Techno-Terror!
So, I haven't picked up an X-Men title in a long time. A looong time, like early 90s. Not that the books were bad, or the heroes, or even that I couldn't afford it; I just lost interest in them. When I heard, however, that Marvel was doing a project with an all-female X-Men cast, I don't know why I was but I was intrigued. What I like first and foremost is it is an all-female cast that did not need to announce it was all female, nor does it feel like it is trying to make a statement with it. They are just doing what they have always done, and this particular team just happens to be all women.
Anyway, issue #2: if the first issue was setting the stage: this one was more in defining each of the members' roles. It is much lighter on story than the first, but writer Brian Wood more than makes up for it with the action and role definition. Arkea has taken control of the security systems and computers of the Jean Grey School, and what ensues is a rather entertaining bout as the X-Men try to fight back against the very construct designed to protect them. As I said before, you see some clear role definition here. Storm is obviously the leader, stoic and solid, ever clear-minded and calmly giving orders under fire. Rogue is the tank, as pretty much everyone expected. She's on the front lines dishing out as much as she can take. Psylocke seems to be the quiet, dangerous one. She always seems to have a finger on the trigger, and is quicker to throw the first blow rather than talk a situation down. Kitty is not what I expected. She is like a second front-liner, but rather than a tank like Rogue, she is elusive and mobile. Rachel I am still waiting to see what is capable of. If I remember correctly she is supposedly just as, or perhaps more, powerful than her mother. Personally, I think she's the heavy-hitting psychic and can't wait to see her cut loose. Jubilee, I'm not sure what she is yet. She seems helpless, weak. Is she still a vampire? What's going on with her? I can only assume Wood will tell her story as his narration unfolds. Wood treats the women with respect and gives them depth, I know it is only the second issue but I expect great things.
Oliver Coipel's art with Morales' and Martin's coloring is very well done, but something I don't always like. While the action scenes are solid, sometime when the women are conversing they seem stiff. But overall the art compliments the tone of the story very well, being neither cartoony or too bland. The seeming stiffness is my only issue with it, but that could very well just be how I view it. Also during Rogue's and Arkea's battle in Beast's lab, the lab seemed more a cavern than an underground basement facility. It seemed an open, gray space with no ceiling or walls, or anything in it. It lacked geometry and made the fight harder to visualize mentally because I could not tell how big an area they were in. A small complaint, but still I couldn't help but find myself distracted thinking about it.
I think the story for established and well-known characters such as these is a bit bland. Arkea's thoughts of world domination are not what I first expected. I expected a far more interesting sibling war, with the X-Men having to protect John Sublime from his techno-mancing sister. I suppose it is done more because the focus right now is more on the characters than the story, not that there isn't plenty of care for the story, to introduce new readers into who these characters are and what they are like.
If you are interested in an X-book that doesn't fit what I would consider your typical X-book, I recommend X-Men. It doesn't need additional naming: no Uncanny, Astonishing, no name-dropping Wolverine. It doesn't need it, it's just that awesome.
