Mike Carey is great at fleshing out a world where mutant powers are a reality. When a member of the Acolytes uses his ability to freeze time, a teammate complains that slowed time “makes the air feel all thick and slimy.” That’s a little touch that’s an afterthought to the characters themselves, but serves to bring the reader just a little bit further into a fictional reality.
His abilities aren’t just limited to the ambient, either. His pairing of Iceman and Cannonball is interesting, and gives the characters a nice opportunity to prove their growth and changes in personality. Sam plays the hot-headed, impulsive youth while Bobby does his best to maintain a level head and weigh their options. Not that long ago, Iceman would be the one in a rush to action without considering the ramifications. His restraint shows that the character has matured over the years, and the comparison to Cannonball makes a nice contrast. Past and present, so to speak.
Carey does great work at shrinking an unmanageably large population of mutants. He gives every character a purpose, whether they get ten pages’ worth of attention or half a panel. Even Sinister, a character I always used to despise for his shortcomings in this area, is given a definitive direction and personality in this story.
The ongoing narrative is still occupying itself with foreshadowing and vague insinuations, broken up by a few short battles, but if you’ve been reading X-Men for long, that shouldn’t be anything new. These books were basically founded on the idea of a slow crescendo, almost to the point that you begin to wonder if there will ever be a climax. This issue holds a steady course in that regard. There’s a lot going on, but by the final panel we’re still only an inch closer to the big, momentous occasion that’s being hinted at.
The normally solid Humberto Ramos misses a few occasions for some monstrously cool pages here, specifically a faceoff between Iceman, Cannonball and Sunfire at high altitude that could’ve been blow-me-away cool. I’m not sure if that’s due to the tight deadlines required by an X-book, laziness or something in between. Too many times, a backdrop is relegated to flat air and simple gradations, and it gives the book a mildly vacant, less substantial vibe. When it’s time to really gear up and deliver with a huge, dozen-man brawl, though, Ramos still comes through. In particular, the two-page spread in the middle of the issue is a great example of this proficiency.
As is par for the course, you’re going to fall into one of three camps on this book: you’re either a die-hard (buying this issue regardless of what I say), a hater (the precise opposite) or a tweener, who hasn’t been following the series but isn’t opposed to the concept. If you’re one of the first two, your mind’s already been made up. If you’re the latter, find a die-hard friend and borrow this. It’s slowly beginning to draw me in, and I imagine it’ll do the same for you.
Overall Score: 8
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