Extermination #1 Reviews 

“Extermination” #1

By | August 17th, 2018
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

“Extermination” #1 kicks off the next big X-Men epic. Like all big epics, it starts off with a couple of events designed to upset the status quo. So it’s inevitable that this review contains major spoilers.

Written by Ed Brisson
Illustrated by Pepe Larraz
Colored by Marte Gracia
Lettered by VC’s Joe Sabino

EXTERMINATE THE PAST. ELIMINATE THE FUTURE. Cyclops. Iceman. Angel. Beast. Marvel Girl. The original team of teen mutants brought together by Professor Charles Xavier many years ago have been shunted through time to find a world they barely recognize but were determined to help. Now, finding themselves targeted for death, the future of mutantkind lies squarely in the hands of its past. Writer Ed Brisson (OLD MAN LOGAN, CABLE) and artist Pepe Larraz (UNCANNY AVENGERS, AVENGERS: NO SURRENDER) answer the biggest question of all: can the fate of the X-Men be changed?

Several years ago, in “All-New X-Men,” Hank McCoy pulled the five original members of X-Men forward in time to meet their older selves and set things right. Marvel bills “Extermination” as the series that will bring their mission to an end. This is no mean feat.

Before getting his son killed in an irresponsible flying experiment, Daedalus built the Labyrinth for King Minos on Crete. Legend has it that the maze was so complicated that its creator had problems finding his way out when he finished. This is the story the comes to mind when I think about X-Men continuity. It’s overflowing with twists and turns and reversals, and so convoluted that it infected a movie franchise.

So it’s refreshing to see a writer say “What the heck, let’s just run with it.” “Extermination” #1 wastes no time. It kills two major characters and plucks yet another from the past. Or the future? Well, it’s his past either way. It’s complicated. Because X-Men.

Brisson opens the book 20 years from now. A hooded figure stands over the bodies of several X-Men that lie in the still-smoking ruins of The Xavier Institute. The carnage seems recent, and the X-Men don’t look 20 years older. Before leaving the carnage via a portal, the hooded figure tells us he will fix this. It’s an opening that sets a serious tone and raises several questions in only two pages. We return to our time and get few opportunities to catch our breath from there. In a handful of story pages, we meet two new mutant children, visit the not-yet-destroyed Xavier Institute, go with Scott and Bloodstorm on a date, and watch mutant hunter Ahab kill her with a (rather conveniently) silver-tipped spear through the back.

And that’s only the first half of the book.

Even though the story is fast-paced, there’s time for character development. Scott and Storm’s date is just cute enough to make her death a sharp punch to the gut. Bobby, under siege and arguing with Cable, is very much wiseguy Bobby Drake. Scott Summers simmers with rage. Adult Jean Grey is calm, determined, and a little bit frightening as she deals with her “son’s” death. Brisson knows these characters.

The best word I can come up with for Larraz’s pencils is dramatic. His opening shot of the destroyed Xavier Institute almost moves on the page. There’s a wind driving the flames of the Institute and billowing young Cable’s cape. The backgrounds are vibrant and add emotion to each scene. The two young mutants are in an alley strewn with refuse. Central Park is shadowy and lined with trees. (Gracia does a beautiful job with light in the outside shot of the mansion.) The Thai Restaurant, with its bar and decorative light fixtures, is pulled right from Ninth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen and placed on the page. But when it’s time for action, we’re placed right into the middle, with sparse backgrounds and kinetic fights. The hounds are acrobats, thrown around the restaurant by Scott’s eye beams. Cable and his younger version stay close to the ground and shoot at each other between grapples. Gracia’s colors are breathtaking. Besides the beautiful job on the mansion, the gradient when Scott unleashes his eye beams on the hounds seems whiter than white. Later, when young Jean is hit with feedback, the blast is tinged with enough red that it seems like an allusion to the Phoenix effect.

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Taken all together, this is a fun book. Rather than fussing with continuity, retcons, and sly references to earlier stories, it hits the ground running and keeps us off-balance for 30 pages. If there’s a problem, it’s this: how seriously should we take these deaths? The author’s note in the issue says that this book will take “duplicate” characters “off the board.” Some blogs are already buzzing about Cable’s fate.

Really?

The story opens with the dead bodies of X-Men lying in the ruins of the Institute. Our villain is a time-traveling crusader who stated goal is to prevent those deaths from happening. Will anything in this story be permanent?

And this is Marvel. Not just Marvel, but the X-Men, where dying is like getting a divorce except you get to keep your stuff. The cast even includes Jean “It-was-only-a-scratch” Grey.

I’m along for the ride, and it looks like it’s going to be fun, but don’t expect me to get too upset (or my hopes up) over the death of a Marvel character.

Final Verdict: 7.8 – “Extermination” #1 is a heck of a ride and it has serious potential, but it’s not quite a must-read yet. Time will tell.


//TAGS | Extermination

Eric Goebelbecker

Eric is a software engineer who lives and works in the NYC metro area. When he's not writing, he's reading. When he's not writing or reading, he is displeased. You can find his personal blog over here.

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