The Dark Angel Saga has been one of the most ambitious X-Men storylines ever told. It definitely harkens back to the similarly titled Dark Phoenix Saga. The total corruption of Warren Worthington III into Archangel yet again into the reborn Apocalypse has been an incredible journey.That's why it saddens me that the final part has left me feeling flat. It just didn't have the finality that we, as readers, deserved. The payoff, while nicely unexpected, just didn't fit to me. Maybe it's because there's more story to be told. Maybe it's because after all is said and done, I feel this whole story was almost a set up for a different story. Maybe it's because it drug on for about 2 issues too long. I just know for sure this last part seemed rushed. The final battle reminded me of what's so wrong with a lot of today's blockbuster movies; the build-up is phenomenal, but the climatic battle is short, and eventually anti-climatic.
Overall, the book still had everything that makes Uncanny X-Force the best X-title out there: the art was fantastic (the mixture of Jerome Opena on the main story and Esad Ribic on the dream sequences was shared expertly), the dialog was sharp, and the characteristics were spot on. It's just the wrap up was too short. Too neat of a package. I expected much more, and got about half of what I feel we deserved after putting so much into so many months of reading.
Does this make me want to stop reading the book? Not at all. Like I already said, it's the best X-book out there. I guess that's why I expected more from it.
I skipped the middle issues when Dethlock was introduced, so I don't have that "2 issues too long" feeling, but if I hadn't I can totally see that. The ending did seem kind of rushed when a "new" character is introduced and then hardly anything is done with them. I came away from the book actually confused. I have no clue who really won, who's alive, who's dead, etc. I'm also confused about the need for the black bag, as I don't see anything on the cover of either the regular issue or the variant issue that would be a spoiler. Still, the artwork is amazing as always and the characters are spot on. It's just a little confusing to be a "conclusion".
ReplyDeleteThe black bag made no sense to me either. Searching online for the cover to post for this review, there were two versions of the standard cover: one without the AoA characters, and one with (which became the final cover). I don't see how that spoiled anything since those characters had already been in the arc.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree about the "new" character. Seemed very out of place.
Good book? Yes. Good conclusion to a story? No.