Writers: Nunzio Defilippis and Christina Weir
Artists: Keron Grant (p), Rob Stull (i)
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Plot:
The book opens a year earlier where we see a young mutant named Laurie finds she is unable to control her mutant ability to emit pheromones that alter the moods of people around her. After a particularly unsettling display where she accidentally compels a boy to express interest in her, we see her mutant power is revealed to her classmates. We then jump forward a year where we find her attending classes at Xavier Institute, but thanks to her power she's effectively cut herself off from having any contact with the other students. We then look in on Sofia, the wind-controlling mutant we met last issue, as she arrives at the school with Dani Moonstar, and is given a tour of the place by none offer that Professor Xavier. As Sofia settles into her new environment, we see her enthusiasm to make friends is often undone by her inability to recognize when she's pushing too hard, and we see she accidentally disrupts a flying class being taught by Northstar, who doesn't appreciate Sofia's cheerful optimism. We then look in on Dani who is actively being recruited by Xavier for a teaching position, as he believes her young age will allow her to better connect with the students. While Dani turns down the offer we see she does agree to track down young mutants to let them know about the school. We also see before she leaves she hooks Sofia up with Laurie, as Sofia’s wind-control makes her effectively immune to Laurie's power.
Comments:
Grant Morrison has introduced a couple dozen young students who attend classes at the X-Mansion, and he even developed a story-line the centered around some of the students rising up & rebelling against the teachers. However, his version of the school & its students has always taken a decidedly jaded view of the school, as we have students getting pregnant, getting high on a new power-enhancing drugs, and even murdering the teachers. Now this book has also taken on the role of showing us the school environment, but given it wants readers to identify & embrace these characters, it's easy to understand why the book has adopted an approach that not only suggests students can be happy attending Xavier Institute, but not all of the problems these kids face have to be full blown, ripped from the headlines, events that make one wonder why parents haven't been pulling their children out of this school left, right & center. It's nice to see there are some "normal" children at this school whose biggest problems really are centered around their mutant gifts and gaining some measure of control over them. Grant Morrison's work is interesting, but it had arrived at a point where one was asking why any parent would place their child in this school, as the place looked to be a regular breeding ground for future super-villains.
While part of me is something disillusioned by the lack of cast members from the original series, I have to say that it's great to see Dani Moonstar back to the way she was before she was sucked into the "let's make this character kewl" machinery that made up the X-Force era. Now her return from this period really began during the John Francis Moore run, but in this book the character feels the closer to the original vision of the character than she has since those early issues of the original series. I like the idea that Dani looks like she'll be the character who ties the book together, as in the early issues I suspect she'll be the one that brings all the various characters to the school, and if the preview material is to be believed than I fully expect she'll be joined by a several other members of the original book, and most likely once everyone is settled in at the school the original cast will play the roles that the X-Men played in the first series, which is bigger brother/sister mentor figures who operate around the fringes of the stories, guiding our young characters. I also have to say that I'm pretty impressed with the two young cast members we've been introduced to so far, as Sofia has an infectious, highly amicable personality that makes her very easy to become a fan of, while Laurie has an interesting power that she can't control, that has created a nice introverted personality for the character.
Keron Grant's work does seem to be pretty well suited to the general mood of this book, as there's a nice wide eyed innocence to the art than works exceptionally well with the sense of wonder & discovery that plays such a key role in these early issues. The young cast members are nice & expressive, with their emotions clearly on display, and best of all the kids look like young adults, as Sofia has a gawky look to her that kind of reminds me of Sam (aka. Cannonball), with her attempt at flight being a prefect moment to convey her awkwardness, but also her seeming inability to let anything dampen her cheery mood. Now the art is a bit odd looking at times, as Professor Xavier looks downright goofy throughout issue, and Dani looks to have to longest neck this side of Reed Richards. The scenes where we get a tour of the school could've displayed a little more imagination, as the idea that this school is populated by mutants seems like it's almost an afterthought, as it's almost like someone had to remind him he could throw in characters who looked a bit strange. Before I run out of room, I do want to make mention of the lovely covers this book has been sporting, as while this month's image doesn't really have anything to do with the story inside, it's certainly an eye-catching piece, and the soft, almost ethereal appearance of this cover shot looks downright fantastic.
Final Word:
This book looks to be off to a good start, as while it's a bit quiet & low key, overall it's doing a wonderful job of establishing what I'm guessing will be the central theme of this book, which is the struggles that young mutants face dealing with their powers. This issue introduces us to our second cast member, as Laurie is a young girl who is able to alter the moods of people in her immediate vicinity, and this leaves her questioning whether the reactions of the people she's dealing with are genuine, or have they simply fallen under the influence of her power. We also see that her power looks to be influenced by her mood, so if she's happy, so is everyone within the reach of her power. The same applies for the more negative emotions, and as such she has shunned all contact with others. This issue also follows up on the eternally cheerful wind-controling mutant we met in the previous issue, as Sofia arrives at the X-Mansion, and sets out to make friends. To this end, the meeting of Laurie & Sofia seems to be an ideal pairing, as Laurie is in dire need of a friend, and Sofia can't seem to make friends fast enough.
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