Age of X-Man: Prisoner X #3
Cody White
Recap
Tensions continue to rise in the prison as we navigate among the prisoners struggling with surfacing memories. An ambiguous narrative treats us to a discussion on the fallacy of memory, memory repression and the nature of Capital T Truth as we see prison fights break out and be quelled and the repressive modality of the prison in full effect.
At the center of all the memory resurgence seems to be Dani Moonstar. To be near Dani is to evoke a moment of clarity, discussed further by the anonymous narrator as the narration shifts into a dialogue with disembodied laughter Bishop has been tracking since the first issue. Finally, in the final pages, we see Bishop as narrator, sitting in his cell, question the motivations of the prisoner in the next cell over, the laughing man, David Haller-- Legion!
Review
Aside from the major reveal on the final page of this issue, there wasn’t a great deal of advancement for the plot of Prisoner X in this centermost chapter. Instead, this issue seemed dominantly focused on teasing out and unpacking some of the themes and central premises of the series in how they relate to a displaced time traveler who questions how his various memories fit together. In essence, this issue and the greater series is a treatise on the trauma of memory, and what better subject of such an exploration than Lucas Bishop, a man whose memories of his ‘past’ derive from a timeline that may never exist if he is successful.
The dominantly grid format used throughout this issue fits beautifully in the attempts to contemplate the nature of Truth and Reality as if they could ever fit into a neat little box. The clean visual narrative, fluorescently lit drives much of this particular issue, slowing down the pace and giving the reader time to digest.
Final Thoughts
Prisoner X continues to be perhaps the most crucial series in the "Age of X-Man" event as it uncovers the dirty underbelly of what it takes to make a Utopia function.
Age of X-Man: Prisoner X #3: The Aetiology of Hysteria
- Writing - 10/1010/10
- Storyline - 9/109/10
- Art - 8/108/10
- Color - 8/108/10
- Cover Art - 8/108/10