Friday, September 17, 2004

Calm in between storms, time for some Quick Comics Reviews

Madrox #1 (of 5)
Probably one of the least likely minor characters from the X-Men universe to get his own book, Madrox ("the Multiple Man") has the ability to form duplicates of himself whenever he likes. As you can imagine, this gives him a kind of fractured personality — there's no "there" there. Peter David wrote Madrox years ago when he was a member of the X-Men spinoff "X-Factor," and comes back for this fun miniseries. It basically takes Madrox and other X-castaways Wolfsbane and "Strong Guy" and puts them into a detective story, as one of Madrox's duplicates of himself is killed and he has to solve the crime. A fun first issue, not as 'decompressed' as the majority of Marvel titles lately are and with nice stylish noir art by Pablo Raimondi. What shines here is David's take on a man who's never really "himself", and his place in the world. Promising beginning. Grade: B+

Identity Crisis #4 (of 7)
The controversial DC Universe serial killer murder mystery continues, with a rather light issue that basically consists of lots of talk and speculation among DC killers about who the mystery madman might be. Not a lot moves the plot forward here, but it's still well written by Brad Meltzer with excellent art by Rags Morales. Besides, I have to give it a big thumbs-up for the opening sequence, where last issue's grim cliffhanger is resolved in a refreshingly upbeat way (especially for this dark series). Besides, I have a soft spot for the littlest superhero who gets the spotlight here. Less "offensive" and more thoughtful than previous issues, but also less gripping. Still, halfway through a 7-issue miniseries, we're spinning the wheels a bit. Grade:B

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