Thursday, May 3, 2012

Uncanny X-Men #351

Uncanny X-Men #351
Writing: Steve Seagle
Art: Ed Benes

What Went Down:  Cecilia Reyes awakens at 5am, preparing to get her job back at the hospital.  Storm and Wolverine both stop her to offer her a place on the X-Men and tell her that her gifts are needed, but she is insistent on returning to the hospital.  Wolverine gives her a ride on a motorcycle he received from a favor, and Cecilia recaps the OZT plot as they ride.

Cecilia meets with her superior Dr. Gibbons and explains where she has been for the past few weeks.  Dr. Gibbons tells her he has no problem with mutants, but worries about a super villain attack at the hospital.  He agrees to let her on in a probationary capacity.

On their plane to Alaska, Scott and Jean meet Staci and Chris Murphy, who just happen to be their future neighbors as well.  Jean is interrupted by a telepathic disturbance; there is a powerful being in a metal box somewhere on the plane. 

Cecilia’s first surgery is taken away from her when her team tells the family of her patient that she is a mutant.  After leaving, she stumbles upon a gunshot victim who she saves.  At lunch her peers blame her for the Sentinel attacks and ostracize her.  Afterward, a friend comes in to share some gossip and make Cecilia feel a little better.

Cecilia is then called to the ER because the police have apprehended the villain Pyro.  He’s been shot and he can’t control his flame powers due to the Legacy Virus.  She takes charge of the situation and using her forcefield powers, she is able to remove the bullets.  Later, she insists that Pyro be allowed to stay in the hospital to recover, even though Dr. Gibbons considers Pyro a safety risk.

There’s a quick setup for a future issue where a green person escapes from a box among Ka-Zar’s belongings (Kevin Plundar moved to New York for his new ongoing series around this time).  At the hospital, Cecilia deals with some more patients before being interrupted by the hero Daredevil.  Daredevil has also been shot, and needs her to look at the infection.  Cecilia insists that he take off his costume, and while she examines him, he talks about how many people she could help as a super hero.  She then checks in on some more patients, including Pyro.  Pyro asks her to loosen his straps, saying he would never betray someone who helped him.  But he does, and then he escapes.  Dr. Gibbons fires Cecilia and she returns to the mansion.  Wolverine and Storm greet her again, telling her how happy they are that she has returned.  She makes it to her bedroom and passes out after the exertion of the day.

How It Was:  Of the new characters, Marrow is the angry one and Maggott is supposed to be a mystery at this point.  This leaves Cecilia, who up to this point has been abrasive, mean, and seemingly ungrateful.  This is Seagle’s attempt to shine the spotlight on her, see what makes her tick, and inspire a little sympathy. This day in the life approach is ambitious, but Seagle tries to make it work by having the hospital centered firmly in the Marvel Universe, hence the super heroes and villains.

Depending on your preferences, this issue can come off as a little preachy; it’s one of those X-Men stories where every human is super over-the-top racist, not because she’s a threat of any kind, but just because she’s a mutant.  So it’s trying a little too hard to make us feel bad for Cecilia because she’s a female minority mutant.  What goes a lot farther to make her relatable is the organization of the story; there are lots of quick cuts to the dozens of jobs she has during the day, making her impatience and overconfidence understandable and even admirable in some cases.

The Daredevil scene comes out of nowhere, although I believe Seagle was writing the title at the time.  It’s weird to see Cecilia boss him around, and the advice he gives her is a little redundant after her talks with Storm and Wolverine.  All of them try to convince Cecilia that being a super hero is somehow better than being a doctor, which really doesn’t make sense; they argue that there are lots of doctors in the world, but really there are lots of heroes as well, and you don’t need eight years of schooling to be a super hero, just a chip on your shoulder.  Plus you would think Daredevil could get help from the Avengers or something instead of begging for free health care at a public hospital. 

As for the scenes with Pyro…well, you got to feel bad for Pyro since all his appearances in the 90s feature him on death’s door because of the Legacy Virus.  In the 80s he was one of the A-list X-Men villains, but by this point every time he shows up, he’s just coughing and complaining about the pain.  Oddly he mentions trying to get money for a doctor whose work can cure mutants, but then scoffs when Cecilia suggests going to NYU for research and treatment.  As for the end, you have to wonder where those guards went, or why they didn’t remove the flamethrower from his back; however, it does fit with Pyro up to this point. And before you say it: yes, Scott and Jean do meet their future neighbors on their plane, and yes there just happens to be an evil force on said plane, and yes all of this is a lame and all-too-convenient comic book coincidence. 

Ed Benes’ fill-in art is actually quite good; the sequence with Pyro’s operation is impressive looking, even if her forefield is colored wrong, and I like the use of small panels to convey the hustle of Cecilia’s work day, as compared to the bigger panels of drawn out and uncomfortable scenes.  The X-office is still looking for a regular artist and won’t find one until #353.  Benes is good though and only gets better; see Brad Meltzer’s Justice League run at DC.

This is a great glimpse into why Cecilia is the way she is.  It doesn’t make her totally likable, and some of the racism scenes are heavy-handed, but the struggles do seem plausible.  It’s an interesting slice-of-life piece, but the tone gets a little wonky when the super hero elements are introduced.  It’s still worth a look.

B+

X-Men #71

X-Men #71
Writing: Joe Kelly
Art: Carlos Pacheco

What Went Down:  This issue is narrated by Jean Grey.  We open on Jean telekinetically meditating and trying to wipe the mansion of traumatizing telepathic residue, conveniently allowing her to recap the last couple of issues.  Cyclops, newly operated on, yells out in pain, but when Jean recovers, Scott has fallen back asleep.  Both of them are preparing for a vacation to Alaska to help Scott heal.

Downstairs, most of the X-Men are being repulsed by Marrow’s bad manners at the breakfast table.  Beast and Cecilia Reyes analyze one of Marrow’s bone shards, and Cecilia accidentally makes a comment that sounds like a pass at Beast.  Marrow gets angry at the X-Men for judging her and throws her food on the floor.  Jean walks in and Cannonball gets in a fight with Maggott over the language he uses in front of the lady. 

Outside, Wolverine helps Storm dig up her tiara and some golden coins she has hidden for emergencies.  They discuss their guests, especially Marrow, whom neither of them trusts.  Jean tries to sneak up on the pair, but Logan still manages to detect her.  Jean observes that Logan doesn’t want her to leave, even though he’d never admit it.

Cannonball has decided to take Cecilia and Maggott to Westchester, and Jean decides to join them.  Marrow interrupts, noting that she wasn’t invited because of her appearance.  Maggott offers to stay with her, but she rebukes him and storms off after arguing with Storm. 

At the Hellfire Club, Sebastian Shaw is being served tea by his servant Kiko and recalling the events of a recent Cable story.  A mysterious shadowed figure appears, stops time around them, and presents Shaw with a picture of a golden idol that distresses Shaw.  We also see what appears to be crow or raven.

At the mansion, Beast says goodbye to Trish Tilby and Iceman as they drive home together.  Wolverine has a man-to-man talk with Cyclops, expressing his concerns about the new recruits.  He tells Scott that if he leaves, things will be done differently.

While in Westchester, everyone bickers until they notice a news story announcing that the Avengers and the Fantastic Four have returned after “dying” during Onslaught.  Jean allows herself to get lost in the feelings of hope from the crowd of people.  In the attic, Wolverine and Storm discuss how they are going to handle Marrow.  In Cairo, we get a quick set up scene of a man running a package to a mail pile outside a plane.  As soon as he puts the package in, the man starts to bleed to death, but he tells Anansi that he has beaten him.  The package is addressed to Storm.

Back in Westchester, the group seems more hopeful.  We get another subplot setup of a homeless man getting murdered while Cannonball asks Maggott where his slugs are.  The next day Jean and Scott leave after discussing the future of the team.  In an epilogue, Marrow is carving things in the wall of her room and complaining about the X-Men.  Wolverine appears and tells her that she needs to be taught a lesson.

How It Was:  Even though the last story was kind of a wash, it was still supposed to be a major crossover, meaning that this issue is a quiet, contemplative issue that examines the new status quo.  Basically there are three new potential recruits, all of the X-Men’s nice things are gone, and Cyclops and Jean Grey are taking a break from the team.  And although it’s not much, it’s a solid direction for the book; certainly more than we ever got in the post-Onslaught issues. 

This is a great issue for Jean, who hasn’t had a lot to do recently.  She makes for the perfect narrator since she knows the established characters inside and out, and Kelly’s script really emphasizes this.  From Jean’s confusion over how Logan detected her downwind to her reaction to Storm’s hidden trove, Kelly establishes that Jean is a lynchpin to the X-Men, and he actually manages to make it feel like her leaving affects the team significantly.  In fact all of the characters really come into their own under Kelly’s hand.  Marrow’s rebellious attitude really shines as she riles up everyone else in the group.  She remains sympathetic even though she is purposefully trying to antagonize the team due to the fact that she’s had such a hard life and most of her arguments are actually true.  In another interesting dynamic, it’s clear that Storm and Wolverine aren’t being objective or open to Marrow at all, yet their view also has credence given recent issues with Sabertooth and Onslaught.  Even the flirting between Beast and Cecilia is enjoyable.

The center of the story, the Marvel heroes returning, is handled very nicely.  In what could’ve come off as an in-house ad for the Heroes Return line, Kelly puts the focus on the X-Men’s reaction to learning that Onslaught did not kill the heroes.  The moment of hope at the end makes for a good juxtaposition to the frustration and melancholy that have led up to it thus far. 

So really this issue is just an exercise in great characterization.  Well, the conflict between Cannonball and Maggott feels forced, but other than that everyone else comes off perfectly.  The only other misfire with this issue is the Sebastian Shaw subplot that gets mentioned in a couple of future issues before disappearing forever.  It’s disappointing to see this problem persist with a new creative team, but I guess it can’t be helped.  Overall this is still a fantastic issue.  There is absolutely no action at all, but the characters and interactions are handled so well, you’ll hardly notice.

A