Once again, this is going to be a bit of a rush job - although hopefully we'll be back to normal next week.  Fortunately, this is the throwaway week of the month, with a couple of minor titles and some miniseries.  There's one every month.  Don't ask me why.

The embattled District X reaches the penultimate chapter of "Underground."  I really wonder whether six-issue storylines are the best way to launch a new title, you know.  District X had pretty good buzz in its early days, but any readers who were interested by that would have found that the book was already deeply embroiled in a six-month storyline.  Then again, She-Hulk did short stories for the first few months and it didn't seem to do any good, so what do I know?

Anyway, nominally this is still a story about the underground community of mutants, and the weird worm guy who's going around killing people.  In reality, for most of this issue the focus is on Izzy and his continuing breakdown.  I still feel that this has come on a little quickly - it's only the second story arc, after all.  But there are some good scenes in here with Izzy trying to plough gamely onwards and hope everything works out, only to dig himself even deeper into a hole.  Even Bishop's not dumb enough to want this bozo hanging around, although for plot purposes he ends up being talked into it.

The high point of the issue, though, is Izzy's disastrous attempt to spend quality time with his son, which goes in the space of three four pages from trying to help with the maths homework through to demanding that Esteban decide whether he wants daddy to go away for good.  Aside from a bit of slightly unnecessary mugging to camera, it's a well-written scene, even if it is piling on the melodrama.  The creators are just about managing to walk the tightrope of making Izzy into a complete asshole while still letting him be somewhat sympathetic.

I'm less interested in the underground storylines, although it does make a nice change to see that a large chunk of the tunnel dwellers actually take Bishop up on the offer of a new life on the surface rather than blindly joining in the big fight scene.  Winston doesn't really work for me, though; the character design doesn't really work for what the plot demands of him.  I just can't buy him moving that fast or posing that much of a threat to Bishop.  He looks too ineffectual and cuddly, with his stubby little arms.

Nonetheless, they've got me back on board with the Izzy subplot. And since that's the real focal point of the story, that makes it a largely successful issue.

Rating: B+

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