Word came through this week that Soldier X has been marked for cancellation with issue #8.  This won't come as much of a surprise to anyone who's been following the order figures of this book and its predecessor, Cable.  Both have been in dismal freefall since shortly after Robert Weinberg was replaced, and it's hard to avoid the conclusion that the relaunch of the title has been a bit of a disaster all round.

If nothing else, Darko Macan's run so far could not be accused of pandering to commercial sensibilities.  It reads as a curious collection of offbeat ideas, holding loosely together into a story.  From a certain perspective, it's an enjoyable ramble.  But that perspective is a minority one, and it's hard to imagine how anyone could have expected this approach to take off - especially on Cable, a character unlikely to attract the sort of readers interested in reading this kind of eccentric fiction.  On the plus side, I suppose Marvel have to be applauded for having the nerve to give it a go.

This issue, the plot focusses on Geo, a curious cyborg troll character.  Geo also has a metal arm and is understandably annoyed that the Armenian mob has been gunning for him due to an unfortunate case of mistaken identity following their fight with Nathan two issues ago.  Given that Geo looks nothing like Nathan in any other respect, the Armenian mob must have some sort of eyesight difficulties.

Geo gets some amusing one-liners, but isn't really much of a character.  His gimmick is meant to be that he's some kind of anti-globalisation lunatic, but it's really all over the place, and never seems to have much to do with the rest of the plot.  Perhaps this will become more apparent next issue, when the religion angle of the healing child in the church will seemingly be intersecting with Russian nationalism in the form of Saint Lenin, depicted in the closing panel as a disgruntled Lenin on the cross wearing a crown of thorns.  The mind boggles.  In any event, wherever all this is heading, for the moment it still feels shapeless.

In its scattershot way, Soldier X can be quite entertaining when you're in the right frame of mind.  For most readers, though, the consciously artificial dialogue and knowingly ludicrous plots are unlikely to hold much appeal.  I'm going to miss this book, but I can certainly understand why I'm in a minority.

Rating: B-

back | continue