X-Men by Brian Wood vol. 2: Muertas

My first thought after reading this:  “Well, that sure was six issues of ‘X-Men’ by Brian Wood.”  The female-centric X-title kicks off its second volume with the return of Lady Deathstrike.  Now existing as a digital personality, she offers the idle rich a chance to indulge in supervillainy for the right price.  This is what drug empire heir Ana Cortes has managed for herself and now she’s looking for upgrades.  Problem is that the one she wants is not only in the hands of the X-Men, but this “upgrade” happens to be the Arkea intelligence that the team fought to a standstill in the previous volume.  Though her initial attempt to obtain it is unsuccessful, it only leads her to team up with the likes of Typhoid Mary and the Enchantress until she succeeds in her aims.  Once Arkea is back online, this new Sisterhood should prove to be unstoppable.

That’s the basic idea behind this volume and the execution is surprisingly dull coming from Wood.  The plotting is straightforward without any surprises while the whole arc feels bloated at six issues.  Though the action scenes look nice in the parts illustrated by Terry Dodson and Clay Mann (more for the former than the latter), Kris Anka’s work never really gets above “satisfactory.”  Add in dialogue that is more expository than anything else and I wind up feeling nostalgic for the days when I was reading about proto-mutants and their relationship to mutant identity.  I like the idea behind the new Lady Deathstrike and Ana’s realization that she has gotten in way over her head here, but that would’ve been better suited to a more focused two-issue arc than the mess we got here.  In the end, only one thing from this volume really sticks in my mind:  How did the “Muertas, Part One of Six” title in the beginning and the “Ghosts, Part One” that pops up halfway make it past editing in both the comic and the trade paperback?  One suspects that the editor was just too bored to care.