Sabretooth #3
Sabretooth gives his fellow inmates a mission and their rebellion plays right into his hands in Sabretooth #3, by writer Victor LaValle, artist Leonard Kirk, colorist Rain Beredo, and letterer Cory Petit. This comic continues to be one of the smartest, most entertaining books that Marvel's putting out right now.
Melter thinks back to what got him put into the Pit as Sabretooth lets everyone in on his new plan. He teaches them how to manifest on the island as parts of Krakoa to get in touch with some of his old Marauder teammates to help them. Instead, each one goes to another mutant and spreads the word of what happened to them. Their rebellion plays into his hands, as he foresaw them doing exactly that. Melter, though, has another solution to the problem of rebelling against Sabretooth.
LaValle has used this book to talk about the prison industrial complex, how it affects those it incarcerates, and how the law is abused by those who make it to imprison more people. This issue shows another example of that, with Melter and his powers. He "harmed" Krakoa, but he did it so he could spy on the Quiet Council. Xavier confronts him, and LaValle uses this point to bring up a point he'll play with later in the issue- that in the land of equals, some are more equal than others. The people who make the law pretend to be of the people, but power is an exclusive club.
One can see a lot of metaphors in this particular issue, and that's the beauty of it. Sabretooth is manipulating events, fomenting a "populist" revolution in Krakoa against the powers that be. Both sides, in this case, are wrong; the entrenched power structure of Krakoa is, in a lot of ways, just as bad as Sabretooth. The book has moved beyond the prison metaphor at this point and is hitting closer to home- the power of a leader to manipulate well-meaning people to their cause and turn them against those in power. It doesn't matter that those in power are ostensibly better than the new leader; the people only see the sins of the powerful and overlook the leader's sins. The metaphor breaks down a little bit because of who Sabretooth is and that no one on Krakoa is sad he's gone, but he's still going to benefit. The writing in this book is just so good.
Kirk and Beredo's art is more straightforward in this chapter, but there are still places where one can see the art playing into the central metaphor of the issue. As usual, there are some great scenes, and Kirk's character acting is above reproach. The close-ups in this book are especially good, and the colors are beautiful.
Sabretooth #3 switches things up on everyone in the best possible way. It's definitely one of the most brilliant books on the market right now. LaValle is doing an amazing job, and this book is already one of the best things from the Krakoa era. Kirk and Beredo's art is excellent and the perfect accoutrement to the writing. Sabretooth is a must-read comic, but that's not terribly surprising.
