[REVIEW] DAZZLER #1

Alison Blaire takes on her most fearsome foe yet —the dreaded, never-ending, mind-numbing culture war— in Dazzler #1.

After her very brief stint in the X-Men at the last Hellfire Gala, Dazzler is back doing what she does best: performing for sold-out crowds of adoring fans. But what’s old is new again in more ways than one, with anti-mutant sentiment back to its pre-Krakoa highs, thrusting Dazzler in the middle of a culture war putting mutants on the defensive. How will one of the world’s most famous mutants handle herself in such a tense position? 

The route taken here by writer Jason Loo is very clever, and makes Dazzler a timely comic in a way I didn’t expect. It’s impossible to not notice how just about everything nowadays —particularly creative works— has some sort of corresponding backlash movement no matter how popular it is, usually perpetrated by conservative pundits who stand to benefit by politicizing the apolitical. In this instance, Dazzler’s music career is being threatened by reactionaries who view her very existence as a mutant to be symptomatic of a nefarious, ill-defined “agenda” against them. A common thread in my critical appraisals of comics, especially ones in a prolific franchise like the X-Men, is noting what each new installment is “about” and whether or not it justifies its existence on their premise. I’m glad that Dazzler seems like it will be “about” something in that regard, especially since most peoples’ reaction to this being one of the first solo titles of the “From the Ashes” relaunch was that of tentative (if mildly confused) approval.

That being said, I think I’ll need a little more time to really settle into what Loo and his creative team are cooking here. It’s a great starting idea, but it could threaten to become one-note or repetitive as it continues. Not much “happens” in this issue, even if it does do a good job of —pun intended— setting the stage for what comes next. I really like the use of various X-Men in supporting roles here, such as Domino as her new bodyguard and Multiple Man as her stage crew-slash-backup dancers. Artist Rafael Loureiro’s visuals are perfectly solid and make great use of Dazzler’s powers on the page, made to look even better with Java Tartaglia’s bright and vibrant colors. Dazzler is definitely not a character suited to aesthetic doom and gloom, and everybody involved here seems to be on the same page about who Dazzler is and what she represents. 

Dazzler #1

4.99

6.5

Premise

6.5/10

Execution

6.5/10

Script

6.5/10

Art

6.5/10

Credits

• Writer: Jason Loo
• Artist: Rafael Loureiro
• Color Artist; Java Tartaglia
• Letterer: VC's Ariana Maher
• Cover Artists: Terry & Rachel Dodson

Credits (cont)

• Editor: Martin Birio
• Publisher: Marvel Entertainment