Previously…Cyclops, possessed by the Phoenix, killed Professor Xavier. Wolverine runs a school. People are afraid of mutants again and there are more and more appearing after a few “years” of No More Mutants.
All New X-Men starts on a strange note. Like the last book called New X-Men, something is happening to Beast. But Stuart Immonen draws an awesome Beast. He is the focus of this first story arc, even though he falls ill. But you can tell exactly what is going on with him through his pain, his sorrow, and his decision to go back and grab the original X-Men at their most innocent.
Immonen does emotion well. In the third issue, where the story seems to pause for an issue, all of the problems with Magneto’s and Cyclops’s powers are apparent in their body language no the interesting use of cartoonish power failures.
The ink lines are consistent with recent Immonen pencils. It is a thick style that allows the characters to pop off the page. X-Men is at its best when it is a pop comic (as Grant Morrison noted when he took over the book). Though this isn’t the same pop he was referring to, it works. In the image below, the line work surrounding the returning X-Men but the background structures do not have the same dark lines. And for whatever reason, when I took this picture, Angel consumed the flash. Read what you will into that.
As for the story, we have three new mutants who I am sure will be Chandler-style guns: a girl who can stop time and space, a boy who can bring the injured back from the dead, and someone who can mimic the look of another person. So, obviously, we have a double agent, someone will be revived, and time and space will continue to be manipulated. As Cyclops builds his team, they will probably be there.
But why? Cyclops is supposedly trying to rehabilitate himself but he killed or injured a whole set of cops who had Emma in custody. Magneto is right – this isn’t a redemption story. Cyclops knew what he was doing and he will have to accept who he is now and how he came this far. I hope Bendis goes with this storyline as it could be really interesting. After finishing his Avengers run, there were so many possibilities that didn’t go anywhere. Let’s hope X-Men stays on track. And that Scott doesn’t do the X-arm sign like his just scored a touchdown again.
The story is about the steps we take to get where we think we need to get. Beast warped time. Cyclops started a revolution. The other characters are there-but I will assume they will have more to do soon. And I hate Illyana. Why do so many Marvel writers like her? I don’t get the character at all. She seems horrible.
I enjoyed the dialogue. The story has a lot of potential. The art is amazing. It is definitely the cleanest artwork that I have seen thus far in Marvel Now. I’m in. If you’re interested, I have a digital code in the books, so the first person to leave a comment can get my digital codes for the three issues.
