Greetings, True Believers! The Marvel Rundown has returned once again to review some of Marvel’s newest releases. This week the past comes back to haunt the X-Men in X-Men United #3 and in the rapid rundown we check in the Fantastic Four and The Punisher. Face Front, as the Marvel Rundown begins now!
Cover art by Stefano Caselli and Fedrico Blee
X-Men United #3
Writer: Eve L. Ewing
Artist: Tiago Palma
Color Artist: Brian Reber
Letterer: VC’s Joe Sabino
Marvel’s premier mutant school is in session again this week with X-Men United #3. The issue picks up right where last month’s left off with the field team helping Captain America make amends for those wronged by the US government’s attempt at replicating the Super Soldier formula. The issue begins with the field team scattered through time as if something goes awry.
This may be the best issue of the series so far but a lot of the underlying issues that have been plaguing the book are still in play. The parts of the issue that work in its favor are well executed. For example, writer Eve L. Ewing’s character work remains the strength of the issue. There is a brief bit of interaction between Laura Kinney and Vernon Weaver (the antagonist of the issue) that gets to the core of being used by the government to become a killing machine. This bit of interaction is too short but helps provide the emotional connection between the X-Men and Weaver. Another strength of the issue is Ewing’s introduction of Weaver’s backstory as it explores the intersection of being a black mutant in the United States. This backstory makes up the bulk of the issue and serves as a painful reminder of the horrors of America. In just a few pages you begin to feel for Weaver and his pain.
X-Men United #3 art by Tiago Palma and Brain Reber
Now for the weakness of the book, it comes down to the pacing issues, the insistence on showing the X-Men unproductively bicker, and the unpolished artwork. These three things have been the primary problems for the book since its debut and it’s not really getting better. The pacing feels even more rushed as the whole Weaver plot gets resolved abruptly and feels like it could have gone for another issue. That’s not even getting into taking two of the first three issues of a FLAGSHIP X-MEN title to do essentially a Captain America plot.
X-Men United #3 art by Tiago Palma and Brain Reber
The insistence from Marvel to have the X-Men constantly bicker annoys me to no end because it does not create contrasts, conflict, or even comparisons. The cover of the book even hypes up this conflict between Magneto and Beast for what is maybe 3 panels of a terse disagreement. Dissonance between cover and the contents of a comic are far from new but this just shows where the priority of this book is in the marketing versus its actual content.
X-Men United #3 art by Tiago Palma and Brain Reber
The art by Tiago Palma has improved as there is starting to be more novel page layouts and panel composition. The fight choreography between the Weaver and the X-Men was imaginative to a degree and help provide the book with some much-needed visual flare. The way he successfully illustrates Weaver’s young age in the flashbacks is impressive. The problem is that his rendering of Weaver and company’s super solider experimentation. They are comically buff and rigid. The visual design is too silly and as a result undercuts the tone of the scene. The art isn’t bad, but it isn’t great. The figure work still needs to be refined, especially the anatomy of the characters. There’s talent here, that’s for sure. I see moments like the Weaver fight and see potential, but they are just not the best match for the kind of story Ewing wants to tell.
X-Men United #3 art by Tiago Palma and Brain Reber
Overall, X-Men United #3 is an improvement over the past couple issues, but it is still got a ways to go before it will get the praise I was heaping on its predecessor Extraordinary X-Men. There is something here to like but seemingly editorial interference and rushed pacing is cutting the book down before it can really get up to speed.
Final Verdict: Pass
The Rapid Rundown
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Fantastic Four #11
Fantastic Four #11
- The main story by Ryan North, Huberto Ramos, and Edgar Delgado is a great follow up to the events of Invincible Woman and sets the stage for the future with the return of the Future Foundation. North really gets Ben Grimm in a way that few writers do. Plus North returns to his comic roots with a green Crimeasaurus Rex attacking the city. Just beautiful comics. The real reason I wanted to cover this issue this week was that Stan Sakai did a Fantastic Four back-up story for the issue. It’s a simple Mole Man vs the Fantastic Four tale, but ITS AMAZING. The art is definitely Sakai’s trademark style. I love when we get to see Comic Auteurs do a take on corporate comics. Sakai’s sense of action and eye for detail work wonders here. Definitely check this one out.
- The Punisher #4
The Punisher #4- Benjamin Percy delivers yet another excellent issue of The Punisher. Joining him this week are pencilers Jose Luise Soares & Sergio Davila, inkers Oren Junior and Jonas Trindade, and colorist Frank D’Armata. Percy and company continues to tell us of Jigsaw’s rise through the organized criminal underworld following the fall of the Kingpin and Tombstone alongside showcasing Frank’s slow recovery from the events of the Red Band series. The dueling narratives finally begin to intersect this week and in turn sets the stage for an explosive conclusion next week. The way Percy writes The Punisher as a cold and calculating machine is one of my favorite takes on the vigilante. Soares and Davila illustrate a graphic book that really makes Jigsaw a true body horror as he skins and wears people’s faces. Punisher #4 is bloody, violent, and a thrilling exploration of the criminal organizations of Marvel’s New York. Easily one of my favorite titles and one I look forward to reading with each release.
Read past installments of the Marvel Rundown here!
And check out the Beat’s other recent comics reviews!
