Unreachable Star Reviews July 13th, 2005 (SPOILERS)

This is our 125th edition, 50th with the new title, and we've got
6 books today. It's also a hot one, so I'm going to try and be
brief this time around.

Before I begin, I'd just like to point out for anyone not yet
aware, that Serenity #1 is not a comic adaptation of the upcoming
movie of the same name, it takes place between the end of the
TV series Firefly and the beginning of the movie. So, you can
read the comic series, and, for that matter, the review of it,
without being spoiled for the movie (though of course there are
minor plot spoilers for the issue itself).

This week, we have...

Gravity #2 (of 5) - 3.25 Stars
Mutopia #1 (of 5) - 3.25 Stars
NYX #6 (of 7) - 3.5 Stars
Serenity #1 (of 3) - 3.25 Stars
Ultimate X-Men #61 - 3.75 Stars
X-Men The End Heroes & Martyrs #5 (of 6) - 3 Stars


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Gravity #2 (of 5) - "Friends and Enemies" (Writes: Sean McKeever,
Draws: Mike Norton)

New superhero Gravity gets his first big break as he stumbles
onto a fight with Rhino. He also meets a fellow hero, and has
to deal with the age old problem of juggling his superhero
responsibilities with a social life.

I like this issue a little better than the first, but am a little
bothered that McKeever is, at times, making this a bit of a send-up
of genre conventions. The story and art makes it seem like pretty
much everyone encounters a superhero or villain every week, that
they're literally all over. While one might argue this is a
logical conclusion from so many books being set in New York,
it still feels like it borders on the parody. Likewise when
characters point out the stupidity of things like having a name
based on your power... yes, I've said exactly the same things in my
geekier conversations, but it feels more like a comment directed as
an audience rather than one taking place in a world where a good
number of heroes and villains do just that.

It's still fun, and there are some genuinely smile-worthy moments
even if you wish the story would be played a little more
seriously.

Review: 3.25 Stars

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Mutopia X #1 (of 5) - "Part One" (Writer: David Hine, Penciler: Lan
Medina, Inks: Alexandro "Boy" Sicat)

Wanda's House of M wave hits District X (although for some reason,
it comes from a fruit Ortega opens), and in this new reality,
rather than living in a ghetto, the mutants live in the high
class area of town, and it's the humans that live in Sapien Town.
Ortega and Bishop are teamed up to help fight the threat of a
new terrorist group, the Sapien League. They target mutant
celebrities and other household names, and their next target is
believed to be legitimate business man Daniel Kaufman.

Although so far this is another 'see how the world has changed
in the House of M' series, it does have a plot and is one of the
more interesting looks at the HoM world, seen from the perspective
of the everyday humans and mutants. With Lara, there's a nice
observation about how mutants with certain powers, even if accepted,
would run up against rules and restrictions about how they use
them.

It's okay. Not great so far, but I'm willing to stick through
it, at least.

Review: 3.25 stars

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NYX #6 - "Wannabe Part Six" (Story: Joe Quesada, Art: Robert Teranishi)

While Kiden and her group continue to wander about New York trying to
figure out what to do, Zebra Daddy hires a mutant he knows to track the
group down so he can get X-23 back. The mutant, Felon, has the power
to jump into the bodies of others and take control.

The last issue of NYX came out in October. That was 9 months ago.
And damn, but this is still a good issue, really engrossed me in
the story and in the space of one issue made me care about a new
character.

The art isn't as clean as Middleton's, but it's similar
enough in style, but I can't help but be left with the nagging
feeling that if somehow, in some alternate universe, this came
out on time as a regular monthly issues, with Middleton and
Quesada as the creative team, it would be one of my favorite
books. As it is, it feels like a lot of wasted potential, but
it's still one of the better books of the week.

Review: 3.5 stars

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Serenity #1 (of 3) - "Those Left Behind, Part One" (Story by: Joss
Whedon & Brett Matthews, Script by Brett Matthews,
Art by: Will Conrad)

The crew of the Serenity are out on another job, and, as happens
a fair bit, the job goes south. Not only are they left without
any of the money, they're left with all the blame and have to make
a quick escape to get away with their lives.

This is part of a three-part story taking place between the events
of the movie and the events of the series, but as someone who's
seen both, so far it pretty much just feels like a continuation of
the series. Nothing is introduced here that spoils anything for
the movie, and the characters are all pretty much in the position
they were in at the end of the last broadcast episode (not including
the pilot, which FOX aired last, proving that their logic does not
match our Earth logic).

I don't normally get comic continuations of TV shows, but Firefly
is something special, and ended before it should have, so I wanted
to give this one a try. I find myself a little disappointed so far.
A couple of the lines are certainly funny, and memorable, but others
feel a little like retreads of some funnier snatches of dialog from
the series, and still others feel stilted and clunky, perhaps in an
attempt to make things clear to people who aren't familiar with the
series. The plot seems decent enough so far, but wouldn't satisfy
me if it was only a single issue tale and not part one of a three-part
story.

The art is generally good. I can recognize everybody, although I do
think the occasional character doesn't look quite right (although
heavens know, they're a hundred times better than the zombie-faced
action figures advertised on the inside back cover), but I have
that problem a lot with comics based on TV or movies.

It's hard to give this issue a full, fair review, as it really is
like reviewing the first fifteen minutes of an hourlong episode.
So far though, I remain a bit disappointed, although perhaps that's
in part because my hopes were a little too high. I will buy the
rest of the series, though.

Review: 3.25 stars

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Ultimate X-Men #61 - "Magnetic North, Part 1" (Story: Brian K.
Vaughan, Pencils: Stuart Immonen, Inks: Wade
von Grawbadger)

Now that most of the X-Men are all back together as one big family,
they start acting like... well, one big family, including pointless
fights and drama we know and love. We also get to see an alternative,
in Emma Frost's own school for the gifted, where she's recruiting
new mutants and humans to be ambassadors and help build bridges.
Unfortunately, one of her students suddenly has trouble with her
powers.

Ah, this is more like it. I must admit, I was really getting
a bit worried at Vaughan's tendency to name-drop or cameo other
characters in the X-Men family and then shuffle them off, but
now he shows he actually does have plans for them, which winds up
feeling much cooler. Not only is it great to revisit some of
these characters, but I got a lot of enjoyment out of seeing
the X-Men's teen soap opera aspects back in the title again.
The main plot is also engaging and really makes me want to see
where it's going.

This one winds up being my pick of the week. NYX might have
beaten it out if it wasn't 8 months late.

Review: 3.75 stars

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X-Men: The End, Book Two: Heroes & Martyrs #5 (of 6) - "Secret
Origins!" (By Chris Claremont & Sean Chen)


We learn the secret origins of Gambit and Sinister, and he has
to make a choice whether to stand with his father or his
children. Meanwhile, four of the X-Men are trapped in illusions
of their greatest desire... can they escape before it's too
late?

The story starts with the big revelations and then jumps back
into the ongoing story, but at this point I was more interested
in Claremont's justification and what he planned to do with it
than whatever else was happening with the other subplots.
The origins itself... you know, it's goofy and convoluted, but
it does have a kind of strange appeal to it. If this were the
plan from the start, and it was revealed in good time, I might
have even enjoyed it. Since I don't consider this mini canon,
I enjoy it here too, but if Claremont somehow tried to work it
into the regular canon, I'd be disappointed.

Another issue in the 'okay, but not great' category.

Review: 3 stars

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X-Books not being reviewed (and why):
Weapon X: Days of Future Now #1 (I never did like the Weapon X
series)
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That's it for this week folks. Next week, according to the
shipping list, it's a huge week, with 11 books on my list.
There's Astonishing X-Men #11, Cable & Deadpool #17, Exiles #67,
House of M #4, Ultimates 2 #7, and Daredevil #75 from Marvel.
>>From DC, we get Batgirl #66, Birds of Prey #84, Ex Machina #13,
Robin #140, and Teen Titans #26. I just hope it's a little cooler
next week, because that's a lot of books.

See you next week...

Peter Dimitriadis
http://www.unreachablestar.net
The Unreachable Star - Comics & SF News/Reviews/Opinion

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