Despite solicits making ‘Not Forgotten’ sound like another volume of Craig Kyle & Chris Yost’s X-23 miniseries, the arc is proving to be a much more rounded affair, with equal amounts of face time for most of the cast. The writers pull off a very difficult feat here, managing to simultaneously tie up the themes from the last arc and set up the book’s next crossover, without sacrificing the integrity of the main plotline being followed.

A lot of the credit here belongs to Mike Choi for managing to give a coherent look to the multiple plotlines being simultaneously pursued, in the style of a TV drama. Last week, Valentine DeLandro responded to a similar situation in the pages of X-Factor by toning down the level of detail, but Choi continues to put out some of his strongest work to date here. The joy lies in the almost unnoticed details in the background; the Kyle Yost gravestone in the corner of a cemetery, the unremarked-upon X-Statix jumper. Choi and Sonia Oback go well beyond the call of duty in their work, and their sense of fun successfully makes what should in theory be an unremittingly grim book just a little more accessible. Speaking of unremittingly grim, the one slight question mark over the issue concerns the final scene, with X-23’s dismemberment venturing a little too close to torture porn. The logic of the writers’ construction of this incident is admittedly understandable. X-Force enjoys a considerably higher profile than any of their previous work, and there’s clearly a need to introduce the character of Kimura to the audience, without taking up too many pages. That said, this is a noticeable jump in sheer nastiness from anything else seen in the book, and makes for a distinctly uncomfortable read. There’s a lot riding of the quality of the payback that will clearly follow, and the extent to which this moment is followed up in future issues.

There’s a refreshing contrast in the themes of this arc to much of the book, and it raises some interesting questions about the way the long-running Bastion story will be resolved. So far, the book has served as a satire of the X-Franchise’s reliance on legacy elements, with dead character repeatedly dragged from their coffins even in the very first arc. Here, however, a different tack is being taken. It look as if The Facility’s failure to grow as a concept or a set of characters will work against it- Logan instantly suspects what’s happened to his sister, and hatches a plan to take the fight to the enemy. With the stage set for a bloodbath when X-Force arrives on site, it almost looks as if Kyle & Yost are going to punish their own creation for failing to acquire depth.

It’s capsule review time again, as we cast our eyes over Dark Avengers #8, Dark X-Men: The Beginning #3, Ms. Marvel #44 and Gotham City Sirens #3 (continue reading…)

Usually, when you pick up a comic that’s designed to be “all-ages”, you can be pretty sure the reality of the situation is that they’re aimed at young children, and it’s difficult for adults to find the complexity that they’ve come to expect from modern superhero comics. So when fans of X-Factor, one of Marvel’s most complex and adult superhero comics, started raving about Wolverine: First Class #18 (penned by X-Factor author, Peter David) my curiosity was more than piqued. So I picked it up.

And, well, I was pleasantly surprised. There’s no denying that it is, unashamedly an “all-ages” title – but David takes the Pixar approach to “all-ages”, crafting something that can be enjoyed on more than one level, aiming specific elements of the story towards more than one age group, rather than watering it down until it’s suitable for the most vulnerable. That the idea works at all is testament to David’s craftmanship.

For the kids, it’s a straightforward superhero team-up adventure as Wolverine, Kitty and Madrox try to track down one of Madrox’s wayward duplicates. For more grown-up X-Factor fans, it actually serves as a direct prequel to that series, telling a previously untold story of how Madrox’s abilities and outlook became what they are in X-Factor today. But it’s not just the continuity references that gear it towards – there are some fairly philosophical ideas about identity thrown in to give adult brains a little food for thought, while a scene where Wolverine confronts some movie pirates reads as a brief morality lesson for kids, or a hilarious piece of meta-commentary for those familiar with the events surrounding the release of the Wolverine movie.

Now, admittedly, it’s not got all the depth of a non all-ages comic. There’s an aura of deliberate campness around the whole endeavour, from Madrox’s old costume to the traditional “burning building” superhero rescue sequence. But it does work. Although it’s their title, Wolverine and Kitty are fairly incidental characters in this issue, with much of the focus going on Madrox. Artistically, it’s competent, but generic. The storytelling is good, the artwork is clear – it’s actually vastly more pleasing than many artists on regular Marvel Universe titles – but there’s a certain lack of individuality and style to it that will hopefully emerge as Portela grows as an artist.

It’s an unexpectedly good comic coming from a publishing initiative I’d previously written off as ignorable chaff. If David can find excuses for more stories along these lines, well, I’d actually be happy to buy more. A brilliant use of the format.

If We3 taught us anything, it’s that three issues of Quitely simply isn’t enough. And the joy at the perfect synergy demonstrated by he and Morrison over the opening arc of Batman & Robin (sorry… Robin & Batman) is tempered by the fact that we won’t see the artist again – save for on some gorgeous covers – for another six issues. Because you simply can’t imagine anyone working as well with Morrison for a common goal – hell, I’m not sure I can imagine any artist and any writer working as well together for a common goal as these two do – and this wonderful, vibrant explosion of deeply chilling fun is going to suffer as a result.

Yes, that’s right – I said “deeply chilling fun”. Because while the description of the series as being a dark and twisted version of the ’60s TV series may have initially seemed like little more than a punchy Mozza soundbite for Newsarama interviews, what’s truly surprising is just how much it’s followed up on. This book is all about surface trappings and straightforward a-to-z adventuring – no complex symbolism or layered investigative work to be seen – and has laugh-out-loud funny moments, and kinetic action, and even sees Damian doing the classic Burt Ward fist-into-palm gesture; and yet at the same time, it contains within its pages one of the most disturbing villain turns I’ve seen in a comic for ages. Pyg is a fascinatingly horrifying creation, rambling in a way that is at once dementedly incoherent, and yet beautifully and precisely constructed.

To be fair to Morrison, he sets up enough here that even if subsequent issues won’t have the same masterful visual storytelling (although, that said – for all that’s wonderful about this issue, and the action scenes in particular, Quitely does slip up a little in his clarity at one point – the last panel of Pyg’s closing appearance makes it slightly unclear what we’re actually looking at, with Julian and myself differing in our interpretations), there’s still plenty to get excited about as the series rolls on. Whether it’s the surprise introduction to the new Red Hood (and god, please let it be Jason – it would be the most masterful slice of parody), or playing with our expectations of time frame by taking us yet again to the periphery of the classic “Batman and Robin will NEVER DIE!” scene, the promise is made that these twelve issues will be another compelling chapter in the ongoing saga, rather than simply an amusing – if immensely exhilharating – diversion.

Schrödinger’s longbox: is this book cancelled, or isn’t it? One school of thought said that Peter David’s silence following the Factor-less November solicitations being unveiled was simply the latest phase of the writer’s continually-evolving publicity drive for the title, while the more pessimistic readers instantly feared the worst. The former viewpoint looks likely to be vindicated, although it’s debatable whether raising the spectre of cancellation for a niche product is such a good way of drawing attention to it.

The writer himself has been extremely vocal for the majority of the book’s present 12-month arc, initially pleading with reviewers not to reveal the shock twists he was introducing into the stories, before recently criticising retailers for not raising their orders in line with increased interest in the title. It’s possible to sympathise with David’s views, but it would be easier to do so if the book had been of a consistently high standard. The first six issues of X-Factor were genuinely magnificent, and the book remained extremely strong for the first year of its existence. After that, however, the problems began. X-Factor’s high concept of a detective agency set in the mutant district of New York was an intriguing one, but had its legs taken out from under it by Joe Quesada’s decision to drastically reduce the global number of mutants in the House Of M storyline. Ever since that decision began to bite, the book has gradually struggled to regain its step, not helped by some diabolically poor art.

The present time-travel storyline appears to have finally overcome these problems, but the title is still dogged by a glacial pace and the continual addition of weaker characters to the cast. The writer’s position at the bottom of the X-pecking order was underlined by Wolfesbane being snatched from him to spend ten issues being largely unused in the pages of X-Force, but it’s hard to agree with the view that Longshot and Darwin are the solution to this problem. Even a year in, their appearances grate. It’s difficult to wish cancellation on any book, particular one that frequently contains high-quality work. But the discussion of X-Factor’s survival chances would be of a rather different tone if the book managed to read as well in the single-issue format as it does in trade.

It’s been almost 2 years since Roman Dirge released an issue of Lenore, and even longer than that since they’ve been easily available in the UK due to some licensing gubbins that I can’t pretend to understand the logic of. Original publishers Slave Labor are gone, inexplicably replaced by Titan, a company who have published a fair amount of graphic novels and reprints in the UK, but who haven’t done single issues in the US format before, as far as I’m aware.

Luckily, renumbering aside, this is the same old Lenore. Dirge’s particular brand of cutesy, goth-influenced humour is on full display, as is his talent for a hilarious turn of phrase and brilliant comic timing. Oft-imitated, but never bettered. The issue is crammed full of material, with the lead feature being a Lenore “origin” story, though as fans of the book will no doubt expect, it’s not exactly concerned with the finer details of Lenore’s post-mortem awakening. Following that, we are also treated to a two-parter about a girl and her favourite parasol, a traditional Lenore “nursery rhyme” single-pages, pin-ups, Dirge’s autobiographical “Things involving me” and a 5-page “preview” of Samurai Sloth, about the world’s slowest sword master. Every page is brilliant.

That goes for the production as well as the content – Titan might not be particularly familiar with the single issue format, but that hasn’t made them cut corners. The pages are lush and thick, doing full justice to the full-colour artwork, and when you compare it to a regular comic from Marvel or DC, you can’t help be be amazed that it’s still only $3.99. A fantastic start to volume #2 of Lenore (even though the distinction between the two is pretty academic) and a worthy way to spend your comics money on something that’ll truly work for everything you spend on it.