X-Men Legacy #227 Review: God Power
Hey, everyone, jrpbsp here…Here is the second review for the week, ‘X-Men: Legacy’. Hope you enjoy it and see you next week.
X-Men: Legacy #227 (preview)
Writer: Mike Carey
Penciler: Dustin Weaver
Inker: Ed Tadeo
Note: Wolverine does not appear in this issue
SPOILERS BELOW…
RECAP: The issue opens with a recap of Ariel teleporting Trance to the headquarters of the X-Men. Unfortunately when she arrives back, Trance is nowhere to be seen. Trance’s powers apparently interfered with the ‘port and she was dumped somewhere in the city.
She is immediately confronted by a H.A.M.M.E.R. squad but with her powers out of control, Trance blasts the three men. One of them is still conscious enough to call for help after she runs.
Rogue, Gambit and Danger get the call to go find her with Mindee mentally guiding them to the location. They come across the wreckage of her power flare and are forced to bull their way through.
Trance stumbles across some regular people and begs them to call the X-Men for help. She explodes again before they have a chance to, but Rogue and her group find her moments later anyway. Rogue still has some of the power she borrowed from Ares and is able to approach Trance with Gambit and Danger guarding her back.
Moonstone is taking down a few rioters when the call comes in for support. Suspecting this is her chance for a rematch, she tells them she will take care of the problem.
Rogue has managed to get close to Trance and is in the process of talking her down. She believes that the taser just allowed Trance to let go of her unconscious power restrictions rather then cause the partial separation and urges the girl to power down.
Moonstone arrives before Trance manages to help herself and takes down both Danger and Gambit easily. She blasts Rogue butthe mutant is able to take the shot and knock the Dark Avenger through a truck. But that pretty much uses up the last of Ares’ ability and so Moonstone starts to beat up Rogue.
Trance has managed to get herself under control and interrupts the fight giving Rogue a moment to breathe. Moonstone phases through the next attack but Trance’s alter ego is still able to hit her. When she solidifies Gambit blasts her which buys them enough time to escape with the help of Pixie.
Back at base Scott commends Rogue on her efforts. He tells her that he has a plan and that it is time to start fighting back.
MY TAKE: Like pretty much all tie-ins, this was a simple story with no real impact on events in the main titles. But it still manages to be a good and well told story despite its limitations. The plot is simplistic but it is peppered with good character moments and insight.
Trance is the focus of the issue and even though I did not know too much about her, you start to feel affection and compassion for the character after only a few pages. It is hard to take a mostly undeveloped character and make her both sympathetic and likable during the course of an issue but Carey manages it. Already I can see her becoming a useful and popular member of the series’ supporting cast when it takes its new direction next issue.
Of course character development is always one of the strengths of this series. The other is taking plot threads and unused characters and making them viable. To that end I hope Ariel continues to make the occasional appearance in the book. She is a character that never really got a chance to be seen in the larger Marvel universe and she definitely has potential.
Being a tie-in issue, the plot is the real weak point. Nothing of any really impact can be revealed here since it is not part of the main story. So the entire comic has to take place on the fringe and therefore has no real meaning. I do think it does a good job at beginning the change of focus but beyond that this is pretty much a non-event.
In the end though the characters make up for the lack of plot and this still manages to be a good comic. The fight scenes were also done well and it was nice to see someone writing the Avengers as beatable villains again. Still, I will be glad when we get more in depth and focused stories next month. With the strong characterizations I am eagerly waiting to see what Carey can do with the underdeveloped young characters on the fringe of the X-universe.
Thanks for reading my review for Wolverine Files. I will be keeping to this format for the most part but please keep the comments coming and I will see everyone again next time.