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We kick off this week with the final issue
of Brian Vaughan and Lee Ferguson's Chamber miniseries.
I know I say this every issue, but this book seems to have
largely slipped under everyone's radar, which is a great shame
since it's one of the strongest solo miniseries the X-office
has produced in ages. Not that the overall standard is
very high, admittedly, but this is a good solid story.
Most of this issue is given over to
resolving the mystery of who killed the Students for Tolerance
group. The explanation probably isn't going to come as
an enormous surprise to anyone who's been reading this far, as
it's one of the options that most people should have spotted
while reading earlier issues. But it's a satisfying
explanation and the book kept its options open until late in
the day.
A little less successful is the subplot
about Amber's roommate. It turns out that there is no
roommate and that she's actually a shapechanger - apparently
one who turns into a normal looking girl while asleep and has
some sort of split personality. This is a decidedly
contrived plot and I'm not sure I see what it's adding.
Well, okay, I see that it feeds into the theme of Amber's
insecurity about her appearance and resentment over Chamber's
attitude towards it, but it's a little too awkward to work.
The plot also strains credibility a little
by telling us that Gigi's late boyfriend had exactly the same
powers as Chamber. Since that wasn't the reason Chamber
came to investigate the bombing in the first place, that has
to rank as an astonishing coincidence by any standards.
Alex could have had powers which were simply along the same
general lines as Chamber's and the story would still have
worked without having quite such visible strings.
These are relatively minor plot problems,
though - the core of the plot is just fine, and the
characterisation of Chamber and Amber is strong throughout.
The theme of integration is dealt with well, and the
combination of Lee Ferguson's straightforward linework with
Jose Villarrubia's colouring is attractive in the art.
A good little story. If all the
miniseries were like this, they'd have a much better
reputation.
Rating: B+
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