You’d think a focus on some of the strongest female X-Men would have been done before last month’s #1 was it. Focus meaning the characters on the cover are the ones getting the most attention. Last issue introduced a brand new villain, Jubilee taking care of a baby and Psylocke being a mega badass. Issue two continues the first three issue story arc…is it good?
X-Men Vol. 4 #2 (Marvel Comics)
Check out our review of X-Men #1 if you missed it.
Last issue revealed that at the beginning of time a brother and sister were formed. They broke apart, the brother taking a human bend in powers and the sister a technology bend. Jubilee brought the sister right into the Jean Grey School, housed inside a baby, and all hell is about to break loose. Can Rachel and Psylocke trust this brother? Who is this dude and what powers does he even have? Many questions need to be answered, but with Olivier Coipel doing amazing art, do we even care?
Rogue is terrible on first dates.
This issue is basically one long fight scene between Rogue and a possessed Karima. The technology based sister couldn’t have chosen a better body to take over and the X-Men know it from the start. As they battle writer Brian Wood delivers details on what sort of powers she has and sets up how much power this new villain has to play with.
Rogue diss!
The pacing of the issue shines through, and while the setting and action sequence aren’t the most original, it works because Coipel draws in such great detail and variance. Wood also infuses a good deal of character in the smallest bits of dialogue and it’s clear he has a strong handle on these characters. Once again I’m asking myself, “would this comic be as good without Coipel?”. Part of me thinks it wouldn’t be as amazing and strong, but it’d still be worth reading.
Love how Coipel draws Rogue lifting his weight.
Seeing as this is only a three issue story arc we might be getting introduced to characters that’ll take a backseat for the time being. A few details emerge on what happens when the sister leaves a body, which should make Karima fans get excited, but here’s hoping the introduction of these ancient characters wasn’t just a way to reboot Karima.
Coipel just can’t draw noses from the side can he?
It’s nice to see Wood isn’t painting himself into a corner by only using the female stars of this series. Beast gets some play in this issue and the students too. So often in the past writers stick with the characters they set as their “team” but really the X-Men is at its strongest as an ecosystem.
Lazy kids!
8.5
- Shiny bright fun art!
- Starting to see where Wood is going
- As a whole it’s just one fight scene, AKA decompressed story
Now that we’re two issues into this series it’s starting to become more clear what Wood is going for as far as team dynamics and character. It still feels like an X-Men comic, but its own identity is emerging and I think it’s going to be great. This issue boils down to a fight scene which means it’s a little bit of a decompression when it comes to storytelling, but the characters are so strong you won’t notice.
Is It Good?
Yes. Another strong installment in this new series.
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