Since the first volume of All-New X-Men, Mystique has been robbing banks and whatnot, stockpiling the cash because she no longer believes in anything and just wants to be rich. In this entire volume all that happens is the X-Men stop her. That’s the whole book. A sub-plot that turns out to be completely irrelevant becomes the main storyline of an entire book. The subtitle to this volume should’ve been Out of Ideas.
If you’re unfamiliar with the series premise, the original X-Men have been brought to the present from the past and now refuse to go back thanks to the X-Men telling them what happens to them. This dumb premise was worn out by the second book at the most and in this third volume just feels repetitive and dull.
One of the original X-Men leaves to join the other side, but it’s hardly a shocking moment, plus I’ve read the Battle of the Atom mini-series and know what happens at the end of that bizarre storyline, so it’s even less memorable to me. The Uncanny Avengers also show up after the original X-Men were seen robbing one of Stark’s properties, though Wolverine calls it instantly that it’s a Mystique and Mastermind trick - which of course it is. Even Wolverine feels jaded at Bendis’ feeble attempts at story.
The only reason to have the Uncanny Avengers show up is so that Havok aka Alex Summers can meet his brother’s younger self and the two can have a moment. Awww… whatever. We’ve seen moments like this time after time since the original X-Men showed up and I’m getting bored with it, especially when Bendis has nothing else but to have characters meet these younger characters and remark on how innocent and different they are. It was cute at first but really, move on already!
Stuart Immonen’s art is definitely the best and only good part of the book. The guy makes every book he works on look absolutely amazing and even the generic mutant on mutant fight scenes look fresh and exciting in his hands.
Brian Michael Bendis is a writer who doesn’t really do story but instead likes to focus on character interactions - nearly all of his current books are the characters quipping at one another, and All-New X-Men is no different. No plot, just characters tossing off sarcastic one-liners. If that’s your thing, fine, this series definitely has its fans, but it’s not enough for me. After three books of mediocre mutant stories and a half-baked Event comic, I’m walking away from this title - so long, All-New X-Men, maybe in a few years you’ll get a storyline worth reading! At the rate Bendis is writing this out, it’ll take that long!
All-New X-Men Vol.3: Out Of Their Depth
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