'The next generation of the astonishing X-Men grow into true super heroes against their deadliest enemies, in this wide-ranging Marvel anthology?.
'The New Charles Xavier School for Gifted Mutants isn’t all it’s cracked up to be: The food is so-so, and it’s cold eleven out of twelve months, not to mention the creepy bunker vibes with mysterious tech popping up all over the place. But for the latest mutants to take on the mantle of X-Men, it’s home. Under the stewardship of Emma Frost, Cyclops, and Magneto, these new recruits learn to control their powers and defeat villainy. Yet danger lurks within the academy, and it isn’t just monsters or evil geniuses. Now, these fresh X-Men must take what they’ve learned and put their unique powers to the test against unexpected adversaries – from cyborgs and the undead to temporal chaos, and even alternate versions of themselves.'
I've struggled to keep up with the Marvel Universe over the years. There are so many books to read, so many big events, and so many moments that seem designed to shift the status quo that I never felt like I had a good grasp on things. There were certain books I tried to read, to check in with some of my favourite characters, but half the time they felt like stories written to tell big action stories, with a few character moments tacked onto them.
Since Aconyte books started producing Marvel novels, however, I've found myself able to spend some time with characters again, to get to know them, and to read stories that are more about the people that these heroes are, rather than some big flashy action story. I have to be honest, I've been enjoying Marvel more as novels than I have as comics, and books like School of X: A Marvel: Xavier's Institute Anthology only cement this feeling, as this is one of the best collection of X-Men stories I've had the pleasure to read.
The collection brings together a number of authors who fans of Aconyte's work will be familiar with, as some of them have already written some Marvel titles for the publisher; as well as featuring a few new names too. It really does feel like the company have brought together their best people to work on this book.
The first story in the collection is 'Fifteen Minutes' by Jaleigh Johnson, who previously wrote Triptych which featured Fantomex and the X-Men. The story begins with a number of the young students at the school hanging out in their downtime, watching movies and hanging out. It's nice to see these characters outside of their super hero time, and to see that whilst they're still not as close as some of the teams we've seen over the years they're definitely forming into something of a family. The story focuses on Fabio Medina, the mutant known as Goldballs. This is before Fabio became part of The Five, and still didn't know the full extent of his powers, and thinks of himself as something of a joke.
When one of the Stepford Cuckoos, Celeste, suggests a karaoke night to break up the movies she gets shot down by the others, and Fabio notices how much this seems to hurt her. When he goes to sleep that night be begins to dream that he's inside various movies, detective noir films, a zombie movie, an action film, and so on. In each of these films the Cuckoos makes an appearance. Fabio begins to realise that they're a part of why he's trapped in these odd dreams, and has to figure out a way to break them out, and help Celeste if he can.
I really liked this story, not just for showing us what it's like for the young students when they're not learning or being heroes, but also for giving us some insight into some characters that don't always get the spotlight. Fabio has gone on to become an important figure in the X-Men books, but I still don't feel like I really know him, especially from this point in time; so getting to get inside his mind, seeing how he works, what he fears and desires, is very interesting. It also gives Celeste a chance to shine as an individual, rather than as a part of the Cuckoos as a whole. This is something that I don't think happens enough in the comics, so it was wonderful to see more of what she's like as an individual person.
The second story is 'Call of the Dark' by Robbie MacNiven, who gave us the wonderful First Team earlier this year. This story focuses on a character that made an appearance in First Team, but wasn't given a huge focus, Graymalkin. Having been born more than 300 years ago, buried alive by his homophobic father, and found himself in a time far beyond his own Graymalkin is an incredibly interesting character, not least because his power is given to him by the dark, the one thing he's most afraid of.
The story follows Jonas as he explores the dark and lonely halls of the former Weapon X facility late at night, going to places where he really shouldn't be. Along the way he discovers something lurking down in the dark underbelly of the school; a dark doppelganger that torments him, tries to get inside his mind, and who haunts his every moment. This story explores that fear, and Graymalkin's complicated relationship with the darkness. It's a dive into the inner workings of the character, one that reveals more about him than any other story featuring him that I've read. And it's written like a horror story too; which is just fantastic.
The next story, 'Uncatchabe' by Cath Lauria, who wrote the Marvel novel Elsa Bloodstone: Bequest, is more of a traditional X-Men story, in the sense that it sees a couple of our students chasing bad guys and saving the day. It follows David Bond, also known as Hijack, the oldest student in the school. Whilst everyone else in in their teens or early twenties David is in his thirties, and as a result feels kind of detached from everyone else. He's not like the rest of his classmates, and has trouble fitting in. So he burns off steam by sneaking out of the school at night to take part in illegal street races in the nearby town.
Unfortunately for David, he's got a stowaway in the car with him, Alisa Tager, aka Cipher. Thanks to her ability to become invisible and intangible she was able to sneak along with him, and is interested in finding out what David gets up to at night. Whilst at first he's against the idea of her tagging along he relents and agrees to let her stay. However, when Alisa discovers that the street races are being used as a front for gun runners she and David set out to catch the criminals.
This was a really fun story, one that showed that you can still deliver exciting action moments whilst giving good character development. Lauria managed to breathe a lot of life into the two trainee X-Men in this story, particularly David, whom I knew very little about before this. It was nice to have a dynamic where one of the students is closer in age to the teachers, someone who doesn't really fit into either camp, and to get to see him learning to deal with that and find a place for himself.
'Eye of the Storm' isn't the first time that writer Amanda Bridgeman has worked with Aconyte, having written Pandemic: Patient Zero earlier this year, but it is the first time that she has worked with the Marvel characters; but it's clear through her story that she's more than capable of handling these wild and wonderful characters.
This story follows a trio of students who are busy trying to levee a river close to the school before a huge storm causes too much damage, hoping that they can prevent too much attention from being drawn to the area. There's Santo 'Rockslide' Vaccarro, who is a long time student at the school, and two newcomers who recently transferred in from Wolverine's school, Sooraya 'Dust' Qadir, and Iara 'Shark-Girl' Dos Santos. Together, the three of them work to try and get their task finished on time, but when they start vanishing one by one they realise something sinister is going on.
'Eye of the Storm' is similar to the previous story, in the sense that it does have a more action and adventure feel to it as it sees the three young heroes having to fight for their lives against the foe that's set their sights on capturing them. However, what I found most interesting about it was the dynamic between the three of them. Dust and Shark-Girl know each other, have fought together before, and have a camaraderie, but they don't really have this with Rockslide. They don't know him, and they're new to the Xavier Institute and their way of doing things, and feel a little angry that they've been sent away from their own school. There's a sense of antagonism and distrust that's simmering between the group, and it makes them having to work together more interesting.
'Of Dirt and Bones' by Pat Shand comes next, and is one of my favourite stories in the book. Shand hasn't worked with Aconyte before this, but it a name that might be familiar to comic readers as he's worked on titles such as Grimm Fairy Tales: Robyn Hood and a number of Charmed novels in the past. Having worked on titles that focus on powered women it's no surprise that his story does a similar thing, as we get a spooky, magical tale that focuses on Phoebe of the Stepford Cuckoos.
The story begins with Phoebe waking from a strange dream in her diamond form, resulting in some light teasing from her sisters. During a training session that puts the students through a particularly brutal psychic assault that sees Phoebe using her telekinesis to break her way out, though she accidentally kills a goose flying by when she does so. After burying the goose in the woods because she feels guilty for taking its life strange things begin to happen, and soon the school is surrounded by awful zombie animals that have been walking out of the woods. Surrounded by the dead creatures, Phoebe believes that it's her fault, and that the school might end up in danger if she doesn't do something about it.
This story was absolutely delightful. The atmosphere drips off the page in this story, and it feels like a creepy horror/fairy tale mash-up that puts our lone Cuckoo in the centre of things. Whilst I mentioned the first story in this collection giving us an insight into one of this trio I think this one did so in a much bigger way, really showing us what it's like for Phoebe as she feels lost and alone in the world, hounded by guilt and feelings of loneliness. I could have read an entire book like this, and really hope that this won't be the last time Shand plays with these characters.
Neil Kleid is another name that's new to the Aconyte team, but has a history with writing Marvel characters. His story, 'Kid Omega Faces The Music' is, as the name suggests, a story that focuses on the most narcissistic omega-level mutant, Kid Omega. The story follows him as he tells the story of how he snuck out of the school in order to go to a convention with the goal of stealing Wonder Man's glasses. The plan seems to be going fine until Kang the Conqueror turns up and tries to blast Wonder Man with an energy pulse that will send him through time. When Kid Omega is hit instead he finds himself being thrown through different periods of X-Men history, always around Magneto.
Kid Omega has always been something of a dick; it's one of the reasons why we love him. He sees mutants as being superior, and himself as being superior even within the mutant world. This is something that he seems to have in common with Magneto, a figure who has always battled for mutant rights and freedoms, sometimes violently. As Quentin bops through time he sees a young Magneto, fighting to wipe out humanity and put mutants on top, a Magneto who puts himself in the line of fire to save humans, a Magneto troubled by his path in life, and many others. Over the course of his travels Quentin begins to realise that his views, like the young Magneto's aren't quite as simple as he thinks, and begins to suspect that there is a way for humans and mutants to live together if they tried.
This is a really good story, one that forces a character who hardly ever thinks of anyone but himself, and always thinks his view is the right one, to reevaluate his stance on a number of things. It forces him to see that others like him have come before and failed, and that the lessons they've learned are ones that he should pay attention to. He begins to grow as a person, even if only a little. I very much appreciated getting a chance to see how Quentin ticks through this story, and loved how different the writing style of this story was. It was also cool to get a hint of Krakoa here too, events that are happening in the comics now, but would have been the future for the Quentin we're following here.
The final story in the book, the biggest of all of them, is 'Depowered' by Carrie Harris, who wrote the first Xaviers Institute book, Liberty and Justice For All. This story follows the young students when their teachers head out on an important mission, leaving them alone in the school. All's fine until a jet arrives unannounced, bringing with it Dani Moonstar, who's powers were lost on M-Day, and Polaris, the daughter of Magneto, whose own magnetic powers are on the fritz. The two of them have come to the school hoping to find help for their lost and damaged powers. Unfortunately, not long after they arrive a squad of Sentinels follows, forcing the young students to have to work as a team in order to defend their home.
There's a lot of action in this story, and a lot of characters get moments to shine, but if there are two characters in particular who get the focus it's Eva Bell and Christopher Muse, the two leads from Harris' other X-Men book. This story sees the two of them having to step up and become leaders, taking charge of the students when certain death looms on the horizon. It feels like a continuation of Liberty and Justice For All in the sense that these are characters that have clearly continued to grow from that point, and who are drawing from their experiences in that book to help deal with the Sentinels. But it's also a story that's seeing Eva having to deal with one of the most heartbreaking and tragic things in her life, as none of the other students are aware that this comes shortly after Eva's powers pushed her into the future, where she spent a decade making a new life and with her husband and child; a life now lost to her. A life she has to mourn losing without anyone knowing.
I really enjoyed this story, and it gave a lot of character a chance to show why they're not only great characters, but amazing additions to the X-Men line-up. It was also nice to see two familiar faces make a prose appearance in the form of Polaris and Dani Moonstar. They brought some interesting new energy into the mix, and gave the two leaders some wildcards with which to play with when they took charge.
There's a great mixture of stories in School of X, stories that feature a broad range of characters from across the X-Men titles and gives them a chance to lead their own stories. The stories delve into what makes these people tick, their hopes, their fears, their dreams. It showcases how them learning to become super heroes is more than just figuring out their powers, but learning and growing as people and finding their places in the world. An excellent addition to the X-Men mythos.
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