Posted in: Comics, Recent Updates | Tagged: Comics, dark horse comics, Duane Swierczynski, entertainment, Eric Nguyen, X: Volume One Big Bad

Beyond 90's Vigilante Nostalgia In X: Volume One's 'Big Bad'

By Jared Cornelius

It'd been a long time since I'd heard of the Dark Horse Comics character X.  I was aware the character existed, I remember whispers of him in the 90's as a dark brooding vigilante when such things were as common as air, but I never had the urge to find out more about him.  I would read my Aliens omnibus and look at the solicitations in the back and be reminded he existed, but it wasn't till I was handed a copy of Duane Swierczynski and Eric Nguyen's first volume of the re-launched series that I'd have any interest in the character.

Titled "Big Bad", the trade collects issues 0 through 4 of the character's new series.  I have to admit when I first looked at it, all I could see was another dark vigilante that people loved so much in the 90's.  So in deciding to review this I'd have to check my cynicism at the door, and just appreciate that I didn't have nostalgia hanging over my head either.  It was a refreshing feeling going into a book with no bearings on who this character was or what the continuity would be.  But as unshackled as I felt, I really had a hard time shaking the fact that the character would probably feel contrived.  I mean, dark brooding vigilante, check.  Single letter name commonly associated with another popular franchise, check.  But the old adage holds true: don't judge a book by its cover.

Right away we're introduced to disposable mob bosses who've been marked with the X-Killer's signature crossed out photograph.  The mobsters attempt to devise a way to draw this mysterious vigilante out into the open, but we can all guess how well that turns out for them.  Issue zero is almost entirely from the mob member's point of view, and does a nice job of making X feel like a credible threat, we also get a healthy introduction to the amount of violence that punctuated the rest of the book, beheading, car bombs, stabbings: X features a rather prominent use of red splashed across the pages.  We pick up and are introduced to Leigh Ferguson, who for most of the book acts as our narrator. Leigh is a journalist/blogger who goes by the moniker Muckraker, think: a lady Ben Urick from Daredevil or Spider-Man.

Some might think having Leigh tell the story is a mistake, but it ends up moving the story along without clichéd dialog from the hero about truth, justice, or revenge.  Leigh introduces us to the run down metropolis of Arcadia. From the narration and art we're led to believe that it's an amalgam of New York and Gotham City at their worst.  Leigh informs us Arcadia is broken at almost every level, from the politicians at the very top, to the scumbag drug dealers and mobsters running the slums.  Ultimately Leigh gets wrapped up in the cities corruption and falls under the protection of X after she helps him.

Swierczynski should be given some real credit for making X seem like more than just a Batman knockoff.  While it is true that X in his entirety ends up being a lot of combinations, right down to the fact he seems to be an amalgam of Batman and the Punisher.  The story never fell flat and ended up feeling closer to the continuing adventures of Rorschach then just a Punisher rip off.  The tone of the book is a very modern take on dissatisfaction with politics with callbacks to the Occupy movement.  Swierczynski never left me feeling bored. Even in the story's down moments it always felt deliberate and that there was a cohesive plan to watching our narrator work out her detective skills.  My only real problem with the book is our "big bad" for the story felt a little on the nose.  I won't spoil it for you, but suffice to say you'll know the exact moment the story arc's antagonist appears.

Nguyen's art really complements Swierczynski's story, with the violence feeling stylized and uncomfortable at the same time.  A sea of red in one panel leads to sinew and vanes in another making the violence feel real and deliberate.  It's a different kind of violence than say, something like Crossed. The whole book isn't dedicated to horrific violence but when it happens, it feels like it belongs.  Nguyen also makes Arcadia feel like an authentically terrible place. The brightest colors that appear across the city are either squad car lights or viscera from a battle.

X ultimately feels like a lot of combinations, but combinations done the right way.  "Big Bad" is not unlike a pretzel roll, or a breakfast burrito.  Both things are fine on their own, but you can combine Batman and Punisher, or Gotham and New York to create something that's familiar, but unique in its own way.  X does stumble in a few spots, but the stylized art and loss of super hero tropes ends up making this a great mash-up.  If you'd be into the idea of Frank Miller's Daredevil with 2013 as the backdrop, give X a try.

Jared Cornelius is some guy from New Jersey's coast who's waiting for the darker grittier Shadowhawk series re-launch.  If you'd like to brood contact him on Twitter @John_Laryngitis.

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