Young X-Men #1 By Zach Bowen Apr 4, 2008 - 12:49:27 AM Marvel Comics Writer(s): Marc Guggenheim Penciller(s): Yanick Paquette Inker(s): Serge LaPointe Cover Artist(s): Terry Dodson

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    After a forty-six issue run of New X-men, Young X-men enters the Marvel Universe as a formidable new ongoing series. In this issue, Cyclops begins to rebuild the X-men with a fresh team that includes two brand new characters.

    Young X-men #1 suffers from the same problem that many first issues are plagued with. Much of the story consists of introducing the characters and what powers they posses. While this is not a very exciting issue, Marc Guggenheim does a superb job in setting up the story arc. The team consists of Rockslide, Blindfold, Dust, Wolf Cub, and two new characters, Ink and Greymalkin.

Guggenheim teases readers with these new characters by giving the least away about them. All that is known about Ink right now is that he gets some kind of power from tattoos and seems to have problems with authority. Greymalkin remains unseen, except for a few panels in a premonition that Blindfold had about a future mission for the Young X-men. This first issue mainly focuses on two of the members from the New X-men, Blindfold and Rockslide. It is very interesting to see Blindfold in a leading role and it appears that Guggenheim has plans to further develop this character. The inappropriate, yet protective nature of Rockslide remains consistent, and his lighthearted nature adds a lot to the story. Without his humor, this issue would have been in danger of falling apart.

    The idea of changing the title from New X-men to Young X-men makes sense now that the issue is out. As Cyclops points, these characters are the last generation of X-men. With that in mind, using the word “New” in the title does not seem appropriate. Additionally, one of the constant themes that reoccurred in New X-men was that the characters wanted to graduate from being students and become part of one of the teams. Now that they are the only official group of X-men- X-Force does not count as it is a covert operation- it fits that the title would change with their increased status. 

    Yanick Paquette’s art is simplistic, but it works for the issue. Since the X-men in this book are of a younger generation, it seems fitting that the art would not be as detailed as other series dealing with the veteran X-men. The backgrounds are sparse and lack definition, but this is not especially noticeable as all of the emphasis is placed on the characters in the foreground. Paquette’s best drawings are in the aftermath of Dust’s attacks, which are quite entertaining.

    Young X-men is set up to be a very promising title. There are many unanswered questions, but the first issue is ultimately organized in such a way that there will not need to be a lot of wasted dialogue dealing with exhibition in future issues. I recommend picking this issue up as it appears that Guggenheim is helping to establish the future of the X-men.

7.0/10

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