All New X-Men #7 Review


After failing to take down X-Force, Mystique has returned; and she has set her sights on the young Scott Summers. What does this mean for the first class?

Here is the summary from Marvel:

Mystique targets our young time-travelers, starting with Cyclops.

As the summary (If you can call it that) says, everyone’s favorite Shape-changing mutant has started putting her plan into motion. It is unknown what it is, but we do know that it has to do with the 1st class. Scott goes into a bank in order to take a look in his safe deposit box (kinda amzaing the thing is still in the same bank the way the X-Men have moved so much) where he runs into Mystique (who is posing as Wolverine). A good chunk of the issue is her talking to young Scott, but it is not overwhelming and it does serve a purpose to the plot. She succeeds in both lying to him AND helping him face the things he doesn’t want to in the present. They exchange a few lines of dialogue before they go their seperate ways and Scott is picked up by the real Wolverine. There are another few scenes with Kitty training the 1st class sans Scott; and while Kitty and Snowman (young Iceman) have a funny moment these scenes aren’t all that important. However, the last page is as Scott gives Jean something that he found in his SD box, that may change how they see each other.

Brian Michael Bendis is still showing that he can write just about anything. From Spider-Man, to Avengers, and now X-Men; Bendis is pretty adept and fleshing characters and planting seeds that usually pay huge dividends down the road. He writes Scott pretty well; showing that he wasn’t always the confident leader he is now; and Scott’s indeciciveness is very natural seeing as how he is still adjusting to the man he has become. Mystique is also used well here, using both her abilities and cunning to mold Scott how she wants him to think. This was a good move by Bendis to use seeing as how the point Hank pulled the kids from was after their 1st battle with Magneto, but they hadn’t met Mystique yet; which gives her the edge.

David Marquez is still doing a great job during his tenure as series artist. The different forms Mystique used throughout the issue were very distinct and easy to distinguish. Even her Wolverine impression was spot on. Another good note is the cover of this issue; it is eerily haunting and mimics the tone of the overall issue perfectly.

All new X-Men continues to be one of the best comics Marvel has to offer right now; and I look forward to continuing the story even further.

4.5/5

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