All New X-Men so far (is it worth buying?)
By, J. Ryan Buck (Lostscribe@gmail.com)
Get your comics here http://www.mycomicshop.com/
Previous installments here http://lostscribe0.blogspot.com/
The X-Men were what got me started buying comics on a
regular monthly basis. In the years since I started reading the mutants
adventures I have seen many series come and go. Even now I can't name all the X-Series or even what they do different from each other . Back in the old days you knew that X-Factor was where you got the
original team, and Uncanny was where you got the newer characters. New Mutants
was where all the young mutants were showcased and then the 90's hit and the
shit exploded!
You had the Gold team in Uncanny
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Blue Team in X-Men
Peter David’s leftovers in X-Factor
X-Force from the New Mutants
And Excailbur that just seemed to exist on its own.
Soon those titles were joined by Generation X and then X-factor
was canceled and replaced with Mutant X. Cable got his own comic and then
during Age of Apocalypse he was reverted to a teenager named X-Man and then
when we got back to reality he was brought with us. So X-Man was an offshoot
comic from an offshoot comic that itself was an offshoot from the X-Men.
I read the Kieron Gillen run during the end of the uncanny comic and the beginning of the first reboot. Before that I read the Mike Carey run and then before that the Joss Whedon and Grant Morrison runs and on back to Chris Claremont. So give or take the odd year here or there I have continually followed an X-comic one way or another since 1991. The best to me are still the Claremont issues and the worst by far are the Chuck Austen ones, but I always look for something with an X on it to to buy. (Insert porno mag joke here.)
I read the Kieron Gillen run during the end of the uncanny comic and the beginning of the first reboot. Before that I read the Mike Carey run and then before that the Joss Whedon and Grant Morrison runs and on back to Chris Claremont. So give or take the odd year here or there I have continually followed an X-comic one way or another since 1991. The best to me are still the Claremont issues and the worst by far are the Chuck Austen ones, but I always look for something with an X on it to to buy. (Insert porno mag joke here.)
Now with Marvel doing what their calling NOW! that's modeled
after DC's new 52 it has opened up the possibility for me to pick and choose
which series to start reading again. While the differences between the titles
still elude me, one title stood out as being something different.
All New X-Men
Is a series where the original Lee/Kirby team of Cyclops,
Marvel Girl, Iceman, Beast and Angel, are brought into the present of the
Marvel universe where they find that their future is gone horribly wrong.
Two things made me choose this X-title from the rest.
- After
all the stories where the X-Men travel to horrible futures that they must
prevent from happening, it's nice to see a reversal on that tired plot.
- Stuart
Immonen is a fantastic artist and I knew he would hit this comic out of
the park as usual.
The Beast is mutating again. Only this time the mutation is
killing him. Hank is resigned to his fate, but before he kicks the bucket he
wants to do something that will make the world a better place, it’s then that
Storm contacts him about a situation.
A young girl gets into an altercation and her mutant power
manifests. The young female mutant is visited by Cyclops, Magneto and Emma
Frost. Scott explains to her that he has a lot to atone for, and that he wants
to start by helping her, he asks her to join him and after she accepts, the
three mutants slice through the government soldiers surrounding them like a hot
knife through butter.
Beast, Storm, Headmistress Kitty Pryde and Iceman watch the
fighting on the news and they feel that Cyclops is completely over the edge. (Spoiler, at the end of AVX Cyclops was
possessed by the Phoenix force and he killed Professor X ) Iceman makes the
offhand comment that if young Scott could see himself now, he would kick his
own ass. Beast excuses himself.
In the past the original five X-Men are arguing and on the
brink of breaking apart when the modern Beast all blue and furry shows up to
recruit them.
Plus Column
Everybody knows how
good Bendis is at dialogue, even his detractors have to agree to that. I mean
sure he has too many characters talking like teenagers at times, but in this
case when the main stars are teenagers, it works really well. Seriously if you
love the Whedon dialogue of his Astonishing X-Men run, then you will feel like you’re
hearing the same voices from this comic. Character moments are at an all-time
high, this is not the plot driven book of 90’s X-books.
Minus Column
Bendis’s slow build
is in full display here. When reading in a trade you don’t notice it as much
but in a monthly book you finish it and you get a feeling like you’re on a diet
and you only got one bite of your favorite food. The book is bi-monthly at the
moment which helps, but at $3.99 a pop I’m essentially paying 8 bucks plus tax
for the content of most other single comics.
As the story continues the original team travel to the
modern times and Wolverine attacks them and gets put down by young Iceman and
Cyclops. The reaction of Bobby (Iceman) with his young and older self is
hilarious and makes perfect sense for the high strung character. Beast passes
out from his mutation and everybody calms down and after getting blue Hank
into the infirmary they realize what he already knew, that he is dying.
Logan orders the “little X-Men” to go back to their own time
and Jean Grey who has just manifested her telepathy (originally she just had telekinesis) puts Logan to sleep. The original team take the modern Blackbird
and fly off to confront modern Cyclops and his group.
Plus column
The reactions of the
characters to are really well done with Logan still in awe of Jean from the
days when he was in love with her. Also the original team seeing Cyclops teamed
up with Magneto their sworn enemy is also a moment that you can tell from their
perspective would be like seeing Winston Churchill teaming with Hitler.
In a flashback sequence we see Cyclops and Magneto rescuing
Emma from captivity and realize that Scott’s powers are amped up and
uncontrollable since he was possessed by the Phoenix force. His powers cause
more destruction then he had planned in the rescue mission and again makes him
look more and more like a villain.
Scott claims that he did not kill Xavier,
that it was all the Phoenix force, but how can he possibly explain it to
everyone? Magneto points out that there are ways to fix things, though with
Magneto the cure is sometimes worse than the disease. Magik (Colossus’s
sister) is a part of the team and after her encounter with the Phoenix
force has complete control of her magic abilities and teleporting power. It’s
mentioned that they do not know where Colossus is, but Illyana (Magik) also says that when her brother
finds out what happened to Xavier, he will kill Cyclops. Scott’s team finds
another mutant to rescue and as they arrive they come into direct contact with
the original team.
Minus column
Bendis has yet to get
Emma Frost’s voice correct. Though to be fair other than Grant Morrison who
really has?
I really am less
interested in modern Scott and his team then I am in the original team. In the
third issue the original team is only in the last splash pages.
Issue four is the weakest installment in the series but with
the coolest cover, go figure. The
Original team goes into direct conflict with Scott’s team and we get some cool
action but it’s really just sampling as Magik takes her team out of the action.
Jean lashes out like a teen girl when she gets a wave of emotion and thoughts
from modern Scott.
The new mutants just brought into the fold are showcased a
bit and Jean’s mind goes on overload as the team retreats back to the Mansion.
Modern Beast is dying and his young counterpart and Jean are
attempting to cure his mutation. Using her telepathy, Jean links the minds of
the two Beasts and sees glimmers of her future.
Hank gives her a full look at
her future and anyone who has followed X-Men knows she has had quite tumultuous
existence.
After her preview of her future, Jean takes the leadership
role in her team just as young Scott is feeling shaken after meeting his future
self.
Jean decides that the team will stay in the present until they fix the
problems of the mutant revolution that modern Cyclops has started.
Issue six sees Kitty Pryde, the once young teen sidekick on the group mentoring the young Jean whom was one of her mentors. (Jean picking up stray thoughts from others reactions to her compared
to what they are saying is really great!)
Cyclops runs off, not able to
take the stares of the other students at the school. Exploring the modern world
he encounters many things not from the past with hilarious responses.(phones that can do everything to bottled
water and magazines being expensive.)
“Five Dollars?! For a Magazine?! This place is
a nightmare.”
Young Scott encounters Wolverine who makes it no secret that
he feels Cyclops is a murderer who needs to go back to his own time. Cyclops
blasts Wolverine and rides away on Logan’s bike.
Mystique watches tape of the incident and sees young Scott.
Gathering an unknown group together she makes plans for an encounter.
Plus Column
The original team and Jean especially are getting the best
characterization that maybe they have ever had with this series. Instead of
just portraying them as your average teenagers or as the cardboard characters
that Stan Lee wrote them to be they have real voices. They are smart, dumb and
just real!
Minus Column
The comic follows both the original team as well as Scott’s
team. The new recruits, while interesting characters, feel like added elements
not necessary to the story. It’s obvious they are building to something, and
the relaunch of the Uncanny X-Men series will most likely play out that story line more from that angle. For the moment it just feels like it’s too much
in an already slow moving comic.
I know I stated this before but it bears repeating, I am paying 8 bucks plus tax for a story still moving extremely slow. Young Scott would be horrified! Even $3 per issue would be easier to swallow.
In closing I feel the sixth issue was the best of series by
far. We are getting teenage angst, personality clash reversals and character development
on a Grand Master level. If they keep this up it could potentially become my
favorite current comic.
Despite its shortcomings, I have actually become attached to
these X-kids and I’m extremely captivated with what they are going to do next.
This comic is perfect for both newbies and old school fans.
If you know nothing you can follow five X-Men that are almost continuity free
as they react to a world they know nothing about. For old fans like me, it’s
great to get all these reactions that reflect the moments from the past between
the personalities.
By, J. Ryan Buck (Lostscribe@gmail.com)
Get your comics here http://www.mycomicshop.com/
Previous installments here http://lostscribe0.blogspot.com/
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