by Paul Cornell & Duane Swierczynski (writers), Leonard Kirk & Steve Dillon (art)
The Story: From the ashes of this summer’s Avengers/X-Men Utopia extravaganza, Norman Osborn’s own Dark X-Men rise. The government-sanctioned team of mutant ne’er-do-wells are called to investigate a strange occurrence in California that leads to the resurrection of Nate Grey, X-Man!
What’s Good: Leonard Kirk needs to be put onto another ongoing series as soon as possible. His artwork on the much-missed Captain Britain and MI:13 series was always solidly entertaining and the man knows how to tell a story clearly while still creating a beautiful looking comic. His pencils on this premiere issue of Dark X-Men are no different. In spite of my general disinterest with the plot, I found myself turning the pages readily due to Kirk’s solid storytelling. The artist does an admirable job depicting what every character is feeling, especially Mimic. The struggle and depression is evident in his body language and facial expressions, such that I was never left with any doubt about the character’s emotional state throughout. As I was flipping through the pages preparing for this review, it struck me how similar Kirk’s clean linework is to New Avengers artist Stuart Immonen, yet another solid artist who’s work can also go unappreciated at times. It’s disappointing when you think about it, but when a creator consistently plugs along, producing steadily good output month in and month out, most readers take them for granted. If there’s anything to be appreciative of in this title, it’s certainly Leonard Kirk.
On a side note, Kirk also draws quite the pretty “Jean Grey”. He almost made me miss having her around, until I remembered that the best stories she’s ever been in were the ones where she died. Oh well.
The back-up story by Swierczynski and Dillon is satisfactory, if not anywhere near groundbreaking. We’ve seen the tale of the gruff teacher who is shown to be silently proud of his student before, but the writer ably manages to imbue some personality into the story. Steve Dillon’s pencils play a big part here as well. He captures Hope’s frustration with her mentor perfectly, which really sells what Swierczynski’s trying to convey.
What’s Not So Good: Nostalgia isn’t always good for you.
I was a big fan of the X-Man title back during the late 1990′s. The character of Nate Grey, while little more than a Cable What If…?, really struck a chord with me when I was much younger and filled with a lot more angst. Maybe it was the always-tragic “dead by 21″ schtick or the outsider among outsiders vibe the kid had going on, but I was sold. Even as it dropped progressively lower and lower on the readability scale, I was always at the comic shop for the next issue of that series. So when I heard that the character was making his long-delayed return in this miniseries, I of course picked it up. Regrettably, I found myself recalling the past in more ways than one after finishing Dark X-Men #1. While I was happy to read about Nate Grey again (well, for a page or two), I’m not as forgiving of spending my hard-earned cash on an uninteresting comic to do so.
With the sound and fury of Matt Fraction’s Utopia event over and done with, writer Paul Cornell is left with four characters that aren’t very riveting apart, much less together. Events at the conclusion of the story-line that birthed them saw basically every one of the more interesting members of the team, such as Namor, the Cloak and Dagger duo, and Daken, exit to (mostly) greener pastures. Cornell is stuck with the likes of Mystique, Dark Beast, Mimic and (the artist formerly known as Weapon) Omega. While Cornell certainly gives the script his all, I never found myself caring one way or the other about what was happening. I’m well aware that these characters aren’t called “Dark” for no reason, and as such aren’t meant to be easily sympathized with, but when I’m not even inspired to want to see what any of the lead characters do next, the writing’s on the wall.
Conclusion: Regardless of the return of a favorite of mine to the Marvel Universe, this issue fell flat for me. Annoying and bland characters plus a premise that I’ve already seen ad nauseam in other Dark Reign titles equals a complete misfire. Buy it for the Leonard Kirk and Steve Dillon artwork. Otherwise, skip it.
Grade: D
-Joe Lopez
Filed under: Marvel Comics, Other Tagged: | Dark Beast, Dark X-Men #1, Dark X-Men #1 review, Duane Swierczynski, Leonard Kirk, Mimic, Mystique, Norman Osborn, Paul Cornell, Steve Dillon, Weapon Omega
