Product Description: Welcome to Mutant Town, the dark corner of New York City where the long arm of the law has been severed clean. Here, the mutant population doesn't sport GQ style or champagne dreams. They eke out each day in squalid tenement rows and filthy streets where only one man and one law can be trusted: the X-Man Bishop.
Not as good as other superhero cop dramas ^ District X has an average story and the main characters are the villains more than the heroes, including Bishop, who does not get a lot of face time in this book. For more interesting stories and more action, check out Alan Moore's Top Ten or Bendis's Powers series.
The Marvel Universe's NYPD Blue ^ Looks like Marvel Comics is trying to capitalize on some form of 1990s nostalgia by publishing titles featuring the likes of Cable, Deadpool and now Bishop. Yeah, nothing like attempting to return these third rate characters into the spotlight where alongside the majority of the properties created by the Image Comics founders, it symbolizes not only what was wrong with the X-Men franchise but comics in general during the last decade.
Marvel Comics is simply taking the ball from where DC fumbled it with Gotham Central which is nothing more than a redundant Batman spin-off series dashed with crime drama. Writer David Hine has hooked me with the idea of a police precinct that protects and serves a district that is inhabited by mutants. These are not the kind who are beautiful like Emma Frost or who have grand gifts in the style of Wolverine and Magneto. What we find residing in this ghetto are people who may appear human but could have a genetic DNA that is frog like or who may have tree roots growing out of them whenever they fall asleep. Hardly efficient even less practical for a regular lifestyle. However, these misfits must still obey and adhere to the laws that govern New York City. Enter the X-Men's Bishop.
The mullet sporting Bishop has been retooled from a freedom fighter of the future to a Shaft like federal officer who has been assigned to aid the District X police precinct. David Hine has instantly given the character purpose and while he briefly appears in the first issue, the second instalment demonstrates that he can be interesting when the one dimensional, angst gun toting side of his persona is buried somewhere back in the 1990s. The appeal of the series thus far is not on Bishop himself but on police officer Ismael Ortega (a non mutant) and how he must deal with issues such as domestic disputes, drug dealers as well as a possible gang war involving oddly empowered citizens. Ortega's own personal experience with the day-to-day hardships that mutants and their loved ones endure in our society is an aspect that Hine will hopefully explore further in subsequent issues.
While the partnership between Ortega, Bishop and the other law officers has all the ingredients of a good cop title, it is Hine's ability to give the reader a human aspect to the people afflicted with an aberrant genetic mutation that makes the series a worthwhile read. You are not asked to feel sorry for the folks that are living in the neighbourhood but to understand why they are in a situation that they have not chosen to be in.
Like Hine, David Yardin is another creator in which this series is my introduction to his work. Very impressive. There is a realistic sensibility to his style that makes the setting and characters authentic. There is some great background in many panels and I enjoy the minute details such as how the clothes fall into place as well as how the creases logically follow the postion of the body. The anatomy and facial features are all distinct and well rendered. No 'John Byrne' rubber stamping here where Steve Rogers resembles Hank Pym or Sue Richards is Wanda Maximoff's twin sister if you catch my drift.
The panel designs are straightforward ranging from four to seven per page but Yardin's skills shines where he structures them to maximize a certain scenario or event. The reader easily grasps the focus of what is transpiring throughout the script with Yardin's sense of lens view. This makes the story flow in a clear and concise manner which does not make the reader frustrated by turning back the pages to examine the events again.
While many tunnel visionned fanboys regard Claremont's return to Uncanny as the best title out of the 'X-Men Reload Era', they would not be parroting such false claptrap if they actually bothered to read District X. With Grant Morrison's departure from the X-Men franchise, David Hine & David Yardin are filling a much needed void to spin a fresh perspective and forward momentum about mutants in the Marvel Universe.
District X: X marks the spot! ^ An amazing combination of brilliant, convincing dialogue by Hine and explosive graphics by Yardin & Co. There is Brooklyn and the Bronx. Then there's District X, a section of Manhatten filled with regular mutants, working the hussle of everday life. Follow the story of Ortega, a family man, a rookie cop, exiled from Cuba because his parents were the only thing worse than mutants: poets! His new partner is guess who? No other than the ex X-Man Bishop. These 6 first issues, bound handsomely by Marvel Knights, will delight and entrance all who glipse its glossy pages. Git down on it!
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