Exceptional X-Men #13: Lets Go Back In Time…

It’s back to the future for the Exceptional Clan, but instead of ending up in what looked to be in the early 80’s, instead of the 50’s, where Marty meets up with his mom and dad before they met. Meanwhile, current Kitty is back there as well, doing her best to not meet her past version; which will alter the timeline!! Will the team meet up with 13 and ½ year old Kitty, and save the world??! You’ll have to read it to find out!

Eve Ewing has crafted one of the best X-books on the stands today, giving us some interesting new characters; while delving into the older characters’ shared past, and integrating them into the From The Ashes era for the X-books. This isn’t the only X-book that’s done this; it’s something we’ve seen with all of the X-books, but unfortunately not all of the new characters caught my attention like these three did. Sure, it’s only been 13 issues, but the amount of emotional growth and maturity these new characters have been given speaks to Ewing’s grasp and vision she has for them. These aren’t just vacant tabula rasas, but they’re fully realized, and capable of progressing as time moves on.

Seeing the kids back in time, all the way to the day that she meets the X-Men is a fun little adventure that gives us a Back To The Future scenario, but instead of fighting off a bully like Biff, the kids are trying to fight off this new brand of Sentinel, that’s giving me xenomorph aliens from the film franchise, mixed with the an original, giant sized Sentinel, but also some Sentinels from the current era. The newer Sentinels look like the Gamma irritated dogs from Paul Jenkins’ run on the Incredible Hulk. It’s a fun little adventure that unfortunately doesn’t quite hit the highs that previous chapters have given us.

Part of it is the art. Frederica Mancin is a relatively newer artistic face showing up at the House of Ideas. Her art doesn’t quite hit the level of expectations that we’ve seen Carmen Carnero has. It feels messy and rushed, while the action scenes lacked any kind of emotional reaction we’d expect from the kids in this ordeal. Although the cover homage to John Byrne’s splash page from Uncanny X-Men was quite enjoyable. This is the ending of this team before we get into the next big event crossover, Age of Revelation, which feels like an injustice to the fans, creators, and the characters. There’s so much room for growth, that it’d be a shame if we never hear from these characters again.