Comics Fondle

Reading “The Extremists”–and, I guess, all of Brubaker’s X-Men to date–I’m beginning to think one really, really needs to be a Warpath fan. It’s almost all Warpath, all the time. The funny thing is… Brubaker really ought to write Fantastic Four, given Ben and Johnny’s cameo in the story. Otherwise, he’s kind of lost his way with X-Men (big shock, Brubaker starting out great on a Marvel book then losing his way).

“The Extremists” is problematic because there’s no damn reason to read the story, unless you’re worried Storm doesn’t have enough willpower to overcome her claustrophobia. Storm’s claustrophobia is the thing all of “The Extremists” hinges on too–I’m trying to think of a pop culture variation… it’s like Han Solo in Star Wars or something. Brubaker’s use of it is terrible–annoying throughout, then the conclusion he uses it so obviously, so predictably, it invalidates any reason for there to be a damn story in the first place, which suggests all sorts of big things about what superhero comics ought to do and I don’t mean to suggest them.

Oh, what the hell… here we go: sure, a monthly floppy from Marvel (especially an X-Men comic) is nothing but a collection of advertisements with some superheroes doing shit every few pages in order for Marvel to have something to bind in hardcover and sell to the same people who bought the floppies… but. Sure, there are some plot developments for future issues and, inevitably, crossovers, but nothing really happens in “The Extremists.” And I don’t mean overall, I mean in the damn story. The events in the story deserved to be referred to in passes in another story, they didn’t need five issues to themselves.

Brubaker wasted his time writing them and I wasted my time reading them.

And Salvador Larroca is a fine illustrator–he’d do great covers–but he’s the most boring action artist I’ve ever seen. His… figures… move… slower… than… this….

C

Technorati Tags: Salvador Larroca, Ed Brubaker, X-Men, Comic Book, Marvel Comics, Review

Recommend on Mahalo