X-MEN BLUE #4 and JEAN GREY #2 Worth A Look This Week
Being honest, the X-MEN comic books have been a little lackluster over the past few years ever since the events of SECRET WARS unraveled. Since then, nothing has really felt right. I’ve made it very clear that the absence of the “original” Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Professor X is likely the biggest issue, but really, it just amounts to pretty bad writing and marketing. I’m a huge fan of the X-MEN books, and want nothing more than awesome books featuring our merry cast of mutants. Is that too much to ask?
Now on to the good news. The X-MEN books have relaunched yet again, as they always do, and this time I think Marvel is hitting a lot of the right notes. The main books are now X-MEN GOLD and X-MEN BLUE. Both are freshly relaunched and it’s not too late for new (or returning) readers to get in on the action. Orbiting those two ongoings are a handful of other titles including WEAPON X, GENERATION X, JEAN GREY, and the soon to be released CABLE and ICEMAN ongoings. So far, they all capture a bit of that old charm that reminds me why I love these characters. And even though those aforementioned “legacy” characters are still MIA, I’ll take what I can get if the stories are fun and well-written.
This week happens to see the release of a new issue of X-MEN BLUE and JEAN GREY which I consider the 2 strongest titles so far. So yeah, it’s a good week for Marvel fans! X-MEN BLUE features the time-displaced original X-Men team consisting of young versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Angel, and Iceman seemingly lead by Magneto this time. It’s a fun book with a lot of potential. The synopsis for issue #4 releasing this week simply reads: “SNIKT. SNIKT. SNIKT.”. As you can imagine, some form of Wolverine will be showing up. While I doubt it’s the original version we all love, this is intriguing nonetheless.
We also get JEAN GREY #2 which is a surprisingly fun book exploring the young Jean Grey as she tries to fit in knowing full well the tragic fate of her future self. Jean is an extremely powerful mutant who never learned the extend of her true powers until she was much older. It’s very interesting watching her as a young woman aware of her potential. This is a book to keep an eye on. I think big things are in store.
When a teenage JEAN GREY traveled through time and arrived in the present, she learned the terrible fate that befell her predecessor: Possessed by a cosmic entity called the Phoenix, Jean was trapped in an endless cycle of life and death. Determined to escape that future, Jean set out to write her own destiny. But now, she’s visited by a premonition that the Phoenix is coming for her…and in this new ongoing series by DENNIS HOPELESS (ALL-NEW X-MEN, SPIDER-WOMAN, X-MEN: SEASON ONE) and VICTOR IBANEZ (EXTRAORDINARY X-MEN, STORM), she’s going to fight tooth and nail to escape becoming its next victim!
If you are on the fence about diving back into some X-books I don’t blame you. But can can assure you that these new titles recapture some of that X-magic we all know and love. Give it a shot friends.
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