Friday, February 9, 2018

X-Men Red #1

   Well, after a solid mini-series bringing Jean Grey (Marvel Girl / Phoenix) back to life, I had high hopes for X-Men Red.

   Unfortunately, it doesn't deliver.

   If anything, it feels like Marvel turned on the "Automated X-Men Team Generator Machine" and had it churn out a lineup.

   So we have Jean forming a new team (heaven knows the world needs more X-Men teams), with a lineup including Nightcrawler, Wolverine (the female version), Honey Badger (really, there's a hero by that name?) and Namor, the Sub-Mariner.

   The team's goal is to save the world, and Jean has a big plan to make it happen - which would probably be interesting, if it actually worked. Of course, it all goes wrong.

   Oh, and having a headquarters 3,000 feet below the surface of the ocean is a terrible idea - it would take a lot of time to adjust to the pressures, so no rushing to the surface to fight the bad guys (except for Namor, I suppose).

   It's all handled in a heavy-handed, grim and bloody manner - and maybe I'm just running thin on patience with that kind of story (probably because it's the only one in town these days).

   I had expected something more upbeat and hopeful - maybe a reunion of the original team, or at least the New X-Men. Instead we get another attempt to squeeze a few more bucks from the rapidly-thinning herd of X-fans.

   I'd like to follow Jean's adventures, but they're going to have to do better then this.

Grade: C

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