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Posted December 7, 2012 by Mikael Angelo Francisco in Comics
 
 

COMIC BOOK REVIEW: All-New X-Men #3

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Stuart Immonen

This week’s All-New X-Men is more of a flashback issue – it shows us Scott’s X-Team’s new hideout, as well as Cyclops and Magneto’s attempt to rescue Emma Frost. This issue also answers the lingering question about the current state of Scott’s relationship with Emma (although quite frankly, what we saw in AvX #11 was already pretty conclusive, I think).

If you’ve been able to read my reviews for the first two issues of this ongoing, you’d pretty much know what to expect from the creative team. Brian Bendis continues to weave this tale, providing details slowly but surely in order to complete the puzzle concerning the clash between the original five X-Men in their early years and our present X-Men. The quality of Stuart Immonen’s art remains consistent as well – clean, smooth, and expressive. His illustrations of the sequences involving explosions of uncontrollable power are quite impressive, and the two-page spread in the issue showing the “Little X-Men” finally meeting Cyclops and Magneto face-to-face is poster-worthy.

However, I’m not sold on the malfunctioning powers subplot – I think it’s an unnecessary complication, and only adds to the clutter already present in the main story. The premise itself is strong enough as it, I believe, without having to resort to adding yet another plot point to build up. Perhaps what really doesn’t sit well with me about this is that this has the potential to undo Kieron Gillen’s redemption of Cyclops’s character in AvX: Consequences.

I’m really getting tired of Marvel being so wishy-washy about Cyclops – in one comic, he’s a hardened leader who’s willing to do everything for the preservation and longevity of his species, and in another he’s a reckless rebel without a solid plan who uses his possession by a cosmic entity as both a crutch and a scapegoat for recent transgressions. Make up your mind, Marvel!

VERDICT: 3.5/5

While not as interesting or action-packed as the last two issues, this week’s All-New X-Men serves as both a filler story and a platform to set up the confrontation between the two Cyclopses in the next installment.

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Mikael Angelo Francisco