The Good
I like the idea of this story. I want to see where these characters come from and how they came together. Why wouldn't you want to see a collection of mutants working together prior to the inception of the X-Men?
I love the dynamic between Sabretooth and Wolverine, and frankly, it's just nice to see Sabretooth in a comic again (a non cloned one). This is a pre-Weapon X Logan, so his personality is a bit different, another aspect of this book I thought was great. He's a leader, and he won't take your crap, yet there's this odd aspect of compassion within him. It's not the character we truly know today. It's refreshing.
The color work of Matthew Wilson is great. He's great with putting in darker shades at the appropriate places and his work is consistent throughout the book. This was one of the few times where I noticed how great the coloring looked before I could make my mind up about anything else.
What I'm most excited for, which we get a bit of a tease towards the end is how Magneto is going to play into this. He's full of such rage and he'll make a great member of this new team which Wolverine may or may not be running.
The Bad
Neal Adams art is a bit inconsistent. He is a legend in the field and done some amazing things, but the art in this book ranged from "that looks awesome" to "to extremely dated." Case in point, the opening page, panel two is just Wolverine as a close up and it reminds me of some of Francis Lenil Yu's art. It looks fantastic. Next page is a great splash page. And the pages after that, the become a bit feral and then there's a page of Wolverine getting shocked where is body is in this bizarre position that no one would make if they were getting shocked. Adams has some great work here and some not so great work. I was a bit let down.
The technology these guards use at the facility in Virginia is a bit much for me. They look like a cross between Stiltman's (RIP) armor and Iron Man's functionality. It just seems way to advanced in this universe for the time, which we are told in the beginning is "many years ago." I'd rather just have an actual date.
The Verdict
I'm pretty split on this issue. I think the idea and the story are fantastic and a good start to the book. Matthew Wilson's colors are great, and at times, Adams' art is wonderful. The problem is that his art is a bit inconsistent in this book. One panel will look great and another can look like it came from a bronze age book.
I'm enjoying the dynamic between these characters as well. We all know these guys and it's cool to see a hidden past between all of them. I'm excited to continue reading it.
Overall, I give this a mild recommendation.
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