EXCEPTIONAL X-MEN #1: Denial Isn’t Just a River in Egypt

I grew up with Kathrine Anne “Kitty/Kate” Pryde, which is to say Chris Claremont had successfully installed her as the POV character when I started reading X-Men at the beginning of Paul Smith’s run. Because of this, while I have other characters that are my favorites, I have always had a special place in my heart for the character and have always kept an eye on her exploits. The Krakoan era was hard on Kate, but also saw some much needed character development around her relationships with other characters. The Fall Of Krakoa was psychologically scarring, sending her on a bloody mission of revenge against Orchis and though Orchis has fallen, that violence has left it’s trauma.

This opening and establishing shot from Ewing and the rest of the creative team dumps us firmly into the swirl of Ms. Pryde’s trauma characterised by her personal life being pretty much a mess, her stubborn denialism and refusal to be involved with anything x related. I know there will certainly be a section of fandom that won’t be happy about this but personally I think having watched her go through what she did in the FALL OF X, Ewing’s starting point and where we find her is perfectly plausible. Ewing explores the emotional turmoil going on with Kate really well in the issue on several fronts through her keep busy, don’t think about it actions, her friends concern for well her well being and Kate’s internal and dialogue with herself has she struggles through an emotional gamut from page one right to her last panel. Good news is the x-office isn’t sweeping Kate’s bisexuality under the table (there is specific reference to a date with a HER on panel) though if it’ll go beyond that remains to be seen, but I for one was happy to see it thrown in there for good measure.

Ewing and the team balance the doubting Thomas act with a reminder that Ms Pryde is and always will be someone who won’t let one of her kind get hurt and that she is someone who is extremely capable. This is borne out in our introduction to the first of the new mutant characters in this series Trista Marshall aka Bronze as Ms. Pryde leaps to the young girls defence when a confrontation in front of a club turns nasty. One of the strengths of Ewing’s script here is that the characters (even the minor players) all feel real and three dimensional and there’s excellent back and fourth between the characters. The issue is rounded out with the appearance of everyone’s favorite white queen and a surprise panel featuring a character that fans have been asking about!

Artist Carmen Carnero and Nolan Woodard are on art duty and I’m here to tell you that the art is gorgeous. Every panel is well thought out, expressive and dynamic, facial expressions capturing what the characters are feeling. Woodward supplies wonderfully vibrant coloring to Carnero’s line art, whether it’s the shine of Bronze’s skin, the bright lights of a concert or Emma Frost’s (perfectly) frosted lips and piercing blue eyes. X-Men comics have always felt (and yes I am biased) that they deserve the best artists and the art team deliver in spades. There are no superhuman costumes in this issue not a one which is very much a change from the Krakoan era (a welcome one for me, I enjoy seeing mutants in normal clothes, please don’t hate me) , it’s pure mutants amongst humans melodrama and the art team flawlessly explore our characters journey in a very slice of life way. Carnero is as comfortable conveying a bar scene or Kitty (its how she introduces herself to Bronze) and Bronze escaping some really overzealous bouncers. There’s a magical ingredient here that makes the story very compelling in a setting that’s not completely alien. Joe Sabino on letters rounds out an excellent performance on lettering.

Overall I’m prepared to say issue #1 is an exceptional effort from everyone concerned, with excellent visuals to compliment a very strong character driven script that has definitely put this title immediately into my top three of the From the Ashes titles released so far.