Another week, another issue of a recently-launched solo title that nobody particularly demanded.  But to be fair, in many ways, Nightcrawler is the best of the bunch.  It has Darick Robertson on art, it has a good grasp of the character, and it has a nicely paced story.

Okay, it doesn't actually have a point.  But this is 2004!  Where would Marvel be if they only published comics which had a point?  Why, instead of shamelessly milking the major franchises, they'd have to come up with some new ideas.  Whoever heard of such a thing?  So at least we can take some solace when the generic, franchise-milking books at least have the decency to tell an entertaining story.

And Nightcrawler does entertain.  Issue #1 sets up a magical locked-room mystery - how did the kids die, and who killed them?  Issue #2 advances the clues and brings in Amanda, and because this is still a superhero title, issue #3 reveals the mystery, thus leaving the final part free for a big fight with the bad guys.  Good, straightforward stuff. 

Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa also gains points for not cheating too much with the magic.  In the hands of lazy writers, magic often becomes a get out of jail free card, which can be used to explain everything.  This always causes more problems than it solves, because when everything is mutable, either tension becomes unsustainable, or the plot comes to depend on extremely arbitrary rules.  ("Oh no, the villain is using Magical Attack X.  Unfortunately, the rules of magic arbitrarily prevent me from combatting it, other than by performing some extremely artificial and unlikely set of actions which happen to be required by the plot.") 

Aguirre-Sacasa keeps the magic elements strictly defined, and relies mostly on old standard rules which most readers will be happy to accept as genre standards - demonic possession is possible, demons don't like churches, you can't cross the magical circle.  And by keeping Amanda in Limbo, the actual conflict stays on a non-magical level.  This is how to deal with magic.

The downside is that Aguirre-Sacasa finds himself writing scenes where Nightcrawler expresses scepticism about the fall of Lucifer, and talks as though he'd always assumed it was a myth.  Now, god knows I'm no fan of "The Draco."  It should be hit over the head a few times with a spade, tied up in a hessian sack, and hurled into the Thames to drown.  It's a dreadful piece of writing.  Nonetheless, it does presently stand as part of continuity, and if you're going to get into this territory it has to be acknowledged.  (Ideally, the opportunity ought to be taken to debunk it, but at least it needs to b acknowledged.)

Minor problem, though.  Overall, it's a nicely constructed story, with typically excellent art from Roberson.  Oh, and there's a great little moment with Emma Frost failing to get into the spirit of an X-Men bonding scene.  ("I'm bored.  Is anyone else here bored?  This is deathly boring, isn't it?")  It's still basically Nightcrawler being plugged into a story that could have been done with many different characters, but at least it gets the character, and it's done with charm.

Rating: B+

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