Rather less inspiring is X-Men: The 198, a series which must have seemed interesting at the pitch stage but floundered badly on the page.

By the way, it's worth taking a moment to emphasise how badly Marvel have overstretched the X-Men brand - an issue that they appear to have lost sight of in the post-Jemas era.  We already have three monthly X-Men titles: X-Men, Uncanny X-Men and Ultimate X-Men.  On top of that we have two bimonthlies, Astonishing X-Men and X-Men Unlimited.  That's a whole lot of X-Men right there.  And yet on top of that we have X-Men: Deadly Genesis, X-Men: The 198 and X-Men: Apocalypse vs Dracula.  Plus, in recent months, X-Men: Colossus - Bloodline and X-Men: Kitty Pryde - Shadow & Flame.  Oh yeah, and X-Men: The End too.

Marvel complained that retailers had initially underordered Deadly Genesis.  Well, they should reflect on the fact that most of the "X-Men" miniseries that they've published lately have been throwaway dross, and the majority of them haven't even been X-Men stories at all.  Such as The 198, for example, which is really just a story about the minor supporting characters in the refugee camp.  If you keep slapping the X-Men name onto comics that don't actually feature them, in a shameless bid to boost sales, then eventually people will start ignoring you.  And that means that when you hype a book like Deadly Genesis, nobody will believe you until they actually see the product. 

All of this should be too obvious to require explanation.  The number of X-Men miniseries finally seems to be lightening up, so perhaps the point has finally penetrated.  Then again, next week sees the launch of the absurd-sounding X-Men: Fairy Tales, which sounds suspiciously like an attempt to sell a bunch of fairy-tale adaptations by nailing on an X-Men logo, so perhaps not.

Anyhow, back to the subject.  The 198 is really a story about the surviving mutants in the 198 camp squabbling with the guards from O*N*E, and Mr M emerging as a leadership figure.  The theme of political rebellion is nicely brought out by Juan Doe's covers, which feature some of the strongest design work we've seen in ages.  Unfortunately, the actual story misses the mark in comparison.  O*N*E are presented throughout as such a hopeless bunch of untrustworthy assholes that there's no real complexity to any of the issues here.  Of course the 198 are in the right, and of course O*N*E are totally in the wrong.  There's really nothing to debate here, given the way O*N*E are written.  Consequently, there isn't enough material to the feud to fill five issues.

Worse, the story seems to think that there really is a complex issue being discussed here.  The X-Men seem to be torn between doing things the right way and sympathising with the 198, but ultimately they always come down firmly on O*N*E's side.  And that just makes them look silly, because the story hasn't set up any convincing reason for them to play along with O*N*E, to any extent.  As they're presented here, O*N*E are such unequivocal villains that the only real question is why the heroes aren't fighting back.  The whole thing is completely out of whack, and never really gets off the ground as a result.

On top of all that, we don't even get a complete story here.  Mr M emerges as a leader, but then gets killed by Johnny D.  Why is Johnny D helping O*N*E?  We don't know, because he won't say.  Apparently it's just a lead-in for a future story, although since this is the final issue of a miniseries, heaven only knows where that future story might be appearing.  As an arc in an ongoing series this might be acceptable, if overlong.  As the finish of a five-issue miniseries, which is supposed to tell a self-contained story, it really won't do.  (The same criticism could be made of Deadly Genesis, quite legitimately, but at least we know that Vulcan's story is continuing in Uncanny.)  As for Mr M, he rises from the grave and then disappears, in a less than subtle Christ parallel.

There are some good moments in the series, generally decent artwork, and lovely covers.  But that's about it; the story is just flat, unsatisfying in its own right, and lacking all the complexity which the central debate seems to demand.

Rating: C

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