I have enjoyed the X series thus far. I started reading the three sub-chapters of X #0 back in Dark Horse Presents, and I picked up the series when it started doing full issues. This is the first time I’m not impressed. I’m not going to say nothing happened, but the contents of this issue could have been a two page synopsis at the beginning of a full issue. Well, perhaps that’s a little harsh, but if you ask me, the only pages that really needed to be done in full are the last four or so. Read on to see why.
Had I the artistic talent for such things, I would have just done this issue’s plot in 10-12 pages and spent the rest of them getting a head start on the next issue’s story. The beginning of the story has our friend Leigh fretting over whether X is going to come after her next, wandering into the bad part of town, and getting saved by X. I’m pretty sure if conveyed as a recollection posted to her blog, that could have been told in a page and a half, maybe two. Unfortunately for the pacing of the comic, that’s the first half of the 24 pages in this issue. Sorry for the spoilers. Oh, wait, you could have predicted all of that from the way the last issue ended and the cover of this one! Never mind!
There are some gory scenes, as there always are in the X series. I don’t know if my displeasure with the surrounding comic ruined them or if I’m just expecting a lot from it with how violent X tends to be, but I didn’t really like them in this issue. They were quick, clean, and didn’t include much of the viciousness and brutality that X is known for. I wouldn’t even be surprised if the next issue reveals that this issue didn’t actually contain X, but a body double/copy cat/whatever. Or he’s on anti-psychotics and they’re working…
These are just so many things wrong with this issue. Honestly, I don’t recommend buying it, even if you are following the series. Skip this issue and try again with the next one. You won’t have missed anything that you won’t figure out in the first two pages of the next issue. If you’re confused, send me an email (see below) and I’ll answer your questions. If you’re dead set on getting it anyways, it’s $2.99. Whatever, it’s your money.
Matthew Bryant, aka Baker Street Holmes, is an editor for the Red Shirt Crew and could probably do a better job of plastic surgery than Berkshire’s doctor. This includes the consideration that the last time he held a scalpel was to dissect a rat in middle school. Worst. Doctor. Ever. You can find him on Twitter at @BStreetHolmes or email him at HMCrazySS@gmail.com.
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