After last month's explosion issue, it is always hard to stay on solid ground with a new story. X took a little different route and decided to give us some character developmental before diving into the next arc. I thought this was a wise choice considering their last villain was a fat dude who needed a skin transplant from a pig. So yeah, you can’t really top that right away. Ferguson and X have decided to make a bond over fighting crime in Arcadia. I really do like this duo. The pair including a tough dude with an innocent girl is a little overdone though. I thought maybe this series would stay away from making Ferguson so weak, but in this issue that proves me wrong. I was pretty disappointed with way things went down with Ferguson. It is very typical of comics to do this. I get that all new sidekicks have to go through this “oh my gosh people are actually dying because of me”, but come on man...grow a pair.
X is dealing with his own problems. He is still pretty hurt from the battle with Berkshire. He must have eaten some rotten pork. X also refuses to rest. He must take on new missions, new people in order to save his town. Ferguson is clearly worried for her sidekick and shows him some compassion, nothing sexually.
Anyway, we get introduced to some very low end criminals, The ‘Rents. This gang steals Berkshire’s list of clients. They start to gain money from these people by posing threats to their families. X was already one step ahead of them by tracing the files before they were even stolen. He sends Ferguson to give them a warning photo with one slash. Needless to say they ignore this warning and proceed to chase down Ferguson. The chase is a pretty cool scene and the ending leads to pretty high explosives. That will always be expected when I read every issue, but still I am like a little kid; I love explosions.
With Dark Horse only having 5 X issues out it is hard to get someone hooked onto a comic so fast. What is even harder is making that reader stay faithful to the series. I didn’t enjoy this issue as much as the others, but I really am starting to get more and more into the comic. I think it has a great backdrop. It is very bloody, which usually keeps me away, but I think the blood is necessary in Arcadia. Without it, the story wouldn’t seem real. I can only hope that the story will get more twisted and tangled into the city’s mess. Oh and I also doubt we will ever get to know who X really is (but really I am hoping we do).
Dark Horse promises us a new story arc coming out in October. This explains why they stuck to a character development issue here. I am sure their next villain will be crazy as shit and lead X into some bad situations. Ferguson better get her act together, because I don’t think X is changing his ways anytime soon, and it would be a shame to see her go.
Score: 3/5
Writer: Duane Swierczynski Artist: Tony Parker Publisher: Dark Horse Comics Price: $2.99 Release Date: 9/11/13