Changing the World
Note: this is a review of issues 1 to 6
Big spanning stories, the so called "next big thing" and endless tie-ins, a 12-issue event, often get burned, due to the excess of numbers published or to the "boring" effect that comes around with this kind of comics material being published, that's a fact. However, as I read the first six issues of this event, I can say that I was impressed, not entirely because of the "sharpness" and "quality" of the material, but mostly because of the nature of the event: being this "next big thing", in comparission to Fear Itself for instance, it was very superior, in face of the new stuff elements and fact being reintroduced or recycled. Beggining with the structure of the comic, I really enjoyed the writing staff: putting together Bendis, Fraction, Brubaker, Hickman and Aaron to write this event was great, specially because I can know who wrote what - the structure of the narrative consists in every writer is responsible for the arc story, the plot, but in each issue a writer is designated to write the story and the dialogues (and this is printed in the cover also and in credits), so in each issue you get nuances and surprises in which is able to identify the writer in the lines, that's a totally different thing from 52 (old DC) or Countdown to Final Crisis (you couldn't know for sure who wrote what, could guess though). That being said, there're things that happenned in this event worthy of mentioning and totally revealing of the writer's characters and individuality. For instance, in issue 3 (the cover is Captain Vs Wolverine), only Brubaker could write Cap the way he did and in the same way I was really surprised how Captain dealt with Wolverine (no spoilers here); in issue 2 there's present the great narrative of Aaron, really enjoyed how he narrated the clashes, the fights involving the other characters (these battles took place in tie-ins); in issue 1 Bendis was the obvious and perfect choice, since it's about meetings, debates, and Bendis is very good in doing that; Hickman was in charge of issues 4 and 6, again you see his style, the value of different scenarios, evolving and making the arc story more depth, developing characters (in special Hope). In this pantheon of writers (all Architets) I got to praise Fraction and Brubaker, they're the reason of Cyclops' behavior, the fever of an almost religious fanatic, boardering tyrany, this all dates back when the writers worked in Uncanny X-Men, developing Cyclops as the leader of the mutants, a mission and title that took it's toll from the character: his obsessive vision, his will of removing his kind from oblivion and his certainty in Hope, this all reflects in Scott Summers decisions, all these feellings of the character leads down to this event. This event is about a clash of ideas, it's a debacle if Captain America can prevent crisis like Secret Invasion or Fear Itself, or will the mutants rise again or will the world perish (again a global threat) by the claws of Phoenix? Speaking of Captain, I totally understand his actions, specially in the first issues, he was nervous, acting all emotion, worried about his capability of saving the world, but after issue 5, Captain has become more focused, preparing and planning, but still taking point, showing backbone and true grit. Also about Captain, we can still see some tips that he and Iron Man aren't completely in harmony, sharing some spicy words, ranting on one another, finishing each others sentences, there isn't a good mood between the two of them. Now, the big question is: is the story good? Look, for an event it's good, but if this was just a story from a book published monthly, this wouldn't be top notch. Basically, Phoenix is coming back, a big threat, and the Avengers want Hope, but the X-Men won't let them. There're ranting, discussions, Spider-Man doing jokes, some interesting conflicts like Storm and Black Panther, Wolverine drinking beer, some turning points (issue 3), so, there're harmony in the ideas and concept of the project and how it's being executed, that's important. Sure, there're bad things, but they don't taint the story. About the art, I must admit that JRJR really surprised me, he did a terrific job, ugrading his art, the final product was way superior World War Hulk or his Avengers' regular title. The first five issues were penciled by John Romita Jr and they're very good. Issue 6 was penciled by Olivier Coipel, so you can see the difference from JRJR's style and quality, so it's also a game change for the event (from now on Adam Kubert and him are in charge of the art). I do believe the art here do transmit the message, pass the readers what's going on with the characters, that the story is evolving, in fact, the pace of the story is in tune with the art. There's a good balance going on: action, dialogues and plot evolution. Wrapping up this long review (sorry and thanks to whoever read it and felt it was helpful) I gotta say things are looking good and the biggest surprise for me so far is Hope: for the first time since after Second Coming I'm enjoying the character, she's so grown now (still acts like a baby sometimes, but great develop!), acting like someone who's willing to do something about it, like Cable taught her.
