ADVANCE REVIEW
X-MEN: MESSIAH COMPLEX ONE-SHOT
Writer: Ed Brubaker
Artist: Marc Silvestri
Inker: Joe Weems w/Marco Galli
Company: Marvel
Marvel has made a big deal during promotion for “Messiah Complex†that it is the first X-Men crossover in ten years. While it may technically be the truth, there have been so many events involving the entirety of the Marvel Universe that one really does not miss or notice the lack of an X-centric crossover.
“Messiah Complex†will, of course, change things forever and shake things up in a massive way, with early solicits stating that Cyclops will really step up somehow, and there may or may not be any X-Men around at the conclusion of the story.
Somewhere in Alaska, a newborn baby completely no-sells Scarlet Witch’s “No more mutants†line, and all Hell breaks loose, as the X-Men are involved in a power struggle for the fate of the new baby mutie with multiple groups. The crossover goes through Uncanny, X-Factor, New X-Men and X-Men, but still has to start with the now-obligatory One-Shot that sets events in motion, which certainly could not have happened in any of the regular books.
To create a sense of urgency and danger, the “Messiah Complex†One-Shot starts off with a bang. This device would have worked a lot better and been entirely more effective in creating tension if it had not already been used in two storylines in the last 18 months. Honestly, can something else to start an event be found? As it is, the One-Shot is very pedestrian, very formulaic, and if this crossover is truly an X-Men crossover, nothing will happen until the fifth part or so anyway.
Marc Silvestri lends his pencils to this first part, and they are mostly good. He draws perhaps the best Wolverine in the biz, but his Angel needs some work. It looked as though this was actually a crossover with Youngblood, because Shaft was in the X-Jet.
This review likely will not convince anyone one way or another on whether they are going to pick this book up; one is either excited about the new “Messiah Complex†or not. There is no doubt that things will get going in the coming weeks, but Part 1 is pretty boring.
