The Original 5 have had their 1st encounter with Cyclops and his group. Hank McCoy is on his last legs as his mutation continues to destroy his body from the inside out. And the young Jean Grey has now unlocked her telepathy a full year than expected, with all these events happening at the end of the 4th issue, the only question to ask is…what now?

Here is the summary from Marvel:

The first story of a new era comes to its conclusion.

One of the original X-Men will be forever changed!

Brian Michael Bendis is doing well in his new role as an X-Book writer, introducing new, but at the same time familiar concepts and ideas. Beginning where the last issue left off…kind of, Jean is now inside present Hank’s mind and is basically being used as a “telephone” for past & present Hank to figure out how to save present Hank (Man this is exhausting) who, in the real world, is on an operating table with his past self trying to save him (and despite only have gained telepathy a few hours ago, Jean seems pretty adept at how to use it). While inside Hank’s mind, Jean asks to see what he knows of her future, and it’s pretty safe to assume she doesn’t like what she sees. Things continue to get pretty interesting  as the ripple effect the 1st class has on all of the parties involved is explored more. Scott (present) continues his goal of finding & training new mutants. Going as far as finding an abandoned Weapon X base and turning it into a new “Charles Xavier School for The Gifted”.

Scott’s (present) actions serve as a nice, but at the same time creepy homage to Charles (seeing as how he was the one who killed him), he wants to continue Xavier’s dream, but is sort of lost on how to go about it since seeing his past self. Hank gains another new form (which in the grand scheme of things makes his sub plot kind of pointless), and there are also some more character interactions between the 1st class & the current X-Men. Logan is a dick to young Scott (of course), Kitty is given a major role in the series, and changes in the 1st class begin. How these changes will affect their relationships knowing what they know now (Especially with everyone but Warren knowing what happens to them in the future) remains to be seen.

The spotlight is on Jean Grey, which makes sense as Jean’s presence itself is a pretty big deal, seeing as how she was a monumental character in X-History. She (as mentioned before) has gained her telepathic powers a year before she was supposed to, (which shows just one of the minor things that Hank’s time hopping has changed), and after learning what has happened to her in the future, she basically becomes the leader of the 1st class, and makes a drastic decision to stay in the present until things are fixed. This begins to change the teen’s dynamic as we begin to see how Jean’s relationship with Scott may possibly change, altering the future.

Stuart Immonen’s pencils do a good job as always. Progressing the plot along nicely, as well as showing the subtle changes the 1st class goes through. One highlight is a beautiful 2 page spread depicting Young Jean as she sees the future events that befall her. The web like design is a perfect interpretation of what happens to her, and her reaction after it is another good moment.

All New X-Men continues to roll on in a good way. More plot points are set up and more characters are being fleshed out and explored, and some we can see will drastically change as the events play out.

4/5