The X-Men Blue team has been lost in space, and a new team has formed to defend the world… against several of their own former members!  Your Major Spoilers review of X-Men Blue #26 awaits!

X-MEN BLUE #26

Writer: Cullen Bunn
Penciler: R.B. Silva
Inker: Adriano Di Benedetto
Colorist: Rain Beredo
Letterer: VCs Joe Caramagna
Editor: Darren Shan
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 25, 2018

Previously in X-Men Blue: “Project: Mothervine has been unleashed, and new mutants are emerging all over the world!  Even though these new mutants cannot control their powers, MISS SINISTER can!  A new team of X-MEN stand against the WHITE QUEEN, HAVOK, BASTION and MISS SINISTER!”

A TERRIBLE PLAN

As we open, the new X-Men Blue team (including two sons of two different Wolverines, a vampire Storm from an alternate universe, Xorn, Polaris and a new character named Gazing Nightshade, whose name makes zero sense to me) are stunned to hear reports of mass mutant outbreaks across the country.  People with no powers are suddenly getting them, depowered mutants are getting repowered, and worst of all?  Active mutants are gaining second and third powersets, including former Acolyte Unuscione, whose powers threaten all of San Francisco.  Worst of all, the plan is the brainchild of Havok and The White Queen, who have teamed up with Bastion and Miss Sinister to create the perfect plan to finally overcome the problems of mutants once and for all.  Once they’re the dominant species, says Havok, they’ll ditch the two villains and all will be well.  Not so much the X-Men, including Jimmy Hudson, who is unhappy that his DNA (thanks to his origins in the Ultimate Universe) was the key to it all, and as the issue ends, several other Ultimate U survivors have found Magneto.  Sadly, Havok’s plan has targeted him as well…  FOR MURDER.

KIND OF FRAGMENTED

We also get to spend some time with the time-lost core five X-Men who founded the Blue team, trapped somewhere in space with Venom, and there’s quite a bit of telepathic conversation between Alex and Emma, both of whom seem to have big ideas that aren’t quite coming to the front here.  All in all, the issue has a LOT going on, and it’s not entirely clear whether this makeshift team is going to be an ongoing concern, but I like the basic elements of it all.  Seeing Havok and Polaris on opposite sides again makes for an interesting narrative thrust, and the team members have a lot of cool things going on.  (Xorn and Daken work together well, while the Wolver-sons have some friction when Daken calls Jimmy “brother.”)  The art is really interesting as well, with Silva delivering the most intricate and mechanical-looking Sentinels in recent memory, some great facial expressions and a really interesting battle sequence as well.

BOTTOM LINE: THERE’S POTENTIAL HERE

I’m a sucker for a ragtag band of weirdos, and I like the basic breakdown of this group under the leadership of Polaris.  The big question is whether everything is going to come together or not, which makes one of the major complaints about the story part of the meta-text, meaning that X-Men Blue #26 is a very self-aware book, making good use of a talented artist and the depth and breadth of X-History, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall.  I’m not sure where this team is going, but I’m pleased to find out I’m interested in finding out…

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