Amazing X-Men #5 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Ed McGuinness (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Marte Gracia (colors)

The Story: Freely they stood who stood, and fell who fell. – John Milton, Paradise Lost Book III

The Review: This issue gets off to something of a rushed start. Jason Aaron wastes no time getting to the final battle with Azazel’s forces. And while it’s clear that he has more important things to deal with than Beast fighting nameless demons, things are a little bit of a blur until Papa Wagner shows up, himself.

Credit where it’s due, Aaron does a fine job of making Azazel into an enjoyable villain. Every here and there it’s nice to have a believably evil adversary for our heroes, one who doesn’t have to trade in shades of grey. Without that necessity, Azazel can just focus on being charmingly slimy. It’s also a great choice to focus on his disregard, perhaps contempt, for his children.

Indeed, part of what makes this story work is the way that Aaron doesn’t insist upon Azazel, letting him be more of a symbolic obstacle for Kurt than a character in his own right. That may sound dismissive, but, as I said, there’s enough charm to the devilish pirate to keep him interesting.

Amazing X-Men #4 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Ed McGuinness (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Marte Gracia (colors)

The Story: Yo Ho, all together, hoist four-colors high…

The Review: Amazing X-Men is a strange beast – no pun intended, despite there being at least two. The latest X-Men ongoing from Jason Aaron has felt quite a bit more like a “Quest for Nightcrawler” miniseries thus far. It returns the X-Men to their largely forgotten demon battling days and reintroduces Azazel to their rogue’s gallery. Even stranger, it’s been a gorgeous widescreen romp, plagued by strange pacing problems. All of that continues this month, but it’s slowly becoming clearer what’s important to Jason Aaron.

The issue opens with the X-Men scattered throughout the various realms of the Christian afterlife, but it’s very much a story about their coming together. Aaron builds on the stupendous flashbacks that helped define last issue and doesn’t let up for a minute. To be honest, I usually try to build at least some level of suspense into my reviews, but there’s simply nothing that can justify not discussing the level to which Aaron understands the X-Men in this issue.

The highlight of the issue, by far, is the interaction between Nightcrawler and Beast. Aaron has every opportunity to simplify or stereotype the bluest X-Men, but instead he crafts a truly charming battle and an incredible flashback that is positively filled with everything wonderful about the old Xavier Institute.

Aaron draws similar emotion out of the inevitable reunion between Kurt and Logan. Though the flashback that precedes it is comparatively unadventurous, Aaron trusts his story, his characters, and his artist and the result is a moment of stunningly beautiful tenderness.

Amazing X-Men #3 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Ed McGuinness (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Marte Gracia (colors)

The Story: Beast takes issue with a self-proclaimed god while another fuzzy blue mutant has a long overdue reunion with a certain Serengeti “goddess.”

The Review: Though the last issue split the X-Men between Heaven and Hell, this month the action takes place upon the frigid seas of Purgatory. But despite the in-between nature of this strange grayscale plane, Amazing X-Men comes into stunning focus.

Last month I criticized Jason Aaron’s script for slowing down too early in the series’ run. If anything it’s ground to even more of a halt this issue, however, it’s hard to complain about how little time we cover when it’s this much fun. Indeed, an exceedingly simple script provides some of the most charming X-Men moments that I can remember.

About half of the script is dedicated to a battle between Hank McCoy and Azazel, with the other half resolving Storm’s capture from the end of last issue. The interplay between Beast and Azazel is great, playing the X-Men’s consummate scientist against a physical devil.

Though he starts with another one of his coffee jokes, Jason Aaron clearly understands Hank and who he is. There’s more to the Beast than blue fur and big words, there’s a wit and confidence that grows from a troubled life. Reading this issue, watching Beast go head to head with the series’ main antagonist, I couldn’t help feeling that this was a moment of near apotheosis for the awkward lad with big feet and an unrequited crush on the cute redhead who just moved into the mansion. On top of that, Aaron avoids the temptation to Worf either combatant, letting each one’s competence rather than their failures enhance the sense of danger.

Amazing X-Men #1 – Review

By: Jason Aaron (writer), Ed McGuinness (penciler), Dexter Vines (inker), Marte Gracia (colors)

The Story: The X-Men vs. pirate demons. That is all.

The Review: To be honest, “My name is Kurt Wagner. And this is the story of how I fell from Heaven” is one of those instantly intriguing opening statements that writing teachers gush over. It’s a simple trick that only grows more fascinating the more you think about it, dispelling illusions that Nightcrawler survived, implying that there may be a difficult choice ahead for the staunchly Catholic mutant, and even raising questions of whether he falls to Earth or somewhere else.

Before long, Jason Aaron dives into a crash course in Nightcrawler. From the focus of his meditations to the airy joy he displays in rescuing a damsel in distress, Kurt Wagner comes through loud and clear.

While just under half of the issue is dedicated to Nightcrawler’s struggles, the other half is spent at the Jean Grey School, where a new professor is getting the lay of the land. I found this side of things to be a little weaker. To spend a quarter of the issue establishing the craziness at the Jean Grey School seems inefficient, at best.