Creative:
Art: Chris Bachalo, Tim Townsend
+
Written: Brian Michael Bendis
Price: $3.99
I was waiting with barely abated
anticipation for this comic to come out.
I peeled into my local comic shop Galactic Quest [WUDDUP], shot out of
the car, and paced the “New Release Section”- not unlike a seething Sith
Warrior- hunting for it. My eyes finally
locked onto it and guess what? It was the last issue.
All that build up being said, I
was pretty disappointed with the first issue.
The story takes place from a
different, narrative perspective: Magneto (whom I had pegged instantly as this “nameless
stranger” they attempt to keep undiscovered until the very end) approaches
Maria Hill with information regarding Cyclops, the seemingly menacing face of
the mutant revolution. The story takes
place in a prolonged flashback that depicts Cyclops and his new team of mutant
revolutionaries aiding a newly realized mutant.
 |
| Rodney King for mutants. |
Of course this new mutant would
get jumped without due process by the police.
Of course Maria Hill thinks Cyclops a terrorist, and of course the
public loves him. This is why we love
the ever-evolving tales of mutants, right?
The social stigmatisms; the media and government induced moral panic; the
warring ideologies behind the meanings of Justice; and the empathy that we as
readers may or may not associate given the circumstances…beneath the colors and
inks and artwork there is something deeper than just the cooler stage of human
evolution, and we can feel that, because we know it so well.
Speaking of Artwork…
 |
| "I’m-a firin’ mah laser!" |
Chris Bachalo (Uncanny X-Men, New
X-Men, throw a dart at an “X” title and see if it lands on his name), reprising
his Uncanny X role, has done a stellar job drawing out the first issue. His characters remain rugged with this fluidity
about them, and the establishing team-shot of Cyclops and his posse actually
had me inspired to sit down and draw long after I had put the book down. Thought admittedly, my main beef would be that
the narrative feels forced and too one-dimensional, singularly purposed for the
moment leading to Magneto telling (and Bachalo showing) that Cyclops has no
control over his powers. As I had
previously mentioned, Magneto is telling the story to us, and as I was reading
a visual medium in this instance and not McTeague or a textbook, having to read
Magneto’s overlaying narrative when speaking to Hill really took me out of the “present”
moment with the other mutants. He is
nice enough, however, to introduce all of the team and their powers: There’s
Magik, Tempus, “a young man who hasn’t picked his mutant name yet”, and Emma
Frost.
And Emma Frost? There are very few things I detest more than
Emma Frost but this, this was just offensive to me.
 |
| Who is that? |
Ok I’m done. (For now)
Ah. I see the conundrum there. Magneto just told Emma Frost to shut up
during their fight with the Sentinels, but he’s the one in confinement spilling
his guts to Maria Hill. There’s a simple
explanation for that:
Magneto is a snitch.
 |
| What’s that thing about stitches? |
Now personally my theory is that
Magneto could be working undercover for Cyclops, despite the advertisements of
a traitor within the group. It would
stand to reason that the first issue could be too early to reveal a traitor and
there would be much deeper motives at work here…
But then
again, my money was on Cyclops being the turncoat.
Pencil Rogue’s
rating: 3.5/5 Worth the read to see how
it develops further.
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