What I like best about the new age of X-Men comics, I think, is that every book that is put out feels like it has a purpose. More than that, each book that’s part of the Dawn of X line feels like it stands apart from the others, with different tones, missions, themes, and teams present in each title. Marauders has a completely different feel than Fallen Angels, for instance, and it’s made evidently clear why the team in New Mutants was chosen for a particular mission over the team in X-Force.
Sure, some of the big twists are present in some of the more “recognizable” books, like the death of Professor X in X-Force or the reappearance of the Brood in X-Men, but each book keeps things interesting and fresh to the point that even if nothing is as big as those plot points, whatever happens to the characters still matters. Psylocke pops up in today’s new series Hellions, and she wouldn’t have gotten to where she needed to be in this book if she hadn’t gone through the transformation we saw in Fallen Angels. Kate Pryde was sabotaged and killed in the pages of Marauders, which will no doubt be the driving force behind the formation of the new X-Factor in the coming weeks.
I’ll admit, every time a new X-title is announced, I think “isn’t this getting a bit too big?” I mean, this summer will see a 15-part crossover event that’s centered around mutants and swords. That’s amazing, and it’s also a lot.
Yet every time I think it’s gotten to be a bit too much, I read what they have to offer and… no, the books make their own cases wonderfully. That even extends to the one-shots and specials, too. The recent Giant-Size X-Men: Jean Grey and Emma Frost #1 in particular could have been nothing more than a quick cash-in on the brand, with two incredibly popular characters chosen for recognition and nothing else. Instead, it was an intelligent homage to New X-Men #121.
You know: the “silent issue.”
Which brings us to today’s new release, Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler #1. Truth be told, even if I’d fallen off the wagon with the X-titles, I still would have checked this out. It’s Jonathan Hickman and Alan Davis (yes, that one) shining the spotlight on my guy Kurt Wagner. What’s not to love?
The thing I most appreciate about this issue is that it doesn’t have lofty ambitions beyond just wanting to be a grand piece of entertainment. Not to speak I’ll of other X-books at all, of course, because as I said in my preamble, I love the different goals and purposes each of these books has. Marauders is high, swashbuckling adventure, X-Men deals with mutant society at large, Wolverine is about… well, Wolverine, and so on. This Giant-Size one-shot is a fun little “haunted house” adventure, and it excels at being that.
The basic premise is quite simple: Nightcrawler leads a small band of fellow mutants through one of the Krakoan Gates, specifically the one that leads to the now-abandoned X-Mansion in Westchester, New York. Krakoa registered several “access failures” at this gate, and sensed a mutant in its vicinity, so the team is dispatched to find this mutant and determine why they are not able to step through the gate.
Things aren’t quite that simple, of course. Yes, there is a mutant nearby, but they aren’t the entity that is triggering the access attempts. Instead, the Sidri– an entire race of crab-like bounty hunters– have roosted in the mansion and we’re triggering alerts with Krakoa. Because of this, Kurt and his crew have to contend with the creatures while they search for their missing contemporary.
To make matters worse, each of the mutants begin to see visions of fallen teammates, which gives the whole thing a sort of “ghost story” vibe. It’s pretty straightforward, especially for a Hickman script, but that’s nothing if not a strength. Not every book needs to deal with heady themes or contain earth-shattering revelations. Sometimes an issue can just be a simple “snatch and grab” mission, where we see beloved characters use their strengths and abilities to overcome the obstacles put in their way.
I think the best example of this comes in a conversation between Nightcrawler and Magik. They’re quickly overrun by the Sidri, and need to come up with a new plan quick. Magik is a heavy hitter, for sure, Lockheed is in tow to provide some (literal) firepower, and Nightcrawler can handle himself in a fight, but that’s not the point of their mission. They’ve been tasked to rescue a mutant, and with Eye-Boy and Cypher along for the ride, this team isn’t meant to engage in brawls. “This isn’t the right team for this situation,” Kurt opines, and that one line kind of made everything kind of “click” with me. Hickman and the other X-title writers are consciously thinking about which mutants they put on which teams, so the characters are chosen based on skill rather than popularity. In the case of this issue here, the team was sent with some offensive capabilities, but they were sent on an investigation, so for the most part they needed mutants with more… cerebral skills.
Fun as the story is– and yes, it’s a breezily-paced blast– it’s that Alan Davis artwork that will really grab your attention. It’s unfortunate, but too often, when we see a legendary artist of yesteryear colored and inked with modern techniques, their style can get lost and look off. That’s not the case here at all, as Davis is in top form, and Carlos Lopez’s colors reinforce the brilliance of his style. Just take a look at the introductory double-page splash that introduces the team: that’s pure comics visual storytelling right there. The angle of the shot, the glow of the Krakoan Gate, the heroic posture of each mutant. It’s classic in the best sense, evoking Davis’ runs on various X-titles in the past, as well as being timeless in its excellence and intent. It definitely helps that so many other X-Men have been depicted in their classic costumes lately, but seeing Davis draw Cyclops and Storm in their costumes from the Seventies and Eighties feels less like a nostalgic throwback and more like an organic nod to history within the story.
But, yeah, it also just looks really cool seeing Davis draw these characters in those costumes again. While I’m personally more familiar with Davis’ (brilliant) work with Batman, I remember seeing his covers for Excalibur and other X-titles when I was growing up. It isn’t just a rush of nostalgia seeing him draw Nightcrawler and Rachel a Summers again, it does bring back some great memories regardless.
Giant-Size X-Men: Nightcrawler #1 is great in several levels. It’s a fun one-and-done issue that stands on its own reasonably well, with snappy dialogue and some of the strongest artwork around. It may not be the best choice for X-Men neophytes who aren’t familiar with the characters, but if you’ve been on the fence about the recent mutant reboot, it’s as great an example as any about what these books have done so well.
And then there’s this stunning variant from Ben Caldwell
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