X-Men #188

Written by Mike Carey

Pencils & Cover by Chris Bachalo

 

The X-Book revival is now. While such a statement is not definitive until the end of both main X-book’s first series, I think it’s a safe bet to say we are least heading in the right direction. Carey takes over the reigns of a book that has seen a decline of quality since the ending issues of the Morrison run. Austen and Milligan both failed to achieve a good balance between well written superheroics and general X-Men soap opera in-fighting. What they tended to do was create lots of soap opera drama at the expense of traditional superhero team mechanics, things like having an actual ‘team’ rather than a rotating cast of mutants all vying for attention. We are beginning to fix that problem, and others, right off the bat.

 

We have a clear leader, Rogue, although her leading qualities have yet to be shown in any book, including this issue, so the choice is a bit baffling from a story-telling capacity. She is acting with more authority here though, and that’s a good start. Iceman, Cannonball, and Mystique are also named as official team members here. We also have, gasp!, an outlined reason for the team’s existence: to act as a rapid response unit to various super-villain threats, the usual reason for a second X-Men book. Thrown in for good measure is creatively written fights and competent dialogue.

 

The villains for this first arc appear to be more in line with the 90’s villains of all style and no depth, but there are hints to make one hope for more. The designs are certainly ‘cool’ and for once, Bachalo’s action is easily decipherable. His characters mostly standout from the highly stylized backgrounds and his choices toward creating this effect are more mature (deciding to use a mostly white background for both clarity and dramatic effect in the double page splash).

 

The villain’s involvement centers on their pursuit of Sabertooth. They definitely have advanced technology, but from where is uncertain. Having the ability to inflict un-healable damage upon Creed, the bad-guys scare him into seeking out the X-Men so that he can test the limits to Cyclop’s offer of sanctuary for all mutants.

 

It’s quite clear that Sabertooth is not your typical reformed villain that is all the rage these days in the X-books—he takes a girl hostage the moment he gets to the mansion. His inclusion on the team is a stroke of genius sure to pay off massive dividends in the soap opera department, and all with out the slightest contrived bit of writing to force it in either.

 

An odd two-page photo of the mansion is shown on the waning pages of the comic and replaces the usual ‘recap’ page at the beginning. It serves quite a different function though and seems to act as a kind of introduction to the general changes in the X-books, alluding to stories by Whedon and explaining why the Sentinels are at the mansion. It’s a weird mix between explaining the X-Men to a first-time reader and filling in the gaps for those who might have left the book since Morrison. Whatever it is, it’s creative enough to work.

 

As long as Bachalo can be reined in like this to provide clarity in his panels, and Cable’s future addition to the team is as organic and seamless as Sabertooth’s then I think Carey has quite the winner on his hands. Now if only we could do something about Rogue’s crazy fire powers and I’d be in X-Men heaven.

 

Rating - 8