New Mutants #1
Marvel Comics
Writers: Ed Brisson & Jonathan Hickman
Artist: Rod Reis
New Mutants #1 focuses on- well- the newer mutants. Ed Brisson and Jonathan Hickman come together to write the action-comedy, with gorgeous art by Rod Reis. How does this new series full of young characters measure with the rest of the Hickman X-Men line?
Like the other series in the current X-Men line, New Mutants features a large roster. Karma, Wolfsbane, Mondo, Cypher, Mirage, Sunspot, Chamber, and Magik make up the New Mutants team. This team feels rather unique when compared to the other series due to how obscure most of the characters are. The most popular character on this team is Magik, and even she isn’t the biggest name in X-Men. I love the opportunity that the opportunity to learn more about these characters. Wolverine and company are great, but they get plenty of attention, and there are a lot of great characters that could use development.
The roster interacts well with each other, but most of this issue feels stiff when compared to the rest of the excellent line. The pacing is rather rocky, and the actual dialogue feels unnatural. Oftentimes the poor pacing is a result of the dialogue that mostly exists just to teach the readers about Krakoa and the Starjammers.
The weak pacing doesn’t prevent New Mutants from being an enjoyable read though. The characters are all lively despite the unnatural dialogue. They all still come with plenty of personalities, and new readers will have a decent grasp on all the personalities by the end of this issue. The humor is also fantastic, with tons of natural jokes that fit the tone of the read and the traits of the characters. New Mutants is a genuinely funny read, something that I didn’t expect out of Hickman and Brisson.
Rod Reis is in charge of the issue’s art, ensuring that New Mutants is a gorgeous read. While this book looks great, the style does kind of clash with the script a bit. Reis’ style fits more dramatic titles, which New Mutants certainly is not. The style has paint-like qualities to it, making every panel look like a portrait. Again, it is gorgeous but it does lead to some of the characters looking a bit stiff. They aren’t too expressive, which isn’t befitting of a book full of small quips. Otherwise, this book is gorgeous, with bright colors and bold lines,
New Mutants isn’t a borderline masterpiece like some of the other titles, but it is still an enjoyable read. The few pitfalls that it suffers from do not prevent it from being better than most of the X-Men books over the last decade or so. For those who want an X-Men book that is character-focused, this is the way to go.
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New Mutants
New Mutants isn't a borderline masterpiece like some of the other titles, but it is still an enjoyable read. The few pitfalls that it suffers from do not prevent it from being better than most of the X-Men books over the last decade or so. For those who want an X-Men book that is character-focused, this is the way to go.
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