X-Men: Red Annual #1
Marvel Comics
Writer: Tom Taylor
Artist: Pascal Alixe
After Jean Grey was resurrected in the Phoenix: Resurrection mini-series, we next saw Jean Grey in the pages of X-Men: Red meeting with world leaders to help her stand before the United Nations with a group of X-Men in tow. There was a small gap between the two stories that Tom Taylor fills in within the pages of X-Men: Red’s first annual. This annual is a single story which is a surprise since they are often anthology’s. Something that caught my attention.
The story involves a newly resurrected Jean Grey reintroducing herself to the X-Men’s world. Jean revisits her old friends and catches up on the events that happened after her death. Jean then tries to build a connection between this new world of the X-Men and hers. She does this by finding the offspring of those she loved: Laura, the daughter of Logan and Rachael the daughter of Scott and Jean from another timeline. The moments are all very touching and heartfelt.
Jean sees that the world has been consumed by more hate than ever before. The focus on bigotry and its ability to fester and grow due to the anonymity provided by the internet is the primary focus of the issue. The confidence built in that environment becomes toxic in the outside world as well. Using a random mutant hater named Chad they explore that toxicity. Peoples actions deeply affect Jean Grey. Jean’s teammates stop her before she can act harshly in kind. We also get to see how there was closure to the Inhumans and X-Men war that took place when both Jean and Black Bolt admit that the conflict came about due to a series of mistakes. The issue ends with a cliffhanger that is tied directly to the series.
Tom Taylor captures many of the voices well. His strongest, of course, is Gabby and Laura who he wrote within the pages of All-New Wolverine. Jean can sometimes come off a bit alien in her speech. I think the attempt is to make her seem mature and smarter than everyone else. It felt more to me like she was missing some humanity. It is not all that distracting in the end. Rachael I also felt was a bit off. As a wielder of the Phoenix force for most of the eighties X-Men comics she is a powerful being. This issue instead refers to Rachael as a lesser mutant. Still, the characters are mostly enjoyable.
The art by Pascal Alixe and Chris Sotomayer immediately reminded me of Bizarre Adventures #27, which featured a Jean Grey tale within. It has a very detailed realism that looks more at place in a Marvel graphic novel. There are some really great looking panels. Some of my favorites being of Kurt (Nightcrawler). I am appreciative of the fact that Jean was made to look older and more her age. Old Man Logan did not look old enough to me which counters that. He also had more of a traditionally handsome look instead of the square-headed rugged cowboy look. The panels did a good job of communicating what was happening, making this issue a joy to look at.
X-Men: Red Annual #1
X-Men: Red is one of the strongest X titles and this issue is no exception.
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