Well, it's that time again folks: Wednesday! And you know what Wednesday is?... Well, of course you do, you're reading a blog about comics, so you obviously know it's New Comics Day, a.k.a. Paul's favorite weekly holiday! And now for his much-anticipated pick-of-the-week...Hello friends, fans, and fellow nerds! Well, maybe you're not all nerds, but I like to think we hold our own little corner of the world in all of our nerd-glory. But regardless of your affiliation, welcome to this week's edition of Paul's Picks, where I, Paul Shirley, relay to you all my favorite book from this week's hefty stack of pulls, along with my review! Are you ready? Then let's get started...
All New X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen
This book is launching us right into the next year at the perfect pace. Going into the book, I was aware of the basic premise: five of the original X-Men would be brought to the present, where they would interact with their current selves in order to help change the face of the world. Now, that's the line we've been getting since its announcement, but readers may find themselves surprised to find that this situation isn't even brought into play until the last few pages of the issue. The story is built up in a huge way, and this first issue takes it job very seriously in being just that: a number 1. Now let's get right down to business...
1. This is Such an Ambitious Idea. Now this point could have gone either way, but after just one issue, I feel extremely confident that Bendis has his ducks in a row. This could have come right out of the gate and relied too heavily on the "cool" factor of bringing a young Jean, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman and Angel into it. Instead, we discover that there is a much bigger picture here, and there is a real motivation for having these characters arrive beyond simply wanting a hook for readers. From the unknowns going on with Beast to Cyclops essentially rising up as the New Magneto of the world, even coming off of the heels of AvX, this feels like a big time story that will matter.
2. Cyclops is the New Magneto. Yeah, I already mentioned this, but man, Bendis has already accomplished something in one issue that I never thought possible: he made me interested in Scott Summers. Now some of you may love the character, and I did as well back as an adolescent watching the X-Men cartoon, but in the comics? Pass. He's whiny, self righteous, and outright wrong in comics more often than not. Rarely is he the guy I'm rooting for. And while that certainly hasn't changed, Bendis has taken that nagging annoyance and made him into a presence that has purpose. He's a man with a cause, but more so? He's a Villain with a cause. He is for new readers today what Magneto was for fans in years past. And for my part, I'm anxious to see this play out. It'll be a better schism than Schism was.
3. Immonen was made for this book. I've been a big fan of Immonen for a while now. His art seems to take on a new face with every new project that he does. Just take a look at some of his past works. His heartfelt style on Superman: Secret Identity reached right out and plucked every heartstring I have, and while his style on the likes of Fear Itself was all about the cool, flashy action. And yet, I can already tell that, if the story holds up through the long term, this run may very well be his defining run at Marvel, no question. These pages held some of the coolest action sequences I have seen in quite some time. His Beast is very beastly, his emotions clear on the page, and his Cyclops is more demanding of a presence than I have ever seen.
Well done, guys. With one issue, you've hooked me in for the foreseeable future: even at $3.99.
Comments? Agree? Hatefully disagree? Let us know below, or even better, tweet us! @AncillaryTweets or myself @jollygreen05 ! See you next week.
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