All New XMen #29 Review

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All New X-Men, All New X-Men #29 review, Angel, Brian Michael Bendis, Cyclops, Future Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Iceman, Jean Grey, Marte Gracia, Marvel Comcis, Original X-Men, Stuart Immonen, X-Men

All New X-Men #29

Review by Paul Bowler

The Future Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is back, led by the progeny of Charles Xavier and Mystique. The original X-Men, together with new teammate X-23, and their leader, Professor Kitty Pryde, had just returned to Cyclops’ New Xavier School on Earth following their adventure in space with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Starjammers to rescue Jean Grey from the Shi’ar – afterwards the young Cyclops then decided to leave the X-Men and remain with his father, Corsair. The Brotherhood infiltrated the school and took over the Stepford Sisters Hive Mind to attack the X-Men and the mindscape of Jean Grey. Now, as Jean’s psychic battle with the son of Xavier intensifies, X-23 gets her chance to strike back…

All New X-Men #29 is an astonishingly brilliant issue from Brian Michael Bendis. The return of the Future Brotherhood has made for a really exciting storyline, every element of the time travelling plot that Bendis has weaved into the narrative achieves an uncanny synergy with the sheer audacity of the multiple paradoxes and quandaries it generates. Heaven only knows what all this is doing to the time stream, it certainly makes a great story though, and the way Bendis manages to bring it all together this issue is amazing.

I really liked how Jean manages to turn the tables on the son of Xavier in this issue. Everything spins out from last issues cliff-hanger, when Jean began to fight back with her new psychic power levels, and gave X-23 her chance to ambush Xavier. X-23’s savage attack on the son of Xavier is enough to break his influences over the X-Men and the Future Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, except for his brother Raze, who quickly rushes in to fight X-23. The stunning art of Stuart Immonen, together with inker Wade Von Grawbadger, and with colorists Marte Gracia and Jason Keith on this issue, make the big action set piece that follows, with its elaborate two-page spreads and big sash pages, about as breathtaking and exciting as anything we’ve ever seen in this title.

There is also a great dynamic forming between the original X-Men and the present day X-Men now, with the adult Cyclops and Emma Frost keeping Jean focused during her mindscape battle with Xavier’s son, while Kitty Pryde and Magik lead the rest of the X-Men into battle. I also thought the fight between X-23 and Raze was really good, it was savage and brutal, and they both seem fairly evenly matched.

We also learn more about the Future Brotherhood, including the full extent of Xavier’s control over them, and there is a rather unsettling discovery about Xorn as well. The psychic confrontation on the mindscape between Xavier and Jean cleverly uses bold colors to define the combatant’s abilities, with icy blue tones highlighting the attacks by Xavier’s son, while Jean’s new power set manifests within vivid hues of pink and violet.

There are some really good scenes for the adult Cyclops and Emma Frost over the course of this issue, especially for Cyclops, as he points out to the value of the lessons the All New X-Men have learned on this day. Brian Michael Bendis manages once more to skilfully address the issue of Original X-Men’s inability to return to their own time, balancing it perfectly with the way the Future Brotherhood has been manipulated by Xavier’s son, effectively forming a time warping coda with the future events witnessed last issue as the Brotherhood plotted the X-Men’s downfall.

All New X-Men #29 is a highly enjoyable and action packed issue. With all its time twisting surprises this issue will be one to read a few times to pick up all the nuances that Bendis has included, and I expect, like me, you’ll probably agree with Iceman when he says that time travel gives him a headache if you think about it too much! Finally, last word goes to that stunning cover by Immonen, Grawbadger, and Gracia, featuring Angel riding a motorbike. Well, it certainly provides a great conclusion to this story with the Future Brotherhood, and if next issues teaser image is anything to go by, it seems that romance could soon be in the air.

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All New XMen #28 Review

Tags

All New X-Men, All New X-Men #28, Brian Michael Bendis, Cyclops, Future Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, Jean Grey, Marte Gracia, Marvel, Original X-Men, Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger, X-Men

All New X-Men #28

Review by Paul Bowler

Unable to return to their own time, the original X-Men now reside at Cyclops’ new Xavier School, along with new teammate X-23, and their leader, Professor Kitty Pryde. After the All New X-Men teamed up with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Starjammers to save Jean Grey from the Shi’ar throne world, the teenage Cyclops was reunited with his father, Corsair, and decided to leave the X-Men and join the Starjammers. Now, with the X-Men back on Earth, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants from the future has travelled back in time to the present day. Infiltrating the school, the Brotherhood attacked, X-23 was stabbed, now they control the Stepford Sisters Hive Mind, and they quickly used this advantage to strike at the mindscape of the young Jean Grey…

All New X-Men #28 is another great issue by Brian Michael Bendis, Stuart Immonen, and Wade Von Grawbadger, as numerous plot threads from the current storyline begin to converge, we also gain a new perspective on last years Battle of the Atom crossover event. It’s fascinating to witness how the Evil Brotherhood was formed in the future, while their attack on the Original X-Men unfolds simultaneously in the present day. The way that Bendis manages to balance each branch of this issues time warping narrative is simply superb, there is a hell of a lot of plot crammed into this issue, and the sheer pace and spectacle of it all is breathtaking. All New X-Men #28 ingeniously serves as a prequel of sorts to Battle of the Atom, I really liked the scenes featuring Xavier’s son (the leader of the future Brotherhood) and Raze, where we saw the terrible state that Beast was in when they discovered him and brought him into the fold.

As the X-Men struggle against the future Brotherhoods attack in the present, the plot continues to build on the implications of Jean’s new power set that was revealed in The Trial of Jean Grey, when the X-Men joined forces with the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Starjammers to rescue Jean from the Shi’ar Empire after she was put on trial for the crimes of her older, Phoenix-Possessed, self. Having realized that he should have dealt with Jean first last time, and how dangerous she can be, the young Xavier and his future Brotherhood hijacked the Stepford Sisters Hive Mind to strike at Jean’s mindscape and attack the X-Men. The smooth transition between the psychic plane and the physical reality heightens the tension further, as the issue build towards an exciting, and very surprising conclusion.

Stuart Immonen’s art on All New X-Men #28 is as stunning as ever. Together with Wade Von Grawbadger’s inks and the excellent work of colorist Marte Gracia, this issue looks incredible. There are so many stand out scenes in this issue: from the intricate detail of the scrawled equations on the walls of the future Beast’s lab, through to the spectacular double-page spread featuring a tremendous battle between the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and the future X-Men, and watching Jean’s torment in the haunting bleakness of the Hive Mind, the way in which Immonen seamlessly envelopes us within the entwined narratives of present and future events is truly astonishing.

All New X-Men #28 moves along at a cracking pace, and rapidly builds towards its thrilling final moments as the adult Cyclops and Emma Frost attempt to get the young Jean away from the Brotherhood, when a surprise attack catches everyone off guard. That fact that all the characters are so wrapped up in what’s happening, that none of them actually see what’s coming, is also testament to how well Bendis handles these characters, its thrilling stuff, and Immonen’s art on that final page captures the intensity of that moment perfectly.

I was surprised to see the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants return so soon after Battle of the Atom, but I’m really glad that Bendis has brought them back. They are such a fascinating group of characters, we get to learn a lot more about them, and the reasoning behind their return to the past is really clever. All New X-Men #28 is a thoroughly enjoyable issue, it’s packed with action, and the gripping time-twisting storyline is elevated to a whole new level as we discover more about the future Brotherhood and their plans.

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