[REVIEW] ORIGINAL X-MEN #1

It seems like only yesterday the original five X-Men were hanging out in the present day, mucking up timelines, exploring their sexuality, and crossing over with everyone from Spider-Man to the Guardians of the Galaxy. After several years worth of stories, the teens were sent back to their own time with all memories of their time-displaced exploits properly suppressed. With all the mutant shenanigans going on, it’s kinda shocking that these kids haven’t been revisited before now but this week’s Original X-Men one-shot is about to change that.

Taking place in the not-so-distant past (obviously), this issue finds our young heroes facing off against their greatest adversary, Plantman, before being plucked out of time yet again. The catalyst is none other than an older Jean Grey, who pulls the temporal rug pulled out from under her counterparts, restoring their memories and tasking them with saving the multiverse. Because of course she does.

Following an exposition-heavy set-up, the team embarks on their mission, consisting of a mostly by-the-numbers team-up with all the tropes (disguises, mistaken identity, initial fight-turn-reconciliation) before the surprise third-act reveal, which I’ll admit is pretty cool. Not to be outdone, writer Chrisos Gage saves one more twist for the last page, laying the groundwork for an upcoming mini that was just announced this week. It’s a standard tactic usually reserved for the finale of an event so it’s strange to find this in a one-shot that seems to be only tangentially related to the bigger story.

Given how early the story takes place in the X-Men’s history, Original X-Men is steeped in continuity, with casual references to stories all over space and time. Gage wisely streamlines the exposition, for the most part, in favor of including an index at the end of all the references, all in Gage’s signature voice. While his writing style does entertain here, the index’s inclusion is frustrating since it further demonstrates the reliance of continuity and lack of accessibility for causal readers.

There’s quite a bit of discord in the comics community as of late regarding the importance of continuity, with some folks in the industry stating continuity shouldn’t matter, while others maintain that anything and everything should be canon. Whichever side you happen to fall on, Original X-Men can serve as a good example. As for whether it’s a good comic, that’s certainly debatable. Gage’s writing is solid as ever but in the end, it just feels unnecessary, especially with how loosely tied it is to the book it’s setting up.

The art by Greg Land is, as per usual, heavy on photo-referencing but light on personality. A few panels look really good, but Land’s style lends itself better to covers or pin-ups, as opposed to sequential art, which looks mostly rushed. One panel in particular even finds teen Angel inexplicably wearing his older counterpart’s costume; it would appear to be a coloring mistake were it not for the awkwardly placed halo on his chest. It’s a small mistake overall but the error of continuity is pretty ironic given how meticulous the rest of the book is.

Original X-Men #1

5.99

6.7

Premise

6.0/10

Execution

6.5/10

Script

7.0/10

Art

6.0/10

Fun

8.0/10

Credits

• Writer: Christos Gage
• Penciler: Greg Land
• Inker: Jay Leisten
• Colorist: Frank D’Armata
• Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles

Credits (cont)

• Designer: Kat Gregorowicz
• Editor: Sarah Brunstad
• Publisher: Marvel Comics