X #18
Dark Horse Comics
Words: Duane Swierczynski
Art: Eric Nguyen

I mean, just, wow.  This book, man it just keeps getting better and better.  These Skin Traders, they’re legit.  And Heide, that little piggy.  Who knew way back in the first issues of this series he would turn out to be just a sadistic jag.  And X!  Finally getting some insight into how he can take all the punishment he’s taken so far.

So I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, but there’s just so much awesome crammed into these pages every month, it’s hard not to get a bit excited.  So let me slow down a bit.  First up: these Skin Traders.  What the hell man?  I have no idea what’s happening with them, but one old boy took a solid X boot shot to his piggy package and nothin’.  In his words “… I’m dead down there.”  Wha?  Dayum.

Next up:  X gets skinned!  I mean… I just… slice!  Right off his face.  I mean, you just don’t see that a lot in comics today.  But that’s when we start to learn a bit about X.  Through Heide’s trial and error.  Turns out not much can hurt X’s skin.  Why?  We don’t know yet.  Of course, his skin likes to stay on his own face and doesn’t play well when grafted to others, but hey, you can’t win ‘em all, right?

Third up: (Third?  Yeah, third.) X’s escape.  I know we’ve seen X take some punishment before.  But that scene is just brutal.  And let’s just say, Heide has harvested more than just a sample of skin from his face.  Geesh.

Fourth:  That “dream” sequence.  Man, Mr. Nguyen, that is some deliciously disturbing imagry.

Again, nothing but respect for the story telling of Duane Swierczynski and the art of Eric Nguyen.  Violent, compelling, and oh so addictive.

4.5 out of 5 Nut Shots