By Title: X-Men Gold #16
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writers: Marc Guggenheim
Artists: Lan Medina
Story Rating: 8
Art Rating: 10
Color Rating: 10
Overall Rating: 9.3
The X-Men get visitors from outer space as alien invaders seek their lord and master Kologoth. The mutants are unprepared to face this new threat from beyond the stars. Marvel Comics brings out a new chapter for the mutants when the enemy is out of this world.
Marc Guggenheim builds suspense as the story builds with brief action and stakes. The new threat to the X-Men comes in the form of Kologoth, an alien from the far reaches of space. His empire has reached Earth and in that time retrieves their lord and leaves the planet with ease.
The X-Men respond to the invaders only to be defeated with ease. Kitty Pryde and NightCrawler manage to board the ship when the vessel blasts back into space in the blink of an eye.
The story has good points in terms of action and magnitude of this new alien threat. The unsatisfactory portions come from the lack of exposition behind the alien agenda and the focus of Kitty Pryde’s love life in the comic book.
Lan Medina creates a visual world full of bright colors that shine within every scene. The complementary elements come in the form of realism, line work, and solid inks. Realism takes hold of the style for characters to have distinct appearances in terms of physical profile and facial recognition.
Dark outlines create a stable appearance while bold colors push grand tones of red, blue, yellow, and purple. Creative imagery brings out the full scale of sequential art as these characters move forward in the progression of the story.
Black ink is minimal but significant in developing emotional depth or physical appearance. Shadow can drape over the eyes to bring out emotion or deep thought while highlighting the mold of body structure to apply an intimidating presence.
Overall Medina’s work has a focus for detail while sharing a basic nature. The blend of both art factions projects a unique image one that is easy to understand while being groundbreaking.
In the end the story leads to a cliffhanger one that leaves many questions. How will Wolverine and the X-Men find Kitty Pryde and NightCrawler in the far reaches of the universe? What will Kologoth do now that he has returned to his empire? How will the X-Men ever defeat a race of alien warriors? Find out as the mutants travel near and far in this battle across the universe.
