8/12/12

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X-Treme X-Men #1

Let’s get this straight, in an alternate reality, the disembodied heads of one hundred Charles Xaviers teleported an entire civilization off of a dying planet and “ We ... broke something in the multiverse or maybe... made something ... across the multiverse ten different Xaviers... have been awakened. You must find them and kill them before they destroy all of creation.”

Greg Pak and Stephen Segovia have come up with a crazy nonsensical concept. A young teen Nightcrawler, an odd cowboyish Wolverine, a younger iteration of Emma Frost, and the “real world’s” Dazzler have to save every conceivable reality. Dazzler, really? I believe the multiverse to be doomed. 

This is the sort of continuity be-damn, do whatever you want writer’s-crap that doesn’t deserve publication but somehow it works. If your tired of billion part crossovers, and needing an MIT level schematic to understand what’s going on, this is the X-title for you.

Wolverine and Emma are pretty much required to be in any X-Men comic but the rest of the cast are far more peripheral. 

This is X-Men with a dollop of Lovecraft and a heaping helping of Sliders. (And some slightly unknown sci-fi writer. I am not versed enough in the genre to know which.) 

 Debris #1

Riley Rossmo and Owen Gieni produce an unforgettable distinct style with their respective lines and colors. Even as a decidedly more word fan than picture fan, I find myself thumbing through this issue over and over for the art.  Obviously, my brain must be broken.) 

Now before I get in trouble with writer Curtis J. Wiebe, the writing is rather stellar as well. It is the far future, the last outpost of humanity struggles to survive in a blasted wasteland sporadically beset by biotech beasts. Maya is the young apprentice to the aging protector of the village. The village is run by “the five” , a quintarchy of closed minded isolationists who seem to buck the protector.

After an attack by a colossal metal monster, Maya must journey out of the village to the legendary realm of Athabasca or all the citizens will be doomed. This issue ends with the heroine beginning her journey to a potentially nonexistent ray of hope. Just to remind us that this is in fact OUR future, we see a washing machine amidst the rubble.

What’s truly unique here, is that all the dynamic personalities are female. In a world where intelligence and agility trump brute strength and ego,the feminine as protector and hero can shine.  I’ll step off my soapbox now. )

This is a fun,thoughtful comic which juxtaposes themes of hope and hopelessness to provide the perfect backdrop to what is essentially a coming-of-age story. (Didn’t I just say I was stepping off my soapbox. Let’s just move on to the next comic before I REALLY get carried away.) 

 Irresistible #1

Please don’t judge this book by its premise or its art. Allen Keeg, recently broken up and a wreck, is dragged by his friends to a strip club. Upon leaving alone, he comes to the aide of an old gypsy woman being mugged by a conveniently multiracial gang. He is beaten to a pulp and wakes to find the woman completely unharmed. Thanking him for his attempted aide, she offers him literally anything. 

In his loneliness, he says that the only thing he wants is to be wanted by every woman he comes across. Which is exactly what he gets.

Raven Gregory, executive editor of the fun but highly misogynistic Zenescope writes in the style of a polished novelist, handling adolescent  ( and not so adolescent ) male fears and fantasies in a realistic, mature fashion. We are left with a feeling that this treatment will only intensify in further issues. 

It’s hard to imagine if a tragic or happy ending would be more appropriate. Having sampled one issue of Gregory’s writing, I’m confident that he will mix the two to great result.

I mentioned not judging this book by its art. There are no inks, just Franco Riesco’s paints over Derlis Santacruz’s pencils. The result is swimy and odd and that the art does not appear to be done by the same person throughout. The inconsistencies  and blatant TNA are broken by the rare truly exceptional face work. 

Irresistible will hopefully trap some unexpecting fan boys into an education on mature relationships and help clean up Zenescope’s image in the process. Just steer clear of the letters page unless you can take diamond cut razor sharp sarcasm.