Saturday, January 7, 2012

Uncanny X-Men #4

With great regret, I was about to drop the Uncanny X-Men series - the whole "X-Men as world killers" thing isn't working for me - but then I saw the name of the artist who drew this issue.

Brandon Peterson is an artist whose work seems like a rare treat, but he's one of those worth tracking down.

His work is dynamic, detailed and with a great grasp of the heroic ideal. I assume he doesn't tackle a monthly comic because his art is too time-consuming. He puts more into each panel than most artists spend on a page.

His work here is impressive as always, with great support from colorist Justin Ponsor.

The story is by Keiron Gillen, and it's an interesting "done-in-one" issue that gives us the story from the "bad guy's" point of view. It's a familiar menace to long-time fans, and it's a tragic and grim tale with the X-Men almost reduced to minor players.

Still, it's intelligent and well-written and raises some interesting questions.

So it might be a good finale for my interest in the series. The "next issue" ad looks like the story involves vampires, and that's enough to send me running any day.

Grade: A-

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