All-New X-Men #1

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Pencils: Stuart Immonen
Inker: Wade Von Grawbadger
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics (Dan Buckley)
Price: $3.99
Release Date: November 14th, 2012

I have been excited for this title ever since it was announced but I wasn't certain how they were going to do it. Matter of fact, I am still not 100% certain what the title is going to contain but so far it is worth the wait. For the first time in a long time we are getting some focus on Hank McCoy and his mutations. He has grown worried that he is going to die and he wants to try to fix things before he passes away (if he will...this is Marvel after all). Not only are we seeing Beast struggle with his mutation but we are getting the transition of new mutants just discovering their mutations. It is also painfully clear that there are two recruiting groups for these new mutants which is very reminiscent of the old days with Magneto going around trying to form his team opposite of the X-Men.

The second group collecting mutants (other than our normal X-Men of course) are the outlaws from AvX: Magneto, Emma Frost and of course Cyclops. They have a different idea as to what the need for mutants are now and how to go about it. The other X-Men are not happy with what their old friend Scott is doing but are not surprised at the other two considering their pasts. They feel that there is something they need to do to stop them and get Scott back on the right path.

Beast seems to think that going into the past and grabbing the original team of X-Men (Beast, Angel, Jean Grey, Ice Man and Cyclops) and bringing them to the future to slap some sense into current Scott Summers will do the trick. Bendis also threw in the fact that Charles Xavier, if he knew about this plan, would wipe the minds of the team so that they would never remember what happened if he knew about the plan. I think Bendis threw that in so that there was no question about the timeline getting messed up because Xavier can just reset their minds.

I am really liking this direction for the X-Men. If you have ever been a fan of the mutant books and have recently started to fall off, I think this may be a good place to give it one more go. I can't recommend this book more. It is a very strong start to what I hope is a very good and long run of X-Men. This even recharged my desire for Uncanny X-Men in February...that is saying a lot.