Mystique: Drop Dead Gorgeous

I love Mystique (comic-book Mystique, not film). I mean I really love Mystique. I must have a fetish for evil women. And trust me, even in books like this one where Mystique is the protagonist, she’s still evil. In fact, if I had to offer up just one complaint about this book it would be that they tried to tame Mystique down for the role, make it a bit easier for kids to swallow. Lucky for me, I get to offer up more then one complaint though. Where to start…

I guess, being a huge fan of a character allows for much disappointment when the character is handled different ways by different people. So how’s the art? It’s Ok, but it didn’t really do Mystique justice. In fact, I have to say that the hottest chick in the graphic novel by far wasn’t Mystique, not even in a different form. Why would you do that?

Ok, time for the storyline. Professor X has some black ops stuff he needs done so he finds Forge to assist him in recruiting Mystique in a mission vital to … wait for it…the survival of mutants…surprise! So Mystique hops a plane to head south of the border and glorious shape-shifting fun ensues. Kinda.

Spoiler

Mystique actually heads to Cuba where a high ranking general has scored some cold war era Soviet knock-off Sentinels which he plans to use to reduce Cuba’s mutant population down to zero. Mystique slips her way into the operation only to run into a group of guerilla warriors who have broken into a military complex to rescue some kidnapped muties.

Mystique does some killing only to find that the Sentinels have been launched and the only way to stop them from destroying all the mutants in Havana is to kill a little girl mutant who has been rigged to control the Sentinels. Moral dilemma ensues. But our hero can’t be killing little girls in comic books so the girl’s older brother does the dirty deed to the relief of Mystique.

See, Mystique was a hero because she rescued a bunch of mutants and had a hand in destroying some evil Sentinels. Well, if you know the more recent history of Mystique, you’ll know that Marvel wizened up and gave Mystique her claws back.

So overall, how was the book? It was Ok, but like I said being a fan of a character can often lead one to disappointment, so keep that in mind as you take in this review’s scores.

Story
Artwork
Value
Can It Stand Alone
Cool Factor
Average