X-Men Gold #2
Writer: Marc Guggenheim
Artist: Ardian Syaf
Publisher: Marvel Comics
The first issue of X-Men Gold was a mix bag of some awesome 1990s nostalgia, a solid new direction and team, and a whole lot of controversy. The issue overall was a blast and really captured the feel of the 1990s Chris Claremont and Jim Lee X-Men run. Having Kitty become the leader was a natural progression and really felt right. Overshadowing that amazing first issue though was the choice artist Ardian Syaf made to put anti-semitic messages in his artwork.
This issue of X-Men Gold we see the team confronting the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The team has a rough first time out as a new team and not everything goes as planned. There are new members of the Brotherhood, but also familiar members that used to be X-Men. The world still fears the mutants but we also see the rise of a new threat that doesn't want to extinguish mutants, she wants to deport them?
I was worries that the controversy may have a negative effect on this new series. After reading this issue I am still a little worried that it may struggle to find it's groove. While still a very enjoyable read I found that there was a whole lot of "we've seen this before" moments. The new threat that wants to deport the mutants just feels like Senator Robert Kelly all over again. But instead of a nostalgic throwback its more of a been there done that. There are a lot of other moments as well that gave similar feelings.
I did really like seeing characters that we haven't seen in a long time. Some because they were dead, or at least we were led to believe they were or even de-powered after M day. But I found myself really questioning their motives, as that never really became clear in this issue.
Where this series gets is right is having Kitty Pryde be our conscious in the book. Back in the 1960s it might have made sense to have a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. But today the evil mutants part is pretty obvious and the team could really just be the Brotherhood and we would still totally get that they are evil. Having Kitty question things like this in the book really helps to draw the reader in and feel that they are in on the joke.
One area that I had the most problems with is Ardian Syaf and his artwork. After the controversy I found myself over analyzing the artwork more than I would have before. Syaf will only be on the series for one more issue but what he has done affected my enjoyment of this issue a lot. There was no excitement like in the previous issue. It's almost like he knew that he would be caught and so this book he just put in a fraction of the effort he did with the last. Many of the characters look odd and there is little to no detail.
I do have high hopes that this series will be able to find its voice. This is a very promising series but controversy may have boosted sales, but in the long run it may have hurt the series more than we know. Only time will tell if this is true or not. There are some great moments here still and Marc Guggenheim has chosen the perfect team of X-Men to lead us further into ResurreXion.
A Look Inside
