New X-Men by Grant Morrison Omnibus

Marvel Comics

Writer: Grant Morrison

Artist: Frank Quitely, Chris Bachalo, Ethan Van Sciver, Marc Silvestri, Igor Kordey, Leinil Francis Yu, John Paul Leon

New X-Men by Grant Morrison. Feels good just saying it. This is a run that’s been responsible for so many firsts in my time as a comic book fan. My first exposure to the X-Men comic books was reading issue 115 of this run. This was the first time I read anything featuring Emma Frost who swiftly became one of my favorite comic characters. Before that, I only knew the team from the 90’s cartoon. This series was my first time seeing a comic book character die. My first trade paperback was the “Riot at Xavier’s” story arc from this series. I made sure that this run was the very first omnibus that I bought because of how special it was to me. Now, in 2020 the New X-Men by Grant Morrison is going to be my first ever omnibus review.

First of all, I have to say that this is one big book. There are bigger omnibuses out there but at just over 1100 pages this is still one hell of a tome. The omnibus contains New X-Men issues #114-154 and 2001 annual so there’s a lot of content inside. Despite its large size I’ve yet to encounter any major issues while reading the book. There’s slight gutter loss here and there but it’s minimal which is impressive for a book this big. I think that’s a testament to the build quality of Marvel’s omnibus line. The sewn binding gives the pages the maximum room to spread out and it makes for a much easier read. You’ll still likely need to set the book on a table or something while reading it but it was surprisingly comfortable to handle.

Now, this is one of the darkest and most important X-Men runs for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the series’ debut arc massively shakes up the mutant race and its place in the Marvel universe. We’re also introduced to a terrifying new villain in Cassandra Nova who works as a sinister parallel to Xavier. The X-Men have had some amazing villains over the years such as Magneto or Apocalypse but with Morrisons writing Nova quickly takes her place among the best of them.

Aside from Cassandra this run also features Emma Frost joining the X-Men and the debuts of Fantomex, Xorn, and the Stepford cuckoos. Fantomex may be known to some for his time in Rick Remender’s critically acclaimed Uncanny X-Force. He’s a French mercenary made by the same people who created Wolverine and he’s very enjoyable throughout this book. Xorn is a mysterious mutant with healing abilities who plays a crucial role throughout the series. Emma became popular enough as a team member that she’s been a major part of the X-Men ever since this run. Meanwhile, her Stepford cuckoos have been recurring characters in numerous major X-titles as well.

This is also the run that really re-defined Scott Summers as a character. As the leader of the team Cyclops has always been prominent amongst the X-Men. He has to be because of that role but he’s always either been tied into whatever’s happening with Jean Grey or he’s played second-fiddle to someone like Storm or Wolverine. Morrison really takes the time to flesh Cyclops out further and show the psychological depth to his character. Grant uses the introduction of Frost as a way to show the cracks in Cyclops’ marriage. Emma becomes like a psychiatrist to him throughout the series and it allows Scott to come out of his shell. He establishes his own personality separate from his roles as husband and leader and it makes for an incredible read.

As much as I praise the writing in here I have to say that the art is nothing to be sniffed at either. Frank Quitely, Marc Silvestri, Phil Jimenez, Igor Kordey and Ethan Van Sciver are just some of the amazing talent pencilling this series. There are occasional drops in quality and art is subjective but overall I’d say this is a good looking book. The only part of the omnibus that I wasn’t a fan of was the handful of issues towards the end where Chris Bachalo starts doing covers and interior art. As I said though, art is subjective and I’m sure plenty of people will enjoy Chris’ work. It’s just not for me.

There’s also a lovely selection of special features throughout. At the start we get an introduction by X-Men writer Mike Carey discussing the importance of Morrison’s run. Alongside the cover art for each issue we’re given a number of pencils, character designs and unused covers. One of my favourites being a cover featuring Mystique and Nightcrawler that seems to emulate their appearances in X-Men 2.

I think the two special features that really blew me away were the inclusion of the Morrison manifesto and the full storyboard for issue #121. The Morrison manifesto is effectively an essay written by Grant in order to pitch this series to Marvel. He details his plans for the first 7 issues and it’s interesting seeing what did and didn’t pan out from his original ideas. Issue #121 is mostly a silent issue where Jean and Emma psychically enter Xavier’s mind. It’s one of the more artsy issues in this run and Grant details every single panel in the issue. It’s a brilliant insight into how comics are made and I think they’re some of the best special features I’ve come across in any omnibus I’ve read.

This was an incredible book overall. There’s some material in it that’s been retconned since and there are some characters here who’ve sadly faded away in subsequent runs but it’s excellent as a continuation of previous storylines and even works as a standalone. I’d say it’s one of the strongest works Grant Morrison has ever created which is high praise. If you’re into the X-Men or simply a Marvel fan with an interest in their omnibuses then this is one of the better books you can buy.