Objects in the Mirror...
THE GOOD
Though it was mostly dialog and back story, I still believe this book deserves a read. I really enjoyed the art and writing (for both stories). In fact, the flashback probably made the issue for me. That is not to say that the "present day" story didn't do it for me, it just was slow and "fillery". That, and we had to wait until the end for the action, only to be left with a full panel cliffhanger.
For a "set things up for the remaining two issues" story, it did its job. Not only do we get the "Joseph rebirth" story, we get a confrontation between Erik and Joseph AND we see some background on the anti-mutant group, Humans Now.
I am looking forward to the remaining two issues.
THE BAD
This felt like a filler issue. Which would be fine if this wasn't a four issue mini-series. It is mostly dialog with no real action (until the end), which just ends in a cliffhanger. Since these things are just me being selfish, it only really loses .5 points out of 5. Besides, the flashback was some nice work, and I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on the rebirth of Joseph.
THE VERDICT
Recommended. Definitely worth collecting to complete the mini-series. I enjoyed it, though it was a quick read and I was left wanting more. It feels as though this issue exists just to set Erik up for one heck of a battle with some real nasty Brotherhood of Evil clones - it is too bad we have to wait until issue 3 of 4 to see how things play out. It also gives us a glimpse of how maniacal the leader (Christopher Bach) of the Anti-Mutant group "Humans Now", truly is. In fact, Erik may be the only rational person in this issue, as Astra and Joseph are certainly no pillars of sanity.
