krisis's X-Force #101 - Powerless! review

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    Tabitha and the Flying Boys

    A subtle, solid  fill-in issue that's part of the ongoing High Evolutionary arc, where he rids mutants of their powers.

    Story & Script
    I think Joseph Harris did a fine job of crafting this story about Tabitha and her two flying boys – one, Cannonball, a superhero and X-Man, the other Kevin, a little boy who is scared and excited to be different. 
     
    The parallelism is a bit cliché – Tabitha can't save Sam, but she can save Kevin. That said,  it works to show how conflicted Tabitha is – upset for Sam and her teammates, but secretly relishing the idea of a world without mutants. I enjoyed the unspoken theme that some mutants are defined by their powers, because they are useful or “always-on” like Warpath's. Whereas, for Tabitha, losing her powers doesn't really affect her daily life.

    It's a small story with little on the line – you're probably sure that Cannonball will be fine, and you realize Kevin is a one-shot character. Still, even within that frame there are some real moments. 

    Artwork
    I liked Steven Harris's sketchy, thin-lined art. He has a great sense of Boomer, and as a result she shows great emotional range through the issue. Perhaps having Kevin look like a mini-Sam was a little too on-the-nose, but otherwise Harris handles the children well (a frequent weakness of comic artists, in my opinion). He draws Dani with attention to her Native American features, but seems to be struggling with getting the size and scale of Warpath just right. 

    Bottom Line
    You're probably not going to spend your time tracking down this low-key issue, but it does a fine job at portraying a microcosm of a world without mutant powers.

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