It's not surprising that this new anthology title had about the same impact on me as another one, Spider-Man Unlimited. Both feature the work of new writers illustrated by more established artistic talent, and the stories are just as competently written but ultimately inconsequential and run-of-the-mill super-hero fare. I'm at a loss as to why Marvel cancelled the first X-Men Unlimited series (other than to avail itself of the sales associated with yet another first issue of an X title), because this new book fills pretty much the same role. Even X-Men completists can pass over this book, but it does serve as a nice introduction to the core X-Men concept (and to one of the newer characters from the world of Marvel's mutants) for new readers.
One of the X-Treme X-Men, Sage, strikes out on her own for an evening of diversions. A portable Internet connection provides her with plenty of entertainment and a conversation with Bishop, and even all that multi-tasking doesn't distract her from her primary activity for the night. She's breaking into a well-guarded office, after some contents within the safe. Meanwhile, the students from the Xavier Institute head out for an evening of trick-or-treating. For one of the more inhuman-looking young students, Halloween is his favorite holiday, as it's the one time of year he can mingle with regular people without freaking them out.
The Lai brothers offer up artwork that's far sleeker and less sketchy than I have come to expect from them. They capture the action of the story nicely, but there's not much in the art that really grabs the reader's attention and holds on tight. Mandrake's style suits the darker tone of the Halloween story, and he conveys the main character's jubilation, energy and innocence. Mind you, Mandrake's style is so dark that we never get a clearly sense of what Andy, the rodent-like mutant, looks like.
The greatest strength of Tony Lee's script is that he offers an excellent introduction to Sage. I've been reading X-Treme X-Men on and off for some time, and I never knew most of the background information that's provided in this short story. Lee humanizes Sage, and he really brings out the depth of her abilities. He makes a computer-mind mutant power seem cool. Where the script goes awry is in its failure to fully explain the sentimental nature of Sage's goal.
Kaul's Halloween story is a rather generic mutant plot, and it's easy to see where it's headed from the start. Furthermore, the nature of the threat in this story is never fully explained -- I can guess why the antagonists kidnap a little girl, but the script seems to go out of its way to beat around the bush -- and it's, of course, all too convenient. Kaul does do a good job of bringing his main character to life. I really got a sense of who Andy is. His enthusiasm is practically infectious, and I enjoyed the sort of suburban cameraderie that arises on the sidewalks.
