About Heroes

Author: Paul Jenkins
Pencils: Ramon Bachs
Inker: John Lucas
Colors: Art Lyon
Cover: Stuart Immonen

NO MORE MUTANTS! Three words that started a chain of events that will take years to recover. I'm not talking about mutants loosing their powers, but endless amounts of miniseries. I wasn't sure how I was going to review this issue, because seriously I was not impressed by this series until the very last issue, but by then it was too little too late. It reads better as a collected piece of work rather than single issues. I did not enjoy this issue by issue, it was a pain to read it and I didn't give a crap about the character of Sally. Rating issue five alone I would have given it a D, but as a whole....well just stay with me.

Spoiler Free Review
As of M-Day 90% of the mutant population have lost their power; by the covers you would think that is the focal point of this series. But guess what sucka? It's not! This book is not about Chamber, Jubilee, or Mirage; it's actually about Sally Floyd, a journalist covering the after math of M-day. So through her eyes is how we see the characters. You know for someone who was close to Jubilee and Angel for what seems to be a long time, it’s amazing we never saw her chilling at the X-mansion; perhaps she was chilling with Forge! But retcon is something I have just grown to live with in comics and in this case it really didn't conflict with any continuity. Combined with her alcohol problem Sally also has to deal with a personal tragedy. The death of her daughter is something of a plot device to make Sally into a believable/all to human character. The series needed a structural devil to deliver what it intended and what better way to do it than a troubled heroine. You could sympathize with her and understand her pain, but it really didn't work. Not for me, well at least until the last issue. I mean how many times have we seen this before?

Along with all her baggage she also had to deal with a lunatic that was murdering mutants. Leaving her notes stating that not enough died. She was being targeted by a crazy mutant (as revealed in issue 3) that was killing his own, while trying to keep her job at The Alternative. It is a mystery who is doing all the killings and why. In issue 4 we are even led to believe some of the clues point to Angel, but it was just a gimmick to get us to read how Angel lost his powers.

As stated previously her latest assignment is the Ex-Mutant Diaries in which she tells the tales of some of the victims of M-day. This is where I also had a problem, Jubilee a character that has been established for well over 15 years and has acted a certain way all the sudden acts like a grown-up. Yes Jenkins can blame it on maturity, but it seems to be more of someone didn't do their homework. Another instance happened when interviewing Marrow, where she started yelling how proud of being ugly and deformed she was. Now this is coming from a character that has always had a desire for beauty. Maybe that is the reason he kept most of the ex-mutants limited to 2 or 3 pages.

Yeah that's right! 2 to 3 pages are all we get to see of Chamber, Jubilee, and Moonstar. I am going to be completely honest the whole reason I picked this series up was my love of characters like Jubilee and Chamber. Those covers are very misguiding and it fools people into buying this book. Towards the end we get some closure and an okay resolution to Sally's problems. As stated earlier I would not have enjoyed this book if not for the ending.

Ramos Bach's pencils are in synch with Jenkins' writing, perfectly pacing the story as it reveals itself. You can tell he put a lot of heart into the emotions that go through Sally in each issue. He does a good job conveying her facial expressions. John Lucas does a phenomenal job with his solid inking which is only complemented by the great Art Lyon and all together they give us a hell of a visual experience. Although the X-men do look a little out of place compare to the rest of the cast in this book, but I think that might have been intended.

This book could have been a one shot, we really did not need a five issue limited series for this story to be told. Half of issue five dealing with Sally's past left me pretty content and the other half dealing with the murder just left a nasty taste in my mouth. Once we find out who the killer is and what his purpose is, we are left with some unanswered questions. C
Click here to read the review with spoilers.