"Bloom" continues in Emma Frost #16, which leaves me a little underwhelmed.  It's one of those slightly slack issues in the middle of a longer arc, where it's ploughing loyally through story material that needs to be covered, but doesn't have many surprises to offer.

Emma continues to get lessons in telepathy from Astrid Bloom, and continues to feel jealous about her roommate Christie's relationship with Ian.  Astrid gets to show a little bit more personality this time round by laying down some ethical ground rules - she's appalled by the very idea of trying to control someone else's mind.  She's still a slightly underwritten character, but at least she's showing some personality and opinions that mark her out as something more than just a more experienced telepath.

Emma finally goes on a date with Max, who turns out to be slightly more rounded than you'd expect, but even more of a bastard.  This doesn't really work.  We're meant to think that he's got sides of his character we haven't seen before, but it comes across like he's swinging from one stereotype to another.

Not one of this book's better efforts, but I suspect it's just flagging a bit in the middle of the arc.

Rating: B-

back | continue