Weekly Comic Book Review

By Jeff Parker (Writer), Carlo Pagulayan, Gabriel Hardman, Chris Samnee, & Carlos Rodriguez (Pencils), Jason Paz, Hardman, Samnee, &Terry Pallot (Inks), and Wilfred Quintana & Veronica Gandini

Some Thoughts Before The Review: The first X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas book was solid and entertaining. That said, it wasn’t anything special and a bit too much of an “X” title for my taste. Perhaps the second half of the mini-series will swing things more in the favor of the Agents of Atlas.

The Story: The X-Men and the Agents of Atlas fight for a while until they realize that there is a connection between them. Meanwhile, Venus finds herself at the mercy of a follower of Aphrodite.

What’s Good: The fight that opens X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas #2 is easily the highlight of the entire book. It’s chaotic as hell and a whole lot of fun to see play out…especially when Mr. Lao the Agent’s dragon gets involved. The art team does an excellent job of packing a ton of characters on each page during the scene and Jeff Parker’s battle-banter shines. Also, importantly, both teams come out of the encounter looking pretty damned good. The Agents prove that they’ve got what it takes to hang with the big dogs, while the X-Men once again show why they are one of the best comic teams of all time.

While Jeff Parker’s script is entertaining and serviceable, the only real surprise about it is how he manages to tie the bonus story from last month into the main X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas plot. It’s a nice twist to an otherwise predictable story. Thankfully, the book as a whole is elevated by the impressive artwork. The styles used fit the various segments and really make each piece of the story feel visually distinct.

What’s Not So Good: Outside of the interesting plot twist involving the bonus segment from X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas #1, there’s little in X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas #2 that you haven’t seen before. Jeff Parker uses standard “good guys vs. good guys” plot beats from start to finish. The teams fight, someone gets both sides to listen, and soon they realize they shouldn’t be fighting. It’s predictable and, to be honest, a bit boring. The great action and artwork covers up the dull plot to a certain extent, but it can’t mask it completely.

Conclusion: X-Men Vs. Agents of Atlas #2 is a visually impressive, entertaining conclusion to a fun mini-series. It doesn’t really do anything new, but chances are you probably won’t mind.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny