X-Men #4, by Brian Wood (writer), David Lopez (penciler), Cam Smith w/Norman Lee (inkers), Cris Peter (colorist), Joe Caramagna (letterer) - I get a little annoyed at Wolverine being taller than Jubilee. He's still supposed to be about 5' 3'', right? Jubilee has at least a couple of inches on him.. I don't know if artists forget he's supposed to be really short (for an adult male), or they just don't like drawing him that short. To be fair, it's probably been a long time since he was drawn that short consistently, it isn't just the Dodsons doing it.With the Arkea threat dealt with (or at least temporarily deflected), this is an intermediate issue for the characters to take stock. So Jubilee returns to her southern Cali roots with her new baby and Logan. It's a way for her to remind herself of where she came from (and how far she's come), as she sets out on this new path of being a mom. Wood finally addresses her being a vampire with a brief reference to how Shogo won't be getting as much beach time as she did as a child.
The rest of the team is busy trying to rescue an airliner that has an engine out, while Storm and Rachel argue over Storm's decision to lobotomize Karima/Arkea last issue. While I enjoy watching the X-Men perform a rescue mission (because not everything heroes deal with has to be extinction-level events or elaborate revenge schemes), it doesn't entirely work. Wood tries to have the heroes save the day through creative implementation of their powers, but he's overthinking it. The plan involves Psylocke shooting a crossbow bolt of telekinetic force into one wing, then letting Rogue borrow some of her power, leap down to the plane, extend the TK force like a rope, attach it to the other wing, then connect it back to the Blackbird via another TK crossbow bolt. Which depressurizes the Blackbird's cabin because Rogue is being incredibly cavalier about the whole thing. It seems like telling the plane to dump all excess weight, then having Rachel and Betsy lower it telekinetically while Storm supports it with some serious winds would have worked just as well.
If this were the '80s, I'd argue that Rogue siphoned off that wild side of Psylocke's personality, and simply wasn't able to keep it under wraps, but I'm not even sure that's how her powers work any longer. To be fair, I wasn't aware Psylocke was both a telepath and telekinetic now, either. The last time I was paying attention was the first five minutes of Claremont's Exiles run, and I think she only had the TK then.
There are some other things that don't add up, like Rachel claiming she 'stopped' Storm from killing Karima the previous issue, which I certainly don't recall. I remember Storm asking Rachel if she could find any trace of Karima in there, Rachel saying nothing, but Karima manifesting a few pages later, and stabbing herself on Betsy' psi-sword.
Even so, the argument between the two was pretty well done. I feel like Rachel's concern is how quickly Storm went to "kill" as the solution to the Arkea problem, given that Karima is supposed to be one of them, and that Storm has appointed herself leader and doesn't take the others' opinions into consideration. Given that the X-Books are still dealing with fall out of Cyclops deciding he'd use Hope and the Phoenix Force to make more mutants without consulting anyone (least of all the people who were being mutated, which means Cyke's become Mr. Sinister. Congratulations!), and Beast deciding it'd be a good idea to grab past versions of the original X-Men without mentioning it to anyone first, it's a valid concern. Too many X-leaders are running around like their infallible these days. There's no resolution, since neither will back down in front of the other. I have to think Storm sees the contradiction when she tells Rachel she'd do it the same way if presented with the situation, but tells Rogue none of them will die on her watch. Unless they're possessed and then she'll tell Psylocke to get busy stabbing, right?
The Jubilee/Logan story works better, though. It makes sense for Jubilee, at the beginning of another big change in her life, to look back at her formative years, to consider who raised her and how. The idea that she still loves food court noodles is important because it emphasizes how the past can stay with you, how you might not change as much as you fear. She'll still be Jubilee, even as a vampire, even as a mother. And Shogo will go through a lot too, but certain things will stick with him, too. I could agree with the person I saw who said Logan was too gentle here, that he'd be more gruff, but being responsible for an entire school could change a guy, smooth down the rough edges a bit. Lopez certainly draws him looking a bit cleaner and more presentable than he usually is.
So let's talk about David Lopez and the artwork. Lopez has the smooth linework I typically enjoy. My major issue in the past was sometimes his faces were too expressive. A smile became a deranged grin or a rictus smile, which doesn't seem to be the case here. I wonder if it's the inkers. I feel like his father was inking him on Hawkeye and Mockingbird, which isn't the case here. It's been a couple of years, though, I could be wrong. There a quite a few things I like her. The dark circles under Rachel's eyes, which I'm assuming are a sign of her concerns about Storm's leadership, though maybe it's her hanging out with John Sublime, based on Storm's pointed comment. On page 17, when Wolverine buys Jubilee's old home for her on the sly, that last panel of him picking up Shogo and saying 'Mum's the word, though.', while Jubes (the mum herself) sleeps in the foreground, that's nice. Reemphasizes that she isn't alone in this. The same way she had many people to look out for her and help her grow, it's still true, and that extends to Shogo as well.
The first panel on page 19. Rogue's falling to her death over a snowy wasteland, and Storm's zooming down to catch her. You can just barely make out the lines Lopez drew fro Rogue's outline against the mountain. But she's colored the same as the background, rather than the green of her outfit. I don't know if that's a mistake, that nobody told Cris Peter to keep an eye out for a tiny Rogue in that panel that should be colored differently, or if it's deliberate. As it stands, at first glance, it looks like Storm is diving after nothing, that she's so far behind Rogue you can't even see her. Which makes it more impressive when she grabs her in the next panel. Really a sense of speed there. Also a nice touch in the catch panel, the speed lines don't fill the whole panel, just the area in a straight line around Rogue and Storm. Because it's the wind current Storm generated specifically to carry her down there, so it wouldn't be all over the place, it would be focused on her. Also, that was a great eye-roll he gave Psylocke on page 8. That is some marvelous exasperation on display.
Next issue, the fun's over, because it's time for a stupid even tie-in! My attempts to avoid Bendis were for naught, but maybe I'll get to see a Cyclops die. That could be fun.
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