Single-Issue Reviews, August 2010, Part Three

This edition of Single-Issue Reviews has two books with vampires (of sorts). First, I'll look at the final issue of the opening arc of American Vampire, then it's on to X-Factor, where we get the conclusion of the Baron Mordo story and the start of two more plots.

American Vampire #5

• Written by Scott Snyder & Stephen King
• Art and Cover by Rafael Albuquerque

• Pearl gets her revenge, James Book gets to go out on his own terms (mostly), and we find out about a new enemy for Skinner Sweet who has a very personal vendetta against him.
• So, yeah, Pearl kills her enemies. Very quickly and with absolutely no trouble at all. It's not surprising that she got her revenge, and that's the problem. There was really no point in this half of the issue. We knew she was going to get revenge — everything led up to this. The question was only how it would go down, and apparently the answer was: with no impact emotionally or for the plot. Yes, she and Hattie snipe at each other, and she sheds a tear after dispatching Hattie, but that's not an actual substitute for actual storytelling. This is a big step down from the rest of the series.
• On King's side of things, we get what feels like a very brief ending to Book's story. I'm not sure if it's because the earlier issues spanned a longer time period, but it seems like little happens here. It does have actual emotion, and unexpected (and slightly creepy) things happen, so it sits above Snyder's half. It just doesn't feel as meaty as the previous four issues.
• The art is the high point here. It's status quo for the series, but that status quo is very high. Rafael Albuquerque's style is a great fit for this book, and he draws some freaky vampires.
• Unfortunately, this series takes a rather large drop in quality in this final issue of the opening arc. I don't think that will help keep people reading it now that Stephen King's name is no longer attached and the page count drops with no drop in price. Before this issue, I was most likely going to stick around for at least one of Snyder's solo arcs, but now I'm having some doubts.

X-Factor #207

• Written by Peter David
• Pencils and Inks by Sebastian Fiumara
• Colors by Jeromy Cox
• Cover by David Yardin

• X-Factor gets a new client who is much more than she seems, Monet technically keeps up her end of her deal with Baron Mordo, and Rictor and Shatterstar work out some relationship issues.
• So, yeah, there are three completely independent plots going on in this issue. Peter David manages to do this without compromising any of them. At no point did anything feel rushed — in fact, the Rictor/Shatterstar sections have plenty of breathing time.
• The only transitional problem was going from the end of the “new client” story into the end of the Rictor/Shatterstar story (which was the last couple of pages of the issue). It felt like the “new client” ending was the end of the book, and then we suddenly have a couple more pages with another “end of the book” page. I guess the Rictor/Shatterstar ending was a better issue-ender, but I wish the transition to it was done better (read “at all”).
• I wish there had been something said about Terry being there now. At the end of the last issue she suddenly said she wanted to get back together with Jamie, but I don't remember seeing her get to that point. As far as I can remember, the last time we really saw her was in issue #200, and she still had quite a bit to work out. It would've been nice have at least one exchange between the two.
• I really enjoyed the whole part with Rictor and Shatterstar. I liked hearing Shatterstar's struggles with “being human” and having to figure out what emotions mean. I like the idea of him needing an emotional anchor. That said, it could have been interpreted as him playing Rictor and just saying what he needed to hear — but I don't think Shatterstar is capable of that much subtlety.
• I like Sebastian Fiumara's art better than previous artists. It helps that I normally prefer a more comic style as opposed to the very realistic styles some artists are doing now. However, the faces were very inconsistent — especially Jamie's. The art has always been the weakest part of this book, but this is a step in the right direction.
• The cover is annoyingly misleading. Yes, the woman on the cover is the new client, and yes, she appears on the first page, but nowhere in the book does she turn sinister like the cover depicts. It's mentioned that she's some evil Goddess, but she only appears at the beginning when she hires X-Factor. It made it seem like this issue would focus on her more, and it made it surprising that the other stories got so much space. It seems like a better cover for later in the arc, but maybe that story finishes next issue and the Wolfsbane v Shatterstar cover is obviously what they'd go with for that one, considering that it's her return to the series. It's a good cover — very eye-catching and makes you want to know about this obviously very powerful woman and why she's attacking the team — but it's a bit of a fake-out.
• I really enjoyed this issue. It had the banter, scheming, emotion, and intrigue that I've come to know and love from X-Factor. My complaints are largely nitpicking — there's little to fault in this series (excepting the weak but improving art), so I'm resorting to finding minor faults. If you're not following this series, you need to start.