All New X-Men Vol 1 Trade Review

X-Men With a Purpose

If you're to read only one X-title from the "All New, All Different" relaunch, this is it.  Hopeless takes everything that worked in Bendis' "All New" run, and combines it with some of the elements from Jason Aaron's "Wolverine and the X-Men," for a mashup that works brilliantly.

The core X-Men are all given time to shine, especially some of the previously underused characters, like Angel and Iceman.  Angel and Laura's arc is played out well here, and you believe in their relationship and want it to succeed.  I love Laura's arc here too: she is full tilt crazy - thrilled to do battle, giving no thoughts to her own safety - which does leads to interpersonal conflict.  It's the highlight of the book for me.  

Beast is given a new sidekick to play off of, which leads to some comedic moments.  Beast's new X-mobil is a fantastic idea.  I was skeptical with the direction Bendis took Iceman at the end of his run; the twist felt like an afterthought just to create controversy.  However, Hopeless commands that character development and makes it work.  Young Iceman is now interesting - he is full of doubt and uses humor as a shield, while questioning how his older self could live a lie for so long.  He's in denial and angry, and doesn't know how to talk about his feelings.  

Young Cyclops is the emotional core of this title, and I really like the direction the character is moving.  He struggles with living under the legacy of his older self - who he doesn't want to become - but it seems the more he struggles against it, the closer he comes to fulfilling his destiny.  Cyclops has some good moments, and reminds me why we all loved the character in the first place. 

The only characters that could use some more time to shine are Genesis and Oya.  Oya's chat with God in the last couple of chapters felt out of place.  What worked better was her protecting the church from being destroyed in the brawl.  As for Genesis, I'm glad he's a character that's being used, but he didn't have much more than a line here and there.  It's clear he'll be important in the next arc. 

The "Ghosts of Cyclops" are great villains.  I like how they aren't all on the same page, and some are more dedicated to the cause than others in the group.  They felt more real than the villains used in Bendis' "Battle of the Atom," and I look forward to seeing them again.  The resolution of the conflict was an emotional one, but it completely ignored the fate of the Ghosts of Cyclops. I hope that's fixed in the future, even one line concerning their fate would have been nice.  

Bagley on art is a great addition to the X-universe.  His work has a cartoony feel and the action flows well.  The fight scenes feel like watching a New X-Men cartoon.  The colors by Woodard are also brilliant.  In particular, I like how Angel's wings looked, and the panel in chapter 4 of Wolverine walking through fire.  Sweet stuff.  

Who is this book for?  X-Men fans looking for a well written, action packed series, that takes you back to the feel of Jason Aaron's run.  It is slightly continuity heavy, but newcomers should still be able to jump right in.