Editor's Note: X Men Noir #1 arrives in stores Thursday, December 4.

Wow!

Fred Van Lente just hit the triple whammy. Incredible Hercules is the most consistently entertaining book Marvel publishes at the moment. Marvel Zombies 3 has eclipsed the previous two series and breathed new life into the concept. And now, X Men Noir takes the X-Men and re-imagines them as late 40s/early 50s criminals in a brilliantly illustrated and fully realized Noir world.

This is the way you do re-imaginings, people. Take notice.

Van Lente has found a way to reinterpret the classic X-Men in ways that, even though they have no mutant superpowers, they are all recognizable and equate logically to Lee and Kirby's originals. In this world, though, their genetic inheritance is not what one might expect. Professor X, in the Noirverse, has posited that the next step in behavioral evolution is the development of the sociopath, and he set up a reform school to train youngsters in the fine art of criminal behavior.

On the flip-side, the cops are run by the Chief and his Brotherhood. Needless to say, they have their own code of conduct when it comes to keeping crime under control in their city, and it's rough. Our entryway into their storyline is the indoctrination of the Chief's son Peter into the Brotherhood. And Peter, still a young and idealistic cop, isn't sure he wants anything to do with them.

The central storyline, however, involves a character I had to Google to recognize. He doesn't come from the world of the X-Men, and is the only character who actually wears a costume and has a history and characterization almost exactly like his regular Marvel Universe incarnation. His name is Tommy Halloway and he goes by the code-name, Angel. One of Timely Comics' first characters, appearing alongside Captain America, Namor, and the original Human Torch, he was a detective raised by a prison warden father. Because of his dad's job, Tommy essentially grew up in the prison and learned many lessons and skills from the prisoners.

That sounds dirty, but really it's not.

Van Lente seems to have kept all of this for the Noirverse version of Halloway, and the detective inserts himself into our story by trying to find out who killed Jean Grey. All clues point to the X Men (no hyphen, for some reason), but we also have Professor X, from prison, suggesting that Anna Marie Rankin is involved. That's Rogue to the regular MU readers.

Dennis Calero's art is beautiful. His use of shadow evokes the realism of Jae Lee's work, and the digital reworking of photographic source materials for backgrounds is on par with Alex Maleev. I've never seen his work before, but the quality is so high that I am stunned. I want to track down everything he's done.

With this series, both creators are crafting a comic that the best in the business would be jealous of. If you're an X-Men fan, there are plenty of Easter Eggs to entertain yourself with, but they aren't necessary for the enjoyment of the story. All you need to enjoy the story, is the story itself. This is easily the best-looking book on the shelves this week, and may be the best-looking book on the shelves for weeks to come. Buy this. You won't be sorry.

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