Written by Vita Ayala
Art by Bernard Chang
Published by DC Comics
Something’s off about these Young X-Men.
Why, when they walked into the gate to Krakoa, were they not transported to the for-mutants-by-mutants society?
Those gates only work for mutants, and yet they found themselves standing in the same spot.
Vita Ayala so far is keeping me guessing, about several things.
I don’t know enough of what’s happening with the X-Men or the Avengers these days.
But here’s Captain America, Iron Man and Captain Marvel stepping into the Krakoan embassy and asking Mystique to check these Young X-Men before they’re apprehended by regular-old intolerant humans in this country where mutants are hated/feared and superheroes under age 21 are currently outlawed.
Just as things are about to extra-testy, Storm arrives to dismiss the Avengers for operating alongside the system that oppresses mutants.
One, if you thought Cyclops-Lass would be the narrator of the story, chuck that out the window. This issue puts Gabe Brathwaite, aka the Archangel-like Cherub, in the driver’s seat.
It’s unfortunate, then, that Cherub’s narration completely disappears once the fighting starts. It’s like, what was the point of putting us in his head only to abandon it?
After all, Cherub seems interesting. He can fly on wings made of energy. He’s a math genius, built like a mountain, a basketball star at school. It’s cool stuff, even though we get that information through one of those “see how I don’t fit your stereotypes” speeches that Black characters sometimes get.
It makes sense from the aspect that he’s a teen boy, so he’s ready to prove bigots wrong. (Take it from this old head, Gabe; there’s no proving wrong something that’s illogical.)
Gabe meets up with his Young X-Men friends at a Dazzler concert at Webster Hall (gotta love those real New York locations! Their banter with each other at the merch table gives more insight into their personalities. Marvel Guy chafes at Cyclops-Lass telling them not to talk super-stuff in public places, even in this super-crowded and loud lobby.
The kids also run into Cole, who in the previous issue dunked suspiciously strong on Caleb in practice after coming back from a long hospitalization. That thread’s gonna continue, for sure.
But before they head into the mainstage, Daycrawler – I’m sorry, he likes Nighty-Nightcrawler now – texts them that Hell’s Belles are attempting a prison break.
The Young X-Men have strength, speed, and love to trash-talk. But they’re unseasoned, haphazard, sloppy – the things that will result in lots of collateral damage, bystander deaths, and get them dead as well.
Lucky for them, Storm and the X-Men arrive to halt the fight and offer Krakoan amnesty to Hell’s Belles.
And to the Young X-Men, too. Welp.
Strong stuff here! Can’t wait to see how the mystery is solved.
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