Cover 1

X-Men

2009 • 192 pages

Ratings1

Average rating2

15

A couple of years ago I read [b:Ender's Game 375802 Ender's Game (Ender's Saga, #1) Orson Scott Card http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1214413570s/375802.jpg 2422333], and it almost ruined the X-Men for me. I saw a lot of parallels between the way the adults in EG were training the kids and Xavier's Danger Room, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. As much as I still loved the idea of a school filled with mutants learning to use their powers, molding them into superheroes didn't hold any interest for me. Which is why I'm glad I read this. There isn't anything new in terms of the base story (“Kitty Pryde learns she has mutant powers and goes to Xavier's”), but instead of being a superhero story it recasts everything as high school drama with interpersonal conflict between the students. An interesting twist, and one that would have resulted in a much higher rating if I didn't absolutely hate the artwork. I get that they were trying to go for a more Japanese-influenced story to appeal to the kids who don't read comics but do read manga, but it was just horrible, with Henry McCoy ending up looking like a giant ball of fur and Kitty suddenly gaining giant Pikachu ears whenever she got embarrassed.

October 15, 2010