A lesson of tolerance – review of the comic book “X-Men. Reds “

piotr markiewiczNew chapter

X-Men. Reds is the first comic published by Egmont in the Marvel Fresh series about a group of famous mutants. Admittedly, Jean Gray is back at the end of Marvel Now! 2.0 , but only now gets its first job. Cassandra Nova, Professor Xavier’s sister, decided to destroy all people with the X gene. To do this, with the help of the enslaved Forge, she produces microchips that, when implanted in the brain, make people aggressive and ruthless towards each mutant. The blinded heads of state order to arrest and even shoot any homo sapiens superior species. Jean, now at the helm of the X-Men, must react quickly to save the world from the spate of hatred and the outbreak of war. Fortunately, she can count on old friends and some new people will be on her side.

Famous and less known

Admittedly, the X-Men. Reds are a great position for both fans of the mutants themselves and the Marvel world in general. The first violin is played here by Jean Gray, who is fighting against Cassandra Nova and the world-wide discrimination at the same time. Despite the many adversities and accusations directed at her, she does not give up and keeps going, wanting to avert the crisis, preferably without bloodshed. In turn, the aforementioned sister of Charles Xavier is not only a villain, but also a very well-created tragic character. While reading the notebook, we get to know her more closely and find out what influenced her behavior and hatred of her own species.

Both of these ladies are the backbone of the story, but the plot is not only about them. Of the well-known X-Men, Nightcrawler, Storm and Laura Kinney, aka X-23, also have a role to play. Gambit also has its five minutes. In turn, a lot of entertainment that breaks the serious tone of the album is provided by Gabby, the younger of Wolverine’s descendants. Forge, in turn, stands on the “wrong” side, although in this case it is not his decision, but a manipulation on the part of Cassandra. Single scenes are also given to Colossus, Kitty Pryde, Beast and Old Man Logan. In addition, the Wakanda Nezhno Abidemi, also known as Gentle, is being developed. It is thanks to Jean that he manages to control his powers and he can support the team during the fight. A completely new mutant, in turn, is able to communicate with Trinary’s electrical devices.

In addition to the X-Men, the king of the seas and oceans, Namor, also has a significant role to play. It is he who will give the mutants asylum in Atlantis, while the rest of the world (except Wakanda) will start hunting for homo sapiens superior . He will even sail across the Baltic Sea to Poland with his army! Tony Stark will also have the opportunity to show his creative abilities, and with the support of the X-Men, even the Avengers with Captain America and Thor at the helm will come. Someone still not enough heroes?

Diplomacy first

The author of X-Men. Red is Tom Taylor. The writer has so far created scripts for comic book Star Wars , but has also worked, inter alia, over the All-New Wolverine (which can be seen from the way he treats Laura and Gabby). This time he provided us with a very interesting notebook with a strong message. The plot is extremely dynamic and serious at the same time. There is no shortage of intrigues, secrets or typical superhero actions with fighting in the background. Above all, however, it focuses on combating discrimination. This time the main target of aggression are mutants, whom many hated before, and now their behavior is intensified by Cassandra Nova’s actions. Jean Gray, however, is trying in the most diplomatic way to solve the problem and convince the public thathomo sapiens superior are not dangerous and enjoy the same rights as other citizens. As a powerful telepath, she could enter the minds and change the thinking of others, but she doesn’t. He wants everyone to understand that gene X is not some kind of degeneration through which you suddenly have to fight your neighbor. Of course, not everything succeeds, but the woman does not give up and implements her resolutions. Along the way, unfortunately, she is forced to use her powers several times or even to resort to violence, but in the end she gives us a beautiful example of how to solve problems with words and gestures.

It is also worth mentioning that during the events, Xavier’s sister urges heads of state to sign an anti-mutant resolution. One of the first countries that agrees to it is Poland! What’s more, Cassandra doesn’t even need to use her chip in this case. There are probably reasons why the author chose us as an example of intolerance, and probably most of us are aware of why this happened.

Two faces

X-Men. The Reds begin with an introduction that refers directly to Phoenix: The Resurrection. The return of Jean Gray. Pascal Alixe is responsible for the drawings for this part of the album. I must say that, graphically, it can scare the reader. The characters’ faces look artificial, the backgrounds lack details, the main character shines with a cleavage, and the Beast looks like a bald caricature of himself. Fortunately, once we’ve gone through the first dozen or so pages, we’ll move on to the main storyline, where we’ll be able to see works by Carmen Carnero, Mahmoud Asrar and Rogê Antônio. These look much better. The new X-Men costumes deserve attention here, but the carefully selected colors, an interesting representation of Wakanda or Atlandida and well-captured combat scenes should also be appreciated. Especially the storm brought on by Storm can make an impression. A plus should also be placed on the imitation of the appearance of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw. I assume that the illustrators only saw this place in photos, but in the comic book they showed it faithfully, as if they were actually standing directly in front of it at work.

Summary

X-Men. Czerowni is a comic book that touches upon many social and political themes. First and foremost, it is intended to draw our attention to the subject of discrimination. Despite the difficult topic, the story is interesting and addictive here. The author knows from the very beginning what he is aiming at. The only objection can be to how quickly Jean copes with the next problems. When we think that the next thread will cause her more trouble, suddenly the problem almost resolves itself. Perhaps it was worth introducing fewer threats to the X-Men, but giving them a little longer to fight them? In addition, the reception is slightly spoiled by the graphics that can be seen in the first chapter. However, the drawing boards are still changing and everything looks much better. Overall, the notebook looks very good and will certainly not disappoint the expectations of mutant fans. X-Meni move into Marvel Fresh in great style!