Bishop War College #3
Sasha Kaplan
Recap
TWO BISHOPS, TWO PASTS—AND ONLY ONE LEADS TO THE FUTURE! Back on Krakoa, Blightswill is sweeping the island, poisoning mutant-kind’s sentient paradise. The trainees Bishop left behind are outnumbered and outpowered. Trapped underground and leaderless, can they band together to save their home, or is Orchis’ long game finally about to pay off?
Review
Bishop is having a day. First drills go wrong. Now he’s stuck in a different world where he’s not a soldier, and everyone seems to be doing much better than his 616 counterpart. But he’s still missing Tempest. But he has the help of the Professor X of this world, which seems to be a mix in terms of history and trajectory, while still serving as one of the parallel worlds of the multiverse.
Meanwhile, Moira continues to be a grade-A pain in the know when her plans are finally revealed. But will the Struckers deliver? That is the question. They continue to have the upper hand as they run around the tunnels under Krakoa.
The art feels more like a painting of various panels than sketches, giving a unique texture to the comic. And several panels and the shading around Moira in those panels note how devious her plan really is, even if she could have been more expressive.
Once again, we are given a split-stream perspective, going between what’s happening on the 616 Earth and wherever Bishop is. For Bishop, that’s fine. But particularly for the newly introduced characters, the author is very much running with the assumption that readers are familiar with all of the new characters. But aside from Armor and Surge, it is a struggle to remember them all. They feel a little raw, like their full potential is still waiting.
Not a particularly action-packed sequence, but the story progresses slowly while juggling four different perspectives. Bishop! His Team! The Struckers! And Now Mutant Hater Moira. Time will tell how the story will unravel, but I hope it picks up the pace.
Will Bishop fight himself? Will he find Tempest? And will the Struckers get what they’re looking for? The story needs to move forward. I would like to see more of this new earth Bishop is on, but that’s not the focus of the story when perhaps it should be. If the story is called Bishop War College, and yet it is about Bishop and the War College, and the two have yet to meet again.
What started as an intriguing story about Bishop that borrowed from some classic X-men is possibly just becoming another Krakoa-era comic.
Final Thoughts
The issue fills in some blanks while finally moving Bishop's story forward. But it doesn't hold the same interest as it did at issue 1. Here's hoping Bishop either finds Tempest soon or gets tossed into another parallel world. You know? Just for fun!
Bishop’s Slow Paced Adventure: Bishop War College #3
- Writing - 6/106/10
- Storyline - 6/106/10
- Art - 6/106/10
- Color - 6/106/10
- Cover Art - 5/105/10
