I've been mulling this over for awhile trying to figure out what I want to say on the topic.
Marvel Comics' MARVEL NOW initiative is a systemic overhaul similar to the DC's New 52. Writers trade places, artists change titles, and things are fresh again. And one of those things (besides the Superior Spider-Man, see here) is the X-Men. Now, some of you could care less about the X-Men...and with confusing continuity, constant deaths-and-rebirth, you might be justified. Until you learn that Brian Michael Bendis is the new writer for two of the four top-sales titles including the "flagship" X-Men.
This is the guy that made the Avengers the top-selling again. Just look at his nine-year run: Avengers Disassembled. House of M. Civil War. He made Luke Cage likable. Not to mention his work on the Ultimate Spider-Man and POWERS (see here for more on that.) But now he's done one better in my book---and I place this guy pretty far up thanks to POWERS, which has just launched its newest run as well and equally worth your three bucks.
He's made me want to buy X-Men again.
Now, I will admit that I've bought stuff in the past, but mostly in snippets. I grew up reading comic books primarily in a pile on the floor of my cousin's closet when I was young, and the 80s-90s runs of so many mainstream comics was a fairly intricate time for the X-Men; All the time-travel and post-Phoenix cluttered storylines had me putting things back on the shelf when it got confusing or annoying, but I always kept tabs on the X-verse because it struck a chord with me. But only recently, when I learned of this, was I ready to spend my own hard-earned dollar on the books (the first time since Joss Whedon was writing, back in the early Aught's.)
And now this writer comes in, and he basically turns it over and shakes it all out. That's the cool part about All-New X-Men, which I'll discuss first: What have mutants become since their early days of the Marvel Universe?
ALL-NEW X-MEN ( Issue # 8 on shelves next week) is a bold premise; With all of the upheavals in X-men as a result of Schism and Avengers Vs. X-Men, deaths and separation included, Hank "Beast" McCoy embarks on a dangerous journey- to go back in time and to let the Original Five X-Men see what the world has turned into, in the hope of talking some sense into Scott Summers, mostly. After being possessed by the Phoenix Force and slaughtering Charles Xavier, Scott Summers is a broken man, labeled a villain. But he strives onward, firm that since new mutants are being born, someone must protect them from the bigotry still present in the Marvel 'Verse. McCoy hopes that the young, ideal early Scott Summers can show the soldiered, grief-chiseled current Scott how much he's strayed.
And when the Original Five get here, they decide to stay in our time and fix things themselves.
For one thing it's a brave and emotional journey to put the First Five in the context of Logan's new Jean Grey School for Gifted Youngsters----especially the panel where young Jean Grey asks where her future self is, and why the school is named after her. It's hard for some cynics to believe, but Jean has been legitimately dead in the comics for a decade now! So that was powerful.
As the necessary "culture shock" wears off and the First Five begin their transition, we are really able to experience some familiar faces anew-trying to picture what it must be like for the simple, earnest Stan Lee readers of the sixties trying to fathom these newer Mutants, some far grotesque and others immensely powerful. Not to mention the simple nostalgia of the existing members looking back at their younger selves (see: Iceman bickering with Iceman.)
To be able to acknowledge the existing cornucopia of superpowers, storylines, and history of the mutants, and to give us all a reminder of why the X-Men were formed in the first place is just the tip of the iceberg. This comic was released bi-weekly for the first three months and has now slowed to monthly releases, so if you used to love X-Men, do yourself the honor of falling in love with 'em all over again.
Then there's Uncanny.
I will go more into detail regarding Scott Summers in my next blog entry because there's way more to say. But suffice it to say this; Scott Summers is a dynamic character. He's no longer the "straight-and-narrow" boyscout that the 80s and 90s have pidgeonholed him into, which most comics readers have chosen to remember as the strongest portrayal. (We won't talk about the films.) He is a soldier, and with his people dying off as a race (see X:Men: The 198, Endangered Species, Xtinction Agenda, and Messiah Complex), Scott Summers has spent the last decade protecting first and foremost. Those hard decisions led Wolverine to be so disgusted with his cold-hard attitude to say "bite me", and take the younger mutants away, to teach rather than to militarize. Guys, Wolverine is the softie and Cyclops is the get-it-done warrior now. Think about that.
Here's the best way to pitch UNCANNY:
After being possessed by the Phoenix Force, Scott Summers fought the Avengers while trying to create a perverse Mutant Utopia (not to be confused with the isle of Utopia, pre-Schism); And in the final battles, Xavier himself was slain by the mad Phoenix-Scott. The Phoenix Force dispersed after being beaten--and all across the globe, people began manifesting Mutant Powers, when the mutant race had been declared an endangered species for years. Summers then served jail time but some of his remaining supporters broke him out, and now he leads the revolution to protect these teens from the population at large who will hate and oppress these newfound mutants because of his very actions.
A little complex, but at the same time, it's a hell of a hook. Scott is going to spend YEARS of the comics world trying to atone for his sins and yet we've found a reset button to make the oldschool story point of "protect the people that hate you" come back with a new verve. He has formed the New Charles Xavier School for the Gifted, where the teenagers who have just awakened their mutant powers can come to grow without persecution. The age of Homo Superior has had its renaissance. It also doesn't help that Magneto, who's been reformed for a few years with the X-Men, was always labeled a terrorist and probably fuels that image.
OH. and the best part of this is that some of the most-involved mutants in the AvX arc, including the Phoenix Five, are basically damaged. Their powers don't work right. Imagine waking up tomorrow and being only a fraction of as good as you normally are at cooking. or playing guitar. or singing. Something you grew up with doesn't work properly, and you have to, like a child, re-learn to do what you do. It's a brilliant lesson in rethinking one's self.
Toss on the concept that one of the allies on Scott's team is betraying them to SHIELD and the Avengers, who of course have declared Scott any anyone who sides with them as a Terrorist, and you've got the right mix of drama, fresh energy, and a respect for continuity. Not to mention Chris Bachalo's artwork, which definitely gives it a cool feel, and his use of color is wonderful. Having done X-Men titles, Wolverine and the X-Men before as well as creating Gen-X, I can see why they brought him on to this new series. His redesign of Scott's costume is also very intruiging and I'm completely on-board with the new look,
Both books get 4.5-out-of-5, and are on shelves now.
Leave your thoughts! Who would your ideal-roster of 5 X-Men be?
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