Fallen Angels #5 Is a High Bar You Still Can’t Limbo Under

Fallen Angels 5 Kwannon and Betsy swordplay

Fallen Angels has set such a low bar for itself that a baby could crawl over it, so while it’s surprising to find an issue I didn’t hate, I’m not going to say that Fallen Angels #5 is in any way a good comic.  The entire series has been an unmitigated disaster in an otherwise pretty stellar relaunch of the X-Men section of the Marvel Universe. It painfully misunderstands its main characters and has difficulty in properly exploring the themes it wants to.

Fallen Angels #5

Frank D’Armata (colors), Bryan Hill (writer), Szymon Kudranski (artist), Tom Muller (design), VC’s Joe Sabino (letters), Ashley Witter (cover)

Psylocke in front of Cable on the cover of Fallen Angels #5

One thing that makes this better than the previous issues is that it’s not overwhelmingly dark. There are several pages that are well lit and easy to read. After four issues of a book that looked like it was lit and colored by Zack Snyder, this was a refreshing change. That said, it doesn’t really make the art style all that much more tolerable. While this issue doesn’t contain many unnerving close ups, the style still doesn’t sit right with me. On top of that, there are still times when Psylocke is unnecessarily sexualized. Specifically, we have several panels where she and Betsy are doing similar poses with their respective swords, but in each mimicked pose, Kwannon is obviously more objectified.

Betsy and Kwannon kneeling
Can’t have Psylocke without T&A right? Especially comparing her to her white counterpart! SIGH

On that note, I’m elated that Kwannon finally changed out of Betsy’s costume. Based on the cover for Hellions, it seems like this new outfit is short lived, but at least it happened. It’s a much better fit for a stealthy assassin, but then again, the assassins and teevs of the Marvel Universe aren’t really known for their quiet fashion sense. It also seems like after five long issues, this series is finally getting to the point of Kwannon embracing her own identity.

Psylocke's new costume
It’s boring, but at least it’s not a swimsuit, I guess?

In this penultimate issue, for some reason we’re adding two new members to the team, in Husk and Bling! My question is, why? Why bring in two more characters with two issues left in your run? And if you are bringing in new characters to a book titled Fallen Angels, how DARE one of them not be Bill the Lobster? I demand justice for Bill the Lobster.

A green lobster (Bill) and a blue lobster (Don)
Bill and Don the real stars of the original Fallen Angels

Speaking of missing characters, where’s the Silver Surfer? Are we supposed to forget that he showed up at the end of last issue? I mean I wish I could forget this series, but I can’t. Fallen Angels #5 was by far the best issue the series has had, but it’s still one of the worst issues of the Dawn of X era. I can’t wait until issue six comes out and this series is mercifully put down.

 

Advertisements
Cori McCreery

Cori McCreery

Cori is a life long comic nerd residing in Northern California. A life long Supergirl and DC Comics fan, she is the DC Comics Beat Reporter for Women Write About Comics.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Close
Menu
WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com