[This post is part of a series of posts looking at Grant Morrison's New X-Men run issue by issue. For more posts on the same subject, click the New X-Men label below. For more on issues 142-145, click on the link in the issue 142 post and read part 6 of my online essay for Reconstruction.]
Each issue Assault on Weapon Plus takes a foot for the subject of its opening panel. I have no idea why that is but I think Bachalo has a quirky and fun sense of humor, and I like it.
Again, Bachalo has a great use of empty space here, as Weapon 15 travels through literally empty space.
Dr. Sublime is introduced as the man behind the Weapon Plus program, and thus the man behind Weapon Plus. We only see him on a monitor; we have never seen him before and will not see him again in Morrison's run. This guy is a link in the chain that leads to the big reveal at the end of the series, but we never get to spend time with him -- this actually feels like a last ditch attempt to link this arc with the arc of the series. It is ok here -- this arc is still perfect -- but it seems ill set up in terms of the run.
We get a great little reveal here -- there is a mole inside Xavier's. It looks like Magneto for a moment (as long as you don't stop to think about it), but it turns out to be someone very surprising, even though the identity of Weapon 15's predecessor will not be revealed for 150 narrative years.
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7 comments:
You can tell that this is Morrison gearing up for the final quarter - in my estimation, he tends to have a strong 1st, a weak 2nd (up front), the 3rd quarter starts to pick up and make sense of the second and then the final rush to the end is great. You can see this in his Doom Patrol and Animal Man - and it's why I laugh at my friends and family who've dropped All-Star because they didn't like issue 4 or 5. Even Millar took that tack in his Swamp Thing and his Ultimate FF run (both really good runs - I hope DC/Vertigo gets around to releasing them in tpb; maybe when he makes his triumphant return to DC. Really, after tomorrow, what else does he have to say at Marvel?)
BUT, the panel at the end of this issue where Wolverine pushes the explosive button may be the single STUPIDEST LOOKING thing I've ever or will ever see. I like Bachalo a lot - I remember him from Shade and Death in the early 90s - but when people talk about him, I can't help but see this image.
I love Bachalo, but that witchy-man face does show up from time-to-time in his latter work. I don't get it either.
I do not see the problem -- can you guys be more specific. Bachalo draws Wolverine looking crazy nuts. What is the objection?
"Crazy nuts" should make me scared, not hysterical with laughter. It just looks stupid. Don't get me wrong - I like Bachalo, though not in the way I like Cassaday, Quitely, Hitch or the work Van Sciver, Jimenez and Silvestri do here, but it's very good and it serves the story fantastically here.
Yeah, I don't know how to describe it other than he looks like a witch. Every so often, Bachalo will draw a guy's face, and that guy will look like a witch. I don't hate it - it's not bad story-telling or anything - but I don't think it's a very good look.
Marc: I disagree that the image should make you scared. I think it SHOULD be funny, since you know this is hardly "The Death of Wolverine." It is a silly moment, not to be taken seriously -- no limited edition black arm bands with this issue -- so Bachalo goes silly. I like it.
Fair enough, Geoff. Ultimates 2 # 13, JLA #9, ASBARTW #5 and other goodies come out tomorrow - we've got an embarassment of riches coming our way - plenty of new things to talk about this week.
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