X-Men: First Class Review
X-Men: First Class HC Vol.1: Tomorrow’s Brightest
Writer: Jeff Parker
Pencilers: Roger Cruz w/ Paul Smith
Inkers: Victor Olazaba & Roger Cruz w/ Paul Smith
Colorist: Val Staples
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Cover: Marko Djurdjevic
The X-Men have been going through some rough times recently. With Endangered Species, Messiah Complex, and now Divided We Stand the group of merry mutants doesn’t have much to be merry about. Thankfully, there’s X-Men: First Class.
X-Men: First Class is a book based during the beginning of the X-Men as a team. Marvel Girl, Cyclops, Iceman, Angel, and the Beast make up the team along with the ever present Prof. Xavier. These stories are essentially untold tales from the beginning of the X-Men’s history. Each issue is a done in one full of fun adventure. Jeff Parker is obviously having a blast with this book. Each page is full of great dialogue with fun interactions all around. Nice touches like the characters needing to stop themselves from using their real names in the field are great. And each issue is one great adventure that fits fine in the old X-Men but don’t muck with continuity. So no need to worry about decompression on this one, each issue is jam packed and throw nine of them together in a collection and it’s hard to go wrong.
On the art side of things, Roger Cruz does some cool things with slightly new costume designs and all the characters they meet. Everyone from Dr. Strange to The Lizard makes an appearance somewhere in the book and they’re all a blast to see. The style itself is a bit on the cartoony side, but it works for the lightheartedness of the stories. And the Marko Djudjevic covers don’t hurt one bit.
This is a book for people that like the X-Men, but want to go back to a simpler time when they were just a bunch of teens trying to figure things out. This specific hardcover collection contains all of Volume 1 Issues #1-9. A paperback is also out, but I have to say the hardback is pretty beautiful on my shelf. Anyone who likes fun stories will dig this book.
Check it out if you like: The Marvel Adventures Line, Agents of Atlas, any previous old school X-Men book, the original X-Men
Written by Tom Lynch
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April 3rd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Absolutely! I’m a big fan of the Jeff Parker corners of the Marvel Universe because they hearken back to a less dread and crossover-laden time in comics. Done in one and short story arcs that aren’t padded out to fill a tpb. X-Men First Class is like digging up a great comic from the best of the 80’s that you missed the first time around.