Funny little world we live in. I went from reading some negative reviews about this book and commenting on my dislike for Paul Cornell’s writing to reading this book and really enjoying the finer nuances of the writing!
Like most, I’ve found the Dark X-Men to be a mini-series that is just not working. And for the most part this is due to Cornell’s inability to connect with the obscure, mutant characters on this team. Issue three of this series actually avoids this problem for the first time, simply because Cornell focuses more on plot than character.
Now I could be all wrong about this British writer (I’ve only read his work on Captain Britain, Young Avengers and this series), but he seems to be a bit too clever for his own good. By this, I mean that he is a writer whose work exists between the lines a lot of the time. This is fantastic when the audience can participate in his cat and mouse game. When they can’t, and he is the only one who can interpret the cryptic messages...well, then the writing falls flat off of the page! With this in mind, you can see what a tight rope this style of writing can be to create.
This particular issue has some moments where Cornell appears to be the only person in on the joke (i.e. the character introduction bubbles with the descriptor below. Mystique’s, for instance, reads, “Mystique: Shapeshifter. Mother Stands For Comfort.”) But aside from these few hiccoughs, I really found myself thinking throughout this read. There are some really interesting ideas, and Cornell presents them in a new, thought provoking way.
Nate Grey’s re-incarnation is made very interesting thanks to this issue. And for the first time EVER, I appreciated the power of Ares, god of War. I look forward to the next issue in this mini. Mystique’s uncovering of Nate’s secret should prove to be very interesting.