DNX #4: Refusing to Evolve

DNX #4 begins in the alternate future from the Age of Revelation event, with the Beast from X years in the future realizing his mistake in sending his consciousness back into the wrong body.

This makes very little sense, even veering on nonsense, given that Cyclops underwent the same process and his future consciousness seems more dominant in the present while the Chairman’s evil morals seem to have overridden the Beast from X years in the future. Hand-waving aside, all this plot point does is continue to rehash the Age of Revelation.

The characters are treated as mostly talking pieces who provide bland exposition which lacks their individual personalities. DNX’s plot is so convoluted and full of “because I said so” plot devices, like a hidden cure for the X-Virus (who else saw that coming?).

 As seen in the image above, both Human Torch and Ben Liu have very similar faces, while Magneto’s own features are covered in shadow underneath his helmet. There are also a lot of shadows on most of the panels, covering an alarming amount of the page.

These kinds of shortcuts are taken throughout the issue, making DNX’s artwork seem lazily inked. Vicentini’s characters are drawn awkward in most of the scenes, taking up weird portions of a panel. It’s clear this series would’ve benefited from separate pencillers and inkers.

David Curiel’s colors do some damage control, enhancing the texturing and providing meaningful contrast between colors in Vicentini’s constant use of lazy shadowing. The art leans heavily on the colors, putting what comes off as an unfair amount of work on Curiel to carry the visual presentation of DNX #4.