Years of Future Past #4

By Marguerite Bennett, Mike Norton and FCO Plascencia

There is a smell of desperation in the air this week. Years of Future Past #4 hits shelves and we know this is not necessarily a happy story. This is the issue where people start to die off and characters true motivations are realized. As the series comes to an end, we can’t help but feel helpless, but that’s likely the point.

It’s tough to make new characters the focal point of a mini series surrounded by iconic ones. Marguerite Bennett has done a pretty decent job of developing Cameron and Christina for this series. We can understand that they are growing up in a tough time and are honestly trying to make the best of a bad situation. This issue Bennett shows us hat happens when they are faced with betrayal, as one of their own switches sides. Bennett’s reasons for the character doing this are rational. In fact, almost everything in this issue flows very well. There isn’t any moment where you would question a character’s motivation. Bennett also gives us a huge conversation between Cameron and Christina that shows both sides of the coin. You could honestly agree with either character. There are parallels to Professor X and Magneto here, which is most likely what Bennett was going for.

The pencils this issue are handled by Mike Norton with colors by FCO Plascencia. Norton does a pretty good job laying down his lines here; his style is similar to Stuart Immonen, which is never a bad thing. Norton gives us plenty of detailed panels, even at a distance, which some artists struggle with. There are large panels of Magneto inside a sentinel that Norton really draws excellent. The line work on the sentinel and the attention to detail makes it a great page. The colors by FCO Plascencia complement what Norton does. The color of the flames from Pyro as he burns Cameron look great, as does Christina in her metal form. It also nice to see well colored red blood fly out of Cameron’s mouth as he gets cold cocked. The art department did a wonderful job on this issue and really make the story more enjoyable.

Years of Future Past has been one of the most consistent mini’s to come out of this event. Marguerite Bennett brings consistent writing to the table along with steady character work. The art has been very good and quite underrated as well. This is one of the books flying under the radar, and it really shouldn’t be.