Robb Ghag reviews Amazing X-Men #2…
“The X-Men, on the search for Nightcrawler, find themselves separated! Wolverine and Northstar are mysteriously in… heaven?! But where does that leave the rest of the team?”
This comic is clearly a throwback to the old Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends animated series. Where else would you see flying pirates, Firestar and Iceman battling it out side by side. Half way through I was expecting the 60’s Spider-Man to swing through, and Stan Lee’s voice over to say, “Watch Out True Believers!”
In this sense it is clear where McGuinness gets his artist style from, and to his credit, while it does have a cartoon overtone; it actually works within the pages of a comic. The only thing that gives the book an adult feel is the fact that some of the heroes are in “heaven” and some, in “hell”.
Jason Aaron I think does his best with the script here, but I think it falls somewhat flat, even though this is issue #2 of the mini-series. There are some twists and turns and artistic interpretations of characters such as “Billy the Kid” and “Jack the Ripper”, but the obvious absentee is Nightcrawler! In a story called, The Quest for Nightcrawler, he is virtually unseen in this entire issue.
One can see that Aaron is building to something, but as the story progresses, and I read more and more of it, it seems less and less likely that Nightcrawler will return to the X-Men, let alone the land of the living. Here’s hoping I’m wrong.
Robb Ghag works for an Arts & Entertainment Brokerage in Toronto Canada. An Animation and Film school graduate, he specializes in Risk Management of Animation and VFX studios throughout North America.
Originally published December 11, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
