Collects X-Men: Deadly Genesis #1-6, written by Ed Brubaker with art by Trevor Hairsine. Back-up stories drawn by Pete Woods.
Ok, this series isn't exactly new, I believe the tpb was published in 2006, but the story lays the foundation of what has been going on in one corner of the X-universe recently, and that's why I found myself compelled to read it.
After giving new life to Captain America (who died in the proces...) and Daredevil, Ed Brubaker takes a step up the writer's hierarchy in the MU as he gets ready to tackle the X-Men. This series was planned as a mini that would foreshadow some of the things to come in his run on Uncanny.
And it is a bold beginning. Usually, when Marvel announces a series as "changing everything you thought you knew about the Marvel Universe!", it turns out that whatever is changed is changed back in 6 months or turns out to be a skrull etc. But for once, Brubaker actually writes a story that forces the reader to change his conception of very central characters in the X-Men (well, mainly Professor X and I don't think he'll turn out to be a skrull...) and this has a great impact on the relationships of those characters.
In 'Deadly Genesis', Brubaker rewrites the story 'Second Genesis' from Giant-Size X-Men #1, in which the original X-Men are captured by Krakoa, the Living Island (this was in the seventies...), and Professor X forms a new team of X-Men to save them. As most X-fans will know, this was the first appearance of the 'new' X-Men, and this single issue laid the foundation of the popularity of the X-Men we know today. So one could argue that messing with such a classic story takes a man with some pretty big balls. After all, X-fans are known to be pretty vicious...
The story starts some time after House of M and Professor X is still MIA. The X-Men registers a very high level mutant falling out of space, and immediately goes to investigate. The mutant beats them to a pulp in a matter of seconds and flies off with Cyclops and Marvel Girl as hostages. Meanwhile, Banshee discovers some recordings by Moira MacTaggert in which she reveals some dark secrets regarding the formation of the new X-men that Professor X has kept to himself over the years. At the end of the day, one X-man is dead a new X-man is born and the beginning of the X-Men have been rewritten in a way that could potentially alter the structural backbone of the X-Men.
Changing old stuff like this is risky business, but fortunately Brubaker takes advantage of an admittedly slightly questionable original plot and fills in the holes in a way that both makes sense and makes the story stand out in a completely different way. The original story was really just an excuse to introduce a new generation of X-men and to get rid of (most) of the old heroes who simply did not sell enough magazines. It is not remembered as a particular well told story, and as such, rewriting it in this way will not provoke any complaints from me. Brubakers version of the story makes it seem much more up to date and essentially relevant than previously, and this is a good thing for a story that serves as the starting point of a series. By rewriting the genesis of the series, Brubakes makes the X-Men stand out more fresh and modern than before. Taken to the extreme, this could do for the X-Men, what the Ultimates did for the Avengers, only in the real MU.
Brubakers writing is good as usual. The story unfolds itself in a way that keeps the reader glued, and it doesn't go off-track in unnecessary directions. Each chapter is backed by a short stand-alone story that introduces a new character that is related to the Krakoa-incident. This is a good way to introduce characters from the past, and helps the reader establish some involvement with the characters before she learns of their horrible fate by the end of the story...
Hairsine's art is not spectacular in any way, but it is solid and moody. Hairsine is actually capable of drawing a multitude of different facial expressions, I think many of his colleagues could learn some from him. His action sequences leave a little to be desired, however, the action sequences are not really at the center of the story, so it works out very well in the end. One thing that Hairsine needs to improve is tech, e.g. the Shi'ar space suits at the end of the book. His characters are great, but his tech leaves a lot to be desired. Again, this seems to have been dealt with by simply not having too much tech in the story. Pete Woods' art in the back-up stories is very nice, I'd like to see him do a full book.
I hope the consequences of this story will be felt for some time, and I also hope that the writers who write the other X-books will not neglect the plot points that it introduces. It is a story that needs to be followed up upon, otherwise it will simply become yet another amazing plot twist that never took off. I also think it would have been a great idea to include the original Krakoa story in this book, but unfortunately it is missing. I guess readers will have to dust off their Essentials to (re)read this story.
All in all this is a book that I recommend to anyone who enjoys reading the X-Men and who likes classic Marvel stories. Unlike most other X-publications it is not exactly action packed, it probably contains more dialogue than you'll see in most of the other books, and for some, me included, that is a welcome change. Brubaker is a great writer, and his first take at the X-Men serves to show that to the fullest.
8/10
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