By Craig Kyle and Chris Yost (writers), Bing Cansino (Penciller), Roland Paris (Inker)
The Story: Secrets that have been eating at both Scott and Emma– secrets that could break them apart and exile them from the X-Men, must surface.
What’s Good: Kyle and Yost deliver some very fine character and relationship work in this one-shot. Shameful secrets are caustic to a relationship. They’re minor betrayals that eat away at the bridges between people in love. The writing team understands that and shows us the cracks between Scott and Emma, as well as the pain it causes them. There are lots of great elements here, served in non-linear, interrupting dialogue, just the way it would be in real life if two people were grasping at a difficult honesty in a last-ditch try to stay together. Scott and Emma, as all the best lovers can be, are experts at denial. They also live in fear of losing each other, and this, more than any love scene Kyle and Yost could have written, really showed the depths of Scott and Emma’s love. And telling the truth, for each of them, is hard, despite how quickly Scott forces it once he’s made up his mind to do so.
One last bit I really liked relates to how every villain looks in the mirror and sees a hero. Every villain justifies himself. That’s a good rule, but it ignores the role of shame, and of people who know the difference between right and wrong, and either through weakness and choices, do not follow the high road. Scott and Emma both suffer from this and it’s poignant stuff.
The art was quite suited to the emotional moments. The art is a very fine-lined style in spots, but the faces are as expressive as they need to be to carry the emotional weight the writing team has put on the story.
What’s Not So Good: The art team’s style was a bit strained in some of the action flashbacks, with occasionally awkward postures, especially around Wolverine and that last splash page. And where the fine lines and light inks made the emotional story work, they kept the action scenes from having the weight and depth they needed to really evoke tension and danger.
Conclusion: Kyle and Yost deliver a really strong boy loses girl character story, tied to everything that’s going on in the Marvel Universe right now. And I have to say, there’s a lot more to this couple than there ever was with Scott’s relationship with Jean.
Grade: B+
-DS Arsenault
Filed under: Marvel Comics Tagged: | Bing Cansino, Chris Yost, Comic Book Reviews, Craig Kyle, Cyclops, Dark Reign, Dark X-Men: The Confession #1, Dark X-Men: The Confession #1 review, DS Arsenault, Emma Frost, Marvel Comics, One-Shot, Roland Paris, Scott Summers, Weekly Comic Book Review, White Queen, Wolverine, X-Men, X-Men
