I’m just going to jump right into this headfirst with Nation X #4. I’ve been mostly unimpressed with Nation X, if only because there’s so much potential lost with how little page time each short gets. This cover got me excited, though, because I love Warpath to bits and will take whatever I can get of him.
Dooptopia: My god, I hate Doop. I understand he was popular back with X-Statix, but I just couldn’t get into him when I read it. Anyway, whatever theme they were going for got completely lost in the nonsensical storytelling. I did like seeing Cannonball, Magneto and Gambit admit their deepest, darkest parts of themselves.
Story: 2.5/5, Art: 3/5
The Bad Seeds: This was kind of darling. I love seeing Emma interact with the Cuckoos, and I love seeing how they all react to being bored. The short page time is obvious here, where the last few pages wrap up the story in a hurried way. Still a pleasant read, though.
Story: 4/5, Art: 3.5/5
Ice Cream Alamo: Warpath! I love the reality of having to guard food from an island full of hungry mutants day and night because there are no grocery stores on Utopia. This story doesn’t exactly endear me to Loa, but Warpath kicks the young mutants butts, then allows them to take some food when Loa holds her own against him. A cute story. I’ve never heard of Rael Lyra before, but damn, I need to take note of him now. Great pencils.
Story: 4/5, Art: 5/5
The King and Queen of Utopia: Namor and Storm share the spotlight in a story that focuses on the sacrifices they’re making as long as they stay on Utopia. Namor considers leaving because taking orders from Scott Summers isn’t the sort of things kings or queens do, but Storm convinces him to stay. I think something is lost in the execution, but it’s a solid story.
Story: 3/5, Art: 3/5
Overall, Nation X continues to be hit or miss (mostly miss with me). I think they’d do much better if there were three shorts per book, or even two, but I’m still in love with the idea of little stories taking place in Utopia.
Girls Read Comics Too 