Mystique Volume 1: Dead Drop Gorgeous Tpb (X-Men)

Rating:
Summary: forget the core titles. the fringe is where the quality is
Review: of the past ten or so story arcs i've read among grant morrison's run on new x-men, chuck austen's on uncanny, and chris claremont's on x-treme x-men, not one of them even comes close to the first arc of the solo title mystique, centered on everyone's favorite x-men universe villainess. the core titles' writing has been consistently ridiculously farfetched, slow, or untrue to the characters, and oftentimes all of the above. but vaughan's take on mystique is of the quality of ultimate x-men: loads of great action with surprisingly fresh twists in plot and in characters' powers and personalities. the title has mystique working for xavier as his private 007, and in this first arc she is sent to cuba to avert an international mutant vs human crisis. vaughan's interpretation of mystique's personality is occasionally a bit off and his plot is a bit manipulative at times. he gets mystique's sarcasm and cockiness but doesn't quite successfully figure out how to deal with her sometimes conflicting emotions and motivations. but despite the wobbles on the emotional side (which hopefully will be smoothed out in future story arcs) this one is a definite winner, especially when coupled with some great artwork from jorge lucas. a must read, esp. if you've liked ultimate x-men.