Age of X-Man: Alpha #1

Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler, Ramon Rosanas and Triona Farrell

When Uncanny X-Men relaunched in a ten part weekly series called Dissasembled, everything was going to lead to the Age of X-Man. There was another time in the X-Men’s history when things got a little wacky and the X-Men were teleported to an alternate reality, this was the Age of Apocalypse. To this day, it’s still one of the most influential storylines in the history of the X-Men. As we enter Age of X-Man: Alpha, we have to be prepared for a different and strange world. There is no telling what will happen or how any of this will play out, but the last time the X-Men had a line wide alternate universe crossover, things turned out pretty well.

Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler are fans of the X-Men. As you read through this issue, you can tell their words are coming from a place of love for the characters. A giant statue to remember a fallen X-Man or Kurt finally becoming a movie star are little nods to things that have happened in the past or something that a character has always wanted. While Thompson and Nadler do a good job of building an interesting world, they also set up each of the connecting series in this issue. If you were going into Age of X-Man: Alpha not interested in all the series, it will be hard to not have your mind piqued a little after they are set up nicely here. Thompson and Nadler also put a potential romantic relationship in this issue too that could cause some problems later in the X-universe. Ultimately, Age of X-Man: Alpha sets us up with a world that is interesting and charming, but something else is boiling beneath the surface. This was a great start to what should be a fun time in the X-universe.

The pencils this issue are handled Ramonn Rosanas with colors by Triona Farrell. Ramon Rosanas does a great job on this issue. He takes a minimalist approach, which doesn’t mean lack of detail by any means. His pencils work out because of their simplicity. Some artists can try to do too much and bog down a panel. Rosanas gives us only what we need to see. There are great panels this issue where the X-Men retreat to their quarters for some down time. Rosanas shows us what each character is doing without cluttering th images. Storm knits in her room, Magneto has drink and Nightcrawler looks over a script. All of these panels look great because the focus is on the individual and not the other things around them. The colors by Triona Farrell are stunning here. Her light palette really makes this feel like a utopian world. In the panels mentioned above, each character has a different color for their room. Colossus has a shade of yellow. Storm has purple and so on. The colors really relax you as you thumb through the issue.

Age of X-Man: Alpha does an excellent job of setting up the things to come. Thompson and Nadler built a wonderful world that is exciting and fresh. The art this issue, especially the colors, rock the issue. You’d be hard pressed to find a better comic on the rack this week.