Marauders is the favorite of the Dawn of X books for many, but why must we compare them? Can’t we have nice things, X-Fans?! In this fourth issue, Kitty courts her red bishop, more mutant refugees are saved, and power rises for a new threat!
Possibly the most fun you’ll have with this issue was also previewed in part last week. The scene with Kate Pryde and Bishop infiltrating a base and Kate using her powers to sneak around and do a little damage is very well done. Her power set seems simple, but so far this series has done well to capture how dangerous it can be if used tactically. We see more of that here. It’s also fun to see how her powers can be used to do some serious damage in an otherwise safe space or with safe objects. Gerry Duggan must be having the time of his life writing this.
The brunt of this issue is focused on that sequence, but the beginning and end show us good work is being done by the rest of the Marauders and at the same time danger grows in other areas too. These scenes help show how Kate isn’t necessarily babysitting her Marauders as they continue to do good work and on the flip side that good work may be upended as they continue to amass more enemies.
Storm is fierce in this.
Credit: Marvel Comics
The data pages in this issue are quite fun, one of which continues the e-mail theme from previous issues. This is a colorful e-mail from a disgruntled employee and Dugan nails the personality and makes it worth a laugh or two. Once again it’s very obvious these data pages can add value to the single issue while also allowing the writers a chance to build out the world via prose or other styles of writing.
I’m not quite sure what to make of the villains introduced at the end of the book. The threat is obvious, and it’s interesting to hear a theory thrown out there, but beyond being rich it’s not clear what kind of threat they pose. A little more detail, and more characterization, might have gone a long way in making them more interesting.
The art by Lucas Werneck with colors by Federico Blee continues to move the story along well via panels and layouts. There’s a fun full-page splash early on of Pyro riding a ship between enemy ships and burning them up with the waves acting as the divider with a closer shot of him at the bottom of the page that’s quite cool. Storm is positively stunning in this book with her flowing black and yellow costume. The electricity that flows off her looks great too.
This book continues to be electric thanks to Duggan’s writing of Kate Pryde and her new role as a leader and her awkward place amongst mutants who can’t actually use the Krakoan gates. A complicated web of leaders is being built here that’ll likely pay off for months.
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