The repercussions of the weakened time continuum come into play, but is this really the start of a worthwhile crossover?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Marvel:

PART ONE OF “THE ARMS OF THE OCTOPUS!”

• The All-New X-Men cross over with the Indestructible Hulk and Superior Spider-Man!

• What does Doctor Octopus want with the All-New X-Men and HOW IS HE ALIVE?!

• This gets the immediate attention of Superior Spider-Man, but what does it have to do with the Hulk?

It’d be easy to say that this was nothing more than a shameless cash-in but that would be a disservice to the comic we have here.  The creative team succeeds in bringing together the Superior Spider-Man, All-New X-Men and the Indestructible Hulk in a romp that, at least at the onset, looks and feels quite interesting.

Mike Costa impressed with his verbal barrage.  He nails every character in this complex odyssey that, in the moment, would fail to work if we took the time to realize the absurdity of what we’re reading.  A team from the past wondering around happen to run into the right people at the correct moments to force an event. To the author’s credit the text contained here is entertaining enough that you forget the magic of happenstance as you embrace the interactions on each page.  In short: this a fun but not ground breaking narrative.

The art by Kris Anka is simple and elegant.  There’s no better way to describe it other than highlighting the fact that the job on display offers a healthy amount of minimalism applied to some diverse landscapes.  He nails the innate architecture of the Marvel Universe, by implementing enough subtlety to create a cohesive whole. Whether illustrating the current webhead punching his former self in the face or the shock of mutants faced with a whole new world there’s a lot to enjoy within the confines of these panels.

All-New X-Men Special #1 is an entertaining start to an arc that has a lot of potential.  Kudos to the creative team as this one comes recommended.

4/5