The X-Axis, 26 August 2007
Part 3 of 5:
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS #3

Home | Reviews | First Class | Back | Next


 
 

There are three X-Men comics this week, but only one of them is completing a storyline, so that's the one I'm worried about.

X-Men: First Class #3 completes the series' first two-part story, a trip to Monster Island.  There's a plot, of course.  It involves Mastermind posing as Professor X and tricking the X-Men into going on a mission that he hopes will be suicidal.  Eventually the heroes figure out what's going on.  But that's not really the point.  Mainly, it's an excuse for Jeff Parker and Roger Cruz to have fun with huge Silver Age monsters.

As usual, First Class is more interested in having fun with the 1960s toys than in making use of the X-Men's themes.  It's a series of light, simple superhero stories that works because Jeff Parker knows how to put that sort of thing together, and because it's just kind of fun to take the founding team back to childhood.  You know the deal by now, and the shift to a two-part format won't significantly change the title's appeal.

A more interesting point is the title's unusual position in the line, hovering between the Marvel Universe on the one hand, and the all-ages books on the other.  To all intents and purposes, First Class doubles as Marvel Adventures: X-Men, despite featuring a line-up that will be unfamiliar with readers outside the traditional Marvel audience.  In itself, that's not a problem.

But if it's going to work for that audience, it needs to tread carefully when it comes to assuming knowledge of the Marvel Universe. The pay-off for this story is the revelation that the bad guy is Mastermind, who's out for revenge on the X-Men after being turned into a statue.  Yet, Mastermind's barely even been mentioned in the story before, except as a sight gag in part 1 where they were using him as a hatstand.  So if you don't know the character already, he kind of appears out of the blue.  And there's no real explanation of how he ended up as a statue, other than the bare statement that the Stranger did it.

Now, I'm not saying that readers won't be able to follow the story.  On the contrary, all the information is there, albeit in summary form.  But if you don't know the story already, then Mastermind and his back story suddenly come barrelling in from nowhere at the last moment.  And if this book is meant to appeal to the Marvel Adventures audience, I'm not sure it's wise to assume any familiarity with stories that came out 42 years ago.

That worry aside, however, it's another successful issue from Parker and Cruz.  There's also a brief four-page back-up, written by Parker and drawn by Colleen Coover, in which Jean bonds with the Scarlet Witch.  It's light on plot, but it's extremely charming, and Coover's art captures the spirit of a more innocent era of comics without being retro in the slightest.  If this is a pilot for a back-up series - and it certainly reads like one - then I hope they follow through on it.

Rating: A-

back | continue


Copyright 2007 Paul O'Brien.  This web site is a work of critical comment and review. All characters and publications referred to, and artwork reproduced, are ™ and © their respective owners.
 

X-MEN: FIRST
CLASS #3
Marvel Comics
October 2007
$2.99 US / $3.75 CAN

ISLAND X,
part 2 of 2

Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Roger Cruz
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Colourist: Val Staples
Editor: Mark Paniccia

"A Buddy in Scarlet"
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Colleen Coover
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Colourist: Val Staples
Editor: Mark Paniccia

Cover art: Eric Nguyen