Way Of X #3
Nightcrawler gets hammered at the Gala and makes some interesting discoveries the next day in Way of X #3, by writer Si Spurrier, artist Bob Quinn, colorist Java Tartaglia, and letterer Clayton Cowles. Spurrier makes the interesting decision to set this Hellfire Gala issue after the Gala, and it pays off pretty well.
Nightcrawler drinks the night away at the Gala, waking up the next day with a massive hangover, one which Doctor Nemesis helps him get rid of. At the Gala after-after Party on Mars, Pixie asks Legion to help Loa and Mercury have psychic sex. Back on Krakoa, Nightcrawler sees a mysterious person in a cloak handing stuff out. He grabs them only to find it's Stacy X, who takes him to the Bower, basically a brothel for mutant couples. On Mars, Pixie and Legion discover Onslaught in Los and Mercury and chase him to Krakoa, where he intrudes on Nightcrawler and Stacy X as she reveals the treasure of the Bower- mutant babies that were left there, cared for by Lost. Onslaught takes control of Lost but is driven out. Afterward, everyone has a drink to discuss the situation, and with Stacy X making a point about them doing something they've all never done before by getting Nemesis to ask Dazzler to dance.
Spurrier quickly establishes the theme of this book- sex. The first law of Krakoa is for mutants to multiply, and it's a question that an increasingly drunk Nightcrawler wrestles with throughout the Gala, talking to everyone about it. It keeps going from there- Loa and Mercury can't have sex because of the interaction of their powers, Stacy X runs a brothel that doubles as an orphanage for the children of trysts, Fabian Cortez likes the person he's having sex to wear a Magneto helmet. This book doesn't shy away from the subject, and the way Spurrier weaves the theme throughout the whole issue is very well done.
Using that theme, he develops the plots he's been working on- showing more about Onslaught, going a little bit more in-depth with who Lost was, and Nightcrawler realizing more about what he's trying to do. It's all very interesting, and it works well. There's a lot of plot in this issue, a lot of characters, and moving parts, and they all work together, moving in concert to tell a great story. Spurrier's building up a nice regular cast for this book, and it's cool to see him play them off each other.
Quinn's art isn't the best in the world, but it's not bad either. He and colorist Tartaglia produce some incredible visuals for the scene in Loa and Mercury's heads, and there's a cool fight scene between Lost and Fabian Cortex in the Bower. There's nothing spectacular, but it's all pretty solid and gets the point across.
Way of X #3 takes an interesting approach with the Hellfire Gala in that it barely even shows it. Spurrier knows he has to do something with it, but he uses it as set dressing for the story he's trying to tell in this book, which was the right thing to do. It all works out very well, and this book is a pretty good read. Quinn's art is solid but not great, and it works well enough. This is almost like the anti-crossover crossover issue, and it's fun for that reason.
