X-Tinction Agenda #1

By Marc Guggenheim, Carmine Di Giandomenico and Nolan Woodard

One of the great things about these Secret War battle worlds is the ability to transported back in time. So far the characterization has been great in all of these tie-ins and this week we are treated to X-Tinction Agenda. Marc Guggenheim has a pretty solid body of work in television and comics, so we get to see him flex his muscles with a classic X-Men storyline.

This issue starts off with a nice flashback scene where the Summers’ brothers take out Cameron Hodge. This was a nice scene that sets up why Genosha is in its current state. It’s a place that has a mutant killing virus going around and it also has a shortage of supplies, most notably, food. Havok is in charge on the island, but Rachel Gray is the baroness of the world. Marc Guggenheim excels at writing many of these characters. Havok is the obvious standout because it’s his book, but Rachel is characterized well here too. Guggenheim writes her as a baroness that does care about her people, but she is all for the greater good. It’s also cool that Triage, a character just recently invented by Brian Michael Bendis, has the ability to play a crucial part in this story. That’s where the beauty of these tie-ins lie. We can have older stories updated and have newer characters used. Guggenheim wrote a good first issue that should pique some interest as to where it will lead.

The pencils in this issue are handled by Carmine Di Giandomencio with colors by Nolan Woodard. This art has a retro feel to it, it seems like it could have been used when the original crossover came out. Having said that, there are definitely some panels where characters faces are distorted. Carmine does a nice job of drawing his battle scenes and characters like Rockslide and Havok look good in action. The colors by Nolan Woodard are very complementary to the style that Di Giandomenico lays down. The art in this book is well done, but it won’t wow you in any way.

X-Tinction Agenda #1 was a pretty good read that feels like a continuation of the original cross over. Marc Guggenheim set up a cool introductory issue that has the potential to be very thrilling. The pencils could use a bit of work, but they shouldn’t take you out of the book. Overall this was another great tie-in to Secret War.