Years of Future Past #2

By Marguerite Bennett, Mike Norton and FCO Plascencia

Years of Future Past #2 comes out this week and we are reminded that things aren’t that terrible in other areas. While every Battleworld warzone is plagued with their own problems, this is one where mutants are being hunted by deadly sentinels. We’re all familiar with how the original story ends, but there may be a glimmer of hope with new young mutants involved.

The second issue in this mini series has more depth than the first. Marguerite Bennett starts us off with two internal monologues from the two younger mutants in this issue. This is effective and allows us to see where they were and their thought process of meeting another young mutant for the first time. For as bleak as this future is, there is even a Tupac and Biggie reference in there. Bennet also makes good use of Colossus this issue as he gives a topical speech about having children in a world that isn’t ideal. Bennett’s social commentary this issue really hits many of the big points that people face in their everyday life. There are also some key characters that show up this issue that will more than likely please fans. Bennett does a pretty good job of balancing the large cast and giving everyone enough panel time. We end on a potential game-changing cliffhanger that should make fans smile.

The pencils are handled by Mike Norton with colors by FCO Plascencia. Norton’s pencils are very good and clean here as he draws all the characters well. His battle scenes are well done and there is a panel that resembles a classic Astonishing X-Men panel as sentinels crash through the mutant’s hideout. Norton doesn’t shy away from details as the sentinels look great and aren’t neglected at all. Scenes between Storm and Rachel get violent, but Norton draws it all very well. The colors by FCO Plascencia look good and they work with Norton’s style of art. If there are any gripes with the colors, it would be that they could be a bit darker. This is one of the most depressing tales the X-Men have ever had, it could be more dreary.

Years of Future Past has been a pretty fun ride so far. Marguerite Bennett has told an entertaining tale that added some cool twists to what happened in the original. The art has been steady and overall very good. At some point, this is going to turn into a heart breaking story as beloved characters will start to die, but we should enjoy the cool new story while we still can.