It's a pretty good trick, when you think about it, to slip an all-but-naked supermodel into a movie series aimed at kids -- and get away with it because, well, it's part of her superpower, after all. Marvel Comics had to know that putting Rebecca Romijn Stamos into the X-Men franchise as Mystique -- and changing her trademark costume of nondescript gray into blue paint and a few bumpy stick-on prosthetics -- would generate all kinds of interest in the character.

A solo book was inevitable and, since it's hard to write sympathetic material about a villain, so was her sudden transformation into a force for good ... if only temporarily. The question is, how well does Mystique stand up as a stand-alone book, without the benefit of a naked model to capture the readers' attention.

Not too shabby.

First, writer Brian K. Vaughan avoided the Catwoman syndrome, in which a villain experiences a sudden change of heart and becomes a hero instead. Mystique is backed into a corner, faced with immediate death and, at the last moment, offered a temporary reprieve -- if she goes to work for X-boss Charles Xavier.

But no, that doesn't mean she's an X-Man. Mystique is asked to work in the shadows as a covert operative, a job for which she is perfectly suited because of her shapeshifting abilities.

The book, beautifully and colorfully illustrated by Jorge Lucas, begins with an exciting bit of espionage in Moscow -- and the death of Xavier's former spy in a blundered operation. The process of procuring and persuading Mystique follows, and the story drags quite a bit before Xavier and former X-ally Forge get it all sorted out. But then, finally, Mystique is off to Cuba, where former Soviet Sentinels are back in working order, and mutants are on the endangered species list.

The story plays a little loosely with Mystique's abilities. For instance, it turns out she can shift her vital organs down into her lower torso so that bullets pass through her upper body without harm. She can make "pockets" inside her abdomen to make smuggling firearms into secured areas easier. She can even split her head in two and double her number of functional limbs to become a juggernaut of shooting and killing.

All in all, it's a bit much. Characters lose interest when their powers get racheted up so high that they're darn near unstoppable.

But, overlooking Mystique's power boost, the story itself is interesting, exciting and, every now and again, tense. The story ends with a shadowy figure to draw readers back for the second chapter, and since Mystique is still in Xavier's employ by the end, I guess I'll read further to see how it goes.

by Tom Knapp
Rambles.NET
29 July 2006