X-Men: Children of the Atom...

[fajrdrako]

This morning I read X-Men, Children of the Atom. That's also the name of a video-game. Well... good name.

The comic is by Joe Casey. I'm never sure what I think of him as a writer; in this one, he had good themes, but missed the mark emotionally. It's the story of the beginnings of Xavier's Academy, how Professor X gathered together that initial group of adolescent mutants who were already his students in X-Men #1.

Interesting theme, and not an unpleasant read. But the characters were too one-dimensional: Scott Summers in particular, too much the scrawny Oliver Twist; Jean Grey too much the sweet innocent; Warren too much the glamour boy. And Xavier - not sure what too make of him. Too much a crusader? But he has to be. Just not quite sympathetic enough.

I did like his FBI liaison man, caught between the anti-mutant establishment and his sympathy for the persecuted children. I also liked Starkey, the mutant-fighting punk who turns out to be a mutant empath - his own worst nightmare. And speaking of nightmares, I liked Jean Grey's night terrors, lashing out telekinetically from dreams not even her own. I liked it that Scott Summer's evil foster-father was named Winters.

I didn't like this version of Magneto, a vicious madman as bad as the other villains. I prefer a proud, powerful Magneto who may be a megalomaniac but who has a rational cause, and who is driven by prejudice but not hate.

Most of all, it felt odd reading this comic from only ten years ago, and thinking how old-fashioned it was in style. Part of that may be a reflection of its retrospective content - really, it's a prequel - but comics have changed a lot in ten years.