Mystique begins to set her plans into motion. How will this affect the Young X-Men and more importantly the mutant population at large?

Here is the summary from Marvel:

The Original Five X-Men get new costumes! Series main-artist Stuart Immonen returns! Mystique makes her big move.

Adaptation continues to be the main focus of this series, as the 1st class have to learn to adjust to the future. After what happened last issue, they still have a long way to go. After failing a Danger Room session (quite spectacularly i might add) the team takes some time to mull things over with one another…except for Scott, who gets grilled by Kitty for not telling her that he met Mystique. Mystique on the other hand has begun her plans for the mutant race…i think. She releases Lady Mastermind and Sabertooth from the Raft and puts her gears into motion. All that plus the Jean Grey School gets some unwelcome visitors.

Brian Michael Bendis continues to shine the spotlight on these kids as they struggle to fit into the future. Except for Bobby, everyone else is either an amnesiac (Angel), mutated further (Beast), a mutant revolutionary (Cyclops), or dead (Jean Grey). One of the things that he introduces in the issue is the dilemma of who is the leader of the team, since it’s clear by the Danger Room session that NO ONE listens to Cyclops. Jean gets some more development as it seems like she can’t stop from peeking into people’s minds (I sense dubious actions in her future). Kitty is also fitting will in her teacher role. The Mystique sub plot doesn’t hold much water yet despite her being on the cover, hopefully that will develop.

Stuart Immonen has returned to the book and while his visuals are good, they don’t fare as well as Marquez’s. The Danger Room session is illustrated very well and has plenty of action in it, Immonen’s spreads looking as beautiful as usual. There are some rougher pints to the art though, as some of the characters faces tend to be a bit askew.

All New X-Men is still a great read and is one of Marvel’s best NOW titles in my opinion. While #8 doesn’t have the same punch as the previous issues it is still worth a look and sets up a few more plot elements. Such as next issue which will surely tie-in to Bendis’ Uncanny X-Men Series.

3.5/5