Written by: Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrations: Stuart Immonen, Wade Von Grawbadger
Coloring: Marte Gracia, Rain Beredo
Publisher: Standaard Uitgeverij
All New X-Men #004 – Comic Book Review
Last time the original X-Men who have been stowed away in the future (our present) saw much of what happened to their future selves. Scott turned on his surrogate father Charles Xavier and killed him, Warren turned into a different being, one who seems to have lost connection to the real world, Jean simply died, Hank turned blue and has grown a coat of fur, while Bobby remained rather ‘normal’. Even though many of them want to stay and work on improving the future, Warren originally wanted to go back but now it seems he is too conflicted about his own future. And while originally the present day version of Scott is a threat to the ‘world peace’ concept that drives most of the mutants, it seems Mystique is working on a plan of her own, that will put the X-Men in the spotlight, albeit in a horrid way.
While the conflict rages on between the students and teachers that remain in Xavier’s school on one side and Scott Summers, Magneto and the other revolutionists, who believe mutants are the natural course of evolution, on the other side, Mystique is currently working on her own agenda. With the help of Sabretooth she busts out Mastermind (or at least one of his daughters), who has the power to create hallucinations that can only be seen by her victims, thus not by cameras etc, free from S.H.I.E.L.D.’s prison. With her new partner Mystique goes on a robbing spree, while Mastermind presents the victims with the image of the old X-Men, which creates a lot of buzz which even reaches the Avengers, who will look into the case. On the other hand the rogue Scott Summers suddenly appears and presents all of the mutants attending Xavier’s school with the choice of joining the school that is about to be founded by him and the rest of the outcasts. Not only does it waver the faith of some students, as everyone is free to join them, it also clouds the younger Warren’s mind.
The story of this bundle revolves around the fact that the present Cyclops wants to build his own school, with a focus that revolves around mutants being able to defend themselves, when the time comes. Of course this creates a conflict with the past X-Men, as well as those still attending Xavier’s old school. All while this conflict is new food for thought, Mystique is setting her schemes in motion. Brian Michael Bendis shines a new light on the Scott Summers that went rogue, all while suspense is building up to see what Mystique’s plans are truly about.
Illustrations are again quite solid, even though everyone has fuller, rounder faces, making even the villains a bit more likeable, at least when it comes to their appearance. Overall everything looks quite perfect the way it is, but it has to be said that Wolverine truly looks like a monkey or caveman in this bundle.
Conclusion
All New X-Men #004 offers what many other Marvel series tend to offer, namely add another problem on top of an already existing one, creating enough chaos and suspense for you to wonder how they will tackle everything that’s on the X-Men’s plate. ‘Betrayal’, unclear plans and no solutions are what drive this omnibus.
All New X-Men #004 – Comic Book Review,
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