YOUNG X-MEN #1 REVIEW

[JD Francesco]

<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/xmendws/YOUNGX001_col.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/previews/marvel/xmendws/YOUNGX001_colt.jpg " hspace=10 align=left alt="Young X-men #1"></a> Reviewer: JD Francesco, vos_attestor@yahoo.com
Story Title: Final Genesis

“You want to hurt somebody? Then come with me. I’ll point you at the right targets.”

Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Pencils: Yanick Paquette
Inks: Ray Snyder
Colors: Rob Schwager
Letters: Dave Sharpe
Assistant Editor: Daniel Ketchum
Editor: Nick Lowe
Editor in Chief: Joe Quesada
Publisher: Dan Buckley
Published by: Marvel Comics (http://www.marvel.com/)

Contains some spoilers!

I really should know better. After reading the solicits I initially determined that this title may not be for me. Yet I’ve always held a special place in my heart for teen mutant super hero comics thanks to the original New Mutants series. It was the first and therefore every subsequent teen mutant series unavoidably ends up compared to that trail blazing run. Unfortunately there are few that measure up. Striking that perfect balance of characterization and adventure has become such a novelty lately in this sub-genre. The second New Mutant series was high on drama but sparse on the action leaving me feeling bored. New X-Men revved up the action but lacked substance leaving me feeling empty. Both titles suffered from too many characters in their casts and as a consequence I never grew attached to any of them. So I say again, by now I should know better. I should have passed on this comic but for my love of what this sub-genre used to be and perhaps could be again I decided to give this a try.

Young X-Men comes with a new writer, Marc Guggenheim as well as a trimmed down starting cast. Only two main characters from the previous New X-Men line-up have made it onto this team (Dust and Rockslide) along with two supporting characters (Blindfold and Wolf Cub) and another two who seem to be brand new. I can understand why those who actually liked New X-Men would feel a little cheated that Guggenheim didn’t use many from that last group. On the other hand a newly formed team suggests a fresh new start. This could bring in new readers and maybe even win back those who were turned off by the previous incarnation’s flagrant hack and slash. As for me I don’t really care who is on the team as long as the characters involved are decently written.

Story wise, this is a standard forming of the team issue. Cyclops travels the globe for his recruits and says whatever he has to say to get them interested in joining. The scene where he prevents Wolf Cub from killing Maximus Lobo in cold blood works fine. I would say he saved Nick from going down a dark path more suitable for an X-Force recruit. The same could be said for the new character Eric who landed in jail by the time Scott got to him. This opportunity to be a super hero could be seen as community service in payment for his apparent life of petty crime. In contrast Sooraya is shown nobly spending time in Afghanistan saving small towns from Taliban oppression. Obviously she is desperately needed in her own country so for the life of me I can’t see why Cyclops in good conscience could pull her away from that. More importantly how could she agree to go? I would be very interested to hear how Cyke convinced her but Guggenheim skipped over it so I guess Sooraya is just on the team for Westchester’s good weather. Blindfold wasn’t meant to be on the team according to Scott but Rockslide won’t join without her because she had a vision that she was a part of the group. Santo must be some kind of team MVP to be able to dictate such terms. That leaves one member to go which should be dealt with next issue. Of the five total who have joined, their motivations fall somewhere between vague and questionable.

After being brought together Cyclops announces he is recruiting these mostly combat inexperienced teens to be the newly reformed X-men. This will read better logically in a post decimation Marvel Universe if one doesn’t take those words too seriously. I mean really, if the stakes are truly higher as the X-line keeps insisting doesn’t it make better sense to assemble a new team of X-Men from battle hardened adults with years of experience? There are dozens of those all over the world. No, this is a junior team, plain and simple. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. On the contrary, it is the book’s selling point. As a reader if I want the real X-men I know what titles to read. Young X-Men on the other hand should be for those interested in reading about the next generation in training. The sooner the book realizes its place the better it will be for everyone.

So by now there’s a team and premise established. Not bad for a first issue. Now all we are missing are villains to fight. When I saw who they had in mind on the final page I was disgusted at first. The last thing I want to read about is a team of characters I love getting their butts kicked by the Young X-Men just so this new team can look cool. The original New Mutants deserve better than that. Then again perhaps all is not as it seems. What happens in the next two or three issues will make or break the series for me. I really want this book to succeed. Despite its minor flaws and youthful arrogance Young X-Men shows a lot of promise. I’m willing to come back next month to see where this is going but I’m not yet ready to commit to anything long term. I’ve been hurt before.

RATING:

http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xhalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/xnone.jpg

Buy Young X-Men at X-World comics and save! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopexd.asp?id=26706)

[Kizmet]

"Apparent life of petty crime"? The guy took out a police officer! And Cyclops' recruitment speech for Wolf Cub is pretty much the same motivation he used to get X-23 of X-Force: You're a weapon, allow me to aim you.

The only way I'll be sticking with this book past the first arc is if rumors are true and that isn't Cyclops. If he's actually someone from the old HFC looking to trick a bunch of inexperienced/morally questionable newbies into deposing Roberto and friends for him, great! If that's really Cyclops and the original NM's are really the bad guys I'm out of here.

[Jordan T. Maxwell]

saw the final reveal at the end coming months ago...one of the most telegraphed "twists" i've ever seen in comics. but overall, i thought it was a solid issue that showed some real potential. i dropped New X-Men after Nunzio and Christina left the book and i didn't enjoy the new writers/direction of the book. so i'm curious to see where Guggenheim can take this. i don't think anything is what it seems right now so i want to see how things develop. i'll give it a full arc to sell me...more than i was willing to give X-Force or Cable. :LOL:

[Nick Costanzo]

I dunno... the premise sounds pretty cool to me. I'm thinking I need to head to the store and read up on this "new" Cyclops, he sounds quite fascinating.

Also, no character is "too good" for any story, as long as its written well :)

[Greg Reeves]

Not a fan to be honest. While some scenes were interesting, I found the story overall to be a letdown. Certain aspects of the characters didn't fit, such as the case of Wolf Cub and Dust, and the rest just seemed sorta bland.

Wasn't really a fan of the art either. Rockslide looked awful, IMO.

[JD Francesco]

"Apparent life of petty crime"? The guy took out a police officer!

I'm referring to his car theft when I say petty crime.

And Cyclops' recruitment speech for Wolf Cub is pretty much the same motivation he used to get X-23 of X-Force: You're a weapon, allow me to aim you.

Yeah, I see your point. I don't think any of Cyke's recruitment speeches were very good. In Wolf Cub's case I'm trying to be optimistic by seeing it as Scott saying whatever he had to say in order to get Nick to stand down.

[Jordan T. Maxwell]

i was just disappointed because we almost got to see one of Chuck Austen's abominable creations murdered before Scott intervened. damn you, Scott! :D

[MaggottFanMan]

I really didn't feel an immediate connection to this title. It was disappointing considering I was a huge fan of New X-Men. I will stick with it for a bit and see if it gets better but so far no dice for me.

[David Henry]

One disappointment was Blindfold's speech.

After seeing Whedon handle the ambiguity of her speech so well, it was difficult seeing her become so Plain Jane by speaking so normally.

Also, I don't like Wolf Cub at all. I'm over feral characters.

And I have to agree with JD's assessment that no other teen book matches New Mutants. Those are my faves, too. Claremont was at his absolute peak when writing that book. He and McLeod did an excellent job creating a dynamic team that were also visually interesting.

I still wonder to this day why only Cannonball graduated to the X-Men. There's so much characterization and history to work with. Why let it go to waste?

[iceman06]

i was just disappointed because we almost got to see one of Chuck Austen's abominable creations murdered before Scott intervened. damn you, Scott! :D

I think that last panel showing Wolf Cub in red was "Cyclops" killing Maximus Lobo himself.

I still wonder to this day why only Cannonball graduated to the X-Men. There's so much characterization and history to work with. Why let it go to waste?

Many writers prefer new characters because they can add conflict where there is none between existing characters and tell stories they couldn't with a character whose past and personality is known too well. Sam and Rahne have been used consistently. Dani's depowered now, she was a teacher before, and before that even Claremont had little use for her. Writers have been more interested in playing up Bobby's potential dark side without keeping him on a roster. I've been an x-fan for over 20 years, but I couldn't describe Shan's personality. If a writer can only have 1 telepath, you can't tell me she's the most interesting one. The truth is that there wasn't any room for them in the X-Men because writers and most fans were more interested in other characters.

[Philip A Moore]

I get it the brotherhood of evil mutance are actully skulls :clap:

actully I liked this issue and I wonder if perhaps the evil mutance are just a test to see if the new guys can cut it

good day

[Rcdino1]

I think it's risky to put out a monthly title with D-list charcters as the main focus of book....(Dust and Rockslide being a bit more prominent than the rest...but having much less character development than Surge, Hellion, Prodigy, X-23, etc....from the "much-longed for/ill-fated New X-Men" title.) there aren't too mnay example in X-history where D-listed charcter development made for a dynamic read. Kyle, Yost and Young took a gamble during the "Quest for Magik" storyline and it payed off. X-fans were awed by the likes of Anole, Pixie, Match, Gentle, Blindfold, etc...(many of which were integral charcters in the story). Fans were excited to learn more aboy these "background" characters. The characters were written well and didn't delve far from any prior character development.

Guggeheim's writng seemed contrived and forced...even the puns. Old characters seem to be potrayed much differently .....Blindfold has an heir of mystique to her...even her apparel (Where's her shawl??). New characters seem too cliche....Ink?

As with all X-titles...I'll give it a chance....Should the writing continue in the same vein....the series won't last.

Guggenheim needs to take a lesson from Yost and Kyle.
:mercury: :hellion: :armor: :anole: :pixie: :rocky: :gentle: :surge: :dust: :prodigy:

[Havok-X2]

I would have given this a lower score. Didnt like it

[BlackSamurai]

In contrast Sooraya is shown nobly spending time in Afghanistan saving small towns from Taliban oppression. Obviously she is desperately needed in her own country so for the life of me I can’t see why Cyclops in good conscience could pull her away from that. More importantly how could she agree to go? I would be very interested to hear how Cyke convinced her but Guggenheim skipped over it so I guess Sooraya is just on the team for Westchester’s good weather.
I would hope, as someone else referenced that this is a fake Cyclops. Beyond any killing issues we need a good reason for Dust to abandon a noble path to just run around in place of dozens of other mutants that could have been recruited. She is an interesting character and I do agree she deserves to be developed and used by writers, but I think a mistake was in showing that she was doing something so worthwhile only to follow a path that was disastrous for her and her friends/peers before. That being said and done and irreversible, I hope the writer goes back and fills in some credible reason for her to leave her country men back in the mercy of their oppressors to go on random undefined missions in a land not her home, that is already overpopulated with champions.

And it can't have anything to do with a promise to help her do something far more important (like find her mother like she wanted a while back) because it would be less likely for her to be better found by moving back to the States. It is only logical for her to come back if her reason for coming back directly relates to this exact first mission, e.g. the enemy has her mother, or some friend she really cared about back on the team, and only her unique skills could help a team rescue whoever. And we all know that this is very improbable given who the enemy are, and logically the real Cyclops should be resourceful enough and caring enough to rescue her by other means and allow Dust to do good exactly where she is.

No, this reason for coming has to be good, but I get the feeling they just were aiming for a 'cool catch-up intro story' that was also referencing her origins and they decided to do just that, never intending to elaborate further than that, and failed to even see how much it could puzzle fans that a) Cyclops pulled her away and b) that she agreed to come. If on the other hand, Scott threatened her mom or forced/coerced her to come back otherwise, then we are approaching Scott as villain territory, and that ain't going to be pretty.

Just thought to say that it is not the cool power display anymore that anyone supposed to be a great leader would choose (or even lose their cool enough) to think it makes any sense at all to blast their student and budding recruit through the wall of a local establishment. What? To make a point? To teach some ever important lesson? Come on. Even if it's right before saying they'll cover the damages, it serves no point other than to strike fear into bystanders and give norms more reason to hate mutants. Would Scott Summers do this? Unless we are turning this into a spin off gags book, we need to wipe such a slate of stupid actions clean. C'mon writers, tighter ship with the writing and characterization. Please make this Cyclops a Skrull if he wasn't already supposed to be... factor that into the story and clean this up so this can be a good sensible run.

[John H]

The only way I'll be sticking with this book past the first arc is if rumors are true and that isn't Cyclops. If he's actually someone from the old HFC looking to trick a bunch of inexperienced/morally questionable newbies into deposing Roberto and friends for him, great! If that's really Cyclops and the original NM's are really the bad guys I'm out of here.
Could Cyclops be Regan or Martinique vying for a spot on a new Inner Circle?

[ArchangelX]

I still wonder to this day why only Cannonball graduated to the X-Men. There's so much characterization and history to work with. Why let it go to waste?


Moonstar graduated as well. She joined along with Forge & Sage during the "Revolution" time 6 months after "The Twelve" sage.

Magma, Karma & Wolfsbane were teachers at the school with Moonstar as well, but not really X-Men.

[Uncanny Madman]

Ok, I tried, TRIED to read it and judge it without my "New X-Men crazy" head on but I'm afraid I failed. And for that you'll have to forgive me.

Alonso has a lot to answer for with this.

It makes NO SENSE.

Even if Cyclops is an imposter, I can't accept that the kids aren't questioning this, or that they'd all have gone their own seperate ways in the first place.

In the closing issues of New X-Men (pre-Messiah) Cyclops acknowledges they've done a terrible job of protecting the last generation of mutants and insists that the kids saftey is the X-Men's top priority from now on. Then at the end of Messiah Complex he fakes disbanding the X-Men and let's the students scatter to the winds, despite knowing what targets they are? Knowing that the Purifiers are out there posing such a threat to mutants that he has to form X-Force to wipe them out? And the kids, after forming such a bond, all just abandon each other and go their own seperate ways?

We know from the pages of Uncanny X-Men that Scott hasn't REALLY disbanded the X-Men and that he was lying to Stark. So the rationality behind abandoning the kids is...? Ok so there's no school but they havn't been students in the literal sense is quite a while - they were young X-Men. Already. And Scott hasn't disbanded the X-Men. So..?

Instead of cancelling New X-Men during this stupid fake "disbanding" and shunting the kids off to Divided We Stand one shots, they could have had Divided We Stand issues of New X-Men focusing on the kids dealing with the situation until the "reforming" of the main X-Men in July (Uncanny #500/Second Stage), which, they could have made co-incide with issue #50 of New X-Men.

So basically, we've lost this book because apparently "Young" X-Men makes sense in a world with NO X-Men, but "New" X-Men doesn't. Right. Stop and think about that. IT MAKES NO SENSE! This could have been the New X-Men's chance to step up, especially after the extra exposure from Messiah Complex. And there ARE really X-Men anyway - they are resuming in a few issues! Great move Marvel.

It's obvious from the last page, interviews, and the fact this books working title was "New Mutants" that Alonso wanted to bring back the original New Mutants, and that's why Guggenheim wanted to write it. Fair enough. So give the New Mutants their own damn book already but don't scrap ANOTHER teen title to do it!!

And so on to the new cast...

Fair enough Guggenheim couldn't use certain characters due to there being plans for them elsewhere but atleast do justice to the characters you DO use! To be fair, I think Guggenheim got most of their "voices" right (Wolf Cub aside, but I didn't really mind this iteration of him) but there are some real issues I have with how they got here and how some characters are presented.

Blindfold. Prior to Young X-Men she was an awesome supporting character in Astonishing and New X-Men. Creepy as heck with her weird speech, mysterious riddles and wrapped in her shawl. Loner, struggles to communicate well with others and is somewhat detatched even among a group.

And now here she is in Young X-Men, her speech is adequately recreated but she has lost all her mysterious creepiness! Belly on show in pink t-shirt and jeans. Arranges a meeting with Rockslide at a cafe. And she's the lead character. It's early days but first impressions: It doesn't work.

As for Rockslide, besides looking ATROCIOUS with the same expression on his unforgiveable ugly face in EVERY panel (seriously, check out the last New X-Men trade and look at all the emotion Skottie Young portays in his face. He even looks cute sometimes!), demands Blindfold joins the team with him after having coffee with her, in, a cafe, with no-one batting an eyelid to him being there.

The only interaction this pair had previously was Rockslide dismissing her as a "creepy chick" and later telling her that if she doesn't shut up he's gonna kick her in the junk because everything she says is bad. But apparently, her vision of them on a team together with someone dieing is all he needs for them to be new best buds. Why isn't he with his REAL best buds and former team-mates Mercury and Hellion? The former having no home to go to and the latter, whom Rockslide sacfrificed himself to save being left in a coma after Messiah Complex. (ok so the Hellion coma is being dealt with in Divided We Stand Book 1 but Rockslide abandoned him because..?)

To anyone saying "this isn't New X-Men it's a different book" - the big problem it has is that all the other new Marvel teen books of recent years (Runaways, Young Avengers, New X-Men when it was New Mutants) all came into life with a cast of BRAND NEW characters, introduced for the first time (Cassie Lang aside) and this, mainly, doesn't. It uses characters established in New X-Men (and Astonishing) so it's impossible to be subjective about the choice of characters and how they are used.

Anyway, New X-Men aside - the book and the story and the plot....

The dialogue was acceptable. The "twist" is interesting enough. Ink is different and I kinda like him. The art for the human characters (and Pierce) was decent enough. But not alot happened. Yeah, I know - it was a set up issue. But there is absolutely no rational reason for this reboot of the teen X-Men franchise. None at all. The New Mutants should have graduated to bigger things LONG ago. This to me, is all a HUGE mistake.

I'm still on board though - Guggenheim is generally a great writer and I'm sure the book will have a lot of good stuff going on. I love Rockslide. And Dust. And Blindfold. And this is where they are so...I hope the book manages to find a decent audience and Gugg gets the chance to do some cool stuff. But it'll probably be cancelled a few years down the line anyway so I guess I shouldn't think too much about it...

Just for the hell of it, my ranking, based on the issue itself:

6/10

[emesem]

This could have been the worst comic ever created with the words "Xmen" on the cover. Horrid from beginning to end.

If this is all just a misdirection to create some new team ala the recent Teen Titans relaunch that melds old new mutants members with some new characters (which actually could have been a nice idea) then double boo for flubbing the execution.

[Kizmet]

If this is all just a misdirection to create some new team ala the recent Teen Titans relaunch that melds old new mutants members with some new characters (which actually could have been a since idea) then double boo for flubbing the execution.

I have my doubts about kicking off a new comic with an arc where "Nothing is as it seems." I think it would be wise to use the first arc to actually show readers what the book is about so they'll want to buy it.

[MaggottFanMan]

I have my doubts about kicking off a new comic with an arc where "Nothing is as it seems." I think it would be wise to use the first arc to actually show readers what the book is about so they'll want to buy it.

Agree entirely.

[JD Francesco]

I have my doubts about kicking off a new comic with an arc where "Nothing is as it seems." I think it would be wise to use the first arc to actually show readers what the book is about so they'll want to buy it.

Agree entirely.

Both approaches have their merits and I think a good writer can successfully blend an enticing mystery into an opening arc while establishing a decent premise. Whether Guggenheim is that kind of writer remains to be seen. There's only been one issue of the arc so far. Let's give it a chance. Believe me, if by the end it turns out that this sucks I'll be the first to post a scathing review.

Could Cyclops be Regan or Martinique vying for a spot on a new Inner Circle?

This is a very good idea but I'm not so sure Mike Carey is done with Regan yet. I don't believe for a minute that she's dead. When she returns I'm betting that Carey will still have dibs over the other writers.

[Kizmet]

Both approaches have their merits and I think a good writer can successfully blend an enticing mystery into an opening arc while establishing a decent premise. Whether Guggenheim is that kind of writer remains to be seen. There's only been one issue of the arc so far. Let's give it a chance. Believe me, if by the end it turns out that this sucks I'll be the first to post a scathing review.


The thing is I'm trying to judge whether or not I want to read this comic based on this issue, it's the first issue, it should sell the comic to me. Instead trying to decide whether or not to drop it, because this issue didn't appeal at all, but rumor has it that there's some sort of switch and bait.

And it may help Marvel in the short term if they can keep readers with the promise that every thing will be different in the next arc, but I'm running out of patience with Marvel. I want a good story now, not next time. And based on what I've read of "Young X-Men" thus far I have no interest in reading more, just a faint hope that it couldn't really be as bad as it seems.

[Ann Nichols]

Wolf Cub looks much taller than the 4' 3" [129.54 centimeters] and as if he weighs considerably more than the 113 pounds [51.255 937 81 kilograms or 8.071 428 571 4 stone] listed in "X-Men: the 198 Files". Did he experience a huge growth spurt during "New X-Men" v.2, #20-46? Does Mr. Guggenheim realize that Nicholas was declared the next-to-the-youngest mutant (Indra was the youngest) at the school in "New X-Men" v.2, #43?

At the moment, I'm favoring the theory that Cyclops is Donald Pierce.