Last Week’s Comics – 7/20/2011
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X-Men: Schism #1
(Marvel – writer: Jason Aaron; art: Carlos Pacheco)
Sadly, everyone who reads Schism will already know how it ends. Nick Lowe gives a breakdown at the end of the issue to explain what will happen post-Schism. It seems there will be two new books starting in October: Wolverine and the X-Men and Uncanny X-Men. Telling people the end of the series before it’s even begun? I don’t know how to feel about this.
I assumed, from the title, there was going to be some type of division. So the only reason to read Schism is to see how it happens? That’s not much of a premise to keep me hooked. I want to be awed at the end of a series – especially an event series. I had no idea how Blackest Night was going to end and that’s why I stayed hooked.
But the thing to keep in mind here is not that Schism will end with the X-Men in shambles. This series, more than anything else, seems to be about the relationship between Cyclops and Wolverine.
The first half of the comic is devoted to Scott Summers asking the nations of the world to destroy their Sentinels, much the way Reagan asked the world to stop making nuclear weapons. But while Scott pleads with Marvel’s version of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (who happens to be a bald child abuser), a mutant known as Kid Omega interrupts the conference and telepathically forces the world’s leaders to reveal their darkest secrets. Chaos ensues and the mutant community takes another hit to its popularity.
Meanwhile, 12-year-old Kade Kilgore plots his own path for world domination. The son of arms manufacturer Carlton Kilgore, Kade does some pretty horrible stuff that eventually earns him the top spot at the Hellfire Club. While I like the idea of a child evil genius, Kade’s situation is very reminiscent of the old Bond movies where the villain is bent on holding the world for ransom – everything hinges on clichés. Scott and Logan’s dialogue is fun, realistic, and relevant. Kade’s dialogue is like Doctor Evil’s – it’s glaringly poor.
Seeing Scott and Logan’s relationship evaporate is what this series hinges on but the emotional aspect is thrust right into readers’ faces. Jason Aaron throws on the foreshadowing a little too heavily here – I can already guess what will cause the disintegration of the X-Men.
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The Red Wing #1
(Image – writer: Jonathan Hickman; art: Nick Pitarra)
Ever seen Wing Commander? The Red Wing has a similar feel to it, except this comic seems to hinge on an idea that isn’t effectively executed. The idea is this: in the future, the world no longer fights international wars. They don’t even fight interstellar wars. They fight inter-chronological wars!
Say what?
Wars are now fought through time. The idea, however, is more novel than the execution. Red Wing is a
mash-up of scenes from popular movies. Remember the scene in Independence Day when the flight commander briefs Will Smith and Harry Connick Jr. before they fight aliens? That’s in here. And the scene in Return of the Jedi when Mon Mothma tells the rebels how to infiltrate the new Death Star? Here as well. How about the scene in the new Star Trek where Kirk and McCoy travel in a transport to the academy? Here. The Halo ring? Here, too. Red Wing is such a mash-up of ideas that I can’t tell where the originality starts and the “borrowing” ends.
Basic premise: children of former Red Wing pilots (or “legacies,” as they’re known) bring their egos and their headstrongness to the academy to become the next class of Red Wing pilots. But Dominic Dorne – whose father died while on active duty – is determined to find out if it’s possible to survive an inter-chronological crash. According to his instructor, it isn’t. According to Hickman’s writing, it is. There’s not much depth here. Characters are barely introduced, and we’re fed a lot of the stereotypical space stuff. I think this is even partly based on Iron Eagle.
While I could take or leave the story, I like Nick Pitarra’s art. It’s reminiscent of Frank Quitely’s eye-pleasing drawings. I wouldn’t, however, go out on a limb to grab a copy of The Red Wing. It’s like every other space adventure story you’ve read. The cover is the most appealing part. I thought, “How can you go wrong with a cracked helmet and white space?”
You can, though, folks. You definitely can.
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