Comics
Review: ‘X’ #0
Unflinchingly brutal and gritty, X #0 is a thrilling great read about seedy and unhinged characters. Unforgiving in its brutality, this is shockingly violent take on vigilantism. X, the avenging superhero, will go through drastic measures, no matter what the cost, to protect his crime-ridden city.
WRITTEN BY: Duane Swierczynski
ART BY: Eric Nguyen
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: April 10, 2013
The mysterious city known by its people as Arcadia has become a giant beacon for sin and greed. Corrupt politicians have made a profit over the decay of the city, while the poor keep getting poorer. With the police on their payroll, the criminal elite have nothing to fear from anyone, except for one thing. They are afraid to pick up the mail in the morning. A letter from an unhinged masked man arrives for them, waiting to be opened. When the criminals see a photograph of themselves marked in red, they automatically know their days are numbered. There is no place to hide from the psychotic vigilante known as X.
What I really liked about Duane Swierczynski’s narrative is that the point-of-view comes from the antagonists. The story is told through the eyes of the power-hungry politicians and greedy gangsters. As a reader, you end up rooting the bad guys to make it out alive. The mobster, Duroc, takes the death threats very seriously, which is why he crafts a clever plan to outwit the vigilante. Trying to save his own life, Duroc wants the psychopath known as X to make a mistake and kill his decoy.
Though Swierczynski pays more attention to the criminal element, that doesn’t mean X becomes a boring character. Swierczynski balances the truth behind X’s actions, while keeping the mystery behind X’s mask. Sensing a sniper behind him, X lets himself get shot, just so that the criminal gets caught in the crossfire. Because there is no explanation as to why X is creating a war against crime, the vigilante seems psychotic and creepy. Without any hesitation, X is willing to die for his suicidal mission.
Eric Nguyen’s artwork doesn’t hold back on the gore and violence. Nguyen has the poses down pat as X jumps down from the rooftops, holding a sword in each hand. In just one panel, X slices and dices his way through a mobster’s henchmen. In a graphic close-up, Nguyen illustrates just the half of the mobster’s head sitting on the hood of a car. You look at this page and you just feel sorry for the bad guys.
The most suspenseful panels occur when X is trying to break into a panic room, where a mobster has locked himself inside. With the panic room designed with lasers and acid, X is slowly being beaten. There is no dialogue from X whatsoever during this scene. Nguyen depicts the exhaustion on X’s face through his tired eyes and sweat.
“X” #0 is a terrific combination of crime drama, vigilante action, and merciless revenge. After reading this issue, you will understand why X is one helluva scary superhero.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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