COMIC BOOK REVIEW - Extraordinary X-Men: X-Haven

By The Masked Medic

Okay, I know that the reviews on this page are slowing down a little and that it’s been a while since you’ve got a comic book review. Naturally work is extremely busy and with my accident and emergency placement looming on the horizon I can only say that this may continue for a while. That being said, I’m hoping that the reviews you guys do receive are of a higher quality, haha! Anyways, it’s been a while since I’ve tried to explore the X-men comics and for the most part, they are super confusing. However, we move and I thought I’d read the Extraordinary X-Men series!

‘X-Haven’ sees a world where both Charles Xavier and Scott Summers are dead and the X-men are no longer the team they used to be. Ororo Munroe, aka, Storm, now leads the X-men or the very few of them that are left. The Terrigen Mist has not only poisoned mutant-kind but has also caused them to go sterile meaning that there are no new mutants manifesting. Storm sends out Magik to rescue mutants from across the world and bring them to X-Haven. Whilst Magik does her thing, she also goes to see her brother, Piotr, aka Colossus who has given up being a hero for a simple life. She convinces him that he’s needed once again to fight and after some top quality sibling moments, he agrees and the two of them set off to find Nightcrawler. Meanwhile, Storm and Iceman head off to find the young Jean Grey. They tell her what’s happening but it’s evident that Jean isn’t interested. She wants to live a normal life and turns down their invitation to join X-Haven. Storm wistfully agrees but gives her a device to communicate with them if need be. However, just before they leave, Jean informs them that a future variant of Logan exists in this timeline and they could seek him out if need be. Storm and Iceman find him, but he’s not interested, and we see flashbacks of his past where the X-men are all dead. Whilst this is happening, Magik and Colossus warp to Nightcrawler’s last location where they find Mister Sinister carrying out experiments on mutants. He takes them down with his team of Marauders. Since Ilyana, aka Magik’s powers, were the only thing keeping X-Haven safe, the barriers come down and it’s attacked by demons. Storm and Iceman can only do so much, but they’re joined in time by young Jean and old Logan. They stop the threat and head off to find their missing teammates. But it seems that Mister Sinister isn’t the only surprise they’ll find, and they have to ask themselves what they’re willing to do to take down one of their own!

So remember when I said that the X-men comics were ridiculously confusing? I stand by that comment, however, that being said, this was a fantastic novel. I really liked the way that even though Xavier and Scott are gone, you have a whole group of young X-men and an Old Logan, it still feels quintessentially like the X-men. Ororo is an awesome leader and Bobby, aka Iceman, makes a pretty good right-hand man. Logan, no matter what age, remains the ever sarcastic but reliable Wolverine. Two characters, who I ended up liking a lot more than previously were Magik and Colossus. I knew they were siblings, but there were moments when they were interacting where I felt it mirrored my relationship with my little sister! There were excellent twists and turns throughout the novel and at the end, I was almost disappointed and left wanting a lot more!

The artwork was also a highlight of this novel. The style was crisp and clean and the effects were drawn beautifully. To top it all off, the covers were also excellent. Overall, this was novel was a lot more exciting than I was expecting and I can’t wait to return to this series at some point!

Favourite Panel:

I mean just check out this team. Unreal.

Favourite Character:

Oof, there were a couple of characters that really stood out and I have to give a shoutout to Storm and Colossus but Old Man Logan was hilarious, which is something that I appreciate in a character so deadly!

Rating:

• Story Arc: ★★★★

• Character Development: ★★★★

• Artwork: ★★★★

• Enjoyability: ★★★½

• Re-readability: ★★★½

Level: Advanced