New Mutants #23 (Age of X, Chapter 4) – Review

By: Mike Carey (writer), Steve Kurth (pencils), Allen Martinez (inks), Brian Reber (colors), Joe Caramagna (letters), Sebastian Girner (assistant editor) & Daniel Ketchum (editor)

The Story: Intrigue abounds as the action in Age of X turns inward.

What’s Good: As mentioned in the review of X-Men Legacy #246 two weeks ago, the Age of X event seems to be mostly skipping the traditional Act II of a story.  That is a very good storytelling choice by Mike Carey and the editorial team behind Age of X because Act II of stories doesn’t have much impact when we are dealing with characters that we already know well.  What is left of Act II deals primarily with revelations about the slightly different nature of these X-Men characters and that is plenty interesting because although we do know Magneto (or “The General”) and he has a very similar personality in this Age of X timeline, he has some fundamental differences from the wild type that are interesting to explore.

This issue also leaves the reader with a lot of mysteries unsolved.  We are now 2/3 of the way through Age of X and it is now pretty obvious that the big revelations will be coming right at the end of the story because things are clear as mud right now.

The strongest point of the art is the general layouts.  There really isn’t a panel in the issue where it is unclear what is going on with the story.  Now, there isn’t anything very adventurous about the pages and panel designs, but Kurth is not sacrificing storytelling by trying to feed us flashy images.

Weekly Comic Book Review’s Top Picks

DS’ Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Batgirl #9 – Despite some strong competition, my surprise winner for pick of the week is Batgirl #9. This book is just plain fun, all the time. Solid craftsmanship on writing and art delivered speeding adventures, tense personal moments and lots of Batgirl’s self-deprecating one-liners.

Most Anticipated: Green Lantern #53 – a Brightest Day tie-in! Fresh off of Blackest Night, Brightest Day is the next big thing and Green Lantern is at the center. Watch this title this week and this year – lots of big things are happening as the DCU shakes off the effects of Blackest Night.

Other Top Picks: Justice League of America #44, Guardians of the Galaxy #25, X-Men Legacy #235 (Second Coming, Chapter 4), Power Girl #11, Avengers vs Agents of Atlas #4.

Joe’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: Siege: Loki #1 – While far from essential to the overall Siege storyline, this one-shot from Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie really blew me away.  Pitch-perfect artwork supported by a script that made the decades-old character of Loki seem fresh pushed this one to the top of the pile for me.

Most Anticipated: The Amazing Spider-Man #628 – There’s lots of comics being released this week that I’m eager to flip open, but the last issue of ASM surprised me by entertaining me from front to back, so this one jumps to the head of the line.  Juggernaut, Spidey, Lee Weeks, and Roger Stern?  I am so there.

Other Picks: X-Men:Legacy #235, Green Lantern #53, Dark Wolverine #85, Doomwar #3, Marvelous Land of Oz #5, Supergirl #52, Blackest Night Director’s Cut #1, Guardians of the Galaxy #25

Alex’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: The Unwritten #12 -Great artwork is only the icing on the cake for one of the funniest things I’ve read this year thus far.  Of course, it’s not all obscenities and jokes, as also get yet another theme of literary interpretation.  There is no limit when it comes to the awesomeness of this book.

Most Anticipated: Green Lantern #53 -This is my only pull for the week.  I can’t remember the last time I’ve had a week more dead.  So Green Lantern wins by default, though I’m sure it’ll be another solid outing for Johns.

Dean’s Top Picks

Pick of the Week: The Unwritten #12 – Learning that “real people” could be forced into stories was a pretty neat reveal, but the magic of this issue came from the foul-mouthed cartoon rabbit as he tried to escape story-hell.

Most Anticipated: Guardians of the Galaxy #25 – After last month’s cliffhanger I’m really excited to see how this leads into the Thanos Imperative.

Other Top Picks: American Vampire #2, Elephantmen #25, Amazing Spider-Man #628, X-Men Legacy #235