X-Terminators #1 Mood. In fact, it is a group of moods. There’s a girls’ night vibe that comes from gathering transgender party girls Dazzler, Jubilee, and Boom-Boom together at the bar. Then there’s the grindhouse vibe that comes from saying that trans party girls are molded by blood-fighting vampires and other monstrous creatures. The pair pull together well, cutting each other’s expectations and excesses to create a balanced comic book blend that proves fun to read and that stands apart from the more frank stance of the rest of the current X. Men’s line.
This first problem couldn’t be more clear about what readers are preoccupied with X-Terminators. The front page is a graphic warning “for mature audiences only” (promise?) that the case contains raw humor, partial nudity, violence, and populist booms acting like “absolute idiots.” The issue then offers two pages to prove his case, beginning with a close-up of the word “praxis” in pink letters on the back of Dazzler’s shorts before zooming out to display in a version of her brightly shaped disco-era costume. She skates through pools of blood while battling a horde of vampire-like monsters.
In the comics, moving to grindhouse usually means images that lean into a dark, gritty area with intense shadows and muted colours. Artist Carlos Gomez and colorist Brian Valenza fight this trend. The X-Terminators The cast consists of three mutants with light and/or blast-based powers. The art team uses both the characters’ powers and brightly colored patterns to subvert expectations of what a book should look like, by ripping out the expected darkness with light in a way reminiscent of the neon use of neon.
Using the expectations set by the opening pages, the creative team is free to present these characters in a new light that you won’t see in typical superhero stories, which often lean toward a PG rating. You wouldn’t expect to see Jubilee drawn in garter stockings, or Boom-Boom in an outfit that Jubes describes as “if Barbie was a sex addict,” but here they are and it just seems natural to both the characters and the atmosphere. A Grindhouse in the wrong hands could be an excuse to indulge in the artist’s most cherished cheesecake impulses, but Gomez doesn’t fall into that trap. This is not to say that his work is not sexy, but it does not transparently manipulate the male gaze.
Likewise, writer Leah Williams gets away with some dialogue that, even if it’s written in “whistle” characters as it is here, likely wouldn’t fly into a typical Marvel Comics heroine story. Writers often use the label “parent counseling” as an excuse to drop a curse word or two, but Williams turns the profanity into character. Jubilee’s quick use of fire is especially fun without coming at the character’s expense.
This issue has some storytelling problems. There is at least one sound effect that simply seems out of place, and a few things that include Jubilee and a huge truck don’t fully follow. Even more confusing is the introduction of a purple, eyeless creature. Dazzler finds the creature and treats it with both awe and surprise at finding a cat. The story should not immediately explain itself or reveal all its secrets, but this is an example where it is not clear whether readers should actually be familiar with the creature or if there is more. But the issue has its high points, too, from an iridescent dance scene to a perfectly crafted sequence of Boom-Boom feeding a time bomb to a sewer monster.
X-Terminators #1 Delight. Williams is tapping into her strengths by pairing a simple, yet soothing plot with strong character, sense of humor, and a tangible sense of atmosphere, with Gomez and Valenza bringing the visual goods to back it all up. If you’re looking for some mutants to show you the wrong way to have a good time (and who isn’t?), X-Terminators is where it is.
Posted by Marvel Comics
on me September 21 2022
written by Leah Williams
art through Carlos Gomez
Colors Brian Valenza
Messages by Travis Lanham
cover by Federico Vicentini
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