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Son of M #1
Review posted: 29 Dec 2005
Writer: David Hine
Artist: Roy Allan Martinez
Publisher: Marvel Comics
4.00 out of 5 Stars
Reviewed by Adam White
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What’s this? Another Marvel book getting high marks?
Throughout the last month it feels like I’ve been reading books
from some “Earth-2” Marvel considering the shift in the
quality of their books. It’s also quite interesting that so
many good books have been spun out of such a dreadful miniseries like
House of M, yet Marvel has another one in Son of M,
which considerably exceeded my expectations.
The main conflict in Son of M comes not from some
slugfest-of-the-week but from within Pietro himself, and you rarely
see that in a superhero book.
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David Hine, a relative newcomer to comics as far as I can tell,
constructs a psychologically revealing story about Pietro Maximoff,
the former Quicksilver, dealing with the loss of his mutant powers
after the whole House of M debacle. Hine’s Pietro
reflects on his recent choices and has serious trouble dealing with
the consequences of no longer being the fastest man on Earth; he also
reviles being a normal human, something that he has long felt himself
above (gets that from his father, I’d wager). Spider-Man also
puts in his only interesting appearance of the year, and Hine shows
that he would be a good choice down the road (or sooner) to take over
one of the Spidey titles by deftly handling both Peter’s inner
turmoil and his witticisms while beating on thugs. Hine has stepped
up his game on Son of M, and the last scene of this issue alone
is worth buying the book for (Pietro’s confrontation with
Spider-Man).
Roy Allan Martinez is another find by Marvel and a wise choice for
artist on Son of M. Most of the time Marvel chooses
“hot” or pseudo-manga artists for their X-related
spin-offs, so Martinez’s realistic style is a nice change of
pace and helps ground the book in reality. Martinez’s gritty,
unshaven Pietro stumbles through his daily life and looks visibly
haggard throughout — Martinez not only depicts Pietro’s
physical and mental uncertainty but also provides an appropriately
pathetic fight scene as well as a dynamic Spider-Man. Martinez should
be getting the press that Marvel wastes on certain young
guns that don’t have an ounce of the talent Martinez
displays in Son of M — he’s exactly the type of
artist that’s going to help build any decent future for Marvel.
The main conflict in Son of M comes not from some
slugfest-of-the-week but from within Pietro himself, and you rarely
see that in a superhero book, let alone one from Marvel. Hine and
Martinez have put together a great miniseries here and have set the
groundwork for much bigger and better things for both Pietro and
themselves. I hope to see them continue as a team beyond Son of
M, whether continuing Pietro’s stories or working on
something else entirely different (Spider-Man?). Regardless,
Son of M is well worth picking up.
—CCdC—
Cover image used without explicit permission in accordance with the "Fair Use" provision of US copyright law.
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