The second X-Men movie is around the corner, so once again it's time for Marvel to wheel out some tie-in comics.

First up is Nightcrawler, complete with nice photo cover.  It's a decent make-up job, and it looks like they've done a reasonable job with the three-fingered hands - though we'll have to see how they look in motion.  I'm not quite so sure about the costume, which has a curious Dickensian Goth look to it that doesn't really have much to do with the usual character.  Then again, much as I always liked Nightcrawler's traditional costume, there was always something rather silly about a man who can blend into shadows choosing to wear a bright red costume.

Purists will be pleased to know that the costume is present and correct in the issue itself.  Chuck Austen and Karl Kerschl have been assigned the task of producing a brief primer on Kurt's history, and then establishing what is presumably going to be his status quo at the beginning of the film.  For the benefit of those of you who are avoiding film spoilers, I won't go into any detail on that side of the issue.

Kurt's origin story has been copied over largely intact from the comics, down to the inclusion of Margali and Amanda Szardos and the ever-questionable adoptive incest romance theme.  The religion angle is in there, and Kurt gets some nice, snappy dialogue.  To be honest, it's a more engaging version of the character than the one we get in the regular Uncanny X-Men title.  It's melodramatic as hell, and it has the obvious problem of not having an ending, but it's really quite a good piece of writing - some of the better work I've seen from Austen.

Karl Kerschl was the artist on the Iceman miniseries (or rather, three quarters of it), and it's nice to see him back again.  I'm surprised we haven't seen him around more, to be honest.  There's a great, solid quality to his figures, not to mention some decent acting and sound storytelling.  He's got Kurt nailed, certainly, and I like his cuddly, middle-management villain. 

It makes a pleasant change to have an anti-mutant villain running a prison camp who doesn't approve of the guards beating up the inmates, incidentally - less is more, and by positioning his characters within the bounds of psychological credibility, Austen makes this a hundred times more effective than the vicious excesses of Weapon X.

Surprisingly good, all told.

Rating: A-

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