All-New X-Men has been another surprise non-failure in the Marvel NOW! lineup. Time traveling X-Men from the original team joining the current timeline. Sounds like a disaster. And yet…it works, mostly because writer Brian Bendis captures the voice of a teenager so well. Or maybe he’s just really good at fish-out-of-water stories. Either way, the series has been mostly fun, interesting and enjoyable. That’s not to say there’s not a major dud lurking, now is it?
All-New X-Men #9 (Marvel Comics)
Wow. We’re already at issue #9 and it seems like just yesterday this series started. Oh wait, that’s because the story hasn’t progressed past “wow we time traveled to 2013…now what.” It’s a blessing and a curse for this series, partly because the slow pace allows for a more meaningful look at the characters, but also because nearly nothing pertinent has happened yet.
Kitty is stealing this series.
Last issue ended with Jean Grey going nutso and wiping Angel’s mind, walking off like it was no big deal and the reader thinking, “oh damn she’s a bad guy now.” This issue opens with Jean acting like it was no big deal and Kitty Pryde scolding her as if she had too many scoops of ice cream. The fact that this seemingly important point was handled so nonchalantly makes me a little frustrated. Clearly it was used as a shocking moment to get us to read the next issue and nothing more. Sure, down the line it might mean something, but the way they delivered this last issue feels like a cheat. That said, we get a more than half of this issue focused in the Danger Room which is a cool way to show us just how green these time traveling X-Men are.
Epic!
So does Sabertooth have some kind of anti-gravity power we don’t know about?
The side banter will continue to throw a smirk on your face and Kitty continues to be the strongest, most interesting character. Bendis was clearly born to write this character. She seems so real and vivid when he writes her. That said, anyone looking for some real change should look elsewhere. The bad guys get some plot development, but the First Class X-Men continue to serve as a plaything for Bendis.
How do mutant women wear these things?
Thankfully Angel has the balls to ask an important question. Namely, why are we here again? The fact that we need a reminder after nine issues is proof the story is moving like molasses. The entire point of this series isn’t the reason for why they were time traveled, but to simply force interaction between old and new X-Men…and we’ve barely gotten a taste of that! It’s glaringly obvious the plot has nothing to do with this series, which is slightly frustrating, but then again it’s a fun read nonetheless.
Not digging the new look for Beast.
7.0
- Stuart Immonen owns on art
- Strong characterization
- Plot…we don’t need no stinking plot!
Stuart Immonen does another stellar job on this series. The combination of colors, inks and his pencils is so top notch it all has an impressive feel. Comics shouldn’t look this good. Seriously. Sadly this series is going to forever get 7’s from me until something actually happens. So far it’s dragging its feet, partly because I’m sure Bendis wants this story to go forever, but also because anything actually happening isn’t the point. The fact that the characters can basically hang out for nine issues and it still be interesting and entertaining is telling there’s good writing going on here.
Is It Good?
Yes. Another good but not great issue from this tried and true series.
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