The month of April has wound down and given way to May; the showers have ceased, the pranks have come and gone, and all of the college students are studying for their finals. Well, almost all of them. This one has been doing some typical reading, and fortunately, this week Marvel Comics blessed us with another monthly, mutant-filled issue of X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever. The last time we saw our hero, Bailey Hoskins, he was trying to sort through an encounter with Mystique; she tasked him with killing the world’s most powerful mind-reader, the Professor himself. So where was he this month? What happens next? Why should you care? We look through it all and tell you how great it is in this, our review of X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever #3.
The comic begins with a full page of just Wolverine and a single speech bubble containing the word, “traitor.” Considering Bailey’s recent run in with Mystique, the reader immediate finds their concerns elevated, but of course Max Bemis, the singer of Say Anything and writer of the series, quickly turns things around by making the remark part of a class Wolverine is teaching. After a glance at Bailey’s school life, Bemis takes the reader to a sort of job fair for people with super-powers. With some other mutants, Bailey runs the table for the Xavier School. Determined to find some new students or possibly even a friend, Bailey begins talking to a random girl who hides a game-changing ability. In just a few minutes, his new friend, Miranda, demonstrates her power, making people in the room disappear entirely from existence. Back at the school, Beast approves of Bailey’s new friend and even creates a new level of mutant just for her, leaving Bailey to further question how useless his own ability is. As a result of his wounded pride, Bailey is once again tempted by the dark side, by the brotherhood.
For the third time in a row, Bemis’ humor is fantastic; every other page pokes fun at popular culture or even comic book culture, keeping the reader entertained. However, after reading three issues of this series, this writer is thankful Worst X-Man Ever is only a mini-series. While the plot is still able to keep the reader interested enough to pick up next month’s copy, it is repetitive. We, as readers, are catching on to Bemis’ tricks. We see Bailey’s emotional state go up and down. We know that when he is happy something terrible is going to happen, and we know that when he is down the brotherhood will try to tempt him. My only hope is that Bemis will break his own conventions in the next two issues before concluding the series. Overall, it’s worth reading for the humor and for Bailey as a character, yet the plot is in need of repair.
Until next time, be sure to check out X-Men: Worst X-Man Ever #3!
