Uncanny X-Men 15
This issue begins the battle between the Phoenix Five and Mr. Sinister’s own army of, well … Sinisters. There are also plenty of scenes hinting at tensions within the team as well. Is it any good though?
The first half of this issue is simply amazing. It highlights how useless lots of the X-Men feel when compared to the phoenix five. Magneto feels useless, Psylocke feels useless and Danger continues to be enslaved by UNIT. Colossus tries to rid himself of his Juggernaut powers the same way Cain lost them during Fear Itself, but fails. There’s some great dialogue here.
The second half of the book isn’t as good. It’s mostly about the phoenix five deciding to find Mr. Sinister and eliminate him. It seems to drag on a little – the fact that Uncanny 14 was all about Mr. Sinister doesn’t help, but it’s still good buildup for the next issue. The fact that Mr. Sinister was so right with his predictions – he almost predicted what Cyclops would say word for word – does improve the overly long buildup. The last page also promises what could be an awesome fight in the next issue.
The art is, well … by far the weakest part of this book. It’s not necessarily bad, but it feels lacking when compared to the rest of this series so far. It just feels bland and sometimes incomplete. There’s too little detail; on some panels, characters completely lack facial features. It really drags down what is otherwise a fairly solid comic.
I still recommend this issue as the first half was simply great, but the artwork and the second half do drag the issue down a bit. Everything you need to know is either inside the issue or on the recap page. While this is an AVX tie-in, it functions completely on its own and could be placed pretty much anywhere in the second act of the event.
Other comics I read this week include X-Factor 239, The Amazing Spider-Man 689, Age of Apocalypse 5 and Wolverine 310
X-Factor 239 was disappointing. What could have been a great battle between Banshee and a real banshee was just disappointing. The humour wasn’t nearly as good as it usually is for this series, and there really isn’t much going on. I’m sure the next issue will be better, but this one just felt dry.
The Amazing Spider-Man 689 was great. The Lizard is fun to read in this issue as he frantically tries to rid himself of his human form. The misunderstanding between Spider-Man and the vampire is very well done and could lead into an even better Amazing Spider-Man 690. This is definitely worth picking up.
Age of Apocalypse 5 was dark, but very good. I decided to stick with this title after dropping a couple books last month and I’m glad I did. This issue is mostly about AOA Quentin Quire, but it’s also about Jean Grey’s first mission with the X-Terminated. Definitely worth checking out if you’ve been reading this series so far, or liked the Age of Apocalypse crossover in the 90’s.
Wolverine 310 was, well … why did Loeb decide to bring back Romulus? He’s such a crappy villain who was rightfully banished into some sort of dimensional hole, yet now he’s back. This issue was simply boring, even if it was almost an issue-long fight scene. I can’t recommend this.
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