Age of X-Man: Apocalypse and the X-Tracts #1: Talkin bout a Revolution Sounds… Like a Whisper

Apocalypse and the X-tracts is the book I’ve been waiting for. A smart and well-crafted book, X-tracts manages to capture all the glory of counterculture and revolution necessary to destabilize the so-called utopic vision built by Nate Grey. The “Spirit of ’67” lives vibrantly in these pages, from the evocation of Timothy Leary’s famous “tune in, turn off, drop out” quote to the living embodiment of psychotropic drugs so fundamental to the era of “expanding your mind” in Unveil. Seeley does an excellent job of capturing the essence of revolution to include nods to the repression of religion and the loss of feeling “special” played out through Kitty Pryde. Alison Blaire captures the essence of the folk music movement, perfectly cast as a Dylan, a McGuire, a Guthrie. With Genesis, you start to see a picture of the weight of legacy as young Evan struggles to find his place in his father’s movement. Even the attachment of “Murshid”, Arabic for “guide” or “teacher” subtly adds depth to the narrative without overly calling attention to itself.

The art in this book is gorgeous– a perfect fit to tone of the book. Espin deploys a number of overlapping layout styles that give the issue a sense of fluidity, reinforcing the suggestion of togetherness as characters flow into each other. The color work jumps off the page evoking images of album covers from the psychedelic era of Experiences and Mystery Tours.