Mutant X #1 - "In the End... as in the Beginning!"

Writer: Howard Mackie    Pencils: Tom Raney    Inks: Andrew Pepoy

Well, well, well... Mutant X is finally here and it's full of suprises!

First off, and most suprising to me, was the quality of the artwork on the book. The previews of Raney's artwork (the pics attatched to the files in the back of the book) are simply stunning. Unfortunetly, the artwork inside the actual book isn't quite so hot. Some places it's great, especially the sequences of Havok under water, but other places the quality is way down. Maddie in particular is inconsistant from panel to panel. Still with a better inker, a normal sized issue, and a capable colorist, the artwork could look quite good.

Secondly, the story blew me away. This is nothing like what I expected. Nothing at all. The whole premise stank of AoA wannabe -- and it still does -- but the execution is nothing at all like the Age of Apocalypse. The characters aren't all hardened killers like you might expect. Beast... er... Brute in particular is nice in his child-like personna. The Fallen is also a treat. There's something sinister about him, but at the same time he's like a kid playing one big prank on Halloween. Not evil, just mildly wicked :) And Bobby wanting to be called Bob was something I had never considered, but was pleased to see. So I like the characters, except Bloodstorm doesn't have much to her in this issue. Hope they develop her differently from the 616 Storm.

Plot wise, however, this issue is still rather weak. I just don't really buy the whole "let's let our son go out on the town with Elektra when we have lots of enemies ready to use him against us". And I guess I like that they're heroes in this reality, I've always prefered the 'hated AND admired outlaw' feel of X-Men so they rather fit this mold. A good issue all in all, nothing spectacular, but next month we'll see if this book can survive past the first issue. Here's hoping it can!

"And cut the 'Bobby' stuff. You know Hank is the only one I let get away with that anymore." - Ice-man, Mutant X #1

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