Filed under: Comic Reviews, Marvel Comics | Tags: AvsX, Brian Michael Bendis, Chris Bachalo, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, Magneto, Marvel Now, S.H.I.E.L.D.
While the AvsX event may have not impressed everyone it certainly lead us through to the Marvel Now creative team reshuffle which has been a much more consistently impressive affair and with someone like Brian Michael Bendis heading up two of the X-books, there’s a world of potential & possibilities at his disposal.
Where All New X-Men has followed a time travelling option and held onto the nostalgic aspects of what the X-Men represent….it is in Uncanny X-Men where we are firmly looking to the future of the X-Men at the hands of Scott Summers aka Cyclops. A very different character has developed from AvsX and his encounter with the Phoenix force appears to have left him tackling a new variation on the powers he has.
A militant, self-minded leader whose new approach to mutants and the world that opposes and confronts them has seen the turmoil pour out onto the streets along with the waves of mistrust aimed at this new-look team. Bendis develops a much more sinister edge to Cyclops and his new team that include Magneto with his reduced powers, Emma Frost, Magik and two recent members of mutantkind. All wrapped up in the story of a traitor from within Cyclops team keeping the S.H.I.E.L.D. team informed on his big plans and current situation. A traitor whose identity is held back until that final panel reveal, although it wasn’t really too much of a surprise.
That being said, Bendis writes an interesting take on the future that Cyclops is leading the mutant population into. He manages to grasp the team-dynamic in a disjointed way that suits the uncertainty of the team and the world around them. Backed up with artwork from Chris Bachalo as he drops new costumes on the team which work for the most part – Magneto has never looked cooler. Cyclops is darker and menacing to match as he’s written and the others vie for page space in typically generic costumes.
I wasn’t overly keen on the panel layouts though as they switched from more standard layouts to tilted 2-page splashes of artwork and the odd use of large blocks of white that have been dropped into the mix. Personal choice it would seem but something definitely felt off about the differences each page seemed to drop in which all seemed to help distract from fairly consistent artwork minus a few niggles here and there. A good start to Uncanny X-Men but not great for me…..where the story and plot has built a darker edge to it the artwork seems to ebb away some of the success the writing brings but I’ll stick with this for a while though and see how the X-Men’s future will develop.
7/10
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