Son of M

Collects: Son of M #1-6 (2006)

Released: August 2006 (Marvel)

Format: 144 pages / color / $13.99 / ISBN: 9780785119708

What is this?: Pietro Maximoff, the former mutant Quicksilver, attempts to regain his lost powers after his sister declares “No more mutants.”

The culprits: Writer David Hine and artist Roy Allan Martinez

Pietro Maximoff — the mutant known as Quicksilver — isn’t exactly a frontline character. He’s been prominent in a few team books: the ‘90s, Peter-David X-Factor and early, Cap’s-Kooky-Quartet Avengers. He even had a short-lived series in the wake of Heroes Reborn in the mid-‘90s. But he was always overshadowed by his sister, the long-time Avenger Scarlet Witch, and his father, mutant despot / liberator Magneto.

But with mutants no longer a force for the world and the Scarlet Witch missing after the “House of M” crossover, Pietro was all that was left. Son of M shows Pietro in the days after the Scarlet Witch’s reality altering leaves the world with fewer than 200 mutants and many more former mutants. Pietro’s one of those former mutants, but unlike the rest of them, who seem to be taking their loss placidly, Pietro not only wants to do something about it, he can do something about it: use his contacts with the Inhumans (his estranged wife, Crystal) to be exposed to the Terrigen Mists, which gives the Inhumans their enhanced powers and physiology.

The central plot, dealing with the return of the mutants’ lost powers, is something that had to be done somewhere, and Pietro — impatient, haughty, superior mutant and son-of-Magneto Pietro — was the perfect person to do it. His grief over losing his powers feels real, and his desire to help other mutants is in keeping with his character. The Inhuman who helps Pietro’s schemes is made more than just a dupe; he has an agenda of his own. And Spider-Man’s grief and outrage of having his perfect life given and then yanked away — by Pietro and his sister — was something that needed to be addressed; a son who no longer exists and discovering his ideal wife is his dead girlfriend (and not his wife) is a kick in the pants that needed to be addressed.

The mechanics of the plot, however, seem to have left a little less time for the human drama. Crystal goes from worried about Pietro to suspicious and disinterested in him in just a few pages. Crystal and Magneto, who should be major players in the family drama get perhaps less time and characterization than they might deserve. We see little set up for the discontent that allows Pietro to find a collaborator. I think some of the time given to setting up the following miniseries, Silent War, could have been better used for that purpose, but I admit that since I didn’t plot it, I might not appreciate how difficult that would have been. In any event, the Inhumans’ declaration of war was a neat moment.

I do not care for the art of Roy Allan Martinez. He gives everything a worn, ill-fitting look, and the pale palette supplied by colorist Pete Pantazis doesn’t help matters. On the other hand, worn and ill-fitting is a look that’s appropriate for the former mutants, and Martinez’s art does help make the confusing time-travel scenes understandable. So while I really don’t like his work, I can’t say it’s bad.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I should have. Hine does a good job telling the story, despite my quibbles, and it’s a story that desperately needed to be told after Marvel’s X-Men staff dropped the ball on the “House of M” fallout. But Martinez’s art … looking at it hurts my eyes. There’s something about his light line and oddly shaped (almost Quitely-shaped) faces that crosses signals in my brain and brings on almost a synesthetic distress. I can’t quite figure it out, and I’m sure most people will not have a similar reaction. I only know I’m probably not going read it again, although I probably will read Silent War.

Rating: (3 of 5)

Inhumans, v. 1: Culture Shock

Collects: Inhumans (v. 4) #1-6 (2003)

Released: March 2005 (Marvel)

In Culture Shock, writer Sean McKeever and artist Matthew Clark build on the end of the Jenkins / Lee Inhumans mini-series, which was an Eisner-winning success for Marvel. But while that series focused on the internal politics of the Inhuman royal family as it tried to deal with humans, McKeever and Clark take five young Inhumans, some of whom were in the Jenkins / Lee series, and make them part of a trial cultural integration in America. Only one of the five, Alaris, is pleased to be sent on the mission, and the others are left looking to make sense of this strange mission with a savage, backward culture.

In Attilan, San is the primary viewpoint character, and rightly so. His confusion over why he was sent to deal with humans is piled atop a more personal confusion; his exposure to the Terigen Mists transform him from a strong, handsome young soldier-to-be to a weakened, hideous artist. He no longer knows who he is. His struggles with his new form are understandable and moving. But when the action moves to Earth, San gets lost behind some of the others.

Once the five start living at the University of Wisconsin (McKeever has put references to his native Wisconsin in two other Marvel series, Gravity and Sentinel), Alaris, Jolen, and Nahrees push San out of the foreground. Alaris is big, dumb, and sincerely likes humanity; Jolen hates humans but hides it and wants to rekindle a relationship with Nahrees; and Nahrees … well, she’s hard to get a handle on. She’s meant to be contemptuous of those around her, fellow Inhumans included. But her icy exterior breaks early and often; is it characterization or writing flaw? It could be either, although I lean toward the latter, given that Narhees’s snottiness is her defining characteristic, and to toss it aside so quickly seems a mistake. But this is one of those character issues that can truly only be examined by exploring the rest of the series, which isn’t in this book.

My main complaint with the Culture Shock is that is a bit too wacky for my tastes. The Inhumans aren’t the Japanese or even Latverians; they aren’t even from our planet any more. They have been separated from humanity through millennia of genetic differences and isolation. (In fact, I think Latverians would have worked much better than the obviously inhuman Inhumans.) Alaris is the only wacky personality, yet the plot still seems too Perfect Strangers: all the Inhumans have to work on campus because Alaris is scammed out of his money, the Inhumans live on Frat Row, pot heads ask Jolen if he can truly grow any plant, etc. I expect Alaris to do the Dance of Joy with every page. It’s out of character given San’s identity struggles and Jolen’s dark personality.

Culture Shock is in the digest format, although it is printed on paper that is superior to the other Marvel digests. The art improves from the change, and the book is noticeably thinner. Culture Shock Also differs from the other digests I have read in that it has bonus features: character sketches and McKeever’s story pitch. The latter is useful in pointing at what McKeever was aiming at, although it also shows that he perhaps watches a few too many teen movies.

This volume of the Inhumans — currently the last one — ran only 12 issues, and this is the only reprint of any of those volume. So if you do enjoy this book, well, prepare to hunt down the floppies or wait …

Grade: C+