cable, Mystique, Sabretooth, Iceman, and Cannonball. The inclusion of two ex-villains, or more accurately in Sabretooth's case, current villains with a hole in their schedule, makes for an interesting dynamic, and it's good to see Cable doing something that doesn't involve Rob Liefeld again. While far from being a Marvel MAX title, there are some story twists and moments of dialogue that are refreshingly adult, at least compared to Claremont's prior stories, which were a couple of 3 syllable words removed from Dr. Seuss picture books. A scientific experiment gone wrong, the main villains of the arc, the Children of the Vault, are a group of humans artificially evolved to a point millions of years in the future. Designed to repopulate the earth in the even of its destruction, the energies released on M-Day set them free. Discovered by Sabretooth, and determined to remain hidden, they track him down to the X-mansion, where the usual occurs. Though it's certainly not ground-breaking, the story is interesting enough, the team has a great dynamic, and it's nice to have something result from M-Day that’s not incredibly boring.
Chris Bachalo, who handles the penciling duties along with enough inkers to play a good game of poker, has really evolved over the past few years. When I first encountered his work on Generation X
, it was angular and dynamic, but prone to confusion and clutter. While identifying one of his characters by their face is still like trying to tell the Baldwins apart, Bachalo’s increased use of white and negative space has helped clarify his storytelling. Neither too boxy nor too angular, his pencils bring a sort of controlled chaos to the story, picking up the pacing should it ever threaten to lag. Carey and Bachalo make a good team, and while the two don't seem to be threatening to re-invent the franchise, they're at least making it worth buying for quality, instead of characters.
Rating: 7 on 10
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