Prey
Credits:
Jay Faerber (writer), Matt Smith, Nelson DeCastro, Yancey Labat, &
Darren Auck (pencilers), John Czop, Jason Martin, & Rodney Ramos
(inkers), Kevin Tinsley (colors), Comicraft (letters)
Summary:
Using her telepathy, M is able to fend off DeLaCorte’s psychic
influence. M tries to expose DeLaCorte to the local police, but he’s
immune to sunlight. That night, she’s attacked by Tabby, a girl
DeLaCorte “turned” earlier. She impales Tabby on a stake, then seeks
out DeLaCorte in his office. His secretary, Mrs. Hilmersson, exposes
herself as a vampire and covers DeLaCorte’s escape. Eventually, M
catches up with DeLaCorte and impales him on a building’s spire.
Following his death, the school closes down and M returns to the
Massachusetts Academy.
Continuity Notes:
According to M’s research, being bitten doesn’t make you a vampire
(unless you’re actually killed), but does enable the vampire to mentally
control you. As for DeLaCorte’s ability to withstand sunlight, he
credits a process credited by Captain America villain Baron Blood.
Review:
Jay Faerber concludes his run, and as I suspected, there’s no room to
resolve any of the ongoing subplots he left growing in the background.
I suppose he could’ve resolved this vampire plot in just a few pages
and spent the rest of the issue rushing through Adrienne Frost’s story
arc, or providing some resolution to the romantic entanglements amongst
the team, but that would’ve surely shortchanged all of the storylines.
Instead, he devotes the entire issue to M, who narrates the story in
what I’m assuming is an homage to Buffy.
Her unwillingness to call in Generation X for help is treated as an
intentional plot point, driving home the idea that M is determined to
move away from the team. Unfortunately, the story doesn’t give her much
of an arc to go through, so her decision to return to the school at the
end feels largely arbitrary. The extremely inconsistent art, which
makes M sometimes unrecognizable, doesn’t help things either. Not a
great issue to go out on, but Jay Faerber’s stint as writer is still a
clear highlight of the book’s run.
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