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 One day... Marvel will bring back some classic mutant crossover events, but Messiah Complex is not that event. I have a confession. Back in the day, I was never much a fan of the Chris Claremont mutant crossovers. Mutant Massacre, Fall of the Mutants, Inferno... the list goes on. Actually... may the comic god strike me down, I was never much a fan of Chris Claremont. I liked his earliest X-Men stuff; back when Dark Phoenix and the Savage Land was what it meant to be part of the X-Men. But all this time travelling, alternate futures, and large crossover events resulting in various spin-offs is what truly lost me. Uncanny X-Men became a superhero version of The Young and the Restless. Deaths are meaningless in the comic world, but don't they seem even less significant in the mutant universe? Killing a big name once, twice, or three times... killing an ENTIRE team... it's standard fare in the mutant world. I know I'm not alone with this opinion. There are many people who abandoned the mutant titles. Maybe they were brought back during Grant Morrison's run. Or maybe they tried to get back into the swing of things with House of M, Endangered Species, and finally... drumroll... Messiah Complex. That's where I'm at. I admit it, I freaking loved Ultimate X-Men. I enjoyed the return to basics and what made the X-Men so great back in the Stan Lee days. Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis and Brian K. Vaughan all did a super job recreating the famous mutant team. It was only when Robert Kirkman took over (whom I admire greatly, it just wasn't his "thang") that the Ultimate X-Men books started to experience some of the same doldrums that possessed the 616 X-Men. In my opinion, some of that was because Kirkman was an obvious Claremont fan and brought back the time travel, alternate dimensions, and yadi-yadi-yada, we're back to my point in the aforementioned paragraph. So, there! All my prejudice is on the table. I thought I should cleanse myself before this review, especially since some people seem to think that Messiah Complex might be the best X-Men crossover ever. Sadly, I can't agree, and at times I wanted to drop this book and move on to something else. Now, admittedly, I have been out of the X-Men loop. I read House of M and Endangered Species so I do have a foundation for this next big mutant event, but I am a little lost with some of the new characters and shifts in allegiance. I was hoping this would be the mutant event to finally bring me back to the 616 X-Men universe and past the one-shot storylines of Astonishing X-Men. I might buy the next trade paperback collecting a big moment in mutant history, but this book certainly hasn't motivated me to do so. The events in this book follow Endangered Species. If you read that, you'll know that it was a thoughtful look at the problems facing the mutant gene. It focused on everyone's favorite lovable blue hero, Beast, as he circumnavigated the world to solve the riddle of how the Scarlett Witch had managed to eliminate so many mutants. It wasn't a classic read, it was more of a prologue, but it set a reader up for a warm, fuzzy mutant event that I was sure would resurrect the X-Men titles. Some people think Messiah Complex did just that. I wouldn't agree. Basically, the big event in this book is that the first mutant baby since the House of M debacle has been born. Mutant factions everywhere race to find this baby and raise it in whatever way they deem fit. There's even a menacing new creature called Predator X that senses mutants and feeds off of their energy. Predator X is eerily reminiscent of the wolf-like creature G'mork in the movie Neverending Story, and follows the same structure -- a snapshot every 15 minutes of the menacing creature running after his prey -- until at last the final battle. All of this makes for a nice beginning, but somehow, the story manages to "Claremont" itself into boredom. When Cable and Bishop play big roles in the story, you know that more time travelling madness is just around the corner. Even X-Factor is involved, which was a bit disappointing because I wish that title would stay separate. I enjoyed the early X-Factor books and don't want to see them pulled into the muck of crossover spectaculars. The storyline of Messiah Complex in some ways acts as an introductory act for all the latest mutant spin-off titles by Marvel: Cable (Again!), X-Force (Again!), Young X-Men (Might as well be again! It's another attempt at the The New Mutants formula!) and so on. If you can't get enough mutant madness, this is the story for you because everyone is thrown into the battle. I've tried to read some of these new mutant books that spawned from this crossover event and I haven't enjoyed them that much, which isn't a surprise considering I didn't enjoy the source material that caused the split-off in the first place. There are some important events established in Messiah Complex. You'll discover the fate of Cyclops vs. Professor X. (Who is drawn a lot like Patrick Stewart in some of these issues.) You'll find out what happened to Rogue and Gambit. Mr. Sinister is involved in a mystery or two, but I'll ruin it if I give you any hints. Layla Miller finds herself on a path that takes her out of the X-Factor comics, at least temporarily. There were times that I enjoyed this book. There certainly wasn't a lack of action. Would I say it's as good as the last big X-Men time travel or alternate future event that I remember enjoying? (That would be Age of Apocalypse!) The answer is no, but it does show some promise. I think what ruins this in the end is that all of these mini-events were created to spawn a brand new line of mutant characters and we're once again back to the days when every mutant had his own spin-off. Sometimes, simple is better. One day Marvel will wake up and realize that to successfully market mutant storylines, you don't need ten different titles.  Best of the Best This is must be the best X-men story I have ever read. Great plot and drawing. Two things tt nowadays are very difficult to find. And do you now why? Simple, Bendis did not write it, and what's EVEN better, Leinil Yu did not (thank god) draw it. If you are looking for a free of the "Bendis Factor" Marvel, comic book (the way it should be), check this one, you will not regret it. This is too good to pass up! This book is way underpriced for how much it delivers to the reader. I love seeing the x-men knocked back into survival mode. It reminds me of the good old days when the the x-men were fighting for their rights. Only now its better due to the fantastic art and intense story of today. We get to see some new enemies, a nice old classic one, and my favorite the sentinels. There is just something nice about x-men vs huge robots that gets me going.  Return of the X-Men Crossover While House of M/Decimation set up the new status quo over three years ago, the X-titles have been a little uneven since then. Ed Brubaker took half of the X-Men into deep space, while Joss Whedon did the same with the other half. Mike Carey, playing with the few characters left on Earth, secretly set the stage for "Messiah CompleX" (you can skip the "Endangered Species" hardcover, as it has no bearing on this book). For a run-up to the "Messiah CompleX," check out Carey's X-Men: Supernovas and X-Men Vol. 2: Blinded by the Light. This is as good a book as any to jump onto the X-Men bandwagon. New and returning readers may be shocked to see Gambit as part of Sinister's Marauders, or Professor X sans wheelchair. And don't ask for any help trying to figure out who all of the young X-Men are--they tend to get killed rather quickly anyway, from what I understand. Overall, the story is full of action, emotion, and, most importantly, is cohesive. While the story is far from over--we never learn the identity of the mutant infant that's hailed as the messiah--this is a solid book that old and new fans should enjoy. | |||||||||||||