An X-Men comic? As my Best of the Week? And a Phoenix comic at that? Yes, I'm as shocked as you are.
There was some buzz about writer Greg Pak shortly before Marvel started publishing his work, and now I can see why insiders were talking about him. He delivers a story that, like Joss Whedon's Astonishing X-Men, celebrates the classic Claremont/Byrne X-Men stories of yesteryear while offering some strong, more compelling characterization. Land's photo-realistic artwork is absolutely stunning, but more importantly, it reinforces the uncomfortably serene tone of several scenes as well as the emotional and personal focus in the script.
Wolverine scrambles the X-Men, warning them that the Phoenix Force has returned and has inhabited the reanimated corpse of their beloved teammate, Jean Grey. Cyclops dispatches several of his colleagues to track and locate the Phoenix, while he tasks the Beast with developing a means to contain it. Cyclops himself prepares for the inevitable. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the X-Men, Quentin Quire, the Omage-level mutant caged in the bowels of the X-Mansion, has been awakened by the Phoenix, and he immediately sets out to fulfill his heart's desire, unaware it's lost to him forever.
Land's work here is showing the influence of his former CrossGen studio colleague, Butch (Ruse) Guice. Land's always boasts a soft style, but that influence adds a little more texture and grit to his art, but not so much that the smooth quality of his linework is lost. His portrayal of the Beast is quite inhuman, in keeping with the de-evolution Grant Morrison explored with the character during his run on the book. Justin Ponsor's colors are brilliant. I particularly enjoyed the explosive red tones he uses to bring Cyclops's powers to life, and the eerie green glow that envelops Quentin Quire.
I enjoyed how the awakening of Quire mirrored the Phoenix's return to Earth and to the lives of the X-Men. Like the Phoenix, Quentin is disoriented and needs to catch up on what's been going on since he was last among these people. He also seeks out the object of his affection and digs up a fallen heroine. There's a far greater sense of menace about him, though, and that helps to set the Phoenix up in the role of the protagonist, even though the X-Men are all treating her as though she's the villain.
The highlight of the issue is Scott and Emma's exploration of the former's feelings for his late wife and his new feelings for Emma. Scott doesn't apologize for thinking of Jean, nor should he, but he also makes it clear why he loves Emma. His explanation of how she isn't a stand-in for Jean made a lot of sense. Emma has some things in common with Jean -- her telepathic powers, most of all -- but she's a radically different person, and it's those differences that attracts Scott to her. The scene is well done, and though it incorporates super-hero powers, it's actually quite down to earth. 9/10
