Written by Kieron Gillen
Illustrated by Carlos Pacheco, Jorge Molina and Rodney BuchemiWhat is to become of the mutants who side with Cyclops after the big split? And what does it have to do with the resurrected Mister Sinister?
EVERYTHING GETS SINISTER!
Or something like that. Check out my review after the jump.
I really liked the first issue of this new volume of Uncanny X-Men. I thought Gillen gave a really great new direction to his characters and I really enjoyed the usage of Mr. Sinister, and Carlos Pacheco’s art was spot on as it tends to be. Even the final page, the much derided final page (“Everything is Sinister!”) didn’t bother me, because in the previous 21 pages Gillen convinced me that this would pay off in an interesting way.
Well, I was wrong.
There aren’t a lot of ways to put this. Uncanny X-Men #2 simply isn’t a very good comic. We’ll start with the art, which stands as the high point of this issue but even it was problematic after a strong opening issue. The main problem on the visual front is the fact that this issue had three artists working on it, diluting the overall quality and giving the book a slightly variable feel to it. Yes, Marvel matched artists fairly well, but you can still tell where Pacheco stops and the others begin, and even the work of the individuals feels rough in parts.
This brings up a bigger problem with Marvel books right now – are they rushing titles to stands right now to try and curb DC’s growing lead, raising the need to have 11 total artists work on this book (and Incredible Hulk)? It seems so, because I can’t imagine if the playing field was level they’d raise a cast of millions to bring this story to life. There are bigger issues here, but the major one for me is this: why would I keep buying this comic if you keep releasing them more quickly with less quality?
That said, the art was the least of the concerns for this issue. The open of this issue stands out of place to the remainder of it, except that it seems to be setting up that Sinister was actually controlling Hope’s actions in shooting Sinister Prime square between the eyes. However, that might have been the best page, because it was the only completely Sinister-less one.
In fact, you could say that nine of this issue’s twenty pages – nearly half – were Sinister monologuing. Talking about grand plans, childhood memories, his admiration of the Summers bloodline, you name it. I half expected him to share his opinion on the Muppets movie at a certain point (“Surely, Messrs. Segel and Stoller could have seen fit to include more of the esteemed greatness of Beaker.”) It’s clear that Gillen has the hots for Sinister as a character to write, and with good reason. The problem isn’t the act of using him, but how much and how he uses him.
My 4 Color News and Brews co-host claims that Gillen is actually writing his own voice as Sinister. I don’t know if I would go that far, but I do know that Sinister (and even other characters like Cyclops) has never felt more British than he does here. It’s one thing to use that aspect of the character as an attribute that occasionally peaks its head (I liked Sinister’s line about god being an Englishman) but the way its used here feels theatrical in nature. Maybe Sinister is giving a performance for all to see, but the way it plays out is nothing short of low rent dinner theater.
This is just a hugely unenjoyable issue, existing in direct opposition to what I thought was a solid start to the new direction. All aspects of the book do not work out for me, as even editorial makes some clear mistakes here (mostly in terms of dialogue but there is also the amazing teleportation of Sinister Prime between the time of getting shot and what follows).
I’m hoping that this issue is the anomaly and not the first issue, but I can say this: this new iteration of Uncanny X-Men is now on thin ice with me. I like the individual creators involved, but I’m going to need to see more from issue three to keep buying this book going forward.
Final Verdict: 4 – Pass
