All-New X-Men #8

This is probably my favourite Marvel Now! Series if not first second I love what Bendis has done and this has become one of the best X-men flagship series in years and I’ve enjoyed every issue even though some have been better than others.

Plot

Angel and young angel talk to each other while flying through the air but Hydra attack Avengers tower and they head off to fight them and run into some problems but the Avengers arrive in the end.

Review

I really enjoyed this issue it was a strong issue and was fun and well written and drawn. This issue really continues this series trend of character development first plot second and in some series this doesn’t work but in a series like this it works to the books advantage and while it can be a little slow at points I don’t mind so much in this book. One of the reasons this book is doing so well is that we see a lot of meetings with the O5 with the new versions of them and the Avengers (as they will meet the Uncanny Avengers and the Uncanny X-men are going to turn up as well) and I was interested in this issue with the Avengers as I wanted to see what Captain America would do and what would bring them to go to the X-men.

This issue begins with the two angels flying through the air and young Angel talking to the old one and well this probably isn’t the most shocking of confrontations in this series (Cyclops vs Cyclops being the most shocking) but it was the funniest of them all as Angel talking to his old hippy version of himself led to an interesting conversation and well the reaction of the younger Warren was perfect and you can properly understand why he did what he did. Angel after the Dark Angel saga was a hippy but over time his character has become a little more complex with his power levels and characterization and well this makes their meeting a lot more interesting and also very funny to read.

Bendis introduces the Avengers when Hydra attacks Avenger’s tower and Angel(s) go to stop Hydra. I felt that the appearance of Hydra was unnecessary in this issue while it did make for a fun battle scene and the appearance of the Avengers I feel like Bendis could have come up with a less forced way to bring them in and that there might have been a proper reason for Hydra’s appearance as I find it random. The fight scene itself was fun and I liked seeing what Young Angel did as he was out of his depth in this and was nearly killed several times and I liked how older angel seemed to be enjoying it and this worked very well as it showed the opposite type of people but they are the same person it shows how drastic the change was during the Dark Angel Saga and the scale of the effect it had on Angel. I also liked one scene in this issue where it appears that Angel wasn’t changed in character but also in power as it seems that he bounced back a large explosion on to some of the members of Hydra this may mean that he still has some of the powers he had when he was Archangel/ Apocalypse I really hope to see more of this as it was a very interesting point in this issue. The Avenger’s do arrive at the end Thor basically finishes them all of I felt this was a little rushed but Thor can do this so it’s only a minor gripe also I loved how Hulk looks in one panel (Genius on Marquez’s part) it’s very funny and while it may annoy some people I really liked it.

We then reach probably the highlight of the issue in terms of fun because well this issue had a lot of jokes and some witty dialogue but this beats it all. Captain America arrives and asks to see Beast and well Kitty and Iceman (Old) take the mick out of them by trying to work out what they’re saying and what really made it funny is how it is pretty accurate how it ends and well while the conversation itself is very funny over dramatizing it and making it sound ridiculous but really I liked how it turned out to be pretty accurate. I also thought the young Cyclop’s talk to Captain America was quite funny a bit short yes but I thought it was to the point.

Major spoilers in this paragraph

Right this issue had a major cliffhanger in it in and well I can see this becoming a major point of controversy to the series because well O5 Warren wants to return to the past by wiping his mind and changing his opinion and well those of you have read the Dark Phoenix Saga know that at one point Jean changes the mind of Kitty Pryde’s parents so that their happier and well the same happens here and well this can only end badly but really want made this bit interesting is that Jean’s faces is a lot darker like bits in the Dark Phoenix saga I doubt the Phoenix is going to come back but I’m interested to see how this goes as it was an interesting twist.

David Marquez thank you for doing this arc I prefer Immonen but you are possibly the best replacement the detail that is put into the art is incredible it’s not overly detailed but it has enough to make it look amazing but where Marquez excels is character work all the characters look alive and emotional at all times even in the most normal of scenes also I love the one panel with the Hulk in that I mentioned earlier is pure genius and made that scene a whole lot of fun. Marquez also did very well on the action scenes they don’t look as good as Immonen’s but Immonen excels at that also Marquez isn’t given enough to play with but the action scenes do look really good and made the scene look very exciting and dynamic.

Verdict

While this isn’t as good as some issues this is still a very strong issue in a very strong series but a random appearance didn’t help the issue and also a slightly rushed ending save this book from getting a higher score but still the twist at the end was amazing and I’m interested to see it play out anyway this was a good issue.

4 stars