My Rating
“This Book Is Gleefully Stupid”
Kidnapped by Dazzler’s douchebag ex-boyfriend—slash vampire pretty-boy—Boom-Boom, Jubilee, and Dazzler have already fought their way through what can best be described as a vampire-themed American Gladiators. After surviving monster trucks, explosions, and enough flying auto parts to stock a junkyard, the ladies finally crawl from the wreckage and prepare themselves for round two of this ridiculous supernatural death match.
Waiting for them is X-23, and Laura isn’t exactly thrilled with the situation—or everyone’s wardrobe choices. After a short interlude involving some major costume bashing, the girls discover that their vampire captors have another surprise waiting in the arena. Forget monster trucks. It’s time for Fay-magic! Fortunately, this group has never encountered a problem they couldn’t solve with claws, mutant powers, explosives, or some combination of all three.
High above the action, however, the descendants of Dracula have discovered a serious flaw in their little side hustle. The old man doesn’t appreciate anyone conducting unauthorized vampire business under his name. Dracula has apparently heard enough. Time to shut down the games!
Will Boom-Boom ever learn that nuking the situation isn’t always the answer? How much conditioner does your average vampire pretty-boy use anyway? And just what is the regrowth speed of your average Wolverine? Collect the series to find out!
Reviewer Notes
X-Terminators #2 is a very quick read, but writer Leah Williams packs nearly every page with action, blood, ridiculous dialogue, and complete stupidity—and I mean that as a compliment. This series knows exactly what it wants to be. There isn’t much time wasted on complicated mutant politics or philosophical discussions. Boom-Boom, Jubilee, Dazzler, and X-23 are trapped inside a vampire death game, and their solution mostly involves breaking things and making sarcastic comments while doing it.
Blood flies almost as frequently as the appendages in this issue. Laura’s healing factor gives the creative team an excuse to inflict an absurd amount of punishment on her, while Boom-Boom continues to demonstrate why putting explosives in the hands of someone with virtually no impulse control is both a terrible idea and fantastic entertainment. The banter between the women remains one of the strongest parts of the book. Even when the actual plot barely moves forward, their personalities keep everything entertaining.
The artwork is top-notch again and perfectly matches the insanity Leah Williams puts on the page. This isn’t a deep comic book, nor does it pretend to be. The title itself practically warns you: “This Book Is Gleefully Stupid.” Sometimes that’s exactly what I want from a comic. Give me vampires, monster trucks, severed limbs, questionable fashion choices, and Boom-Boom trying to solve every problem with a bigger explosion.
I’m giving X-Terminators #2 four out of five bad outfits.