Hey, that’s the end of the Graphic Novels / Trade Paperbacks! Woot!
Chronicles of Wormwood (Avatar) [collects #1-6]
w. Garth Ennis; a. Jason Burrows
| Writing |  | New reader? | |
| Art |  | Non-comics reader? | |
Ennis tackles the end times with all the sensitivity and discretion he applied to Preacher. Wormwood is the Anti-Christ, the son of the Devil, but he has no interest in messing up his passably pleasant life, with a girlfriend, a talking rabbit, and his bar pal Jesus (returned once again, but brain damaged from a policeman’s truncheon). Alas, the signs indicate it’s time for Armageddon. How will Wormwood get out of this?
It’s good fun, esp. if you’re thick- skinned about sacrilege. Which, if you’re going to read any Ennis, you sort of have to be. Good stuff.
X-Factor, Vol. 0, “Multiple Choice” (Marvel) [collects Madrox #1-5]
X-Factor, Vol. 1, “The Longest Night” (Marvel) [collects #1-6]
X-Factor, Vol. 2, “Life & Death Matters” (Marvel) [collects #7-12]
X-Factor, Vol. 3, “The Many Lives of Madrox” (Marvel) [collects #13-17]
X-Factor, Vol. 4, “Heart of Ice” (Marvel) [collects #18-24]
X-Factor, Vol. 5, “The Only Game in Town” (Marvel) [collects #28-32, XF:Quick and the Dead]
w. Peter David; a. Various
| Writing | | New reader? |  |
| Art | | Non-comics reader? | |
It’s hard to generalize too much about the title over the course of 30-odd issues, but here are a few sum-ups: (a) Peter David’s writing on this title has always been entertaining, frequently twisted, and never disappointing; (b) The artwork has varied widely, some pretty good, others tending toward mediocre; (c) The book has suffered most from incessant cross-overs and events and other X-mutant hoohah which has derailed more than a few plot irons that David had in the fire, and led to a much greater sense of incoherence than the book ought to have.
That all said, as much as David has assembled a fine ensemble here, Jaime Madrox is the star, giving David a chance to examine his strange condition — multiple bodies, fragments of personality that are then integrated into the whole when reabsorbed — as much as possible. Just as he revolutionalized the Hulk’s psychiatry, Madrox is now his character.
It is (as all the purchases indicate) a good series. And, yes, I need to reread it again.