The Good
ALL NEW X-MEN continues to surprise me in all the right ways. While this issue is a bit of a departure from the first couple of issues, we do get a great story focusing more on Magneto and Cyclops, and more importantly the Phoenix Force 5 as a whole.
I really enjoy seeing mutants develop their powers and how they deal with this major change in their life, here we get a scene of that, and it seems this will be a character that many of the mutants will be fighting over. As a newer X-Men reader, I'm glad I get to jump on board and see some new characters and their introductions. Sure, the character could be killed of next month, for all we know, but for once, I feel like I'm included in the world of X-Men instead of wandering aimlessly in the cold like every other time I pick up an X-Title.
That's another thing I like about this book and series, while it's not the perfect book for new readers, it is a great book for people who have a basic understanding of the X-Men and the past AvX event. It's one of those series that a Marvel fan can easily jump in on, as long as they are up on their basic Marvel knowledge.
I loved the scenes and dialogue between Cyclops and Magneto here. They have this weird father/son relationship, well more of a mentor relationship than anything else. It's bizarre to see take place over the course of the issue since Magneto has always been THE villain of the X-Men, and now they're working together.
There's this name that keeps popping up every time I really enjoy the art in a book, and that name is Marte Gracia. I don't want to take anything away from penciler Stuart Immonen or inker Wade Von Grawbadger (Man, that name is awesome), but Gracia's colors here are fantastic. Gracia has done some great work on ULTIMATE COMICS X-MEN and DEADPOOL.I especially loved the vibrant colors on Cyclops' optic blasts here. While Bendis is doing a great job with the writing, the art is what really draws me into this issue. Stuart Immonen makes so many of the panels in this issue just look freakin epic. He also does one of my favorite things in this issue: characters stand in normal, everyday stances. Characters look downright natural, even though they're in tights. Also, I want the final two pages in poster form on my wall.
The Bad
With the focus mainly on Cyclops and Magneto, I felt a bit let down. I was hoping for a larger focus on Beast and the original X-Men here. While we do get some pretty cool stuff from Magneto and Cyclops, it took me by surprise, I wasn't expecting it, and all-in-all, I was a tad let down. It almost feels like you're reading a different book altogether. Yes, it's a very good book, but it's very much different from the first two issues.
While the issue was fantastic, it wasn't as good as the past two issues. I liked it, but I didn't have the same feeling of "oh man, this was super awesome," like I did with issue two.
The Verdict
ALL NEW X-MEN 3 is fantastic comic. It's a bit different than the first two issues of the series, and the focus is on other people, but overall, on its own, it's incredibly good. Bendis does a great job here, especially with dialogue, when Magneto and Cyclops have a little talk with each other. while Stuart Immonen's art is amazing, I found myself really drawn to Marte Gracia's colors. This book is extremely pretty looking.
While I haven't read all of the Marvel Now books yet, this is my favorite of the new lot. It's a great book for new X-readers, and it's just a ton of fun. I highly recommend this issue.
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