Marvel Comics TPB Reviews
Mystique: Drop Dead Gorgeous
A great story with well-written dialogue and a well-executed plot that's a joy to read. I did, however, finish this feeling vaguely unsatisfied; the adventure is resolved by the trade's end, but I didn't feel like the character moments had formed into anything whole or organic, that I understood Mystique any better. Partly I think this is because one can't understand her; that's part of who she is, set apart even from other mutants and even more so from us mere humans. But part is also, I hope, due to the fact that Vaughn is just setting the stage for going deeper in future volumes.
I did find the topical references, such as to Fidel Castro and the Bush administration, a little distracting, but also in their own way appropriate; Umberto Eco has written about the ahistoricality of comic book time, but as a result of Mystique's age and experience she is situated in history (I kept on looking for people who could have been Mystique in disguise when I read Dead End Kids) in a way that, say, Kitty Pryde is not.
Mystique: Unnatural
A nice adventure plot, but nothing that exciting. The only really interesting elements character-wise are the moments of increasing friction between Mystique and Shortpack, finally coming to a climax at the end; we'll see how that works out in volume 4. It would have been nice if McKeever had been given more to work with in that regard; we know from Spider-Man loves Mary Jane that he can pull it off nicely, but the "lone wolf" premise of this title mostly forecloses those possibilities.
I'm getting tired of the continued attempts to fake the reader out. Okay, Mystique can be anybody, not neccesarily the person I think she's being. I get it. Let off it already, please?
X-Factor: Heart of Ice
Loved it. M and Siryn have such delicious chemistry as they negotiate their previous trysts with Madrox, and as always Layla is used to perfect effect. The character moments and dialogue in this are just superb. Plot's not bad either.
Runaways: Dead-End Kids
I find myself disappointed. It's not that it's bad, of course; he does seem to have a good grasp of Brian K. Vaughn's characters, so that both dialogue and character moments are well-wrought--in particular, the Karolina/Nico dynamic is nicely pushed forward as both girls find themselves frustrated with their boyfriends. It's just that the title is a little too apropos: the whole plotline ends up being pointless, so I end up just not caring.
Sure, the requisite "someone joins or leaves the group" happens (happily leaving the group a little closer to the nicely female-heavy demagraphic with which Vaughn started the series, something which made the series stand out from a feminist perspective by making the Bechdel test more easily passed) and there are some shifts in the dynamics of the romantic relationships, but most of the interesting things Joss brings up here--the re-introduction of Gert's parents, the superpowered New York street gangs of a bygone era--seem to be questionable in the extreme as to the degree of their long-term meaningfulness.
The book actually ends up being about a character introduced just for the purposes of this arc, and while her tale is certainly poignant, and carries with it a characteristically Whedonian punch, I'd much rather be reading Karolina's or Nico's story. (Or figuring out who in the background is really Mystique in disguise; see above.)
Young X-Men: Final Genesis
I was spoiled for the fake-out, for which I'm grateful; I really didn't need to be grimacing at the handling of certain ethical issues. All of the characters had nice moments, but I'm frustrated by the fact that I only really care about two them (Dust and Blindfold); Laura's in X-Force (which makes her hard to slash with Dust; see icon), Hellion's god knows where (Wikipedia seems to think he'll turn up in X-Force too), and apparently both the Cuckoos and Surge turned up in San Fran at the beginning of Secret Invasion? (I'm assuming their involvement was not substantial enough to justify my purchasing the trade; anyone have data on the issue?) Which I guess is part of the nature of the X-Men; teams break up and re-form, but the strength of New X-Men for me, under the hands of both Morrison and Kyle/Yost, was that by focusing on the school a fuller breadth of human relationships could be rendered, showing the teenaged characters actually being teenagers and giving minor characters more room to show up. I'm far less interested in this Teen Titans-esque thing they've got going on here; giving me yet another team book, just this time with teen characters, really doesn't do it for me. There's a reason I never even thought about picking up Uncanny.
Was nice seeing Dani again, though, although I didn't quite understand what was going on with her. And Santo's quoting of Bush's messed-up version of "Fool me once, fool me twice" was hilarious, albeit once again disorienting in the way discussed above.
A great story with well-written dialogue and a well-executed plot that's a joy to read. I did, however, finish this feeling vaguely unsatisfied; the adventure is resolved by the trade's end, but I didn't feel like the character moments had formed into anything whole or organic, that I understood Mystique any better. Partly I think this is because one can't understand her; that's part of who she is, set apart even from other mutants and even more so from us mere humans. But part is also, I hope, due to the fact that Vaughn is just setting the stage for going deeper in future volumes.
I did find the topical references, such as to Fidel Castro and the Bush administration, a little distracting, but also in their own way appropriate; Umberto Eco has written about the ahistoricality of comic book time, but as a result of Mystique's age and experience she is situated in history (I kept on looking for people who could have been Mystique in disguise when I read Dead End Kids) in a way that, say, Kitty Pryde is not.
Mystique: Unnatural
A nice adventure plot, but nothing that exciting. The only really interesting elements character-wise are the moments of increasing friction between Mystique and Shortpack, finally coming to a climax at the end; we'll see how that works out in volume 4. It would have been nice if McKeever had been given more to work with in that regard; we know from Spider-Man loves Mary Jane that he can pull it off nicely, but the "lone wolf" premise of this title mostly forecloses those possibilities.
I'm getting tired of the continued attempts to fake the reader out. Okay, Mystique can be anybody, not neccesarily the person I think she's being. I get it. Let off it already, please?
X-Factor: Heart of Ice
Loved it. M and Siryn have such delicious chemistry as they negotiate their previous trysts with Madrox, and as always Layla is used to perfect effect. The character moments and dialogue in this are just superb. Plot's not bad either.
Runaways: Dead-End Kids
I find myself disappointed. It's not that it's bad, of course; he does seem to have a good grasp of Brian K. Vaughn's characters, so that both dialogue and character moments are well-wrought--in particular, the Karolina/Nico dynamic is nicely pushed forward as both girls find themselves frustrated with their boyfriends. It's just that the title is a little too apropos: the whole plotline ends up being pointless, so I end up just not caring.
Sure, the requisite "someone joins or leaves the group" happens (happily leaving the group a little closer to the nicely female-heavy demagraphic with which Vaughn started the series, something which made the series stand out from a feminist perspective by making the Bechdel test more easily passed) and there are some shifts in the dynamics of the romantic relationships, but most of the interesting things Joss brings up here--the re-introduction of Gert's parents, the superpowered New York street gangs of a bygone era--seem to be questionable in the extreme as to the degree of their long-term meaningfulness.
The book actually ends up being about a character introduced just for the purposes of this arc, and while her tale is certainly poignant, and carries with it a characteristically Whedonian punch, I'd much rather be reading Karolina's or Nico's story. (Or figuring out who in the background is really Mystique in disguise; see above.)
Young X-Men: Final Genesis
I was spoiled for the fake-out, for which I'm grateful; I really didn't need to be grimacing at the handling of certain ethical issues. All of the characters had nice moments, but I'm frustrated by the fact that I only really care about two them (Dust and Blindfold); Laura's in X-Force (which makes her hard to slash with Dust; see icon), Hellion's god knows where (Wikipedia seems to think he'll turn up in X-Force too), and apparently both the Cuckoos and Surge turned up in San Fran at the beginning of Secret Invasion? (I'm assuming their involvement was not substantial enough to justify my purchasing the trade; anyone have data on the issue?) Which I guess is part of the nature of the X-Men; teams break up and re-form, but the strength of New X-Men for me, under the hands of both Morrison and Kyle/Yost, was that by focusing on the school a fuller breadth of human relationships could be rendered, showing the teenaged characters actually being teenagers and giving minor characters more room to show up. I'm far less interested in this Teen Titans-esque thing they've got going on here; giving me yet another team book, just this time with teen characters, really doesn't do it for me. There's a reason I never even thought about picking up Uncanny.
Was nice seeing Dani again, though, although I didn't quite understand what was going on with her. And Santo's quoting of Bush's messed-up version of "Fool me once, fool me twice" was hilarious, albeit once again disorienting in the way discussed above.