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Last Updated: Jan 1, 2009 - 6:19:39 PM

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Review for New X-Men #38 By Zak Edwards May 11, 2007 - 11:48:47 AM

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New X-Men #38
Marvel
Writers: Craig Kyle and Chris Yost
Pencils/cover: Skottie Young
Inks: Sean Parsons with Jay Leisten

Before I start, I would just like to say that I am very grateful that Kyle and Yost decided to have a background story last month, this issue would have been very confusing without it.  With that being said, the writers, especially Chris Yost considering he wrote the script, have wasted no time in throwing the youngest X-Men into hell, quite literally!  These two haven’t let these characters, or the readers, catch a breath since taking over after the House of M over a year and a half ago.  Since then, readers have been constantly reminded that almost every character written about in this book is disposable, and have proved this with a death toll of over sixty characters in eighteen issues.  This attitude has served the series well as every cliffhanger and plot twist is legitimate.  Kyle and Yost are not scared to do off with characters, and it serves to be an exhilarating experience.

    The first issue of the “Quest for Magik” arc takes place immediately after Blindfold, a student at the Xavier institute, finishes her haunting tale that turns out not to be just a campfire story at all.  With the students broken into multiple groups, background characters are being brought forth with solid clarity and voice.  Most notably would be Blindfold with her chilling predictions and Pixie with her cute attitude and powers.  After these have served years as recurring characters for backgrounds, it is exciting to see them up front.  Yost also attempts to solidify existing characters and their relationships.  My one major complaint would be that I am growing tired of the captions serving to introduce the characters and their powers.  These captions, which simply say a name, code name, and powers, are up to sixteen in number and only clog up Skottie Young’s pencils.  One may have to read the issue more than once to fully understand what’s going on as everything is quite chaotic.  It seems to be both positive and negative as the audience may be just as confused as the kids and relate, but also leads to frustration with clarity of plot.  Balancing multiple plot lines may be necessary, but juggling them is still a challenge.  Other than that, this comic still proves to be a contender for best X-Men comic out right now.

    With all the chaos of Belasco’s realm, Skottie Young’s graffiti inspired art works incredibly well.  The shift from series regular Paco Medina is a little jarring, but I love it.  The new art is very modern and works well with the abundance of demons and crazy landscapes.  Each page was a treat, especially the fight scene with Rockslide, Pixie and company.  Both New X-Men and X-Men have two very talented and “outside of the box” artists and I hope the trend continues into other major titles.

8/10    A little confusing, but fresh visuals and adrenaline filled plot makes up for it.

Feel free to e-mail me mature responses to Zak@comicbookbin.com.  Please write in proper english, I just plain don’t understand internet shorthand.

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