Marvel Comics 2020
Written by Al Ewing
Illustrated by Valerio Schiti
Coloured by Marte Garcia
Lettered by VC’s Ariana Maher
ONE GIANT LEAP FOR MUTANTKIND!
The Mutant nation of Krakoa has quickly become a major force on the world stage... but why stop there? Krakoa has relaunched the Sentient World Observation & Response Directorate—a fully independent organization dealing with all things extra-terrestrial on behalf of all of Earth. Al Ewing and Valerio Schitti, the team behind EMPYRE, bring us the tale of Mutantkind looking to do for the galaxy what Krakoa did for the planet.
The real reason I picked this up is because it has Whiz Kid and honestly I haven’t seen him since the X-Terminator days. I don’t remember seeing him at the Avengers Academy or afterwards but that’s all good because right now he’s a teenager and he’s one of those few characters whom I instantly liked. Of course it doesn’t hurt that Al Ewing is writing this title so hopefully Magneto, whom I detest beyond words, won’t be around long and this team can learn to gel as they are. So unless I didn’t make myself clear ditch Magneto he’s a self-righteous sanctimonious piece of garbage. Don’t buy into the theory that you need someone like him in this book to help it’s popularity.
Someone is going to have to explain to me how Krakoa can survive in space because to see all that green growing as it is outside of the building in space yeah. So I kind of like Abigail but i’ve never spent that much time with her so I am looking forward to seeing what is in store where she’s concerned. So there are a number of mutants being reintroduced to us through this title and my one overriding question is where is Tempo? I’ve got those I really like and those who need to grow on me but with Fabian on this team I am actually kind of excited but I would love to see Gideon as well.
I am enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. For me half the fun of what I find intriguing is that I am still unclear as to what the purpose of this is and how is it that this isn’t some kind of world domination thing that Magneto has long sought? The character development is spectacular and I am enjoying getting to know those under Abigail. The pacing is great and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story it’s a wonderful ride.
I like the interiors here. The linework that we see and how it’s varying weights are being utilised to create the detail work is extremely nice to see. While I’d love to see varying techniques in laying down the art I suppose this is how the new school is though there is something to be said about crosshatching and the other styles that aren’t being seen nowadays. Still visually speaking this is as impressive as it comes. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a strong and talented eye for storytelling. I am loving how backgrounds are being utilised throughout this book! They enhance the moments and bring us this great depth perspective, sense of scale as well as the overall sense of size and scope of the story. The colour work is utterly gorgeous! How we see the various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is exceptionally rendered.
With how this is being structured and the layers within already emerging as well as seeing how everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow makes this a phenomenal read. I may not be a fan of the X-Men any longer but Al, Valerio, Marte and Ariana have most assuredly made me a fan of this title. Sigh why are all the books I really like outside the norm of what Marvel enjoys putting out?