Apocalypse needs new horsemen, and Caliban looks to the Morlocks for options! See Louise and Walter Simonson’s return to the New Mutants in X-Men Legends #11 by Marvel Comics!

X-MEN LEGENDS #11  

Writer: Louise Simonson
Artist: Walter Simonson
Colorist: Edgar Delgado
Letterer: John Workman
Editor: Mark Basso
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 2nd, 2022 

Previously in X-Men Legends: X-Men Legends takes old creative teams and gives them a place to tell new stories! It has been 40 years since the conception of the New Mutants, and Louise Simonson returns as a veteran of the title!

FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON

X-Men Legends #11 starts with the New Mutants finishing a movie and heading to an arcade. Two Morlocks, Mole and Chicken Wings, suddenly appear in distress. The New Mutants provide cover and distractions for them to escape unnoticed. It seems that they are under attack by Caliban, Famine, and War! Caliban is looking for two new horsemen and has gone to his old pals, the Morlocks, to look for potential warriors. However, Famine and War are doing quick work to any mutant in their way.

The New Mutants engage Famine and War, but War claps his hands, and the vibration causes the cave system to be on the verge of collapse. If he claps again, he could bring a whole city block down. The New Mutants are unable to beat their adversaries, and mutants like Boom Boom are afraid to use their powers in case they destabilize the tunnels further. Luckily, the Morlocks arrive to assist the New Mutants, and they are victorious. Caliban then teleports War and Famine back to safety and reports to Apocalypse.

FINDING BALANCE

First and foremost, X-Men Legends #11 feels dated. I know that it is designed to emulate the styles of previous X-Men runs, but the artwork was difficult to parse through. I couldn’t always distinguish characters and would get confused between Wolfsbane and Feral or the differences in many male characters. I had to make assumptions based on skin tone and their powersets. On top of that, there is a lot of writing on the page to read and understand. But there wasn’t a protagonist that really stepped forward for me. Instead, Caliban felt like the featured character, but he isn’t who the reader should root for. I wanted to see one of the New Mutants taking point here and having a defining moment. Someone for me to latch on to.

With that all being said, Louise and Walter Simonson are veterans in the field. While this isn’t their best work, they have done remarkable things with their X-Factor run and have earned my respect and admiration. Unfortunately, they only had one issue to tell this particular story that probably could have used more pages to achieve their goals.

BOTTOM LINE: NOT THE BEST ISSUE

X-Men Legends #11 was a poor representation of what this creative team can do. It didn’t give the reader much to grasp and relate to. Ultimately, this issue only provided some background context to the older run of New Mutants this comic is based on. 2 out of 5 stars for X-Men Legends #11.

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