Also this week...

NEW X-MEN #45 - Goodness me, an issue of New X-Men in which a character dies.  How unheard of.  This is another "Messiah Complex" action issue, which is fun enough in its own right.  Okay, so by this stage, it's really quite glaringly obvious that the plan is to have a relatively simple plot spread over 13 weeks, and to fill the rest of the time with fight scenes.  That's fair enough up to a point, as long as the fights continue to bear on the main plot - I don't mind this sort of pacing on a weekly schedule.  However, e're getting sidetracked here.  X-Force versus some anonymous henchmen of Lady Deathstrike?  Hmm.  On the other hand, there's some good subplot material back at the mansion.  I rather like what they're doing with Cable.   And Humberto Ramos's art is always good fun in a fight scene.  Yes, there's a lot of padding in here, but even against my better judgment, I'm still enjoying this story.  B

THE SCREAM #2 - The second part of Peter David and Bart Sears' curious horror/superhero hybrid for Dark Horse.  I'm starting to see where they're going with this.  The titular hero doesn't really exist, but our protagonist can make everyone think he does.  That's quite a neat angle, and I can see a lot of story potential in there.  It's actually a bit more complicated than that - the lead character is apparently meant to be a projecting empath who makes everyone around him feel the same emotions as him.  That could get a little bit wearing after a while, but it's holding up so far.  Bart Sears' art is a little ropey in the conversational scenes, but his excesses work quite well for the Scream itself.  I'm sticking with this for a little longer, I think.  B+

WORLD WAR HULK: AFTERSMASH! - WARBOUND #1 - Or, if you go by the indicia instead of the logo, WWH Aftersmash: Warbound #1.  It's a ridiculously long title either way, and it'll get even longer when the Damage Control series launches.  Anyhow, this is a five-issue miniseries about the surviving members of the supporting cast from "Planet Hulk", with SHIELD trying to track them down.  It's written by their creator Greg Pak, with art by Leonard Kirk, and it's certainly a solid piece of work.  Pak clearly likes the characters, and admittedly there's no room for them in the monthly title (now that it's turned into a vehicle for Amadeus Cho stories).  But the story is a slightly generic affair with an old Hulk villain, and I don't really get the feeling that Pak was desperate to tell the next chapter of the Warbound's story.  Still, he's always been very good at getting the best out of an editorially-driven remit, and if that's what he's doing here, the result is still perfectly fine.  Fans of the characters - and enough people read "Planet Hulk" that there surely have to be some - should be happy with this.  B+

There's more from me at If Destroyed, and if you're desperate for more Article 10 columns, you can always hunt through the archives on Ninth Art.

Next week, it's the X-Axis review of the year.  All the titles, all the miniseries.  God help me.  But if you're wondering what's actually coming out in the dead week between Christmas and New Year: X-Men #206 continues the "Messiah Complex" crossover; X-Men: Emperor Vulcan #4 has more space opera; and the Silver Age X-Men get their powers back in First Class #7.  Plus, issues of the Official Handbook and Marvel Spotlight.

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