When Psylocke and Kid Omega dive into a coma patient’s mind to bring them out, they discover far more than they expected, and realize they might not make it out themselves.  Your Major Spoilers review of X-Men #5, awaits!

X-MEN #5

Writer: Jed MacKay
Artist: Ryan Stegman
Colorist: Marte Gracia
Letterer: VC’s Clayton Cowles
Editor: Tom Brevoort
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: October 2nd, 2024

Previously in X-Men: The team has been investigating strange occurrences of adults having their x-gene activated.  One of these people, Ben Liu, was taken to the X-Men’s base in Alaska after his reality-warping powers got out of control and he fell into a coma.

PSYCHIC RESCUE IN PROGRESS

X-Men #5 starts off with Psylocke and John Greycrow the morning after an apparent night of romance. They both try to get the other to stay with them in their preferred way, but both end up not doing that.  Psylocke then meets up with Kid Omega as they prepare for a mission.  Cyclops informs them that their mission is to dive into Ben’s brain, find out some information about why his x-gene triggered, and then pull him out of the coma.  The two dive in and find themselves in a surreal landscape.  At first, it appears that Ben’s brain has been shaped by aliens, but Psylocke is able to cut through and discover something deeper.  There, the two are surprised by someone waiting for them.  Kid Omega is then confronted by Sabertooth, while Psylocke finds herself in a room with John Greycrow, threatening to end his own life.

TAKING A REAL SWING

It has been a while since an X-Men book has really taken a creative risk.  Thankfully, this drought has ended with X-Men #5.  Having a majority of the issue taking place in a surreal setting, with arguably two of the least featured X-Men so far in the series, taking the lead, is a risky choice, and it mostly works here.  The two main characters here, Psylocke and Kid Omega have a surprising amount of chemistry in this issue and the writing does a good job in conveying that there is a sort of respect between these characters even though they don’t particularly like each other.  This is done with some clever call backs and a constant shifting power dynamic that lets them both be powerful and vulnerable.  This issue also has a nasty case of failing to stick the landing though.  The quickness that this issue wraps up and everything that is sort of revealed in the last page is astounding and it comes off like a television show that was cut for time.  But the ending still was functional in that it gave the story a conclusion that opens things up for things to come, and the reveal at the end that does this, is a fun one.

EVERYTHING PLAYING A PART

A sure-fire way to always grab my attention in a comic is for a creative team to play with the format itself to help tell the story and set the mood.  X-Men #5 is a comic that does just that, in a surprisingly subtle way.  Once the characters enter into the psychic world, their speech is no longer contained in bubbles but exists next to them, as if their speech is like the narration inside of a comic.   Later on, this trick is used in a clever way once the characters start entering into multiple layers of psyche.  Other than that, the depiction of Ben’s mind was appropriately strange, it still felt a little restrained and just sort of there to be surreal.

BOTTOM LINE:  A NICE CHANGE OF PACE

X-Men #5 comes in and adds a dash of spice to the series, exactly when it really needed it.  Things had been growing consistently stale, so to see an issue that not only lets someone other than Cyclops be the major presence narratively but also set the whole issue in a visually surreal setting was a breath of fresh air.  Structurally, it’s not perfect and the ending comes out of nowhere, but everything leading up to that was a good time. 4 out of 5 stars.

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X-Men #5

80%

80%

Fresh and Solid

X-Men #5 shakes things up both visually and narratively for a series that really needed something fresh. Things do come off as rushed towards the end, but the chemistry between the lead characters make it a fun ride up until that point.

• Writing

  8
• Art

  8
• Coloring

  8
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