28 april 2002

As you know if you read the "next week" section, I was away over the weekend, so I'm writing this on Monday night. With that in mind, we'll just keep it short and stick to the X-books.

Gail Simone's second issue of DEADPOOL is if anything more enjoyable than the first. That doesn't entirely surprise me, given that she's steering the book away from the previous writer's style, which I don't like, in favour of her own, which I do. Anyhow, after last issue's transitional issue, we're now into the "Healing Factor" storyline proper - which, from the looks of things, will be steering this book into its relaunch.

Although billed as part one of a story arc, what this issue actually contains is a complete story of its own, while the Black Swan storyline continues in the background. As we saw last issue, the Black Swan has taken a strong dislike to Deadpool for the crime of bringing assassination into disrepute, and has infected him with the mental equivalent of a computer virus.

This issue, we find out what that actually means. Rather than going over the top, Simone keeps it fairly low-key. Deadpool's problems, for the moment, are confined to mild aphasia, and a complete inability to shoot straight. What the plot needs is something else for Deadpool to get on with while his symptoms develop, and so most of the issue is devoted to a free-standing story featuring the Rhino.

The concept of this one is a little strained, since it does hinge on you accepting that two characters might both believe that the Rhino's horn has aphrodisiac qualities. One nutcase is plausible within the warped logic of this series; two is pushing it a bit. Nonetheless, it's a nice set-up, and it leads to some good comedy sequences, with a strong pay-off at the end. Given that it's essentially a B-plot, it'll do very nicely.

There are still a couple of elements which veer a little too close to wacky for my liking - Dirtbag still seems to be a non sequitur machine rather than a character, and the sequence with the trophy cabinet is a touch too irrational to fit with the rest of the story. Nonetheless, overall this is still definitely moving in the right direction.

WOLVERINE hits 175 issues this month, with an issue that gives me little cause for enthusiasm.

Lead story this issue is the conclusion of the Logan Files storyline which (you guessed it) doesn't have a conclusion and instead just turns out to be yet another protracted Frank Tieri set-up arc. You know, contrary to the impression I sometimes give, there are some elements of Tieri's scripts that I quite like. What really sinks his writing for me is his apparent inability to write the final act of anything.

Even allowing for that, though, this is an unimpressive piece of work. Wolverine is being simultaneously attacked by Sabretooth, Lady Deathstrike and Omega Red, who have absolutely no rationale to work together, but dammit, somebody's decided that we should have his three main villains in the anniversary issue, so here they are anyway. Weirdly, Sabretooth has been cast in the scheming mastermind role - while the mindgames aren't entirely out of character for him, the modus operandi very much is. Sabretooth is not the sort of person who lets other people do the fighting for him.

Through assorted plot convolutions I can't be bothered recounting, we end up back at the original Weapon X compound, where Sabretooth reveals - or claims to reveal - that Wolverine in fact suppressed his own memory and never had any mental blocks imposed by the Weapon X Project in the first place. This is stupid for two reasons. Reason one is that Larry Hama spent about three years on this book with a lengthy storyline which hinged on exactly the opposite being true. Reason two is that it's the sort of godforsaken pop psychology that has no place outside the Oprah Winfrey show.

Wolverine dies at the end. Keen Tieri watchers will note that this is functionally the same ending he used on Deadpool: Agent of Weapon X #4. I might rouse myself to be annoyed, if only I could be bothered to care about anything in the story in the first place.

Tieri's second story, in contrast, is a rather nice little character piece for long-forgotten villain Matsuo Tsurayaba. The idea is that every year since Mariko died, Wolverine has been popping back to do nasty things to Matsuo. This year, Matsuo was planning to beg for a mercy killing, but since Wolverine is tied up in the first story, he doesn't make it, and poor old Matsuo is left sitting there wondering what the hell is going on. Nice, simple, direct. Granted, it doesn't have an ending either, but it's a "one idea" eight pager, and they can often get away without one. This is actually quite good.

Finally, we have another eight page story written by Jason Aaron, who is the winner of the Wolverine writing contest. Udon are on art, and to be honest it isn't one of their stronger efforts, with some stiff panels and inexpressive faces scattered throughout. Still, it tells the story well enough.

Plotwise, I'm not sure quite what to make of this one. Wolverine is on the run from hunters with dogs when he stops to change the tyre of a woman who talks to him about the bible. Aaron is presumably trying to make some kind of point about Logan's attitude towards religion, and unfortunately his take on the character is wildly out of line with mine. (I've always read him as an atheist.) Leaving that aside, there are a couple of nice moments in here, but the story flounders on plot mechanics which don't entirely make sense. Why, exactly, is a man on the run from a pack of dogs and a group of shotgun-wielding psychos stopping off to change a tyre? The set-up doesn't provide an adequate rationale for the situation Aaron is aiming for.

Nonetheless, definite points for effort, since it's at least trying to illustrate a character point, and if nothing else it's better than the lead story.

As a whole, a fairly missable package.

WOLVERINE/HULK hits issue #3, and continues to dripfeed the exposition. This issue is largely devoted to letting Bruce Banner explain his own past relationship with Po (a glaring retcon, admittedly, but not a problematic one).

Not much to say about this that hasn't been said before. Whether you'll like this depends overwhelmingly on whether Kieth's highly distinctive artwork appeals to your tastes, and on your tolerance level for excessive weirdness.

Stories like this tend to stand or fall on how good the pay-off is when all is finally explained, and admittedly there are some signs that the pay-off might not be entirely satisfactory. I have a feeling we're heading towards a fairly conventional resolution about resolving a ghost's unfinished business so that it can depart to the afterlife, and Wolverine takes a rather generic role in the story.

Still, I enjoy Kieth's style, and even when the warning signs are staring me in the face, I can't help enjoying this book.

X-MEN UNLIMITED is back a mere month after its previous issue, with another attempt to persuade us that there's a pressing need for an X-Men anthology title.

The lead story, "Triptych", is one of those visual acrostic things where each page has three panels, with one tier following each narrative thread until they converge at the end. Given the complexity of the narrative style, stories like this tend to go for fairly straightforward plots to compensate. However, this isn't so much plot-light as plot-absent.

Tier one, Jean Grey fights Sabretooth for no adequately explained reason. Tier two, the goth teen she was trying to speak to comes to her aid with his mutant powers. Tier three, goth's mum worries about him. It seems to be going for some kind of subversion of expectations routine, but it doesn't really work, and never seems to cohere into a point. Nice art, though, and at least this is a story whose problem is that it's trying too hard.

Story two is a Rogue story by Jimmy Palmiotti and Amanda Connor. Rogue borrows Wolverine's bike, gets run off the road by bikers, and tails them to a mud wrestling bar to get revenge. Adolescent but strangely inoffensive, it's another X-Men Unlimited story which your life will be complete without.

Finally, Gail Simone and Kevin Maguire do a comedy piece about a bunch of thesps making a diabolical cash-in X-Men movie. The basic gimmick is that they get attacked by nutters and take on the hero roles, although not so much as to stop the film from being abysmal. It's a slightly corny idea, but filled with enough gags to carry it off. Kevin Maguire is an ideal artist for this sort of material - god alone knows why he isn't on a regular book these days.

One amusing comedy piece, one throwaway, one misfire. Yup, it's an issue of X-Men Unlimited alright. Given the price tag, I can't really recommend it for one good story in three.