When I heard that the legendary Neal Adams was pitching an idea he had for an X-Men tale, I was quite excited. When I heard the idea, the excitement began to wane. As I read the book, my excitement dwindled even further.
The overall execution of the story is just not dramatic enough to capture the readerâs attention. We are thrust into a tale that portrays Wolverine as the self proclaimed âsaviorâ of all mutants. He gathers a group to battle those who intend to harm them and â off we go! There is no drive to the story, there is nothing to make the reader feel vested in the tale whatsoever â except the fact that we will buy anything if Wolverine is attached to it! Yes, there are nods to X history within the book, and there are new characters introduced â Holo is done exceptionally well, but there just isnât enough to warrant me to purchase the next issue.
Mr. Adams art is as skillful as ever and it was a true pleasure to gaze upon his renderings again. But unfortunately, I need more than a legendary name and a flash bang story to make me shell out four dollars. There needs to be substance, a structure, a hook â something, that can drive some excitement for the reader. Otherwise, readers will look elsewhere for those books that can make them feel something more â regardless of the talent that is attached to the project.
If you want to read about the âfirstâ X-Men team, buy an X-Men Archives hardcover and see what Stan created. The rest is second best!
