Review – X’ed #2 (Black Mask)

Publisher: Back Mask Studios
Writer: Tony Patrick
Artist: Ayhan Hayrula
Release Date: 30th March 2016

After what seemed like an endless delay, X’ed finally returns with an information heavy second issue. Using the well known trope of Sepia Tone(tm), we’re greeted with a flashback heavy narrative here, giving us more information on just who Colin the Cerebral Assassin really is, and just how he came to be where he is now.

While it may be full of straightforward twists in the flashbacks, the book hits its stride in the “Onconscious” scenes. Still playing off the Inception idea that there are a myriad of different levels to the brain, the Onconscious is effectively the last stop. So naturally it’s depicted as a down and dirty, old fashioned saloon!

Tony Patrick has a couple of really interesting ideas here, and gives the story a fresh breath that distances it from the obvious comparisons that could be made to other books and films. When we finally get blasted back to the “real present day”, we get to see more interaction between the engineer team, and once again, while the story isn’t necessarily paving any new ground, with a convenient “Lab 2”, it certainly doesn’t detract from the enjoyment of the story.

Patrick manages to maintain the Spy/Action/Sci-Fi feel of the book, and the jumps between different times and realities provide a nice juxtaposition, building on the intrigue of everyone’s back stories.

Visually, Hayrula’s work on the series so far has been beautiful. With a touch of Alexx Maleev and just a hint of David Aja, the clean linework, framed in some fairly straightforward page layouts, is truly impressive. Enough also can’t be said for Doug Garbark on Colouring duties, with block pastels used and sometimes a distinct lack of colour, giving the book a unique feel to it. Hayrula manages to give the three intertwining aspects of the story their own unique aesthetic. When we’re in the mindscape, it’s much more structured, where as in “real life” lots of shadows are used to give the book a much darker feel. Basically, I liked it. Art good.

Overall then, this is a fairly solid second issue, and one which does its best to build on the fast pace of the first. However, it did seem to fall apart slightly during its unwieldy information dump, and I think it was hampered slightly by the significant gap between issues. Pretty minor niggles at the end of the day, and I’m still hooked. Here’s hoping the next one comes out soon!

Rating: 3/5.

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Chris_Avatar The writer of this piece was: Chris Bennett
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