Creatures on the Loose Credits: John Francis Moore (plot), Todd Dezago (script), Jan Duursema (penciler), Al Milgrom (inker), Matt Webb (colorist), Starkings & Comicraft (lettering)
Summary
After being teleported away by Legion, X-Factor reappears in a Madripoor harbor. The team is shocked to discover that they’ve landed on top of a spaceship. A giant monster emerges from the ship. When Guido tries to attack it, he’s knocked unconscious. A mystery man takes Guido away while X-Factor continues to fight the alien. At a nearby hotel, the mystery man reveals himself to be a tiny blue alien named Jornick. He’s been running from Lila Cheney, the mutant thief whose treasure he’s stolen. Lila suddenly appears and saves her former bodyguard, Guido, from Jornick. Jornick reveals that the monster in the harbor hatched from an alien egg he stole from Lila. After Lila threatens him, Jornick takes her to the treasure he stole. Lila tries to find a music box she needs, but Jornick has already gotten rid of it. Lila says that she needs it or else an entire star system will go to war. Lila uses her intergalactic teleportation powers to drop Jornick off at her space home. She then goes back to Madripoor and teleports the monster alien back to its home planet. Suddenly, a large spaceship looking for Lila arrives.
Creative Differences
In a very poorly re-lettered balloon, Havok theorizes that Legion must’ve teleported them to the middle of an alien attack in order to keep them busy while he escaped. I imagine this is an attempt to cover the massive coincidence that Legion’s teleportation would lead them to the middle of another adventure with Guido’s ex-employer.
Review
I guess this is supposed to be an attempt to emulate the goofier, less serious comics of the Silver Age. Giant monsters and tiny blue aliens are quite a departure from the character dramas and heavy thematic material of the X-books of this era. Ideally, this would be a nice change of pace for the title, but it turns out to be pretty dull. Most of the dialogue is bland and generic, and Guido’s standard wisecracks just aren’t funny. Really, for a story that’s supposed to be quick and light-hearted, it’s not fun at all to read. Duursema’s art looks rushed, and doesn’t really deliver on the comedy or action scenes. Definitely not the best work of anybody involved.
I agree completely. It' not fun to read at all, it's a chore. And Duursema's art looks terrible. It's a shame this era of the team is closed out with such a weak storyline, because it's soon to get bastardized after AoA and it's not going to get better.
ReplyDelete