"X-Men: X-Tinction Agenda" tradepaperback
I would have to say that this is probably one of the best collaborations I've seen since Claremont and Simonson took over the X-books.
When several New Mutants and Storm are captured by Genoshans in response to the X-Men and X-Factor's interference with Jenny Ransome, X-Factor, the rest of the New Mutants, and what remains of the X-Men (with Jubilee, Wolverine, and Psylocke showing up later) leap into action. What follows is a sprawling epic that pits the Mutants against a corrupt society bent of turning Mutants into slave workers. Add to it the mad, undying cyborg Cameron Hodge who has his own agenda, and you've got a fantastic X-Men story.
The plot is solid and engaging, maintaining suspense and energy. There's never really a dull moment. It's great to see the teams interact (there wasn't a whole lot of room for it in "Days of Future Present"), the wide range of characters creating a nice amount of drama without overwhelming the story.
Probably the best portions of the story are when we focus in on various characters. The rivalry between Wolverine and Archangel is layered with the rivalry of Cyclops and Wolverine, which instantly pulls Jean into the picture. There are several great moments with these characters. The best is when Hodge forces Wolverine and Archangel to battle when their powers aren't working. Archangel slices up with Wolverine, who is pretty dying anyways. Jean steps in and stops them. As she cradles the severely torn-up Wolverine, she tells Archangel all this wonderful stuff about him. All the while? Poor rejected Scott watches on. Tension!
The subplot regarding Storm and Forge comes back up, and has a nice moment. I really liked how the Jubilee, Richtor and Boom-Boom subplot became important as time went on instead of just being brushed to the side as it easily could have been. The Havok/Cyclops dynamic is nice too. The combined teams working together made for some fine moments too, as small subplots would cross from chapter to chapter instead of just being resolved in just one chapter. Claremont also does a great job of bringing in real world-like touchs to the pages, including NPR-TV spots that discuss the politics of the story.
Now, let's talk about the art. The Jim Lee stuff is amazing. All the things I raved about two entries ago are present. Gorgeous stuff.
However . . . Rob Liefeld looks like he phoned in his work and it was a bad connection. Some of it is really good. Other times, it looks like crap. And why does he draw Cable with lady legs?
Besides the "Uncanny" chapters, the coloring is probably some of the worst I've seen. It's so bad, it makes me want to scan the pages in, bring them into Photoshop and use the very small amount of Photoshop knowledge I have to fix them.
But topping it all off? Probably the worst X-Artist I've ever seen: Jon Bogdanove. His anatomy seems to concentrate purely on the overly-sexual. Jean and Storm's boobs and butts have never been bigger. Havok and Cyclops look like Mexican wrestlers. Making it worse are those major coloring mistakes. It actually made the comic hard to look at.
Now, there are some problems with this story. At times, it seems as though there are too many shortcuts, too many "secret weapons." Toss on that Hodge gets really annoying and the battle with this guy is way too drawn out, and those are the shortcomings. But these are all overshadowed by the excellent writing done on this tale.
~W~
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