New X-Men (vol 1 - 3), Grant Morrison

"Sixteen million mutants dead...and that's just the first step in Cassandra Nova's plans. With an army of evolved Sentinels primed for annihilation, Nova will stop at nothing to see every mutant exterminated. Led by Professor Xavier, the X-Men have always sought an end to the ongoing strife between mutants and humans, hoping to one day unite the two species in peaceful coexistence. But the time for dreams is past. Now, their entire existence is under direct attack. Now, it is time for the X-Men to fight."

"Enter the U-Men! When envious humans begin dissecting mutants and grafting their body parts, it's up to the X-Men to stop them! But things at home aren't much better as Cyclops and Jean Grey can't stop fighting, Jean's powers flare out of control, and Professor X's mind is trapped in the body of his comatose evil twin! Introducing the new Angel, and the X-Men have never seen anything like her!"

"As protesters lay siege to the Xavier Institute, mutant mentor Professor X lies in a coma, trapped within the shattered form of his evil twin! Cassandra Nova inhabited Xavier's body and escaped to the starts in the wake of her initial encounter with the X-Men; now, the psionically empowered psychopath is returning to Earth- possessed of the most powerful mutant mind on the planet, and with the might of the Shi'ar Imperium at her back!"






Rather than review these three separately I decided I would do it as one (longer) shake-down, mainly because writing about all three one after another doesn't appeal, but also because Grant Morrison is a writer who rewards those who read everything and actively confuses those who only dip in.

As a result these three books may as well be collected in a single volume, because it's a single story arc: Cassandra Nova achieve consciousness and sets out to destroy the X-Men. Everything else in these is almost incidental.

I actually have all three of these volumes on disc somewhere, from when I first got into comics from scans lent to me by other people, and random trades I found in the library. New X-Men was one of those runs that seemed to totally redefine what I though of a comic as being. It lacks the long term status of Watchmen or Sandman, but was a totally different comic to, say. Morrison's JLA.

In part that's thanks to Quitley's art. Usually acknowledged as a master of expressions (just look at his work on All Star Superman, also with Morrison) here his skills are put to use redefining the X-Men as outsiders; they aren't all attractive, movie star-lite celebrities. This was back to basics mutant-kind; hated-and-feared, barely tolerated and, in the first issue, almost exterminated by Sentinels in an act of mass-genocide.

This entire run is epoch-defining and nothing after it was the same. That gets bandied around a lot, but here Morrison really does try and do something different. Retcons aside, this is the book that destroyed Genosha, killed Magneto and Jean, redeemed Emma, moved Wolverine on from his unrequited love, devolved Beast, and introduced Beak, Angel, Cassandra Nova, John Sublime, the U-Men and Quentin Quire and Xorn. Everything that came after new X-Men was informed by it, from Whedon's Astonishing X-Men run, to 'House of M' and 'Generation Hope'. Even the current Bendis and Aaron runs owe as much to this as Lee, or Claremont.

Just as 'Avengers Disassembled' deconstructed the idea of the Avengers, and launched them in a new direction, so the events of the first few issues of 'E is for Extinction' set the stage for a more military Scott, the nexus around which all X-Men events of the last 15 years have circled.

The breadth of the concepts introduced is equally vast. Secondary mutation turns up for the first time here, as does the idea of being pro-mutation as a fashion statement (for Morrison's 'Magneto Was Right' deconstruction, see the post-AvX 'Cyclops Was Right' fandom, both in universe and from fans, for the logical extension).

The mindscape rescue issue of Professor X in 'Earn Your Wings' is usually picked up on for being a bold and daring departure; a silent issue with only two lines of actual dialogue, delivered on the final page, post-procedure. But the real joy is just how many of these there are, whether it's Xavier taking over the Shi'ar Empire (and especially his fight with Gladiator), or Cyclops killing Ugly John - none of these go down how we expect. Every issue features a departure from the norm, culminating in the psychic episode.

Morrison has many faults, and some of them will be on show later in this series, especially as Xorn develops more of a presence and is later revealed as ..., well, that's complicated actually. But this early on, backed by Quitely and genuinly changing the face of the X-Men, this is a blockbuster run, and a must read.

Incidentally, all of this run can be found in The Works for £4 each. Pick up the first and third books to sample it, the second is (good) filler but not as consequential. I guarantee you a good time.


Also Try:
Joss Whedon, Astonishing X-Men
Brian Michael Bendis, Uncanny X-Men
Brian Wood, X-Men
Chris Claremont, Uncanny X-Men