Nightcrawler is already running late on only its second issue - the first came out back in September.  Even though this is one of the more tightly plotted titles to be launched lately, it still puts a dent into the book's pace.

Still, if you're looking for a sort of mystical detective thriller kind of thing, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Darick Robertson are doing a perfectly decent one here.  It's nicely paced, it's got a good grasp on the character, and Robertson's art is as beautiful as ever.  The book even makes some use of Kurt's limited supporting cast here, as Amanda Sefton turns up in the important role of "character who knows about magic and can deliver expository dialogue."  Actually, to be fair, Aguirre-Sacasa gives their conversation a lot more personality than that, although Kurt seems remarkable relaxed about the fact that she seems to be stalking him by crystal ball.

But Amanda's inclusion doesn't really answer my main reservation about this series.  While the creators seem to have a good handle on the character, they don't appear to have anything much to say about him.  Instead, they seem to have plugged him into a detective role that half the heroes in the Marvel Universe could have done.  You could do this story with Wolverine, or Captain America, or Daredevil, or Spider-Man and there wouldn't be any huge changes involved.  And interchangeable protagonists are always a bad sign.  Especially when it's the first arc of their solo title - it tends to suggest that nobody had a particularly compelling reason of what to do with a Nightcrawler solo book, so they're just going to do diverting little stories unless and until somebody comes up with an actual direction and point.

The ridiculous number of X-books leaves me very ambivalent about titles like this.  Taken on its own merits, it's perfectly alright.  But as part of a bloated line of over 18 titles, standards change - the line desperately needs to be chopped back drastically, and titles which don't have a clear idea of why they exist should be first in line for the axe.  Even so, I like this book - it does stand out from the crowd of middling X-books, albeit on technical merit rather than by having a direction or purpose.  It still tells a good story, though, and I can't begrudge it that.

Rating: B+

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