Review: X-Men Legacy #245

X-MEN LEGACY #245 PREVIEW

WRITER:  Mike Carey

PENCILS:  Clay Mann

INKS:  Jay Leisten

COLORS:  Brian Reber

LETTERS:  VC’s Cory Petit

COVER:  Leinil Yu & Marte Gracia

PUBLISHER:  Marvel

RELEASE DATE:  February 23, 2011

Everything you thought you knew about Marvel’s “Merry Mutants” is wrong – but Mike Carey will show you the truth. Well maybe not the whole truth, he has to save some surprises for the finale after all. And if the finale is anything like Chapter One, we are in for an amazing ride!

1,000 days, 1,000 days! That is how long a group of mutants has stood strong against the forces of discriminating hate. They are not a team, not a family, but more of a militia that recruits any able body to join the never ending fight for a species survival. The faces are familiar, the names have been changed, the personalities are polar opposites, but these characters are as rich as the ones we have been reading for years and in some cases even more so. Carey creates a world that is so engrossing that it is as comfortable as it is shocking, a true testament of a writer who cares for not only the characters, but the fans as well.

Clay Mann is a craftsman who is as dynamic a visual story teller as his prose wielding counterpart. The art is crisp and airy, as well as bone crushing harsh. It is riddled with depth – Reaper’s soft caress as she gives a final life stealing touch, as well as bombastic action — Basilisk obliterating a military squad with one blast.  Mann was the perfect choice for such a thought provoking and yet over the top story.

The best part about this story is the radical changes that Carey has made to the characters we all grew up with. It is easy to say that this story takes place in a time when the X-Men never existed, but how easy is it to give every character a complete history for that story. Carey does it with ease and makes each change meaningful. A Cyclops that has been tortured into being the government’s mutant electric chair, a Cannonball that conveys respect from all mutants and is a precision leader, a Legion that is stable and in top physical condition, and a Wolverine that has been reduced to a bartender that listens to the battle stories from ravaged survivors! Carey is writing this story as a fan for fans – and I am loving it!

My only complaint is that the casual reader will not truly appreciate all of the changes that Carey has taken the time to painstakingly do. They will no doubt thoroughly enjoy the read, but they may also miss out on the richness of these characters because there are so many that have not been seen in years or highlighted as much as they are in this book. I would hate for someone to feel lost because of so many characters in so few pages. But you don’t need an extensive knowledge of all things X to enjoy the ride it would just make it that much more fun.

Carey is writing THE X story for 2011 and no X fan should miss it. This is not just a great story this is epic!!