I’m back from the comic shop this week and I got two new comic plus a soft cover collection:

  • Usagi Yojimbo – 122
  • Rex Mundi Vol 2 – 19
  • Showcase Presents: Bat Lash
  • And now for a review of something I’ve read recently.

  • “Mister X: Condemed” by Dean Motter
  • Having read the “Mister X Archives” a little while ago I was looking forward to this four issue mini series. And much like the archive this series is a mixed bag.

    Mister X is a mysterious figure and no one is really sure of his identity. Or if he’s sane. He runs around in this future Art Deco city trying to fix things because the architecture may be driving everyone insane. That’s the basic Mister X story.

    In this series we have a mayoral election, a serial killer, and urban renewal gone crazy. It all expresses itself in a mystery. Unfortunately the mystery is: what the heck is going on in this comic? It just doesn’t make a lot of sense sometimes. I had a hard time following the story. And I just read the archive so I was filled in on all the background material. I feel sorry for a new reader.

    The art was a bit disappointing too. Dean Motter was one of the driving forces behind the original Mister X series. He didn’t draw them but he drew a lot of the promotional material of the series. That was some well designed good stuff. The art in this comic is up and down. Sometimes Motter’s sense of design shines and sometimes we get page after page of people against blank backgrounds.

    The biggest problem I had was with the lettering. It was not up to snuff. It looked a bit amateurish. I didn’t like a lot of the balloon placements, balloon shapes or balloon tails. It all looked a little rushed.

    I hate to be bashing “Mister X” because it’s a comic I’ve always liked despite it’s unevenness of quality. It was always a bit different and usually tried to do well by it’s readers. It has always been a flawed creation. Much like the character himself. But still I’ve enjoyed it. Give it a try is you like comics that are a bit different.