�CURSE OF THE MUTANTS,� PART 4 With thousands of vampires poised to attack Utopia, just waiting for the word from their leader, Xarus, the X-Men�s best hope for survival just might lie in a most unlikely new ally: the newly resurrected Dracula, who has more than a bone to pick with his traitorous son. But the problem cuts even deeper: The X-Men have lost one of their greatest warriors, fallen victim to a vampire bite. Brace yourself for Vampire Wolverine! Rated T �$3.99
Look, there's nothing wrong with vampires if they're portrayed correctly. American Vampire proves this every month, and Gischler's own Death of Dracula one-shot for Marvel was a solid endeavor as well. But this opening arc of X-Men has completely forgotten about character development, simply opting for non-stop action and mindless posturing. Turning Jubilee (and, for now, Wolverine) over to a vampire state was potentially a bold move, but Gischler doesn't seem interested in examining what that could mean for our heroes, playing out the plot with better dramatic effect. A story is only as epic as its characters allow it to be - if you don't feel any emotional resonance, there's no reason for the battle to exist at all. There have been countless examples of this type of failure in recent years, and X-Men is adding to that pile so far. The action and art are certainly well done, but there's simply nothing behind it. Head to Vertigo's corner for your dose of fanged foes. Read Full Review
I give Gischler credit for trying to keep all of his cards on the table, even down to a brief mention of the recently resurrected Dracula so we don't forget that he's back in the picture (despite not appearing at all this issue). That said, Cyclops's response ("That hasn't played out yet. Remember that.") might as well have a big neon flashing arrow while we're at it, the line is so blatant. "X-Men" needs to get its momentum back, though; with an already crowded marketplace, slowing down so early in a series' life is probably the worst thing it can do. Read Full Review
A misstep in this previously fun X-Men vs. Vampires story. Hopefully next issue will iron out some of these issues and bring the story home in grand fashion, but this issue (while far from terrible) just wasn't doing it. Read Full Review
Overall, like I suggested before, the X-Men as characters and a concept are in need of a massive injection of originality, and they really need to get out of the world of closed, mutant-only concerns. They need to battle some other types of threats to humanity to prove their heroism along with bashing in the heads of some evil mutants once in a while. While wiping out a cadre of particularly nasty vampires will help, if this is how the story is going to unfold, Im ready to fast forward to the next evil mutant threat Read Full Review
This is really just not a very interesting comic. Aside from the subpar art, there isn't a lot to complain about here in terms of craftsmanship, but the lack of personality keeps this one from being entertaining enough to justify a purchase. I think we are on the cusp of some cool plot twists with Wolverine and Cyclops battling it out (plus whatever it is they are planning with Read Full Review
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