Written by: Mark Guggenheim
Art by: Adrian Syaf
Published by: Marvel Comics
The X-men go back to their roots, for better or worse.
Guggenheim manages to essentially reintroduce the X-Men to the new readers, with the Inhumans vs X-men war touched on. The human perception of the mutants has gone downhill from there, and Kitty Pride as the new leader needs to maintain control between her X-Men and the human population.
The problem is, the conflict essential for this issue was not really seen throughout the previous books.
Where Guggenheim does succeed to is to bring a new conflict to the X-Men. It is always interesting to see a new Professor X character as it always brings a new dynamic for the team itself. Kitty Pride has accepted her role fully, but she does so understanding the enormity of that undertaking. It is what makes this book unique.
Adrian Syaf’s art here is also very dynamic, especially during the fight sequence in the opening pages. That dynamic continues to the quieter moments where Kitty is dealing with the reality that she is now the leader of the X-Men, and both her determination and fear are conveyed well. Syaf used to work books such as Batman, Superman, Titans, and X-men. He brings his dynamic style to this book as well.
There was no sense of a creative nervousness that can sometimes be seen when artists or writers take up a big property. Both Guggenheim and Syaf feel at home working on this book. This allows them to bring their unique touches to individual characters more than just trying to work with their team dynamic.
X-Men Gold is a good introduction for the new readers that have not picked up an X-Men book lately while also being good for old readers that have not become too jaded with the status quo. It’s those in the middle–the jaded readers who do not like all of the major changes to this property–that will be hard to win over, but if X-Men Gold can sustain a continuous run, it has a chance to grab them too.
