A comiXologist recommends…

X-MEN BLUE #1

X-Men Blue is so great! After months and months of epic crossovers and events, the X-Men characters settle into their new status quo. This specific title follows the teenage versions of the original five X-Men, now permanently part of the main universe, as they learn and grow under the weight of their predecessors’ legacies.

X-Men Blue returns to the classic dynamic of the original team but still feels fresh because of the recent time travel-y experiences that the team has gone through—sort of like the Ultimate Universe did when it first came out, only better since this lives in main continuity and plays off of the characters’ long history. Also, it’s cool seeing the old X-Men discover everything for the first time in a modern context. It’s a bit reminiscent of the Smallville TV series in that way. Most of the characters are still the same but with slight modifications that have got me curious and excited about future issues. One big difference is that Jean now leads the team instead of Scott. I’m loving the new dynamic that creates!

I went into this issue totally blind so it was surprise after surprise for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I recommend going in that way, especially if you’ve been keeping up with the recent X-Books. If, however, you need a little more convincing, you should know that Beast now uses magic, Angel has cosmic wings, the main villain in this is the Juggernaut, the team is now based out of Madripoor, and Magneto now serves as the Professor X figure.

The most exciting parts about this issue for me were the teasers for what’s to come at the end. I won’t give these away but suffice it to say that we’ll soon see the team tackle lots of other throwbacks (both recent and distant past), which should really reward long time readers for their X-loyalty.

Jonah Chuang is a Technical Account Manager at Comixology. He thinks Magneto WAS right.