Kitty Pryde changes teams, and the time displaced mutants deal with their new surroundings at Cyclops’ hidden Xavier School, in “All New X-Men” #18.
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Stuart ImmonenThe X-Men are shaken to the core by the Battle of the Atom. So much that we can’t show you the cover of ALL-NEW X-MEN #19! Kitty Pryde is particularly is shaken by the events of the X-Men crossover. With her students gone, what is Kitty to do?
After the latest X-Men event, ‘The Battle of the Atom’, wrapped up last week to mixed reviews, the X-books once again go their separate ways to deal with the consequences. “All New X-Men” follows the five original X-Men brought from the past into the present, and currently reside with Scott Summers aka Cyclops at the Xavier School. While the series previously centered around the debate over returning the original X-Men to their own time, the events during ‘Atom’ have made this an impossibility for the time being. Now the teenage X-Men have to learn to co-exist with their adult counterparts, and create some sort of lives for themselves at the Xavier School. Which just welcomed a new faculty member.
During ‘The Battle of the Atom’, Kitty Pryde took a stand against her colleagues at Wolverine’s Jean Grey School, who were in favor of forcibly returning the original X-Men to the past. Disillusioned, Pryde changed sides and joined Cyclops at the rival school, where she continues to teach the original X-Men. Everyone is slowly adjusting to their new surroundings at the abandoned Weapon X facility, the last place Wolverine would look for them, Cyclops explains, and new personality clashes. With the future now uncertain, Kitty resolves to train the original X-Men as best as she can, because they have no idea what will happen next.
Brian Michael Bendis has been scripting “All New X-Men” and the companion “Uncanny X-Men” since the Marvel Now relaunch, two of the approximately 18 books Bendis puts out every month, and has introduced long running plot threads aside from the ever present time travel complications. Taking a break from the constantly defeating evil plans to destroy the world, a good amount of “All New X-Men” have dealt with the teenage hormone-fueled desires of the young squad. An unexpected love triangle between Jean, Beast, and Scott created a bunch of tension and jealously, compounded by the fact that they can see how it played out among the future versions of themselves. Bendis does a good job giving each character a distinct personality and point of view, so the story seems like something beyond teenagers lusting and fighting. And Bendis’ slightly meta reference to teenage Scott getting a glimpse of future-Scott and Jean’s relationship on the internet was especially enjoyable.
Fans who like to complain about Bendis’ tendency to decompress his story-lines will likely avoid this book. It’s not that the story is slow, it just mostly is setup for the new status quo at the Xavier School. To be fair, most the exposition is kept to the text block on the book credit page, before the main story even kicks in, and Bendis avoids any long speeches summarizing the events of ‘Atom’. The dialog is snappy and fun, and Bendis is sure to give each character their own moment that will endear them to new readers.
Stuart Immonen, a frequent collaborator of Brian Michael Bendis, has drawn all but three issues of “All New X-Men”, and by now has a firm grasp on the book and its characters. The panels are large and detailed, and makes the world of the book feel big in scope. For a series that has such a large cast of characters, Immonen should be commended for giving everyone their own distinct look, and not recycling any facial expressions. Imogene’s style leans towards the cartoonish side of things, which gives the book a light feel and makes for some very amusing character reactions. If there’s one complaint to be had, it’s that young iceman looks a bit like Casper the friendly ghost.
“All New X-Men” is counted as one of Marvel’s double-shipped books, meaning that two issues arrive in stores every month, when it’s really more like every three weeks. While other double-shipped books like “Superior Spider-Man” and “Avengers” keep up the accelerated pace by changing art teams every three or four issues, Immonen has been the artist for the vast majority of “All New X-Men”. Despite the pressure and time constraints, Immonen fills the book with details and other small touches. For example, when Hank is tinkering away on a machine, it has separate parts and connecting pieces, and looks like something that could actually function. Immonen’s art never looks rushed or unfinished, and the fact that he can produce 40+ pages of high quality work a month is incredibly impressive.
“All New X-Men” #18 is marketed as a jumping on point for new readers, and in that regard it is mostly a success. The main plot points of the series and of the “Battle of the Atom” are distilled to the bare minimum, and the exposition is not overdone. If readers are new to the X-verse entirely, there will be some head scratching surrounding characters like Magik and the Stepford Cuckoos, but the abundance of familiar faces, minus Wolverine of course, should be enough to get the audience on board. Brian Michael Bendis does a good job crafting a story that will appeal to new and old readers, even if it is mostly setup, and Stuart Immonen’s art is as enjoyable and emotive as always. And there are spiffy new uniforms!
Final Verdict: 7.5 – Buy/Browse. If you were ever curious about this book, this is the issue to get.
