GeNext #1 – Review

Chris Claremont (Writer), Patrick Scherberger (Penciler), Norman Lee (Inker), and Chris Sotomayor (Colorist)

The first issue of GeNext hardly breaks any new ground for the debut of a new team, but what’s here is fairly enjoyable. The story for this series is about the sons and daughters of the X-Men we all know and love and, for the most part, GeNext is off to a promising, if underwhelming start.

Right off the bat we are introduced to No Name, Rico, Becka Munroe, Olivier Raven, and Pavel Rasputin as they go through a rough training exercise lead by X-23. The scene helps to give the reader a feel for each of the characters and the personal baggage each carries. The training exercise is followed by a entertaining social scene that helps to establish the camaraderie present between the team members. That’s really all this issue has to offer, but it works well considering that these are characters with a (mostly) clean slate. I look forward to seeing the direction this team goes in and what type of threat will rise up to challenge them.

Chris Claremont’s writing does a solid job of giving each character a distinct personality, something that is especially important when introducing brand new characters. Becka’s doubt comes across as a bit annoying at times, and Rico’s hot shot act is pretty cliché, but I think that each character will wind up having something unique to contribute to this team as things become more established. My only real concern so far is that the series is supposedly only running five issues and there is absolutely no sign of any villains or threats outside of the usual mutant fearing public. I hope some actual conflict is presented in the next issue, because I could see the series feeling rushed to a conclusion otherwise.

The art team does a nice job with this book for the most part. The characters look distinct enough and the action has a good flow to it, especially the training exercise. Special mention has to go to colorist Chris Sotomayor for helping make the characters pop off the page with some nice vivid color even when the book slows down. I do wish the characters had a little more of a realistic style to them as pictured on the cover, but that is really just a minor complaint. The art style used fits both the characters and the overall light tone of the book.

Overall, GeNext is off to a good start. There is nothing in this debut issue that is particularly mind-blowing or even original, but options are fairly limited when introducing brand new characters like this. Everything is solid and entertaining enough, but I expect something more substantial next issue. (Grade: C+)

– Kyle Posluszny