With Marvel mobilizing an army of new mutant titles into the market, it’s fair to ask whether anyone was really begging for a mini-series about a D-list supporting character. Putting aside the argument that every character is someone’s favorite, you can practically hear consumer demand groaning under the weight of all of this material.
That said, I think Madrox avoids the brand of “yet another X-book” in a number of ways.
Jamie Madrox, the central character, is one of the few remaining players in the mutant canon without the kind of convoluted back story that can repel new or casual readers. With only a handful of scattered appearances in the X-Men titles and a short but significant run in X-Factor to his credit, there’s plenty of fresh ground to explore with the character.
He’s also been placed in one of the more promising corners of the Marvel Universe, the Mutant Town neighborhood of New York City. It’s essentially a mutant ghetto, used to striking effect in the ongoing District X.
Lastly, Madrox is being written by Peter David, who was responsible for Jamie’s run in X-Factor. David’s fondness for the character is obvious, and he makes innovative use of Jamie’s fairly straightforward abilities.
Jaime is a mutant who was raised in isolation. When he’s hit or falls, he creates physical duplicates of himself. Participation in the government-sponsored mutant strike force X-Factor and a brief affiliation with Charles Xavier’s X-Corps aside, he’s stayed on the sidelines of the mutant fray. Now he’s set up shop in Mutant Town as a private investigator. Lacking any training in that field, he’s sent duplicates out into the world to acquire skills and knowledge; when they return, he re-absorbs them, gaining their experience.
Someone has tried to murder one of the duplicates. As the badly wounded copy makes his way back to the original, Jaime reunites with two of his X-Factor associates, smarter-than-he-looks bruiser Guido Carosella (“Strong Guy”) and conflicted lycanthropic ingénue Rahne Sinclair (“Wolfsbane”).
This issue is devoted to establishing the scenario, the setting, and the character dynamics, and it does so very effectively. David has a way of explaining given circumstances without resorting to info-dump, and he gives his cast distinct voices. David’s trademark humor is in evidence, but it’s rooted in character and modulated to suit the noir-detective story mechanics. (Even David can’t seem to resist the siren call of the France Joke, though. Can we issue a moratorium on those?)
Art by Pablo Raimondi and Drew Hennessy nicely support David’s work. It’s a fairly talky issue, but they make the most of the visual opportunities. The urban setting and the oddities of Mutant Town are nicely showcased, and the visual representation of Jaime absorbing a duplicate’s memories is particularly impressive. Special credit should go to colorist Brian Reber, who avoids the default noir color palette. He resists the overly shadowy, washed-out quality that can serve as visual shorthand for detective stories. I particularly like the faint red haze in a sequence in a Mutant Town bar.
Madrox #1 is a very solid first chapter for a five-part mini-series. David has created a promising scenario highlighting interesting, underused characters. While it may be another mutant book, it has a solid reason for being, and it’s definitely worth a look. (Added points for quote-checking Sondheim. How cool is that?)