If you were missing Chuck Austen over on Exiles, don't worry - you can still get your Austen fix on Uncanny X-Men, as he continues his mutants-and-rednecks version of Romeo & Juliet.

As I said last time, you can't really go too far wrong by taking Romeo & Juliet as a template.  It's a classic story which has worked just fine for five hundred years.  But then, there's more to it than just reusing the idea, no matter how good it is.  Tons of people have used this storyline over the years, and Shakespeare wasn't the first.  He just wrote the version that's best remembered, because he did it best.

However, the issue does suffer from the obvious problem: this is Chuck Austen trying to write a romance, and believable characters are not exactly one of his strong points.  So Josh suddenly develops overwhelming feelings of love for Julia and feels compelled to fly over to her house, despite having dealt with this feelings for her just fine over the preceding years.  (During which time, it apparently didn't occur to him either to talk to her or to find out her surname.)  Plus, the poor sod is lumbered with dialogue like "How can I go this way when my heart has gone back that way?"

Now, granted, Romeo & Juliet is not exactly the height of plausibility either.  But then, that's what makes Shakespeare so incredibly good - he can write a story about two teenagers who fall in love at first sight and go on to kill themselves for wholly inadequate reasons over a misunderstanding, and make it credible.  Romance stories are harder to pull off than you might think.  At least, they're hard to pull off without turning into wailing melodrama, and regrettably, this is melodrama.

Outside the original Romeo & Juliet plot, meanwhile, it turns out that Josh is supposed to be concealing the fact that he's a mutant from everyone.  Which would explain why he appears on stage, using his mutant singing powers to produce polyphonic sound, and with his wings on display.  Apparently everyone thinks they're props (even though it's common knowledge that his family is full of mutants), so either realistic prop wings are widespread in Kentucky bar bands, or the locals are mindbendingly gullible.  I mean, this guy might as well have a neon sign around his neck saying "I am a mutant."  And yet Juliet somehow manages to miss picking up on that, which is very convenient (though not absolutely necessary) for the plot, but makes her look a complete idiot.

Don't get me started on the idea of retconning the death of Sam and Paige's father into slow poisoning by the neighbours.  I'm long since resigned to the fact that Austen is completely clueless about what makes a good back story.  (Death from black lung: plays into class background.  Death from evil neighbour feud: plays into nothing in particular, because the evil neighbours will almost never be seen again.)

For all of the above, this is still one of the better Austen storylines, for two main reasons.

First of all, it's actually quite a good idea.  Not just because it's a classic story, but because it really should work as an X-Men storyline.  The problems here lie in execution, rather than in the underlying concept - which is basically sound.  And while those problems are fairly serious, they don't completely tank the story.  There is a decent idea in here, trying to get out.

Second, it looks great.  I still think Salvador Larroca is wasted on this material, but he certainly makes the best of the script.  Turning Josh into an angel may be less than subtle, but Larroca undeniably gets a great visual out of it.  I'm in two minds about the colouring, which seems to veer towards a rather indeterminate pastel.  The cover is a lovely piece of work, though.  I've always preferred Larroca's work when he steers clear of the tight black leather, and this arc is certainly doing that.

However, Larroca can't carry the book alone.  And while the storyline isn't beyond hope, there are enough serious problems of melodrama and credibility to stop it really working.

Rating: B-

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