REVIEW: All-New X-Men #4

After writing the Avengers for so long, Brian Michael Bendis is taking on the X-Men. So far, it has proven to be the go to X-book for new and old fans alike. The latest issue looks to be a clash between the past and present X-Men. Does it deliver? Major Spoilers has your review.

ALL NEW X-MEN #4
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Stuart Immonen
Inker: Wade Von Grawbadger
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99

Previously in All New X-Men: Cyclops is publicly trying to start a new mutant revolution. In hopes of stopping him, Beast travels back in time and brings back the original teenage X-Men. Now they come face to face with a Cyclops working with their enemy Magneto.

WELL THAT WAS DISAPPOINTING

Man, if you were looking for something big to happen, you’re going to be disappointed. After what was a great few issues, I was really looking forward to this one. At the end of the last issue, it looked like there was going to be a great confrontation between the X-Men of the past and the present Cyclops. We don’t get that here. Nope. Sorry. Bendis delivers his trademark dialogue and internal monologues. The problem is there’s so much of it. The first two pages consist of Cyclops thinking to himself, so much so that if Jean Grey didn’t yell stop, I might have. We then are presented with five pages of Jean Grey throwing everyone around and the two Cyclops blasting each other with their eye beams before Magneto has Illyana teleport his team away. The rest of the book has both sides trying to figure out what happened and what they’re going to do. It’s not that the writings bad, far from it, I was just expecting more. I wanted a big confrontation between past and present. Not necessarily a huge fight, but more than an interaction that lasted about 5 seconds. This is where I have a problem with Mr. Bendis. His grasp of dialogue is great but he stretches it so thin. This issue barely moves the plot forward, stretching this story out to what I assume will be six issues. It feels like an opportunity was missed here. We could have gotten some great interaction between both Cyclops, each facing the others ideologies and the change that has occurred between the both of them. Maybe we’ll get that in a future issue, but it should have happened now. This remains the go to X-Men book on the shelves, delivering some great ideas and story, but this one was disappointing.

WORTH THE BUY ALONE

Is there really anything else that needs to be said about Stuart Immonen’s art? It’s such good stuff that it warrants a buy alone. Even with all the dialogue balloons packed in the panels, he manages to make everything feel grand. I loved how he made each Cyclops eye beam different from each other and his panel layout is wonderful. He uses two pages as if it were one, leaving the panels to stretch across giving everything a large feel. The action is great, on par with summer blockbusters, I just hope he has the chance to draw more of it. In fact, everyone involved with the art on this book should be praised as it’s some of the best on the shelves.

BOTTOM LINE:  STILL A BUY, JUST PICK UP THE PACE

All New X-Men continues to be the best X-book out right now. The story concept and ideas are great and it’s well written. Unfortunately, Bendis is stretching out a tale that could be told in fewer issues, something he often falls victim to. There’s nothing wrong with this issue, it was just disappointing. We didn’t get some big confrontation that was alluded to, and the plot was barely moved forward. The art continues to be wonderful and makes this book a buy alone. I’m still in, but at a $3.99 price tag, I expect more. All New X-Men #4, with a lot of help from the art, gets 3.5 out of 5 stars.

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