REVIEWS-Mystique #1

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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (** stars) MYSTIQUE #1, a MARVEL Comics ongoing series CREDITS: Written by Brian K. Vaughan. Art by Jorge Lucas. SYNOPSIS: Xavier begins his recruitment of one of the X-Men's most dangerous villains in the most non-manga of the Tsunami books complete with hot Joseph Linsner covers. RELEASED:** 4/23/03 COVER PRICE (USA): $2.99 YOUR ALTERNATE REALITY PRICE: $2.54	"...Even if this type of story isn't your cup of tea the art will make you change your mind"

Review by Lawrence Evans The second Tsunami title by Brian Vaughan is just as good as the first. The first part of 'Drop Dead Gorgeous' begins in Moscow with a hyper detailed depiction of the Kremlin. When we turn the page we get another fabulous page showing a woman in a sheer dress jumping out of one of the building's windows. The dress leaves little to the imagination but as we ogle her another player enters the scene and demands what she has stolen. She refuses and dies because of her decision. Vaughan jumps us across the ocean and plops us into the Xavier School where Charles is giving an interview with Ted Koppel before learning of the death of the woman. It seems she was working for Charles in an undercover capacity. With the world knowing the existence of mutants and Charles being outed as one he felt the need to start an undercover operation that would do in the shadows what X covered mutants could not. This leads us to a meeting between Charles and Forge in which his aid is needed to find that purple skinned mutant herself, Mystique. Another jump places us in Washington where Mystique is doing her own thing in a most effective sequence that makes fun of Alias (the show) and closes with a bunch of men with guns waiting to kill our almost hero. Vaughan keeps things jumping around in the style of most classic thrillers. His dialogue is slick and self-aware without being pretentious. His story is aided immensely by the spectacular art of Jorge Lucas. Lucas started as a Kirby clone but has long since moved past that. His pages are densely packed with detail and his women are as hot as they come. The Tsunami line has been described as a manga line but when this book was announced Joe Q. himself said that Lucas was more of a European stylist than a manga inspired one. Even if this type of story isn't your cup of tea the art will make you change your mind.

MYSTIQUE © 2003 Marvel Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.
Review © 2003 Alternate Reality, Inc.