Only one X-book this week.  Fortunately, Diamond UK have also managed to track down the comics that didn't turn up last week (although they did fail to make this week's delivery on time, so it's nice of them to keep up some consistency).

Anyway.  NYX #2 is the first of the late books.  Naturally, we're still in the set-up phase here.  However, rather than continuing to follow Kiden directly, Quesada shifts perspective to present most of this issue from the viewpoint of her teacher Cameron.

There are eminently good reasons for this.  Cameron looks to be a character created as a sacrificial lamb, whose role in the story is to suffer horrendously as a spur to Kiden.  After all, to put it mildly, the final panel strongly suggests Cameron won't be back for issue #3.  But by making her the focus of this issue, Quesada can make the audience identify with her, so that it means more when she gets torn down.

The downside is that it shunts Kiden off to the side somewhat - she's in most of the issue, but for the most part as a sullen presence with occasional bursts of understandable tantrum.  Her apparent joy at using her powers does seem a little out of place - relief, perhaps, but doesn't it occur to her that the bullet she dodged is about to hit somebody else?  Still, the issue does leave me wondering what exactly she's been up to during the six month gap that occurs halfway through the story.  I'm not sold on her as a protagonist, but there's something interesting about her.  Maybe she'll work better once the rest of the cast is established.

As for the art, it's got the strengths and weaknesses that you would expect from Josh Middleton on this project.  Naturally, it's beautiful, with a nicely watery colour palette.  On the other hand, there's a definite inconsistency between Middleton's fragile waifs and the story he's being asked to draw.  To a point, that's an interesting tension.  But when Cameron looks the same age as her students, you have to wonder if Middleton's sticking a little too rigidly to that waif model.

I note with interest that not only is this issue rated "PSR+", but it also carries an unobtrusive warning that says "Some mature content."  (It's just above the barcode, if you didn't see it.)  I'm reminded of the time that British film censors decided that Jurassic Park was not a PG movie, but thought Steven Spielberg was such a nice man that they gave it a qualified rating that amounted to "PG but it's really a 15."

Surely four age categories is enough for Marvel to be getting on with, without having to qualify them even further?  It's not like any parent has a clue what "PSR" and "PSR+" actually means anyway.  I certainly don't know.  This series has been a notable example of Marvel's confusion on the issue - the lead character can be shown taking drugs, and supporting characters can commit suicide on panel, but the word "bitch" is meticulously rendered in punctuation marks every time, just in case the kiddies are reading.  Make up your minds, people.  Is this a children's book or isn't it?

Regardless, NYX is continuing to deliver an interesting set-up, and it's nice to see that for once Marvel have launched a series where the plot has actually got somewhere by the end of issue #2.  It's certainly beautiful; my main concern is that it seems very confused as to the tone it's going for and the audience who are supposed to be reading.

Rating: B

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