The comedian's world doesn't like downtime. Something ends so that something begins. This is also the case with the X-Men series . After stories told in Marvel Now! by Brian Michael Bandis, it's time for Marvel Now! 2.0 , Charles Soule and his story about mutants.
New team
Cyclops is dead. There is also no Jean Gray or Storm. The X-Men team has broken up and each of its members lives their lives. Shadow King, however, has his own plans for homo superiors . He is about to break out of his astral prison. To this end, he attacks Psylocke. Angel, Bishop, Gambit, Rogue, Beast and Old Man Logan come from another reality to help her. Quite unexpectedly, Fantomex and Mystique also join this group. To save London first, and then the rest of the world, they must join forces and fight an enemy in his dimension. However, they will not be alone in combat. In the game, led by Amahl Faroukh, another player is involved – Charles Xavier.
Challenge accepted
Admittedly, Charles Soule, a cartoonist who created such series as Thunderbolts , She-Hulk and Daredevil , did not have an easy task ahead of him. The predecessor of Astonishing X-Men series All-New X-Men and Uncanny X-Men by Bandis were considered one of the best modern adventures of mutants. The Extraordinary X-Men created by Jeff Lemire was also very warmly received. The crossbar was thus hung high. However, Soule took up the challenge. He showed his good side on Inhumans versus X-Men , which is probably why Marvel entrusted him with the fate of homo superiors . Life of Xintroduces us to a completely new episode. The team is created from scratch. Most of them are well-known characters, whose lives have been different and have never been the leaders of the X-Men. Now Elisabeth Braddock, better known as Psylocke, is taking on the leadership role. It is she who distributes tasks and introduces the group to the astral dimension, where she rules and at the same time is trapped in the Shadow King. Soule reveals new heroes in a very interesting way, recalling their past, but focusing primarily on showing their current lives. He can also surprise even by introducing Mystique and Fantomex to the team or throwing Charles Xavier into the story. So the whole story unfolds slowly, they show each of its participants in turn, but when it jumps on the right track, the action spins forward, and it’s hard for the reader to break away from it. The most surprising, however, is the final of the notebook, which makes the recipient eagerly await the next issue.
A galaxy of cartoonists
As many as six cartoonists worked on Astonishing X-Men: Life X. They were Jim Cheung, Mike del Mundo, Mike Daodato Jr., Ed McGuinness, Carlos Pacheco and Ramon Rosans. That’s quite a lot for a 144 comic book page. Each of the artists dealt with the next fragments of the adventure and even a layman will notice different styles of drawing without any problems. Usually, it would probably be strange, and maybe even irritating, that we see a different line every now and then. The procedure used here, however, is intentional and makes sense. They wanted to show the external world and the astral dimension differently. During the adventure, the heroes are separated and each has a task to do. Therefore, here too, the missions are shown in various ways. If we add a few more flashbacks to this, we come to a full understanding of why Life X has so many makers.
This is just the beginning
Astonishing X-Men: Life X is the first volume of a new series about the adventures of mutants. But I would go further and call it an epilogue. Its aim is to present the already known heroes anew, create another team and discover the threat ahead of us. It is certainly worth reading this notebook. Although the introduction and gathering of the team may take a long time, the further action is very addictive, and the ending is intriguing. If the author goes in the right direction, fans should not be disappointed. It may not make a story as great as the one written by Bandis, but the one from Lemire will match.
