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Just hang in there!
New Mutants #24
Mike Carey (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Allen Martinez (inks), Brian Reber (colours), Joe Caramanga (letters), Mico Suayan & Marte Gracia (cover). $2.99
The triumphant conclusion to the Age of X concludes in New Mutants #24, leaving with both desirable and undesirable results.
Spanning multiple issues, the Age of X began as a huge mystery for readers. The question, “What is the Age of X?” sprawled over comics for months prepping this event. As the story unfolded, readers began gathering pieces of what kind of world our favourite mutants were living in. Rogue looked like the main character to the story with Magneto as a potential villain and savior. Mutants were in disarray fighting a human army who were relentless on letting mutants stay alive. In the last two chapters, things started falling apart and we see Legion and Xavier as main characters, with Moira MacTaggert as an extension of Legion’s mind and being the true villain.
With a shift in characters from Rouge to Legion, instantaneously it throws readers for a loop. Not only was it a shocker to find that the Age of X is all Legion’s doing, but it is a shocker to see how characters completely disappeared with their importance in the story. By this last issue, Legion fights himself with Xavier by his side, while the inevitable Wolverine-getting-his-powers-back-moment finally arrived. A final brawl between humans and mutants leaves the conclusion to the story even more confusing. However, the ending does have some positive notes to it.
Firstly, most of the mutants still retain their memories from the Age of X. With Cyclops and Frenzy’s relationship in the AoX “universe,” they share a kiss in front of Emma Frost back on Utopia. I definitely sense some exciting problems in the future.
Secondly, some de-powered mutants are back! Most importantly a favourite of mine, Chamber!
But alas, this only comes with confusing pitfalls. If Chamber was de-powered in real life, but was in the AoX with powers, when he returned he got his powers back in the real universe. That makes sense to me. However, since Cannonball died in the Age of X (as he did in this issue), is he alive now? It’s inconsistencies like this which throw me for a loop. Also, why was Chamber in the AoX if he was not on Utopia to begin with? What about the Age of X Universe? If it all was in Legion’s head, how do other players fit into this? Obvious continuity issues plague the Age of X leaving me to wonder if the story was as well thought out as it seemed.
On a more positive note, Steve Kurth it a pretty good job on the artwork in the battles. Great detail and spreads made the action very intense, leaving much to the imagination on the chaos the battle raged. Kurth had some issues with individuals doing some awkward faces or postures. On the second page, the running mutant army is making all sorts of odd stances, while on the Cyclops/Frenzy revelation page, Frenzy is making the weirdest contortions, and Emma Frost has quite the mannish face. Little things like these make the battles look awesome, but the serious moments seem silly.
The Age of X definitely has shaken up the X-Men’s universe. I just wish it was done a lot better.
Grade: 5/10
Keep on Space Truckin’!
5/10? I just read the whole Age of X run and I really enjoyed it. Definitely more of an 8, at least. Great review though! I love how much thought and reflection you out into your reviews.
Thank you for the kind words! I’m glad at least you enjoyed the story. :-p
As for the review, the first couple of issues were a blast to read. All were very intriguing and had both myself and many reviews I followed, begging for more of it. It wasn’t until we realized it was Legion’s mind did the whole “fun” come crashing down.
It’s unfortunate that the story was an X-Men one. What I mean is if it were a standalone story people probably would have been thrilled for it. I know I would have been because it was a great science-fiction/mystery story. Just to jump into the story, pretending it we know nothing about X-men or pretending that it wasn’t X-Men could’ve worked too. We were able to see new characters without having to know who they were to begin with. Ie. We knew what the Force Warriors were without having to delve into each person individually and we got the jist of what was happening right-off-the-bat.
But since it was an X-Men story, there were too many loose ends to tie up. If I could grade it as a stand-alone story, not being part of an X-Man world – for sure it could’ve had an 8 or 9 out of 10. But because it is X-Men and there’s too many inconsistencies with both story and artwork, it received the mark it did. But what do I know?
You know, maybe it worked better for me because I’m relatively new to reading X-men. So it was fresh and new to me, and I didn’t notice the inconsistencies as much.
Just curious– are you reading Uncanny X-Force at all? Best X book on the shelves at the moment in my opinion.
I currently have every X-book imaginable on my pull-list. Uncanny X-Force has been a blast to read, as both Remender and Opena/Ribic have done great jobs with the art styles. Overall, it’s nice to see UXF as a family, rather than just Wolverine leading the whole team or Deadpool stealing all of the glory in each issue. I’m very excited for the next upcoming arc with Archangel going bananas. It has been a long-time coming. It’s a very healthy X-family book. Y’know. Despite all the murder. . .
As for best X-book, I’m torn between two. UXF is one of them. The other is X-Factor by Peter David. You can pretty much get started on issue #200 as it is a good starting point for newer readers of the series. But if you can start with issue #1, I would highly recommend it. Do not fret, though! There really are not over 200 issues to play catch-up on. The series is numbered #1-#50, then renumbered from #200-onwards, so there isn’t much back-reading necessary.
Interesting. I haven’t read X-Factor before but I’ll check it out. I work at a comic book store, so I can read what I want. It’s nice to be able to try stuff out without the risk of wasting what little money I have.
I can confidently say that once you start with X-Factor, you’ll be hooked. It’s really a group of B-List characters whom have really made a name for themselves since starting their own series.
Not to mention, it’s genuinely funny.