Dead X-Men #1: Time Keeps on Slipping

Steve Foxe is operating in full form with this explosive, perfectly paced firecracker of a story. He balances time-heist shenanigans with brilliant, beautiful characterization and the resulting story is something like a timey-wimey Matryoshka doll mixed with Oceans Eleven. If you want to spend time catching glimpses of horrific alternate realities, but you like your apocalypses to feature touching, hilarious, and absolutely brutal character moments, this is the book for you.

Every Dead X-Man gets at least a moment to shine, and that’s a balancing act which requires finesse. Personally, I could have done with a bit more Frenzy, but it’s astonishing how well this writer managed to balance his cast. So far, the stars are Prodigy, Askani, and Moira herself, but even bit players get at least one moment to humanize them and grant them some impact beyond the mere mechanics of plot.

Jonas Scharf, Bernard Chang, and Vincenzo Carratú work together brilliantly well, generating worlds with their own feel and reality which nevertheless play well together, feeling appropriately of a piece while still maintaining the artists’ hard-earned individuality.