Dark X-Men TPB

Good old Paul Cornell. Once again he's got a tossed together group of random characters and he really makes them sing.

This picks up after Uncanny X-Men's Utopia story, with Norman Osborn creating his own team of Dark X-Men. The team is Mystique, (Weapon) Omega, Mimic, and the Dark Beast. The actual team is a bit small, but that's because the antagonist in the story (so the hero) is X-Man, a sort of forgotten relic from the Age of Apocalypse. This is the amped up, Warren Ellis version, so he's a bit more interesting than I remember. Norman Osborn gets a ton of panel time too, he's a major character in every issue. It was fun seeing Cornell get a chance to put words in Osborn's mouth, he captures the sleezy confidence perfectly. I really look forward to Cornell getting more work with top-level characters. He can do it, as evidenced by how quickly he nailed Osborn, Mystique, and X-Man in this. Having Mystique walk around in public impersonating Jean Grey is a stroke of genius.

I've always been a Mimic fan, so I'm glad he got some screen time, although he and Omega are pretty much plot devices and afterthoughts. I'd love to see him take a try at being a real hero. I can't say I care too much about Omega at this point. His powers are so unclear and he's had such a malleable personality that I have no real attachment to him. I suppose there is still potential there, but he's such a pushover. Dark Beast is always great. He's funny, cruel, and a great villain.

Leonard Kirk does a great job drawing all these mutants, but what really wowed me was his Green Goblin. He looked iconic and scary, and it makes me long for Kirk getting a gig on some big-time heroes like the Avengers or Spider-Man. I don't think he's worked on such bright characters, but he'd be great.

Good