All New X-Men 001 [Opsylum]

By: Brian Michael Bendis (Writer), Stuart Immonen (Artist), Wade Von Grawbadger (Inker), Marte Gracia (Colorist), Cory Petit (Letterer)

The Review: Even amongst a crowded week of high profile releases, All New X-Men easily stands out as the most controversial of the lot. Its grand concept alone raised a few eyebrows as soon as the title was announced – a time travel story seeking to bring the original first class of X-Men face-to-face with their modern day counterparts (a living, breathing, pre-Phoenix Jean Grey included). Then, as time wore on, it became clear that Cyclops’ role in proceedings would be far removed from the heroic leader and moral compass that fans and fellow X-Men alike had rallied around for decades.

And then there was Bendis. While I’m mindful not to try and speak for a whole cross-section of fandom, the feeling I got was that though the divisive writer hadn’t really set foot in this corner of the Marvel universe before, the X-community were quite happy for things to stay that way. I guess I can see why. Yes, All New X-Men features far more talking than punching, and yes, a major character’s death is teased from pretty much the opening page; these and other Bendis trademarks are in full effect. But on the other hand I think Bendis is at his best when, as with Ultimate Spider-Man and sometimes The Avengers, a book presents him with a strong family dynamic with which he can craft powerful hooks to pull at your heart-strings; and family dynamics don’t come much stronger than those within the X-Men.