X-MEN: SCHISM #5 (OF 5)

Review by: keith7198

What did the
iFanboy
community think?

928
Pulls
Avg Rating: 4.0
 
Users who pulled this comic:
Writer: Jason Aaron
Artist: Adam Kubert
Colorist: Jason Keith
Letterer: Jared Fletcher
Cover: Adam Kubert

Size: 0 pages
Price: 3.99

The previous issue of “X-Men: Schism” finally got me on board this supposedly monumental X-Men event. The entire series was lacking the tension and believable conflict that could result in the splitting of the X-Men. But issue #4 sold it well and brought me in so I was really pumped for the final issue. But Jason Aaron’s finale falls pretty flat and when mixed with Adam Kubert’s distracting and poorly executed art, “Schism” turns out to be a series that never reaches it’s potential. Heard that before?

Aaron’s final issue is mainly one big fight between Cyclops, Wolverine, and the Hellfire Club’s Suitcase Sentinal. This is what everything has been building towards so I was expecting a high-octane battle. But to be honest it’s anything but high-octane. The main battle lacks any consistent rythmn and at times it looks more like a series of random photos from the battlefield. We also see the new 12 year-old Hellfire Club once again and they are just as ridiculous and uninteresting as before. The battle ends abruptly followed by some pretty good character exchanges that set the table for the X-Men’s new structure. It’s a decent ending and one that manages to put the pieces into place for the upcoming events, but I still couldn’t help feeling like there needed to be more there.

One of my biggest concerns about the “X-Men: Schism” event was Marvel’s idea to have a different artist do each issue. That fear became reality thanks to Adam Kubert’s flat, inconsistent, and sometimes lazy artwork. It doesn’t take long to notice the sharp contrast from this issue’s art and the gorgeous look of the previous book. One of the first thing’s I noticed was Kubert’s inconsistencies particularly with the various stages of Wolverine’s facial damage during the fight with Cyclops. It fluctuated wildly from one panel to the next during the fight which really took away from the impact of the sequence. I also noticed several panels that looked terribly underdrawn as if Kubert was rushing through it or simply didn’t give it the time it deserved. There were also several shortcuts taken on character’s faces and expressions. There were some pretty good depictions of Wolverine in the second half of the book but overall visually this issue was a major disappointment.

“Schism” has been one big rollercoaster. There have been some strong issues but some pretty mediocre ones as well. Aaron’s story had it’s moments but at the end of the day, as a completed series, it just doesn’t fully deliver. One of it’s biggest problems proved to be the multiple artists and I can only imagine how visually jarring this will be in trade form. I guess I enjoyed Schism. But when it starts out so strong and it’s promoted so well, it’s disappointing to see it not live up to it’s potential.

Story: 3 - Good
Art: 2 - Average

Comments

  1. Great points, I agree with most everything you said. (And it made me realize that I cannot remember the last time a Marvel event series ended with a worthwhile conclusion.) I actually think Aaron’s dialogue and pacing are pretty awesome; he’s got mad skills in those departments. It’s just how he builds his plot and sets up his denouement that troubles me the most. Logan comes off as so ridiculously naive throughout this series, especially in issue #5. I find it very hard to believe that he’d be willing to quit the X-Men in such a stunned huff simply because Scott let teenagers go into battle as a last resort. This is something the X-Men have done for decades – why is Logan suddenly so prickly about it??

    • Thanks for the comments! Aaron is a great writer but it hasn’t finished well over the last two weeks. Much like last week’s Wolverine book, he just doesn’t bring things to a satisfying enough ending for me.

Leave a Comment