Soā¦I would probably give this issue a 5-7; not AMAZING for a first issueā¦but not bad either.
It definitely HAS room to grow and become betterā¦but there is a part of me that worries it gonna be like Tini Howardās Excaliburā¦and more or less be kind of voiceless.
So as we saw in the Preview, Bishop is pushing the old X-students and Surge and CO ARENāT having IT. (We also IMMEDIATELY know why Hellion WASNāT included on this team šš¤£)
Dani, Norikoās old teacher, chews Bishop out and tells him essentially the problem ISNāT the kidsā¦itās him.
I actually REALLY like this take on Bishop- rarely do writers HAVE the adult X-Men be flawed after Utopia and I think J. Holtham does a really nice job essentially incorporating the flaw that has been following Bishop since his inception- Bishop is an intensely dedicated, āThe ends justify the meansā kind of guy. He doesnāt care about morality if it gets the job done, which we more or less SAW in Messiah Complex.
As Bishop is thinking this all over on a beach, Fernis subtly pops up with a ray gun and a evil plan after he leaves.
We also get a cute Aura/Cam sceneā¦and Armor hanging out with Amass- both essentially saying that they should forgive Bishopā¦becauseā¦wellā¦he has PTSD.
We also get Bishop asking Tempo for a favor to essentially try and win the kids back and later having a nightmare about his time in the mutant camps.
The next day Bishop basically does his āMy badā¦I just have really bad PTSDā explanation, and all is well as they journey to the center of the earthā¦or at least the center of Krakoa, to do another training exercise.
We see the exercise planned with āWrongslideā and Tempo (Seeing zombie Santo just makes me damn SAD every time because Marvel essentially neutered a great characterā¦just think how great OLD Rockslide would have been in this book!!), and unsurprisingly thereās little reaction from Surge because Marvel CANāT allow that š.
Fernis shows up, hits everyone with a āBlightswillā ray except (I think!) Bishop and Tempoā¦who instead get sucked into some portal because Tempoās having trouble with her powers. Bishop gets sucked essentially into a āwhat if Xavier accepted more POC mutants into his schoolā fantasy šš¤£ (Bishop is apparently subconsciously railing against the classism of private schools!ā¦whichā¦so are we ALL, Bishop!)
The kids run off from Fernis, planning to get helpā¦only to realize that they are all powerless. š
āāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāāā
Like I said earlier- I definitely THINK this book has potential!
Sure, the first issue was pretty āby the numbersā and āchoppyāā¦but I definitely think there is room for improvement in future issues!
The thing that worries meā¦is much like Tini Howardās Excalibur, thereās not anything really āgrabbingā about this book. At times, the dialogue and characters feel a bit āflatā honestly.
That being said, part of the problem is I felt Holtham is trying to set up the plot FAST- you donāt really HAVE time for Bishop to chat in depth with Dani or Tempo (also why I HATE the information pages! because they TAKE UP character interaction time SO MUCH), let alone really get a sense of their relationships. No one feels connected in this book.
It is something that CAN easily be fixedā¦the question is whether the writer will or not; I would say Howard never fixed this problem and the team always felt like strangers with no connection what so ever as a resultā¦which is why none of her books with Betsy REALLY have managed to catch on š¬.
Along those lines- I really DO hope he brings up Surgeās history from Messiah Complex and why Surge probably does not trust him completely (I doubt it knowing Marvel though, especially since they seemed to only skim over that historyā¦)
I would also say, I do think this book could have used a āHellionā or a āold Rockslideā kind of character to add some spice and humor⦠besides Surge and maybe Armor, thereās not really anyone whoāll push back against Bishop and the supporting cast all feels a little too āsame-yāā¦Aura, Amass, and Cam just feel too nice. Too willing to go along with the flow. I just really think this book needed a better variety in personalities.
So far I have liked Holthamās writing of Fernis- it really reminded me of Claremontās writing of the characters, and I really enjoyed him bringing them back into the fold! I especially liked the homage to Storm being dispowered and fighting them in āLife/Deathā!
One of TWO things is going to happen- the kids go to save him powerless and we get a kickass, āthe kids are alright and can take care of themselvesā¦ā little moment OR the writer really hammers in that Bishop was RIGHT and the kids need more ātrainingā š. We will see what we getā¦.
ALSO Holthamā¦if you fix āWrongslideā and bring back āold Santoā I will give you ALL the kudos in the world! ššš