The Good
I've made it pretty clear, in the past, that I'm not the biggest X-Men fan. I read here and there, but I usually get annoyed and drop off after a few issues. It's just not my favorite thing in the world. This X-book is the first time, in years, that I'm excited to read. I've even put it on the Top of Pile list a few times, as well as my real life pull list. This is a fantastic book to get new X-readers on board.
This issue made me extremely happy. It was like a snuggie wrapped in friendship wrapped in cuddling. It's an incredibly awesome issue about learning what you become and the directions in life you can take. It's also a great issue about manipulating the heck out of people as young Scott has a talk with Mystique about Scott's perceptions of what Wolverine's school is all about.
I really enjoyed the opening to this issue. Young Scott hanging out in the real world and going to the bank was a very cool scene, especially when he discovered a few of the things in his lockbox. Cut to a few moments later, and Wolverine has to pull out the old Avengers "Members card" to keep some guards at bay in a pretty comical moment. Wolverine works well as this bizarre babysitter at the end of the issue. It's a pretty weird dynamic that I'm really enjoying in this series.
David Marquez does a stellar job on art here with Marte Gracia on colors. The scenes with young Scott looking at his lock box were not only drawn well, but they had a great tone, colorwise, to them. Marquez is not only a fantastic artist, but he remains consistent throughout the whole issue. He's fantastic with facial expressions without going over the top.
Great reveal page at the end of the issue. I like seeing the young X-Men discover new things about their future and their reactions to it. Their futures are pretty insane and piece by piece their learning a bit more about how crazy their lives will become and the way they handle it is the most interesting aspect of this book to me.
The Bad
I loved this issue, and while I hate saying "I had no problems with this issue..." I had no problems with this issue.
Wait... no... I have one. I want to see Angel and Archangel go flying.
The Verdict
ALL NEW X-MEN is one of my favorite on-going series here, and I'm not even a big X-Men fan. This issue was especially fantastic as young Scott has a talk with Mystique about his future. I loved the dialogue between the two. The art is always top notch when it comes to Marquez and Marte as well. This is a series you're going to want to read and not just because of the gimmicky story. It's just that darn good.
Overall, I highly recommend this issue.