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Last issue, Weapon X put Wolverine
on the cover on the tenuous basis that he was in the last
three panels. This issue, Wolverine is in half the
issue. So they up the ante by having another three X-Men
on the cover, none of whom appear in the actual issue.
Still, if it gets the job done, eh?
This is part 2 of "Defection", and it kicks
off by revealing that Chamber hasn't actually defected at all.
Instead, he's going undercover on behalf of the X-Men.
This certainly answers some of the logic problems with this
storyline - primarily, why would Chamber possibly want to join
a bunch of lunatics like Weapon X, and why would the X-Men
have left him in jail in the first place? Well, now we
know.
On the other hand, it creates more problems
of its own. The X-Men are happy enough for Chamber to
play along to the extent of accepting orders to kill John
Sublime. The X-Men may have become a little less vanilla
in recent years, but you'd have thought that they still drew
the line somewhere. I'm not entirely sold on Chamber's
angsting on this point - the dilemma isn't ignored, but he
seems surprising willing to go for it. I'll reserve
judgment depending on where Tieri is heading with this.
My current bet would be that Chamber defects for real at the
end of the storyline, which would seem the most natural
pay-off at this stage.
Georges Jeanty returns as penciller, but is
promptly accompanied by a flotilla of inkers. Rather
oddly, that includes an inking credit for Avalon Studios, who
are better known as colourists. Whatever the reasons,
the result is a very inconsistent-looking book - surprisingly
so, considering that it's all from the same penciller.
There are several pages here which have been very awkwardly
inked, lacking convincing shading and depth. It's
certainly an object lesson in the difference a bad inker can
make.
The art glitches drag down a story which is
otherwise broadly okay, if flawed. Much depends on where
Tieri is heading with this; the arc could go either way at
this stage.
Rating: C+
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