Written by: Cullen Bunn
Art by: Jorge Molina, Matteo Buffagni
Publisher: Marvel
Last week’s X-Men: Gold took a back to basics approach for its team of mutants. It put the X-Men in a world that fears and hates them and pit them against a new Brotherhood. Being too focused on going back to the basics, Gold seemed to have forgotten that fans still want something new and interesting from the franchise. This week’s X-Men: Blue turns out to be a superior direction to take. While also giving us a nostalgic cast, Bunn puts the mutants in a intriguing new premise.
The big selling point and the book’s strongest suit is it’s cast. Bringing the original five X-Men back into the current timeline, without having to deal with all the baggage of the current continuity was a great idea. It’s great to see it being continued here in X-Men Blue. Throughout the first issue, the focus is entirely put on the cast. By the end of the issue, newcomers will have a good idea of what each character is like and where the personalities will clash. There are characters that become instantly likable, and some less so. Team books live and die based on how well the cast differentiates themselves and plays on each other, and Blue succeeds here in spades. This is another place where Blue is superior to Gold. While Gold focused almost solely on Kitty Pryde, and how the other characters feel about Kitty Pryde, Blue actually reads like a team book.
The character focus comes at a cost, the actual plot of this book is nothing to write home about. Blue takes place on a cruise ship being robbed by two familiar mutant rogues. The conflict is fairly simple and mainly there for the team to show off their quips and their new powers, particularly Beast’s mystic abilities.
The book does have a couple “oh shit” surprise moments in the end that will make you impatient for the next issue. The direction that the book is heading in is exciting and the potential is there for some great moments. It’s hard to talk about what makes this first issue so exceptional without spoiling some of it’s greatest reveals. So I won’t. But rest assured, it’s pretty awesome.
The art here is serviceable for the most part from both artists and there don’t seem to be any hidden religious messages this time around. The action is easy to follow, and there’s some hilariously drawn scenes that compliment the comedic tone of the writing pretty well. There are some weird faces here and there, but nothing too off-putting.
X-Men: Blue still has a lot to prove. The teases in the end have my interest, but we’ll have to wait and see if Cullen Bunn can give the concept justice. So far though, it seems the book is in the right hands.
