Sabretooth #4
Sabretooth and company get closer to their destiny in Sabretooth #4, by writer Victor LaValle, artist Leonard Kirk, inker Craig Yeung, colorist Rain Beredo, and letterer Cory Petit. This one reads quickly, but there’s a lot going on in it.
Melter’s attack on Sabretooth killed the others, but Third-Eye saved them by pulling their consciousnesses back. He looks for Sabretooth’s mind, but it’s gone inward. Sabretooth manifests in on the island and sees that Mole’s words are working. All of the prisoners meet in Sabretooth’s mind and prepare for their next move. At a meeting between Sabretooth and Doug, Sabretooth makes his case, and Doug makes a climactic decision.
LaValle is killing it so hard on this book. The pacing is pretty quick because all of the big stuff comes towards the end. There’s an interesting little exchange between Skin and the Blob talking about the craziness of being a mutant, and seeing Mole talk to Magma, who has been gone since the early issues of New Mutants, was pretty great. LaValle throws in a lot of great little X-Men flourishes before really getting to the meat of the whole thing.
LaValle has been using this book to comment on the US justice system, and this issue is no different. There’s an infodump page where Third-Eye lets readers in on the crimes of himself and his fellow prisoners, each one pointing out the hypocrisy of the law and making the rather pointed statement that certain people are allowed to break any rule. That one definitely hits the real-world justice system right where it hurts and is true for the comic as well. Third-Eye’s crime was simply trying to get mutants to think about the kids they could have in the giant orgy that is Krakoa, which really strikes a chord with the current situation in the US. The whole book is brilliantly written, making its point as obviously as possible to really get across how terrible the system is. As far as it goes, Sabretooth’s place in all of this has always been the wild card. Sure, he’s been wronged as well, but he is Sabretooth. He shows a bit of heart in this one, and it remains to be seen whether he’ll go crazy or stay somewhat sympathetic.
Kirk, Yeung, and Beredo knock it out of the park on the art. From the first page to the last, there are so many great images. The full-page spread of Sabretooth made of roots is beautiful, and Kirk’s character acting is on point. That’s the key to this issue; so much depends on the reader believing what the characters are feeling, especially Sabretooth. This chapter probably has some of the best art. The pencils, inks, and colors create some amazing visuals.
Sabretooth #4 proves that this is the smartest X-Men book being published. This is a perfect creative team, and the only problem with this book is that it will be over in one more issue.
