51) Doing a serious review on a comic book.

52) Don’t annoy the infanbase…..(epic fail)

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After reading the really bad first attempt at Noir by Marvel (Spider-Man), I was against to try any of the other mini series. But for some reason the Noir version of the X-Men just pulled me back into this universe. Maybe the problem with these Noir books is that Marvel superheroes may not translate into this style of genre. I mean taking away most of what makes these mutants unqiue and try to make them interesting is a big challenge. So does Van Lente and Calero do a better job at this line?

It may seem impossible but Van Lente actually does a pretty good job changing the dynamics of the X-Men and Brotherhood. The story goes that the NYPD finds the corpse of criminal Jean Grey in the river. When they decide to sweep this under the cold case files, Tom ‘The Angel’ Halloway tries his best to figure out the mystery on who killed the mysterious redhead. I love how the changes of the characters still makes them who they are, even if they don’t have any powers. Xavier is a psychiatrist who actually takes in juveniles and make them into criminals, hence the X-Men are mostly a group of random thugs. Magneto is one of the head cops of the NYPD and his children are spoiled rich kids. I also like how Van Lente uses the original Angel (or golden age version) instead of the actual Warren Wellington. Lente does a good job actually making this into a Noir book; twist and turns at every turn of the page. Sometimes the story can get a bit difficult to understand; mainly because you spend a good time figuring out who the heck most of the characters are. (At least the one’s who arent fully introduced). That could be another problem with this Noir line; writers should be telling a story instead of throwing in a bunch of references around it. Overall though it’s a much better attempt then what David Hine did in Spider-Man: Noir.

What sort of hinders the experience with this book is the muddled art. At times Dennis Calero seems to do a very good job setting up the mood of the story. Great use of lighting to show some of the more dramatic points of the story. Sometimes the characters look really outstanding in detail; other times it looks like the panel isnt finished. It’s very half and half when it comes to the quality. Again one page Cyclops looks really good on one page, turn the next page and he looks very crude. Sometimes the coloring also hinders the experience as it makes it difficult to tell who is who at points.

While the Noir line is off to a shaky start, X-Men Noir is better of the two trades that are out right now. Van Lente is a very versitle writer; whether its doing a zombie book, a noir book, or even a Greek mythology tale; he always seems to know how to write a very well told story. It’s not perfect by any means, but this can be a very enjoyable story if you get into it. Shame that for both Noir books that the art makes the reading experience a mild one.