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NEW X-MEN #120
"Germ Free Generation Three of Three"
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Marvel Comics
Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Igor Kordey
Colors: Hi-Fi Design
Letters: Comicraft
Editor: Mark Powers
Price: $2.25 US/$3.50 CAN |
Surprisingly, New X-Men is looking like a replacement for The Authority as much as Ultimate X-Men has, as Morrison and his various
artistic collaborators have taken the widescreeen action-oriented style to heart
and made it fit the venerable X-Men characters. We know quite well that the
entire team isn't going to get wiped out this issue, so the question becomes how
spectacular the predestined battles can be, and with Morrison's flair for
dialogue and Kordey's gorgeous artwork, the answer is pretty damn impressive.
"Germ Free Generation" comes to a bit of an abrupt end, quite honestly, but it
leads into two very intriguing stories in the process, and it is as always an
entertaining and beautiful read.
Wolverine's recruitment of Angel is being done in a much more interesting fashion than the similar story of Stacy X being recruited into the team over in Uncanny. Part of it is that there's more of a sense of
humor, as evidenced by the very amusing opening page of this story, but part of
it is just better character interaction. Wolverine's rant to Angel about "you're
a mutant, get used to it" is a good example of how Wolverine actually feels
about mutant persecution, and Angel's complaints about food and accommodations
are a pretty good indicator of how normal people would react to the weirdness of
becoming an X-Man.
In the meantime, in true Morrison fashion, there are several other stories going on, but he keeps his focus much better here than he did during much of JLA. The threat to Frost and Cyclops is dealt with rather quickly, but that's not really the payoff of that story. Instead, the payoff is in Frost's confrontation with Sublime, wherein the old heroic ethics are thrown out the window for more practical ones, in a more convincing "heroes don't kill" speech than the one provided by Millar over in Ultimate X-Men a couple weeks back.
The same sort of double
payoff comes in the sequence with Jean Grey defending the school from the U-Men
troops. While there is certainly a lot to like in the combat sequences, the real
payoff is the return of a familiar plotline that will cause either joy or groans
from those familiar with Jean Grey. For me, given the trust that I've developed
in Morrison on this title, it's the former rather than the latter, and I really
enjoyed Kordey's take on the energy nimbus surrounding her.
Kordey has impressed me with his painted work at Dark Horse and his work on Cable, but he's really come into his own on New X-Men. Keeping the style of Quitely and Van Sciver
while putting his own definite stamp on the book, he gives us some incredible
visuals this issue. The battle between the U-Men and Jean Grey provides some
fairly spectacular moments, notably the telekinetic snowflake, and the
pyrotechnics that accompany the finale of the battle are impressive, helped
along by Hi-Fi's colors.
While "Germ Free Generation" has been an interesting and action-heavy story, I confess that it's the last few pages that really drew me into New X-Men again. The
implications of Jean's display are clear, and something I'm anxious to see
Morrison's take on, and the final page reveals to the X-Men what the readers
have known for several issues, setting the stage for a space epic. I can't
wait.
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