X-Tinction Agenda #2

By Marc Guggenheim, Carmine Di Giandomenico and Nolan Woodard

There have been many delays with some of these tie-in issues to Secret Wars, but X-Tinction Agenda #2 came out on time this week. This issue gives us the chance to see some “what if” moments and it also builds on some of the characters we met last issue. A battle ensues between friends and we are left with the ripple effects it will cause.

One of the things that works this issue is that Marc Guggenheim writes his characters well. Guggenheim shows Havok being a good leader, which is refreshing. Guggenheim also uses some characters that are often forgotten about in X-Men lore. Karma was pretty awesome this issue and Guggenheim showed us how powerful she can be. There is a good group of characters on this team and it’s nice to see some of them getting the spotlight. The story starts to really show where it’s going this issue and Guggenheim gives us a taste of how a certain villain is going to return. This was a well written issue that was packed with good action.

The pencils this issue are handled by Carmine Di Giandomencio with colors by Nolan Woodard. Di Giandomencio does a better job on this issue than he did on the previous one. His pencils improved and you can tell he has gotten more comfortable drawing the characters. Having said that, there are some panels where characters look extremely thin and unnatural. This is mostly in panels from a distance, but it is noticeable. The action scenes are good, especially the first few pages as Havok’s team attacks Genosha. Havok blasting Rockslide is a cool visual and gets the battle off to a good start. Rachel possessed by the Phoenix shows Carmine doing some of his better work on the issue. You would be hard pressed to find a panel where the Phoenix bird looks bad. The colors by Nolan Woodard fit well with this style of art and are very complimentary to the issue. Many of the costumes stick out due to the job Woodard does. Rachel’s costume is very bright and draws your attention almost every time she’s on a page.

 X-Tinction Agenda #2 was a better issue than the first one. Marc Guggenheim seems to be finding his footing and is setting up a pretty good story. The pencils have improved from the last issue and will probably get better as each book comes out. This may not be one of the huge tie-ins, but it has been a very entertaining one.