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| Amazing X-Men #19 cover by Jorge Fornes and Rachelle Rosenberg |
Cain Marko is once more the Unstoppable Juggernaut. It is time to test the mettle of the X-Men again, as Juggernaut lines up a showdown with Colossus while holding the rest of the X-Men responsible for the death of his brother, Charles Xavier.
This is a great final issue for the series. We get some humor, some fighting, and nice character-entered writing to cap the arc off. To match this, the art brings a feeling of completeness.
Jorge Forne's art in the opening pages is a brilliant and succinct summary of the sordid story of the Juggernaut. In just a few pages, it helps to bring new or long-time readers up to speed with what has happened between the X-Men and this nemesis over the past few decades. The page detail here and the layout work are worth particular note, as they intertwine four different story points of view at the beginning into one by the summary page's end.
The stylized layout is also very effective at making the pages stand out from the rest of the issue. Following the outcome from the previous issue, we see a great transition in the final page of this opening; we see a page ripped to shreds and are brought back into the present struggle between the Juggernaut and Colossus.
The art from Fornes has matured so much in the course of this story arc. While it is was a definitive contrast from the issues prior to his run, it has really sat well in the pages of Amazing X-Men. Fornes has provided a playful edge to his character depictions, using a not-so-subtle range of facial expressions to bring the story out of the characters. I wasn't familiar with Fornes's work prior to this series but will keep an eye out for it in the future. This has been a good platform for him to flex his artistic talent.
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| And so the story begins... | Meet the main players. |
Rachelle Rosenberg's colors have been consistent and thorough from the first issue to the last. During the colorist's time with this series, a dazzling sense of adventure has permeated each issue. Rosenberg has also adapted well to the different artists who have worked on the series and brought an emotional weight to the various stories presented each month.
Rosenberg's talent was extremely apparent in her work with Ed McGuinnes and Jason Aaron on the return of Nightcrawler. Her colors on the scenes of the afterlife were brilliant. This was again evident on the Anole-focused issue #13, which was one of the series' best standalone stories. I dare to say that if not for Rosenberg's colors the series would not have been as much fun and would have lost a good sense of artistic representation.
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| Death and destruction follow the Ruby of Cyttorak. | Fornes' great art brings readers up to speed on Juggernaut's story. |
Christopher Yost brings the "Once and Future Juggernaut" story arc to a pleasant close in this issue. With much of the action and suspense unleashed in the previous issue, Yost takes his time bringing the series to an end. We get some nice resolution for Colossus in this issue; he offers sentiments in the closing pages concerning the X-Men's plight of always facing certain evil and a tide neverending bad guys that can be translated in a wider sense to Marvel's mutant lineup. Rather than lose hope, Colossus comes to realize that he must make the best of the situation and just keep going.
Over the two arcs that Yost has been involved with, we have seen a distinct change in style in the series. This has helped fill a lack of cross-audience appeal that may have been an issue in some of the other X-Men titles. There was a good deal of fun and silliness that was always a welcome experience each month, and hopefully this can be retained in some of the upcoming books slated for the upcoming "Secret Wars" titles involving the X-Men.
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| The Juggernaut is back for revenge on the X-Men |
Just like that, we are all done with what has been a neat story in Amazing X-Men #19, but we would like to hear what you thought about this issue and arc or the series as a whole. Make sure you leave a comment below or on our Facebook or Twitter and come back to Fanboys for more comic reviews and news.
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