Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
X-Men Legacy #216
Marvel Comics
Carey, Briones & Hanna
I can’t help myself – I love this title. I know every issue is someone else exploring Xavier’s brain or Xavier exploring their brain. Sure every issue has a ton of flashbacks, but I love the story, concept and execution. This is the perfect way to take an old character and make him fresh again. It exposes the audience of today to all the things this character has done to make him popular or unpopular. It also helps to satisfy the older reader by reinventing what this character means to others and breaks him down to his core beliefs. I like this idea and it follows along with favorite kind of character story: the descent of man.
Xavier gets probed by Emma. Emma takes no prisoners and makes no excuses for the pain she is putting Xavier through. Sure, she claims she is looking for traces of Sinister in his mind but she is really just showing him all the crap he’s done over the years.
Emma shows Xavier his first meeting with Beast. This is very much like the Origin issue from a couple of weeks ago and it helps nail down just how manipulative Xavier is and how he likes to jump into other people’s minds without asking but hates it when people do that to him.
Emma shows Xavier how badly he twisted up Rogue. This helps to show Xavier has a tough side, especially when he is lying. Some father figure he makes.
Next she deals with his treatment of Cyclops. Then Jean and finally Moira. It’s quite a tour and Xavier doesn’t always come out looking too rosy. In fact, someone should have decked the dude despite the wheelchair decades ago.
The artwork is good. The flashbacks don’t always provide a great contrast, but there is a slight one. The art tries to retain that old feel when dealing with the past. For example, Rogue’s awful haircut is in full effect for her scenes that probably took place 20 years ago real time. My only complaint is Emma doesn’t come off being as cool and calm as she usually is. She’s seems too emotional here. I would think there would be more pleasure on her face than rage.
As stated I love the framing of Xavier in these issues. Next up is the crossover with Wolverine, which could get real ugly considering what a mess his continuity is. I’m hopeful that if the storytelling stays true to these issues that the crossover will be a hit. It’s funny but I never would have guessed I would have enjoyed an X-Men comic this much with so little action. At this point you either love this title or have written off. I think if you like your X-Men history and character studies that mostly involve Xavier then this is the title for you.
5 out of 5 geek goggles