All-New X-Men 27, X-Force 5

All-New X-Men 27
Bendis (w) and Immonen (p) and Von Grawbadger (i) and Gracia (c) and Petit (l)

The Evil X-Men Brotherhood (the ones from the future who messed with everything in BATTLE OF THE ATOM and who need a better distinguishing name) have found the Xavier School and begun to attack, with Raze, the shapeshifting son of Mystique and Wolverine (it would seem), posing as a wounded X-23 and stabbing the healer first. Things get crazier as future Jean Grey and Charles, the psychic son of Mystique (posing, at the time, as Moira MacTaggert) and Xavier, launch a psychic attack on everyone at the school, even taking control of one of the Cuckoos to keep their power up. Only past Jean Grey, Emma Frost, and Cyclops remain hidden from the attack. When the evil brotherhood starts to get a location on young Jean, Emma knocks her out to keep them all protected, though it sends Jean into a state where Charles can talk to and threaten her.

Story
I'm doing everything I can to see this as a new story, something removed from BATTLE OF THE ATOM which I so loathed. It is extremely difficult to do that, though, as everything still seems to be linked to BOTA because that's the only time these characters have appeared. As such, the story right now is limited and we can only assume this group is here because they didn't like the way things turned out in the aftermath of BOTA and seek to rectify it (or to send the ANXM back to the past. There's more history given for Charles and Raze though not really enough yet to explain why they're both so mad, though that's surely coming. This issue then is dedicated mostly to the siege on the Xavier School and kind of makes you think "hey, maybe these kids aren't getting enough training in?" Okay, maybe that's not fair, they're facing two Mystique-mothered children with Wolverine and Xavier all mixed in there and another Jean Grey, on top of some others. Still, we'll have to wait a little longer before we can get a full sense of this story. 4/5

Character
The biggest character moments are for the enemies, as we do see a bit of flashback history for Charles and Raze. There's a bit here and there for other characters through the dialogue, but they seem to be our focus right now. Cyclops' team's healer, Christopher Muse (I had to look his name up because I do not have any sort of connection to these kids), gets a teeny bit of characterization and story as he freaks out over dying (understandable) and as we learn that he can heal himself, even if it's unconsciously. Still, not really an issue for characterization of our main team but it's kind of weird to me that this book has shifted so much into being a book about both the O5 team and Cyclops' team when it had originally been the O5 team and where Cyclops' team already has a book. 3/5

Writing
Still a bit of back-and-forth dialogue which, as ever, feels incredibly out of place in big and tense fight scenes. There are times to let off the gas with dialogue and a big fight scene always seems like one of them. There's also opportunity to keep everyone suspicious and paranoid and tense and Bendis touches on it a bit but I think the jokes and the quips kind of get in the way of that tone really establishing, which is a shame because the fight, for however forced it kinda feels, is still an interesting one as it develops (it's hard not to view the convenience of a team that has two sons of Mystique, one with Wolverine DNA and one with Xavier DNA, fairly cynically but that doesn't mean the fight still can't be interesting). 3/5

Art
I always like Stuart Immonen's art and I've come to really appreciate Marte Gracia's colors. I think the art really helps the book in a lot of ways and kind of draws the eye away from any problems in the story. 5/5

Miscellaneous
I don't know if you guys could tell but I'm having a lot of trouble separating this from BOTA.

Total Score: 3/5


X-Force 5
Spurrier (w) and J. Molina (a+c) and Sabino (l)

X-Force is prepped for an attack on Volga after getting all the information they could out of the dead Aggasiz. It turns out Aggasiz, a mutant who could travel through other dimensions, had worked for Volga stealing all sorts of weapons-tech from other universes in exchange for his kidnapped family's safety. The most problematic tech he stole was a sort of enhanced super soldier serum, which gave people incredible powers but also faded after a certain amount of time, killing the soldiers who used it. For Volga, that's not so much a problem, as he realizes country's will still use the serum and just come back for more when their batch dies (because he's truly horrible). This is, it seems, also what happened to Marrow (though she, clearly, didn't die) and, as she attacks Volga's compound, she wonders why she remembers so little of her experience. However, as her narrative rattles on and she continues referencing whoever she's talking to as "baby," it dons on her that she was pregnant before Alexandria and that they killed her baby. Psylocke manages to figure out what's happening right as it happens and makes sure Fantomex and Cable are covered as Marrow lashes out, wrecking through Volga's troops. Volga himself finally comes out and talks to Marrow, revealing that she knew the risks going in but that she volunteered in the hopes of getting her powers back. With Marrow out of the fight (now paralyzed with countless emotions) Volga's men knock out Psylocke and Fantomex and take all three with them as Volga reveals that they injected Cable with the soldier serum at Alexandria too and wonders why he hasn't died yet. It's not so big a problem, though, since he has a way to expedite the process and affixes it to Cable before tossing him off his HQ, allowing him to explode below while Volga ends up with the three other mutants.

Story
Good god, there's a lot happening here. Spurrier's a master at seeding little bits here and there throughout an arc and then watching it all hit home in one big reveal. It's Marrow's turn for narrative again this time and we get to see the pieces all start unraveling as her narrative leads us right to the fight and X-Force's loss. There's so much happening as we learn about how Marrow and Cable have powers again and we learn a good deal more about Volga (who is, by his own admission, a "comedy Russian bad guy") and the story of our team propels to an entirely new place. It's a pretty dark book and it's a pretty deep story and it's rather a thrill to watch it all come together (or come apart, as the case may be). 5/5

Character
Plenty is explained about a couple of our characters, which would be probably enough to boost this character score up by itself, but X-FORCE goes further than that. Each of these guys have such a distinct personality and we get a chance to see them all in their distinct roles, as Cable commands and leads, Marrow fights until the shocking news and then fights even harder and then shuts down, and Psylocke does what she can to keep everything moving the right way. The team knew about Marrow's baby and knew that the memories hadn't been removed from her, she'd repressed them because she couldn't deal with them. Psylocke tries to calm Marrow down when she learns and then tries to keep Volga from revealing the full truth to Marrow because she knows the impact it will have. Lots happening with every character, even with the noticeably quieter Fantomex, who continues reeling from last issue's crushing defeat wherein he started to see that maybe he wasn't the best there ever was at everything. Here he stays quieter, claiming to have a headache, and finds himself even more miffed as his bullets fail to kill the soldiers. Volga gets tons of characterization and it's totally over the top but he recognizes how over the top it is so Spurrier gets his chance to combat that accusation before it can land. Solid stuff all around, just an incredible book and we're only five issues in. 5/5

Writing
I have to think that all the writing I've done on this post already has told enough about the writing of this issue. I'll just mention that the pacing is really great, starting a little slower as they wait to attack, then instantly getting into it but in the same sort of balanced way that traditional superhero fights go until the revelation about Marrow's baby, which brings everything to a halt before really escalating the pace and, again, dropping it when Volga makes his big reveal. Between that and the wonderful Marrow narrative, Spurrier's got us right in his pocket. 5/5

Art
Jorge Molina steps in to do the art on this one and I think the change works pretty well, though I've liked Rock-He Kim's art (which is, I think, probably exactly what I said last issue, which also featured Molina on art). His Marrow is a little softer, even prettier, so that when she bones out (there's got to be a better description than that for her power) it's more abrupt and more fearsome. It's particularly effective in this issue when she also withdraws back into herself and we can see how small and devastated she is. Really strong stuff. 5/5

Miscellaneous
Geez, what a book.

Total Score: 5/5