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The Good
New Costumes- Bachalo is the man best suited to illustrate the Uncanny X-men’s new digs. Cyclops all red suite is sleek and sexy, Magneto’s almost pope like white costume is a radical departure from his purple and red ensemble, let’s not even mention Emma Frost’s all Black sexy back and Magik’s Britney spears inspired midrift + spikes. These all look great!
Cover-The standard cover has Cyclops in the foreground decked out in red while his team in black and white flank him from all sides. Noteworthy variants include one where Magik is front and center with the color red being dominant throughout while the other X-men remain in the background. The Blank and white version with Cyclops by himself is also cool. Last but not least is the X-babies version of the team very reminiscent of the the standard cover.
Action- Sentinels vs X-men, the classic is still the best!
The Reveal- For weeks now I’ve been scrutinizing which of Cyclops inner circle would betray him. Emma Frost seemed the obvious choice having lost her telepathy which defined her character for most of her existence. Magik? Perhaps on a whim or because she was a prisoner on Utopia for awhile. My best guess would certainly have been one of the new recruits but not Magneto! After all Cyclops had become the heir to himself and Charles Xavier, a man to unify the mutant race into a powerful world shaping superpower. Alas the reasons given for the betrayal makes sense…to a degree considering this is Magneto, the most notorious flip flopper in mutant race history. There are so many additional reasons Magneto would betray Cyclops first up is clearly the fact that Cyclops isn’t nearly as bad as people think or as Magneto may want.
Black Heroes- Nick Fury Jr. makes an appearance as well as new mutant Christopher, both in supporting roles of course.
Art- I’m not A Chris Bachalo fan post 90’s but even I can admit that this was some of his best work in years! Clearly allot of care and precision went into penciling this issue. Chris you’ve outdone yourself with this one, kudos on turning this one time fan back into a believer.
Dangerous bedfellows- Here we have Maria Hill making a deal with Magneto about exposing Cyclops as the weak broken man he is after Avengers Vs X-men. Magneto clearly wants revenge on Scott for his diminished powers and apparently killing Xavier despite himself having attempted to do so more times than we can count. What does he want in return is the key question, the other question is does Maria Hill seriously think Cyclops is as dangerous as Magneto was in his prime? Cyclops is recruiting mutants certainly but to wage war on mankind, Magneto though, given the chance would simply rebuild Genosha and go right back to conquering earth.
- Uncanny X-men (2013) #1 By Brian Bendis and Chris Bachalo
The Bad
Designs- Bachalo you sly dog! The costume on Eva was one of the initial designs floated around when he was designing Idie Okonkwo’s Wolverine and X-men costume, for shame Bachalo. The choice of goggles on Christopher is lame on so many levels. Did we not already have the goggles look on Prodigy from new X-men? I really don’t see why
Cover- All white plain with logo……. -_-
The one with Deadpool and the birds…… wtf? Lastly the variant with Cyclops by himself colored really just looks tacky.
The Ugly
Bendis has established himself as the man who knows how to use the twist ending perfectly in the comic book medium. The reveal of the traitor on that last page harkens back to now classic Ultimate Spider-man and original New Avengers cliffhangers that leave your mouth not gaping open but literally unhinged from your head and shattered on the floor. Some think Bendis is overrated in comics but I dare you to find anyone in comics that has mastered this simple skill and executed it to such a level as perfection! Uncanny X-men (2013) #1 is exactly what the X-men line needed in the aftermath of Avengers Vs X-men with far reaching ramifications for the mutants who literally sacrificed themselves to bring their race from the verge of extinction. If this is X-men, Bendis style, you, your father and grandfather need to pick this up! 4.5/5
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