It’s the second issue of Marvel superstars Jed MacKay and Ryan Stegman’s all-new X-Men series, and they’re back in the thick of it. This time, Cyke and the team are on the hunt for a new mutant in San Francisco, while also having to deal with an alien invasion that appears seemingly out of nowhere. Like last issue, the new mutant begins to show his powers much later in life, rather than during puberty as is the case with most mutants. So, without further ado, let’s get on with the show…
Jed MacKay’s run has just begun, but it’s off to a rocky start so far. We’re two issues in, but we don’t know who Idie or Psylocke are, or what role they play on the team. Cyclops and Kid Omega got the most character development this issue, but after the last few years of consistent character development, it’s time to put the lesser-known characters in the spotlight. Like Psylocke. Kwannon will be leading her own solo series, so putting her in the foreground will help new fans care about her, and they’ll at least feel compelled to buy the first issue.
What I did like was Stegman’s art. The New Mutant’s power isn’t all that creative, because how many reality manipulators do the X-Men need anyway, but it allowed Stegman to get creative when it came to coming up with the alien spaceships and the aliens themselves. Or the scene where Juggernaut gets shot out of the cannon controlled by Temper (terrible codename, by the way). It looks like the team is having fun here with some of the sillier aspects of the plot. I really like Kid Omega’s portrayal here. It’s almost like a return to an era where he’s still a young adult in this world, rather than the annoying man-child we saw in the last volume of X-Force. Nothing is perfect here, as we see with Psylocke’s sword, which looks like a knife wrapped in spaghetti.
It’s a shame that Magik and the others are so shallowly written, and a note about this issue that it tends to detract from the overall enjoyable experience of the comic. MacKay seems to lack emotional connection to the story or characters he’s telling here, or to bring any kind of depth and gravitas to the cast, which is disappointing for readers and fans alike. Or the fact that we don’t know what happened in the last issue, which ended on a cliffhanger with no resolution in this issue. Despite MacKay’s concerted effort to make the issue as reader-friendly as possible for newcomers, the resolution doesn’t seem worth the effort. One can only hope that we have a clear understanding of who these characters are before the end of this story arc.
