X #0 Review: Great Art and a Cool Story

A bloodied man is held at gunpoint by a masked one-eyed vigilante a top a dangerous precipice. The pair are in the midst of a gutsy midnight storm, and the perpetrator is prostrate on his back as his desperate screams reach the desolate violent winds. This is X, a new kind of ninja superhero, in his first comic book “The Pigs.”

The plot opens with a crime overlord receiving a letter of his own photograph with a thick red X painted over it. This chilling omen had been received before, to which the owner met a grisly death at the hands of a ninja samurai blade. “Fact – Havana Mike received one of these freakin’ photos right before someone turned his face into sushi.” (1) The crime lord, Durac, attempts to thwart X with a look-a-like and a sniper, but X does indeed get what he came for: blood and information.

In the last few pages, X’s character is truly brought to life with his dogged determination and absolute silence. X is consumed with finishing his job: getting through a booby-trapped safe to exterminate his target. As the target mocks X from inside the safe with taunts and insults, X is subjected to Kevlar-eating acid, a barrage of spring loaded razorblades, and a sizzling blast of electricity. Yet he finally breaks through an iron safe with nothing more than a crowbar and brute strength. As he ends his assault as well as his target’s life, the crime lord reveals that X is now much more than a fearful whisper – he is now an infamous yet legendary criminal.

In a first edition to any comic book series, much is expected in the first few pages. The plot must be believable, the characters must be appropriate, and the artwork must match the words. In any comic book, it is truly the art that gives the book the edge and desire factor.

The artwork for this comic does indeed match the tone of the story. The colors are neutral and drab, with very little kick or vibrancy. The boldest color red is reserved for blood spatters and wounds, as well as for X’s cape and mask. Yellow is only used in depicting gunfire and explosions. Blue is used once in the entire comic book for violent bolts of electricity. The limitation of colors in the novel is an excellent way to provide drama to the story when an extra oomf! is needed.

The plot resembles a mixture of Batman and Daredevil, with a single vigilante taking matters into his own hands to serve the morbid justice he deems fit. His signature is unique, marking his targets with a red X across their photograph. His style is ruthless, using crowbars and car bombs. His methods are simple, attack and kill. But due to the ending of this novel prequel, X’s career has become much more complicated.

The 26-page comic serves as a teaser for more to come. It’s intent was merely to set the stage for readers to anticipate the next comic in the series, “X returns…in X #1 – Fight or Flight!” which was released on May 8, 2013.