X-Men #28

X-Men #28 Review

Overview:

X-Men+ Spider-Man+ most of the Fantastic Four+ Skrulls+ a whole issue centering on Pixie =Win!

The Good:

This issue was great, Victor Grischler created a really good story that not only centers on Pixie (a horribly underused and awesome character) but also has continuity!!! This issue has Skrulls, which brings part of the Secret Invasion event with it, in a good way; it also references the adventure the X-Men and FF had just before Regenesis to the other dimension. This issue has several guests, including Spider-Man in his classic jokester mood and the Fantastic Four who are shown that everyone makes mistakes.

With all of these guests someone has to get cut out, the X-Men do and it is fine. You might be thinking “Hey isn’t this book about the X-Men? If they aren’t here, what is the point?” Don’t worry baby birds, it is fine, plus Pixie is on most of the pages anyway. Trust me, if you want to see Psylocke, Strom and Colossus, go read another X-book and bring them with you.

The art work is fine, nothing really special, nothing really bad.

Have I mentioned Pixie is featured in this issue with the whole story from her point of view?

The Bad:

Colossus, Storm and Psylocke are still on the team, so that sucks. I understand why, more people will buy it if big names are attached but no great character development for these three will come out of this book, so replace them with the sizeable roster on Utopia. Now that Jubilee is gone, there are as many “mainstream” characters as B-list ones and in a book like this, the focus should be on bringing B-list characters the spotlight. One of the Cuckoos could replace Psylocke for telepathic communications, Warpath can replace Storm as the leader, and literally anyone with super strength could replace Colossus. Give the B-list characters a chance!!

While the art isn’t bad, the colors which are done by GuruFX are a bit annoying. Most of the close-ups have the shadows on their face done as pure black instead of a darker shade of skin tone, this is particularly a problem with the face ridges on the Skrulls and Pixies eyes, which have light pupils and the whites are black.

Verdict:

Despite my disappointment that the roster they don’t have much of a presence so that isn’t held against the issue; also Pixie stars in the issue. I find her to be an underrated character with a lot of potential and I find she can lighten comics up and make them fun. This is a good issue for anyone, old and new readers alike as it is the start of a new, but short story arc. On a total side note, I recall that during early AvX advertising, Pixie was going to fight Squirrel Girl. Is that real or just a rumor, because it would be awesome.

4 out of 5